Alan Portner - Page 7

December 6, 2019 marks the inaugural presentation of Kansas City's new Forge Repertory Theatre. The first production is TV writer Eric Overmyer's 1985 comic fantasy “On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning” performed at the Black Box Theatre in the West Bottoms area of Kansas City.

Kansas City Ballet's annual production of Tchaikovsky's a?oeNutcrackera?? remains a first class interpretation of this classic holiday work.  This a?oeNutcrackera?? with its lush and extravagant technical accoutrements has been performed to super reviews. This year it returns for a three week run at the Kauffman Center through Christmas Eve. As a theatrical enterprise, this 'Nutcracker' is unlikely to be surpassed by any other production of this beloved work.

What is it that goes into the process of making art? That is the question that the five founding members of the Forge Repertory Theatre hope to answer with their re-invented approach to funding and transparency as a professional startup project here in Kansas City.

The Barn Players Community Theater, now located at the Arts Asylum, finishes up their 2019 main stage schedule with a good production of Blake Edwards'Victor/Victoria based on the 1982 smash hit film of the same name. Victoria complains that she is disadvantaged as a performer because she is a woman. This amuses Toddy and hatches the germ of an idea. Instead of presenting Victoria as pretty young soprano of excellent ability, he will present her as Victor, a Polish nobleman and the world's greatest female impersonator. The ruse succeeds and Victor becomes a star with Toddy as her producer.

Need an evening that stretches your G-rated mind with a fun, supremely entertaining, ninety minute rib-tickling exercise? How about an evening free from national politics? Oddly, it is available in a show about the nation's founders and others. You will enjoy Spamilton, an American Parody literally on the stage at Starlight Theatre's reformatted Cohen Stage through Sunday November 17.

MY MOTHER IS ITALIAN, MY FATHER IS JEWISH, & I'M IN THERAPY is a long-running off Broadway comedy show that has landed in Musical Theatre's main room for a three week long run.

Dear Evan Hansen was the winner of six 2017 Tony awards including Best Musical and Best Performance by an actor. The first national tour of a Dear Evan Hansen has set up shop at the Kansas City Music Hall for a one week run.

Sensatia the Cirque Cabaret, is an incredible journey through multiple entertainment genres . The adult, ninety-minute presentation is immersive, erotic, surprising, and unlike any other experiential performance you are likely to enjoy.

a?oeRagtimea?? at Musical Theatre Heritage is more than just a great show. It has harnessed extraordinary power to move its audience and remind us of the idea that is America.

An evening at the theater does not get much better than New Theatre's “The Last Romance.” Joe DiPietro's “The Last Romance” is a rare example of a charming, tiny, four-person comedy-drama that rises to be an extraordinary production through the talent force of its actors and the care of its director.

Opening this past Friday was the Theatre In The Park, indoor, community theater production of 1966's 'Sweet Charity' The show is best known for several Cy Coleman/Dorothy Field songs that have long survived the play's original run and several revivals. The most well-known tunes are 'Big Spender,' 'If My Friends Could See Me Now,' and 'There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This.'

Opening on Friday night at The Coterie Theatre inside Crown Center is a?oeRise Up,a?? a four person, seventy five minute play written by British playwright Lisa Evans. The subject is the 1961 a?oeFreedom Ridersa?? project designed by James Farmer's CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). The premise is a group of four contemporary secondary students recount a conflict in the struggle for racial equality in the U.S. for a school age audience.

'Gross Indecency; The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde' is a fascinating, well-acted, and well-directed construct of the playwright's final years seen through the lenses of Wilde himself, his lovers, his accusers, and his defenders.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre opens its 2019-2020 season with an ambitious production of a difficult, intense, family drama by Tennessee Williams, one of the twentieth century's most renowned talents. a?oeCata?? won a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1955 and is said to have been Williams' favorite.

Former Navy corpsman Bud McNamara (Gary Neal Johnson) lies sleeping in the hospital bed. Amanda Kalowsky (Jen Mays), a hospital volunteer, has agreed to comfort patients who are alone and terminal. This is the basic setup to Victor Wishna's new play, a?oeDNA,a?? now enjoying its world premiere at The Living Room Theatre. a?oeDNAa?? is a dark comedy told in four scenes with a twist in the final stanza.

Playing this weekend only at Starlight Theatre is the traveling version of the very successful a?oeCirque Dreams a?' Jungle Fantasy.a?? a?oeCirque Dreamsa?? is a family friendly, modern, circus production and was greeted with thunderous applause and warm approval from an almost full amphitheater. There can be nothing but praise for the wide menu of gymnasts, aerialists, jugglers, contortionists, and balance specialists.

This very week, eighty years ago, preview showings of the film a?oeThe Wizard of Oza?? opened on silver screens in Wisconsin and Massachusetts. Audiences were wowed. The new a?oeTheatre In The Parka?? production of Dorothy and Toto's big adventure is every bit as spectacular and fun as the 1939 filmed version.

'A Bronx Tale,' playing this week at Starlight Theatre, is one of those hidden gems of a show that enjoyed a fairly limited Broadway run. And because the Broadway run ended last fall after 700 performances (for now), a good portion of the New York cast has signed up for the touring company and are performing for Kansas City audiences. These folks obviously love this show. It shows in the performance.

Leawood Stage Company, the mainly city supported suburban, community theater program under the Leawood (KS) Park and Recreation District operates in several city controlled locations including the outdoor Ironwoods Amphitheatre. The current production, Cole Porter's "Kiss Me Kate," opened this past weekend and will be performed through July 20 at 8:00 p.m. nightly. Leawood City has provided everything needed to put on a great show. Tickets are free.

Meredith Willson's 'Music Man' at 'Theatre In The Park' could not be a more iconic community theater rendition of early twentieth century Iowa and Americana unless the entire forty-six member cast entered by running through a framed newsprint mock-up of Grant Wood's 'American Gothic.'   As a matter of fact, the couple from Grant Wood's painting (complete with pitchfork) show up in the opening scene.