A standing ovation in Helzerg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts doesn’t happen every day. It did for local musician/singer Calvin Arsenia at the Center’s fifth anniversary celebration on Sept. 2. To the dulcet tones of his harp and voice, and accompanied by Jeff Harshbarger, Ryan J. Lee and Clint Ashlock, Arsenia lulled the audience with classics like “Summertime” and “Nature Boy,” along with a few of his own original numbers.

Since “Dead Man Walking” premiered at the San Francisco Opera in 2000, there have been more than 40 stage productions worldwide. There are two commercial recordings, one featuring Kansas City native Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen. For an opera that is only 16 years old, this is remarkable. “Dead Man Walking” is one of the most successful American operas in recent memory.

In “Ten Things Theaters Need to Do Right Now to Save Themselves,” Brendan Kiley of Seattle’s entertainment newspaper, “The Stranger,” urges theater companies to produce premieres — frequently. Directors must seek them out, he says, playwrights must hasten their submissions, critics must review them consistently and unions should allow equity actors to perform in them.