Alan Portner
Al Portner is a retired career journalist and media executive. He has written for publication over more than 40 years. He has published daily newspapers in venues as far east as Washington DC, as far west as Honolulu HI, and a number of communities in between. His new book on the literary partnership of Ulysses Grant and Mark Twain will be available in 2018.
BWW Review: CATS at Musical Theater Heritage
BWW Previews: NEWSIES at White Theatre
BWW Review: DIRTY DANCING at Starlight Theatre
BWW Review: A CHORUS LINE at Kauffman Center For The Performing Arts
BWW Review: SKYLIGHT at Kansas City Actors Theatre
BWW Review: HIR at Unicorn Theatre
BWW Review: SINATRA'S SONGWRITER at Quality Hill Playhouse
BWW Review: BETWEEN THE LINES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
BWW Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN at Starlight Theatre
BWW Review: BREAKNECK JULIUS CAESAR at 2017 KC Fringe Festival
BWW Review: GREASE at Starlight Theatre
BWW Review: MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at New Theatre Restaurant
BWW Review: SWEENEY TODD at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
BWW Review: SISTER ACT at New Theatre Restaurant
BWW Review: SOUTH PACIFIC at Theatre In The ParkJune 24, 2018
'South Pacific' at the huge 'Theatre In The Park' outdoor amphitheater is a super community theater rendition of the Rogers and Hammerstein 1949 ground-breaking classic. The scene is a tiny island on the stepping stone chain of Polynesian Islands being retaken by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps following the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941.
BWW Review: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at Heart Of America Shakespeare FestivalJune 21, 2018
The 2018 edition of the "Heart of America Shakespeare Festival" offers a very nice production of Shakespeare's 1599 comedy "Much Ado About Nothing." "Much Ado" is a comedy/farce in many ways similar to other Shakespearian comedies "Taming of the Shrew," and "The Merchant of Venice." All three plays depend on misdirection and romances somehow gone way awry.
BWW Previews: NEWSIES at White TheatreJune 14, 2018
Next up at the White Theatre is a joint production with Crown Center's Coterie Theatre of Disney's Newsies; a live stage musical version of the 1992 musical film. Newsies recalls the real-life newsboys' strike of 1899.
BWW Review: SINATRA'S SONGWRITER at Quality Hill PlayhouseJune 12, 2018
J. Kent Barnhart's Quality Hill Playhouse trots out another of his patented cabaret style revues, "Sinatra's Songwriter." This revue celebrates Sammy Cahn, the longtime lyricist and songwriter for legendary crooner Frank Sinatra. If the well loved music of the long Sammy Cahn-Frank Sinatra collaboration pings at your heartstrings, then this cabaret show is for you.
BWW Review: CATS at Musical Theater HeritageJune 11, 2018
Musical Theater Heritage presents a super re-imagination of Andrew Lloyd Weber's 1982 'Cats.' This show is a two magical hours that will be savored by its audiences. Director Tim Scott has built a team of designers, actors, dancers, and musicians who would be tough to match on any stage. 'Cats' is total ensemble producing.
BWW Review: DIRTY DANCING at Starlight TheatreJune 6, 2018
This week at Starlight Theatre; 'Dirty Dancing.' If you are a die-hard fan of the 1987 film "Dirty Dancing," the live-on-stage version of the film might be the "Time of Your Life." For others, not so much.
BWW Review: HIR at Unicorn TheatreJune 4, 2018
Unicorn Theatre bills itself as a venue for "Bold New Plays." Its current production, 2014s "Hir" (pronounced "Here") by the playwright Taylor Mac certainly fits in with that expressed goal. Hir" bills itself as a dark family comedy performed as absurd reality. It is funny in places and tragic in others. It blows up traditional values in favor of being on the leading edge of change.
BWW Review: A CHORUS LINE at Kauffman Center For The Performing ArtsMay 30, 2018
The original Broadway production of 1975s 'A Chorus Line' ran 6,137 performances because it caught something true and sometimes sad about all those people who labor in the background of musical theater. This new iteration produced by 'Big League Productions,' a non-equity tour company, captures something of the original.
BWW Review: SKYLIGHT at Kansas City Actors TheatreMay 29, 2018
Kansas City Actors Theatre "Skylight" by British playwright David Hare features excellent performances in a top-caliber production running now through June 10th at the H&R Block City Stage inside Union Station. "Skylight" relates a single evening in the life of three people as they relive and reexamine a complicated relationship history.
BWW Review: ON YOUR FEET! at Starlight TheatreMay 24, 2018
Fans of Gloria and Emilio Estefan and their Miami Sound Machine are in for a treat with the touring version of their musical 'On Your Feet!' now playing through Sunday as Starlight Theatre in Swope Park. 'On Your Feet' kicks off Starlight's 2018 summer Broadway season.
BWW Review: SISTER ACT at New Theatre RestaurantMay 4, 2018
For a really, enjoyable evening, don't miss New Theatre Restaurant's musicalized version of the 1992 film comedy 'Sister Act' with a great score by Alan Menken and Glen Slater. Here is a show with a cast that features absolutely NO WEAK SISTERS. Seldom does an audience get to sit back and simply smile. You know what is coming and it is still fun.
BWW Review: THE BARBER OF SEVILLE at Lyric Opera Of Kansas CityApril 29, 2018
Lyric Opera's production of 'The Barber of Seville' or 'The Useless Precaution' by Rossini opened Saturday evening at the Kauffman Center in the first of four performances. As is usual for the Lyric, this 'Barber' is slyly updated from the original 1816 version first performed in Rome.
BWW Review: BELFAST GIRLS at Fishtank TheatreApril 26, 2018
Running through April 29, is a handsomely mounted production of Irish playwright Jacki McCarrick's "Belfast Girls" presented by Fishtank Theatre at the tiny La Esquina Theater. A cast of eight young women recalls the Earl Grey "Orphan Immigrant Scheme" which facilitated the resettlement of around 4100 young women from famine torn Ireland to the new colony of Australia between 1848 and 1851.
BWW Review: ONCE ON THIS ISLAND at Spinning Tree TheatreApril 22, 2018
The Spinning Tree Theatre production of 'Once On This Island' at the Off Broadway Theatre is ninety minutes of your life worth devoting to some excellent vocal performances and some great dance. The plotline is a little involved, but the experience is so much fun you don't care.
BWW Review: JACK AND THE BEAN MAGICO at The CoterieApril 21, 2018
'The Coterie Theatre' has opened a new and clever retelling of the classic 1734 English fairy tale about a boy, a giant, and a magic beanstalk. For adults, the enduring charm of 'The Coterie' is seeing a gaggle of squirmy preschoolers and primary schoolers morph into a rapt and respectful audience as soon as house lights begin to dim. The kids sit in bunches on the carpeted floor next to the stage and chatter and wrestle (sometimes restrained by concerned parents - sometimes not) waiting for the show to begin.
BWW Review: BAND GEEKS at Faust TheatreApril 20, 2018
Zach Faust's second year community theater company opened its new show, 'Band Geeks' May 19th at the Black Box Theatre inside The Johnson County Heritage Center for a three day run. A young cast tells the story of the forlorn, stereotypical members of a marginalized high school marching band from Ohio.
BWW Review: THE MASCOT at Living Room TheatreApril 8, 2018
Chicago playwright Jerry Hickey offers a first-time production of his pleasant and entertaining new play entitled 'The Mascot' at 'The Living Room Theatre' in the Crossroads near downtown KC.
BWW Review: SWEENEY TODD at Kansas City Repertory TheatreMarch 31, 2018
An outstanding cast opened Kansas City Repertory Theatre's new production of Steven Sondheim's 1979 'Sweeny Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' at the Spencer Theater on the UMKC campus. KC Rep Artistic Director Eric Rosen does more than justice to Sondheim's incredible operatic score and the dynamic libretto by Hugh Wheeler.
BWW Review: LET IT BE at Kauffman Center For The Performing ArtsMarch 26, 2018
The Beatles (or the next best thing existing) played KC's Kauffman Center this past weekend. The ersatz Fab Four treated a full auditorium to fifty-five memorable Beatles' melodies during their 2012 re-creation entitled 'Let It Be.'
BWW Previews: 2018 THEATRE IN THE PARKMarch 22, 2018
Casts for Theatre In The Park 2018 five-summer productions to be performed at the Shawnee Mission Park amphitheater have been announced and are beginning their rehearsal periods. Theatre In The Park is the nation's largest audience capacity community theater facility.
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