From left: Ile Haggins, artistic director, programming; Melonnie Walker, artistic director, operations; and Lynn King, artistic director, education (photo by Jim Barcus)
A triad of female co-artistic directors takes the helm as founders Harvey and Linda Williams step away from day-to-day responsibilities
KC Melting Pot Theatre has made local history in big and small ways since it was founded in 2013 by Harvey Williams, a playwright and actor who decided he needed to create the venue if he hoped to ever see his plays produced.
Harvey and his wife, co-founder and general manager Linda Williams, have nurtured the small company to what it is today: a permanent presence in the Kansas City theater scene that has created opportunities for African American writers, actors and directors whose work had rarely been seen by mainstream theatergoing audiences.
In the beginning, Harvey didn’t envision it as an African American theater. Just as the name suggests, he wanted it to be multicultural and to reflect the experiences and artistry of a range of performers and writers of various ethnicities and backgrounds.
But as time went by it became clear that KC Melting Pot was filling a need: to nourish Black talent and tell African American stories in new and interesting ways — and to reflect the universal human experience.
In December, for example, the company staged Arthur Miller’s classic “Death of a Salesman” with an all-Black cast. Willy Loman and his family are white in the original, of course, but the play’s depiction of a fractured, dysfunctional family with a patriarch losing his grip on reality connects with viewers of any background. (Miller’s iconic drama has been translated into multiple European, Middle Eastern and Asian languages.)
The company will take another significant step forward this January and February when the Broadway musical “Rent” will be performed at the Jewish Community Center. Officially, it’s a co-production between KC Melting Pot Theatre and The White Theatre at The J. The show requires a diverse cast to play white, Black, Asian, Latino and LGBT+ characters. It marks the first time Melting Pot has co-produced with another theater company.
Harvey and Linda Williams said the co-production was made possible through the influence of Mark Edelman, founder of Theater League. Williams said Edelman has been a strong supporter of Melting Pot for years.
“He’s been a supporter of ours since he saw our first show,” Harvey said.
The company made a significant step forward in 2021 when it announced a season of four shows, each to be directed by a woman of color. The artists included Nicole Hodges Persley, who was then the company’s artistic director, as well as Ile Haggins, Melonnie Walker and Lynn King.
NEW LEADERSHIP
Flash forward to now: Haggins, Walker and King are each co-artistic directors with a specific area of expertise. This evolution came at a time when Harvey and Linda Williams were ready to begin stepping away from day-to-day responsibilities. A theater company led by a triad of co-equal artistic directors is unique.
“I’m actually stepping back from running the day-to-day business,” Linda said. “I’m trying to transition so that I’m not so heavily involved. Bob, we’re tired. We want to sit down.”
Haggins, the artistic director for programming, said in a way the arrangement is not new.
“Although historically we always had the traditional organization structure of having only one artistic director, we’ve always worked together,” Haggins said. “We actually call our leadership team the family. So it was rather an easy transition. It seemed like a natural, organic (choice) for us
to do this.”
Haggins moved from Ohio to Kansas City in the late 1980s after earning a theater degree at Otterbein University.
“I was working in professional theater in Ohio, and I landed in Kansas City in my 20s and it’s just one of those things,” she said. “It really seemed to me that the theater scene here was a lot more vibrant than it was in Columbus, Ohio.”
She worked as a stage manager for Shawnee Mission Theatre in the Park and eventually began landing directing gigs at various companies, including the Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City, founded by Damron Russel Armstrong.
Haggins also believes the arts are in “a tenuous and scary time. But I think we’re going to thrive and survive. I credit Linda Williams for that. She’s very committed to the broad community. And she’s been really smart in the financial management of the theater. I think that’s why we’re still able to do a full season.”
Melonnie Walker, born and raised in Kansas City, holds a master’s degree in theater history from UMKC, where she studied under Felicia Londré. Her area of expertise is August Wilson and his epic cycle of plays about Black life in the 20th century. Walker’s title is artistic director of operations.
“We have all known each other and worked together in multiple capacities for several years, so it was really a natural evolution,” Walker said. “It just seemed like a really great fit.”
Walker, like her colleagues, said a big part of the job is protecting what Harvey and Linda Williams have built.
“They are naturally thinking about succession and how the theater will evolve in the coming years and making sure they have the right people in place. What they have built is cultivating Black access for Black actors, Black designers, Black directors… The theater is where you practice your humanity. We get to share common, human experiences.”
Lynn King is a veteran actor and director who grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. She earned a bachelor of arts degree from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from UMKC.
She is the company’s artistic director for education. The plan is to organize classes to offer intensive training for actors. Initially the classes will be for high school students and adults.
“I believe the theater to be a collaborative place and if this works as well as I anticipate it will, it will just strengthen our theater,” King said. “As we move forward, that is my goal: to collaborate well with these ladies who are my friends and colleagues to find ways to elevate the theater even more.”
To learn more about KC Melting Pot Theatre, 3051 Penn Valley Dr. between Broadway and Wyandotte on 31st St., visit www.kcmeltingpot.com.
