RSS 2.0 FeedDecember 7, 2011, City Stage
Theatre through mid-December
“Seussical” at the Coterie Theatre; “The Marvelous Wonderettes” at American Heartland Theatre; “Christmas in Song” at Quality Hill Playhouse; “Mother Goose’s Christmas Crimes!” at Martin City Melodrama & Vaudeville Co.; “A Christmas Carol” at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; “A Spectacular Christmas, in Concert” at Musical Theatre Heritage; “White Christmas” at Theatre Lawrence; “Beau Jest” at The White Theatre at the Jewish Community Center; and more.
For complete Theatre listings through 2011, click here to visit the KC Events calendar.
The Coterie Theatre
Seussical
Runs November 1 through December 31
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online at www.coterietheatre.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
The plot of Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches the Egg are tunefully interwoven in this widely celebrated and critically acclaimed celebration of Dr. Seuss. The Coterie was credited in the New York Times for originating this version "for all ages"... a true family classic!
American Heartland Theatre
The Marvelous Wonderettes
Runs November 4 through December 24
For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online at www.ahtkc.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Everyone wants the perfect prom night, but when the Crooning Crab Cakes from the Glee Club fail to show up to the 1958 Springfield High Prom, it's up to The Wonderettes to save the night! Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts and voices to match! You've never had so much fun at the prom as you're treated to classic 50's and 60's songs as "Lollipop", "Dream Lover", "Stupid Cupid", "Lipstick on Your Collar," "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me", "It's My Party," "It's In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)" and so many more!
Quality Hill Playhouse
Christmas in Song
Runs November 18 through December 24
For tickets call 816-421-1700 or online at www.qualityhillplayhouse.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Join us for holiday cheer at "Kansas City's most consistently stirring Christmas show for 15 years" (The Pitch). The beauty and wonder of the Christmas season come alive through its songs in this revue that features a unique blend of music. From the sacred and traditional – “Joy To the World!,” “Carol of the Bells” and “O Holy Night” – to the popular – “White Christmas,” “Grown-Up Christmas List” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” this show has something for everyone. There's even a surprise recipe for a dessert that is sure to become a perennial favorite on your holiday table!
Martin City Melodrama & Vaudeville Co.
Mother Goose’s Christmas Crimes!
Runs November 19 through January 1
For tickets call 913-642-7576 or online at www.martincitymelodrama.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Set to the rousing melodies of some of the best know classical—and not so classical composers, Mother Goose’s Christmas Crimes! Unravel for yourself the crime of the century in this outrageous, offbeat opera. Features the perennial audience favorite, the Water Glass Symphony, Charlie the Wonder Dog, along with other seasonal silliness to get you in the holiday spirit.
Kansas City Repertory Theatre
A Christmas Carol
Spencer Theatre
Runs November 19 through December 26
For tickets call 816-235-2700 or online at www.kcrep.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
In honor of last year’s 30th anniversary of A Christmas Carol, our venerable holiday production received a “make over.” While staying true to the original Rep show we all love, the set was rebuilt to include a revolving stage and other theatre magic that surprised and delighted audiences. For more than three decades the Rep’s enchanting holiday show has captured the true meaning of Christmas for many Kansas City families, who year after year are inspired by its strong family values and message of hope and redemption.
Musical Theater Heritage
A Spectacular Christmas, in Concert
Runs December 1 through 18
For tickets, call 816-842-9999 or online at www.mthkc.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Come experience a Christmas show like never before...in an intimate setting, featuring Kansas City’s top performers. Songs will be sung and stories will be told, gently tugging at your heart strings to reveal the true feeling of Christmas.
Theatre Lawrence
White Christmas
Runs December 2 through 18
For tickets, call 785-843-7469 or online at www.theatrelawrence.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Bring the whole family to this heartwarming musical adaptation of a beloved and timeless film that features seventeen Irving Berlin songs. World War II Army vets with romance on their minds and comedy in their bones, find themselves in a lodge owned by their former commander. The dazzling score features "Blue Skies," "I Love A Piano," "How Deep Is the Ocean" and the perennial favorite, "White Christmas."
The White Theatre at the Jewish Community Center
Beau Jest
Runs December 3 through 11
For tickets call 913-327-8054 or online at www.jcckc.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Sarah is a nice Jewish girl. Her parents want her to marry a nice Jewish boy. They have not met her protestant boyfriend, so Sarah says she is dating a Jewish doctor and hires an escort service to supply the ficitition Dr. Steinberg for a family seder. Sarah's parents are delighted with her "choice" and, eventually, so is she, forcing her to face revealing the truth.
Unicorn Theatre
The Salvation of Iggy Scrooge
Runs December 3 through 24
For tickets call 816-531-7529, ext. 10 or online at www.unicorntheatre.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
A cross between the Dickens classic and a rollicking trip down pop culture memory lane, this is a phantasmagorical evening of irreverent Christmas cheer. Iggy is a burned out rock-n-roll superstar who snarls through Christmas Eve until a top of the charts group of ghosts shows up: rock legends Bob Marley, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley come to set his warped values straight. This crazy Christmas offering was first seen at the Unicorn in 1998.
Central Standard Theatre
“British Invasion 2011”
Runs December 8 through 18
For tickets, call 816-516-4422 or online at cstkc.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
For the second year now, direct from the Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, nine shows will be presented over two weekends, bringing the best world theatre to Kansas City. This dynamic 10 days will also feature workshops and panel discussions. All these shows will be presented in repertory - different shows every in performance. While Shylock and September in the Rain are full length productions with intermissions, the rest are approximately 70 minutes in length and will be presented in pairs throughout the Invasion. Catch your favorite or catch them all.
Paul Mesner Puppets
The Nativity
Runs December 9 through 11
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.paulmesnerpuppets.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Come see beautiful seven-foot puppets gracefully move through the aisles of the Cathedral with musical and chorale accompaniment as live actors narrate this familiar tale. The larger -than-life characters are brought to life by puppeteers, movement artists, and volunteers who perform this eternal story of grace and love. Performed at Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral at 13th & Broadway in downtown Kansas City, MO.
The Theatre Gym
The Fox On The Fairway
Runs December 15 through 30, at Just Off Broadway
For tickets, call 816-235-6222 or online at www.theatregym.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
A tribute from Ken Ludwig (Lend Me A Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo) to the great English farces of the 1930s and 1940s, Ken Ludwig’s The Fox On the Fairway takes audiences on a hilarious romp that pulls the rug out from underneath the stuffy denizens of a private country club. Filled with mistaken identities, slamming doors, and over-the-top romantic shenanigans, it's a furiously-paced comedy that recalls the Marx Brothers' classics. In December, this romp will be a terrific alternative to the usual Christmas fare and overwhelm players and audiences alike with sheer delight.
One Night Only
Jewell Theatre
Jewell Theatre Showcase-Fall Edition
Wednesday, December 7, at 7:00 p.m.
For tickets call 913-415-7590.
Students enrolled in theatre courses perform and display work from their classes. Free Admission!
For complete Theatre listings through 2011, click here to visit the KC Events calendar.
Senior Editor, Theatre; Theatre and Features Contributor
Victor Wishna is a writer, editor, and author, among other things. A graduate of Stanford University and the New School's creative writing MFA program, he has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Baltimore Sun, the Miami Herald, the Kansas City Star, Humanities, and other major magazines and newspapers. He contributes a weekly real estate feature to the New York Post and his column “Letter from New York” is syndicated nationally.
With photographer Ken Collins, he published In Their Company: Portraits of American Playwrights (Umbrage Editions, 2006), for which he conducted and edited interviews with 61 prominent stage writers including Edward Albee, August Wilson, Tony Kushner, Wendy Wasserstein, and many others. The book won a 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards Silver Medal (www.intheircompany.com).
He has always maintained a love for theatre, as a writer, an audience member, and even an actor, appearing in several community and semi-professional productions. As an undergraduate, he studied acting and playwriting with Anna Deavere Smith, in addition to journalism and psychology (and not engineering or medicine).
After nearly 12 years in New York City, Victor recently returned to his hometown with his wife, Annie, also a K.C. native. When not writing for publication or pleasure, Victor is honing his stand-up routine, which he has performed at numerous clubs and special events around New York, the Midwest, and elsewhere. In June 2010, he was named New York’s second-funniest amateur Jewish comedian by The Jewish Week. Seriously.
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