KANSAS CITY THEATER REVIEWS

With the smooth style and graceful stride of a thoroughbred, Warhorse pranced onto the stage of the Music Hall in Kansas City on Tuesday April 1. From the Broadway Across America series Warhorse is based on a book by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford, and in association with Handspring Pupp...

The Heartland Men's Chorus and the Gateway Men's Chorus from St. Louis, Mo. united on Friday night March 29 at the Folly Theater in Kansas City, Mo. The combined chorus presented I Am Harvey Milk, with words and music by Andrew Lippa. The production brought together three guest conductors, Dustin ...

Musical Theater Heritage has proven again that you do not need elaborate costumes, props, or scenery to produce a hit. This is especially true when they assembled a cast of some of the most talented performers to take the stage in Kansas City for their revival of Bernstein's Broadway....

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike puts the dysfunctional in family as it opened on Friday March 21 at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Written by Christopher Durang the play directed by Eric Rosen, Artistic Director for the KC Rep, is a co-production with Baltimore's Center Stage. One audienc...

The 59th season of The Barn Players in Mission, Kan. premiered with the award winning rock musical, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Written by Alex Timbers, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman the production directed and choreographed by Guy Gardner runs through March 16....

Known for producing high-quality shows for their Mainstage and the Jerome Stage, the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City, MO. raised the bar on opening night Saturday March 8 of Other Desert Cities by Robin Baitz. The Broadway play received a 2012 Tony Award Nomination for Best Play and if the Tony's we...

With minimal sets and props but loaded with outstanding talent, Jekyll & Hyde The Musical is playing at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City, MO. Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel A Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde, is produced by She&Her Productions, with Tiffany Schweigert directin...

You have not heard the gospel, until you have heard it as told by Egads! Theatre Company's current production of Godspell. Godspell, from the book by John Michael Tebelak and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, opened Saturday night March 1 at the Off Center Theatre....

Zeus is alive and playing rock-n-roll guitar in Geek Mythology: I Was a Teenage Immortal, now playing at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City. Tailored for an audience of fifth to ninth graders, yet very entertaining for adults, the world premiere musical by playwright Jeff Carey opened on Friday ni...

Step through the lobby doors and enter the tropical resort that is the stage for The Night of the Iguana. Based on his short story the Tennessee Williams 1961 play opens this weekend at the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre in Kansas City. Karen Paisley directs this classic tale of desperation, fear, ...

Dramatic, powerful, and intense describes When I Come To Die now playing at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Copaken Stage. Nathan Louis Jackson, playwright in residence for KC Repertory, wrote the thought-provoking look at a prisoner on death roll that cheats death at his execution, only to have...

What happens when a trainload of cartoon characters come to life in route to Kansas City? Throw in the gruesome death on the train and you cannot help but be Drawn to Murder. Drawn to Murder is the current hilarious production of The Mystery Train, the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater....

Anyone who could not feel the sense of macabre sensuality on the stage of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts should join the members of the undead in Dracula. The Kansas City Ballet production of Michael Pink's Dracula opened on Friday February 21 with the Kansas City Symphony performing t...

Some of the strongest, most dynamic voices in Kansas City resounded Monday night February 17 onto the stage of the Off Center Theatre in Crown Center. Dreamgirls, the theme for Musical Theatre Heritage's Musical Monday, featured some songs from the musical by composer Henry Krieger....

An outrages romp into Victorian England with ballpoint pens and yellow plastic sunglasses awaits audiences at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. Journeyman Theatre presents their hilarious look at Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People....

Thrilling, exciting, one of the top feel good productions of the Kansas City theatrical season best describes Bring It On: The Musical, now playing at the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts. The play inspired by Bring It On the movie opened on Tuesday February 11. The touring cast performs music by...

Company, the musical comedy about a single man turning 35, opened to a sold-out house Saturday February 8 at the White Theatre in Overland Park, Kan. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and from a book by George Furth, Director Barb Nichols assembled a talented cast of singers and dancers for...

Andy Parkhurst and Michael Grayman describe their current production of Motherhood Out Loud as, "our Valentine to all the parents who have supported, inspired, and endured us." Opening night for Motherhood Out Loud, an Off-Broadway Kansas City premiere produced by Spinning Tree Theatre at the Off C...

The world premiere of Afflicted: Daughters of Salem, written by Laurie Brooks opened Friday January 31 on the stage of the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. The National Endowment for the Arts award winning drama directed by Jeff Church, Producing Artistic Director at the Coterie, is the tale of...

The tragic love story of the ages, Romeo and Juliet, playing at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre runs through February 9. William Shakespeare's disastrous tale of family feuds, loyalty, and teenage love has stood the test of times. Directed by Eric Rosen, Artistic Director for the KC Rep, the pro...

Patrons of the Unicorn Theatre could feel the anguish of war as they watched it unfold in the Jerome Theatre. Grounded, a play by award winning playwright George Brant opened on Saturday night January 25 at the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City. The Guardian and London Evening Standard named Grounded...

Before the Kauffman Center for the Performing arts opened, co-productions with the likes of the San Francisco Opera seemed unthinkable, but now, the Lyric Opera teams with that company to present a new vision of THE MAJIC FLUTE....

Recently, Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer Michael Chabon made an appearance in Kansas City. Struggling against the crashing din of a Midwest thunderstorm raging outside, he managed to get through a 20-minute reading from his latest novel and opened the floor to questions when he'd finished....

An intimate show in an intimate space in KC's arts district....

With the excitement over the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'Dream' speech quietly receding from the national stage, it might be a good time to examine the life of another twentieth century human rights giant....