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The Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre does a bang-up job with William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life," a sprawling barroom drama that captures the harsh, bittersweet and absurd realities confronting eccentric characters on the eve of World War II.
The Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre does a bang-up job with William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life," a sprawling barroom drama that captures the harsh, bittersweet and absurd realities confronting eccentric characters on the eve of World War II.
Previous ColumnsWorld premieres are always a little risky: untested repertory with uncertain effect. Friday night’s concert by the Kansas City Symphony featured just such a toss of the dice, and everyone left a winner.
American Heartland Theatre: Crown Center Shops, Level Three, 2450 Grand. Barn Players Theatre: 6219 Martway, Mission.
Nationalism has been a mighty force of inspiration to many composers, and this weekend the Kansas City Symphony will perform two great examples of nationalistic music by Bela Bartok, a Hungarian, and Jean Sibelius, a Finn.
We haven’t seen the production yet, but tip your hat to the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre for its sheer boldness in staging William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life.”
Love, passion, sex, death and resurrection are all timeless themes in the arts, and all were well-represented in a memorable contemporary dance drama by Kansas City native David Parsons. On Friday at the Folly Theater, Parsons’ production of “Remember Me” played to a sell-out house, thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
Love, passion, sex, death, and resurrection are all timeless themes in the arts, and all were well represented in a memorable contemporary dance drama by Kansas City native David Parsons.
Theater composers have a couple of reliable tricks to fall back on if the music at hand is not destined for the Show Tune Hall of Fame. One is to simply make it loud, so the actors can belt out a song for all it’s worth, which is often enough to convince ticket-buyers that they’re getting their money’s worth. The other is to make sure even relatively quiet songs wrap up with the Big Finish, suggesting that the emotion-tugging swell may actually be deserved.
Gerald Goehring learned long ago how to stretch a dollar. When he blew into New York City a couple of decades ago with a theater degree from Wichita State University, he quickly discovered that his calling card into the world of professional theater would not be his artistic aspirations but his carpentry skills.
Some shows that really shouldn’t work can turn out quite nicely if you have just the right combination of talent That’s the case with “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” at the American Heartland Theatre. This crisply directed, well-acted show hits most of the right notes and avoids potential pitfalls.
