Steve Wilson - Page 8

As spectacular as the lights of the Aurora Borealis, that is how Spinning Tree Theatre lit up the stage on opening night of Fiddler on the Roof at the Just Off Broadway Theatre. Jerry Bock wrote the music, Sheldon Harnick the lyrics, and Joseph Stein the book for Fiddler on the Roof, a musical based on Tevye and his Daughters (or Tevye the Dairyman) and others stories written by Sholem Aleichem.

Musical Monday closes with the cast singing "One Day More," which is the amount of time left to catch one of the most phenomenal shows to appear at Musical Theater Heritage at Crown Center. Musical Monday and Tuesday opened on April 20 with Jerry Jay Cranford singing Les Miz from Forbidden Broadway. The theme of the two-day musical event is Les Miserables and Others. Others included tunes from Chorus Line and Little Shop of Horrors.

Spoiler Alert! If you attend Avenue Q, you will find yourself at one of the most creative productions of the theatrical season. Avenue Q opened on Friday April 17 at the Barn Players in Mission, Kansas. Based on the original concept of Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx Avenue Q is a musical in two acts. Music and lyrics are by Lopez and Marx with the book by Jeff Whitty.

A season dedicated to the film music of the 1960s and 1970s cinema continues at the Quality Hill Playhouse at 303 W. 10 on April 17. The tunes of Marvin Hamlisch and Burt Bacharach come alive in What They Did for Love: The Music of Marvin Hamlisch and Burt Bacharach. The intimate cabaret revue runs through May 17.

John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men opened on Saturday night at the White Theatre inside the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas. Bill Christie directs one of the finest productions of the tragic play produced in the Kansas City area. John Steinbeck's books and plays, though classics, are not for everyone, but the production at the White Theatre is of such a high quality it should not be missed.

Guys and Dolls, featuring a number of the finest Guys and Dolls in Kansas City performing arts, opened on Saturday night at the Musical Theater Heritage of Crown Center. Sarah Crawford directs the musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, and a pre-show talk by Executive Director George Harter. Guys and Dolls is based on two short stories, "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure" by Damon Runyan.

The Cat in the Hat now playing at the Coterie Theatre in Crown Center is a purr-fect entertainment package for the whole family. Heidi Van directs the Coterie production based on the book by Dr. Seuss. Katie Mitchell adapted and directed the original production by the National Theatre of Great Britain. Mitchell's adaption maintains the books fun simplicity and famous imagery, recreating the story page-by-page. A member of the audience Andrew Dearinger, a fifth grader, stated he was impressed with the interaction of the characters and the audience and thought it made the show more meaningful.

Jeff Church directs Cock opening April 25 on the stage of the Jerome Stage in the Unicorn Theatre at 3828 Main in Kansas City, Mo. Mike Bartlett, playwright of An Intervention, Chariots of Fire, and Earthquakes in London, wrote the British comedy about identity and sexuality. Due to adult subject matter and language, Cock is suggested for mature audiences.

Spinning Tree Theatre closes its fourth season with the timeless musical classic Fiddler on the Roof. The 2014-2015 season of Spinning Tree featured several firsts for the theatrical production company. The addition of Fiddler on the Roof as the first year of four shows, the first time a Spinning Tree production was directed by someone outside the organization (Walter Coppage directing Black Pearl Sings!), and the first time the company produced a local playwright (Frank Higgins Black Pearl Sings!).

Peter and the Starcatcher, presented by the Theater League of Kansas City, opened on Tuesday night at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Mo. The production not only provides limited sets, costuming, special effects, but also limited appeal.

The rock musical Hair has been produced many times over the years in Kansas City, but never has it been presented the way the Kansas City Repertory Theatre brought it to the Spencer Theatre on opening night March 27. Artistic Director Eric Rosen directs Hair: Retrospective, which runs through April 12 at the theater on the University of Missouri at Kansas City campus. The retrospective may actually be more enjoyable than the musical itself, (not just my opinion, heard from audience members also).

Eerie, enchanting, and hauntingly beautiful Giselle continues at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts through March 22. Kansas City Ballet Artistic Director Devon Carney choreographed the full-length two act classic ballet. Jean Corrali, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa inspired the choreography of Carney. Kansas City Ballet Music Director Ramona Pansegrau conducts the Kansas City Symphony with the enchanting music of Adolphe Adam.

The Unicorn Theatre production of Women Playing Hamlet currently runs on the Jerome Stage at the theater located at 3828 Main in Kansas City, Mo. William Missouri Downs wrote the Rolling World Premiere directed by Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin. Women Playing Hamlet is the second Rolling World Premiere for Downs who has won numerous playwriting awards. In his day all Shakespeare's characters were played by men, in Downs play four women play 19 parts, including male characters.

A line from the play best describes Black Pearl Sings when Susannah Mullally says, "Pearl is a pearl." Black Pearl Sings opened on Saturday March 7 at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. The production marks two firsts for Spinning Tree Theatre, the production of a local playwright and the first time the company utilized a director outside the organization.

Crimes of the Heart the Kansas City Actors Theatre production of the tragic comedy classic continues at the Polsky Theatre in the Carlsen Center at the Johnson County Community College. Darren Sextro directs Crimes of the Heart written by Beth Henley. Edward Matthew Walter designs the realistic set and Georgianna Londre Buchanan provides costume design.

The cult classic, The Rocky Horror Show opened on Wednesday March 4 at Grant Hall on the campus of the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Richard O'Brien wrote the music, lyrics, and book for the tribute to B horror movies and science fiction. The show opened in London running 2,960 performances in several locations. The United States premiere ran for nine months, but the Broadway debut only lasted 3 previews and 45 shows. The musical was adapted to film in 1975 and has the longest running release in film history.

Broadway and Back, which highlights the quality in Quality Hill Playhouse, runs through March 29 at the Playhouse in Kansas City, Missouri. Producing Artistic Director J. Kent Barnhart selected the songs and directs the magnificent production. Broadway and Back is a celebration of movies that inspired or were inspired by Broadway Musicals. The production is part of the Playhouses 2014-15 season series, Hooray for Hollywood, Magical Music from the Movies.

Diversity in the American family is the theme of Modern Families presented by the Heartland Men's Chorus at the Folly Theater on March 28 and 29. The chorus continues with its series of musical documentaries that use music, narration, and multi-media elements to illustrate social issues.

A must catch it if you can, Catch It If You Can The Musical! opened on Friday February 27 at the Barn Players in Mission, Kansas. Guy Gardner directs and choreographs the Barn Players production with music direction by James Levy. Catch Me If You Can The Musical! is music with libretto by Terrence McNally and theatrical score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

A celebration of social media is presented in Self-Ease at the Fishtank Performance Studio in the Crossroads District of Kansas City, Mo. From creator Andy Perkins and his creative team of marvelously talented actors comes a hilarious look at technology in today's age of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.