KANSAS CITY THEATER REVIEWS

The new Kansas City Actors Theater production of “Everybody” is a sly meditation on the human condition. It is a riff on the oldest known surviving play in English called “Everyman.”...

Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s The Gershwins’ PORGY AND BESS is a vocally commanding and spiritually powerful production, led by standout performances from Eric Greene and Michelle Bradley under the legendary direction of Francesca Zambello....

“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....

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 ...

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...

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...

The Drum Closet is a deeply spiritual, urgent, and profoundly human coming-of-age story that resonates far beyond its Midwestern high school setting....

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...

“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.  ...

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...

What did our critic think of A CHRISTMAS CAROL AT KANSAS CITY REPERTORY THEATRE at Kansas City Repertory Theatre – Spencer Theatre, UMKC Campus?...

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....

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...

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 ...

“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...

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...

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....

“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. ...

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...

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+...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...