KCRep Announces Single Tickets On Sale July 30

Single tickets for the 2018/2019 season at Kansas City Repertory Theatre will go on sale to the general public on Monday, July 30, 2018. The tickets, which range in price from $38 to $97 for online purchases, and are as low as $10 for students the day of a performance, will be available online, in-person, and on mobile devices with the app.

KCRep kicks off their 2018/19 season with the world premiere musical, LAST DAYS OF SUMMER. With music by Jason Howland, book and lyrics by Steve Kluger, and by special arrangement with Daryl Roth, LAST DAYS is based on the contemporary American classic novel by noted author Steve Kluger, and will be directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun (last year's BETWEEN THE LINES and the highly-touted Broadway production of NEWSIES).

LAST DAYS OF SUMMER tells the story of Joey Margolis, an imaginative and tenacious boy being raised by his mother and aunt in early 1940s Brooklyn. He and his best friend, Craig Nakamura, write letters to their hero, Charlie Banks, the all-star third basemen for the New York Giants, in hopes of his helping them impress and suppress the neighborhood bullies. An unlikely friendship is formed between the two boys and Charlie, and as the turbulent events of the dawn of the Second World War unfold, bonds are formed that will last forever. This new musical is a poignant and hilarious tale of baseball, hero worship and the gift of true friendship. It runs September 7-30 at KCReps' Spencer Theatre.

Next up at KCRep is OF MICE AND MEN. A pair of migrant workers in Depression-era California move from town to town in search of work, and dream of buying land and owning a ranch someday. Straight-shooter George protects Lennie, whose sweet, simple-mindedness is juxtaposed by his formidable strength. When the two find work on Curly's ranch, a series of tragic events lead to one of the most heartbreaking conclusions in American literature. John Steinbeck's classic text explores the decay of the American dream, and the enduring kindness that bond friends together for life. OF MICE AND MEN, which runs October 19 - November 11, will be directed by KCRep Interim Artistic Director, Jason Chanos at Copaken Stage.

INDECENT, written by Paula Vogel and directed by Eric Rosen as part of a three-way co-production with Arena Stage, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Baltimore Center Stage, runs January 18 - February 10. On March 6, 1923, a play was shut down at New York's Apollo Theater, and the show's entire cast was indicted for indecency. The play is God of Vengeance, written 16 years earlier and performed as a staple of Yiddish theatre. The story centers on a brothel owner whose daughter falls in love with a prostitute, which began a campaign of censorship that lasted decades. Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel tells her story with passion, humor, romance and a breathtaking conclusion that reminds us of the horror throughout Europe that was yet to come. This play is a love letter to theatre, and a testament to its power to change how we see the world.

Up next, running March 1-24 at Copaken Stage, is the recent Off-Broadway hit, SCHOOL GIRLS; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, written by Jocelyn Bioh, and directed by Chip Miller, KCRep's Assistant Artistic Director. Paulina is the reigning Queen Bee at Ghana's most exclusive boarding school, who has her sights set on the Miss Universe pageant. But the mid-year addition of Ericka, a student newly-arrived from America with undeniable talent and beauty, captures the attention of both the pageant recruiter and Paulina's teenage "squad." Jocelyn Bioh's hilarious re-imagining of the Mean Girls story is at once joyful and heartbreaking, bitingly funny and poignant - a loving exploration of the real lives of young African women trying to negotiate the confusion of Western beauty ideals.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre closes its regular season with Kate Hamill's celebrated adaptation of Jane Austen's most beloved PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Finding a husband is hardly Elizabeth Bennet's most urgent priority. But with four sisters, an overzealous mother and a string of unsuitable suitors, it's a difficult subject to escape. When the independent Elizabeth meets the handsome but enigmatic Mr. Darcy, all feelings of attraction are muted by his pride and her prejudice. Hamill's adaptation is both reverently devoted to the source material and remarkably hilarious, moving, and full of surprises that bring one of the greatest love stories ever told to extraordinary theatrical life. KCRep's Associate Artistic Director/Director of New Works, Marissa Wolf is slated to direct.

For the 38th year, KCRep is also pleased to announce the return of its special holiday event for children, adults, and patrons from varied backgrounds -- Charles Dickens' classic, A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Written by Charles Dickens and adapted and staged by Eric Rosen, the 2019 production will be directed by Marissa Wolf, November 16 - December 30 and promises a more joyous and entertaining A CHRISTMAS CAROL than ever before.

Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly, cold-hearted creditor, continues his stingy ways on Christmas Eve. He rejects a dinner invitation and all the good tidings of the season from his nephew, Fred; he yells at charity workers; and he overworks his earnest employee, Bob Cratchit. Until, he is visited one-by-one, by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, who show him the errors of his ways until he ultimately discovers what's really worth celebrating at Christmas-time and beyond.

Umbrella dates for the fourth annual OriginKC: New Works Festival at Copaken Stage are April 20-May19, 2019.

FRIDA...A SELF PORTRAIT is written by and stars Vanessa Severo and is directed by Joanie Schultz. After suffering polio as a child, a grisly bus accident in her teens that left her with permanent injuries and in almost constant pain and an addiction to Morphine, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo's life is explored in this astonishing play by Severo, KCRep's Fox Fellowship Resident Actor. Through beautiful physicality and raw honesty, the triumphs and challenges of the now-celebrated painter and wife of the equally-renowned artist, Diego Rivera, is unearthed in the brave new work.

Running in repertory with FRIDA is UNRELIABLE, written by Dipika Guha, and directed by Marissa Wolf. Three characters are playfully positioned next to one another. They each have their own sense of reality, and maybe even sanity, around a terrorist suspect and a love affair being conducted exclusively via email. Which of these people are grounded in reality? Who is telling the truth? Who is to blame? Playwright Dipika Guha looks at the slippery slope regarding culpability and expectations, using absurdist humor as a powerful tool.

KCRep's 2018/2019 season is underwritten by ArtsKC, Copaken Family Foundation, Hall Family Foundation, Hallmark Corporate Foundation, Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, Shubert Foundation, and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, whose gift is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment of the Arts.

Current Subscribers may still renew their tickets now by visiting kcrep.org/renew or by calling the box office at 816-235-2700. First-time subscribers may also sign up for the 2018/19 season any time.

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