Purple Roses

People told Jeff Daniels he was crazy when, despite his successes in a little place called Hollywood, he decided to start a theater company just outside of booming “metro” Jackson–in a little town called Chelsea, Michigan.

That was 20 years and 291 shows ago.

Back then, when Daniels launched the Purple Rose, he knew he was taking a dice roll on his Midwestern location. In fact, he had a backup plan to donate the building as a community theater if the professional theater company fell through.

That was before 200 regional actors showed up for the first audition.

In the years that followed, the Purple Rose became a creative haven for Midwestern artists, offering apprenticeships for college students, classes for aspiring locals, assistance to university productions and matinees for area children. And throughout its existence, it has maintained it’s founding commitment to make theater affordable for everyone.

In it’s career, the Purple Rose has won many awards, including being named “Theatre of the Year” by the Detroit News and earning four nominations for the prestigious American Theatre Critics Award.

The story of the Purple Rose makes Daniels glad he followed his heart, rather than the voice of his critics who questioned him investing money in unconventional ideals.

“We have this inferiority complex when it comes to the coasts, and the coasts feed that beast,” Daniels recently told the Jackson Citizen Patriot. “The Purple Rose makes the argument every evening at 8 o’clock that we’re as good as that or even better.”

Got a dream inside of you that requires you to break convention and follow a moral compass that goes against industry standards?

Jeff Daniels would say follow your conscience–it may end up being the rare Purple Rose of your life.