John Rensenhouse News

KCAT has announced its 16th Season of productions, showcasing the leading professional theater talent in Kansas City.

Kansas City Actors Theatre will be producing a presentation of Conor McPherson's a?oeSt. Nicholasa?? from March 11 to 29 at the Buffalo Room in the Westport district of Kansas City. The production will feature Victor Raider-Wexler (a?oeMorning's at Seven,a?? a?oeA Moon for the Misbegotten,a?? a?oeAnd Then There Were Nonea??) and will be directed by Dennis Hennessy, who previously directed audience-favorites a?oeThe Gin Game,a?? and this season's a?oeMorning's at Sevena?? and also serves as Artistic Director of the New Theatre.

Kansas City's Community Theater, The Barn Players, played to a packed house at their annual Barney Awards celebration, Saturday evening, January 25th at their Arts Asylum stage. This free yearly gathering celebrates both the volunteerism and artistic achievements of those who contribute to the Barn's ongoing success.

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting and will soon begin rehearsals for its production of Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning a?oe'night, Mother,a?? which will run from January 8th to January 26th, 2020 at the City Stage in Union Station. The production will be directed by Sidonie Garrett, who last directed a?oeA Streetcar Named Desirea?? for Kansas City Actors Theatre in 2016. The production will feature Jan Rogge (a?oeA Lie of the Mind,a?? a?oeMy Old Ladya??) and Cinnamon Schultz (a?oeA Streetcar Named Desire,a?? a?oeSea Marksa??) and will feature scenic design by Ken Martin, costume design by Mary Traylor, lighting design by Shane Rowse, sound design by David Kiehl, properties design by Deb Morgan, and technical direction by Kyle Dyck.

a?oePhenomenala?? is how one theatergoer, Elaine Jacobs, described the opening night of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, now a Kansas City tradition in its 39th year. Presented by the Kansas City Repertory Theatre the Charles Dickens classic opened Saturday, November 30 at the Spencer Theatre on the University of Missouri at Kansas City campus and runs through December 29.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre continues its 2019/20 season with a beloved holiday tradition, Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This year's production is an adaptation by Geoff Elliott with direction from KCRep Associate Artistic Director Jason Chanos. A CHRISTMAS CAROL begins previews Friday, November 22, opens Saturday, November 30 at 8 pm, and continues through Sunday, December 29. Performances take place at Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus.

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting for its production of Paul Osborn's "Morning's at Seven," which will run from May 22 to June 9 at the City Stage in Union Station. The production will be directed by Dennis Hennessy of The New Theater in Overland Park, and will star Deb Bluford, Greg Butell, Krista Eyler, Peggy Friesen, Jeannine Hutchings, Gary Neal Johnson, Merle Moores, Victor Raider-Wexler, and Mark Robbins (KCAT co-founder). The production will also feature set design by Gary Mosby, costumes by Sarah M. Oliver, lighting design by Shane Rowse, sound design by Jon Robertson, and props from Shawnna Journagan.

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting for its production of Paul Osborn's "Morning's at Seven," which will run from May 22 to June 9 at the City Stage in Union Station. The production will be directed by Dennis Hennessy of The New Theater in Overland Park, and will star Deb Bluford, Greg Butell, Krista Eyler, Peggy Friesen, Jeannine Hutchings, Gary Neal Johnson, Merle Moores, Victor Raider-Wexler, and Mark Robbins (KCAT co-founder).

2017 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Oslo, by J.T. Rogers, is Repertory Theatre St. Louis' artistic director Steven Woolf's final directing project before his retirement begins. It is the story of the Norwegian couple-an academic and social scientist, Terje, who has developed a new approach to conflict resolution, and his clever wife, Mona, who is a dignitary in the office of the Foreign Ministry-who together initiated and facilitated clandestine peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1992 and 1993; talks that would highlight the past and decide the futures of two peoples, each having reasonable grievances, though each striving to find resolution.

For longtime Repertory Theatre of St. Louis artistic director Steven Woolf, Oslo is his final directing project before his retirement at the end of this season. So it's no surprise that The Rep is pulling out all the stops in its production of the 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Play, assembling an all-star cast and design team to bring this grand political epic to The Rep stage.

Now in its 38th season, Kansas City Repertory Theatre's "A Christmas Carol" is as much an iconic Kansas City holiday tradition as is the annual Plaza lighting ceremony every Thanksgiving evening.  Charles Dickens (Mark Robbins) once again spins his immortal 1843 ghost story of redemption as he himself performed it (solo) on stage for the last twenty-seven years of his life.

Arts leaders from the Kansas City Rep, Unicorn Theatre, Coterie Theatre, Kansas City Actors Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival have formed Theatre Alliance Kansas City, a community wide coalition, which will be dedicated to building awareness and increasing engagement with both theatre audiences and artists. The alliance will offer membership to all metro area theatres, professional, non-professional and academic. The inaugural Board of Directors includes Angela Gieras and Jason Chanos (KC Rep), Cynthia Levin (Unicorn Theatre), Joette Pelster and Jeff Church (Coterie Theatre), John Rensenhouse (KCAT) and Sidonie Garrett of HASF.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre continues its 2018/19 season with a 38-year holiday tradition, Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL, running November 16 through December 30 at Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus.

World premiere of Dracula: A Song of Love and Death at UMKC in co-production with KCAT. See Mitch Brian's adaptation and enter the hauntingly enchanted world of Dracula, bound in mystery, intrigue, and suspense. October 12-21st, 2018 at the Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus - a co-production of KCAT.

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 as well as being selected one of the top ten Costume Design and Technology programs in the country, UMKC Theatre announces its 2018-19 season.

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting for its world-premiere adaption of Bram Stoker's Gothic classic titled "Dracula: A Song of Love and Death," written by local author Mitch Brian. Presented in partnership with the UMKC Theatre Department, this is the third show of Kansas City Actors Theatre's fourteenth season, and will run from October 12th to the 21st in the Spencer Theater on UMKC's campus.

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting for its production of Eugene O'Neill's "A Moon for the Misbegotten," the second show of its fourteenth season, which will run from September 12th to the 30th at the City Stage in Union Station. The production will be directed by Mark Robbins and will star Brian Paulette, Ashley Pankow, Victor Raider-Wexler, Chris Roady and Charlie Spillers. The production team includes Gary Mosby (Scenic Designer), Emily Stovall (Costume Designer), Shane Rowse (Lighting Designer), Jonathan Robertson (Sound Designer), and Kyle Dyck (Technical Director).

Westport Country Playhouse stages the lavish, large-cast comedy, "A Flea in Her Ear," newly adapted by David Ives from the original by Georges Feydeau, and directed by Mark Lamos, Westport Country Playhouse artistic director.  Fresh from a sold-out run by Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players (REP), a professional theater located at the University of Delaware, the co-production with the REP runs in Westport July 10 - 28.  

Three years ago, this reviewer suggested that it was time to rediscover French theatre with the Westport Country Playhouse's production of David Ives's transplantation of Pierre Corneille's 1643 comedy, The Liar (Le Menteur). Happily, Mark Lamos, artistic director of the WCP, now brings us Ives's adaptation of Georges Feydeau's 1907 farce, A Flea in Her Ear (La puce a l'oreille).

Westport Country Playhouse will stage the lavish, large-cast comedy, "A Flea in Her Ear," newly adapted by David Ives from the original by Georges Feydeau, and directed by Mark Lamos, Westport Country Playhouse artistic director.  Fresh from a sold-out run by Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players (REP), a professional theater located at the University of Delaware, the co-production with the REP will run in Westport July 10 - 28.