BWW Preview: LYSISTRATA JONES to Heat Up the Stage at the Off Center Theatre

Egads! Theatre Company heats things up at the Off Center Theatre with Lysistrata Jones. Tony Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane wrote the musical comedy with a contemporary pop score by Lewis Flinn. Steven Eubank directs the Kansas City production, which runs from June 14 through July 12.

Lysistrata Jones is an adaption of Aristophanes' comedy Lysistrata. The musical opened on Broadway in 2011 and closed in 2012. In 2012, it received Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical and the Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Book of a Musical.

Lysistrata Jones received critical acclaim for the off-Broadway production and received "thumbs up" from the five leading New York City critics. "This super-fun musical is the season's tastiest treat," the New York Post wrote. Ben Brantley of The New York Times said, "Effervescent, tasty and surprising filling." "A plot that launches a thousand laffs, old and new. . .with jokes about Amelia Earhart and Kitty Dukakis in the same exchange-both of which land" was written by Steven Suskin with Variety. David Rooney of The Hollywood Report said, "An obscene amount of fun."

In the ancient Greek play Lysistrata, the main character leads a group of women to stop having sex with their husbands and lovers until the long-lasting Peloponnesian War is finished. Time travel to the 21st century and the fictitious Athens University, where for the last 30 years the Spartan's Basketball team has lost every game. Lysistrata Jones convinces the cheerleaders to withhold sexual favors to their basketball-playing boyfriends until they win a game! "It's sex, it's love, it's even sport-it's two hours traffic on our court" one character sings.

"Kansas City's youthful rising stars will have the audience cheering along with them throughout this fast-paced show." Egads! Theatre says of their Midwest premier.

Ticket prices range from $12.50 to $25 and group rates are available. Purchase tickets at the Egads! Theatre Company website or call the Off Center Theatre box office at 816-545-6000