KANSAS CITY THEATER REVIEWS

"It couldn't be better, unless it was longer . . ." was a comment heard from the audience at the hilarious opening of The Grand Illusion, a Kansas City Fringe Festival 2015 offering produced by Egads! Theatre Company. The Grand Illusion plays on the stage at the Arts Asylum located at 1000 E. 9th S...

Best Light a new play by Michelle T. Johnson is currently playing at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. Teresa Leggard directs the production, which is part of the Kansas City Fringe Festival. Jose Faus provides the art used on stage as part of the production....

Sue Aside . . . a new dark comedy by Vicki Vodrey produced by Lot in Life Productions and the Phoenix KC Theatre currently plays at the Just Off Broadway Theatre for the Kansas City Fringe Festival. Warren Decker, Producing Director of Phoenix KC Theatre, directs the production, which runs through ...

All things ghoulish, macabre, ghastly, and a little bit frightening are alive and well living within the walls of the Addams Family home. The only place to see this outrageous musical comedy is at the New Theatre in Overland Park. Richard Carrothers directs The Addams Family a New Musical running ...

A delightful production of Shrek the Musical opened Saturday night July 11 at the White Theatre in the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kan. Tim Bair directs the production in conjunction with Theater in the Park. The musical plays through July 26 at the White Theatre and then moves to Th...

The Taste Test by Kansas City playwright Frank Higgins is currently playing at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City. The Taste Test is a Phoenix KC Theatre production in partnership with KC MeltingPot Theatre. Warren Deckert is director and designer for the play, which closes June 27....

"That song alone is worth the price of a ticket." That comment was made by an audience member after Daniel Beeman and the cast of Musical Monday performed "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the close of Act I for Musical Monday and Tuesday. Tim Scott produced and directs the tribute to Stephen Sondheim and th...

This toad will not give you warts, but he will make your side hurt from laughing so hard. A Year with Frog and Toad opened on Friday June 19 at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. Based on the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel with music by Robert Reale, book and lyrics by his brother ...

Once, the humorous modern musical, opened on Tuesday June 16 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri. The love story only needs to be seen Once to appreciate the beauty and charm of the captivating tale. Once is based on the motion picture written and directed by Jo...

A Little Bit Wicked, the Music of Stephen Schwartz presented by the Heartland Men's Chorus played Saturday June 13 and Sunday June 14 at the Folly Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. A Little Bit Wicked was the final show of the 29th season of the Heartland Men's Chorus....

The critically acclaimed Tribes continues at the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri through June 28, on the Levin Stage. Theodore Swetz directs the humorous British drama written by Nina Raine, which made its world premiere in 2010 at London's Royal Court Theatre. Tribes opened in 2012 Off-B...

Opening night of Jesus Christ Superstar on Saturday June 5 proves why Musical Theater Heritage is the Kansas City Superstar of musical theater. Directed by Musical Director Sarah Crawford the rock opera with lyrics by Tim Rice and Music by Andrew Lloyd Weber surpasses any musical performance this ye...

With the daily downpours in Kansas City, the only way to see a full moon is in the audience of The Full Monty at the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre. Karen Paisley directs the comical musical with book by Terrence McNally, music and lyrics by David Yazbeth, and musical direction by Loren Bridge. The...

How do you tell if a musical is a success? The answer is easy, it is a success when at intermission, you walk into the restroom, one person is whistling, and two are humming songs from the show. That is what happens with the Quality Hill Playhouse production of Judy, Barbara, Liza at the Playhouse...

Mother Freaking Hood! is not a play anyone should see once, because that is not near enough times to catch all the humor that causes the audience to erupt with laughter throughout the two-act play. Mother Freaking Hood! opened on Saturday May 30 at the Goppert Theatre inside Avila College in Kansas...

Imaginative and innovative use of multi-media makes Six Degrees of Separation a unique must see at The Barn Players in Mission, Kansas. David Martin directs Six Degrees of Separation, written by John Guare, which opened on Friday March 29 and runs through June 14. Vida Bikales, President of The Ba...

Down the Road, a magnificent production of Andy Perkins continues at the Buffalo Room located inside the Westport Flea Market in Kansas City, Missouri. Lee Blessing wrote Down the Road a social-issue drama that unfolds inside a motel room and a prison. He has written two other social-issue dramas ...

Take a shower, put on your best duds, but do not forget the Hairspray now playing at The New Theatre in Overland Park, Kansas. Hairspray with book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman runs through July 12. Dennis D. Hennessy direc...

With enchanting beauty and grace, the Kansas City Ballet brings Dances Daring (Then and Now) to the stage of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. From the moment of the first curtain rising, to the fall of the final curtain the beautifully crafted and performed movements of the four-part ba...

Mike Bartlett's dark comedy Cock continues on the Jerome Stage at The Unicorn Theatre through May 17. Jeff Church directs the Unicorn production with a title that may be a turn-on or turn-off, but one that definitely gets everyone's attention. Produced on the intimate Jerome stage the play utilize...

What They Did For Love: The Songs of Marvin Hamlisch and Burt Bacharach continues at the Quality Hill Playhouse, 303 W. 10th, through May 17. J. Kent Barnhart, Producing Artistic Director of the Playhouse, accompanies Melinda MacDonald, Tim Noland, and LeShea Wright, on piano and vocally. Barnhart...

As spectacular as the lights of the Aurora Borealis, that is how Spinning Tree Theatre lit up the stage on opening night of Fiddler on the Roof at the Just Off Broadway Theatre. Jerry Bock wrote the music, Sheldon Harnick the lyrics, and Joseph Stein the book for Fiddler on the Roof, a musical base...

Musical Monday closes with the cast singing "One Day More," which is the amount of time left to catch one of the most phenomenal shows to appear at Musical Theater Heritage at Crown Center. Musical Monday and Tuesday opened on April 20 with Jerry Jay Cranford singing Les Miz from Forbidden Broadway...

Spoiler Alert! If you attend Avenue Q, you will find yourself at one of the most creative productions of the theatrical season. Avenue Q opened on Friday April 17 at the Barn Players in Mission, Kansas. Based on the original concept of Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx Avenue Q is a musical in two acts. ...

John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men opened on Saturday night at the White Theatre inside the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas. Bill Christie directs one of the finest productions of the tragic play produced in the Kansas City area. John Steinbeck's books and plays, though classics, ar...