Wichita Theatre Newsroom Page 13

There's just two weeks left to submit nominations for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Wichita Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019. Our local editors have set the categories and now YOU get to nominate and vote for your favorites! Nominations are reader-submitted and will be open through October 31.

The 2019 - 2020 season of the Carlsen Center Presents Series continues with the Cirque Mechanics : 42FT a?" A Menagerie of Mechanical Marvels on 8 p.m, Friday, November 8, in Yardley Hall. 

Located at 330 N. Broadway inside First United Methodist Church is the Forum Theatre Company. Under artistic director Kathryn Page Hauptman, her current production of Memphis The Musical is nothing short of being truly incredible earning her a firm reputation of being a convincing story telling director. Taking place in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1950's among a racially divided south, the show depicts exactly what the city is best known for: being the birthplace of rock n' roll. With a well-rounded, talented cast, stunning lightning and set design plus rocking choreography, this show will captivate you from start to finish drawing anyone in our own city looking for quality, music theatre entertainment next to Broadway. The show runs September 26 through October 13th under permission of Theatrical Rights Worldwide.

Nominations are NOW OPEN for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Wichita Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019. Our local editors have set the categories and now YOU get to nominate and vote for your favorites! Nominations are reader-submitted and will be open through October 31.

What do Noah Webster and Aaron Peckham have in common? Some of you had to really think hard, but for the rest of us little known muggles we would instantly recognize the pair as linguists who are well versed on opposite spectrums of the English dictionary. Webster's Dictionary, written by Noah Webster in 1806, is filled with wonderful, diverse words and definitions of American vocabulary but Peckham in 1999 came up with what was eventually to be known as the urban dictionary, an online resource for American slang words which have infiltrated our own pop culture. In addition, another 90's vocabularic author known under the pseudonym J.K. Rowling is best known for her series based on that cute, loveable and lucky guy, Harry Potter. For Mosley Street Melodrama's current olio, Wichita writers Ryan Schafer and Molly Tully wrote a show most likely using these resources to come up with a fresh, new Halloween show for the theatrical company called Harry Squatter and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.

It's time, pursue your dreams.a?? This is a quote by S. Weitzman, an entrepreneur. It's plastered on a mural right beneath a sundial on southeast Kellogg here in Wichita. Now, I'm not suggesting attempting to read any of the quotes on Kellogg during your morning commute but if you ever do get the time, you'll be reminded kindly that a?oethe journey is the reward.a??

3,042 young adults died tragically in 2007 alone from gunfire in the United States according to Children's Defense, a non-profit dedicated to building safer communities with a small yet mighty focus on the crisis of gun violence in America. If that statistic alone doesn't scare you, maybe this will: in a recent 2019 article from the Associated Press, it states here in Wichita, violent crime rates are now twice the national average with gun shootings doubling in the past five years since 2014. The Wichita Police Department recognize shootings have become problematic and are now participating in initiatives such as citizen patrol to help out the understaffed branch keep crime low and accountability high. Bearing this in mind, Wichita Community Theatre opens their 2019-2020 season with the musical Blood Brothers, a show filled with a variety of themes but particularly gun violence being the most shocking and prevalent topic presented. The production runs at 258 N. Fountain from September 4-15, Wednesday through Saturday and is sponsored by KMUW Wichita 89.1.

Rodger's and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music will return to the Wichita Theatre for the first time since 2009 from October 11-26.

Emily Behrmann, General Manager for the Carlsen Center Presents Series, today announced the collaborative partners for the sixth annual New Dance Partners, featuring four WORLD PREMIERES of new commissioned works by four local dance companies and world-renowned choreographers.

According to 'fake' news sources, during the 2016 presidential election Hispanics made up about eleven percent of the electorate which was up ten percent from 2012. An estimated 58.9 million Hispanic people live in the United States comprising eighteen percent of the American population. Furthermore, one in seven U.S. residents is foreign born, including you, the reader. In 2018, over 106,147 asylum seeker applications were presented to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. With these kinds of statistical facts, it can be inferred immigration is certainly on the rise, especially those searching for a safe haven in the supposedly United States who come from countries of violence, persecution, and turmoil of their own. Immigration has always made America great bringing varied values while creating a true melting pot. And as the lyrics say in Lin Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton, 'immigrants, we get the job done.' Sure, you can point fingers and say I'm a millennial living at home with mom and dad and have no inclination of the outside real world or know the importance of a job, but as a privileged Irish American white male actor, I have witnessed time and time again these hard working immigrants 'getting the job done' at restaurant and customer service jobs to help support their own American dream of simple inclusion and sense of belonging. Jobs which no one truly likes to work. From dishwashers, to construction workers, to asylum seeking students, there is nothing these refugees will do to try to assimilate and make America their newfound home. Such themes were presented at Music Theatre Wichita's 2019 season closer In the Heights also written by Lin Manuel Miranda which ran from August 7th-11th at Century II Concert Hall.

Charles Dickens was a literary author we all encountered and studied in formal educational settings. Some may remember when his father was in imprisoned, Dickens knew that he needed to make a living wage and support himself, losing quality education himself. At the age of 15, he began working for an attorney and studied shorthand in the evening which lead to a job as a journalist launching his writing career. From there he wrote several short stories and novels like A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist, some becoming stage plays and musicals. His final and greatest novel ultimately turned musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, is a prime example of such a case. The show was presented by Guild Hall Players from August 1st through the 4th at St. James Episcopal Church.

Music Theatre Wichita concludes its 2019 Season with In the Heights August 7-11, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical which introduced Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda to Broadway. With book written by Quiara Alegría Hudes, the high-energy story unfolds during a tumultuous three-day period which dramatically affects the residents of a close-knit Washington Heights neighborhood.

Join Theatre in the Park for a fabulous trip over the rainbow during the final production of its 50th OUTDOOR season with the classic musical THE WIZARD OF OZ!  Packed with some of the most memorable songs in musical theatre, 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow', 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road' and of course, “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!' THE WIZARD OF OZ is a colorful adventure full of magic, the meaning of friendship and family, dancing jitterbugs, and of course, flying monkeys!

'Welcome. Ladies and Gentlemen, you are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery-all those things we all hold near and dear to our hearts. Thank you.'

Music Theatre Wichita concludes its 2019 Season with In the Heights August 7-11, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical which introduced Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda to Broadway. With book written by Quiara Alegría Hudes, the high-energy story unfolds during a tumultuous three-day period which dramatically affects the residents of a close-knit Washington Heights neighborhood.

Chicago is now open at MT Wichita! The production stars Anne Horak as Roxie Hart, Ellyn Marie Marsh as Velma Kelly, David Elder as Billy Flynn, and Altamiece Carolyn Cooper as Mama Morton. Chicago runs through July 28. Tickets are available at mtwichita.org. Get a first look at the production!

Chicago is now open at MT Wichita! The production stars Anne Horak as Roxie Hart, Ellyn Marie Marsh as Velma Kelly, David Elder as Billy Flynn, and Altamiece Carolyn Cooper as Mama Morton. Chicago runs through July 28. Tickets are available at https://mtwichita.org/. Get a first look at the production!

July 15th, 2019. A day that will live forever in Wichita history. A time when everything changed for our community, our children and recreational safety as the city introduced 'the scooter initiative.' Scattered throughout Wichita are 500 scooters available to rent for public use through the Spin App as a way to improve Wichita as a destination to live, play and travel. In Mosley Street Melodrama's current olio, however, scooters are the perfect target for Petey's Big Adventure-a spoof on comedic character Pee-Wee Herman and his escapades. Written by Carol Hughes and directed by Steve Hitchcock, Petey's Big Adventure runs from now until September 7th.

Music Theatre of Wichita will present Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical IN THE HEIGHTS August 7th- August 11th, 2019.

For their final production of the 2018-2019 season, Wichita Community Theatre proudly presents The Dixie Swim Club-a Jones Hope Wooten comedy. For those unfamiliar to these three authors dubbed 'America's Playwrights' one may recognize their other works such as The Savannah Sipping Society which appeared at Wichita Community Theatre last year or most notably their comedic writing for The Golden Girls. The Dixie Swim Club is definitely a play that showcases wonderful similarities to the television sitcom. Directed by Leroy Clark, The Dixie Swim Club runs from now until July 28th at 258 N. Fountain.

'Forbidden' is certainly a fitting adjective for Roxy's Downtown current production entitled Forbidden Broadway. If you simply look up the word 'forbidden' in the dictionary, you will find its meaning to be prohibited, not allowed or even banned. It's a clever little title to describe this Off-Broadway parody rated PG-13 which spoofs many lyrics and shows such as Mamma Mia, Cats, and even Hairspray which would send original playwrights and performing artists rolling in their graves with laughter. Opening originally in 1982 by parodist Gerard Alessandrini, the show has gone under many revisions to include even newer musicals. Starring Julia Faust, John Keckeisen, Seth Knowles, Shaun-Michael Morse, Patty Reeder, and Christine Tasheff, Forbidden Broadway runs from now until August 24 at the 1930s cabaret venue in downtown Wichita.

For their third show of the summer season, Music Theatre Wichita presents A Chorus Line-- Michael Bennett's beloved concept piece about auditioning for coveted spots in a Broadway production. The show itself debuted forty-four years ago this time in July and follows sixteen performers as they fight for a job in the chorus. Auditioning dancers lay out their entire lives on a single line through stories, mostly dramatic, to tell the ultimate truth of what it's like to simply tryout. A Chorus Line ranks top seven in longest running Broadway production in musical theatre history but is now showing until July 14th at Century II Concert Hall for a limited engagement.

Music Theatre Wichita has continued its 2019 Season with a colorfully re-imagined production of the 2015 Broadway success An American in Paris. With direction and all-new choreography by Jeffry Denman, the large cast is headed by Clyde Alves (On the Town, Nice Work if You Can Get It), Julie Eicher (Miss Saigon and Phantom National Tours), Ben Fankhauser (Newsies, Beautiful), Rachel Rhodes-Devey (South Pacific National Tour), and Johnny Stellard (Anastasia, Evita).

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is historically known as being the city of brotherly love. With a current population of over one and half million residents, a lot has happened throughout the centuries during the city's rich past. It's a city that has won world series, held conventions on women's rights and a place that inspired 'rocket man' Elton John's hit 'Philadelphia Freedom' based on the Philadelphia Freedoms world tennis team, ultimately becoming an anthem for the city. And long before 'covfefe' tweets, proposed border walls, and transgender military bans, Congress met for the first time to formulate and write the Declaration of Independence, a document holding dear to the truths that all men are created equal and are forever granted the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Wichita Scottish Rite Signature Theatre recreates the 'room where it all happens' in their current and limited engagement production of 1776 now running until July 3rd at Wichita Center for the Performing Arts.