Paula Makar - Page 5

Little Shop of Horrors is now onstage at Roxy’s Downtown! Directed and Choreographed by Tom Frye, with Musical Direction by Jesse Warkentin, this classic piece by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman reminds us that in your quest to better yourself and your situation, beware the dangers all around you. It is an updated look at a universal theme - with no particular time frame set. Instead of feeling like you’re in the late 50’s early 60’s - you’ll feel fresher, more today.

It was another beautiful night in Andover, Kansas. The temperature was in the mid-80’s, there was a slight breeze, and not a rain cloud in sight. Many in the crowd were purchasing snacks from the food trucks parked behind the audience. Golf carts were transporting the super annuated and folx with mobility issues from the parking areas to the audience area. The VIP area was humming, and the atmosphere was super festive.

Injoy Fountain will take the stage, along with Jaslyn Alexander and Koko Blanton, in a concert at Roxy's Downtown this Saturday night, June 26, 2021, at 7pm. Injoy will be singing classic tunes by Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, and Miley Cyrus, among others. Fountain's band includes Rich Bruhn on keyboards, Dale Black on bass, Jerome Porter on sax, and Corey Rolfe on drums.

It all started when Roxy’s Downtown was looking for ways to bring live theatre to our audiences during a global pandemic. We reached out to several different organizations, both nationally and internationally and an alliance was born. We are so happy to be bringing the following performances to you on our state-of-the-art projection system inside Roxy’s Downtown. With state-of-the-art filming techniques, tailored to every play, we bring you each performance as it happens, in all its glory. From close-ups that capture every flicker of emotion, to sweeping wide shots of the stage. There will be thousands of other people all around the world watching along with you. Sharing every gasp, every laugh, every dramatic moment. This is theatre for everyone. Call (316) 265-4400 to purchase tickets, or click here to purchase online.

Mirette is based on the Caldecott Award-winning book Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully. The musical runs June 16-20 at the Century II Convention Hall, with excellent socially distanced seating. If you have children, RUN, don’t walk, to purchase tickets for this delightfully charming treasure. It’s the kind of show that will turn children into lifelong theatre goers. The story is simple, the characters are timeless archetypes, the message is positive, and the artistic value is high despite the impositions of strict COVID19 restrictions.

The home going service for Karla Burns will be Saturday, June 12, at 10am at First United Methodist Church, 330 N. Broadway Avenue, Wichita, KS 67202.  Visitation will take place Friday evening, from 6 - 8 pm, at St. Matthew Christian Methodist Episcopal Church at 841 N. Cleveland or from 9 - 10 am at First United Methodist Church prior to the service. If attending the service, the wearing of masks is required. Anyone not physically able to attend the service may watch from home by going to the following link: https://boxcast.tv/channel/f9yfyjzko2esfwfc5vkn   the day of the service.  

Karla Burns, a Tony Award nominee, a Drama Desk Award winner, and a Laurence Olivier Award Winner for Supporting Performance in a Musical for the role of Queenie in Showboat, has died today at age 66.

This is the first time I’ve sat in a theatre since COVID19 took that privilege away in March 2020. It felt weird and wonderful all at the same time. Masks are optional at the Forum Theatre. Patrons I chatted with in the lobby were thrilled to finally get out and are feeling confident enough to spend a few hours communing in a darkened room with their fellow man. This is the perfect play to do just that. The Agitators answers the dramaturgical question, “Why this play, now?” Poignant, compelling, and beautifully wrought by the cast and crew, The Agitator is must see theatre.

Jeremy Stolle started off his concert Thursday night with an opening line of a song from Phantom that gave me goosebumps! He whirled right into a sendup of Trouble from Music Man, abandoning the original lyrics for new, some of them having to do with Wichita! A delightful beginning that drew me in and kept my rapt attention for the following 90 minutes of wonderful entertainment that you should not miss!

There are three doors on this colorful 1980s set designed by Ben Juhnke, and immediately I think 'FARCE!' The 1980s tunes are pumping from the sound system, making the patrons move and groove in their seats. The atmosphere is lively, and the audience is upbeat and happy, chatting away until the action on stage catches their attention. A pre-show pantomime begins; Simeon Rawls and Jen Bechter begin their day in the beauty salon 'Shear Madness'; patrons begin to enter the shop and hilarity ensues. This pantomime continues for at least 15 minutes before any of the actors speak, and it is hysterical. The action is clean, quick, and understandable. The hilarity continues on until the last few minutes of the play. I will not reveal the ending, but suffice it to say these last bits are intense and dramatic, and showcase some serious acting chops.

Opening April 12 and running to May 5, AVENUE Q, the Triple Crown Tony winner is part flesh, part fabric and packed with heart. Another "coming of age" parable, notable for its use of puppets, this wacky musical comedy brings us characters from the other side of Sesame Street.

Written in response to the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998, the play's story parallels the New Testament account of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. In McNally's version the Christ figure is named Joshua, born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, in the early 1950s. Joshua, who is gay, leaves Corpus Christi to find a more accepting environment and gathers a group of disciples with his message of love and tolerance. The play is rated R for adult language, simulated violence and adult themes.

On Wednesday, March 22nd, I sat down to watch my first production of EVITA, ever, at the Century II Concert Hall. Grimly aware of my myriad prejudices, chief among them being the fact that I had listened to the original Broadway cast recording with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin ad infinitum ad nauseum since its eagerly awaited release back in 1979. It was the second rock musical concept piece written by Webber and Rice, and was directed by Harold Prince, and garnered 11 Tony nominations. The show has lived in my head all these years, every minute choreographed and staged. Since I was a poor working actor back in Buffalo, NY, I knew I was never going to get to NYC to see this show unless some fairy godmother intervened. Which was sadly not the case. Since I was a working class girl in a working class town, cutting my musical theatre teeth in the Meatloaf era (late 70s, early 80s), I liked my musicals with a certain amount of grit and truth, and have bemoaned the sanitization of my favorites, including Grease. It was with these heavy expectations and much trepidation that I sat down to watch Evita.

Becoming the first college in the state of Kansas to get the rights to perform Mamma Mia!, Cowley College's Visual and Performing Arts Department will offer audiences four opportunities to catch the musical March 28-30 at the Robert Brown Theatre in Arkansas City, Kansas.

Wichita State University's School of Performing Arts presents the musical THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY Thursday through Saturday, March 21st-23rd at 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 24th at 2:00 pm in Wilner Auditorium.  

Now in its second year, The Wichita Fringe Festival is a one-day event that celebrates the work of local high school playwrights. Working with professional mentors from the Wichita theatre community, playwrights from schools throughout the city take their scripts through the process from stage to page, culminating in a performance of their works by area high school actors. This year, the festival is hosted by Wichita Center for Performing Arts (9112 E Central Ave.) on Saturday, March 2nd, with two shows on the mainstage, one beginning at 10 a.m., and the second at 1 p.m. A Q &A with the playwrights follows the first performance.

Wichita Center for Performing Arts will be presenting Hamlet as its first fully-staged production. The show will be held Feb. 21-24 at 9112 E. Central and features a student talk-back on the last day of the show.

This musical is the perfect choice for Wichita, as most of the action takes place on familiar territory, from West Texas to Missouri, from Arkansas to Kansas, at the height of the Great Depression. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow went from two small-town nobodies to America's most renowned folk heroes and Texas law enforcement's worst nightmares.

I had the pleasure of seeing The Little Mermaid in the MTW 2011 Season, so I was really looking forward to seeing it again this season. I must say, it did not disappoint. With all the brilliant singing, colorful costumes and sets, and spritely choreography, The Little Mermaid is a perfect season finale!

Everything old is new again. This iteration of Pippin, masterfully directed and choreographed by Al Blackstone, has one foot in the original 1972 Bob Fosse version and the other foot in the 2013 Diane Paulus 'Cirque' Revival.