And so once again audiences are invited to bear witness to the spiritual transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge from penny-pinching cynic to warm-hearted benefactor to the poor. And again theatergoers fill
Kudos to Spinning Tree Theatre for staging the first Kansas City-area production of “Caroline, or Change,” a challenging, innovative musical from Tony Kushner (book and lyrics) and Jeannine Tesori (music)
I wasn’t sure what to expect from “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” Lucas Hnath’s inventive sequel to the Henrik Ibsen classic. What surprised me is how funny it is. Director
And so, in the end, Nora just did it. She gathered her things, told her husband goodbye, and slammed the door on her way out. In so doing she left not only her spouse, but two young children and an upper middle-class life that came with all the requisite bourgeois benefits. She also made history. […]
Before “Hamilton,” there was “In the Heights,” which marked composer/lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda’s auspicious Broadway debut in 2008. As he would do in “Hamilton,” Miranda incorporated rap and hip-hop into a musically diverse score for this pulsing love-letter to the largely Hispanic community in Washington Heights, a neighborhood at the northern tip of Manhattan. Whether “In […]
I asked myself two questions as I collected my thoughts on “Hamilton,” the commercial mega-hit that finally made its way to Kansas City this week: First, how would the production strike me if by some miracle I was oblivious to the award-winning show’s river of hype? Second, how would I enjoy this historical epic set […]
Let us begin with a confession. As I drove home from the lively opening-night performance of “Shakespeare in Love” at the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, I found myself contemplating a basic question: Why, exactly, did there need to be a stage version of the 1998 Oscar-winning movie co-written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom […]
Good actors. Good director. Interesting play with a self-indulgent sense of humor and a salient point to make. The Unicorn Theatre closes its 2018-19 season with a lively production of Lauren Gunderson’s “The Revolutionists,” a two-act piece that could be described, more or less, as a feminist meta-comedy set in 18th-century France — a time […]
Kansas City Actors Theatre brings together an ensemble of gifted stage veterans for its thoughtful production of Paul Osborn’s gentle 1939 comedy “Morning’s at Seven.” And the results are what you might expect: detailed character work, great timing and a level of commitment that actually elevates the material. A show like this makes perfect sense […]
