It was a Friday the 13th like no other. Friday is normally a big day for the performing arts. But this was not a normal Friday. For theater companies and
The stage was awash with lively music, amity, optimism and national pride Tuesday for the opening-night performance of “Come From Away” at the Music Hall. The Tony Award-winning show, set
Kansas City Repertory Theatre offers a handsomely mounted production of “Fun Home,” the musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir about growing up in uniquely dysfunctional family in Pennsylvania. The
My regular readers know that my tolerance for plays about the theater is extremely low, but every now and then I run across a happy exception. The Unicorn Theatre (in collaboration with UMKC Theatre) offers up a well-acted production of Theresa Rebeck’s ambitious “Bernhardt/Hamlet,” in which the playwright toys with the historical fact that French […]
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 virtually every available seat to see Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s annual take on “A Christmas Carol,” the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens, who used his […]
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) that places intimate human relationships against a sprawling social and political backdrop. As usual with Spinning Tree, the production raises an obvious question: How is […]
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 Darren Sextro, who staged his own adaptation of the Ibsen original in August for Kansas City Actors Theatre, now returns to direct Hnath’s compressed follow-up […]
Funny how productions of older shows so often reflect our present reality. That’s certainly the case with the handsome MTH Theater production of “Ragtime,” the award-winning 1998 musical based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel. Director Tim Scott fills up every inch of the stage at the Crown Center performance venue with people, sound and color. He […]
Well, now. Kansas City Repertory Theatre dishes up a gleaming Cadillac production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” deftly directed, elegantly designed and festooned with vivid performances from one of the best casts you’re likely to see on any stage. Unfortunately, “Cat” doesn’t really rank with Tennessee Williams’ finest works, “A Streetcar Named Desire” […]
