The final production in American Heartland Theatre’s 25th anniversary season once again demonstrates AHT’s continuing efforts to support local actors and bring new works to the metro. A Kansas City Premiere, BINGO! The Winning Musical is a splashy, zippy, and outrageously funny new musical starring Debra Bluford, Jennifer Mays, Stasha Case, Jeanne Averill, Rick Williamson, and Emily Shackelford.
Meet a colorful group of die-hard bingo players: Vern, Honey, and Patsy, whose lives are thrown into a tizzy when a young stranger blows through their bingo hall during a terrible storm and makes them confront their past. The show enjoys an interactive twist as the audience is invited to play three rounds of bingo for real prizes.
Performances begin July 6 and continue through Aug. 19. Tickets are on sale now at the American Heartland Theatre Box Office on the 3rd floor of the Crown Center Shops, online at www.ahtkc.com, or by calling 816-842-9999.
The cast and creative team for BINGO The Winning Musical includes:
Jeanne Averill (Minnie/Bernice) was last seen at AHT in Stories My Grandmother Told Me. She has worked at many other area theaters, including The Kansas City Rep, The Coterie, The Fishtank, MET, Great Plains Theater, and New Theater. Additionally her one-woman show about the Victorian Shakespearean actress Fanny Kemble at the Denver Performing Arts Center. Her film experience includes recently released independent film Lucky with Colin Hanks and Jeffrey Tambor, Killer Diller with John Michael Higgins and Fred Willard, Confederate States of America, and Puppy Love. She has appeared in made for television movies “Gone in the Night”, “A Matter of Justice”, and “Cross of Fire.
Debra Bluford (Vern) returns to AHT after appearing in the hit comedy The Dixie Swim Club. Her AHT shows include: Glorious; Sanders Family Christmas; Leaving Iowa; Steel Magnolias; and Sugar Babies. Last year, Ms. Bluford debuted with the KC Lyric Opera in Daughter of the Regiment and with the KC Symphony Pop Series in The Music Man. Deb has been honored to receive several KC Drama Desk and Best of Theatre. Deb will don the habit once again as Rev. Mother at AHT this holiday season in Nuncrackers.
Stasha Case (Patsy) is making her American Heartland Theatre debut! Previous performance venues include The Unicorn, The Chestnut Fine Arts, OCTA, Horsehead Productions, JC Barn Players, Theatre in the Park, Bell Road Barn, Late Night Theatre, and Full Frontal Comedy Improvisational comedy troupe, of which she was an assistant director and a performing member for 11 years. By day, Stasha works at Prosperity Advisory Group Inc., a financial planning firm.
Jennifer Mays (Honey) has been a professional actress in and out of KC for over 15 years. Her favorite local acting credits include The Nerd, Moonlight and Magnolias and Dixie Swim Club at AHT; All Shook Up, Pump Boys & Dinettes, Gypsy, Barefoot in the Park and Leading Ladies at The New Theatre; Seussical at The Coterie; and Christmas Carol, Guys and Dolls, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and August: Osage County at KC Rep.
Emily Shackelford (Alison) is making her debut at American Heartland Theatre. Originally from San Diego, Emily recently moved to Kansas City after earning her B.F.A. in Theatre from Stephens College in Columbia, MO. She recently returned from a short engagement at the New Victory Theatre in New York, with the Off-Broadway production of Henry Krieger and Bill Russell’s, Lucky Duck.
Rick Williamson (Sam/Frank) is also making his debut at AHT. He received his B.A. from UMKC and later went on to receive his Masters Degree from UCLA. His recent Kansas City performances include Tupolski from The Pillowman, David Frost in Frost/Nixon and, most recently, Robert in the Living Room’s production of Betrayal.
Steven Eubank (Direction) is the Artistic Director of EGADS Theatre Company and a proud native of Kansas City, Mo. He earned his BFA in Musical Theatre from Missouri State University. Steven has directed for AHT, The Unicorn, Leawood Stage Co. and Johnson County Community College and has choreographed for The Unicorn, AHT, JCCC, Theatre for Young America and the “late” Late Night Theatre.
