TELL TALE ELECTRIC POE, MAUL OF THE DEAD & More Set For Coterie 09-10 Season

The Coterie Theatre's 2009-2010 season of live theatre offers a range of performances that includes Edgar Allan Poe, zombies, Laura Ingalls Wilder's famous house on the prairie and Broadway superstar ducks. Highlights include two musicals, four world premieres and a festival of new works. Now entering its 31st season of live theatre, the Coterie Theatre continues to provide unique theatre experiences for families and young audiences.

"Even with the ups and downs of the economy, we've found a way for the Coterie to produce a number of premieres next year, including the musicals Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi and Lucky Duck, which has music by Henry Krieger who wrote Dreamgirls," said Jeff Church, producing artistic director.

"For the holidays, we're proud to offer the beloved Little House on the Prairie, with all new sets and costumes, directed by Ric Averill, who will also play Pa. This luscious adaptation will include snippets of period songs," Church said. "Our Family Series also includes a tremendous baseball adventure play, based on the Dan Gutman book Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure.

"The Coterie At Night Series - for artistic teens and college kids - has the premiere of Maul of the Dead by terrific local screenwriter Mitch Brian," he said. "And the Coterie's AnnuAl Young Playwrights' Festival will contain many premieres of short plays. Our other Coterie At Night offering will be the hilarious Spooky Dog: A Scooby-Doo Mystery (Plagiarized, Improvised, Not for Kiddies!).

The artistic talent for the 2009-2010 season includes a guest list of prominent actors and directors: Bruce Roach (starring in Tell-Tale Electric Poe), Ric Averill (directing and acting in Little House on the Prairie), Cynthia Levin (directing Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure) and Ron MeGee (directing Maul of the Dead and Spooky Dog: A Scooby-Doo Mystery, Plagiarized, Improvised, Not for Kiddies!).

The 2009-10 Coterie Theatre Season
September 15 - October 9, 2009
Tell-Tale Electric Poe. World Premiere. From works by Edgar Allan Poe; directed by Jeff Church. Blending an actor with a musician, expertly selected Poe passages are complemented by musical lines and retorts from a reactive electric guitar! This masterful two person show overflows with poetry, riffs, ghosts and morbid prose! Featuring Bruce Roach with Rex Hobart. Preteen/Young Adult Series.

October 16-31, 2009
Maul of the Dead. World Permiere. By Mitch Brian; directed by Ron MeGee. It is 1978, the day after Night of the Living Dead (but 10 years later)! Six refugees hide in an abandoned shopping center, only to find that zombies seem to lurk around every mannequin. A pale 'Sid Vicious' beauty joins our motley crew of survivors, as does her best friend, Donna (the perfume-counter girl). As audiences arrive-like the characters in the play-they will experience the invasion of Crown Center from attacking zombie hoards whose undead instinct has led them back to the mall. Coterie At Night Series at Off Centre Theatre, Crown Center.

November 3 - December 29, 2009
Little House on the Prairie. Based on the book by Laura Ingalls Wilder; adapted by Pamela Sterling; directed by Ric Averill. In this beloved classic, the Ingalls family-Laura, Ma, Pa, Mary and Carrie-sells their house, leaves the Big Woods of Wisconsin and heads west to Indian Territory near Independence, Kansas. With gorgeous new scenery, the Coterie presents a beloved classic; based on the book, evoking the amazing period of our Westward Expansion. Family Series.

January 26 - February 28, 2010
Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi. World Premiere. Book and lyrics by Douglas M. Parker; music by Denver Casado; directed by Jeff Church. Young Samuel Clemens leaves home to be a cub pilot on a Mississippi steamboat in 1858 and finds himself learning about life. And death. And love. And writing! A musical premiere based on Twain's autobiographical coming-of-age novel! Preteen/Young Adult Series.

February 11 - March 8, 2010
Spooky Dog, A Scooby-Doo Mystery (Plagiarized, Improvised, Not for Kiddies!). By Eric Pliner and Amy Rhodes; directed by Ron MeGee; produced with UMKC Theatre. Jinkies! It's time to bone up on your Scooby snacks and hop on the jivin' mystery mobile and relive Saturday mornings. Four ghost-seeking teens and a dog detective named Spooky look and act eerily like the long-running cartoon series Scooby Doo, Where Are You?.. Only - in the Coterie's version - they perform scripted parody, classic improv, campy songs and just a dash of audience participation to create a great Coterie At Night show. (For the mod college gang, high school hipsters, and even groovy adults!) Coterie At Night Series at la Esquina located in The Crossroads West.

April 6 - May 16, 2010
Honus & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. By Dan Gutman; adapted by Steven Dietz; directed by Cynthia Levin. With the discovery of the most valuable baseball card in the world, a 1909 T-206 Honus Wagner, the Coterie takes a time-bending encounter with a struggling little-leaguer and the legendary Pittsburgh Pirate's slugger. Family Series.

June 22 - August 8, 2010
Lucky Duck. A Theatre for Young Audiences Premiere. Music by Henry Krieger; lyrics by Bill Russell; book by Bill Russell and Jeffrey Hatcher. A singing swan supermodel! It's The Ugly Duckling meets Project Runway, with music by the composer of Dreamgirls! Homely songbird Serena runs away from her fowl days of barnyard mockery to seek her special destiny. But Serena discovers that beauty is only feather deep, and she must find her own voice to succeed. Hear star turn numbers like "Average, Simple Mega Superstar" and "Wipe the Egg Off Your Face!" Family Series.

April 28-29, 2010
Young Playwrights' Festival. A festival of World Premiere works by Kansas City's most talented teen playwrights performed by professionals. The festival features a collection of new work by the city's best young writers. The rich and varied theatrical writings which emerge from a year-long process are forged into an ambitious festival of script-in-hand stagings utilizing the finest actors, directors, and designers to make this a special experience about quality writing by young people. Special Event.

Tickets
Season tickets are $9 per ticket for three or more plays - regardless of age. Individual tickets are $10 for youth, students and seniors age 60 and up; $15 for adults (excludes Holiday Pricing). Groups of 20 more are $5.50 per person weekdays; $6.50 per person weekends (Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays). Group tickets must be purchased in advance. All Saturday performances are TARGET SATURDAY MATINEES: Buy one ticket; get one free courtesy of Target! Restrictions for the Target offer apply; not available online.

Holiday Pricing: Tickets for Little House on the Prairie for the period of Nov. 27 - Dec. 29: $12 for youth, students and seniors; $17 for adults; $9 for season ticket holders. Group Tickets are $6 for weekday groups; $7 for weekend groups. (Note: Tickets prior to Nov. 27 remain regular season prices.)

Coterie at Night tickets for Maul of the Dead and Spooky Dog, A Scooby-Doo Mystery (Plagiarized, Improvised, Not for Kiddies!), are $12 for all ages. Group rate: 10 tixs for $10 - Advance orders only.

Group reservations are now available by calling (816) 474-6552. Season subscriptions and individual tickets will be available online June 1 at www.coterietheatre.org. The Coterie Theatre, named "One of the Five Best Theatres for Young Audiences in the U.S." by TIME magazine, is located on level one, Crown Center Shops in Kansas City, MO.

 

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