Ain`t She Sweet

Transcription

Ain`t She Sweet

WILLIAM INGE COLLECTION AT THE INDEPENDENCE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Showbiz
Play Reading at Rockhurst
Rockhurst University’s Center for
Arts and Letters has chosen Robert Kinast’s play Nails for a staged
reading on April 21 at 7:30 pm in
room 115 of Sedgwick Hall. This
reading is part of the Center’s
Plays-in-Progress program. After
the reading, the audience has the
opportunity to give feedback to the
cast, director, and playwright. The
play concerns Kim and Tran, refugees from the war in Vietnam, who
have been operating a nail salon in
the U.S. for twenty-five years and
now face a double challenge. The
rent for their salon space is increasing dramatically and may force
them out of business, while their
American-born daughter intends
to join the Marines rather than go
to college for which her parents
have worked all her life. Kim and
Tran’s real struggles, punctuated by
flashbacks of their escape from Vietnam, are juxtaposed throughout the
play to a stand-up comedy routine
in which the comedian makes fun of
Vietnamese technicians who work
in nail salons, leaving the audience
to decide whether to laugh or object.
Reservations are not necessary and
there is no admission charge for
this event, although donations are
accepted. If you need directions or
campus location, you may call the
center at 816-501-4607.
Advocacy Makes a Difference
A new report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
finds that increased advocacy results
in huge community benefits. A
study done of Los Angeles County
social service nonprofits between
2004 and 2008 demonstrates the
value of investing in advocacy,
building coalitions, and engaging
boards. Download the report at
www.ncrp.org/files/publications/
gcip-la_report_exec_summary.pdf.
Report on Millennial Generation
The Pew Research Center has published a report on the Millennial
Generation — those 13- to 29-yearolds who have come of age since the
year 2000. These young people are
more racially and ethnically mixed
than their cohorts in previous generations, are more tolerant and
COVER:
William Inge on the set of The Dark
at the Top of the Stairs. The set is modeled after his boyhood home.
Top Billing
Remembering William Inge ......................2
Idealware Software Tip
E-mailing Thousands of People at Once .....5
Stand-Ins
Auditions .............................................. 17
Calendar ................................................8
Film Clips................................................4
Performances ..........................................6
Seasons..................................................4
Showbiz .................................................1
Cast of Characters
Scott Bowling ........................... Webmaster
Richard Buswell ................ Managing Editor
Bryan Colley ................... Graphic Designer
Angie Fiedler Sutton ...........Associate Editor
Anna Jennings ......................Special Events
Tricia Kyler Bowling.............. Subscriber Rep
Letters to the Editor ....... [email protected]
Continued on page 15
KCSTAGE
Vol. 12 • No. 6 • Issue 128 • April 2010
[email protected] • 816-361-2325
PO Box 410492 • Kansas City, Missouri 64141-0492
May Submission Deadline: April 10
www.kcstage.com
© Copyright 2010 by KC Stage. All material contained in this publication is the property of or licensed for use by KC Stage. Any use,
duplication, or reproduction of any or all content of this publication
is prohibited except with the express written permission of KC Stage or
the original copyright holders. Printing by First Choice. R
www.kcstage.com
APRIL 2010
1
Remembering William Inge
by Bryan Colley
WILLIAM INGE COLLECTION AT THE INDEPENDENCE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Born in Independence, Kansas,
William Inge attended the Independence Community College,
where the annual William Inge
Festival celebrating his legacy has
been held every year since 1982.
This year’s festival runs April 21-24
and will feature guest playwright
Paula Vogel, the author of How I
Learned to Drive and, most recently,
A Civil War Christmas. The Inge
Festival follows the Kansas City
Repertory Theatre’s staging of
Bus Stop, which closes April 3, and
Martin Tanner Production’s staged
reading of Touched: The Last 2,000
William Inge’s boyhood home in Independence, Kansas.
Heartbeats of William Inge by Marcia
Cebulska on March 28.
Inge is generally famous for four plays — Picnic,
the Inge Center. Inge Center associate Bruce Peterson
Bus Stop, Come Back, Little Sheba, and The Dark at the
wrote in an e-mail that, “the plays were selected partly
Top of the Stairs — each of which were turned into Holbecause they represented writing styles different from
lywood films. Bus Stop earned him the Pulitzer Prize,
what one thinks of for Inge.” He added that, “there
and a revival directed by David Cromer is scheduled
remain a couple dozen or so unpublished one-acts of
to open on Broadway this fall. Inge also won an Acadvarious lengths in the collection. There is interest from
emy Award for the screenplay to Elia Kazan’s Splendor
major publishing houses to get The Killing and other of
in the Grass.
his scripts published, though it is not expected in the
While these plays are performed consistently around
near future.”
the country, a considerable amount of Inge’s work is
Inge’s Life
largely unknown. Inge has written more than 25 plays
and some work for television. He also wrote two novels,
Inge graduated from the University of Kansas in 1935
Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff and My Son is a Spendid Driver,
and later taught at Stephens College in Columbia. He
both set in the fictional town of Freedom, Kansas. Many
moved to St. Louis in 1943 to serve as a drama critic
of his plays have barely seen the light of day since his
for the St. Louis Star-Times, where he wrote his first
death, when his writings were cloistered away at the
play. Once hailed as the American Chekhov or the next
William Inge Center for the Arts in Independence,
Tennessee Williams (who was a close friend), Inge was
Kansas as part of his estate — available for viewing
a writer whose fame rose and fell during his lifetime,
but unpublished and unproduced.
and he committed suicide at the age of 60 after a string
Only in the last year have these lost plays received
of critical and commercial failures left him a clinically
some exposure. In New York City, The Killing was
depressed alcoholic.
produced at the 59E59 Theatre and Off the Main Road
Williams offered this remembrance in his book New
received a staged reading at the Flea Theatre with FranSelected Essays: Where I Live: "I met Bill Inge in December,
ces Sternhagen and Sigourney Weaver. Five more plays
1944, when I returned home briefly to St. Louis. At that
were premiered at the 2009 Inge Festival and were pubtime, he was writing for the Star-Times, doing dramatic
lished as A Complex Evening by On Stage Press, a division
criticism and interviews and, I think, also serving as
of Samuel French. Copies are only available through
music critic.
2
KCSTAGE
“Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right.
When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” - Neil Gaiman
u Remembering William Inge
“This was during the Chicago break-in of The Glass
Menagerie and Bill came to our suburban home to interview me. He was embarrassingly ‘impressed’ by my
burgeoning career as a playwright. It’s always lonely at
home now: my friends have all dispersed. I mentioned
this to Bill and he cordially invited me to his apartment
near the river. We had a gala night among his friends.
Later we attended the St. Louis Symphony together. He
made my homecoming an exceptional pleasure.
“When I returned to Menagerie in Chicago, Bill
shortly arrived to attend and cover the play, and I
believe he was sincerely overwhelmed by the play
and the fabulous Laurette Taylor, giving her last and
greatest performance.
“A year or two later, I was back in St. Louis and we
met again. He had now retired as a journalist and was
teaching English at Washington University, not far from
our home, and was living in the sort of neo-Victorian
white frame house that must have reminded him of his
native Kansas. There, one evening, he shyly produced a
play that he had written, Come Back, Little Sheba. He read
it to me in his beautifully quiet and expressive voice: I
was deeply moved by the play and I immediately wired
Audrey Wood about it and urged him to submit it to
her. She was equally impressed and Bill became her
client almost at once.
“It was during the rehearsals of that play… that Bill
had his first nervous crisis. The tension was too much
for him, he assuaged it copiously with liquor. Paul
Bigelow took him in charge and had him hospitalized
away from Broadway’s traumas, and I don’t think Bill
even attended his opening night.”
Inge entered psychoanalysis after Sheba opened on
Broadway. It was a modest success, but Inge wrote that
“there was absolutely no one to understand how I felt,
for I didn’t feel anything at all. I was in a funk. Where
was the joy I had always imagined? Where were the
gloating satisfactions I had always anticipated? I looked
everywhere to find them. None were there.” He added,
“My plays since Sheba have been more successful, but
none of them has brought me the kind of joy, the hilarity,
I had craved as a boy, as a young man, living in Kansas
and Missouri back in the thirties and forties. Strange
and ironic. Once we find the fruits of success, the taste
is nothing like what we had anticipated.”
www.kcstage.com
Inge’s Work
Inge’s plays are primarily known for their study of
loneliness and repressed sexuality, a subject which
resonated more in the inhibited 1950s than in subsequent decades. Critics have been dismissive of Inge’s
work as overly sentimental, although today it’s generally thought that Inge was highly critical of life in
small town middle America filled with compromise
and sexual repression.
Inge’s fascination with sexual repression was borne
in part by his closeted homosexuality, and several critics have since reinterpreted his works from this point
of view. His later plays Where’s Daddy?, The Boy in
the Basement, and The Tiny Closet featured blatantly
homosexual characters, and the one-acts written near
his death serve as some of his most personal and confessional work. Missouri Repertory Theatre founder
Patricia McIlrath once wrote that Inge, “knew small
town life perfectly, its agonies and its ecstasies; he
knew, possibly personally, the agony of assuming
moral responsibility for one’s own acts, a strong trait
and virtue of the Middle West.”
Inge took his critics seriously and suffered emotionally when his plays weren’t embraced. He once wrote in
the foreword of a collection of his four major plays that
“the playwright comes to realize, maybe with considerable shock, that the play contains something very vital
to him, something of the very essence of his own life.
If it is rejected, he can only feel that he is rejected, too.
Some part of him has been turned down, cast aside, even
laugh at or scorned. If it is accepted, all that becomes
him to feel is a deep gratefulness, like a man barely
escaping a fatal accident, that he has survived.”
In the preface to Natural Affection he added that “it’s
impossible for a writer to defend his own work. He
may try to explain it, but he may not succeed. If a work
of his is contested, or disputed, or badly criticized, all
about all a writer can say is, ‘I’m sorry. It’s what I felt
like writing at a certain time in my life, and I was in
hopes people would find meaning in it.’ My new play,
Natural Affection, has been contested, praised, disputed,
and criticized. In many cases, the violence of the criticisms has surpassed the violence of the play. But the
play has also won enough esteem to convince me that
its writing was not a waste of time.” R
APRIL 2010
3
Film Clips
Seasons
Hy-Vee Supermarkets shot photographs
at their Prairie Village store for a print
campaign.
American Heartland Theatre
by Larry F. Levenson
Ben Meade and his Avila University students will be finishing a documentary
on Ron Rooks, the owner of the Music
Exchange. Rooks died in 2008.
A production company in Los Angeles is
looking for a camera operator with experience with a Canon 5D Mark II. They plan
to shoot a project in Kansas beginning
in April. Contact [email protected].
Producers were in Kansas the latter part of
February scouting locations.
Opfer Communications in Springfield
is looking for a television producer/
creative director. Contact them at info@
opfer.com.
The feature movie Terminal is to be shot in
the KC area from August through December. Andy Garrison has been cast as the
male lead.
Columbia has been chosen as the site
of a feature movie entitled A Horrible
Way to Die. Auditions were held on the
Stephens College campus in February. For information, contact them at
[email protected].
Sprint shot in KC in February. Rick Cowan
was the local producer.
Food wholesalers CHS hired Wright/Laird
Casting, Kansas City, to cast a commercial
for them. MK12, also of KC, produced and
did graphics.
The Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson
City is closed; however, it is still used for
other projects. 48 Hours Mystery, CBS,
used it for one of their episodes.
Andrew Droz Palermo wrote and will direct
a short movie in Missouri. The working
title is A Face Fixed. For information, go
to www.afacefixed.com.
A Los Angeles company was in Columbia
for a casting call in March. Producers were
casting 12 speaking roles as well as nonspeaking roles. The movie’s title is Scraps,
and will be shot in Columbia. Contact
Kevin at [email protected]
for information.
Rich Ambler produced a Price Chopper
supermarket commercial in KC; Wright/
Laird Casting handling the talent casting. R
4
KCSTAGE
The Love List by Norm Foster
Plaid Tidings by Stuart Ross
Maybe Baby, It’s You by Charlie Shanian
and Shari Simpson
No Way to Treat a Lady by Douglas
Cohen
The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow
The Honky Tonk Angels by Ted Swindley
CenterStage Theatre
Celebration in Song: The Music of Billy
Joel
Chicago
The Fantasticks
Celebration in Song: The Music of Barbara Streisand
Driving Miss Daisy
Once on This Island
Chestnut Fine Arts Center
Moo Juice the Musical
The Little Shop of Horrors
Sentimental Journey: A Salute to the 40's
Dickens Carolers in Concert
Memories Are Made of This
This Land is Your Land: The Folk Years
Godspell
Crooners
A Tribute to the Boy Bands
Friends of Chamber Music
Pianist Vladimir Feltsman playin Liszt
Pianist Ivan Moravec
Kopelman Quartet
Pinchas Zuckerman and Yefim Bronfman
Sequentia with Benjamin Bagby
Parker Quartet
Pianist Radu Lupu playing Schubert
Chanticleer
Pianist Rafal Blechacz
Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin
Pianist Garrick Ohlsson
Trio Mediaeval
Acis and Galatea by Handel
Kansas City Ballet
Fall: Mozartiana by Tchaikovsky, Lark
Ascending by Vaughn Williams,
Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Slaughter
on Tenth Avenue by Richard Rogers
The Nutcracker by Peter Tchaikovsky
Giselle by Adolph Adam
Spring: Moves (A Ballet in Silence),
Mercy of the Elements by Donizetti,
The Catharine Wheel by David Byrne
Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Saved by Michael Freeman, John
Dempsey and Rinne Groff
Harriet Jacobs by Lydia Diamond
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Another American: Asking and Telling by
Marc Wolf
Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie
Baker
Cabaret or A Streetcar Named Desire
Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
Lyceum Theatre
The Producers
Anything Goes
Red, White and Tuna
My Fair Lady
The Man Who Came To Dinner
And Then There Were None
Pump Boys and Dinettes
Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas
Musical
Musical Theatre Heritage
Kiss Me Kate
1776
A Spectacular Christmas
Musical Mondays
Music Theatre for Young People
The Drowsy Chaperone
Thirteen
Snow White and the 17 Dwarfs
Children of Eden
Zombie Prom
The Secret Garden
Starlight Theatre
Little House on the Prairie: The Musical
Dreamgirls
Disney's Beauty and the Beast
The Producers
Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles
Unicorn Theatre
[title of show] by Hunter Bell and Jeff
Bowen
The Seafarer by Conor McPherson
(with Kansas City Actors Theatre)
Distracted by Lisa Loomer
In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play by
Sarah Ruhl
A Very Joan Crawford Christmas by Ron
Megee and Jeff Church
Two Jews Walk Into a War by Seth Rozin
Ruined by Lynn Nottage R
Kansas City Actors Theatre
True West by Sam Shepherd
Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor
The Seafarer by Conor McPherson
(with the Unicorn Theatre)
Oh What a Lovely War
“Tragedy, for me, is not a conflict between right and wrong, but between two different kinds of right.” ~ Peter Shaffer
E-mailing Thousands of People at Once
Idealware Software Tip of the Month
So you’re looking for a way to e-mail hundreds or thousands
(or hundreds of thousands) of people at once — perhaps to
send e-newsletters, updates, or donation appeals. There’s
a whole class of software intended just for this purpose—
called broadcast e-mail, blast e-mail, or e-mail marketing
software, including options like Vertical Response and
Network for Good’s E-mail Now.
These types of software are designed to let you e-mail a
group of people all at once — as many as you want. They also
help you create attractive emails (often through graphic templates), manage e-mail address lists, and let people subscribe
and unsubscribe by themselves. In addition, more advanced
tools help you collect e-mail addresses on your website, “mailmerge” information into emails, send to particular segments
of your mailing list by demographics, and report on how
many recipients opened or clicked on each e-mail.
If you e-mail more than a few dozen people at a time,
make sure to use an off-site, generally online, vendor that
supports mass emails. Tools like Outlook aren’t designed
to support large-scale mailings, and won’t help with the
formatting and list management tasks critical for large lists.
When you use them to e-mail hundreds of people, you may
reach more spam filters than inboxes — or worse, your mail
server might be blacklisted as spam, blocking any future
e-mail from anyone in your organization.
Vertical Response is a good option for online broadcast
e-mail, offering nonprofits a sophisticated feature-set and
up to 10,000 emails for free. Network for Good’s E-mail
Now, is also feature-rich and attractive at about $30 per
month for up to 20,000 emails. Other options include
Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, Topica, MailChimp
and iContact. WhatCounts provides compelling premium
services targeted at those sending hundreds of thousands
of emails a month.
Note that many Donor Management, Constituent Relationship Management systems and Integrated Online Systems
provide some broadcast e-mail functionality. While few can
match the advanced features of dedicated software, you may
find that your existing software meets your needs. R
Idealware, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, provides impartial information to help nonprofits choose software and has more resources
about online survey tools. For a more detailed look at available
tools for broadcast emails visit www.idealware.org/articles/fgt_
email_newsletter_tools.php.
www.kcstage.com
APRIL 2010
5
Performances
www.kcstage.com/performances
SHANE ROWSE
ACT One of Kansas City*
Annie: Apr 15-17: 7 pm Thr-Sat;
9:30 am Fri; 2 pm Sat
One of America’s favorite musicals, Annie
is based upon the popular comic strip Little
Orphan Annie, with music by Charles
Strouse. 11 year old Annie is in an orphanage, presided over by Miss Hannigan, who
keeps the little girl orphans in line by bullying and threatening them. Annie’s spunk
and optimism is inspirational in a time of
depression and hopeless circumstances.
Through a series of events, Annie finds
a true family in Daddy Warbucks’ home.
$4-$8. Harmony Vineyard Auditorium,
600 NE 46th St, (816) 401-0040,
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
by Joe DePietro and Jimmy Roberts:
Mar 12-Apr 25: 8 pm Fri-Sat; 2 pm SatSun; 7:30 pm Sun, Tue-Thr; 1 pm Wed;
4 pm Sat
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
celebrates the universal theme of love and
pokes fun at the life experiences we all
go through by exploring every aspect of
relationships-the joys of dating, romance,
marriage, lovers, babies, husbands, wives...
and in-laws. Always funny and fresh, it’s
well-suited for the new couple looking to
see what life’s going to be like or for the
husband and wife that have been through
it all and still say “I love you, you’re perfect,
don’t change.” $20-$35 depending on
day and time of performance. American
Heartland Theatre, 2450 Grand Blvd,
(816) 842-9999, www.ahtkc.com A
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
Jon Daugharthy,
Natalie Weaver, Adam Branson, and
Jessalyn Kincaid star in I Love You, You’re
Perfect, Now Change at American Heartland Theatre through Apr 25.
The Barn Players, Inc.*
Pippin by Stephen Schwartz and Roger
O. Hirson: Apr 16-May 2: 7:30 pm FriSat; 2 pm Sun
Pippin is the story of Prince Pippin’s quest
to find personal significance. The Leading
Player who is blessed with the gift of magic
narrates the story. Pippin traverses through
the trials of war, love, and politics before
finding himself out amongst the peasantsaway from the wealth and privilege of royal
life. Will Pippin finding meaning in his life
and true happiness? Directed by Nathan
Norcross. $15, seniors $12, students $7,
10 or more $10. The Barn Players, 6219
Martway St, Mission, (913) 432-9100,
www.thebarnplayers.org
Broadway Karaoke Night:
Apr 23: 10 pm Fri
Come out to The Barn and sing your
favorite Broadway show tunes with
a live band! The Barn Players, 6219
Martway St, Mission, (913) 432-9100,
www.thebarnplayers.org
*Affiliate Organizations offer discounts to subscribers of KC Stage. Display
your membership card at the box office or mention it when ordering tickets
over the phone. For a list of discounts and other offers, visit www.kcstage.com.
Don’t forget to rate or review the shows you see online!
Content Guide: Unless otherwise noted, the subject matter of performances
6
KCSTAGE
Laid Back Fund Raiser: Apr 10: 7 pm Sat
Byrd Productions celebrates fifteen years
of physical theater with their eleventh
annual Laid Back Fund Raiser. This year’s
festivities include beer by Boulevard Beer,
hors d’oeuvres by Moxie Catering, cake
by CakeGallery@Studio209, and the best
darned silent auction and raffle in town.
Enjoy performances of music, magic,
comedy, performance art, slam poetry,
clowning, belly dance, fire performance,
vaudeville, and burlesque (whew). Just Off
Broadway Theater, 3051 Central, (816)
305-8188, [email protected]
Chestnut Fine Arts Theatre
Alcott Arts Center*
April Second Saturday Season Opener:
Apr 10: 6 pm Sat
The Alcott’s season opener Second Saturday event with artists Carlos Ramos
(3-D), Tammy Eklund (jewelry), and the
Wyandotte Art Association Artists Mixed
Media; open jam until 10 pm, so bring
your instrument and join in; and radio
script readings. Alcott Arts Center Theatre,
180 S 18th St, KCK, (913) 233-2787,
www.alcottartscenter.org
Byrd Productions*
Ain’t She Sweet: Apr 1-May 2: 8 pm ThrSat; 2 pm Sun
Bright and brassy, Dixieland and ragtime
are the first truly American musical genres.
Ain’t She Sweet! will make you tap your
feet to the beat of the timeless classics.
A full Dixieland band and four vocalists
will perform cakewalks, rags, two steps,
marches, and other great period pieces.
Listen to “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”,
“Ain’t Misbehavin”, “Bill Bailey”, “When
the Saints Go Marching In”, and more!
Directed by Brad Zimmerman. Featuring
Christina Brewer, Celia Needleman, David
Thompson, and Brad Zimmerman. $21,
discounts for seniors, children, and groups.
Chestnut Fine Arts Center and Theatre,
234 N Chestnut St, Olathe, (913) 7642121, chestnutfinearts.com
Christian Youth Theater
Cinderella: Apr 29-May 1: 7 pm ThrSat; 10 am Thr-Fri; 2 pm Sat
CYT proudly presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved musical Cinderella. This
enchanting fairy tale is sure to please the
entire family with its assortment of comical
characters, timeless music and a carriage
full of special effects and illusions. Come
and laugh as her selfish “Stepsisters’
Lament” when the glass slipper fits Cinderella and we are all urged to hope for
our own happily ever after. $9 for adults,
$8 under 12 years, $5 family shows, $10
at the door. YouthFront Auditorium, 4715
should be suitable for general audiences. Shows marked with A contain
adult material that may not be appropriate for children under the age of 18.
Shows marked C contain material that is specifically intended for children.
Please note that these content markings are designated by the individual arts
organizations, not by KC Stage.
“Law grinds the poor, and rich men rule the law.” ~ Oliver Goldsmith
CHESTNUT FINE ARTS CENTER
u Performances
2450 Grand Blvd, Ste 144, (816) 4746552, www.coterietheatre.org A
Crossroads Theatre Company
Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim
and James Lapine: Apr 9-10: 7 pm Fri
Sondheim’s brilliant music meets Lapine’s
imaginative story book resulting in your
favorite fairy tale characters going into the
woods to make their wishes come true.
Directed by Jonathan Price. Featuring
Tim Braselton, Melissa Anderson, Kelli
Hahn Morford, Jayson Chandley, Jered
Solace, Stephanie Goodman, Christie
Fletcher, Lisa Price, Jonathan Price, and
Lindsey Burch. Free admission. Crossroads
Theatre Company, 7917 Main St, (816)
Emporia State University Theatre
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Christina Brewer, Brad Zimmerman, David Thompson and Celia Needleman star in Ain’t She Sweet at the Chestnut Fine Arts Center Apr 1-May 8
Rainbow Blvd, KCK, (913) 681-3318,
www.cytkc.org
Company, 15 N Water St, Liberty, (816)
476-2705, www.corbintheatre.org
City In Motion
The Coterie Theatre
25: Apr 10-11: 8 pm Sat-Sun
City in Motion Dance Theater will present its professional company concert 25
in honor of its 25th anniversary season.
This celebratory performance will feature
two archival works by artistic co-director
Andrea Skowronek and former artistic
co-director Donna K. Frogge. Presenting
new work will be artistic co-directors Dale
Fellin, Penelope Hearne, and Stephanie
Whittler. Company members Tracie Davis
and Kat Kimmitz will also be presenting
new work. $18 in advance, $15 for students and seniors, $10 for children 10
and under and $20 at the door. The Gem
Theater, 1615 E 18th St, (816) 753-0517,
[email protected]
Corbin Theatre Company
The Wreck by Leslie Liautaud: Apr 9-10:
8 pm Fri-Sat
Following a near fatal car accident, a
father and daughter struggle to come
to terms with the damaged woman who
abandoned both three years earlier. Pent
up emotions, unanswered questions and
a secretive past fuel the fragile family’s
quest to define their love. Directed by
Debra Funkhouser. $10. Corbin Theatre
Frindle by William Massolia: Apr 6May 16: 10 am, 12 pm Tue-Fri; 2 pm
Sat-Sun; 7 pm Fri
Nicholas is ingenious. In Mrs. Granger’s
language arts class, Nick gets his best
idea ever when his teacher explains how
words end up in the dictionary. Nick
decides to create his own word, Frindle,
and he gets other kids in the class to use
the word. Before long Nick’s word creates a buzz well beyond his school and
town. But his teacher loves the dictionary, so a fierce power struggle ensues
over a made-up word! Directed by Ernie
Nolan. Adults: $15; youth, student, or
senior: $10. The Coterie Theatre, 2450
Grand Blvd, Ste 144, (816) 474-6552,
www.coterietheatre.org
Young Playwrights Festival 2010:
Apr 28-29: 7 pm Wed-Thr; 10 am Thr
The Coterie’s Young Playwrights Festival
features a collection of new work by the
city’s best young writers. The rich and varied theatrical writings which emerge from
a year-long process are forged into an
ambitious festival of script-in-hand stagings
utilizing the finest professional actors. A
special experience about quality writing by
young people. Free. The Coterie Theatre,
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen: Apr 21May 1: 7:30 pm Wed-Sat
Hedda Gabler, a classic of the 19th century, is Ibsen’s most-produced play. One
of his so-called “problem plays,’ Hedda is
one of the theatre’s most controversial and
compelling characters, often described as
the “female Hamlet”. Employing methods
that virtually defined the modern psychological drama, Ibsen reveals the bitter
conflicts and thwarted longings that lie
just below the “civilized” transactions of
daily life. The play is intended for mature
audiences. Directed by Dr. Jim Ryan.
Featuring Kelsey Fredricks, Scott Swezey,
Lindsay Roland, Bob Hart, Andrew Walker,
Brianne Simon, Brenna Fulton, and Isaac
Mullins. $5-$10. Frederickson Theatre,
Roosevelt Hall, Emporia, (620) 341-6378,
www.emporia.edu/theatre
Encore Theatre
You Can’t Beat the House by Pat Cook:
Apr 23-May 2: 7:30 pm Fri-Sat; 2 pm
Sun
“I’ve had trouble breaking into a house
before but never breaking OUT again!”
So it goes for two bungling burglars who
break into a house only to discover it’s for
sale. When buyers show up, they pretend
to be the real estate agent. Then the real
agent shows up and they have to juggle
both the buyers and the agent. Police
show up looking for burglars, and the
buyers mother shows up bringing along
her medium Madame Zenobia and it turns
out the house is haunted. This comedy is
full of laughs. Directed by Doris Wicker.
www.kcstage.com
APRIL 2010
7
Frindle • The Coterie Theatre
I Love You, You’re Perfect • American Heartland Theatre
Junie B Jones • Theatre for Young America*
A Midsummer Night’s Dream • UMKC Theatre
Rhymes, Pap, Miss Mary Mack • Paul Mesner Puppets*
Venice • Kansas City Repertory Theatre
13 TUE
12 MON
Dark Play or Stories for Boys • Relevance Productions
Ain’t She Sweet • Chestnut Fine Arts Theatre
Cactus Flower • New Theatre Restaurant
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change • American
Heartland Theatre
Junie B Jones and a Little Monkey Business • Theatre for
Young America*
Studio Theatre One-Acts • University of Central Missouri*
8 THU
7 WED
Heartland Theatre
Young America*
Heartland Theatre
Young America*
6 TUE
5 MON
NO PERFORMANCES
Bus Stop • Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Communicating Doors • KCKCC Theatre Department
Curtains • Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy
Heartland Theatre
Young America*
Undergraduate Student Projects • University of Kansas
1 THU
Heartland Theatre
Young America*
31 WED
Annie • ACT One of Kansas City*
Blithe Spirit • Lawrence Community Theatre
The Boys Next Door • Theatre Atchison
Breaking the Trust • Tara Lane Productions*
The Country of the Blind • Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy
16 FRI
Doubt, A Parable • Olathe Community Theatre Association*
Heartland Theatre
Into The Woods • Crossroads Theatre Company
Young America*
There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly! • Martin
City Melodrama
The Wreck • Corbin Theatre Company
9 FRI
Heartland Theatre
Young America*
City Melodrama
Who’s In First? • Mystery Train
2 FRI
Heartland Theatre
Young America*
30 TUE
AUDITIONS
APR 3-4 • The Barn Players, Inc.
APR 3-10 • Civic Opera Theatre
APR 6 • Improv-Abilities
APR 11-17 • Gladstone Theatre in the Park
APR 19 • City Theatre of Independence
APR 24-25 • The Barn Players, Inc.
APR 24-25 • Topeka Civic Theatre and Academy
APRIL 2010
KCSTAGE
Amore & More • Kansas City Ballet
17 SAT
25 • City in Motion
Heartland Theatre
Improv Thunderdome: Season 5 Championship •
The Trip Fives
Into the Woods • Crossroads Theatre Company
Young America*
City Melodrama
The Wreck • Corbin Theatre Company
10 SAT
Cubic Z • Improv-Abilities
Heartland Theatre
Young America*
Sherlock Holmes Hound of Baskervilles, or Not Another DogGone Detective Story • Martin City Melodrama
Who’s In First? • Mystery Train
3 SAT
18 SUN
25 • City in Motion
Heartland Theatre
In-Progress New Play Reading Series • Unicorn Theatre
11 SUN
Heartland Theatre
4 SUN
*Affiliate Theatre
And Her Hair Went With Her • Unicorn Theatre
Antigone • Johnson County Community College
Anything Goes • University of Kansas
Cinderella • Christian Youth Theater
Hedda Gabler • Emporia State University Theatre
Lullaby of 42nd Street • Quality Hill Playhouse
A Midsummer Night’s Dream • Olathe South High School*
The Monarchs of KC • Theatre for Young America*
Murder on the Wrong Side of the Tracks • Mystery Train
Pippin • The Barn Players, Inc.*
Taming of the Shrew • Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy
City Melodrama
Train to 2010 • UMKC Theatre
You Can’t Beat the House • Encore Theatre
30 FRI
Comedy of Errors • University of Central Missouri*
City Melodrama
William Inge Theatre Festival• William Inge Center*
23 FRI
Macbeth • SFCC Theatre Department*
The Improv-Abilites Show • Improv-Abilities
City Melodrama
City Melodrama
1 SAT
24 SAT
Wynken, Blynken and Nod • Puppetry Arts Institute
2 SUN
Heartland Theatre
25 SUN
Heartland Theatre
*Affiliate Theatres offer discount tickets to subscribers of KC Stage. Display your membership card at the box office or mention it when ordering tickets over the phone. For a list of discounts and other offers, visit www.kcstage.com. Don’t forget to rate the show you see online!
29 THU
28 WED
27 TUE
26 MON
Heartland Theatre
22 THU
21 WED
Heartland Theatre
Heartland Theatre
20 TUE
15
THU
NO PERFORMANCES
19 MON
Heartland Theatre
Young America*
14 WED
u Performances
continued from page 7
Adults $7, seniors $6, children thru 12 $3.
Encore Theatre, Sermon Center Truman
Rd and Noland Rd, Independence, (816)
325-7370,
Harriman-Jewell Series
Michael Schade and Russell Braun:
Apr 10: 8 pm Sat
Critics croon for duo recitals by these two
opera singers: “This was male vocalism of
a high order,” raved the San Diego Union
Tribune. “Singing that brimmed with artistry
and energy.” Folly Theater, 300 W 12th
St, www.hjseries.org
Coppélia: May 1: 8 pm Sat
The Moscow Festival Ballet, who performed
Cinderella in 2004 and Don Quixote in
2001, will return to the Series to dance
Coppélia, a comic romance that tells of an
inventor who a created a full-sized doll that
some believe to be human. Folly Theater,
300 W 12th St, www.hjseries.org
Improv-Abilities
Cubic Z: Apr 3: 7 pm Sat
Like cubic zirconium, it’s multi-faceted,
custom-made, kind of brilliant, and
under $10! Cubic Z is our 4-person
format for this intimate venue. We’ll be
joined by two other groups. Tickets are
$6 in advance, $8 at the door to see
three groups. Purchase tickets online at
www.kcxrc.com/tickets. Directed by Aron
Carlson. $6-$8. The Fish Tank Performance Studio, 1715 Wyandotte, (913)
871-6242, www.kcimprov.com A
The Improv-Abilites Show by Tim Marks:
Apr 16: 7 pm Fri
Classic and original improv games by
some of the quickest and most talented
performers anywhere in Kansas City! Bring
a group! Tickets are $10, or $4 with student ID. E-mail [email protected]
for reservations or call. Directed by Tim
Marks. $10. The Lucky Brewgrille, 5401
Johnson Dr, Mission, (913) 871-6242,
www.kcimprov.com A
Johnson County Comm. College
Antigone by Sophocles: Apr 22-May 2:
7:30 pm Thr-Sat; 2 pm Sun
Thebes’ civil war has ended. Creon proclaims, “Eteocles, a hero who fought for
Thebes will be given a hero’s burial. But
for Polyneices who recruited foreign troops,
let his corpse rot under the sweltering sun.
Anyone who dares to bury the enemy will
be publicly executed.” So begins the
10
KCSTAGE
story of Antigone, who battles Creon,
her uncle, for the right in God’s name
to bury her dead brother, Polyneices, but
loses that fight in a horrifying conclusion.
Directed by Sheilah Philip. Free. Black Box
Theatre, Carlsen Center, 12345 College
Blvd, Overland Park, (913) 469-8500,
www.jccc.edu/theatredept
that will make your heart pound. Directed
by Eric Rosen. Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Copaken Stage, (816) 235-2700,
www.KCRep.org A
Kansas City Kansas Comm. College
Amore and More: Apr 17: 2 pm, 7 pm Sat
Amore and More features the comical
and amusing valentine tale of love in Lew
Christensen’s “Con Amore” and continues with a fan favorite, Keelan Whitmore’s
“Après,” and a ballet classic, Marius Petipa’s “Sleeping Beauty Pas de Deux”. Also
on the program are two new ballets by
Kansas City Ballet dancers Charles Martin
and Marcus Oatis. Kansas City Youth Ballet
is the performing ensemble of Kansas City
Ballet School. $15-18. Blue Valley North
High School, 12200 Lamar Ave, Overland
Park, (816) 931-2232, www.kcballet.org
Communicating Doors by Alan Ayckbourn:
Apr 1-4: 8 pm Thr-Sat; 2:30 pm Sun
This intricate time traveling comic thriller
begins when a London sex specialist
stumbles into a murder plot that sends
her, compliments of a unique set of hotel
doors, traveling back in time. She and two
women who were murdered race back and
forth in time trying to rewrite history and
prevent their own violent ends. Directed by
Charles Leader. Featuring Brandy Hoover,
Brett Baker, Jonathan Humphrey, Skye Reid,
Brandon Durkes, Ashley Gerni, Vanessa
Hall, Megan Buchanan, Tim McCormick,
Janelle Bartoszek, and Ernst Cramer.
$10 adults, $5 students and senior
citizens. KCKCC Performing Arts Center,
7250 State Ave, KCK (913) 288-7106,
www.kckcc.edu A
Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Lawrence Community Theatre
Kansas City Ballet
Kansas City Youth Ballet
Bus Stop by William Inge: Mar 12-Apr 3:
8 pm Fri-Sat; 7 pm Thr; 3 pm Sat
Bus Stop tells the story of the night a March
blizzard traps eight strangers in a small
cafe 30 miles west of Kansas City. A bus
driver falls for the bus stop proprietress,
a young local girl becomes fascinated by
a professor running away from his failed
life back east, and a chorus girl tries to
escape a reckless cowboy determined to
marry her. As the evening wears on, lives
are changed, love is lost and found, and
strangers find ways to keep each other
warm on the coldest Kansas night. Directed
by Steve Cosson. Kansas City Repertory
Theatre, Spencer Theatre in the UMKC
Performing Arts Center, (816) 235-2700,
www.KCRep.org A
Venice by Matt Sax and Eric Rosen: Apr
9-May 9: 8 pm Fri-Sat; 2 pm Sat-Sun;
7 pm Sun, Tue-Thr; 3 pm Sat
Set in the not-too-distant future, Venice tells
the story of two brothers who must lead a
city out of a terrorist war. Though both are
haunted by the memory of their mother,
a leader of Venice whose call for peace
was silenced in a massive attack on the
city, one brother chooses to follow in his
mother’s footsteps and the other sets out
to see his brother’s plans undone. Venice
boasts a powerful and original score of
hip hop music, R&B, art song and opera
Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward: Apr 1525: 7:30 pm Thr-Sat; 2:30 pm Sun
This classic comedy offers us a cantankerous novelist haunted by the ghost of his
first wife, a visiting “happy medium”, and a
current wife who is accidentally killed and
joins the first to haunt the hapless author
into perpetuity. Directed by Charles Whitman. Lawrence Community Theatre, 1501
New Hampshire St, Lawrence, (785) 8437469, theatrelawrence.com
Lied Center of Kansas
Cats: Apr 7: 7:30 pm Wed
A spectacular smash hit, the magic,
mystery and memory of Cats has revolutionized musical theatre, becoming one
of the world’s longest running shows in
Broadway’s history. Based on the poetry
of T.S. Eliot, Cats features 20 of Andrew
Lloyd Webber’s timeless melodies including
“Memory”, “Invitation to the Jellicle Ball”,
“Mr. Mistoffelees”, and more. Taking place
on a moonlit night ripe with promise and
possibility, Cats unfolds through magical
captivating music and choreography. Lied
Center of Kansas, 1600 Stewart Dr, Lawrence, (785) 864-3472, lied.ku.edu
David Sedaris: Apr 24: 7:30 pm Sat
One of America’s foremost humor writers
and recurring contributors to Public Radio
International’s This American Life, David
“I much prefer a compliment, even if insincere, to sincere criticism.” ~ Plautus
u Performances
Sedaris has become somewhat of a superstar in the literary world. While he made
his radio broadcast debut reading from
SantaLand Diaries-his stranger-than-fiction
experiences on the job as a Macy’s holiday
elf – Sedaris has since published highlyacclaimed works including When You Are
Engulfed in Flames, Me Talk Pretty One
Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and
Denim, and more. Lied Center of Kansas,
1600 Stewart Dr, Lawrence, (785) 8642787, lied.ku.edu
Kronos Quartet: Apr 13: 7:30 pm Tue
One of the most innovative and diverse
ensembles of our time, the Kronos Quartet embodies fearless exploration in its
commitment to expanding the range and
context of the string quartet. For more
than 35 years, Kronos has built a strong
tradition of collaborating with many of
the world’s most eclectic composers and
performers, and it continues to commission
hundreds of works and arrangements for
string quartet. Lied Center of Kansas, 1600
Stewart Dr, Lawrence, (785) 864-3472,
lied.ku.edu
Martin City Melodrama
Sherlock Holmes Hound of Baskervilles,
or Not Another Dog-Gone Detective Story
by Jeanne Beechwood: Mar 5-May 16:
7:30 pm Fri-Sat; 3:30 pm Sun
Sherlock Holmes is embroiled in his
most difficult and sinister case when Sir
Charles Baskerville is mysteriously killed by
a fiendish hound-the curse of the Hound
of the Baskervilles–or was he? Be sure to
bring your inner Sherlock and your most
reliable dog leash to solve the mystery
of Sir Charles’ tragic demise. Following
the melodrama will be Piccadilly Circus,
a vaudeville revue celebrating jolly old
England in song, dance, and comedy
sketches. Directed by Jeanne Beechwood.
$10.99-$12.99. Martin City Melodrama
and Vaudeville Company, 9601 Metcalf
Ave, Overland Park, (913) 642-7576,
martincitymelodrama.org
There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly! by Jeanne Beechwood and
Jon Copeland: Feb 25-May 7: 10 am
Fri-Sat
There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed
a Fly! (And Other Folktales About Women
Who Reach for the Sky!) is a new musical
for children that pays tribute to the overlooked heroines of long lost folk and fairy
tales from around the world! Performed
with storytelling, folk songs, and Martin
www.kcstage.com
City Jr.’s signature “edutainment”, this
celebration of female folklore will spark
the imagination of all ages! Directed by
Jeanne Beechwood. Featuring Jeanne
Beechwood, Shelby Staudenmeyer, and
Kattie Post. $5.99. Martin City Melodrama
and Vaudeville Company, 9601 Metcalf
Ave, Overland Park, (913) 642-7576,
martincitymelodrama.org C
Paul Mesner Puppets*
Rhymes, Pap, Miss Mary Mack:
Apr 12-17: 10 am Tue-Fri; 1 pm
Mon-Fri; 2 pm Sat
Clap along with Miss Mary Mack as she
dances through the wonderful world of
rhymes and nursery raps. Looking for
50 cents, she baby-sits the Jack Sprats’
child who leads her on a merry chase to
a bullring, the banks of Hanky Panky, and
home again just in time to see the elephant
jumped the fence. Directed by Paul Mesner.
$7 for children; $9 for adults. Truman
Forum, Plaza Library, 4801 Main St, (816)
235-6222, www.paulmesnerpuppets.org
The Mystery Train
Murder on the Wrong Side of the Tracks
by Wendy Thompson: Apr 16-Jun 5:
7 pm Fri-Sat
Interactive murder mystery dinner theatre
set in 1930 Kansas City. Directed by Wendy
Thompson. $54-$64. Prime Rib Grill by
the Hereford House, 100 E 20th St, (816)
813-9654 A
Who’s In First? by Wendy Thompson:
Feb 5-Apr 3: 7 pm Fri-Sat
It’s 1914 and the railroad barons have
changed the face of Kansas City. Opening day for the new Union Station has
the rich, the famous, the clever and the
devious caught up in a train race! But, a
sudden death, suspicious passengers, and
the need to uncover a killer may be more
important than Who’s In First! Directed by
Wendy Thompson. $54-$64. The Prime
Rib Grill by the Hereford House, 100 E
20th St, (816) 813-9654, A
New Theatre Restaurant
Cactus Flower by Abe Burrows: Feb 10Apr 11: 12 pm Sun, Wed; 6 pm Tue-Sun
In this fast-paced comedy, a philandering
bachelor dentist keeps his girlfriend at bay
by telling her he’s married. When the ruse
threatens to catch up with him, he drafts
his prickly nurse to pose as his wife. “This
comedy inspires raucous laughter!” –NY
Times. Directed by Dennis D. Hennessy.
Featuring Dodie Brown, Tristan Colton,
Patrick DuLaney, T. Max Graham, Natalie
Hiatt, Cassie Hollman, Jim Korinke, Kip
Niven, and Loretta Swit. New Theatre
Restaurant, 9229 Foster St, Overland
Park, www.newtheatre.com A
Olathe Community Theatre*
Doubt, A Parable by John Patrick Shanley: Apr 9-25: 8 pm Fri-Sat; 2 pm Sun
Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for drama,
this story centers on a Mother Superior, a
young priest, and the innuendo, rumor, and
suspicion regarding the priest’s behavior
with a male student. Directed by Darren
Sextro. Adults $15; seniors/students $12,
children <12 $10. Olathe Community
Theater Assn, 500 E Loula St, Olathe,
(913) 782-2990, www.olathetheatre.org
Olathe South High School*
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William
Shakespeare: Apr 29-May 1: 7:30 pm
Thr-Sat
Directed by David Tate Hastings. $7.
Olathe South High School, 1640 E 151st
St, Olathe, (913) 780-7160, teachers.
olathe.k12.ks.us/~dhastingsos
Puppetry Arts Institute
Tom Bonham Puppet Productions
Wynken, Blynken and Nod: Apr 17:
2 pm, 11 am Sat
Eugene Field’s poem introduces the main
characters, Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
Over 30 rod puppets and animations
depict imagery of events in the night. All
ages will be entranced by the constant
motion, poetry, classical music, and humor.
Featuring Tom Bonham. $5 per person
regardless of age. Puppetry Arts Institute,
11025 E Winner Rd, Independence, (816)
833-9777, www.hazelle.org
Quality Hill Playhouse
Lullaby of 42nd Street: Apr 23-May 1:
1 pm Thr; 8 pm Wed-Mon; 3 pm Sun
Harry Warren gave us the music for the
show 42nd Street; we’ll explore those
songs plus others he wrote in this salute
to the grand old street of Broadway.
Directed by J. Kent Barnhart. $26 Adults;
$24 Students/Seniors. Quality Hill Playhouse, 303 W 10th St, (816) 421-1700,
www.QualityHillPlayhouse.com
APRIL 2010
11
u Performances
Relevance Productions
Theatre for Young America*
Dark Play or Stories for Boys by Carlos
Murillo: Apr 8-18: 7:30 pm Thr-Sat,
Mon; 2 pm Sun
A tale of deception, fluid personality
and sexual license in the Internet age,
Dark Play examines what happens when
the real world and virtual world collide.
Based on true events. Directed by Trevor
Belt. $10. FringeCentral, 1730 Broadway,
relevanceproductions.com A
Junie B Jones and a Little Monkey Business by Joan Cushing: Mar 2-Apr 16:
12 pm Thr-Fri; 10 am Tue-Fri; 6:30 pm,
7 pm Fri; 2 pm Sat
Barbara Park’s wildly popular Junie B.
Jones character comes to life onstage
in this musical adaptation of the book.
Junie finds out from her parents that she
is getting a present. She is so excited until
she finds out it is a “P. U.” baby brother!
At first jealous, when she hears that her
new baby brother is “cute as a monkey”,
she gets the school kids to give her their
snack treats and other gifts in exchange for
a peek at the monkey! Directed by Gene
Mackey. $8; group discounts available.
Theatre for Young America, H&R Block City
Stage at Union Station, (816) 460-2083,
www.tya.org C
State Fair Community College*
Tara Lane Productions*
Breaking the Trust by Bill Rogers:
Apr 15-25: 8 pm Thr-Sat; 2 pm Sun
Unfair inheritance, hidden gold, stolen art
and betrayal–”The funny side of family values.” Winner of Rockhurst University’s Plays
in Progress Competition–Fall 2008. By the
author of Collisions, KC Stage top rated
show of 2008. Produced by Tara Lane Productions in association with City Theatre of
Independence. Directed by Jack McCord.
Featuring Mary Ruth Gunter, Victor Hentzen, Linda Levin, Patricia McLaughlin,
Marcie Ramirez, and Bill Pelletier. $10,
$12, $15 www.brownpapertickets.com/
event/95490 or call 1-800-838-3006.
Westport Coffee House Theatre, 4010
Pennsylvania Ave., (816) 224-2038,
[email protected] A
Theatre Atchison
The Boys Next Door by Tom Griffin:
Apr 16-25: 8 pm Fri-Sat; 2 pm Sun
An Off-Broadway success, this very funny
yet very touching play focuses on the lives
of four retarded men who live in a communal residence under the watchful eye
of a sincere, but increasingly despairing,
social worker. Filled with humor, the play
is also marked by the compassion and
understanding with which it peers into
the half-lit world of its handicapped protagonists. Directed by Mike Swymeler. $10
adults; $6 students. Theatre Atchison, 401
Santa Fe St, Atchison, (913) 367-7469,
www.theatreatchison.org
12
KCSTAGE
Topeka Civic Theatre and Academy
Curtains by Rupert Holmes, Peter Stone,
John Kander, and Fred Ebb: Mar 5Apr 3: 8 pm Fri-Sat; 7 pm Thr
Boston’s Colonial Theatre is host to the
opening night performance of Robbin’
Hood!, “a new musical of the Old West”.
But when the curtain falls, the show’s star
who can’t act, can’t sing, and can’t dance–
suddenly drops dead! An impromptu
funeral ceremony is interrupted by the
arrival of a homicide Lieutenant, who locks
the entire cast in the theatre until he can
BILL ROGERS
Macbeth by William Shakespeare:
Apr 14-18: 7:30 pm Wed-Fri; 2 pm
Sun; 6 pm Sat
$6 general public reserved; $14 dinner
theatre. Stauffacher Center for the Fine
Arts, 3201 W 16th, Sedalia, (660) 5967387, www.sfccmo.edu A
player who held her own in the largely male
world of professional baseball. $8; group
discounts available. Theatre for Young
America, H&R Block City Stage at Union
Station, (816) 460-2083, www.tya.org
Jack Mccord [FAR RIGHT] directs the cast of Tara Lane Productions’ Breaking the Trust
which will debut at the Westport Coffee House Apr 15-25.
The Monarchs of KC by Gene Mackey
and Danny Cox: Apr 20-May 15:
12 pm Thr-Fri; 10 am Tue-Fri; 7 pm Fri;
2 pm Sat
This musical production raises the ghosts
of great baseball players of the Negro
Leagues to play one last great contest
to conquer the supposed supremacy of
the all-white Major Leagues. An all-star
dream team, managed by Rube Foster,
includes John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil,
Leroy Satchel” Page, James “Cool Papa”
Bell, Wilbur “Bullet” Rogan, Josh Gibson,
Jackie Robinson, and Toni Stone, a female
find the murderer. Now they have only two
days to solve the crime and save the show.
Topeka Civic Theatre and Academy, 3028
SW 8th Ave, Topeka, (785) 357-5211,
www.topekacivictheatre.com
Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare: Apr 23-May 8: 8 pm Fri-Sat;
7 pm Thr; 10 am Wed; 2 pm Sun
William Shakespeare’s irascible comedy
about the war between the sexes storms
our stage in April. Set in the city of Padua, a
rich merchant named Baptista is entertaining suitors for his daughter Bianca’s hand
in marriage. Unfortunately for Bianca,
“I never deliberately set out to shock, but when people don’t walk out of my plays I think there is something wrong.” ~ John Osborne
her father refuses to let her marry until
a suitable match is made for her elder
sister, Kate. Can any man tame the most
exasperating woman in the entire city? See
a play that’s been a comic hit for over 400
years. Topeka Civic Theatre and Academy,
3028 SW 8th Ave, Topeka, (785) 3575211, www.topekacivictheatre.com
UMKC THEATRE
u Performances
The Country of the Blind by Frank Higgins: Apr 9-18: 7 pm Fri-Sat; 2 pm Sun
Eduardo is a poor farmer in a South American village. Frustrated by his poverty and
disability of being blind in one eye, he turns
his back on his own world and risks his life
to find a mythical village high in the Andes
Mountains where everyone is blind and the
streets are paved in gold. Blind performers
will have a chance to be on the Oldfather stage when we do this remarkable
play. Directed by Jennifer Van Bruggen.
Topeka Civic Theatre and Academy, 3028
SW 8th Ave., Topeka, (785) 357-5211,
www.topekacivictheatre.com
The cast of Train to 2010 at UMKC Apr 23-May 2.
The Trip Fives
UMKC Theatre
BareTV: The Improvised Talk Show:
Apr 10: 6:30 pm Sat
As part of Improv Comedy on “Second
Saturdays” at the Westport Coffeehouse
Theatre. The cast will take one audience
suggestion and create an improvised
late-night talk show, complete with host
monologues, guests, and live music. Prior
to the actual show, performers/writers
will develop characters in front of the
studio audience. Featuring Jared Brustad, Ed Doris, and Darrell Keyhill. $10.
Westport Coffeehouse Theatre, 4010
Pennsylvania Ave, (913) 375-5168,
www.thetripfives.com A
Improv Thunderdome: Season 5 Championship: Apr 10: 9 pm Sat
As part of Improv Comedy on “Second
Saturdays” hosted by the Westport Coffeehouse. Thunderdome pits nine teams
of local improvisers against each other in
a four month battle. Each team will get
30 minutes to prove their worthiness.
Audiences will decide each month which
team shall move on to the championship match. $10. Westport Coffeehouse
Theatre, 4010 Pennsylvania Ave, (913)
375-5168, www.thetripfives.com A
www.kcstage.com
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William
Shakespeare: Apr 9-22: 7:30 pm TueSun; 2 pm Sun
This is a joy of a play for actors, designers and audiences alike: a rite of passage
for us all as spring turns into summer. It
contains some of Shakespeare’s most
loved characters: Puck; Bottom; the king
and queen of the faeries, Oberon and
Titania; and a quartet of hilarious lovers.
It is a journey into the forest of the imagination, into what we dream about and why.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream may well be
called Shakespeare’s comic masterpiece.
Directed by Theodore Swetz. Adult $15;
seniors $10; students $6. Studio 116,
Olson PAC, 4949 Cherry St, (816) 2356222, www.umkc.edu/theatre A
Train to 2010 by Sibusiso Mamba:
Apr 23-May 2: 7:30 pm Tue-Sun;
2 pm Sat
Train to 2010 is the story of two common laborers trapped on a fast-moving,
but not-yet-completed train to 2010. Set
underground, far beneath the streets of
Johannesburg, this new play commissioned
by UMKC and developed with Ricardo
Khan’s World Theatre Lab, the Market Theatre of Johannesburg, and the Crossroads
Theatre Company of New Brunswick, NJ,
is a highly physical ensemble drama that
examines the human dynamics of hope
in present-day South Africa. Directed by
Ricardo Khan. Adults $15; seniors $10;
students $6. Spencer Theatre, Olson
PAC, 4949 Cherry St, (816) 235-6222,
www.umkc.edu/theatre A
Unicorn Theatre
And Her Hair Went With Her by Zina
Camblin: Apr 28-May 23: 8 pm Fri-Sat;
7:30 pm Wed-Thr; 3 pm Sun
Wigs, weaves, and pop culture! Salon
owner Jasmine and her radical assistant
Angie dish the dirt on a salon of eccentric
clients and discover how self-image affects
us all. A wild range of women, personalities, hairstyles and trends emerge in
this funny, poignant blowout of AfricanAmerican sisterhood and identity. Another
bold new play from our In-Progress New
Play Reading Series. Directed by Jacqueline L. Gafford. Featuring Nedra Dixon
and Teisha M. Bankston. Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main St, (816) 531-7529,
www.unicorntheatre.org A
In-Progress New Play Reading Series:
Apr 11: 7:30 pm Sun
Join us for the April installment of the InProgress New Play Reading Series. April’s
selection is to be announced. Unicorn
Theatre, 3828 Main St, (816) 531-7529,
www.unicorntheatre.org A
University of Central Missouri*
Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare: Apr 21-25: 7:30 pm Wed-Sat;
2 pm Sun
In a land far, far from here, we find a pair
of confused twins and their equally troubled
APRIL 2010
13
u Performances
servants. They come upon fetching sisters,
confused merchants, sneaky pickpockets,
crazy cops, scrubby beggars, a dubious
nun, a pompous duke and a foxy hooker.
Each is baffled and bewildered by the
hilarious events of a single day. Trust that
they will all live laughingly ever after in
their farcical world of yesteryear! Directed
by Julie Rae Mollenkamp. $12 general,
$10 faculty and seniors, $7 students.
Highlander Theatre, University of Central
Missouri, Warrensburg, (660) 543-8811,
www.ucmo.edu/theatre A
Studio Theatre One-Acts: Apr 8-10:
7:30 pm Thr-Sat
Share with our student directors and technical directors as they present an evening
of one-act productions. These productions are always varied, enjoyable, and
open to the public. This evening’s oneacts include “The Theodore Roosevelt
Rotunda” by Jennifer Camp, directed by
Jacque Schneider; “Heat Lightening” by
Robert Carroll, directed by Bryan Fisher;
“Check Please” by Jonathan Rand, directed
by Jeanie Dunn; and “Ghost Hunters of Rt.
666” by D.M. Bocaz-Larson, directed by
Nick Mast. $1. Nickerson Hall-BlackBox
Theatre, University of Central Missouri,
Warrensburg, (660) 543-8811, www.
ucmo.edu/theatre A
University of Kansas Theatre
Anything Goes by Cole Porter, Guy
Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse: Apr 23-May 1:
7:30 pm Thr-Sat; 2:30 pm Sun
Directed by John Staniunas. $20 public,
$19 seniors, $10 all students. CraftonPreyer Theatre, Murphy Hall-University
of Kansas, Lawrence, (785) 864-3982,
www.kutheatre.com
Undergraduate Student Projects:
Mar 25-Apr 2: 7:30 pm Thr-Fri
“Bedside” by Tosin Morohunfola, directed
by Garrett Kelly and “4.48 Psychosis” by
Sarah Kane, directed by Amy Virginia
Buchanan. $15 public, $14 seniors,
$10 all students. William Inge Memorial Theatre, Murphy Hall-University of
Kansas, Lawrence, (785) 864-3982,
www.kutheatre.com A
14
KCSTAGE
William Inge Center for the Arts*
A Hot Waltz with Paula: Tribute to Paula
Vogel: Apr 24: 7:30 pm Sat
A star-studded, multi-media tribute to Pulitzer Prize winning dramatist Paula Vogel,
who will be present to accept the William
Inge Theatre Festival Outstanding Achievement in the American Theatre Award.
Directed by Esquire Jauchem. $30. William
Inge Theatre, Independence Community
College, Independence, KS, (800) 8426063, [email protected] A
Glorious Musical Gala Dinner with Tom
Jones: Apr 23: 6 pm Fri
Creator of The Fantasticks and 110 in
the Shade, Tom Jones is the 2009 Inge
Honoree. He directs and stars in a revue
of his own songs, Time Goes By: A Few
Amusing Songs about Aging and Death,
featuring Inge special guests. Evening
begins at 6 pm with cocktails and admission includes a gourmet dinner. Directed
by Tom Jones. Featuring Tom Jones. $45.
Independence Civic Center, 400 N Penn
Ave., Independence, KS, (800) 842-6063,
[email protected] A
29th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival with Paula Vogel: Apr 21-24: 7 pm
Fri; 7:30 pm Sat, Wed-Thr
Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Paula
Vogel will be present all four days of this
nationally renowned gathering of accomplished, writers, directors, performers, and
designers. Professional shows each evening
and theater workshops for all levels during the daytime. $5-$40 depending on
event. William Inge Theatre, 58 Road,
Independence, KS, (800) 842-6063,
[email protected]
A Civil War Christmas by Paula Vogel:
Apr 21: 7:30 pm Wed
This American musical celebration is one
of the newest plays by Paula Vogel, and
one for the entire family. Set Christmas Eve
1864, it imagines historic figures such as
President and Mrs. Lincoln, John Wilkes
Booth, and Walt Whitman intermingling
with soldiers and civilians. Directed by Mark
Brokaw. Featuring Yvette Freeman. $20.
William Inge Theatre, Independence Community College, Independence, KS, (800)
The Mountaintop by Katori Hall:
Apr 22: 7:30 pm Thr
Writer Katori Hall will be present for a
reading of her acclaimed script which
is nominated for Best Play in London’s
Olivier Awards and is planned for a fall
Broadway production. The setting the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis. When Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. encounters a mysterious young hotel maid, King is forced
to confront his mortality and the future of
his people. Directed by Chay Yew. Featuring Anika Noni Rose. $20. William Inge
Theatre, Independence Community College, Independence, KS, (800) 842-6063,
[email protected] A
Coming in May
The Dixie Swim Club by Jessie Jones,
Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten
Chestnut Fine Arts Theatre
Leading Men Of Broadway
Christian Youth Theater
Seussical
The Music Man
Corbin Theatre Company
Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling
Kansas City Ballet
Who Cares?
Lee’s Summit Symphony Orchestra
Family Concert
Olathe Community Theatre*
A Collective Cy by Cy Coleman, Shelly
Stewart, Kevin Hershberger
Puppetry Arts Institute
Eulenspiegal Puppet Theatre
Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy
Laughter on the 23rd Floor by Neil Simon
Seussical
The Trip Fives
The Trip Fives & Loaded Dice
Unicorn Theatre
In-Progress New Play Reading Series R
“Hunger knows no friend but its feeder.” ~ Aristophanes
u Showbiz
politically trusting, and are engaged in social networking. As we in the arts seek to increase audiences and arts
participants, it is important that we look at generational
culture and figure out how to engage each successive
group. Find out more at the Pew Research Center at
www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1437/millennials-profile.
Photography Exhibit Captures Theatre’s Past
The inaugural exhibit of the Orval Hixon gallery,
Shooting Stars: The Celebrity Photography of Orval Hixon,
is now on display at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th
St. The exhibit features images of some of Hixon's
most famous celebrity subjects, including Theda Bara,
Al Jolson, and Kansas Citian Joan Crawford. Hixon
transformed the field of portrait photography in Kansas City and the surrounding region during a career
that spanned over seven decades. Hixon's studios, the
first in the Brady Building at 11th and Main Streets and
the second just one block west in the Baltimore Hotel,
welcomed thousands of patrons including some of the
most famous celebrities of the 1910s and 1920s. Hixon
and other photographers helped to successfully mold
images of theater and film celebrities and their public
personas in an industry based largely on visual appeal.
As an Orpheum vaudeville circuit photographer, Hixon
shaped perceptions of both veteran actors in the last
years of their careers and hopeful performers on the
brink of stardom. His artistic style set him apart and
made him one of the most sought after portraitists in
the nation. Shooting Stars is the first in a rotating series
of exhibits that will appear in the permanent gallery.
Each exhibit will include photographs that highlight a
different theme in Hixon's work. This exhibit will be
on display through July 31. Admission to the gallery is
free. For more information visit the Kansas City Public
Library at www.kclibrary.org/event/shooting-starscelebrity-photography-orval-hixon-0
Governor’s Arts Awards
The Kansas Arts Commission honored the 2010
Governor’s Arts Awards recipients. The winners were
recognized at a reception and awards ceremony on
March 11 at Washburn University. Governor Mark
Parkinson presented the awards. The Governor’s Arts
Awards are honors given annually to distinguished Kansas artists, organizations, patrons and educators, and has
been given annually since 1974 by
the governor and
the Kansas Arts
Commission. A
panel consisting
of members of
the Kansas Arts
Commission, a
representative
Rep. Jill Quigley and Doug Talley
from the Governor’s office and arts professionals select the winners.
2010 Governor's Arts Awards' Recipients were Distinguished Arts Award: Jim Richardson, Lindsborg; Arts
Advocate: Susan Craig, Lawrence; Artist: Elliott Pujol,
Manhattan; Artist: Kevin Willmott, Lawrence; Arts in
Education: Doug Talley, Shawnee Mission; Arts OrgaContinued on page 16
www.kcstage.com
APRIL 2010
15
u Showbiz
nization: Emporia Arts Council, Emporia; and Arts
Community: City of Hays. For questions about the
Governor's Arts Awards program, contact Margaret
Weisbrod Morris, program manager of arts in education, at [email protected].
Arts Education Increases Missouri Test Scores
Student participation in arts education in Missouri school
districts is related to higher standardized test scores,
higher attendance and graduation rates, and lower
disciplinary rates according to a report released today
by the Missouri Alliance for Arts Education (MAAE).
The findings were announced as part of Fine Arts Education Day at the Missouri Capitol. Find out more at
www.missouriartscouncil.org/page.aspx?NavID=4.
Poetry Out Loud
Shawnee Mission North High School sophomore Casha
Mills has won the 2010 Kansas State Poetry Out Loud
recitation competition and will travel in April to Washington, DC, to compete in the national finals. Markayla
16
KCSTAGE
McCarter, senior
at Parsons High
School, placed
second. The competition was held
March 12 at the
Brown v. Board
of
Education
National Historic
Site in Topeka and
was presented by
the Kansas Arts
Commission
Casha Mills
and the National
Endowment for the Arts, in cooperation with the Kansas
Association of Teachers of English. As the state champion, Mills receives $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip
to Poetry Out Loud National Finals on April 26 and 27
in Washington, DC to compete for a $20,000 scholarship.
In addition, the state champion’s school receives a $500
stipend for the purchase of poetry books. R
“Acting is a masochistic form of exhibitionism. It is not quite the occupation of an adult.” ~ Laurence Olivier
Auditions
A
C
www.kcstage.com/auditions
C
The Barn Players, Inc.*
Assassins by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman:
Apr 3-4: 2 pm Sat-Sun
Assassins is the story of nine individuals who over time have
attempted to assassinate the President of the United States. The
show explores the inner motives of each assassin. Each individual
must confront the fact that committing the ultimate crime failed
to assuage their personal problems. Assassins takes an unflinching, uneasy and sometimes funny look at individuals who are so
disenfranchised, lost, and alone in their own country that they
attempt the most unthinkable of crimes. Directed by Damron
Russell Armstrong. St. Pius School, 55th and Woodson, (913)
432-9100, www.thebarnplayers.org
The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler:
Apr 24-25: 12:1 pm Sat-Sun
An Obie Award-winning whirlwind tour of a forbidden zone, The
Vagina Monologues introduces a wildly divergent gathering of
female voices, including a six-year-old girl, a septuagenarian New
Yorker, a vagina workshop participant, a woman who witnesses
the birth of her granddaughter, a Bosnian survivor of rape, and
a feminist happy to have found a man who “liked to look at it”.
One of the most controversial and relevant theatre pieces of the
last decade. Directed by Shelly Stewart. St. Pius Church, 55th and
Woodson, (913) 432-9100, www.thebarnplayers.org
C
City Theatre of Independence*
Arcadia by Tom Stoppard: Apr 19-20: 7 pm Mon-Tue
Moving between 1809 and today at the Coverly estate. As the
Arcadian landscape is being transformed into Gothic gardens,
13 year old Thomasina and her tutor delve into intellectual
Levenson
Photography
Headshots
Location Scouting
Production Stills
Video Production
Technical instruction on video camera
operation and lighting for movies
816
361-6260
www.levensonphotography.com
www.kcstage.com
Academic Theatre
Community Theatre
E
P
Equity Theatre
Professional Theatre
and romantic issues. Modern scenes depict the descendants
& 2 scholars who are researching an historical scandal there
involving Lord Byron. Arcadia explores the nature of truth and
time, the difference between classical and romantic ideals, &
the influence of sex on our life orbits; the attraction Newton left
out. Directed by Jamie Close. Roles available for 8 M & 4 F. See
our website for breakdown on ages. Rehearsals begin Apr 22.
Auditioners should come with a prepared 2 minute monologue.
Roger T. Sermon Center, 201 N Dodgion St, (816) 461-0826,
www.citytheatreofindependence.org
P
Civic Opera Theater
Open Auditions: Apr 3-10: 12 pm Sat
2010-11 season: Idomeneo by W.A. Mozart; A Biography in Music
by Benjamin Britten; and Transformations by Conrad Susa. Also
hearing for upcoming seasons and various upcoming community projects. Performance dates Apr 3, 12-6 pm, UMKC/Grant
Hall Room 122, and Apr 10, 12-6 pm, Asbury United Methodist Church/ Seminar Room. Schedule an audition: by e-mailing
[email protected]. You will receive further details in a
confirmation e-mail. Asbury United Methodist Church, 5400 W
75th St, (816) 799-4361, www.kccivicopera.org
C
Gladstone Theatre in the Park
Annie Get Your Gun and South Pacific: Apr 11-17: 1 pm Sat-Sun
Please come to only one audition date. For more information and
an audition form please visit our website. Directed by Jennifer Kessler and Vanessa Campagna. Auditions for Gladstone’s Theatre in
The Park are open to everyone. No prepared material is necessary,
however, participants will be asked to sing and dance. Date: Apr
11 or Apr 17. Times: Ages 10-12 1 pm; ages 13-15 2 pm; ages
16-19 3 pm; ages 20 and up 4 pm. Antioch Middle School, 2100
NE 65th St, (816) 436-2200, www.gladstonetip.com
P
Improv-Abilities
Troupe member auditions: Apr 6: 7:15 pm Tue
Come and have fun. Directed by Tim Marks, Aron Carlson. The
audition will consist primarily of performing in improvised scenes
with other actors, and learning and playing improv games. No
preparation is necessary. Please reserve a space by e-mailing
[email protected] and/or [email protected], or by calling.
Trinity Lutheran Church, 5601 W 62nd St, (913) 871-6242,
www.kcimprov.com
C
Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy
Laughter on the 23rd Floor by Neil Simon:
Apr 24-25: 1 pm Sat-Sun
Peer into the office of the zany comedy writing team of a 1950s
television variety show with this hilarious comedy. Laughter on the
23rd Floor was inspired by Neil Simon’s youthful experience as
a staff writer on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows, and includes
all the attendant comic drama as the harried writing staff frantically scrambles to top each other with gags while competing for
the attention of star madman Max Prince. Apr 24 & 25. Roles:
7 men and 2 women. Scripts will be available for checkout from
box office (with $10 deposit) approximately two weeks prior to
auditions. Contact Joanna Daffron for audition appointment or
more information. Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy, 3028 SW
8th Ave, (785) 357-5213, www.topekacivictheatre.com R
APRIL 2010
17
KCSTAGE
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Kansas City, Missouri
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Ain`t She Sweet

Transcription

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