By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Another year, another world premiere.

The Rose Theater's tradition of creating and staging original children's plays has been going on so long, Omahans don't even blink when another — such as “There's an Alligator Under My Bed” — comes along.

The musical, based on three children's books by Mercer Mayer, opens Friday. The plot helps children face their fears about monsters, the dark and bedtime. The script was written by the Rose's artistic director, James Larson, and the score was composed by Stuart Kenny of Hastings, Neb.

Audiences may not realize it, but the Rose is a national leader among children's theaters in creating and staging new works like “Alligator.”

“We create as many new scripts, usually adaptations of well-known children's books, as any other theater in the country,” Larson said last week. “A lot of theaters nationwide do the shows we originate.”

For example, the Rose's production of “The Little Engine That Could,” another musical written by Larson and Kenny that premiered here in August 2008, had a recent run at a theater in Washington, D.C., and will be produced this year in major children's theaters in Minneapolis and San Francisco.

The Rose's playwright in residence, Brian Guehring, has had his plays staged at theaters in Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Texas and beyond. Guehring has written 15 shows for the Rose over the past 12 years, and Larson has at least a half-dozen titles to his credit.

In all, the Rose has staged 37 world premieres, tracing back to 1982 when it was the Emmy Gifford Children's Theatre. Playwrights who have produced works for the Rose include Tony winner and Oscar nominee Mark Medoff, National Book Award winner Robert Bly, and nationally known playwrights James Still and Sandra Asher.

“The Rose is one of the five largest children's theaters in the United States,” Guehring said. “Smaller theaters don't have the staff or resources to develop new work. The big theaters are the leaders.”

Guehring said the Rose looks for popular children's book titles that teachers, students and families will want to see on the stage. While Larson often looks at the pictures of the book as he writes, Kenny finds inspiration in popular tunes.

“I assume kids like pop music,” said Kenny, who teaches English at Central Community College. “I write the kind of music I would like.

“Randy Newman's score for ‘The Princess and the Frog' is ideal because it doesn't condescend to children. They're just great songs.”

Larson's script for “Alligator” came first so Kenny could find logical places to insert songs. Often he writes a song title, or hook, first and then a melody to fit it. In this case he used jazzy tunes, à la “Chicago.”

“Then it takes forever to finish the lyrics,” he said, “finding words that rhyme, that sound funny and fit the mood.”

Premiering new works isn't easy, Larson said. Securing legal rights to create the play can be time-consuming and expensive. The more popular and newer the book, the harder it can be. Movie studios snap up exclusive rights to titles like the Harry Potter books, “Tales of Despereaux” and “Because of Winn Dixie.”

“Usually we pay a percentage of what we make, with a guaranteed minimum,” Larson said. For example, the Rose premiered the stage version of “Go, Dog. Go!,” a classic children's book by P.D. Eastman, then took it on national tour. Eastman's estate sought a $17,000 minimum for the rights.

Authors sometimes require script approval, or they might decide they want to write the script themselves. Budgets and touring impose limitations on cast sizes, scenery and costumes.

“Obviously, it's easier to just do a published script,” Larson said. “A lot of kinks have to be worked out during production of a new play. It's a lot more work.”

But he said there are good reasons to stage new works, beyond the theater's enhanced national reputation.

“It's not like children's theater has been around for 2,500 years like the Greeks,” Larson said. “People have been writing children's works only since the 1960s or so. There's not a huge catalog of plays to draw on.”

The Rose chooses new, familiar titles because they draw crowds, he said.

Guehring said he can tailor a new work to the strengths of specific actors at the Rose. He also knows to limit touring shows to about five actors, and to write them so they can be performed on a large stage like the Rose's or in a schoolroom.

“The other great thing is, when you develop it yourself, it's a lot easier to revise and improve it in rehearsal,” Guehring said. “The writer's right there. I learn from rehearsals, from seeing it done by the actors and from audience reaction.

“The second draft of the show is sometimes amazingly stronger.”

Contact the writer:

444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com