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KANSAS CITY THEATER REVIEWS

The latest reviews and critic recommendations from Kansas City
Review: ELVIS AND ELTON TOGETHER at New Theatre Restaurant

Review: ELVIS AND ELTON TOGETHER at New Theatre Restaurant

by Alan Portner — February 22, 2026
“Elvis and Elton Together” rates a big five stars.  Victor Trevino Jr. as Elvis is back and is as good as ever. Sean McGibbben becomes the incredible Elton John.   Victor and Sean wisely introduce themselves as tribute artists rather than impersonators....
Review: HAMILTON at KC Music Hall

Review: HAMILTON at KC Music Hall

by Alan Portner — February 20, 2026
When the musical juggernaut titled “Hamilton” stormed into Kansas City’s gilded Music Hall this week, it arrives not as a relic of mid-2010s hype, but as a living, breathing re-invention of America’s founding fathers. A decade after its Broadway debut, the touring production proves that the ...
Review: THE FANTASTICKS at Music Theater Heritage

Review: THE FANTASTICKS at Music Theater Heritage

by Alan Portner — February 8, 2026
Now “playing” at Music Theatre Heritage inside Crown Center through February 22 is the latest iteration of the most produced modern musical play in history. It is called “The Fantasticks.” If “Fantasticks” is new to you, you are past due for a treat. If you are one of the thousands of p...
Review: RENT at White Theatre At The J

Review: RENT at White Theatre At The J

by Alan Portner — February 3, 2026
A new production of Jonathan Larson’s 1996 Pulitzer Prize Winner RENT, itself a re-interpretation of Puccini’s “La Boheme,” arrives like a time capsule that refuses to stay shut as a first ever co-production of the White Theatre (inside the Jewish Community Center) and Kansas City’s vener...
BWW Review: THE DRUM CLOSET at The Coterie Theatre

BWW Review: THE DRUM CLOSET at The Coterie Theatre

by Andrew Burrill — February 3, 2026
The Drum Closet is a deeply spiritual, urgent, and profoundly human coming-of-age story that resonates far beyond its Midwestern high school setting....
BWW Review: CASEY AND DIANA at Unicorn Theatre

BWW Review: CASEY AND DIANA at Unicorn Theatre

by Andrew Burrill — February 3, 2026
Casey and Diana, now running January 28 through February 15, 2026, is a luminous, heartbreaking, and deeply necessary work of theatre. Written by Nick Green and originally commissioned by the Stratford Festival of Canada, the play was developed to honor the real-life visit of Diana, Princess of Wale...
Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO at Kauffman Center

Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO at Kauffman Center

by Alan Portner — January 22, 2026
“Kimberly Akimbo” is a tiny, idiosyncratic musical with a cast of only nine actors that somehow manages to share the full Broadway experience with its opening night audience at Kansas City’s Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.  ...
Review: NOBODY'S PERFECT at New Theatre & Restaurant

Review: NOBODY'S PERFECT at New Theatre & Restaurant

by Alan Portner — December 1, 2025
Overland Park, KS — The New Theatre & Restaurant has built its reputation on polished, crowd-pleasing comedies, and its latest production of Nobody’s Perfect keeps that tradition humming along with bright energy and old-fashioned farce. This show is a four-hander with a super cast starring Jim O...
BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Kansas City Repertory Theatre

BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Kansas City Repertory Theatre

by Andrew Burrill — November 30, 2025
What did our critic think of A CHRISTMAS CAROL AT KANSAS CITY REPERTORY THEATRE at Kansas City Repertory Theatre – Spencer Theatre, UMKC Campus?...
Review: MAXINE'S CHRISTMAS CAROL A SMASH HIT WITH KANSAS CITY AUDIENCES at The City S

Review: MAXINE'S CHRISTMAS CAROL A SMASH HIT WITH KANSAS CITY AUDIENCES at The City Stage

by Steve Wilson — November 29, 2025
MAXINE’S CHRISTMAS CAROL opened Friday night, November 28th, to an eruption of laughter inside The City Stage, located at Union Station in Kansas City, MO....
Review: AN IMMERSIVE VOYAGE ON TITANIC at Union Station

Review: AN IMMERSIVE VOYAGE ON TITANIC at Union Station

by Alan Portner — November 24, 2025
Titanic… An Immersive Experience. The Exhibit has opened at Union Station for a multi-month run through April of 2026.   The key word is “Immersive.”  “Immersion” means that audience members are meant to feel like they are part of the experience.  The Titanic Immersion Voyage is the n...
Review: & JULIET at Kansas City Music Hall

Review: & JULIET at Kansas City Music Hall

by Alan Portner — November 20, 2025
The national tour of “& Juliet” opened Tuesday night for a run through Sunday at the Kansas City Music Hall with enough voltage to transform the theater into a full-color pop arena.  “& Juliet” is a clever take and reimaging of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”  It is funny.  It is ...
Review: HELLO DOLLY! at The White Theatre

Review: HELLO DOLLY! at The White Theatre

by Alan Portner — November 4, 2025
“Hello, Dolly!” is a crown jewel of American Musical Theatre.  “Dolly” is a jubilant blend of romantic comedy, brassy optimism, and showstopping choreography. Opening night for the White Theatre production of “Dolly” was so surprising and memorable that it earned itself a five-star rat...
Review: ROCKY HORROR SHOW THE CULT CLASSIC OPENS IN KANSAS CITY AT The Grand Theatre

Review: ROCKY HORROR SHOW THE CULT CLASSIC OPENS IN KANSAS CITY AT The Grand Theatre

by Steve Wilson — October 6, 2025
Happy anniversary, Rocky. You turned fifty this year! THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, a cult classic, opened in 1975, two years after the musical stage production opened in the United Kingdom. This is the 10th year that Padgett Productions has produced THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW in Kansas City. It is also...
Review: ALONE TOGETHER at New Theatre Restaurant

Review: ALONE TOGETHER at New Theatre Restaurant

by Alan Portner — September 22, 2025
What Audiences at New Theatre’s new production of “Alone Together” experience an immediate, hilarious sense of “Been There… Done That…” and identify mostly with George and Helene, the lead characters....
Review: STUFF OF DREAMS at The White Theatre

Review: STUFF OF DREAMS at The White Theatre

by Alan Portner — September 20, 2025
“Stuff of Dreams” is a locally written and produced original musical play within a play. It is offered by the writing team of writing team of Barbara Nichols and Krista Eyler. Eyler is also responsible for conjuring the musical score. ...
Review: BOOK OF MORMON at Kansas City Music Hall

Review: BOOK OF MORMON at Kansas City Music Hall

by Alan Portner — September 17, 2025
The national non-Equity tour of The Book of Mormon has landed in Kansas City and if the roar of laughter on opening night is any indication, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Robert Lopez’s irreverent musical comedy hasn’t lost its bite. It is only a gentle elbow at the LDS church. If you can get pas...
Review: DEATHTRAP at Kansas City Actors Theatre

Review: DEATHTRAP at Kansas City Actors Theatre

by Alan Portner — September 15, 2025
Deathtrap is definitely worth your time. Long hailed as Broadway’s longest-running comedy-thriller, Deathtrap masterfully blends sinister suspense with biting wit—truly “two-thirds a thriller and one-third a devilishly clever comedy” from Kansas City Actors Theatre+...
Review: UNCLE VANYA at Kansas City Actors Theatre

Review: UNCLE VANYA at Kansas City Actors Theatre

by Alan Portner — August 13, 2025
The opening night performance of Kansas City Actors’ Theatre production of Antov Checkov’s UNCLE VANYA ended with an enthusiastic standing ovation on City Stage in the lower level of Union Station.  UNCLE VANYA as performed is a modern translation of Anton Checkov’s 1899 classic musing on fam...
Review: EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL Opens at The Warwick

Review: EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL Opens at The Warwick

by Steve Wilson — August 11, 2025
Where can you find outrageous humor, a talking moose, fantastic vocals, a man with a chainsaw instead of a hand, and Candarian Demons? Westport, of course! Where EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL is now playing at the Warwick Theatre on Main. If you don’t find this stage production to be one of the best in Ka...
Review: WEST SIDE STORY at White Theater

Review: WEST SIDE STORY at White Theater

by Alan Portner — July 12, 2025
From its first electrifying notes to its tragic final act, WEST SIDE STORY continues to captivate audiences with its blend of urgent drama, iconic music, and groundbreaking choreography. Each new staging of this classic presents a fresh opportunity to rediscover its timeless tale of love and rivalry...
Review: THE WIZ at KC Music Hall

Review: THE WIZ at KC Music Hall

by Alan Portner — July 9, 2025
A surprising, bright, and entertaining production of THE WIZ opened Tuesday night at Kansas City’s Music Hall to an almost full house for a one week run.  THE WIZ is the season closer for American Theatre Guild’s 2024-2025 season.  I’m not sure what I was expecting with THE WIZ, but I found...
Review: CLUE at New Theatre Restaurant

Review: CLUE at New Theatre Restaurant

by Alan Portner — July 7, 2025
Madcap! Frenetic! Hilarious! It is the New Theatre Restaurant production of CLUE. Clue is a comic murder-mystery tale based on the 1985 film of the same name which was based on the 1949 Parker Brothers board game that just about anyone who grew up in that period will surely have played at some point...
Review: MY FAIR LADY at Theatre In The Park

Review: MY FAIR LADY at Theatre In The Park

by Alan Portner — June 30, 2025
The strength of this production is unquestionably the superior musical treatments, including an excellent orchestra of twenty conducted by     Matt Richardson. Each of the leading characters is about as musically strong as it gets....
Review: JERSEY BOYS at New Theatre & Restaurant

Review: JERSEY BOYS at New Theatre & Restaurant

by Alan Portner — April 28, 2025
JERSEY BOYS at New Theatre Restaurant is a delightful evening out on the town.   The show tells the mostly true story of sixties pop legends Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. This show is an original and fun trip down memory lane with a singing group who offered a unique sound that still resonat...
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