RSS 2.0 FeedOctober 19, 2011, City Stage
Theatre through October
“Nobody Lonesome for Me” at American Heartland Theatre; “Noël and Gertie” at Quality Hill Playhouse; “A Steady Rain” at Central Standard Theatre; “Evil Dead: The Musical” at Egads Theatre Company; “The Year of Magical Thinking” at Spinning Tree Theatre/The Living Room. And later this month: “The History of Kisses” at Kansas City Rep; “Comedy of Asses” at UMKC Theatre; “Four One-Act Plays” at Leawood Stage Co. and more.
For complete Theatre listings through 2011, click here to visit the KC Events calenda
American Heartland Theatre
Nobody Lonesome for Me
Runs September 9 through October 23
For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online at www.ahtkc.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
It's New Year's Eve 1952, and country music legend Hank Williams is stranded in a gas station. During this fateful night Hank shares his wit, his stories and his music. Hank Williams created one of the most enduring musical legacies with classics like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "Cold,Cold Heart", "Jambalaya", and "Your Cheatin' Heart." This revealing look at America's greatest troubadour celebrates his musical genius and exposes his darkest demons. Starring Matthew Brumlow, reprising his much-lauded role as Hank Williams.
Quality Hill Playhouse
Noël and Gertie
Runs September 23 through October 23
For tickets call 816-421-1700 or online at www.qualityhillplayhouse.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Today’s reality TV stars have become celebrities thanks to their ability to wear inappropriate clothes, make inappropriate comments and act … well … inappropriately. In the roaring 20s, celebrities were stars of the stage, gifted with style, comic timing and musical skill. Turn off the TV and turn back the clock to an era of style and elegance as we present Noël and Gertie, a witty and moving portrait of two of the early 20th Century’s greatest stage personalities.
The Theatre Gym
Underneath the Lintel: An Impressive Presentation of Lovely Evidences
Runs Wednesday, October 5 through 23
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.theatregym.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
A librarian unpacks his lovely evidences and gives a lecture about his travels. His obsession to collect the fine on a library book returned after 123 years turns into a blissfully ludicrous vision quest, outrageously funny, madly literate... The clues surface and mount, tease and taunt, and reveal a mystery that transcends the ages.
Central Standard Theatre
A Steady Rain
Runs October 6 through 23
For tickets call 816-516-3159 or online at www.cstkc.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Central Standard Theatre presents A Steady Rain by Keith Huff, a dark duologue filled with sharp storytelling and biting repartee. Directed by Bob Paisley, the play features Forrest Attaway and Scott Cordes and explores the complexities of a
lifelong bond tainted by domestic affairs, violence, and the rough streets of Chicago.
Egads Theatre Company
Evil Dead: The Musical
Runs October 7 through November 4
For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online at www.egadstheatre.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
It’s back (by audience demand)—resurrected just in time for the 2011 Halloween season! Evil Dead: The Musical is an all-singing, all-dancing, gory extravaganza! You don't have to like zombies, horror movies or even musicals to love this show – you only need to like having a "bloody good time"! And you don't have to know Sam Raimi's cult classic horror film series to enjoy this hard-rocking musical comedy as it follows five friends to an old abandoned cabin in the woods where they unwittingly unleash an ancient evil force hell-bent on converting them to Candarian demon zombies. That is, until Ash Williams (an unassuming S-Mart employee) wields a sawed-off shotgun and chainsaw to become a demon killing hero! Evil Dead: The Musical also features a “Splatter Zone” for people who want to truly engage in the real 3-D experience. Join us! For mature audiences only.
Spinning Tree Theatre and The Living Room
The Year of Magical Thinking
Runs October 12 through 23
For tickets call 816-569-5277 or online at www.thelivingroomkc.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Spinning Tree Theatre and The Living Room proudly present the Kansas City premiere of Joan Didion’s dramatic adaptation of her award-winning, bestselling memoir The Year of Magical Thinking. This intimate account of how a highly cerebral, articulate woman endures an inestimable loss confronts mortality head-on. In chronicling the year which begins with the sudden death of her husband and continues with the hope of survival for their only daughter, Didion chronicles her own evolution. The first theatrical production ofThe Year of Magical Thinking opened on Broadway in 2007 starring Vanessa Redgrave. Our production stars one of Kansas City's most celebrated actors, Peggy Friesen, in a tour de force, once-in-a-lifetime performance.
Kansas City Repertory Theatre
The History of Kisses
Copaken Stage
Runs October 21 through November 27
For tickets call 816-235-2700 or online at www.kcrep.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Obie Award-winner David Cale’s Palomino was a critical and audience hit in 2009. He now returns to the Rep with his newest work,The History of Kisses. A writer who sequesters himself in an oceanfront motel to finish his collection of seaside stories is drawn into the romantic and sexual goings-on around him. From the tender confessions of lost lovers, to an obsessed sea-shanty singer, to the surprising encounters that define modern love, The History of Kisses is a passionate and hilarious exploration of what it means to fall in love by the sea.
EMU Theatre at the Lawrence Arts Center
Horrorshow V: “The Last Call of C’thulhu at the Old Arkham Saloon”
Runs October 21 through October 31
For tickets, visit www.emutheatre.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
EMU Theatre of Lawrence is proud to present our fifth annual Halloween production: HORRORSHOW V: “The Last Call of C'thulhu at the Old Arkham Saloon.” The production is a collection of locally written short plays adapted or inspired by the works of seminal horror author, H. P. Lovecraft.
UMKC Theatre
Comedy of Asses
Runs October 21 through October 30
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.umkctheatre.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
This Roman comedy classic still has audiences laughing 2,200 years after it was written by the "Father of Comedy," Titus Maccius Plautus. There will be singing, dancing, pranks, and puns as audiences see the world upside down in this tale of greed and debauchery.
University of Central Missouri Department of Theatre and Dance
Ribbit
Runs October 28 through October 29
For tickets call 660-543-8888 or online at www.ucmo.edu/theatre
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
It's Princess Rina's wedding day, but her betrothed, Prince George, is weighed down by his own ego and doesn't have room for real love. Rina rejects George, and now the king must decree a contest for his daughter's hand. Suitors come from near and far to compete, and one of those suitors is a frog, who is deeply in love with Rina. Will the beautiful princess five a chance to an unattractive frog? Come see this musical version of The Frog Prince story to find out.
Leawood Stage Company
Four One-Act Plays
Runs October 28 through October 30
For tickets call 913-339-6700, ext. 157, or online at www.leawoodstageco.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Dramatic readings of four one-act plays by Morgan Allen, Cathrine Filloux, David Hanson, and Rich Pauli. Event is free to the public and will be held in the Oak Room of Leawood City Hall, 4800 Town Center Drive, Leawood, KS 66211. A question and answer session with the playwrights will follow each performance.
One Night Only
Leawood Arts Council
An Evening with J. Kent Barnhart
Thursday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m.
For tickets call 913-339-6700, ext. 157, or online at www.leawood.org
Leawood Arts Council presents An Evening with J. Kent Barnhart, artistic director of Quality Hill Playhouse.
One Night Only
Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College
Aquila Theatre Company presents Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Thursday, October 27, at 7:00 p.m.
For tickets call 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc.edu/performing-arts-series/events/2011-2012/aquila-theatre-company.html
Aquila breathes fresh life and fire into classic theatre. Shakespeare’s tragic Macbeth centers on a meeting between the victorious Scottish general and three mysterious witches. They promise that he will one day become King of Scotland! What follows is a wild and maddening descent into war, insanity and demons.
One Night Only
Westport Center for the Arts
Henry James’ Turn of the Screw
Friday, October 28, at 7:30 p.m.
For tickets call 816-931-1032 or online at www.westportcenterforthearts.org
Westport Center for the Arts presents Henry James’ classic “ghost” story “The Turn of the Screw” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28 at Westport Presbyterian Church, 201 Westport Road. Actors Robert Gibby Brand, Suzanne Welch and Nancy Marcy will recount the 1898 tale set in a rural English house of a young governess, two adorable and precocious children and the ghosts of a valet and former governess, which display a keen interest in the children. Organist Geoffrey Wilcken will provide musical accompaniment for the performance.
One Night Only
Lied Center of Kansas
The Intergalactic Nemesis
Saturday, October 29, at 7:30 p.m.
For tickets call 785-864-2787 or online at www.lied.ku.edu/events/intergalactic.shtml
The year is 1933. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Molly Sloan, her intrepid assistant Timmy Mendez, and a mysterious librarian named Ben Wilcott face the most serious threat Earth has ever known: an impending invasion of sludge monsters from the planet Zygon. This period-sci-fi-horror-suspense-comedy-romance for the whole family is performed in an innovative, multimedia presentation. While three actors, one Foley artist and one keyboardist provide all the voices, sound effects and music, more than 1,250 hand-drawn, full-color, blow-your-mind comic book images are projected on a screen, telling the larger-than-life story.
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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