250 stories from The Kansas City Star
Of all the alternative performance spaces in Kansas City, only the Fishtank Performance Studio offers theatergoers something like an Off-Off Broadway experience. Make that Off-Off-Off-Off Br…
Hal Holbrook, a distinguished actor, has dedicated the bulk of his professional life to performing as Mark Twain in cities big and small and will be forever linked to Missouri's most famous …
Last month, in less than three weeks, the theater community lost two formidably talented actors: Gary Holcombe and T. Max Graham. Holcombe was an accomplished musical theater performer who c…
It's possible to get tired of some shows after only one viewing. But then there are others that never get old.
One of the pleasures earned by putting food on the table as a theater critic is the occasional encounter with a performance unlike any other. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's bad. In th…
For the most part we think of the American Heartland Theatre in Crown Center as a place where we can find easily digestible pop entertainment -- jukebox musicals, comedies, farces and the oc…
That David Cale is an exceptional talent is beyond question.
"The Slasher Kings," a rock musical that runs through Nov. 6 at the H&R Block City Stage at Union Station, is based on a novel concept: What if Jason Voorhees from the "Friday the 13th" seri…
There's nothing novel about dramatic entertainment that argues that we're all savages underneath our gossamer-thin façades of civilized behavior. But playwright Yasmina Reza toys with it …
There's nothing novel about dramatic entertainment that argues that we're all savages underneath our gossamer-thin façades of civilized behavior. But playwright Yasmina Reza toys with it …
The Living Room and Spinning Tree Theatre seem to have a hit on their hands. "The Year of Magical Thinking," the first co-production between the two theater companies, has been extended.
When I attended the second performance of "Tom Sawyer: A Ballet in 3 Acts," I got more than I bargained for. I expected a ballet, of course. But I didn't expect more than one. There were tim…
Those of us who have followed the work of the talented Ron Megee through the decades know what to expect from one of his theatrical extravaganzas: big laughs, a clever sense of satire, some …
British-born playwright and director David Cale has returned to Kansas City with another solo play, "The History of Kisses," which begins previews Friday at Copaken Stage. The engagement at …
"The Darwin Project" may not be the most elaborate one-night stand I've ever experienced as an arts reporter, but it ranks right up there. This ambitious, audacious and ultimately unwieldy a…
Grief and humor coexist in an uneasy alliance in "The Year of Magical Thinking," Joan Didion’s stage adaptation of her award-winning memoir. The play is receiving its Kans…
Grief and humor co-exist in an uneasy alliance in “The Year of Magical Thinking,” Joan Didion’s stage adaptation of her award-winning memoir.
Keith Huff's "A Steady Rain" is an inventive approach to a genre of dramatic storytelling with which we’re all familiar, thanks to TV and movies.
Keith Huff's "A Steady Rain" is an inventive approach to a genre of dramatic storytelling with which we're all familiar, thanks to TV and movies.
The renowned bass-baritone Samuel Ramey, who grew up on the high plains of northwest Kansas, has played La Scala, the Met, Covent Garden and opera houses in Paris; Geneva, Switzerland; and S…
After an 11th-hour scramble in the spring to come up with $100,000 to stage the summer production of “Macbeth,” the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival now appears to be…
Not every show begins with a beheading and wraps up with a festive wedding with smiles all around, but then there aren’t many operas like “Turandot.” By choo…
Stage portrait of Darwin will combine music, theater and effects in a one-time show at the Kauffman Center.
You’re mounting an enormous production about China back in the misty distance of “legendary times,” so the logical source of costumes would be … China?
In 1998, Quality Hill Playhouse staged a play with music called "Noel & Gertie," which traced the long relationship between playwright Noel Coward and actress Gertrude Lawrence. Now the s…
