OMAHA, NEB.: The Rose has announced its 2019-20 season, featuring a musical adaptation of a Christmas movie classic, a popular bear come to life, and rocking naked mole rats.
The season will kick off with Go, Dog. Go! (Aug. 30-Sept. 15), adapted by Allison Gregory and Steven Dietz, with music by Michael Koerner. The story follows P.D. Eastman’s canine drivers as they make their way to a treetop dog party.
Up next will be Dr. Seuss’s A Cat in the Hat (Sept. 27- Oct. 13), adapted by Katie Mitchell, in which the famous storybook feline leaps from page to stage.
Following is Ella Enchanted (Oct. 25-Nov.10), by Karen Zacarías, music by Deborah Wicks La Puma, and adapted from the book by Gail Carson Levine. Young Ella of Frell is cursed with eternal obedience and must find a way to break the spell.
The Rose will welcome the holiday season with Elf: The Musical (Nov. 29-Dec. 22), with book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, based on the New Line Cinema film written by David Berenbaum. The show follows an elf who has always felt out of place at Santa’s workshop on his journey to find his real father in the Big Apple.
After that is The Diary of Anne Frank (Feb 28-Mar.15, 2020), adapted by Wendy Kesselman, Frances Goodrich, and Albert Hackett. Eight Jewish people stow away in an attack in order to stay hidden from Nazis.
Next up will be The Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience (Mar. 27-Apr. 11, 2020), by Mo Willems, music by Deborah Wicks La Puma, based on the picture book Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems. Wilbur, a naked mole rat, flips the script when he begins to wear clothes.
Corduroy (Apr. 24 – May 10, 2020), adapted by Barry Kornhauser and based on the Corduroy books by Don Freeman. Corduroy the bear searches a department store for his missing button while a girl begs her mother to take him home.
The season will close with The Sound of Music (Jun. 5-21, 2020), with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Maria, a nun, leaves her convent to become a governess for the von Trapp family.
The Rose, home to the Omaha Theater Company, strives to produce theatre that is accessible to all children and families.
