Summer shows (Outdoor Sites)

Theatre in the Park,
"The Sound Of Music"
(June 10-12, 16- 19)
Nathan Norcross directs "The Sound of Music." The final collaboration between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein was destined to become the world's most beloved musical. The musical takes a postulant and places her in the home of a widowed naval captain as she serves as governess of his seven children. They flee from Nazi-held Austria to Switzerland in a finale that is one of the best in musical history.

Heart of America Shakespeare Festival,
"Macbeth"
(June 14-July 3)
"Macbeth" is the last of Shakespeare's great tragedies. Combining swift action and soaring poetry, we follow one man's rash power play for the crown. One evil deed leads to the next, unleashing an escalating cascade of violence, guilt, sleeplessness, paranoia and madness. John Rensenhouse plays Macbeth and Kim Martin Cotton plays Lady Macbeth. Sidonie Garrett directs. The free festival season will run for 18 performances at Southmoreland Park.

Theatre in the Park,
"Les Miserables - School Edition"
(June 24- 26, 30, July 1- 3)
Director David Hastings will lead this musical in an adaptation fit for younger performers. This epic story recounts the struggle against adversity in 19th century France as a hungry man is imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. After almost 20 years, he is released to be the mayor of a town and father to an adopted daughter. All this is set against a student revolution.

Summer shows (Inside Venues)

Quality Hill Playhouse,
"Let's Do It" (through May 29) and
"Closer than Ever" (June 17 – July 17)
Managing Director Rick Truman calls both shows great. The playhouse scheduled "Let's Do It" six years ago and it was a huge hit. The show is full of great standards like "Begin the Beguine," "Night and Day," "I Concentrate on You," and "In the Still of the Night." Truman is directing "Closer Than Ever." "I'm really excited. The songs are all stories about people facing mid-life challenges - second marriages, college reunions, the battle of the bulge. It's very funny, but very touching too."

New Theatre Restaurant,
"The Odd Couple"
(through June 19)
Comedian and actor George Wendt plays Oscar Madison, the slovenly sportswriter enjoying bachelorhood. His best friend, Felix Ungar, played by Tim Kazurinsky, is neurotic and recently divorced. The two opposites collide and the humor flies.

Jewish Community Center,
CenterSeason, "Driving Miss Daisy"
(May 3-5, 7-8)
Directed by Mark Swezey, this play is the winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play. This humorous play studies the unlikely relationship between an aging, crotchety white Southern lady, and a proud, soft-spoken black man.

American Heartland Theatre,
"The 39 Steps"
(May 6-June 19)
The fast-paced, Tony-Award winning comedy whodunit is setting Broadway on fire. It's part spy novel, part Monty Python, and all Hitchcock. This show has it all, including an on-stage plane crash, handcuffs, train chase, missing fingers, romance, and nonstop laughs.

Olathe Community Theatre Association,
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"
(May 6-8, 13-15, 20-22)
Directed by Tiffany Garrison-Schweigert, this Tony-Award winning musical of overachievers' angst chronicles the experience of six adolescents vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. It's a show full of quirky yet charming cast of outsiders.

Musical Theater Heritage,
"Gypsy," with Deb Bluford and Kip Niven
(May 12-29)
Mama Rose is determined to make a star out of her beautiful young daughter, Baby June, but the older, less talented Louise got the spotlight and became the legendary Gypsy Rose Lee. "Gypsy" opened on Broadway in 1959 and epitomizes the classic sound of the American Musical and the golden age of Broadway with songs like "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "Let Me Entertain You," and "You Gotta Have a Gimmick."

Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre,
"The Who's Tommy"
(May 19-June 5)
Founder Karen Paisley again takes on the directorship of "The Who's TOMMY

A Rock Musical" by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff. Young Tommy is stricken deaf, dumb, and blind after witnessing a brutal crime. Becoming the victim of neglect and abuse, Tommy finds solace and triumph in his one true ability… playing pinball.  The L.A. Times said, "Somewhere between arousal and a prayer, between raw blues and high opera, Pete Townshend's insistent, accelerating intro to Pinball Wizard is seven bars of the most exhilarating rock ever made."

City Theatre of Independence,
"Almost Maine," 
(June 2-5, 10-12)
Directed by Patricia McLaughlin, the cast finds themselves become Almost, Maine's residents who are falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night's dream.

Theatre for Young America,
"Snoopy!"
(June 14 to July 2)
This witty musical comedy highlights the famous dog Snoopy with songs and vignettes based on the "PEANUTS" comic strip by Charles Schultz. This upbeat adaptation by Larry Grossman and Hal Hackady has the Peanuts gang going to school to give the familiar book reports and take the true/false tests.

The Barn Players,
"Frost/Nixon," 
(June 10-26)
Shelly Stewart takes the helm for this play about British talk-show host David Frost who takes on former President Richard M. Nixon after the Watergate scandal. Determined to resurrect his career, Frost risks everything on a series of in-depth interviews in order to extract an apology from Nixon. The resulting interviews become the ultimate fodder for a striking play.

Coterie Theatre,
"The Wiz"
(June 21-Aug. 7)
Director Jeff Church takes on "The Wiz."  Celebrate the power of believing in yourself in this Tony award-winning musical based on the tale we all know by heart, with soaring songs: "Ease on Down the Road," "Brand New Day," and "Be a Lion." Notable local actors Christopher Barksdale will play the Lion and Brad Shaw (he is also the costume designer) will play the Tinman. Returning home will be Angela Polk, playing Dorothy.

New Theatre Restaurant,
"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,"
(June 23-Aug. 28)
The Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber hit musical is based on the Genesis story of Joseph and his coat of many colors and the move of the tribes of Israel to Egypt. The variety of musical styles is sure to engage an audience such as a hoedown ("One More Angel in Heaven"), a 1970s disco beat ("Go, Go, Go Joseph"), and a French ballad ("Those Canaan Days").