Kent Coffel News

Check out production photos from Sweet Potato Queens at New Line Theatre here!

The first wave of standings have been announced as of Monday, November 13th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld St. Louis Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

This production of KINKY BOOTS by is a show with a lot of heart and a few too many technical glitches, especially related to the mics and sound design. Director Taylor Gruenloh, his cast, and crew get a lot right with this production. Good performances, fun choreography, and some inventive staging made this production of KINKY BOOTS entertaining, especially for those who love this show. Gruenloh didn’t take the easy route, keeping many of the fun elements from the original Broadway Production, and adapting them to a much smaller performance space. The upbeat Act One closer, ‘Everybody say Yeah,’ and early second act doozy ‘In this Corner’ were staged with all the intricacies and blocking of the original production. The presentation and choreography of these big numbers illustrate that with directorial vision a streamlined version of a big musical does not have to sacrifice memorable elements. But what was sacrificed was the energy and strong performances from the ensemble and featured players. Their mics were either left too low or not turned on, perhaps to avoid feedback or other issues. As a result, the dialogue, solos, and background vocals from the ensemble were often lost, significantly reducing the overall energy from the ensemble, not allowing this good production to achieve greatness.

Director Brian McKinley, his cast, orchestra and technical team have staged a production of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE that elevates the script and score. In his first try as a director, McKinley has led a vocally accomplished cast and an exceptional crew to a tremendous success. CAROLINE, OR CHANGE will continue at The Marcelle through August 12th.

New Line Theatre’s production of A FUNNY THING HAPPENS ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM succeeds due to Scott Miller’s directorial vision and the comedic timing of Miller’s strong cast. There are plenty of laughs in the First Act, but the second act builds to a crescendo of complete hilarity. Miller’s blocking and the actors’ execution of  the Second Act chase scene is downright madcap. Ann Hier Brown’s delivery of “That Dirty Old Man,” Kent Coffel and Chris Moore’s delivery of “Lovely,” and the Company’s collaboration on “Funeral Sequence” keeps the audience laughing nonstop following the intermission. The remaining cast Jason Blackburn, Danny Brown, Gary Cox, Robert Doyle, Nathan Hakenewerth, Brittany Kohl Hester, Aarin Kamphoefner, Ian McCreary and Sarah Wilkinson rely on their deadpan delivery and comedic timing to deliver big laughs throughout the show.

New Line Theater will present SOMETHING ROTTEN Sept. 22-Oct. 15, 2022, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, all at 8:00 p.m., at the Marcelle Theater. Check out photos of the production here.

Special Offer: New Line Theatre Brings You Something Rotten!

Set in 2027, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis' URINETOWN is an hilariously subversive fable of greed, corruption, love, revolution, and urination, in a time when water is worth its weight in gold and there's no such thing as a free pee. Set in a near-future dystopian Gotham, a severe 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens are forced to use public 'amenities' now, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. In this nightmare world, the punishment for an unauthorized pee is a trip to the dreaded Urinetown. But from the ruins of Democracy and courtesy flushes, there rises an unlikely hero who decides he's held it long enough, and he launches a People's Revolution to lead them all to urinary freedom!

Set in 2027, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis' URINETOWN is an hilariously subversive fable of greed, corruption, love, revolution, and urination, in a time when water is worth its weight in gold and there's no such thing as a free pee.

New Line Theatre, a?oethe bad boy of musical theatre,a?? continues its 29th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with a one-night-only free public reading of Gilbert & Sullivan's BLOODY KING OEDIPUS!, or PARDON ME, MUM!, the hilarious, long-lost horror-comedy, on Monday night, January 6 at 8:00 pm at the Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepherd Drive, in the Grand Center Arts District. Bloody King Oedipus! contains adult language and content.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," has announced casting for its 29th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, which opens with the return of the wild, comic rock musical CRY-BABY,  based on the iconic John Waters film, a show which New Line first produced in 2012 in its American regional premiere, running Sept. 26-Oct. 19, 2019. The season continues with the electrifying new rock musical fresh from Broadway, in its regional premiere, HEAD OVER HEELS, a high-energy, adult romp about gender and sexuality, based on a 16th-century novel and using the songs of the 80s rock band The Go-Go's, running March 5-28, 2020. And the season closes with the return of one of New Line's biggest hits, which the New Liners first presented in 2007, the pitch dark satire URINETOWN, the hilarious, outrageous fable of greed, corruption, love, revolution, and urination, running June 4-27, 2020.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," has announced its 29th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, including the return of the wild, comic rock musical CRY-BABY,  which New Line first produced in 2012 in its American regional premiere, based on the John Waters film, running Sept. 26-Oct. 19, 2019; followed by the electrifying new rock musical fresh from Broadway, in its regional premiere, HEAD OVER HEELS, a high-energy, adult romp about gender and sexuality, based on a 16th century novel and using the songs of the pop group The Go-Go's, running March 5-28, 2020; and the season closes with the return of one of New Line's biggest hits, which the New Liners first presented in 2007, the pitch dark satire URINETOWN, the hilarious, outrageous fable of greed, corruption, love, revolution, and urination, running June 4-27, 2020.

The New Line Theatre is such a reliable source of great musical theater. Now they have opened a very fine production of what, curiously, has become something of a beloved old standard-La Cage aux Folles.

What happens when the son of a middle-aged gay couple brings home the daughter of an arch-conservative politician -- and her parents -- for dinner?

What happens when the son of a middle-aged gay couple brings home the daughter of an arch-conservative politician -- and her parents -- for dinner?

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," opened its 28th season of adult, alternative musical theatre in October with the critically acclaimed world premiere of THE ZOMBIES OF PENZANCE, Gilbert & Sullivan's comic-horror 'operatic abomination,' in its world premiere, with new text by Scott Miller and music adaptation and orchestration by John Gerdes. And now, the show's script, full piano-vocal score, and a live cast recording are all available on Amazon.com.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," opens its 28th season of adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of THE ZOMBIES OF PENZANCE, Gilbert & Sullivan's newly discovered, original 'operatic abomination,' in its world premiere, running Sept. 27-Oct. 20, 2018 at the Marcelle Theater, in the Grand Center Arts District.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," opens its 28th season of adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of THE ZOMBIES OF PENZANCE, Gilbert & Sullivan's newly discovered, original 'operatic abomination,' in its world premiere, running Sept. 27-Oct. 20, 2018 at the Marcelle Theater, in the Grand Center Arts District.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," opens its 28th season of adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of THE ZOMBIES OF PENZANCE, Gilbert & Sullivan's newly discovered, original 'operatic abomination,' in its world premiere, running Sept. 27-Oct. 20, 2018 at the Marcelle Theater, in the Grand Center Arts District.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," opens its 28th season of adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of THE ZOMBIES OF PENZANCE, Gilbert & Sullivan's newly discovered, original 'operatic abomination,' in its world premiere, running Sept. 27-Oct. 20, 2018 at the Marcelle Theater, in the Grand Center Arts District.