KC Rep’s new artistic director assembles 2020-21 season with personal flair
The 2020-21 season was a blank slate when Stuart Carden took over in early September as artistic director of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.
Well, almost blank.
The KC Rep’s holiday presentation “Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol” was a must, just as in the previous 39 seasons.
But the other slots for 2020-21 were open, and Carden, only the fifth artistic director in the 55-year history of the KC Rep, had only a few months to fill them. Now Carden can breathe easy again.
The season has been finalized, and it has Carden’s fingerprints all over it.
It will start with “The Old Man and the Old Moon,” which Carden described as “one of my signature pieces,” and will conclude with “In the Heights,” for which he has “a personal love.”
In between will be a new version of “Dracula,” “Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol,” “The Royale” and the KC Rep’s OriginKC: New Works Festival.
Carden said he has attended every KC Rep performance during the current 2019-20 season since he arrived from Chicago in an effort to get to know the audiences and to solicit their input.
“It was really about listening to people,” said Carden, who was the associate artistic director of Chicago’s Writers Theatre.
“I wanted to find out why they’re passionate about theater, and if they come, why they come,” he said.
“I also got out in the public and was talking to people who don’t go to the theater. All that has informed my thinking.”
The final slate of shows, he said, is designed to appeal to the KC Rep faithful but also to attract new audience members.
For example, Carden described “The Old Man and the Old Moon” as a concert-theater hybrid with intergenerational appeal. He has been involved for seven years with the show, which has toured around the country. It features the PigPen Theatre Co., a group that formed at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in 2007.
“I’m thrilled to bring them here,” Carden said.
All the other 2020-21 shows will be built around local actors, including the musical “In the Heights” by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The timing should be ideal for that local production because an “In the Heights” movie is scheduled to open this summer.
“The Old Man and the Old Moon”
The PigPen Theatre Co. will put on a show that will appeal to audience members of all ages as it blends storytelling, indie-folk music and puppetry.
Sept. 11-Oct. 4 at Spencer Theatre
“Dracula”
Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s original work incorporates considerable humor. This is scheduled to be its second-ever production after playing Jan. 16-March 8 Off-Broadway.
Oct. 16-Nov. 8 at Copaken Stage
“Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol”
The holiday tradition of Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge and Christmas Past, Present and Future will return to the KC Rep’s stage for the 40th year.
Nov. 20-Dec. 27 at Spencer Theatre
“The Royale”
This drama by playwright Marco Ramirez (“Orange is the New Black” and “Daredevil”) was inspired by the life of black boxer Jack Johnson, who became heavyweight champion at the height of the Jim Crow era.
Jan. 29-Feb. 21, 2021, at Spencer Theatre
OriginKC: New Works Festival
Two world premieres will play in repertory: “The Flood” by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen and “The Vast In-Between” by Laura Eason.
Feb. 19-March 21, 2021, at Copaken Stage
“In the Heights”
The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Miranda wrote before “Hamilton” blends salsa, Merengue, soul, hip-hop and R&B as it tells a story of hope set in the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights.
March 19-April 11, 2021, at Spencer Theatre
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 5:30 AM with the headline "KC Rep’s new artistic director assembles 2020-21 season with personal flair."
