KCMETROPOLIS.org
Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

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!

Read the KCM review here.

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! 

Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre
All My Sons
Runs November 16 through December 4 at MET Space
For tickets call 816-569-3226 or online at www.metkc.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times

This quintessential American family drama by one of America’s greatest playwrights, Arthur Miller, tells the story of Joe Keller,a man who loves his family above all else, and has sacrificed everything, including his honor, in his struggle to make the family prosperous. He is now sixty-one. He has lost one son in the war, and is keen to see his remaining son, Chris, marry. Chris wishes to marry Ann, the former fiancée of his brother, Larry. Their mother, Kate, believes Larry still to be alive. It is this belief which has enabled her, for three and a half years, to support Joe by concealing her knowledge of a dreadful crime he has committed. Directed by Karen Paisley, the cast includes James, Wright, Licia Watson, Taylor St.John, Natalie Liccardello, Doogin Brown, Matt Griggs, Courney Stephens, and Angel Reese. 

Read the KCM review here.

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!

Read the KCM review here.

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."

Kansas City Young Audiences
A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol
Runs December 3 through 4
For tickets call 816-531-4022 or online at www.kcya.org 

Kansas City Young Audiences (KCYA) will conclude its 50^th Anniversary year with a concert-style performance of Gayden Wren’s A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol, directed by Linda Ade Brand. Performances will be on Saturday, December 3, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 4, at 2 p.m., in the Music and Arts Building at St. Teresa’s Academy, 5601 Wyandotte. Tickets are $15 in advance and can be ordered by calling 816-531-4022. Tickets are $20 at the door. A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol is the Dickens’ story with melodies from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, given alternative lyrics by Gayden Wren, entertainment editor for The New York Times. The result is a 90 minute family show that has mor tra-la-las than "Bah Bumbugs." This holiday performance features Kip Niven as Scrooge, Deb Bluford as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Rick Truman as Tiny Tim. Other Cast members include kevin Albert, Jeanne Averill, Lori Blalock, Victoria Botero, Amy Cahill, Richard Gibson, Larry Greer, Cynthia Hyer, Joshua Lawlor, Brian Steele, Sylvia Stoner, William Grey Warren, Joe Winans and Toby Wright. All proceeds will benefit Kansas City Young Audiences.

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
Westport Center for the Arts
A Christmas Carol
Saturday, December 3, at 7:30 p.m.
For tickets call 816-701-3481, ext. 3, or online at www.westportcenterforthearts.org 

Westport Center for the Arts stages its annual live reading of Charles Dickens’ first and most famous Christmas book, “A Christmas Carol” at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 3 at Westport Presbyterian Church, 201 Westport Road. Kansas City actors Robert Gibby Brand, Jennifer Mays, Tosin Morohunfola and Jeanne Murphy will present the classic holiday ghost story following the tradition established by Dickens – without costumes, props or sets. The author read an abbreviated version of the story to audiences during reading tours of Great Britain and on his second and final tour of the United States in 1867-1868.

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.

By Victor Wishna

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.