KCAT Announces Cast And Creative Staff For BLITHE SPIRIT

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting for its production of Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit," the first show of its fourteenth season, which will run from August 8th to the 26th at the City Stage in Union Station. The production will be directed by Doug Weaver and will star Cinnamon Schultz, Coleman Crenshaw, Vanessa Severo, Jan Rogge, Matt Rapport, Cheryl Weaver, and Margaret Shelby. The production team includes Kelli Harrod (Scenic Designer), Bill Christie (Properties Designer), Sarah M. Oliver (Costume Designer), Kylor Greene (Lighting Designer), Shelbi Arndt (Co-Lighting Designer), Jonathan Robertson (Sound Designer), Matthew Schorr (Co-Sound Designer), Alex Murphy (Stage Manager), and Kyle Dyck (Technical Director).

Widely considered a theatrical masterpiece, and certainly Coward's spookiest story, in "Blithe Spirit" successful novelist Charles Condomine hires a psychic as research for his new book and ends up encountering the unexpected - the ghost of his first wife! Now he must balance his new (and very much alive) wife with an increasingly incensed ghost in a witty comedy of manners. This smart and supernatural comedy is filled with rich characters, as well as a few spirited and theatrical surprises.

The show will be directed by Doug Weaver, who is also Director of Theatrical Arts at Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence, and previously directed Edward Albee's "At Home at the Zoo" for KCAT in 2015. Weaver is excited to start working with the actors on the production, which will begin rehearsals in early July. "There are not many scripts that give you such a wonderful chance to mix wit and mayhem," says Weaver. "There are ghosts, flying books, a séance gone bad, a crazy medium, eccentric English folk... and cucumber sandwiches. I couldn't ask for more than that!"

"Blithe Spirit" continues Kansas City Actors Theatre's mission to bring professional productions of renowned-but-underperformed writers to Kansas City audiences. Noel Coward is considered one of the most influential playwrights of his time and for generations that followed. Some of his best-known works include "Private Lives," which KCAT produced in 2007, "Hay Fever," "Design for Living," and "Present Laughter." Coward wrote over 50 plays and was known beyond his talents as a playwright for his work as an actor, director, and composer.

"Blithe Spirit" will perform at Union Station's City Stage. Previews start August 8th, opening night will be August 11th, and performances will conclude on August 26th. Audience talk-backs will follow performances on August 12th, 17th, and 20th.

Tickets are between $28 and $47 and are available by contacting the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222 or online at www.kcactors.org.