Westport Center for the Arts will present “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” a Readers’ Theatre performance, Sunday, June 24 at the Alexander Majors House, 8201 State Line Road.
Kansas City actors Walter Coppage, William Grey Warren and Matt Weiss will present Mark Twain’s finest work at two performances – at 2 p.m. and at 5 p.m. The 1884 novel is not only one of the finest works of American literature but also one of the most controversial. Set on the Mississippi River in the antebellum South, “Huckleberry Finn” tackles the theme of racism as Huck struggles to decide whether to turn in the escaped slave Jim or to help him gain his freedom.
Musicians Michael Fraser and Tenley Hansen will provide musical accompaniment. Fraser and Hansen are both members of Short Leaf.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and senior citizens. A complimentary reception will be held immediately after each performance.
Walter Coppage has performed major roles in many Kansas City theaters. He’s also appeared in numerous national radio and television commercials, and has served for a number of years as the spokesperson for Children International. Walter is very active in the growing Kansas City film industry, performing in a number of feature films, TV movies, independent films and industrials. His most recent roles include Bob Crachitt in A Christmas Carol at the Kansas City Repertory Theater and in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter at the Steppenwolfe Theatre in Chicago.
William Grey Warren has performed roles in productions at the Metropolitan Ensemble Theater, American Heartland Theater, Okoboji Summer Theatre, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and the Old Lyric Repertory Company in Logan, Utah. He has stage directed West Side Story, Little Shop of Horrors, and Into the Woods at Avila University. Warren teaches at New Mark Middle School and choreographs fights for stages throughout the greater Kansas City area.
Matt Weiss found his way into theater “due to his father being a magician and his uncle being a clown/human cannon ball with Ringling Bros. Circus.” He has appeared in the Coterie’s Maul of the Dead, A Separate Peace, Atypical Boy, and U Bug Me. Matt is a founding member and resident artist of The Living Room where he appeared in their inaugural production of On An Average Day, and other shows including Beirut, The Wall and, most recently, A Bucket Of Blood. He is also the co-creator of The Living Room’s collaboration with Lidia’s Restaurant The Accidental Waiter. He has performed in most, if not all, of Kansas City theaters and can be seen next in Titus which premiers this summer at The Living Room.
Westport Center for the Arts was founded in 2006 to support community artists and the arts. In addition to Reader’s Theatre performances, WCA presents monthly Brown Bag Concerts, dance performances, art exhibitions and a foreign film series.
For more information about Westport Center for the Arts and its upcoming programs, visit www.westportcenterforthearts.org.
