John Rensenhouse News

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.  

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.  

Westport Country Playhouse's Sunday Symposium on July 15, following a 3 p.m. performance of the comedy, 'A Flea in Her Ear,' will feature guest speaker Catherine Sheehy, chair of dramaturgy and dramatic criticism at Yale School of Drama and resident dramaturg at Yale Repertory Theatre. The Playhouse Sunday Symposium program is free and open to the public. Sheehy will engage in a conversation about the play with David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director. 

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.  

The Kansas City Actors Theatre is proud to announce its lineup of plays for 2018-2019 at the H&R Block City Stage in Union Station and the Spencer Theater on UMKC's campus. This is the company's 14th season of productions showcasing Kansas City's own top theatre professionals.

Kansas City Actors Theatre "Skylight" by British playwright David Hare features excellent performances in a top-caliber production running now through June 10th at the H&R Block City Stage inside Union Station.   "Skylight" relates a single evening in the life of three people as they relive and reexamine a complicated relationship history.

Kansas City Actors Theatre presents David Hare's 'Skylight,' the fifth and final show of its thirteenth season, which will run May 23 to June 10 at the H&R Block City Stage in Union Station. The production will be directed by Darren Sextro and will star Katie Karel (in her first appearance with Kansas City Actors Theatre), John Rensenhouse, and Charlie Spillers.

Kansas City Actors Theatre presents David Hare's "Skylight," the fifth and final show of its thirteenth season, which will run May 23 to June 10 at the H&R Block City Stage in Union Station. The production will be directed by Darren Sextro and will star Katie Karel (in her first appearance with Kansas City Actors Theatre), John Rensenhouse, and Charlie Spillers.

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting for its production of David Hare's "Skylight," the fifth and final show of its thirteenth season, which will run May 23 to June 10 at the H&R Block City Stage in Union Station. The production will be directed by Darren Sextro and will star Katie Karel (in her first appearance with Kansas City Actors Theatre), John Rensenhouse, and Charlie Spillers. The production team includes Bret Engle (scenic designer), Elizabeth Sampley (properties designer), Sarah M. Oliver (costumer designer), Kylor Greene (lighting designer), Jonathan Robertson (sound designer), and Kyle Dyck (technical director).

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting for its production of David Hare's 'Skylight,' the fifth and final show of its thirteenth season, which will run May 23 to June 10 at the H&R Block City Stage in Union Station.