
Alan Portner
Theatre Journalist Alan Portner has written 675 articles for BroadwayWorld since 2015, covering Kansas City Theatre.
Al Portner is regional editor for Broadway World – Kansas City. He is a retired career journalist and media executive who has written for publication over more than 40 years. Portner has published daily newspapers in venues as far east as Washington DC, as far west as Honolulu HI.
About Alan Portner
- First Show
- The first musical I saw on Broadway was 1776 with the original cast.
- Favorite Show
- My favorite show current recent show is Phantom Of The Opera
Favorite Stories
- BWW Review: AN EVENING WITH SIERRA BOGGESS at Musical Theater Heritage - Because of the presence of Ms. Boggess' parents in a small space environment, I felt like the veil dropped and we saw a glimpse of who this excellent performer really is as a person. I was able to feel the relationship of this family in relation to my own children.
- BWW Review: BETWEEN THE LINES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre - BETWEEN THE LINES was a Pre-Broadway tryout production performed in front of the Broadway creative team. The show has yet to open in New York, but it remains clever and engaging. It also generated Broadway World reads at a rate four or five times what would normally be expected in a market of about two million.
- The Last Romance at New Theatre Restaurant - THE LAST ROMANCE marked the final teaming of Charley Robinson and Michael Learned. Both were charming in a super venue.
- Review: HADESTOWN at Kansas City Music Hall - The touring company of HADESTOWN featured a complex and thoughtful exploration of an ancient myth transported into another, but indefinite point in time. It was early in the run and a super cast was still extremely excited about performing something new. I personally enjoyed sharing uncommon background material that hoped to enhance the audience experience.
- BWW Review: CATS at Musical Theater Heritage - CATS is not a favorite musical play. This particular production, however, featured a director who disassembled the entire show and rebuilt it with young, talented actors for a small theater and limited costume/makeup. It was an especially involving experience.
Most Popular Articles


Review: JOHN PROCTOR IS A VILLAIN at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
October 12, 2026

Review: BEETLEJUICE THE MUSICAL at Starlight Theatre
October 3, 2026

Review: NOBODY'S PERFECT at New Theatre & Restaurant
December 1, 2025

Review: ELVIS AND ELTON TOGETHER at New Theatre Restaurant
February 22, 2026

Review: AN IMMERSIVE VOYAGE ON TITANIC at Union Station
November 24, 2025
Latest Articles

Review: BEETLEJUICE THE MUSICAL at Starlight Theatre
October 3, 2026
How appropriate is it that the musical version of “Beetlejuice” should materialize at Starlight Theatre on the cusp of the Halloween and just before of the Mexican “Day of the Dead?” Our Starlight audience loved it! Beetlejuice is a show that screams for “Dad” jokes or other

Interview: Leianna Weaver (Lydia) of BEETLEJUICE at Starlight Theatre
September 26, 2026
Beetlejuice the Musical will be the final 2026 summer touring performance of the 2026 Broadway series at Starlight Threatre.

Review: THE HALLELUJAH GIRLS at New Theatre & Restaurant
September 23, 2026
If laughter is truly the best medicine, the women of Eden Falls, Georgia, have opened exactly the right kind of health spa.

Review: EUREKA DAY at City Stage
September 15, 2026
It had taken me a day or two to absorb Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day both well-acted and well-produced by Kansas City Actor’s Theatre in the City Theatre space of Union Station.

Review: DISNEY'S NEWSIES at Starlight Theater
September 9, 2026
Disney’s Newsies does not merely seize the day.

Review: KC Rep's COME FROM AWAY at Spencer Theatre
September 8, 2026
Kansas City Repertory Theater’s new production of “Come From Away” is top notch in every possible way.

Review: THE SHARK IS BROKEN at The Warwick Theatre
August 17, 2026
“The Shark Is Broken” is a fascinating invite into a hidden world that informs us how the sausage gets made when it comes to mega-hit films.

Review: WICKED at Kansas City Music Hall
August 17, 2026
Musical theater reviewers infrequently and pleasantly rediscover an old friend.

Review: SPAMALOT at Starlight Theatre
August 5, 2026
The current national tour of Monty Python's Spamalot opened at Starlight Theatre on Tuesday evening August 4, for a weeklong residency.

Review: LEGALLY BLOND, THE MUSICAL at New Theatre Restauant
July 19, 2026
You will never see a production of “Legally Blond, the musical” better performed or sung or danced than what you can see currently running at New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park.

Review: DISNEY'S FROZEN at White Theatre
July 15, 2026
This joint White Theatre and Coterie production succeeds with dazzling sets, super special effects, the best pit band I have heard in many years, and a cast who seems determined to wring every bit of value out of the playscript and the score that is there.

Review: A.J. CHRIS COMEDY at Clint's Comedy Club
July 13, 2026
The show I saw last week on Wednesday, July 8, featured three warm-up acts and Ayrn performing under the stage name A.

Interview: Marilu Henner of CACTUS FLOWER at New Theater & Restaurant
May 17, 2026
Marilu Henner is currently starring as Stephanie Dickinson in Cactus Flower at The New Theatre & Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas.

Review: DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR at Unicorn Theatre
May 11, 2026
It is not often that Kansas City audiences get the chance to see the “World Premiere” engagement of a new comedy from an award-winning Broadway performer and playwright.

Review: CACTUS FLOWER at New Theatre Restaurant
May 4, 2026
The air at New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park is thick with the scent of high-end buffet favorites and the electric hum of a sold-out crowd.

Review: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION at The Warwick Theater
April 27, 2026
A full auditorium of just over a hundred patrons filed into the newly renovated Warwick Theater for a re-imagination of Stephen King’s “The Shawshank Redemption.

Review: STEREOPHONIC at Kauffman Center
April 9, 2026
Think of the greatest songs you’ve never heard - the soaring melodies, the unexpected anthems, the driving beats, the lyrics that speak to a feeling you didn’t know could be expressed in words.
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