Kansas City Actors Theatre Announces 2018-2019 Season

The Kansas City Actors Theatre is proud to announce its lineup of plays for 2018-2019 at the H&R Block City Stage in Union Station and the Spencer Theater on UMKC's campus. This is the company's 14th season of productions showcasing Kansas City's own top theatre professionals.

KCAT's 14th season brings notable classic authors and several firsts for the company, including their first premiere of an original adaptation with "Dracula" and the return of Brian Paulette as Eugene O'Neill's Jamie Tyrone, who was last seen in KCAT's production of "A Long Day's Journey into Night" in 2013. Be prepared to laugh, gasp, and cry as KCAT presents their slate of actor-focused classics that remain just as entertaining and relevant today as when they were first produced.

Blithe Spirit

By Noel Coward

Directed by Doug Weaver

August 8-26, 2018

City Stage at Union Station

When successful novelist Charles Condomine hires a psychic as research for his new book, he ends up encountering the unexpected - the ghost of his first wife! Now he must balance his new (and very much alive!) wife with an increasingly incensed ghost in this witty comedy of manners from Noel Coward. Widely considered a theatrical masterpiece, and certainly Coward's most spooky story, this smart and supernatural comedy is filled with rich characters, as well as a few spirited and theatrical surprises. Featuring Coleman Crenshaw, Matt Rapport, Jan Rogge, Cinnamon Schultz, Vanessa Severo, Margaret Shelby, and Cheryl Weaver.

A Moon for the Misbegotten

By Eugene O'Neill

Directed by Mark Robbins

September 12-30, 2018

City Stage at Union Station

Kansas City Actors Theatre returns to the Tyrone family from our 2013 production "A Long Day's Journey Into Night" in Eugene O'Neill's final play, "A Moon for the Misbegotten." KCAT artist Brian Paulette re-inhabits the role of Jamie Tyrone as he visits a recently-inherited tenement farm. There he connects with the salty Irish farmer Phil Hogan and his larger than life daughter, Josie. In a moving exploration of humanity at its basest and most beautiful, Jamie fights to come to grips with what he perceives to be his wasted life. A rare sympathetic turn from the Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning O'Neill, this play offers powerful reflections on desire, family, and sacrifice. Also Ashley Pankow, Victor Raider-Wexler, Chris Roady, and Charlie Spillers.

Dracula

By Mitch Brian, newly adapted from the novel by Bram Stoker

Directed by John Rensenhouse

A co-production with UMKC Theatre

October 12-21, 2018

Sensuous. Seductive. Sinister. Kansas City Actors Theatre presents its first-ever original production in this fresh adaptation, commissioned by Kansas City Actors Theatre, of Bram Stoker's gothic classic, "Dracula." Produced in partnership with UMKC Theatre, this classic tale of obsession and desire arrives just in time for the Halloween season. Directed by John Rensenhouse after his record-breaking KCAT production of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" last season, "Dracula" promises wickedly delicious fun, thrills, theatrical magic, and intense performances. Featuring Josh LeBrun, Kip Niven, Khalif Gillett, Emilie Karas, Chelsea Kinser, Jason Francescon, Yetunde Felix-Ukwu, Freddy Acevedo, Marianne McKenzie, Lauren Moore, and Dayton Hollis.

Death and the Maiden

By Ariel Dorfman

Directed by Cinnamon Schultz

January 9-27, 2019

A one-time political prisoner now living in insolation is convinced she recognizes the voice of a good Samaritan as that of the tormentor from her captivity. Can it truly be the same man? At once global and intimate, this bracing Olivier Award-winning play that has become a contemporary classic considers both the social and personal implications of abuse and retribution that remain relevant today. Directed by Cinnamon Schultz after her deeply felt production of Sam Shepard's "A Lie of the Mind" last season, this gripping story of guilt, suspicion, and revenge will be unforgettable. Featuring Vanessa Davis, Rusty Sneary, and Robert Gibby Brand.

Season subscriptions are available now at www.kcactors.org or by calling the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222.

The Kansas City Actors Theatre is an artist-driven, artist-led company showcasing top talent among Kansas City's professional theatre community with classic and modern-classic plays. Democratically managed by a group of theatre professionals and community members standing side by side, the Kansas City Actors Theatre is now entering its 14th year.