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Alan Portner - Page 12

Alan Portner

Al Portner is regional editor for Broadway World – Kansas City.  He is a retired career journalist and media executive who has written for publication over more than 40 years. Portner has published daily newspapers in venues as far east as Washington DC, as far west as Honolulu HI.




LEARN MORE ABOUT Alan Portner

First Show:

The first musical I saw on Broadway was 1776 with the original cast.

Favorite Show:

My favorite show current recent show is Phantom Of The Opera

Favorite Stories:

  • BWW Review: AN EVENING WITH SIERRA BOGGESS at Musical Theater Heritage - Because of the presence of Ms. Boggess' parents in a small space environment, I felt like the veil dropped and we saw a glimpse of who this excellent performer really is as a person. I was able to feel the relationship of this family in relation to my own children.
  • BWW Review: BETWEEN THE LINES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre - BETWEEN THE LINES was a Pre-Broadway tryout production performed in front of the Broadway creative team. The show has yet to open in New York, but it remains clever and engaging. It also generated Broadway World reads at a rate four or five times what would normally be expected in a market of about two million.
  • The Last Romance at New Theatre Restaurant - THE LAST ROMANCE marked the final teaming of Charley Robinson and Michael Learned. Both were charming in a super venue.
  • Review: HADESTOWN at Kansas City Music Hall - The touring company of HADESTOWN featured a complex and thoughtful exploration of an ancient myth transported into another, but indefinite point in time. It was early in the run and a super cast was still extremely excited about performing something new. I personally enjoyed sharing uncommon background material that hoped to enhance the audience experience.
  • BWW Review: CATS at Musical Theater Heritage - CATS is not a favorite musical play. This particular production, however, featured a director who disassembled the entire show and rebuilt it with young, talented actors for a small theater and limited costume/makeup. It was an especially involving experience.


BWW Interview: Josh Davis of LES MISERABLES at Kansas City Broadway Series
BWW Interview: Josh Davis of LES MISERABLES at Kansas City Broadway Series
December 4, 2017

New Les Miz tour features new lighting, new energy, new orchestrations, and new backdrops by Victor Hugo himself with a young cast excited to perform a more personal Les Miz.

BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
November 28, 2017

Faithful to the original text, what is 175 years old is new again

BWW Feature: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
BWW Feature: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
November 21, 2017

What you may not have known about Charles Dickens and The Christmas Carol

BWW Interview: Eric Rosen of A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
BWW Interview: Eric Rosen of A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
November 17, 2017

New version by Director Eric Rosen stresses original Dickens text and humor

BWW Review: WAITRESS at Broadway Theater League
BWW Review: WAITRESS at Broadway Theater League
November 16, 2017

Bright, bouncy, expertly produced, and just a tad naughty through Sunday, November 19

BWW Review: A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS at The Coterie
BWW Review: A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS at The Coterie
November 14, 2017

The famous animated classic comes to life on stage at The Coterie for children of all ages.

BWW Review: EVEREST at Lyric Opera Of Kansas City
BWW Review: EVEREST at Lyric Opera Of Kansas City
November 13, 2017

Retells the death of 15 climbers in 1996 as they attempt to summit Mt. Everest.

BWW Review: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at White Theatre
BWW Review: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at White Theatre
November 7, 2017

Mel Brooks would be proud of this rendering of his most complete comic piece.

BWW Review: SISTER ACT at Barn Players
BWW Review: SISTER ACT at Barn Players
November 6, 2017

Musical version of the hit movie satisfies and expands the legend. Allison Jones as Deloris is a new force to be noticed.

BWW Previews: MARILYN MAYE at Quality Hill Playhouse
BWW Previews: MARILYN MAYE at Quality Hill Playhouse
November 2, 2017

Marilyn was called 'the greatest white female singer in the world' by Ella Fitzgerald. Marilyn still has it at age 89.

BWW Review: FENCES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
BWW Review: FENCES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
October 22, 2017

AC Smith is memorable as Troy Maxson

BWW Review: BASTARD at The Living Room Theatre
BWW Review: BASTARD at The Living Room Theatre
October 16, 2017

It is a first ever production of a new play simply titled 'Bastard' by Kansas City playwright and artist Tyson Schroeder presented at the tiny studio theater on the third level of The Living Room Theatre in the Crossroads area. Directed by Living Room co-founder Shawnna Jouragan, 'Bastard' is a screed on the tyranny of making art and the superficiality of those who pretend to appreciate it.

BWW Interview: Ron 'OJ' Parson And AC Smith of FENCES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre part II
BWW Interview: Ron 'OJ' Parson And AC Smith of FENCES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre part II
October 13, 2017

Get deep into the play making process with AC Smith and Ron Parson

BWW Interview: Ron 'OJ' Parson And AC Smith of FENCES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
BWW Interview: Ron 'OJ' Parson And AC Smith of FENCES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
October 10, 2017

Next up at Kansas City Repertory Theatre is a new production of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winning 1983 play 'Fences' at the KC Rep Copaken Theatre in downtown Kansas City with an exceptional cast. Directing 'Fences' is Ron OJ Parson Director/Resident Artist at Court Theatre of Chicago. AC Smith plays Troy Maxxson supported by Alfred Wilson as Troy's best friend and co-worker, Jim Bono.

BWW Review: DRIVING MISS DAISY at New Theatre Restaurant
BWW Review: DRIVING MISS DAISY at New Theatre Restaurant
October 6, 2017

A delightful evening of theater at New Theatre

BWW Review: I'VE GOT A CRUSH ON YOU at Quality Hill Playhouse
BWW Review: I'VE GOT A CRUSH ON YOU at Quality Hill Playhouse
October 3, 2017

If you are a lover of the 'Great America Songbook,' Kent Barnhart's latest amalgamation of familiar tunes, 'I've Got A Crush On You,' with their origins in the musical theater of the last century is for you. Barnhart, with his trademark, droll sense of humor, leads a devoted audience at Quality Hill Playhouse through a century of music that has long outlived the shows that first gave them birth.

BWW Review: MEN ON BOATS at Unicorn Theatre
BWW Review: MEN ON BOATS at Unicorn Theatre
September 22, 2017

Kicking off the Unicorn Theatre's 44th season is 'Men on Boats' by Jaclyn Bauhaus (in cooperation with the UMKC advanced MFA program). 'Men on Boats' is an interesting and mostly accurate exploration of John Wesley Powell's 1869 exploration of the Colorado River north of and into the Grand Canyon.

BWW Review: GREY GARDENS at The Barn Players in Kansas City
BWW Review: GREY GARDENS at The Barn Players in Kansas City
September 18, 2017

'Grey Gardens,' the 2007 character piece that originally featured a bravura turn and a Best Actress in a Musical Tony for Christine Ebersole, is the current, ambitious, fall offering from the Barn Players Community Theater in Mission through October 1. 'Grey Gardens' tells the story of a Mother and Daughter who struggle through a steep descent from American Aristocracy to poverty and health department threats of eviction from their Long Island mansion. It is a story we may never have heard except for that the Mother in our story was also Aunt to the late Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.

BWW Review: BETWEEN THE LINES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
BWW Review: BETWEEN THE LINES at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
September 16, 2017

World Premiere show keeps audience engaged and appreciate - may have a great future in New York

BWW Feature: CFF FUND KICKOFF at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
BWW Feature: CFF FUND KICKOFF at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
September 12, 2017

$5 million goal set by the end of 2017



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