This project is supported in part by
the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Dandelion Seed

AUGUST 7 – 25, 2024
Based on the book by Joseph P. Anthony and Cris Arbo
Written by Jim Hibbeler
Original music by Nate Rowan
New music by Matt Ouren
Directed by Melanie Salmon-Peterson

 

RECOMMENDED FOR: Ages 0-5
SHOW RUN TIME: 40-45 minutes
LOCATION: Jaycees Studio Theatre
Theatre For The Very Young is created for our youngest patrons aged 0-5.

 

CAST | CREATIVE TEAM
 

Bring your young ones to explore a theatrical adventure created just for them!

Theatre for the Very Young began its life at Stages 10 years ago with The Dandelion Seed and we’re celebrating how far we’ve come by bringing it back! One tiny dandelion seed is happy in its cozy home until a wind carries it away. It worries that it won’t be able to find its place in such a big, scary world but the seed finds that everything is more beautiful than it could have imagined. Perhaps change isn’t so bad after all.

 

CAST | CREATIVE TEAM

 

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VIDEOS

PHOTOS

Photos by Amy Rondeau Photography

The Cast


The Creative Team + Crew


Check back closer to Opening Day for a complete list!

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR - Sandy Boren-Barrett
DIRECTOR - Melanie Salmon-Peterson
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - Megan Collins
FIRST JOB IN THE ARTS DIRECTING MENTEE - Demitrius Winegarden
DIRECTING INTERN - Alanna Nyberg
ORIGINAL COMPOSER - Nathan Eliot Rowan
COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER - Matt Ouren
BIPOC SOUND DESIGN MENTEE - Alec Newhouse
LIGHTING DESIGNER - Sarah Brandner
SET DESIGNER & TECHNICAL DIRECTOR - Jim Hibbeler
COSTUME & MAKE UP DESIGNER - Stacey Palmer
COSTUME ASSISTANT - Kayla Mielke
PROPS DESIGNER - Yvonne Ring
WARDROBE SUPERVISOR - Christa Ludwig
PRODUCTION MANAGER - Melanie Salmon-Peterson
STAGE MANAGER - Clare Judge
STAGE MANAGER - Kallie Jo Ascheman
FIRST JOB IN THE ARTS STAGE MANAGEMENT MENTEE - Abbi Wood
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER - Tiahna Wolfe-Shields
RUN CREW - Frances Olsen Biebighauser
TECHNICAL INTERN - Haley Nielsen
SCENIC ARTIST - Cinde Ashley, Yvonne Ring
ELECTRICIANS - Justin Sharbono
VOLUNTEERS - Jeff Aune, Jenny Brown, Scott Brown, Warren Glidden, Ron Kline, Donna Meyer, Penny Nowak, Michael Remucal, Mariann Wolf


Creative Team Bios

 

MELANIE SALMON-PETERSONMELANIE SALMON-PETERSON (DIRECTOR) - AT STC: Recent credits include: The Day You Begin, Galactic Wonders, Raymie Nigthingale, What Do You Do With An Idea?, Leo Lionni’s Inch by Inch, The Most Magnificent Thing, Stone Soup, Swimmy, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Bear Snores On, and at FAIR School Crystal James & the Giant Peach Jr & Lion King Jr.” Favorite Play or Musical at STC: Favorite I cannot pick, but several are special to me for a variety of reasons – Stone Soup for its dedication to community service and the wonderful opportunity to perform a the Ivey Awards. Swimmy-stunning design work and a wonderful ensemble with which to create, Dandelion Seed as our first TFVY, working with Jim & Nate & Abbee to create it; Zen Shorts for its zen-like process, so peaceful and beautiful to work on; Edward Tulane for its visual beauty; How I Became a Pirate – both here and on the tour to Bath, England; You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, beautiful, entertaining and so much talent. Wow, I better stop now. I could go on.

 


 

Matt OurenMATT OUREN (COMPOSER) - Matt is a Stages Theatre Company Creative Play Academy and Conservatory teacher and appears regularly on our mainstage. He's been in Spookley the Square Pumpkins THREE times and he's appeared in and composed the music for our Theatre for the Very Young Production of Leo Lionni’s Inch by Inch. Other credits include: Tuck Everlasting, TYA, Fish in a Tree, The Nightingale, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Shrek The Musical, and many more.

 


 

Jim HibbelerJIM HIBBELER (WRITER) - Jim Hibbeler is the Technical Director for Stages Theatre Company. When Jim is not busy building sets, props or designing video, he delights in writing scripts. For Stages, Jim has been the playwright for Alice in Wonderland, Theatre for the Very Young productions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, On the Railroad, the first adaptation of The Dandelion Seed and most recently, Galactic Wonders. During the pandemic Jim also wrote, edited and created puzzle experiences for Enchanted Mystery: a Detect the story adventure and Detect the story: Mythical, which were video based presentations unlocked by solving puzzles.

 


 

Nate-RowanNATHAN ELIOT ROWAN (ORIGINAL COMPOSER) -We were delighted to have Nate Rowan as an original collaborator on the song “Don’t Be Afraid” for the first production of The Dandelion Seed in 2014. Nate was always excited to collaborate with Stages Theatre, a place where he realized his rare condition of "Reverse Stage Fright" (RSF). When "places" was called and the lights go down, a pungent calm wafted over him and he became completely engaged in the action, character and narrative at hand. Past STC credits on stage and off include: On The Railroad, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Click Clack Moo, House at Pooh Corner, The Tale of Peter Rabbit and so many more! Besides his performative prowess, Nathan could be found parenting a baby human, and was a successful recording artist with many albums including his 2014 album Universe in Me. We dedicate this performance to Nate Rowan “for being a guiding light in the dark.” Nate Rowan (1983 – 2021)

 


 


UP NEXT:
Our 2024-25 Season!

We are thrilled to have you enjoy our mystical season of adventure and we're certain there will be boundless opportunities for you and your entire family to be awestruck, and we can’t wait!

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