BWW Previews: Spinning Tree Theatre Announces 2014-2015 Season

Spinning Tree Theatre in Kansas City announced their selections for the 2014-2015 season. The new season sees Spinning Tree grow from three shows per season to a fourth show. Two plays and two musicals highlight the season, with three of the productions being Kansas City premieres. The new season marks the first time the theatrical company has produced a local playwright.

Ghost-Writer a play by Michael Hollinger and a Kansas City premier will feature a trio of Kansas City actors. Franklin Woolsey is a novelist in 1919 New York City who dies mid-sentence of a new work. Myra, his secretary, continues to type on the unfinished novel. This is the first mystery production for Spinning Tree.

Violet, with book and lyrics by Brian Crawley and music by Jeanine Tesori is a Kansas City premiere. Based on The Ugliest Pilgrim, a short story by Doris Betts, the play is set in 1964. Accidentally scarred by her father Violet travels to a televangelist in Oklahoma looking for a cure. The Off-Broadway production in 1997 won the Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and starred Kansas City native Lauren Ward. Ward received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical.

Kansas City playwright Frank Higgins work, Black Pearl Sings! comes to life in the 2014-2015 season. This production is the third Kansas City premiere. Susannah, a song collector for the Library of Congress, travels through the country in 1933 looking for little-known melodies. She discovers Pearl in a Texas prison and a musical treasure trove in the African tradition. Pearl must face the choice of giving away her ancestors' songs to gain freedom.

Fiddler On The Roof with a book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock rounds out the 2014-2015 season. The musical based on short stories by Sholem Aleichem won the 1965 Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book.

An announcement regarding venues and dates will be made in the future. Visit the Spinning Tree Theatre website for additional information.