Steve Wilson - Page 11

The holiday season soars into Kansas City on the nose of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical. The holiday treat opened on Friday November 7 at the Coterie Theatre in Crown Center. Jeff Church directs the musical based on the stop-motion animated television special, which starred the voice of Burl Ives. Timothy Splain provides arrangements and orchestrations with script adaptation by Robert Penola.

The Kansas City Tennyson Group presents Misunderstanding the Candy Game, a new original play by Lewis J. Morrow at the Gem Theatre on Saturday December 6 with two shows at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. The Gem Theatre is located in the Historic Jazz District of Kansas City, Missouri at 18th and Vine.

The Mystery Train Murder Mystery Dinner Theater concludes their tenth season with Murder on the Ornament Express opening November 14, 2014 and running through January 3, 2015. The interactive murder mystery takes place at the Golden Ox restaurant and Californos Westport on selected dates.

The White Theatre presents the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof at the theatre located inside the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kan. Steven Eubank directs the award-winning musical, with musical direction by Daniel Doss, which opens on Saturday November 8 at 7:30 p.m. Based on Tevye and his Daughters and other tales by Sholem Aleichem, Fiddler on the Roof features music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick with a book by Joseph Stein.

The world premiere of Columbus Day, a play by Forrest Attaway, closed on Sunday November 2 at the Living Room Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. Attaway stated the work began as a 60-minute production and over the last eight years, he developed into a full-length play. Bryan Moses directed the dark drama about poor choices, death, and misgiven trusts.

The first production of the Downtown Underground series at the Lawrence Arts Center, Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness, a hilarious comedy continues through November 8. The play written by Anthony Neilson is a co-production of the Card Table Theatre and the Arts Center.

The hilarious comedy, Bad Jews, about death, family, identity, and faith opened Saturday on the Jerome Stage of the Unicorn Theatre. Bad Jews the dark comedy written by Joshua Harmon and directed by Cynthia Levin follows three cousins in a battle over an heirloom.

From zero to sixty like a fast luxury car is how The Who & The What transitions from a comedy to an intense look at faith, relationships, gender roles, and culture. So sit back it is a delightfully entertaining ride. The Who & The What opened on Friday October 24 at the Copaken Stage in downtown Kansas City, Mo. Eric Rosen directs the new play by Ayad Akhtar for the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Akhtar's earlier work Disgraced won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize and opened on Broadway this year.

Alice fell down the rabbit hole and into the hearts of Kansas City on Friday October 10 at the opening and Kansas City premiere of Alice (in Wonderland) produced by the Kansas City Ballet Company. Opening the 57th season for the Kansas City Ballet the full-length ballet is a delightful interpretation of Lewis Carroll's, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and characters from Alice Through the Looking Glass.

You do not have to be a large production company to work with the finest actors in Kansas City. Different Choices Productions proved that at their preview of their dark comedy Danny & The Deep Blue Sea on Thursday October 9. Directed by Bob Linebarger the show is being staged in the Buffalo Room behind the Westport Flea Market.

Mamma Mia! what a way to open a season. Mamma Mia! the feel-good musical that has over 5,000 performances on Broadway opened Tuesday October 7 at the Music Hall in Kansas City, MO. Phyllida Lloyd directs the Broadway Across America special engagement that runs through Sunday October 12. Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote the music and lyrics with choreography by Anthony Van Laast.

The heart gripping, emotional roller coaster, The Normal Heart opened at the Off Center Theatre in Crown Center on October 3. Larry Kramer wrote the largely autobiographical play that opened in 1985 Off-Broadway and on Broadway in April of 2011. The Normal Heart considered one of the best plays to deal with the epidemic was also one of the first productions to bring it to the stage.

Songs, Scenes & Stories: 40 Years of OCTA opened on Friday night October 3 at the Olathe Civic Theatre Association in Olathe, Kan. Written and compiled by Shelly Stewart Banks, Rebekah Grieb, and Peter Leondedis the program celebrates the 40th birthday of the theatrical company.

The Spinning Tree Theatre production of the musical Violet opens at the Off Broadway Theatre November 6. Michael Grayman and Andy Parkhurst co-direct the Kansas City premiere, which is one of the first regional theatres to secure the rights to the musical. Angie Benson provides the musical direction and leads a five-piece orchestra.

The enchanting tale of love, friendship, and the quest to discover the identity of her father comes to the Music Hall in Kansas City when Mamma Mia! takes the stage. Based on the songs of ABBA and written by Catherine Johnson the musical, which debuted on Broadway in 2001, received five Tony Award nominations, two Drama Desk Award nominations, and won the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Stage Performance.

Cheek to Cheek, the Songs of Fred Astaire opened the 2014-2015 season for the Quality Hill Playhouse in Kansas City, MO. The season pays homage to the magical music from the movies with their series Hooray for Hollywood.

Songs, Scenes, and Stories: 40 Years of OCTA, the Olathe Civic Theatre Association benefit celebrates a rich theater history. OCTA celebrates 40 years of live theater in Olathe for three performances running from October 3 through 5 at the theatre located at 500 E. Loula Street in Olathe, Kan.

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott opened with a roar on Friday September 26 at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. "When you have your hand in the lion's mouth it is best to pat it on the head. . ." The lion is segregation and it is Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement that is patting it on the head. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, written by Sue Greenberg, opened the 2014-2015 season for the theater.

It will make you laugh, make you want to cry, and make you want to see it again, Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers opened Saturday September 20 at the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre in Kansas City. Karen Paisley directs the amazing production that marks the 10th season of the theatrical company and their 50th production. One member of the audience told me she had seen Lost in Yonkers in New York and preferred the Met production, with the smaller more intimate stage.

Step into the dawning of the Age of Aquarius with Hair now playing at the Barn Players in Mission, Kan. The musical with book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, and music by Galt MacDermot opened Friday September 19 and runs through October 5. The original rock musical opened Off-Broadway in 1967 at the Joseph Papp's Public Theater and in 1968 opened on Broadway running for 1,750 performances.