Music Theatre Kansas City Presents Pilot Production of Disney's FREAKY FRIDAY

In September 2017 Disney Theatricals announced that a new musical version of the classic film - Freaky Friday - was in production. Music Theatre Kansas City is honored and excited to be a part of the Disney Theatrical Productions Pilot Program. The Pilot Program chooses a select group of musical theatre programs throughout the country to mount a production of a Disney musical before it is released to general licensing. MTKC is one of the first young musical theatre programs nationwide to produce the brand new musical version of Disney's modern fairy tale, Freaky Friday! MTKC has over 25 years' experience in training young musical theatre artists in Kansas City. More than 100 MTKC alumni have gone on to professional performing arts careers, including Broadway and Film/TV. MTKC's production of Freaky Friday will feature 30 talented Kansas City teens, performing in MTKC's new home at B&B Live inside the B&B Theatres Shawnee complex at I-435 and Midland Road. Disney Theatrical Productions will be using MTKC's production as a guide, as they prepare to release the performance rights later this year.

Freaky Friday, A New Musical, is based on the beloved Mary Rodgers novel and two hit Disney films. It tells the zany story of a day when an overworked mother and her teenage daughter magically swap bodies. The two have just one day to put things right again before mom's big wedding. Freaky Friday is a hilarious, contemporary update on an American classic in which a mother and daughter really see what it is to be a family and experience each other's lives first-hand, if only for a day.

Variety describes the Freaky Friday musical as "delightfully spunky" with "timeless appeal." The Freaky Friday musical features a new book by Bridget Carpenter (Parenthood) and original pop/rock score by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winners Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal). This dynamic story puts a fresh new spin on a "polished, peppy, modern fairy tale" said a review in The Washington Post. Buzzfeed said, "Freaky Friday captures the best of great Disney musicals. The catchy, surprising deep score by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey is their best work since Next to Normal."

"Being selected by Disney to present this pilot production of Freaky Friday is a tremendous honor and responsibility for MTKC. This show gives our young artists an amazing opportunity to be among the first in the nation to be cast in this fun, new contemporary musical," said Cary Danielson, MTKC Executive Director. "We are thrilled to work with Disney Theatrical Productions to bring Freaky Friday to the stage in our new home at B&B Theatres in Shawnee."

Auditions for the show were held on February 4th, and the leads began working on their parts when cast. As a musical theatre preparatory training program, MTKC works with the full cast to learn the show in one intensive week (during spring break for most school districts in the area) with performances held at the end of that week. MTKC's pilot production of Disney's Freaky Friday will feature a spunky cast of 30 teens, accompanied by a live orchestra that includes professional and student musicians. Students involved in the cast and as pit musicians attend over 20 different schools across the Kansas City region.

Five performances of Freaky Friday will be held at B&B Live inside B&B Theatres Shawnee
(I-435 & Midland Drive, Shawnee, KS) on:
Friday, March 16 at 7:00 pm;
Saturday, March 17 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm and
Sunday, March 18 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

Tickets are available online at www.mtkc.org or at www.bbtheatres.com.

Tickets also can be purchased in person at the B&B Theatres Shawnee box office.
Advanced ticket prices are $8, $12 and $18; and ticket prices on the day of the show are $10, $15 and $20.

ABOUT MUSIC THEATER KANSAS CITY: For more than 25 years, MTKC has trained children and youth in developing their talents in musical theatre. The program originally began in Wichita where Cary Danielson Pandzik started her first theater company, Music Theatre for Young People, which remains vibrant component of today's Wichita arts scene. In 1991, Cary moved to Overland Park and started a MTYP for Kansas City. In 2014, the organization changed its name to Music Theatre Kansas City, and remains dedicated to bringing quality musical theater and preparatory training for children and teens to the Kansas City community. MTKC produces about eight theatre shows a year that feature many of Kansas City's best young, up and coming talented performers. MTKC has partnered with many local schools, universities, theater companies and musical organizations. Formally only for youth theater, MTKC now offers MTKC Pro, a professional division committed to bringing professional-level musical theatre performances to Kansas City. Learn more at www.mtkc.org or call (913) 341-8156. MTKC's theatre home in B&B Live, a newly renovated live performance theatre located inside the B&B Shawnee 18 Movie complex at I-435 and Midland Drive in Shawnee, KS.