Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Upcoming Shows
My Hero Academia In Concert
My Hero Academia In Concert comes to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on October 6, 2026. The event brings the beloved anime series...
Review: LEGALLY BLOND, THE MUSICAL at New Theatre Restauant
You will never see a production of “Legally Blond, the musical” better performed or sung or danced than what you can see currently running at New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park. This is pure, show-biz entertainment as rendered by this cast and Director/ Choreographer Jerry Jay Cranford an…
Review: DISNEY'S FROZEN at White Theatre
This joint White Theatre and Coterie production succeeds with dazzling sets, super special effects, the best pit band I have heard in many years, and a cast who seems determined to wring every bit of value out of the playscript and the score that is there.What did our critic think of DISNEY'S FROZEN…
Review: A BEAUTIFUL NOISE Brings the Heart of Neil Diamond to Life at KC's Starlight Theatre
What happens when one of America's greatest songbooks meets Broadway? A BEAUTFIUFL NOISE delivers an emotional portrait of Neil Diamond, led by American Idol winner Nick Fradiani in a production that soars at Kansas City's Starlight Theatre.…
Review: A.J. CHRIS COMEDY at Clint's Comedy Club
The show I saw last week on Wednesday, July 8, featured three warm-up acts and Ayrn performing under the stage name A.J. Chris. A.J. Chris was the feature comic of the evening. A.J., who has already had significant success in the UK, had warned me that she had come home to try out a new routine i…
Review: DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR at Unicorn Theatre
It is not often that Kansas City audiences get the chance to see the “World Premiere” engagement of a new comedy from an award-winning Broadway performer and playwright. This month Unicorn Theatre presents “Don’t Touch My Hair,” by Douglas Lyons.…
BWW Review: THE WIZARD OF OZ at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s THE WIZARD OF OZ does not attempt to recreate nostalgia in its simplest form. Instead, this production interrogates why the story has endured for generations and reframes it through a distinctly theatrical lens rooted in American folk tradition, musical intimacy, an…
BWW Review: OF MICE AND MEN at Kauffman Center For The Performing Arts
They keep people alive. They keep people moving. And sometimes, they keep people from realizing how impossible their lives have truly become. Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production of OF MICE AND MEN does not treat John Steinbeck’s story as distant Americana or dusty literary nostalgia.…
Review: CACTUS FLOWER at New Theatre Restaurant
The air at New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park is thick with the scent of high-end buffet favorites and the electric hum of a sold-out crowd. The curtain has risen on a revival of the 1960s Broadway classic Cactus Flower, and if the opening week's standing ovations are any indication, Kansas Ci…
Review: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION at The Warwick Theater
A full auditorium of just over a hundred patrons filed into the newly renovated Warwick Theater for a re-imagination of Stephen King’s “The Shawshank Redemption.” This theatrical adaptation is written by Irish playwrights Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns, an unlikely yet inspired pairing. Both m…
Review: STEREOPHONIC at Kauffman Center
Think of the greatest songs you’ve never heard - the soaring melodies, the unexpected anthems, the driving beats, the lyrics that speak to a feeling you didn’t know could be expressed in words. Unlike most straight plays, this opus has its own musical score, and good one by Will Butler. And tha…
Past Shows
MRS. DOUBTFIRE
Everyone’s favorite Scottish nanny is headed to Kansas City in this internationally acclaimed hit musical critics call “wonderful, heart-warming, and laugh-out-loud funny” (Manchester Evening News)...
Frans Lanting, Photographer and Christine Eckstrom, Science Writer: Bay of Life: From Wind to Whales
Frans Lanting, a renowned photographer, and Christine Eckstrom, an accomplished science writer, will present Bay of Life: From Wind to Whales at the Kauffman Center...
Trailblazing Talks: Bay of Life: From Wind to Whales
Trailblazing Talks presents Bay of Life: From Wind to Whales, featuring photographer Frans Lanting and science writer Christine Eckstrom. The event is part of the...
Mattias Klum, Photographer: The Planet in Our Hands
Mattias Klum will present The Planet in Our Hands during the 2026 Trailblazing Talks series at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Known for...
STEREOPHONIC
The most Tony Award-winning Show of the year. The most Tony Award-nominated Play of all time. STEREOPHONIC mines theagony andtheecstasy ofcreation asit zoomsin onamusicstudio in1976....
Albert Lin, Explorer: In Search of Lost Cities
Albert Lin is a professional explorer who merges human insight with technological innovation on a quest to uncover lost cities and cultural narratives. Following a...
Conor Knighton, CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent: Leave Only Footprints: My Journey Through Every National Park
Conor Knighton, CBS Sunday Morning correspondent, presents a personal narrative about his year-long journey through every national park in the United States in Leave Only...
Louise Leakey, Paleoanthropologist: Digging for Humanity’s Origins
Louise Leakey, a distinguished paleoanthropologist and member of the renowned Leakey family, will explore the origins of humanity in her talk, focusing on why Homo...
KIMBERLY AKIMBO
A new musical about growing up and growing old (in no particular order), KIMBERLY AKIMBO is the winner of 5 Tony Awards including BEST MUSICAL. ...
Future Stages Festival
The Future Stages Festival will take place on June 15, 2025, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, showcasing Kansas City's diverse youth talent...
An Officer And A Gentleman
Zack Mayos got smarts and a body built for US Navy pilot boot camp, but he also has too much swagger until he meets a...
Jesus Christ Superstar
Featuring award-winning music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of...
Stomp
STOMP is explosive, provocative, sophisticated, sexy, utterly unique and appeals to audiences of all ages. The return of the percussive hit also brings some new...
ONCE THE MUSICAL
Winner of eight 2012 Tony Awards® including Best Musical, ONCE is a truly original Broadway experience. Featuring an impressive ensemble of actor/musicians who play their...
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, the most magical evening of madcap fun, is now on tour! Hailed by The New York Times as “THE MOST EXHILARATING...
CHICAGO
CHICAGO is a musical tale of “murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery—all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts.” Paint...
Shostakovich, Plus Yuja Wang Plays Rachmaninoff
A sensation in her previous Symphony performances, dynamic young pianist Yuja Wang thrills audiences with playing that leaps from the stage. Shostakovich felt the chilling...
Stern Conducts Verdi’s Requiem
Let yourself be captivated by a masterpiece – the passion and drama fit for an opera house in the sonically spectacular Helzberg Hall. Verdi’s amazing...
Die Fledermaus
Johann Strauss’ effervescent operetta satirizes the decadent society of his time. Before serving a short jail sentence for offending the tax collector, Gabriel von Eisenstein...
Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, with Rodrigo’s Royal Guitar
Prize-winning young phenom guitarist Jiyeon Kim, from the Curtis Institute, joins the orchestra to perform the most popular work by Rodrigo, one of Spain’s most...
Oh, What A Night!
You’ll be dancing in your seat with this energetic dose of Billboard® hits from the late 50’s and 60’s, starring three of Broadway’s hottest leading...
La bohème
Perhaps the most beloved opera of all time, La bohème follows the adventures of a quartet of irrepressible and impoverished young Parisians. When the seamstress...
Joshua Bell, Plus Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra
What do you get when you cross an insurance salesman with a church organist? One of America’s most remarkable composers. Charles Ives’ Third Symphony is...
PROJECT Trio: Classical Beats
Project Trio — Greg Pattillo (flute), Eric Stephenson (cello) and Peter Seymour (double bass) — is not your everyday young, classically trained chamber trio. One...
Scheherazade! And, Leon Fleisher Plays Ravel
In another rich and diverse program, legendary pianist Leon Fleisher, representing the gold standard of musicianship, imparts his artistry on the stage of Helzberg Hall....
Beethoven’s Fifth, Plus Percussionist Martin Grubinger
Following his sensational KCS debut in 2011, Austrian multi-percussionist Martin Grubinger returns for his Helzberg Hall debut in two exhilarating works for percussion and orchestra....
Mahler’s Symphonic Farewell: Symphony No. 9
No composer brings more beauty, humanity, and power to a symphony than Gustav Mahler. Being the last complete symphony he wrote, this music is a...
Dr. Suess' Green Eggs & Ham, Plus Mozart's Toy Symphony
The ensemble Really Inventive Stuff joins your Symphony for two delightful storytelling classics. Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham," set to music by composer Rob...
Kenny G
Grammy® Award-winning saxophonist Kenny G is the biggest selling instrumental musician of our time. His easy style and smooth sounds will take you to Havana...
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Seventh Symphony
Michael Stern returns to invigorate both orchestra and audience alike in a vibrant program filled with Beethoven’s most energetic works. As a teaser to the...
Christmas Festival
Kansas City's grandest holiday concert returns for six performances. The Symphony and Symphony Chorus present stunning musical arrangements of cherished Christmas carols and songs of...
Symphonie fantastique, with Chopin
Hailed by the BBC for his “incredibly moving” and “daring and creative” performances, pianist Andrew Tyson makes his KCS debut with his interpretation of Chopin....
Mozart’s “Paris,” Plus Fauré’s Requiem
Escape the fall chill and settle into the beautiful Helzberg Hall for this soul-warming program. Sample French Baroque opera in Rameau’s engaging Suite from Dardanus,...
The Magic Flute
Mozart’s genius is supremely evident in his last opera, The Magic Flute. The deceptively simple fairytale story is matched with some of the most stunningly...
Second Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet
This program is a melting pot of rich, emotion-evoking music. Rediscover the beauty of Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto with the electrifying Behzod Abduraimov, compared by...
Symphonic Poetry: Tchaikovsky and Liszt
Discover Tchaikovsky’s lesser-known classical gem as Alon Goldstein, one of the most original and sensitive artists of his generation, performs the brilliant Piano Concerto No....
Symphonic Dances, Plus Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto
Celebrate opening weekend of another fantastic season at the Kauffman Center with a fast-paced program, all in the impeccable acoustics of Helzberg Hall. Captivating, young...
The Capulets & the Montagues
The theme of forbidden love is, indeed, timeless, and Verona's doomed lovers have inspired plays, novels and movies, as well as ballets and operas, for...
Beethoven Lives Upstairs
Beethoven Lives Upstairs features a lively exchange of letters between young Christoph and his uncle. Their subject is Beethoven, who has moved into the upstairs...
Don't Stop Believin
Revisit the era of power ballads, synth pop and really big hair with “Star Search” grand champion Sam Harris and Grammy®-winning pop princess Sheena Easton....
Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson plays
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson will be performing both his composition THICK AS A BRICK in its entirety for the first time since 1972 and the...
Youth Symphony joins the Kansas City Symphony
The Kansas City Symphony and Youth Symphony of Kansas City will present a free side-by-side performance in Helzberg Hall on Tuesday, June 11 at 7...
Season Finale: Strauss' Alpine Symphony
The season closes with two genuine masterpieces – Mozart’s sprightly Symphony No. 40 in G minor, a work deeply admired by Richard Strauss, and Strauss’...
Schubert's Ninth and Gil Shaham
The great violinist Gil Shaham returns to the stage to perform Alban Berg’s haunting Violin Concerto, dedicated “to the memory of an angel.” In keeping...
Chelsea Chen
Organist and composer Chelsea Chen (b. 1983) is internationally renowned and is one of the most promising organists of her generation. Chelsea Chen has electrified...
Mahler, Mozart & Brahms
Conductor and pianist Asher Fisch presents a buffet of works by three composers with Viennese connections. Gustav Mahler’s Blumine, the gorgeous “extra” movement for his...
Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán
The first incarnation of the group Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán began in 1898 as a quartet, and over the decades (and into the 21st century)...
Kobie Boykins
An engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and an inspiring advocate for space exploration, Kobie Boykins helped design the solar panels that powered the Mars...
Hey-Hay, Going to Kansas City
Groundbreaking African-American choreographer Donald McKayle presents Hey-Hay, Going to Kansas City. A celebration of the golden age of jazz, the ballet pays tribute to the...
Restless Heart
The melodic country band of the 80’s and 90’s returns to Kansas City, to debut their all-new symphony tour! Having charted 26 country and light...
Bailar Toda La Noche
The sensuous rhythms of Latin dance and jazz fill this light and lively chamber orchestra program. Your evening begins with a curious and playful tone...
Tom Trenney, Organist in Recital
To showcase the grand Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ in Helzberg Hall, the Kansas City Symphony presents four organ recitals hosted by Michael Barone, host...
Beethoven's Ninth
Join Robert Olson as he conducts the UMKC Conservatory Orchestra in another scintillating performance in the grandeur of Helzberg Hall. The orchestra will perform Beethoven's...
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Screenland at the Symphony
Imagine watching scenes from classics films on a huge screen in Helzberg Hall, while your Kansas City Symphony performs the timeless soundtrack. That’s the unforgettable...
HitchC*CK! Screenland at the Symphony
Imagine watching scenes from classics films on a huge screen in Helzberg Hall, while your Kansas City Symphony performs the timeless soundtrack. That’s the unforgettable...
Jazz Orch w/The Four Freshman
One of the world's most beloved vocal ensembles, The Four Freshman continue to tour the world. The legendary sound that began in 1948 continues on...
Happy Hour Chamber Music
The perfect after-work way to unwind! The Kansas City Symphony is pleased to announce the new Free Happy Hour Chamber Music Series. Stop by Helzberg...
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American Psycho Olathe Civic Theatre Assn (OCTA) (9/04-9/20) |
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'The Billy Joel Legacy' Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College (10/11-10/11) |
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Don’t Talk To The Actors Olathe Civic Theatre Assn (OCTA) (4/09-4/25) |
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Wicked Kansas City Music Hall (8/22-8/22) |
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Primary Trust Unicorn Theartre (3/03-3/14) |
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New Dance Partners - The Ultimate Collaboration Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College (9/18-9/19) |
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'Outlander in Concert' Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College (10/23-10/23) |
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NJT Presents the STL Premiere of "Job" August 6 – 23 J's Wool Studio Theatre (8/06-8/20) |
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Yamato Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College (3/27-3/27) |
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'Style Thief Fashion Show: Tools Not Rules Tour' Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College (2/20-2/20) |