Category: Performing
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Arts News: A Bigger, Better Musical Theater Heritage
Heading into its 16th season, Musical Theater Heritage is in growth mode. Specializing in productions of American musicals, the Crown Center-based theater company has been a popular presence in Kansas City since its founding in 2003. And no wonder. There’s a show for every taste, with the typical season offering one or two “heritage” musicals, as well as a couple of less well-known or untraditional shows like “Next to Normal” and “Sunday in the Park with George.”
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Artist to Watch: Christine Grossman
Christine Grossman, principal violist for the Kansas City Symphony, was reluctant. As a teenager, she wasn’t sure she wanted to switch from violin to viola. As a born and bred New Yorker, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be principal in an orchestra in the middle of America. She’s changed her mind: “What I love about the Kansas City arts scene is an openness and a welcoming spirit among the musicians and artists."
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‘As One’ Delves the Complexity of Transgender Life
“As One” is the story of one soul torn between two identities, a story of courage, of truth, of searching and of self-discovery. It is the story of Hannah, in her journey to realize herself as a young transgendered woman. “As One” is a chamber opera composed by Laura Kaminsky, with co-librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. The opera premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2014.
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Kansas City Ballet Celebrates 60 Years of Dance
The Kansas City Ballet, one of the diamonds in Kansas City’s crown, turns 60 this year. Last season, the Kansas City Ballet reached more than 90,000 people through outreach, dance education and training, and performances combined. Last June, the company hosted the annual national DanceUSA Conference, which gathered over 500 industry professionals from across the country to Kansas City.
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Bold, Audacious, Artist-Led
By any conventional measure, the theater company run by a committee system should have years ago blown up in a supernova of egos. But it didn’t. And the quality of KCAT’s work is better than ever. As someone who has been reviewing plays in Kansas City for more than two decades, I can say that KCAT has mounted some of the best shows I’ve seen, going all the way back to its very first production in 2005.
