• STEREOPHONIC
• Kauffman Center
• Kansas City, Missouri

Our Score:  4 out of 5

Of all of the performing arts, in my opinion it’s music that puts the most strain on staying on top.  A great album leads to chatter about whether or not your band is a one-hit wonder (I’m looking at you, the Knack) or continues to impress their fans.  “Bad” is a great album, yet all Michael Jackson heard was that ‘it isn’t Thriller.”’  The same was said about Fleetwood Mac (“Rumors” vs “Tusk”), Jimmy Buffet (“Son of a Son of a Sailor” vs “Volcanos”) and the Rolling Stones (“Some Girls” vs “Emotional Rescue,” though they bounce back with “Tattoo You.”)  The band in the new play “Stereophonic” is unnamed, but their turmoil is easily recognizable to anyone who knows the story of Fleetwood Mac and the making of “Rumors.”

Summer 1976.  In a rented house in California, we meet the five members of a band that currently has the #1 album in the country.  Consisting of Brits Reg (Christopher Mowood) and Holly (Emilie Kouatchou) and Americans Peter (Andrew Gombass), Diana (Claire Dejean) and Simon (Cornelius McMoyler), the group spends more time fighting among themselves then making music.  Things are more complicated because Reg and Holly are a couple, as are Peter and Diana. Bass player Simon is the voice of reason and resident peacekeeper.  But when the stress of success comes down on you, nothing ever seems right.

Nominated for a record (13) Tony Awards, “Stereophonic” won (5), including Best Play, an award earned by the brilliant writing of playwright David Adjmi.  The various situations and infighting come across as real.  The excesses of the 1970s is also featured as the group experiments with many of the popular drugs of the period, leading to even more problems.

In between shouting matches – there are a lot of them – the band does jam on the occasional song.  Written by former Arcade Fire keyboardist Will Butler.  The songs are catchy and well performed.  I wish there were more of them.  The one issue I have with the show is that everyone yells their lines.  The biggest culprit here is Mr. Mowood, whose stage directions for Reg must have been YELL EVERYTHING!  Even in normal conversation, the actors words hit the ears hard.  I’m not sure if this was a sound problem or just the way the show is intended to be performed, but several people around us were visibly discouraged by the noise and left the performance.   The show runs a little over 3-hours with intermission but could have been 30 minutes shorter without losing any of the drama.  Sometimes less is more.

On a scale of zero to five, “Stereophonic” receives ★★★★

“Stereophonic” continues in Kansas City at the Kauffman Center through Sunday, April 12.  For tickets to this or future performances click HERE.

• HAMILTON
• Music Hall
• Kansas City, Missouri

Alexander Hamilton may have died in 1804, but his story seems more relevant than ever.

The current touring production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton playing at Kansas City’s Music Hall on February 19 shows the questions that the founding father wrestled with still challenge this country and provide the inspiration for an infectious hip hop beat.

Miranda’s play and music, inspired by Ron Chernow’s biography, follows Hamilton’s life from his teenage years, where he wrote his first essays advocating the American Revolution, through his tenure as an artillery officer in George Washington’s Army, to his  voluminous contributions to the Federalist Papers, which advocated for the new Constitution.

Miranda tells the founder’s tale from the point of view of Aaron Burr, the one-time Vice President who wound up killing Hamilton in a duel.

Sorry, it’s not a spoiler; it’s just history.

Their paths frequently cross, but Burr (Jimmy “JJ” Jeter) doesn’t get the Caribbean immigrant’s idealism and ambition.

Hamilton (Tyler Fauntleroy) does love his wife Eliza (Lauren Mariasoosay), but his eagerness to help a woman with a husband she says is abusive. His son Philip (Nathan Haydel) has a knack for getting himself into disputes like his dad does but may not be be dealing with the weighty matters that drove the older Hamilton.

While President George Washington (A.D. Weaver) trusts Hamilton completely as his Secretary of the Treasury, other founders like Thomas Jefferson (Christian Magby) don’t get his policies or him.

Having seen the original Broadway cast in the Disney+ presentation, I’m happy to report the current touring production fills their formidable shoes.  Weaver’s resonant baritone is perfect for this country’s first Commander in Chief. Similarly, Jeter is just charming enough to make viewers tolerate Burr’s duplicity.

While the Disney+ comes close to capturing the exhilaration the stage experience, it’s not the same as being, in the words of the play, “in the room where it happened.” It’s a delight to boo the oblivious King George III of England (Matt Bittner), who can’t quite quite grasp why the former colonials would rather rule themselves.

The rotating stage features elaborate choreography that doesn’t quite fit on a TV screen. Having seen the previous TV production, I was able to follow Miranda’s lyrics more closely and appreciate his dense, rapid-fire wordplay that would make Stephen Sondheim proud. Combined with the hip-hop accompaniment, debates about this country’s economic origins sound lively and engaging.

How much power the federal government still puzzles us, so it’s good that Miranda and the current production remind us that the question may never go away. The Constitution that Hamilton helped support would not allow him to run for President, but this country would not be what it is without his input. Immigrants may indeed get the job done, but can they truly be welcome? The question is currently being answered in our streets.

That may be why the play still draws viewers. After all, what is more American than a hip-hop musical that makes our founders and their ideas more than simply names and dates in a textbook?

• BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
• Music Hall
• Kansas City, Missouri

An incredible experience the entire family can enjoy, the fantastic Broadway touring production of “Beauty and the Beast” at the Music Hall in downtown Kansas City is nothing short of magical. From superb dance sequences to impeccable singing by the lead Kyra Belle Johnson, the show on opening night delivered everything you could want from a musical. Inspired by the 1991 Oscar-nominated animation and the 2017 Oscar-nominated live action version, which were based upon the original, 18^th century tale by French novelist, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (1685-1755), “Beauty and the Beast” takes on a journey that begins with a curse.

A selfish prince refuses to grant shelter to an elderly beggar woman after she offers an enchanted rose for her stay. An enchantress in disguise, she teaches the prince a lesson in humility by transforming him into a hideous beast and his entire staff in household objects. If he does not find true love by the time the last petal falls from the rose, then he will live as a beast for all time while his staff will become permanent house fixtures.

Time passes and in a nearby village, Belle (Johnson), the daughter of an eccentric inventor (Kevin Ligon), dreams of what life is like beyond her home by delving into every book she can find. Her beauty gains the unwanted attention of the arrogant Gaston (Stephen Mark Lukas), who wants to make her his wife…and he won’t take no for answer. When Belle later rescues her father from the Beast (Fergie L. Philippe), and the sparks eventually begin to fly, it is Gaston who seeks out a violent confrontation with what he views as a foul creature.

“Beauty and the Beast” is punctuated by creative set and costume designs that lend a certain bedazzlement to the overall performances. Johnson’s powerful voice hits every note with sheer perfection. She shares tangible, onstage chemistry with Philippe, whose vocal talents are matched by his terrific comedic timing. Speaking of comedy, Danny Gardner as the candlestick Lumiere is nothing less than a scene stealer. On opening night, he brought the house down with a rousing rendition of “Be Our Guest”. The other cast member of note was Lukas whose presence on state was nothing less than larger than life. Overall, I cannot remember a performance where so many scenes were met with such raucous, near-standing ovation receptions. It is truly must-see theater.

“Beauty and the Beast” will run through November 2^nd at the Kansas City Music Hall, located at 301 W 13^th St. in Kansas City, Missouri.  For ticket information, click HERE..

• THE BOOK OF MORMON
• Music Hall
• Kansas City, Missouri

To borrow a phrase….” Now that’s funny, I don’t care who you are”

I’m not sure why the satire of :The Book of Mormon” strikes me as so hilariously, but apologetically, it does.   I have always had a lure to the irreverent side of comedy….as a kid I bought every copy of Mad and Cracked magazine, George Carlin or Richard Pryor records, I would relate excerpts to my mother, who would rarely find the same level of amusement as I, claiming those things as not funny and a waste of my paper route money.

“The Book of Mormon” came to the world from the guys behind South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, with Robert Lopez, co-creator of Avenue Q with a premier in March of 2011 on Broadway,

The musical comedy tells the story of two mis-matched Mormon Missionaries and their assignment to go to Uganda.   The show begins setting the background for each one.  Elder Price (Sam McLellan) and Elder Cunnigham (Diego Enrico).  Their introduction to the Ugandan village, and the already in place group of Missionaries who have so far failed to produce any conversions gets everything rolling.  The entire cast was excellent in their acting, singing and dance numbers. Charity Arianna (Nabulungi) and Shariq Hicks (The General – BFN) led the supporting cast of villagers and ne’re-do-wells.

If you have any back knowledge of the Mormon story you can really enjoy the satire of the lyrics of the musical numbers like the opening “Hello”, or “I Believe”,  the best line is “ I believe, that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County Missouri”, when you watching the show in Jackson County Missouri, that receives a rousing rise of laughter and cheers.

I’ve attended a performance of “The Book of Mormon” before, and this time I enjoyed it even more.  Knowing when certain scenes were coming only made them better by being able to really pay attention to the level of the production presentation (Fantastic !) and the characters’ development from introduction to the finale.    My wife attended with me this time, and could not stop laughing, as she put it…at all the inappropriate dialog and situations, and for a couple of hours, we were both giggling along like a couple of 14-year-old high schoolers.

On a scale of zero to five, “The Book of Mormon” receives ★★★★

• LIFE OF PI
• Starlight Theater
• Kansas City, Missouri

As the last show of Starlight Theatre’s Broadway season, “Life of Pi,” which is playing through Sunday, ends summer with a tragic, yet magical journey across the vast Pacific Ocean. Filled with wonderful imagery, masterful puppetry, and a talented cast, “Life of Pi” is a production that is perhaps once of the most memorable to grace the Starlight stage.

Based upon the 2001 best-selling novel by Canadian author Yann Martel and the 2012 Oscar-nominated film adaptation by director Ang Lee, “Life of Pi” begins in India during the late 1970s. Political unrest forces the Patel family to make the difficult decision to leave their homeland for a better life in Canada where they hope to restart their zoo. Their plan goes tragically wrong when the cargo ship they are on sinks during a bad storm in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Over 200 days later, an epic story of survival is told at a hospital in Mexico through the eyes of 16-year-old Pi Patel (Taha Mandviwala). Stranded on a lifeboat with four other survivors – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker – Pi recounts the trials and tribulations of being on the open ocean for so long as he continually sought out divine guidance. However, the question is whether the animals in his story were real.

Mandviwala is just as captivating as the puppetry and set that surrounds him. While his character can be a little annoying at times, Mandviwala pulls the audience with a performance that reminds us just how indomitable the human spirit can be in the face of great adversity. His choreography with the elaborate puppets is seamless throughout as he deftly balances his character’s sanity and delirium.

The set design that represents the ship is a little confusing, but it works, nonetheless, while the lighting certainly helps set the tone and mood of each scene. All in all, “Life of Pi” is a Broadway production that should not be missed during its time in KC.

 For ticket information on upcoming shows on the tour, click HERE.

Bank of America Broadway at The Straz
APR 29 – MAY 4, 2025

Great Scott! BACK TO THE FUTURE, the beloved, the Broadway musical, which premiered back in 2021 at the West End in London has its destination set for Tampa in this month. I had the pleasure of seeing this musical in London back in 2022 and 2023 and also on opening date on Broadway in 2024. I would have to say that it is one of my favorite musicals in the past few years. Still regardless having seen this show three times previously, The Straz Center delivered the goods for this touring production. The sets were fantastic, the sound was perfect and the acting was on par with previous stage adaptations. And most important the car flies (sort of)! This was an amazing experience and I highly recommend getting tickets while you still can to catch this amazing show at the Straz Center in Tampa, FL.

Winner of the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, four WhatsOnStage Awards, including Best New Musical, and the Broadway World Award for Best New Musical, BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL is adapted for the stage by the iconic film’s creators Bob Gale (Back to the Future trilogy) and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and directed by the Tony Award®-winner John Rando with original music by multi-Grammy® winners Alan Silvestri (Avengers: Endgame) and Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”), alongside hit songs from the movie including “The Power of Love,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Earth Angel” and “Back in Time.”

Having seen BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL previously with original cast Olly Dobson, who played Marty McFly and Roger Bart, who perfectly became Doc Brown it was setting the bar high for Tampa, FL. Lucas Hallauer, who plays Marty honestly did a fantastic job. Haven seen the show three times with three different Martys, he fit right up there with the best of them. Don Stephenson, who plays Doc also delivered the good. My favorite is still Roger Bart but the guy originated the role so its hard to beat the best. Don did a solid job and hit all the right notes. Notable performances were Cartreze Tucker, who plays Goldie Wilson and Marvin Berry, he sang his heart out and delivered a fun performance. Also I thought that Ethan Rogers was a really solid Biff Tannen. He has the looks and the chops to go along with the role. Honestly highly recommend this touring cast overall.

After seeing this show in London and New York, I was a bit concerned about how they would do a few of the shows key moments and depict the sets. Well let me tell you we were blown away but the sets. They did an amazing job replicating taking you back to Hill Valley. And if you have seen the show you are probably wondering if the car flies…and it does in Tampa, FL. Not fully like in London and New York but it does what it can for a touring production and honestly let the audience in awe and us quite impressed with how things were handled. So I say, get out to Tampa, FL for this run of BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL before time runs out because you don’t want to miss this show!!

• PARADE
• Music Hall, Kansas City, Missouri
• February 4, 2025

People often assume that musicals simply provide audiences an escape from the misery and gloom of the world outside the theater, but Parade is an example of a play that wrestles with a thorny incident in 1913 Atlanta that still haunts our nation.

Although Parade, first hit stages in 1998, it feels curiously more urgent in the current touring revival, which played at the Muriel Kaufman on January 28, felt less like a period drama and more like a stirring account of how the issues that played America 112 years ago are still with us.

Having a sincere recorded introduction from U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who now represents Georgia, makes the play seem anything but a fossil. The book by Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy) and songs by Jason Robert Brown (The Bridges of Madison County) recount the murder of a 13-year-old pencil factory worker named Mary Phagan (Olivia Goosman). One of the few people to see her on the day she was killed was a manager named Leo Frank (Max Chernin).

Frank was working when Atlanta residents were celebrating Confederate Memorial Day, and the Texas native had moved there from New York. Being a Jew also made him seem suspicious to his neighbors. 

Robert Knight and Ethan Riordan in the National Tour of PARADE, photo by Joan Marc

Parade recounts Frank’s trial and the sensational coverage news coverage that followed. While Frank was convicted, much of the evidence against him was circumstantial and seemed to be based on bad vibes and prejudice instead of hard evidence. Eventually, the governor commuted his sentence from death to life in prison, but Phagan’s murder wound up metastasizing into something far more horrific.

While happy endings aren’t going to happen in this situation, the current touring production of Parade is still consistently engrossing. It unfolds in an almost cinematic manner with dates and images of the real participants projected on the stage and lightning fast transitions between locales.

Chernin is terrific as Leo demonstrating both a stellar singing voice and an outsider persona that makes the ill-starred manager inherently sympathetic. Talia Suskauer is equally solid as Leo’s determined wife Lucille. Her quest to get Leo acquitted even after the trial gives the story a crucial momentum. 

Even though you could look up the people and events in Wikipedia, Parade moves like a rocket and is buoyed by a dark humor that never feels like a history lesson. Because this is a musical, having the yellow journalists recount the crime with copious embellishments, seems even more fulsome and grandiose. Similarly, having the questionable police investigations sung instead of spoken makes that toxic folly feel even more real. 

It’s easy to tell the tale is personal for Uhry because his great uncle owned the factory where the murder took place. The fact that he could fit a love story into the tale of a hate crime is remarkable. It’s little wonder that the 2023 revival won a Tony and that new tour is so rewarding.

• PETER PAN
• Starlight Theater, Kansas City, Missouri
• September 17, 2024

“Peter Pan” needed more fairy dust

As the last show of Starlight Theatre’s Broadway season, “Peter Pan,” which is playing through Sunday, tries to take us on magical journey with a few pinches of fairy dust and some loud crowing. While the talented cast does their best to make it an unforgettable experience, “Peter Pan” the musical falls a little short of taking us back to Neverland.

It’s hard to believe how old the story is, but “Peter Pan” was first conceived as a play in 1904 by Scottish novelist and playwright, Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937). In 1911, Barrie adapted it into novel form with the title “Peter and Wendy.” It was adapted as a musical several times including in 1950 with music and lyrics by legendary conductor, Leonard Bernstein. However, it was the 1954 Broadway adaptation with actress Mary Martin playing the title role that put it into the stratosphere, resulting in multiple television broadcasts which enabled generations across the country to see it.

The story of “Peter Pan” is well-documented so there is not a lot of need to delve into the storyline’s details. What is more important is a discussion of the touring production itself. On the plus side, Nolan Almeida as the title character and Hawa Kamara as Wendy displayed amazing vocals throughout the entire opening night performance. Cody Garcia as Captain Hook almost stole the show as the dastardly pirate villain. His red and gold costume also equally stood out and was perhaps the best of the production.

The dance sequences were largely in sync and some special effects, most notably a scene involving Pan interacting with his shadow, were captivating. Unfortunately, the set design was less than inspirational with little to no wow factor. The same was true for the costumes. The story itself was bland even though there are attempts to modernize some of the dialogue, which doesn’t suit the story all that well. While the cast did their best, “Peter Pan” was less than magical and needed a whole lot more fairy dust.

“Peter Pan” will run through September 22 at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City.  For ticket information, CLICK HERE.

• COME FROM AWAY
• Starlight Theater – Kansas City, Missouri
• August 6, 2024

In “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche Dubois famously stated, “ I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”   Now imagine there are 7,000 Blanche’s in a small Newfoundland town and you have the Tony nominated musical “Come From Away.”

Gander.  A small town whose airport was once one of the world’s busiest.  However, with the invention of newer and longer distance planes, it’s usually pretty quiet on Tuesday afternoons.  But today, September 11, 2001, is not an ordinary Tuesday.  Following the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania, the government has closed all airspace.  My current job at the time required me to drive directly past Kansas City International Airport and I remember thinking to myself how odd it was not to see, or hear, a plane taking off or landing overhead.  Over two dozen planes are diverted to Gander and, curing the course of the show, we meet the passengers and the townspeople on whose kindness they will depend.

Nominated for seven Tony awards, “Come From Away” is an uplifting story about the human spirit and the ability for strangers to come together.  We are introduced to several of the townspeople, including the Mayor, a worker at the local animal shelter and a news reporter on her first day on the job.  It’s business as usual until news comes of the day’s tragedy.  As if a switch has been flicked, problems that may have seemed major only hours earlier – school is about to start and the bus drivers are on strike – pale in comparison to how to feed, house and clothe 7,000 people.  The passengers are an eclectic mix – a British businessman, an experienced pilot and a gay couple, both oddly named Kevin, are among the stranded, doing their best to stay sane while basically unsure as to what has happened.  Once the word gets around, a lot of eyes are turned towards a passenger from the Middle East, and not sympathetically.  As the days begin to build up we learn their back stories and, for some, their futures.

I had the great fortune of catching this show on Broadway in September 2021, right after the 20^th Anniversary of 9/11.  It was the time of COVID and it was eerie to stand in line, wearing a mask, waiting to show your vaccination card before you get go into the theater.  But the show was amazing, as is this production.

The cast is outstanding.  Many of the featured players portray more than one character, with only a slight change or clothing or location to help you differentiate them.  That there was never a false moment in the show, or a “hey, that’s the guy that played Bubba” moment is a true testament to the talents of the cast.

The book is very well written, with humor added when needed, never gratuitously.  Even in song the events of the day are treated respectfully.  The big difference between Broadway and this production is that there is no intermission.  Also, after the curtain call the audience was introduced to Kevin Tuerff, one of the real life “Kevins” featured in the show, who speaks to the audience and takes questions promoting his PayItForward 9.11 foundation.

Up against the juggernaut that was “Dear Evan Hansen,” the only Tony award “Come From Away” won was for it’s direction.  Almost a decade later, “Come From Away” continues to resonate with audiences while “Dear Evan Hansen” has gone the way of many similar shows that caught fire then slowly faded.  This is a show that not only entertains but informs.  Don’t miss it.

On a scale of zero to five I give “Come From Away” ★★★★★

For more information on the PayItForward 9.11 foundation, click HERE. 

“Come From Away” continues at the Starlight Theater in Kansas City through Sunday, August 11^th.  For tickets to this engagement or future shows please click HERE. 

• MOULIN ROUGE! – THE MUSICAL
• Music Hall – Kansas City, Missouri
• July 29, 2024

An unforgettable experience!

After more reviews of theatrical productions than I dare to count, I can say unequivocally that the current Broadway touring production of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” is one of the best I have ever witnessed. Currently running at the Music Hall in downtown Kansas City, “Moulin Rouge!” has everything you would expect from a production that was once the recipient of 13 Tony nominations and 10 Tony awards including Best Musical. Based upon the Oscar nominated 2001 film by director Baz Luhrmann, starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, “Moulin Rouge!” is simply a show you will never forget.

Inspired by the nearly 135-year-old Moulin Rouge club in Paris, France, the musical is set in the year 1899 when an aspiring songwriter named Christian (Christian Douglas) arrives from Ohio. He encounters a pair of Bohemians in Toulouse-Lautrec (Nick Rashad Burroughs) and Santiago (Danny Burgos) who, after recognizing his talent, convince the young American to go to the Moulin Rouge with them. There, they hope he can audition a song in front of Satine (Gabrielle McClinton), the star performer and most sought-after courtesan at Moulin Rouge. The trio believes if she is impressed then it will increase their chances to get it approved by its charismatic manager, Harold Zidler (Robert Petkoff). However, when the ruthless Duke of Monroth (Andrew Brewer) enters the picture with deep pockets then the trio’s plan and love affair that sprouts between Christian and Satine becomes a bit complicated.

“Moulin Rouge!” is nothing less than bedazzling with its superb set design, not to mention its wonderful costumes. Its choreography is thoroughly entertaining as well with music that will encourage to hum or sing along. Like what Luhrmann did with the original movie, “Moulin Rouge!” interweaves pop music songs, including ones released since 2001, to create a unique theatrical experience. It also goes without saying how incredibly talented the show’s cast is. Douglas and McClinton shared terrific onstage chemistry with one another, and the cast clearly had a good time performing the show. If you are going to see just one Broadway show in your lifetime then “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” must be the one.

On a scale of zero to five, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” receives ★★★★★

“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” will run through August 4 at the Music Hall in Kansas City, Missouri.  For ticket information, click HERE.  

• ROCKY
• Musical Theatre Kansas City, Shawnee, Kansas
• April 14, 2024

It’s my second favorite film of all time.  The story of a boxer and his million to one shot.  So, when I first heard a few years ago that ROCKY was coming to Broadway, I was ecstatic.  I never made it to NYC to see it, but a friend of mine sent me the Original Cast CD and I liked what I heard.  So I was happy to see that the talented people at MTKC was staging the show locally.

November 1975.  Club fighter Rocky Balboa (a well-cast Drew Starlin) is making his living as a “debt collector” by day and a club fighter by night.  As he tells his manager, Mickey (Rick Averill), “it’s a living.”  But he wants more.  More includes Adrian (Jasmine Hall,” the shy sister of Rocky’s best friend, Paulie (Chris Clements).  When the forementioned “million to one shot” lands in his lap, Rocky finds himself in the biggest fight of his career.

Based on the film script by Sylvester Stallone, with a book by Stallone and Thomas Meehan (the Broadway shows “Annie,” “The Producers,” “Hairspray”), ROCKY is a very faithful adaptation of the film, The actors on stage are accompanied by a pretty impressive multi-media background, giving even the simplest set a larger feel.  This is most evident during the final fight between Rocky and Apollo Creed (Shane St. James).

The songs, by Stephen Flaherty (“Seussical” and Lyn Ahrens (“My Favorite Year,” “Ragtime”) capture the emotion of the situations unfolding onstage.  The cast is strong, especially Mr. Starlin and Ms. Hall, who, rather then doing an impression of the original film’s actors, give the characters a sweetness and vulnerability that extends throughout the show.  And a special shout-out to Mr. Clements, who truly captures the mixed emotions felt by Paulie.

A few technical glitches aside, the presentation was smooth and the audience I was in cheered at all the right places.

On a scale of zero to five, I give ROCKY ★★★★

ROCKY continues at MTKC on Friday, Saturday and Sundays through April 28^th.  For tickets and more information, click HERE.

• CLUE – A New Comedy
• The Kauffman Center, Kansas City, Missouri
• April 2, 2024

Last week audiences at the Kaufman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City learned the answer to a mystery: Could the laughs from Jonathan Lynn’s 1985 movie adaptation of the game Clue work on stage?

It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes, Jessica Marple or even Beniot Blanc to know the answer was yes. Because Lynn’s movie had a single location and was set in roughly real time, it didn’t take much effort for Sandy Rustin, Hunter Foster and Eric Prince to make the tale work in another medium.

In many ways Clue is funnier live. Watching the cast scampering from a potential killer seems sillier on stage because there isn’t far for them to run. In addition, any fisticuffs that occur during the play seem amusingly innocuous. Greg Balla’s fight choreography ensures the struggles don’t stray into the sadistic or macabre.

Lynn’s storyline and much of his dialogue remains. A group of anonymous strangers have been lured to a mansion by a series for letters. Professor Plum (Jonathan Spivey), Mr. Green (John Shartzer), Miss Scarlet (Michelle Elaine), Mrs. White (Tari Kelly), Mrs. Peacock (Joanna Glushak) and Col. Mustard (Jon Treacy Egan) are not using their real names, and there is a good reason for it. All have managed to run afoul McCarthy-ite witch hunts in 1954 and have additional issues that would be golden for a blackmailer.

Their host, the butler Wadsworth (Mark Price), reveals that they are the victims of a blackmailer named Mr. Body (Alex Syiek). He appears and informs them his demands are going to increase. When the lights in the New England mansion go out, so does the chaos that ensues receives some help from Lee Savage’s sets, which morph into different rooms with interrupting the action. As a result the story leaps floors and covers more ground.

The original movie featured a dream team of character actors (Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn), but the current touring cast is up for the task as well. Shartzer and Elaine, in particular, seem to enjoy sinking their teeth into their roles and lead viewers to hope their characters aren’t the ones who made Mr. Body live up to his name. There are no intermissions in the current production, so the play is a test of the cast’s endurance, and they handle the demand of being “on” constantly effortlessly.

For fans of the game there are dozens of little nods to how a round of it would proceed. The weapons come straight for the box that Hasbro sells.

As of this writing, the current producing is in Cleveland, and audiences there are in for a treat. Clue manages to be a frothy delight despite the fact it involves fatalities. If the game Ais afoot in your city, you won’t have to be a Hasbro stockholder to enjoy the fiendish plot unraveling.

• “Mamma Mia!”
• Music Hall – Kansas City, Mo  
• March 5, 2024

Borrowing a phrase from the classic Alka Seltzer commercial, “MAMMA MIA!  That’s a spicy musical!”

What a totally enjoyable presentation for the 25^th Anniversary Tour celebration of the London premier in 1999.   The jukebox musical pulls you in from the opening notes and flows through the hits of ABBA one after another, and you know them all…of course you do, or you probably wouldn’t bother being in the audience.

The show presents the story of Sophie (Alisa Melendez) a young woman who has been raised by her single mother Donna (Christine Sherrill) on a Greek Island and who is planning her upcoming wedding.  Sophie has a dilemma; she doesn’t know who her father is, and to make matters worse, neither does her mother!

Donna is an aging “wild child” of the 70’s who, along with her two besties, Tanya (Jalynn Steele) and Rosie (Carly Sakolove) were once Donna and the Dynamos.   However Donna, after finding herself pregnant, has lived a quiet, reclusive life running a café’.   Sophia sneaks into her mother’s diary and discovers entries that may point to who the father could be…. Harry, Bill or Sam, all of which Donna had “intimate moments” with 20 years ago.   Sophie sends them invitations to her wedding without telling her mother…and as the guests begin to arrive for the wedding, all three men appear, and Sophie starts to deduce which one is her father.  Hilarity ensues.  All is well in the end and everyone finds what they were searching for.  The acting woven throughout the musical numbers is done well, show stealers for me were the Dynamo Girls, and Bill from the “dads”.

Musical highlights:   Dancing Queen, The Name of the Game, SOS, and of course Mama Mia.  But the curtain call encore is a rousing party montage of Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, and Waterloo, with full ABBA style costuming, choreography and invitation for participation, and the audience at this performance sure did.

On a scale of zero to five I give “Mamma Mia!” ★★★★1/2

“Mamma Mia!” continues at the Music Hall in Kansas City through March 10th.  For tickets to this and upcoming shows on the tour please click HERE.

• TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL
• The Music Hall – Kansas City, Missouri
• December 5, 2023

I first fell in love with Tina Turner as a 15 year old boy after seeing her in the film “Tommy.”  I didn’t know I was in love until she rocketed back to stardom in the early 80s.  Then I was hooked.  I went to her shows, bought her albums and tried to devise a way to ask her to marry me.  My crush on her was so powerful that when she sadly passed away earlier this year, friends who I hadn’t heard from in years sent me condolence messages.  Which brings me to this week at the Music Hall in Kansas City where I attended opening night of TINA: The Tina Turner Musical.”

Opening with a gospel themed rendition of “Nutbush City Limits,” “TINA” is a nearly three-hour journey into the often tragic life of one of the most powerful voices in rock and roll history.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Anna Mae Bullick left her Tennessee home to join her sister Alline in St. Louis.  There she met Ike Turner a musician with a bad temper.  As the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, they toured the country, appearing in concert and on television.  However, behind the scenes, it was a living hell.

Parris Lewis

A show is only as good as its cast, and the cast of “TINA” was amazing.  Every character has a chance to shine, from young Anna Mae to the hard dancing Ikettes.  I apologize her for not naming the young actress who played Anna Mae.  There are two young ladies playing the roll and there was nothing inserted into the “Playbill” to tell me which one it was.  Whoever you are, young lady, you were amazing.

It’s a testament to the talents of actor Wildlin Pierrevil that, when he took his curtanin call as Ike Tuner, some in the audience booed him.  Not the performance, mind you, but Ike Turner the man.

There are also two actresses playing Tina Turner, and this performance featured Parris Lewis, who seemed to have absorbed Tina Turner into her DNA as she gave one of the best performances I have seen on stage this year.  Brava!!

I will warn readers who may hope to influence the younger generation with Tina’s music by taking them to the show, it does get a little dark thematically at times.  It’s well documented that Ike Turner was an SOB, and there are scenes of domestic violence that had the audience cringing.  However, it’s those early scenes that make Tina’s triumphs even sweeter.  She really was, as she sang, Simply the Best!

On a scale of zero to five, I give “TINA: The Tina Turner Musical” ★★★★★

“TINA: The Tina Turner Musical” runs in Kansas City through December 9^th.  For tickets to these or future shows, please click HERE.

To check out my interview with actresses Parris Lewis and Ari Groover, please clickHERE.

I must confess that as soon as I heard that the Broadway National Touring presentation of “To Kill a Mockingbird” was coming to Kansas City I knew I would be in attendance.

I first became aware of the story as a young man through the 1962 film version of Harper Lee’s novel, where I was moved by the Academy Award winning performance Gregory Peck, who plays attorney Atticus Finch.  I immediately went to the local library, read the novel, then read it again.  I’ve read it several times since. The Pulitzer Prize winner is my all-time favorite novel. The film is on my Top Ten Best Film List.  So, I was excited to see a live performance, with the role of Atticus Finch played by none other than Richard Thomas, forever remembered as John Boy Walton to my generation.

Even though I was anxious to see the show, I must admit that from the first moment Scout (played by Melanie Moore) took the stage, I suddenly felt uneasy.  Uneasy about how anything could top the film, or how could a new vision (by Aaron Sorkin) in any way convey the feelings generated by the novel.  I needn’t had worried. 

Richard Thomas was exceptional.   No one, for me, will ever be Atticus Finch more than Peck, and it’s obvious that Thomas understand that.  He brings his own experience to the stage, and it was spot on for this version.

Scout, Jem (Justin Mark) and Dill (Steven Lee Johnson) were very good as the three young children (and adults) who lead the audience on the show’s journey.  The entire ensemble cast played well, especially Ted Koch as Bob Ewell and Jacqueline Williams as Calpurnia.   The bonus highlight of the cast is that Mary Badham – who earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Scout in the film version – plays the role of Mrs. Henry Dubose.    

The presentation is set as a series of flashbacks, taking the audience inside the trial of a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a young white girl, and the subsequent horrific end to his life at the hands of a racists mob.  The story flows in and around the courtroom scenes, the children, and their efforts to get a look of the reclusive neighbor Boo Radley and of course, the climactic ending with an attempted murder of the Finch children, the death of Bob Ewell, and the end of the summer that changed their lives forever. 

In the end, I greatly enjoyed  this telling of “To Kill A Mockingbird.”  I would encourage everyone to read the novel, watch the movie, and if given the chance…. see this play.

On a scale of zero to five, I give “To Kill a Mockingbird” 4.5 stars.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” runs in Kansas City through October 29th.  For tickets to these and future performances, please click HERE.