Summer and outside theater go hand in hand in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Whether it’s supporting the more local shows at Gladstone Theatre in the Park, Shawnee Mission’s Theatre in the Park or the larger Broadway touring shows that Starlight Theatre brings in, summer is sure to be an exciting time. Of course, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival moves into its 22nd season with The Winter’s Tale.
HEART OF AMERICA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
Fans of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival are in for a treat this summer as Executive Director Sidonie Garrett readies for the 22nd season with a new found energy. William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale was written toward the end of the playwright’s career. It is also a play that is not often tackled in school or in the theater. Rather the more popular canon of Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, Midsummer’s Night Dream and the like are performed.
This year’s play brings in a large cast of equity, non-equity, University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Masters of Fine Arts students, teens and children. As with most Shakespearean plays, the show can be set in any time or for that matter, out of time. Garrett says the costumes will have an Edwardian look. “There will be two distinct worlds,” she says. “There will be Sicilia and Bohemia. I have imagined Sicilia being that more black and white world where there is a lack of art, rigidity and emotion. Conversely Bohemia will have more color and clarity.”
“It is not one that is often on the radar for theater companies,” she says. “It is a difficult play.” Some critics call this a “problem play” as the first three acts are filled with psychological drama and then the last two are comedic. Audiences get to watch Leontes, the king of Sicily, descend into madness after his wife Queen Hermione convinces Polixenes, the king of Bohemia to stay. Leontes is puzzled as to how Hermione convinced Polixenes so easily, and Leontes suddenly goes insane and suspects that his pregnant wife has been having an affair with Polixenes and that the child is a bastard. “His reason goes quickly and while we see a patriarchal society, it is up to the matriarchs to rejuvenate this world,” she says.
Composer Greg Mackender has been writing music for festival productions since the first year. This summer, he and two musicians and long-time festival collaborators, cellist Sascha Groschang and violinist Laurel Parks will perform onstage. Garrett figures she will frame settings by dance. “We will start the play with a dance,” she says. “Then there is the dance in Bohemia for sheep shearing. We are framing the piece like a fable or fairy tale. Greg brings in live music and enhances a show. Music can make a show feel richer and fuller.”
Another bonus to the summer show comes in the form of the Shakespeare Birthday Trust. This year marks the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth. Garrett says a group from the Trust is investigating 14 U.S. companies of various sizes. “It is a three-year project where they will collect materials on how we produce shows from the script preparation to the production. We are their first stop July 3.”
THEATRE IN THE PARK
Celebrating its 45th season in 2014, the Theatre in the Park continues its summer theater tradition that has entertained audiences for generations. Annual audiences reach about 30,000 patrons from all over the Kansas City metropolitan area. While audiences enjoy the five musicals, Producing Artistic Director Tim Bair is looking to the future and the 50th season. Of course, he is aiming for a splendid season next summer. “This is my fourth summer and my third season to plan. I inherited the first,” he says.
Bair knows what it means to be in the park and on the stage. He has been in the shows Applause, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and A Chorus Line; and served on the creative staff as choreographer for Oklahoma!, and West Side Story. He also toured nationally and internationally as an actor and director. “The weather adds to the joy and the experience of outdoor theater,” Bair says. “On the best days, the sun goes down and the temperature is comfortable. We have come so far with the theater, especially the technical aspects. However, decisions are never black and white.”
This summer starts with Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. “It’s a premiere for Theatre in the Park,” Bair says. “We are going to bring in a different crowd who like operettas. It also appeals to different actors. No matter what, we have a broad demographic in performers and musicians. … We are also mindful of what we have done before and what is available. We know that we are a community theater; the various professions of those who are part of the theater contribute to the quality of life in the community.”
The rest of the shows are Guys & Dolls, Honk!, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Ragtime. “… The joy is to see families and children grow. There is a connective thread that makes developing musicals so enjoyable.”
STARLIGHT THEATRE
New President and CEO Richard Baker knows the Broadway season at Starlight offers an exceptional line-up. He has experience with a few of the shows, including the Queen musical We Will Rock You as the past president of Fox Associates in St. Louis. He has presented his share of Tony-awarding winning Broadway shows at the historic Fox Theatre in St. Louis and also led Fox Theatricals, which produces shows regionally and on Broadway.
Baker is also a Tony Awards voter and makes regular trips to New York to see shows. Annually, Starlight produces a musical or two. This year, Starlight will produce The Sound of Music. “With this season in hand, I am already planning the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Broadway always books in advance and sometimes Broadway shows are created with a ghost tour in the plans. I even make sure that I see workshops.”
This season Starlight Theatre will be unveiling a new, world-class sound system, says Bill Waugh, concert and I.T. director. So, the sound at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production of The Wizard of Oz, We Will Rock You, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Sound of Music and Blue Man Group will be better than ever.
Waugh has a diverse line-up for the 2014 concert series. Comedian Chelsea Handler is returning for a third time to Starlight. She will be the first to try out the new sound system. The line-up includes several other returning artists including James Taylor, Ray LaMongtagne, and Chicago and REO Speedwagon. “It’s a treat when all the radio stations in town will eventually set up remotes out here,” he says. “Several of the performers return because we have maintained relationships with them, their managers and their agents. This is a relationship-based business for the acts and the audience.”
GLADSTONE THEATRE IN THE PARK
Gladstone Theatre in the Park started in 1988 under the watchful eyes of Van and Susie Ibsen, along with the City of Gladstone. Now 27 years later, Van still has a hand in some of the painting and serves on the executive board as artistic director. “I never expected to see the summer theater program grow this big. I am awed by all those who are involved.”
Ironically, the first and only show of the summer of 1988, Oliver!, returns as the second show this year. The musical runs Aug. 1- 3. The first show, Hairspray, runs July 3, 5 and 6. “The shows are real opposites,” Van says. “Hairspray is contemporary and youthful while Oliver! has a long history and focuses on many children. It’s a good mix.”
One of Van’s former students, Vanessa Campagna, who is now a doctoral student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, will direct Hairspray. She has a history with Gladstone Theatre in the Park. As a youth, she performed in Meet Me in St. Louis, then took the lead role on Peter Pan while she was in high school and then a small role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. “This is my first time to be on the other side of the table, moving through the audition process and my first directing with Gladstone Theatre in the Park. Any time you engage the community in the arts, it is of great value.”
Van says the strength of the volunteers keeps the theater company strong. “Volunteers come out and work hard. They take ownership; it’s not just one person’s vision, but truly a group effort.”
Campagna is glad to see the theater is still free and looks forward to presenting Hairspray. “It’s an outstanding and straight-forward show. It’s a well-written musical with a clear message. It is my job to bring it forward and let the actors share the messages of equality, tolerance and loving people for their intrinsic values. I have to get people involved to share the spirit of the musical. The music is infectious; it’s infused with energy. I know it’s going to be a knockout. When Gladstone decided on the musical, I immediately expressed an interest. I believe in arts advocacy and want to be part of this program.”
