RSS 2.0 FeedDecember 30, 2009, Local Arts News, Theatre
Starlight Theatre's 2010 Broadway line-up
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.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The 2010 Broadway season at Starlight Theatre will offer something for everyone. Two national touring productions are sure to be family favorites, while the remaining three shows will appeal to audiences with an affinity for 1960s hit music or a desire to take a comic look behind the scenes of show business.
While Starlight has designed its show lineup to appeal to varied musical tastes, the theatre is making one change next season that is intended to satisfy a request heard from a significant number of patrons responding to its annual audience survey. All shows during the 2010 Starlight season will start at 8 p.m. (rather than the usual 8:30 p.m.).
Three national tours - Little House on the Prairie The Musical, Dreamgirls and Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles - will make their Kansas City debuts at Starlight next summer.
Little House on the Prairie is packing star power, with Melissa Gilbert (who we embraced as the young "Laura Ingalls" on the TV series for 10 years) starring as "Ma." Rounding out the Starlight season are a national tour of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Starlight's own production of Mel Brooks' Tony and Academy Award-winning musical, The Producers.
"We're thrilled to present another season of exceptional Broadway entertainment at Starlight Theatre in 2010," said Denton Yockey, Starlight president and executive producer. "Despite the challenging economy, our audience numbers climbed more than 5 percent in 2009 as Kansas Citians sought quality live entertainment at a reasonable price. And, our early season ticket renewal numbers for 2010 indicate that upward trend may continue. I'm confident everyone will find a favorite among the five shows we've slated for next summer - and, of course, the best choice is to subscribe to the entire season and see all five!"
Opening the 2010 Broadway season at Starlight is the brand-new national tour of Little House on the Prairie, The Musical. The June 22-27 run in Kansas City is one stop on a 25-city tour that began in September and continues through next summer. The touring stage production is based on the stories of the popular Little House on the Prairie book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Set in the 1880s, the show follows the Ingalls family as they and other homesteaders settle new lands opened by the U.S. government in the Dakota Territory.
The supreme sounds of 1960s rhythm and blues will ring out as Starlight presents the new national tour of Dreamgirls on July 20-25. With its powerful score and thought-provoking story, Dreamgirls has touched audiences from 1980s Broadway to 21st century Hollywood. The tour's trio of talented leads features newcomer Moya Angela in the legendary role of Effie, Syesha Mercado as Deena and Adrienne Warren as Lorrell. Launching Nov. 7 at Harlem's world-famous Apollo Theater, the tour also features the song "Listen," originally written for the film, as an updated duet between Deena and Effie in the musical's second act.
Next up is the timeless tale of Disney's Beauty and the Beast on Aug. 10-15. Families will delight in this eye-popping musical spectacle based on Disney's Academy Award-winning animated feature film. Disney's Beauty and the Beast is the classic story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped in a spell placed by an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. Kansas City is one stop on a new national tour that begins in Providence, R.I., in February 2010.
Audiences will howl at the scheming and scamming of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom as they set out to produce a full-fledged Broadway flop in The Producers on Aug. 23-29. The Producers debuted on Broadway in 2001 and promptly took home a record 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Starlight is producing the hit Mel Brooks' musical and plans to hold auditions early next year in both Kansas City and New York for Equity and non-Equity actors for principal and ensemble roles.
Finally, the Starlight 2010 season finishes on a high note with a tribute to one of modern music's legends. On stage Sept. 7-12, Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles follows the Fab Four from Ed Sullivan to Abbey Road in a multimedia, multidimensional live musical experience. Rain features Beatles' music and vocals from five distinctly different eras complete with supporting scene and costume changes.
Starlight's 2010 season ticket renewal campaign got under way in late October with e-mail and direct mail communications to current season subscribers. Advance orders or gift certificates for new season tickets are also available at this time by visiting www.kcstarlight.com, calling 816.363.STAR (7827) or visiting the Starlight box office on weekdays at 4600 Starlight Road, Kansas City, MO 64132. Season ticket packages start at just $50 in the theatre's Side Terrace seating sections. Single tickets to Starlight's 2010 shows will go on sale in May.
Starlight Theatre
Presenting Broadway entertainment since 1951, the non-profit Starlight Theatre Association is Kansas City's oldest and largest performing arts organization. The Association operates, programs and maintains the largest stage in the United States, as well as the 16-acre Starlight Theatre complex.
While assuming all annual operating costs for the complex, the Association also raises funds for capital improvements and a variety of programs, including national Broadway musical performances, concerts, community outreach and education. Since 2000, the Association has contributed more than $25 million of privately funded improvements to the Kansas City, Mo.-owned Starlight Theatre. Each Broadway season, Starlight donates more than 11,000 tickets to its performances to regional non-profit organizations serving the disadvantaged.
In 2009, Starlight Theatre was again selected as the "Favorite Performing Arts Venue or Organization" in the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association's Visitors' Choice Awards program. Starlight also received a Gold Award for "Best Performing Arts Venue" and Silver Award for "Best Theater" in Ingram's 2009 Best of Business Kansas City Awards. The theatre seats approximately 8,000 and is located in Swope Park.
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