KANSAS CITY MUSIC HALL

by Alan Portner - December 04, 2024

FUNNY GIRL is one of the crown gems of the American Musical Theater. Kansas City audiences will be treated to a first-class production of a show that many theater buffs know about but have never seen. Tuesday night’s performance starred Leah Platt in the lead role of Fanny Brice. Leah has a gangbus...

by Alan Portner - December 03, 2024

One of the fun parts of reviewing shows in Kansas City is the occasional opportunity to meet and interview some of the talented touring performers who come through with road productions of Broadway shows....

by Alan Portner - November 25, 2024

Cirque Du Soleil’s excellent new Christmas Show, TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE… opens at the Kansas City Music Hall for eight performances beginning THE NIGHT BEFORE…Thanksgiving Day and continues through Sunday, December 1....

by Alan Portner - September 10, 2024

One suggestion for guests on is a trip down to the Kansas City Music Hall to witness a new production by Montreal’s famous Cirque Du Soleil.   The new show is called “Twas the Night Before…”  It is the first ever holiday themed Cirque in the almost fifty-year history of the company....

by Alan Portner - July 26, 2024

MOULIN ROUGE The Musical Is something entirely new to the wave of Juke Box musicals overwhelming the Great White Way.  It is big, bold, brassy, and projects an altogether sexy sumptuousness while maintaining a sense of humor about itself. The audience leaves the theater on a massive sugar high, full...

by Alan Portner - May 08, 2024

Michael is Roman Banks with a spot-on almost miraculous personification of the Ing of Pop.  The dancing, the voice, the persona.  They are all there.  Banks offers a remarkable performance.  ...

by Alan Portner - March 06, 2024

Plain old feel-good musicals are rare. The “Dancing Queen” of this limited genre is “Mamma Mia!” The 25th Anniversary tour of this truly enjoyable evening out at the theatre plays through Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Kansas City Music Hall in downtown Kansas City....

by Alan Portner - March 01, 2024

Opening March 5 at the Music Hall in downtown Kansas City is the 25th Anniversary tour of “Mamma Mia.” This touring production is presented by Broadway Across America, Kansas City based largest presenter of Broadway tours across the nation....

by Alan Portner - December 07, 2023

The sheer spectacle of “Tina” is amazing.  Emphasizing the fact that Tina Turner was one of a kind, the gravely-voiced, sexy, full out singing style of Tina is so stressful on the performer’s voices, this show uses two actresses to play her on alternate evenings. ...

by Alan Portner - October 26, 2023

Aaron Sorkin’s 2018 stage re-imagination of the classic Harper Lee novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” opened Tuesday at the Kansas City Music Hall for a one week run.  It is one of the finest touring companies of any play I’ve been privileged to witness in many years.  “Mockingbird” stars well-known acto...