Kansas City theater community mourns death of local star known for her big laughs
The Kansas City theater community is mourning the sudden loss of a local veteran actress and singer who was known for her “larger-than-life comic persona.”
Deb Bluford-Johnson, a fan favorite at several Kansas City area venues, died Thursday after a brief illness, according to theaters she performed at for years.
“Deb was a kind, warm-hearted person, a consummate theatre professional, and wow … could she make people laugh,” the New Theatre Restaurant posted on Facebook with a video of pictures of her roles throughout the years. “Our deepest sympathies go out to her family, always the center of her life.”
The Barn Players Community Theatre asked in a post on Facebook that people remember her as “one of the best comedic actors around.
“One who was as generous, kind and funny off the stage as on,” the post said.
An outpouring of support followed by fans who remembered her as an “amazing and such a gracious lady” and who said they would miss her performances.
Bluford-Johnson had a long succession of comic performances at New Theatre, Musical Theater Heritage and, before it closed, the American Heartland Theatre.
In 2012, Robert Trussell, The Kansas City Star’s longtime theater critic who has since retired, wrote she was a gifted comedian who scores big laughs and has a “face so elastic it looks like silly putty at times” after she performed in “Hats! The Musical” at the New Theatre. Three years later, he wrote she had come to be seen in the region as an actress who could drive ticket sales.
She performed in such plays as “Gypsy,” “Glorious,” “The Odd Couple (Female Version),” “Church Basement Ladies” and “Nunsense.” About the latter show, Trussell wrote Bluford-Johnson headed the cast of some of Kansas City’s best comic actresses.
“Bluford, as you would expect, energizes the show with her usual shtick: mugging, clowning and doing an occasional priceless double take,” he wrote in 2003. “Say what you will, but Bluford can even bring a smile to the lips of a skeptical theater critic with her inspired lunacy.”
One of Bluford-Johnson’s most memorable roles came when she played Benjamin Franklin with an all-female cast in Musical Theater Heritage’s concert version of “1776,” the musical about the creation of the Declaration of Independence. The director said there was only one actress she wanted for Franklin.
“I didn’t even want to consider it unless Deb said yes,” Sarah Crawford said at the time.
A celebration of life for Bluford-Johnson will begin at 2 p.m. Dec. 16 at the New Theatre in Overland Park.
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 12:48 PM.
