Eboni Fondren News

Celebrate International Jazz Month with Kansas City Jazz Alive's two thrilling events this April.

Discover the upcoming In the Key of KC concert by the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. Get ready for an unforgettable night of jazz music in Kansas City. Find out the date and venue details here.

Popular jazz musicians Bobby Watson, Lonnie McFadden, Charles Williams and vocalist Eboni Fondren received the first annual JAM Musician Awards, presented by the KC Jazz Ambassadors on Tuesday, December 14 at Johnnie's Jazz Club, 14th and Main in Downtown Kansas City.

August Wilson's 'Bottom' packs an impactful and much-needed punch

Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Executive Director Lea Petrie today announced the 2021-2022 season which includes the much-anticipated performances of Bird Lives and Hallelujah Holidays.  All performances will be held at the Helzberg Hall of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (1601 Broadway, KCMO 64108).

Kansas City PBS offered The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra an opportunity to take part in their limited series: “KC Performs!”, a showcase featuring jazz, classical music, opera, theater, and dance performances from local arts institutions.

The 2019 - 2020 season of the Carlsen Center Presents Series continues with Winterlude - Eboni Fondren on Sunday, January 19, 7 p.m. in Polsky Theatre. High res photos with IDs can be found here. Video and more information can be found here.

The 2019 - 2020 season of the Carlsen Center Presents Series continues with Winterlude - Ensemble Ibérica Siento y Vivo (I Feel and Live), on Sunday, December 8, 7 p.m. in Polsky Theatre. 

The 2019 - 2020 season of the Carlsen Center Presents Series continues with Robert Randolph and the Family Band, on Saturday, November 9, 8 p.m. in Yardley Hall. High res photos with IDs can be found here.  Video can be found here and here.

Next up at the White Theatre is a joint production with Crown Center's Coterie Theatre of “Disney's Newsies;” a live stage musical version of the 1992 musical film. “Newsies” recalls the real-life newsboys' strike of 1899.   

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. The theme of the two-day musical event is Les Miserables and Others. Others included tunes from Chorus Line and Little Shop of Horrors.

Spinning Tree Productions Goes for Another Win with Ain't Misbehavin'

Thomas "Fats" Waller rose to international fame during the Golden Age of the Cotton Club, honky tonk dives along Lenox Avenue, rent parties, stride piano players and that jumpin' new beat, Swing. Ain't Misbehavin' celebrates the music that Waller wrote and the music he made famous, and has the distinction of being the only musical revue to ever win the Tony Award for Best Musical.

The Coterie presents Bud, Not Buddy, a jazz-era mystery set in the Midwest about the adventures of Bud, a young boy whose search for his father - who he is convinced is a prominent jazz musician - sets him off a humorous and heartwarming journey that leads him to a new understanding of 'family.' Directed by Scot Copeland, Bud, Not Buddy runs April 9 - May 24, 2013.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre, under the artistic leadership of Eric Rosen, closes its 2011-12 season with a professional production of the popular musical Little Shop of Horrors; book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken, based on the film by Roger Corman, screenplay by Charles Griffith. Kyle Hatley directs. Little Shop of Horrors runs now through May 20 at the Rep's Copaken Stage. See photos from the production below!

Kansas City Repertory Theatre, under the artistic leadership of Eric Rosen, closes its 2011-12 season with a professional production of the popular musical Little Shop of Horrors; book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken, based on the film by Roger Corman, screenplay by Charles Griffith. Kyle Hatley directs. Little Shop of Horrors runs April 20 - May 20 at the Rep's Copaken Stage.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre has announced the cast for Little Shop of Horrors, its final production of the 2011-12 season. The Rep's Associate Artistic Director Kyle Hatley will direct. He has also directed the Rep's productions of Circle Mirror Transformation, A Christmas Carol, The Borderland, Nathan Louis Jackson's Broke-ology, and he has appeared in The Whipping Man and The Glass Menagerie at the Rep. Hatley is a noted writer and director for the Kansas City Fringe Festival and is artistic director and co-founder of Chatterbox Audio Theater.

Barn Players present RENT with MUSIC, LYRICS & BOOK by Jonathan Larson

Barn Players present RENT with MUSIC, LYRICS & BOOK by Jonathan Larson

Barn Players present RENT with MUSIC, LYRICS & BOOK by Jonathan Larson