In “Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating and Marriage,” which runs through June 23 at the American Heartland Theatre, the writers tap-dance right up to the brink of saying something meaningful about society and sexual mores. But in every case, they pull back in favor of audience-participation antics, stereotyped Desi-and-Lucy banter, a few bad puns and jokes that fall flat.
Central Standard Theatre founder Bob Paisley will present five plays at this summer’s KC Fringe festival, including performances by artists from California and Adelaide, Australia. The KC Fringe offerings, Paisley said, will be like “the British Invasion but with better weather.”
Strong performances in David Rabe's dramatic comedy “Hurlyburly” capture the madness of drug-addled Hollywood hustlers a generation ago. The play shows its age, but the Living Room production, directed by Bryan Moses, delivers strong performances.
Lanford Wilson's “Burn This” invites the audience to dive headlong into a world of raw emotion, insoluble grief and explosive passion. It is far from a perfect play, but it has vitality and provides great material for talented actors.
“A Christmas Story,” which received its world premiere at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, is up for three Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It is the first time in the company’s 49-year history that it has shared a Tony nomination.
Kansas City Repertory Theatre delivers a superior production of David Mamet’s classic “American Buffalo.” Director Jerry Genochio and his splendid cast see the play as a comedy of manners.
The third annual Kansas City Burlesque Festival kicks off Thursday at Retro Downtown Drinks & Dance, the Off Center Theatre and the Folly Theater. The event assembles performers from around the world for the 2013 Royalty Competition Showcase, which will crown the KC Queen and King of Burlesque.
The Lied Center of Kansas will mark its 20th anniversary season with an eclectic mix of musical theater, world music and classical performances — including the legendary Hal Holbrook, who returns to the area with his signature performance of “Mark Twain Tonight.”
“Carousel” opened fundraising doors for the Living Room, and now it is staging two shows, “Burn This” and “Hurlyburly,” simultaneously. Artistic director Rusty Sneary hopes that doing something so audacious will lure more people to the company’s home near 18th and McGee.
J. Kent Barnhart has created scores of revues celebrating Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and the Great American Songbook. With “You’ve Got a Friend,” he shifts into a bit of baby-boomer nostalgia, cherry-picking music from the 1960s and ’70s and meshing it all into a largely satisfying whole.
“My Name is Asher Lev,” an adaptation of the Chaim Potok novel now on stage at the Unicorn Theatre, is earnest, serious-minded, provocative and poignant. It also is filled with a sort of gooey emotionalism that obscures some of the play’s better qualities.
“The Boy Kings of Texas,” Domingo Martinez’s memoir about growing up poor and rudderless in a Brownsville, Texas, barrio, is the current selection of the FYI Book Club.
