250 stories from The Kansas City Star
The inaugural production from Melting Pot KC is a barebones execution of an interesting new play with some dynamite performances.
The folks over at the New Theatre tell me that "On Golden Pond" is one of their most requested titles and it's easy to see why: It's serious enough to deal with real issues but never serious…
"An Otherwise Hopeless Evening of Very Gay and Extremely Grim Short Plays by William Inge," a unique production that includes visual art and the performances of four obscure one-act plays b…
At times in "Blacktop Sky," which had its world premiere at the Unicorn Theatre, Christina Anderson's writing is vivid and compelling. Sometimes the fragmentary narrative makes sense, someti…
Performing arts organizations in Kansas City are largely funded by our local equivalent of the Medici banking dynasty of Renaissance Italy -- foundations, corporations and wealthy private do…
Poor Willy Loman.
"War Horse," the poignant World War I drama that ran for years in London and in New York, will be the chief item of interest on the 2013-14 season just announced by Theater League and Broadw…
"Billy Elliot the Musical," which opened Tuesday at the Music Hall, did what it had to do to earn a standing ovation: It softened us up with easy laughs, tugged at our heartstrings with sent…
A small army is employed to make "Billy Elliot the Musical" happen.
So let's say you've had a hard week at the office - assuming you have an office to go to.
Never have so few done so much with so little.
Kansas City Repertory Theatre has altered its spring performance schedule, recasting what had been billed as a world premiere to a "work in progress." The piece -- "Waiting for You on the Co…
After a fall theater season that was, for the most part, chock full of interesting, challenging and entertaining plays and musicals, Kansas City theater companies are ready to plunge into th…
Patience does not come easily to theater critics, but after decades of delayed gratification, I was the recipient of a couple of major artistic gifts in 2012.
Most of the viewers who showed up at the Folly Theater Saturday night knew they weren't there for a traditional holiday show.
Some people may think "Les Miserables" depicts the French Revolution, but it does not.
Guy Masterson, as theatergoers who have attended the annual British Invasion know, is a visceral performer - aggressively physical, facially pliant and vocally versatile as he ranges from fa…
Belt Up, a theater company known for its unique literary adaptations, has in recent years become the toast of the international fringe festival held each August in Edinburgh, Scotland
Each year Musical Theater Heritage tweaks its annual holiday show, "A Spectacular Christmas," so no two editions are exactly alike.
"Venice," an original musical that received its world premiere in 2010 at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, will be staged at one of New York's most prestigious off-Broadway theaters.
The opening week of British Invasion 2012 showcased consummate performing skills and sharp writing. No surprise there, because it's consistent with the two previous editions of the Invasion,…
"Skillet Tag," a memorable R-rated farce that made its debut at the Kansas City Fringe Festival last summer, returns to the Living Room in somewhat different form.
We don't really need to be reminded of how inadequate our political leadership is, but "Churchill," part of the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre's British Invasion, underscores an unavoidable f…
Ron Simonian is a playwright I've admired through the years. Sometimes he's very good. Sometimes he's pretty bad. And I'm not sure he knows the difference.
Call it political satire. Or macabre comedy. Or political allegory.
