Alan Portner - Page 11

'The Coterie Theatre' has opened a new and clever retelling of the classic 1734 English fairy tale about a boy, a giant, and a magic beanstalk. For adults, the enduring charm of 'The Coterie' is seeing a gaggle of squirmy preschoolers and primary schoolers morph into a rapt and respectful audience as soon as house lights begin to dim. The kids sit in bunches on the carpeted floor next to the stage and chatter and wrestle (sometimes restrained by concerned parents - sometimes not) waiting for the show to begin.

Zach Faust's second year community theater company opened its new show, 'Band Geeks' May 19th at the Black Box Theatre inside The Johnson County Heritage Center for a three day run.   A young cast tells the story of the forlorn, stereotypical members of a marginalized high school marching band from Ohio.  

Chicago playwright Jerry Hickey offers a first-time production of his pleasant and entertaining new play entitled 'The Mascot' at 'The Living Room Theatre' in the Crossroads near downtown KC.  

An outstanding cast opened Kansas City Repertory Theatre's new production of Steven Sondheim's 1979 'Sweeny Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' at the Spencer Theater on the UMKC campus. KC Rep Artistic Director Eric Rosen does more than justice to Sondheim's incredible operatic score and the dynamic libretto by Hugh Wheeler.

The Beatles (or the next best thing existing) played KC's Kauffman Center this past weekend. The ersatz Fab Four treated a full auditorium to fifty-five memorable Beatles' melodies during their 2012 re-creation entitled 'Let It Be.'

Casts for “Theatre In The Park” 2018 five-summer productions to be performed at the Shawnee Mission Park amphitheater have been announced and are beginning their rehearsal periods. “Theatre In The Park” is the nation's largest audience capacity community theater facility.

Six-hundred-fifty hopefuls auditioned for the 49th annual five-production 'Theatre In The Park' outdoor season. The 2018 season features, 'The Little Mermaid' June 8-16, 'South Pacific' June 22-30, 'Into the Woods' July 6-14, 'The Adams Family' July 20-28, and 'High School Musical August 3-11. A combined cast of over two hundred community actors, singers, and dancers will perform plus an expanded number of volunteers, musicians, creative staff, set builders, and administrative personnel.

Sex With Strangers' by Laura Eason at K.C. Repertory Theatre's Copaken Stage downtown is not about what you think it is. Put the sex piece aside.  The 'Sex' is the romantic comedy / tragic / life lesson framework inside of which the real story is constructed.  

MTH Theatre's 'Broadway's Golden Age' is a couple of hours well spent for those of us who love classic musical theatre. A revue full of show tunes is relatively common in Kansas City, but this George Harter written retrospective has a throughput theme and a singing - dancing cast that is particularly satisfying.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City opened its excellent production of Verdi's 'Rigoletto' this weekend to appreciative audiences.  The voices are excellent, the orchestra is sublime, and the sets are both massive and ornate. 

Broadway Across America's "Finding Neverland" opens as a wonderful possibility, yet refuses to soar as we dare to hope it might.   "Neverland" is a pretty darn good show imbued with magical moments, yet somehow falls short of the special experience it might have been.

New Theatre Restaurant's 'Barefoot in the Park' is a charming, time warp that points up how much attitudes in America have shifted over 55 years.  A romantic comedy in the best 'Doc' Simon tradition. 

This community theatre production co-directed by Zach Faust and Steven Eubank both cooks and works. The actors have made these characters their own.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre's re-imagined production of Simon Stephen's 2013 award winning "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" is funny, inventive, touching, and deeply engaging for its audience.

"Project Dawn," Karen Hartman's new play at the Unicorn Theatre, is powerfully heart-rending, often slyly funny, and serendipitously timely during a national conversation over drug abuse and sex trafficking.

That Old Black Magic," runs now through February 18th at Quality Hill Playhouse in downtown Kansas City. A superior cast and outstanding backup musicians make for a typically professional evening of classic tunes this time by Harold Arlen.

Musical Theater Heritage at Crown Center offers its tenth-annual original Spectacular Christmas Show. Locally written and produced holiday shows are sometimes times prone to hyperbole. This particular performance is SPECTACULAR in almost every way a show can be outstanding. The 2017 MTH Spectacular Christmas Show shines.

Music Theatre - Kansas City Pro opens its new auditorium integrated inside the B&B 18 screen multiplex on Midland Drive in Shawnee. The show is 'A Wonderful Life - The Musical' with book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Ironically, this musical adaption of the classic 1946 Christmas film with James Stewart and Donna Reed is brought to us by the same mind that delivered 'Fiddler on the Roof.'

Inspired silliness. Now playing at the New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park through February 11, 2018 is the 1994 British farce 'Funny Money' starring Jim O'Heir. It is an Olivier Award nominated, misbegotten tale of misdirection, accident, flight, and comic mistaken identities.

'Do you hear the people sing?' You will if you attend the 25th Anniversary edition of the 'Les Miserables' now on stage at the Kansas City Music Hall through Sunday, December 9. This is an absolutely credible recreation of the show that first hit London's West End theater district way back in 1985 and journeyed across the pond two years later. It has been running pretty much at full steam ever since.