Coterie Theatre News

The famous animated classic comes to life on stage at The Coterie for children of all ages.

Pulitzer Prize-winning DISGRACED by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Sidonie Garrett, is coming to the Unicorn Theatre this fall.

Pulitzer Prize-winning DISGRACED by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Sidonie Garrett, is coming to the Unicorn Theatre this fall.

We Shall Not be Moved, new play at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, MO From seamless production to well-honed acting, this is a story that relates to audiences from tweenagers to older adults with clear resonance. Telling such a story, of how the failure to embrace differences affects all of society, is a potent tale of humanity in both its ugly and more beautiful moments.

Known for high-quality productions and successful collaborations with Kansas City and nationwide theatre companies, and ranked by Hollywood Reporter as having the #17 best graduate acting program in the English-speaking world, UMKC Theatre announces its 2017-18 season.

The Sol Project, the new theater initiative dedicated to producing the work of Latinx playwrights, has announced the New York premiere of OEDIPUS EL REY by MacArthur Fellow Luis Alfaro, directed by longtime collaborator Chay Yew, the OBIE award-winning director.

Nationally-recognized Coterie Theatre's 2017/2018 season of plays selected by Producing Artistic Director Jeff Church aims to deliver engagement for family members of any age. One of the national leaders in producing theatre for youth and family audiences, The Coterie also enriches curriculum for schools looking for excellence in arts education. This coming season, The Coterie will have several productions where young theatre-goers will interact and participate during the performances.

Excitement is in the air as The Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City announces its 2017-2018 season of arts and cultural offerings at the White Theatre.

The region's largest performing arts festival returns this July. Running July 20-30, the 11-day festival is packed with live theater, music, dance, cabaret, variety, performance art, puppetry, spoken word, visual art and film.

The Coterie Theatre and the White Theatre at "The J," the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, will come together to co-produce Disney's Newsies for a limited run in the Summer 2018. The show will mark The Coterie and The J's first collaboration, as well as the Kansas City region's first locally-produced production of Newsies. It will be co-directed by Coterie Producing Artistic Director, Jeff Church, and Jerry Jay Cranford, who will also serve as choreographer, with musical direction by Pam Williamson, veteran of 10 musicals at The J. Newsies will feature a cast of all-local professional and non-professional adult and youth actors, and will be performed live on stage at the White Theatre at The J, July 7-29, 2018.

The region's largest performing arts festival returns this July. Running July 20-30, the 11-day festival is packed with live theater, music, dance, cabaret, variety, performance art, puppetry, spoken word, visual art and film.

In response to pending budget cuts which threaten the very existence of UMKC Theatre, arts leaders, theatre faculty, students and alumni are organizing a public Town Hall to show support for UMKC Theatre and exhibit to the UMKC administration the extensive community support for this program. The 'Save UMKC Theatre' event will be held at the Spencer Theatre on Sunday, June 4 at 6 p.m.

For the 15th consecutive year, Starlight Theatre has publicly applauded the outstanding achievements and talents of local high school musical theatre students. Last night's 2017 Blue Star Awards Ceremony gave hundreds of area teens an opportunity to perform musical numbers on Starlight's Cohen Community Stage while their teachers, peers, parents and others cheered them from the seats. Many of the students took home Blue Star Awards in recognition of their high school theatrical accomplishments.

The Coterie Theatre and the White Theatre at "The J," the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, will come together to co-produce Disney's Newsies for a limited run in the Summer 2018. The show will mark The Coterie and The J's first collaboration, as well as the Kansas City region's first locally-produced production of Newsies. It will be co-directed by Coterie Producing Artistic Director, Jeff Church, and Jerry Jay Cranford, who will also serve as choreographer, with musical direction by Pam Williamson, veteran of 10 musicals at The J. Newsies will feature a cast of all-local professional and non-professional adult and youth actors, and will be performed live on stage at the White Theatre at The J, July 7-29, 2018.

It is The Coterie's favorite time of the year when world premiere readings from members of The Coterie's Young Playwrights' Roundtable will be showcased during the annual Young Playwrights' Festival at 7:00 p.m., May 7, at The Coterie Theatre, located on level 1 of the Crown Center Shops. On stage will be thirteen staged readings including monologues, spoken word, short plays, and excerpts from the WORDS + MUSIC project: five moments of new opera, as created by UMKC Conservatory composers in collaboration with Roundtable members, and staged with singers on the roster of the Lyric Opera.

NYU Steinhardt's Program in Educational Theatre has named Laurie Brooks and Johnny Saldaña the recipients of the 2017 Swortzell Innovator Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions and sustained service to the field of educational theatre.

Five Guys Named Moe, a musical by Clarke Peters featuring Louis Jordan's greatest hits, will be directed by Damron Russel Armstrong at The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas this spring.

We were finally able to track him down and ask him to help our readers learn more about him via our Getting to Know… feature while he was on a trip to Ireland where he represented NCT at an international conference on theater for younger audiences. In fact, Nolan's been so peripatetic since settling down in Nashville and starting his job on February 1, that he answered our queries from the airport in Belfast…

The William & Eva Fox Foundation and Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for theatre, have announced that Vanessa Severo in association with KC Rep is the recipient of a Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship for Exceptional Merit. Funded by the Fox Foundation and administered by TCG, the fellowship is one of only a few programs of its kind for actors in the country, and Severo is one of only six recipients inround eleven of fellowship activities.

The William & Eva Fox Foundation and Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for theatre, have announced that Vanessa Severo in association with KC Rep is the recipient of a Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship for Exceptional Merit. Funded by the Fox Foundation and administered by TCG, the fellowship is one of only a few programs of its kind for actors in the country, and Severo is one of only six recipients in round eleven of fellowship activities.