Review: THE MUSIC MAN at White Theatre
by Alan Portner - October 28, 2024
Meredith Willson’s THE MUSIC MAN opened this week at The White Theatre to an almost full house standing ovation. THE MUSIC MAN is a tribute to small town America around the turn of the twentieth century. The location is River City, Iowa on the Iowa/Illinois border in 1912....
Review: AN OLD-FASHIONED FAMILY MURDER at New Theatre & Restaurant
by Alan Portner - September 23, 2024
Imagine a very funny stage comedy hidden behind a locked door, puzzler of a 1940s mystery movie and you’ve got AN OLD-FASHIONED FAMILY MURDER now playing at New Theatre and Restaurant. It is a World Premiere production.
Double Tony-winning playwright Joe DiPietro has cleverly developed a recipe for ...
Review: DIAL M FOR MURDER at City Stage At Union Station
by Alan Portner - September 17, 2024
It is a quest to commit the perfect murder, and it almost works. “Dial M For Murder” is the twisted story of a failed novelist who has married an heiress and has decided to do her in to inherit her millions....
Review: TREE OF LIFE at White Theatre
by Alan Portner - September 17, 2024
Victor Wishna’s new play “Tree of Life” deserves an audience beyond its current World Premiere production ending on September 22. It is a blessing (a bracha) to those fortunate enough to see the premiere engagement. This unusual and original new play is directed by Jonah Greene....
Review: TROUBLE IN MIND at Kansas City Actors Theatre
by Alan Portner - August 14, 2024
It is funny. It is a slice of life. It is a literal peek behind the curtain. Kansas City Actors Theatre production of Alice Childress’s TROUBLE IN MIND allows audiences a long-delayed opportunity to vision America (and its theatrical community) as it appeared in 1955 from an African American point o...
Review: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at Music Theater Heritage
by Alan Portner - August 04, 2024
Looking for a little relief from the ongoing political season? If so, I should like to recommend the outrageous, belly-laugh of a show now playing in the Music Theatre Heritage Grand Theater on the fourth floor of Crown Center described by another audience member as “awesome.” It is the self-depreca...