PNC Broadway in Kansas City presents “& Juliet,” Nov. 18-23, at Kansas City Music Hall. (photo by Matthew Murphy)
Read our coverage of the KCRep 2025-2026 season here.
From re-imagined classics to world premieres, must-see shows abound throughout the city
The Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main St., opens artistic director Ernie Nolan’s inaugural 2025-26 season with the regional premiere of “Designing Women” by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Sept. 3-28 on the Levin Stage. The show is based on the beloved sitcom. Abe Reybold will direct.
The Unicorn season continues with “The JonBenét Game” by Tori Keenan-Zelt, Oct. 15-Nov 2. Nolan will direct. The play depicts two childhood friends, Molly and Rae, who played secret JonBenét Ramsey-inspired games when they were kids. Twenty years later, after Molly’s death, her daughter finds the childhood friends’ old playbook. The show “explores true crime’s grip on women, grief, and deep-seated fears.” This production is part of a “rolling world premiere” under the New Play Network banner. (JonBenét Ramsey was a 6-year-old child beauty contestant who in 1996 was found murdered in her family home in Boulder, Colorado.)
Nolan will also direct the world premiere of “Magic Valley Community Theatre’s Little Women” by Liza Birkenmeier and Trish Harnetiaux, Nov. 12-Dec. 7. The show is set on the closing night of an amateur production of “Little Women” and takes place onstage and backstage. Per the Unicorn: “We follow the actors playing the March sisters onstage and the chaos they encounter backstage as their creative dreams and practical worries roil through the performance of their lifetimes.”
For the holidays, the Unicorn will stage “Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big KC MO Christmas Show” by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen. The tireless Nolan will direct this show as well. Labeled a “Special Season Add On,” the show features Ron Megee and other actors from the original 2024 cast. The production runs Dec. 3-28.
The season continues into the new year with “Casey & Diana” by Nick Green, Jan. 28-Feb. 15, 2026. The show is set in 1991, when residents of the Casey House (Canada’s first AIDS hospice) learn that they will be visited by Princess Diana. Sidonie Garrett, artistic director of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, will stage the show, which tells “a powerful true story of compassion, unity and hope amid grief.”
“Trojan Women DCI” by Lauren Gunderson, March 11-29, 2026. Ernie Nolan will direct this world premiere, which brings the classic by Euripides into the 21st century in a play described as a “bold reimagining” of the Greek original. The play is set “not far from here” and depicts “four captive women forced to work with no hope of escape.”
“Don’t Touch My Hair” by Douglas Lyons, May 6-24. A wild hallucination gives two young women superpowers “to confront the past in a hilarious, eye-opening journey,” reads the synopsis. “This electrifying play celebrates Black Womanhood and self-discovery.” Teisha M. Bankston directs.
For more information, call the box office at 816-531-7529 or go to www.unicorn.org.
The Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, 3927 Main St., has literally risen from the ashes. The company’s home, the historic Warwick Theatre, had been closed since Feb. 7, 2024, following a fire that caused extensive damage. Now the Warwick has been restored, and the MET is back with a four-show season.
The shows:
“Mother’s Daughter” by Kate Hennig, opens the season, Sept. 12-21. The MET describes the show as a modern take on Mary Tudor as she “struggles to keep her crown, her values and her sanity” in a drama “told in a modern voice.”
(The October/November slot was still open at press time.)
“A Man For All Seasons” by Robert Bolt is a 1960s classic about the ethical and intellectual conflict between Thomas More, England’s Lord Chancellor, and King Henry VIII following the King’s decision to separate from the Catholic Church and declare himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England. More opposed Henry’s decision and paid for his opposition dearly. The show runs Jan. 16-25, 2026.
Lauren Gunderson’s “Silent Sky,” Feb. 27-March 8, 2026. The play is based on the true story of Henrietta Leavitt, an overlooked astronomer, who fought tradition and sexism in the early 20th century.
“The Shawshank Redemption,” April 17-26, 2026. Adapted from the film based on Stephen King’s novel, the prison drama reflects on friendship and endurance behind bars. The MET produced the North American premiere of the play in 2019.
For more information, visit www.metkc.org.
KC Melting Pot Theatre will present a four-show season of two stage classics, a vintage drama and a new, original play. The season:
“’Night, Mother” by Marsha Norman, Sept. 18-27. This two-character play depicts a long conversation between a daughter and mother and their response to a tragic decision.
“Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, Dec. 4-13. Miller’s iconic drama captures the mental decline of a traveling salesman plagued by memories and delusions.
“Long Time Since Yesterday” by P.J. Gibson, March 12-21, 2026. Three women come together for the funeral of an old friend and confront tensions and long-held secrets.
“Like Six O’Clock” by Lewis Morrow, June 11-26, 2026. A factory shooting prompts sober reflections in a nearby tires-and-brakes business, whose owners may have personal connections to the shooter.
All performances are at the Just Off Broadway Theatre, 3051 Central St. Call 816-226-8087.
Music Theater Heritage at Crown Center continues its current season with a Main Stage production of Jonathan Larson’s “Rent,” the Pulitzer Prize/Tony Award-winning Broadway musical based on “La Boheme” about impoverished artists and would-be artists in New York, Oct. 2-26 on the Main Stage. Jessalyn Kincaid will direct.
The MTH 2025-26 season opens with “The Fantasticks,” the longest-running off-Broadway show in history by composer Harvey Schmidt and lyricist book-writer Tom Jones, Feb. 5-22, 2026. The rest of the season:
“Moby Dick: a Sea Shanty,” a world-premiere incorporating authentic folk music and sea shanties into Herman Melville’s classic novel, March 26-April 19, 2026.
“Brigadoon,” the Lerner-and-Loewe Broadway classic about a mythical village in the Scottish highlands that comes to life once every 100 years, May 7-10, 2026.
“The Wiz,” the popular Motown adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz” featuring “Ease on Down the Road,” “Home” and other classic tunes, June 11-July 5, 2026.
“Jesus Christ Superstar,” the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice show that began life as a concept album and became an international theatrical hit, Aug. 20-Sept. 13, 2026.
“Bat Boy, the Musical,” an off-Broadway hit based on articles in the Weekly World News (a tabloid that printed fiction as news), with music and lyrics by Lawrence O’Keefe and a book by Keith Farley and Brian Fleming, Oct. 8-Nov. 1, 2026.
For ticket information, call 816-221-6987 or visit www.musictheaterheritage.com.
The Coterie Theatre, the award-winning young-audiences company at Crown Center, has programmed a season of diverse shows. The lineup:
“A Wrinkle in Time,” based on the novel by Madeleine L’Engle and adapted by Morton Gould, Sept. 16-Oct. 12. The moral message of the book is clear: Good can triumph over evil.
“Elf — The Musical TYA” receives its world premiere in a production that runs Nov. 11-Dec. 31. The show features a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguilin. This is billed as a world premiere because it is a new young-audiences adaptation of the 2010 Broadway musical.
“The Drum Closet,” a world premiere by Tosin Morohunfola, an actor/director/writer formerly based in Kansas City and now living in California. The play follows two Nigerian-American brothers — Timi, a freshman, and Kareem, a senior, both of whom want to be the drumline section leader. The official synopsis: “Walking through the mayhem halls of ‘Blue Vale High’ with his older brother as guide, Timi meets a bashful girl with a secret, a boy coming into his own, a terrorizing homecoming king, a couple of faculty members who don’t want him to win, and all kinds of adolescent obstacles. The brothers race to become section leader while trying to stay out of trouble and make their immigrant mother proud, all while learning how to be Black boys in a white world. The show is for viewers no younger than 12 and contains strong language and mature themes. It runs Jan. 28-Feb. 22, 2026.
“Lilly and the Pirates,” based on the book by Phyllis Root, is adapted by John McClay and Will Eno, with music by Brett Ryback and lyrics by Ryback and Maclay. Lilly is a 10-year-old “worry wart” who must overcome her fear of water when she attempts to rescue her scientist-parents from the Shipwreck Islands. The show runs March 24-May 3, 2026.
“Pete the Cat,” a musical based on the Pete the Cat book series by Kimberly and James Dean, June 10-Aug. 2, 2026. With help from Pete, “a groovy blue cat,” 12-year-old Jimmy conquers his art class and learns about inspiration.
In addition to the regular season of shows presented on the lower level of Crown Center, the theater company will also reprise its annual outdoor Halloween show at Union Cemetery, “Electric Poe,” adapted by actor R.H. Wilhoit from Edgar Allan Poe stories. Performances run Oct. 15-Nov. 2. The show is part of the Coterie After Dark series, which also includes “Electric Renaissance,” a co-production with the American Jazz Museum, 1616 E. 18th St. The show celebrates literary voices that emerged from the Harlem Renaissance, including Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. The production will run May 27-June 14, 2026.
The New Theatre & Restaurant in Overland Park is ready with a 2025-26 season:
“Alone Together” by Lawrence Roman, Sept. 10-Nov. 16, starring Barry Williams and featuring Cathy Barnett.
“Nobody’s Perfect” by Simon Williams, a gender-confusion comedy starring Jim O’Heir, Nov. 19-Feb. 1, 2026. (Directed by New Theatre co-founder Dennis D. Hennessy.)
“Elvis & Elton,” an imagined concert with the two musical legends, starring Victor Trevino Jr. as Elvis and Sean McGibbon as Elton John, Feb. 5-April 19, 2026.
“Cactus Flower,” starring Marilu Henner, April 23-June 28, 2026.
“Legally Blonde,” July 2-Sept. 6, 2026.
For more information, call 913-649-7469 or go to www.newtheatre.com.
Spinning Tree Theatre, based in the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center in Overland Park, offers a 2025-26 season:
“Carrie the Musical,” Nov. 1-8.
Teen Writers’ Fest 2026, Feb. 6-9, 2026.
“The Signer,” April 17-24, 2026.
“The World Goes ’Round,” June 26-28, 2026.
For more information, call 913-379-6299.
Kansas City Actors Theatre, which doesn’t follow the traditional fall-through-spring season schedule, presents Ira Levin’s “Deathtrap” Sept. 10-28 at City Stage in Union Station and closes out its 2025-26 season with “Everybody” by Branden Jacobs Jenkins at City Stage in Union Station. The show runs March 4-22, 2026. Vanessa Severo will direct a cast that includes Teisha Bankston, John Rensenhouse and Cinnamon Schultz. Call 816-361-5228 or visit www.kcactors.org.
PNC Broadway in Kansas City 2025/26 season of touring musicals:
“The Book of Mormon,” Sept. 16-21, Kansas City Music Hall.
“Beauty and the Beast,” Oct. 28-Nov. 2, Kansas City Music Hall.
“& Juliet,” Nov. 18-23, Kansas City Music Hall.
“Kimberly Akimbo,” Jan. 20-25, 2026, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
“Hamilton,” Feb. 18-March 1, Kansas City Music Hall.
“The Great Gatsby,” March 17-22, 2026, Kansas City Music Hall.
“Stereophonic,” April 7-12, 2026, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
“Mrs. Doubtfire,” June 2-7, 2026, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
“Wicked,” Aug. 12-30, 2026, Kansas City Music Hall.
For more information, visit kansascity.broadway.com.
The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City, presenting in various venues, released its 2025-26 season:
“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” Nov. 21-23 and 27-30, Penn Valley
“Five Guys Named Moe,” Feb. 6-8, 12-21 and 19-22, Black Box Theatre
“The African Company Presents Richard III,” April 17-19 and 21-26, Unicorn Theatre
“Once on This Island,” May 22-24 and 27-31, Boone Theater
For more information, 816-832-1269 or www.brtkc.org.
Starlight Theatre in Swope Park offers its final Broadway musical of the season, the Tony Award-winning “Life of Pi,” Sept. 16-21. The show that began as a novel, became a film and later a stage play before its Broadway incarnation, is based on Canadian writer Yann Martel’s novel. Call 816-363-7827 or visit tickets.kcstarlight.com.
The Black Box, 1060 Union Ave. in the West Bottoms, offers theater, improv, late-night burlesque, musical parodies and live music.
Call 816-533-5565; info@blackboxcom
Theatre for Young America, had not posted new season information on its website at press time, www.tya.org. 816-460-2083.
