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Tue, Mar 09, 2010
"A Moon for the Misbegotten" is a complex and emotionally draining (on performers and viewers alike) work that skillfully examines the multiple layers of the human psyche, and it represents another strong offering by Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre.
Mon, Mar 08, 2010
I had the best seat in the house for The Unicorn Theatre's production of Lia Romeo's comedy "Green Whales:" not by dint of a critic's power, but simply because the couple seated in front of me were engaged to be married.
Mon, Mar 08, 2010
Quality Hill Playhouse continues their season with "Broadway's Best," a revue featuring some of the most memorable musicals.
Tue, Mar 02, 2010
Once in a great while, a work –whether a symphony, play, book, or even a movie –comes along that makes you sit up and take notice. I had such an experience with the KC Rep's "Broke-ology."
Tue, Mar 02, 2010
Once in a great while, a work –whether a symphony, play, book, or even a movie –comes along that makes you sit up and take notice. Saturday evening, at the Kansas City Repertory’s Copaken Stage, I had such an experience with "Broke-ology."
Tue, Feb 23, 2010
A cactus, prickly and uninviting, will often produce a spectacular bloom. So the metaphor goes in this superb romantic farce about a prickly nurse who blossoms under unusual and comical circumstances. "Cactus Flower" was produced by the New Theatre Restaurant and stars Loretta Swit, of "M.A.S.H." fame.
Tue, Feb 23, 2010
Ira Glass took the Lied Center stage last Saturday night, sat behind a makeshift audio console and proceeded to start the show... in complete darkness. Most of the audience had never seen the man behind the iconic radio show "This American Life" and the suspense was killing us.
Wed, Feb 03, 2010
From the vantage point of a wired, Googled, You-Tubed, Twittering world, where circumnavigating the globe can be done in less than 80 minutes, it was fun to be transported back to a time when performing such a feat in 80 days was considered a quantum leap in world travel.
Tue, Feb 02, 2010
The Unicorn's version of "Grey Gardens" communicates the sadness and the strangeness of Edith and Edie Beale's years together, with the understanding that it need not be thoroughly dispiriting if one can sing about it.
Tue, Feb 02, 2010
As Midwest theaters continue to create new performance pieces based on our regional history, "Life on the Mississippi" presented at the Coterie Theatre will be enjoyable to audiences everywhere.
Tue, Jan 26, 2010
I have never been a fan of "stars" or "thumbs" (up or down) or other artifice when it comes to analysis. However, if I were so inclined, I would use all of them for "The Event." It was a remarkable, witty, irreverent and poignant introspection.
Tue, Jan 26, 2010
Rodgers and Hammerstein are famous for revolutionizing musical theatre. Their collaboration garnered 35 Tony Awards and 15 Academy Awards. However, before Hammerstein, there was Hart. The duo worked together from 1919 until 1943. Quality Hill Playhouse is currently running "Rodgers & Hart & Hammerstein," a salute to Richard Rodger's two great partnerships.
Tue, Jan 19, 2010
American Heartland Theatre presents a show about a big singing star of the early 20th century. "Glorious! The True Story of Florence Foster Jenkins," directed by Paul Hough, has an unusual twist. Florence Foster Jenkins was, for all intents and purposes, tone deaf. You can't make this stuff up.
Tue, Jan 12, 2010
Adolescent first love is complicated enough without the added distractions of a dysfunctional family, a rare, life-shortening disease, a psycho-lesbian aunt and a teenage boy who, rightly being nervous enough under "normal" conditions, is positively petrified in David Lindsay-Abaire's near-Twilight Zone of suburbia that is the setting for "Kimberly Akimbo."
Tue, Dec 22, 2009
New Theatre's "Run For Your Wife" is pure farce. Mild mannered taxi driver John Smith, has two wives living in different parts of town. After attempting to stop a mugger, John is questioned by the police and hailed as a hero by the press. The whole fiasco leaves him scrambling to cover his tracks as detectives and his wives chase him across town.
Tue, Dec 22, 2009
Starlight's 2010 Broadway line-up will appeal to diverse audiences when four national tours and a locally produced musical comedy take the stage next summer.
Tue, Dec 08, 2009
For Christopher Durang, the neurotically-charged playwright of the Unicorn Theatre's lastest play Miss Witherspoon, the stage is a second home; his comedies put his characters in situations as absurd and frightening as an hour at a psychoanalyst's couch set up in a confessional.
Tue, Dec 08, 2009
In this day and age, it's difficult to find entertainment that truly touches the heart. "A Spectacular Christmas" presented by Musical Theatre Heritage may just be one of those rare gems.
Mon, Dec 07, 2009
After the Kansas City Repertory Theatre's 29-year run of performing "A Christmas Carol," Eric Rosen, in only his 2nd full season as its artistic director, deserves a theatric medal of valor for breaking with three decades of tradition to stage this new musical.
Mon, Nov 30, 2009
Spirits haunt every aspect of Nathan Granner's one man production of Dicken's Christmas Carol adapted by Peter Bodine. This fresh interpretation of the traditional favorite is akin to the Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Winters, Orson Wells, radio drama variety with songs and carols setting the mood and forwarding the action. There are no big budget sets, props or costumes.
Mon, Nov 30, 2009
After the Kansas City Repertory Theatre's 29-year run of performing "A Christmas Carol," Eric Rosen, in only his 2nd full season as its artistic director, deserves a theatric medal of valor for breaking with three decades of tradition to stage this new musical.
Wed, Nov 25, 2009
The setting is as familiar as anything in modern day: it is a bar where regulars and passers-through interact. "Nick's" may not be "Cheers" - not everybody knows your name and they definitely aren't always glad you came - but it nonetheless offers up an oasis from the stresses of everyday life on the street.
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
In the Coterie Theatre's new production of "Little House on the Prairie," big questions are asked.
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
"This show is about light," says director J. Kent Barnhart. "And about Christmas, about all of the different meanings it has for each one of us."
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
How shall we compare Shakespeare to other writers? Rees' answer is: listen. Listening to him change pace and cadences from modern English to excerpts from Lear, Henry V, Richard II and others showcased the command of language: at those times, Rees the entertainer was subsumed by Rees the actor, and we might have been visited, even blessed, by the playwright's ghost.
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
Christmas lights and garland decorate the American Heartland Theatre lobby, leaving no doubt of the impending Holidays despite the warm November evening.
Tue, Nov 17, 2009
The Chestnut Fine Arts Center is doing something new this year. For the first time in their 11 years of operation, they are doing an entire season of musical revue shows.
Tue, Nov 17, 2009
The Chestnut Fine Arts Center is presenting "A Taffeta Christmas." a musical revue that features Christmas songs and golden oldies.
Tue, Nov 17, 2009
The 1997 Barry Levinson film "Wag the Dog" took the idea that politics is 1% decision-making and 99% show biz, and turned it into a satire of Shavian, if not Shakespearean, proportions. In Beau Willimon's savage comedy "Farragut North," the spin-doctor gets spun--it is a case of the dog getting flogged.
Tue, Nov 03, 2009
Staged Readings is a unique way to experience your most beloved of movies. Actors, musicians and lighting crew work in an almost-improv setting. Producing Director, Beth Spencer's, troupe historically has selected only the most delightful of cult, or at least cultish, films. Past performances include such treats as "The Wrath of Khan," "This is NOT Spinal Tap" and "The Royal Tennebaums."
Mon, Oct 26, 2009
Staying true to its roots, Theatre for Young America has chosen a season rich in variety and highlighting some classic children's stories. When selecting the season, Gene Mackey, artistic director of TYA, says they try to offer a variety of experiences. They present musicals, comedies, drama, at least one historical piece and one or two new works.
Mon, Oct 26, 2009
Henry's adaptation of the classic children's book is being performed for the first time in this area. It was first produced at Manhattan Children's Theatre in New York in 2007. Now, the show is being performed by Theatre for Young America (TYA) at the H&R Block City Stage in Union Station. "Goodnight Moon", as well as being entertaining, encourages children to read. This is one of the major goals of TYA and is reflected in their productions.
Tue, Oct 20, 2009
"Are you scared?" Those were not the last words, or screams, uttered by a hand-wringing teenage audience member at Coterie at Night's world premiere of "Maul of the Dead," a spoofy tale of apocalypse and hilarity with blood spatter a-plenty.
Tue, Oct 20, 2009
"Spring Awakening's" music - executed masterfully by the cast - is haunting and mesmerizing, drawing the viewer inexorably into the emotional turmoil. The more nuanced pieces evoke a Sondheim-esque aura, while other aspects reminded me, stylistically, of the great Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House.
Mon, Oct 19, 2009
The echoes of a life that reverberates around the world haunts David Cale's monologue "Palomino." In this world première, which opened Friday night on the Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Copaken Stage, Cale, acting, writing and self-directing, provides a funny, at times sentimental, at times almost cinematic, ultimately indelible performance as several characters, both male and female, who find themselves connected by six degrees of separation and desires.
Tue, Oct 13, 2009
Quality Hill Playhouse is celebrating Phase 1 and 2 of a major renovation this season with a well deserved sigh of relief. After years of cramped, inadequate quarters the cast and staff can stretch out, and audiences will be able hear and see better engineered performances.
Tue, Oct 06, 2009
How on earth could a dramatic radio interpretation of a science fiction book possibly cause mass hysteria? Were the Americans of 1939 so gullible and naïve as to think Martians were actually invading New Jersey? After seeing, hearing and feeling the re-enactment of H.G. Wells and Howard Kochs' "The War of the Worlds" as presented by the uber-talented L.A. Theatre Works, I'm no longer surprised by the infamous impact.
Mon, Sep 28, 2009
Walking into the Unicorn Theatre, the set was lit with lamps and candles. A large bed was stage center with cushioned benches on either side, along with a few random bits of furniture. Each would be used in many different ways for many different stories. The mood was set. Runs through 10/18.
Wed, Sep 23, 2009
Spine-tingly sights and sounds kick off the Coterie Theatre's season opener "Tell-Tale Electric Poe." Upon entering the darkly lit theatre from the mid-day hustle and bustle of Crown Center, the atmosphere noticeably changes. Grim and ambient metallic music fills the room.
Tue, Sep 22, 2009
Award-winning playwright, Peter Colley's, "I'll Be Back Before Midnight," currently running at the American Heartland Theatre, kept audience members on the edge of their seats and guessing right up until the end. Somewhere between an Agatha Christie mystery and an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, this fast-paced comedy thriller doesn't disappoint. Runs through 10/25.
Sun, Sep 20, 2009
The Kansas City Repertory Theatre's presentation of "Into the Woods" under guest director Moisés Kaufman's God-like execution, brings to light the show's bedazzling interplay between the story and the songs. It is not too high praise to say that the intermission is needed so the audience can catch its breath for the second act which builds to its famous finale. (Held over thru October 11)
Mon, Sep 14, 2009
In the MET's "Seascape," both sets of mirror-image characters are struggling to come to terms with their relationships and their mortality. Together they form an unlikely partnership brought together by the whimsical nudge of natural - or maybe unnatural - selection.
Mon, Sep 14, 2009
This everyman, or more aptly put, everywoman, story takes place in an unnamed small Midwestern town outside of "The Cities" in Minnesota during 1969-70. It is a tale of personal and national growth and of discovery told through the lives of Pastor Gunderson, played by Barry Williams (a.k.a Greg Brady), and the four ladies who run the church kitchen.
Tue, Sep 08, 2009
If you miss the touring version of "Mamma Mia!" that opened last night for a one-week run at Starlight Theatre, you can always track it down in Germany, Amsterdam, Switzerland or Spain; from Newcastle to Taipei, the bubbly musical taken from those ingratiating Abba songs precludes language and geographical barriers.
Mon, Aug 17, 2009
Starlight Theatre's production of "Chicago," looks all the sharper, given all we have witnessed in the rise of celebrity journalism and the cutting of corners in matters of truth and justice. Those who have seen only the movie version might be surprised: this version (itself a 1996 revival) moves to a tighter tempo.
Mon, Aug 17, 2009
Theatre in the Park closed its 40th anniversary season last weekend with a Kansas legend: "The Wizard of Oz." Whether it was due to the ingenious costumes, the versatile sets or the passion of the amateur performers, this was one well-conceived and expertly directed production.
Wed, Aug 12, 2009
Theatre in the Park closed its 40th anniversary season last weekend with a Kansas legend: "The Wizard of Oz." Whether it was due to the ingenious costumes, the versatile sets or the passion of the amateur performers, this was one well-conceived and expertly directed production.
Mon, Aug 03, 2009
For musical theater lovers, seeing a show at the Starlight Theatre in Swope Park is a summer tradition. The beautifully renovated theater boasts restaurants, dancing fountains and a fabulous gift shop. Cotton candy vendors hawk their wares before the curtain goes up creating a carnival atmosphere that fit the show perfectly.
Wed, Jul 15, 2009
Cole Porter might well have been named Cool Porter. More than 70 years after he wrote some of the finest, wittiest, kickiest music and lyrics in the American theatre - make that in American music - his oeuvre remains instantly recognizable and dreamily memorable.
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