A Fount of the Midwest

Its active theatre scene may well be one of the jewels in Kansas City's crown

By Derek McCracken

Goin' to Kansas City? Dress for the weather and pack a picnic basket. You might be surprised to find that within a few square miles of the prominent Spanish architecture—style fountains and spacious boulevards, a vibrant cultural scene has emerged, offering tasty theatrical fare from morning to midnight, seven days a week. Few of the city's theatres boast a high marquee value like those in New York City or Chicago, but that's part of the charm that makes Kansas City Kansas City—much like the folks who live here. Easygoing yet hardworking, community-oriented and cosmopolitan, Kansas Citians demonstrate a work ethic that keeps their theatrical legacy alive.

And it ain't been easy. As Robert Trussell, theatre critic for the daily Kansas City Star notes, "For the size town we've got (about 1.8 million people), the theatre scene tends to be pretty democratic; there's an inordinate sense that a lot of the companies are trying to get as wide an audience as possible. Kansas City is like a theatre town in miniature. You'll find more examples in bigger cities, but we cover all the bases."

Throughout the city's 150-year history, Mother Nature has dished out some seriously tough love. Floods, fires, snowstorms and tornadoes have, on multiple occasions, left their mark on the city—but a fight-back spirit has prevailed, unifying people for a common cause: survival. A similar drama has played out on Kansas City's stages. Challenged by dwindling funds, cultural competition and rising costs of production, Kansas City's theatrical leaders have nevertheless demonstrated civic spirit by crafting a vision, securing necessary resources and then making it happen. The result: a solid network of diverse theatres offering works ranging from children's theatre to Chekhov.

One of the most notable signs of the city's civic pride—and of late the most controversial—is the re-christening, as of its 2004–05 season, of the 40-year-old Missouri Repertory Theatre as the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Founded in 1964 by local legend Patricia McIlrath as a summer repertory company of the University of Missouri–Kansas City and incorporated as an independent nonprofit concern in 1979, the former Missouri Rep is considered the city's flagship theatre in terms of tradition, history and scale. But the theatre's moniker, a recent survey revealed, did not accurately represent its own local subscribers, theatre professionals and community, 52 percent of whom actually live in the Kansas (not Missouri) section of this Midwest city. The name change to Kansas City Rep, it is hoped, will give the theatre stronger visibility and greater inclusiveness, since Kansas City is a name shared by sister cities in Kansas and Missouri.

The decision to change Missouri Rep's name, however, has been met with a mixture of support and dissension. The troupe's producing artistic director, Peter Altman, and his board members, led by William C. Nelson, see KC Rep as a way of localizing—thus increasing the awareness of—the clean, contemporary redbrick venue and all it has to offer. As managing director Bill Prenovost argues, "Establishing a strong identity must come first." Altman, who came on board in 2000 after 18 years as founding producing director of Boston's Huntington Theatre Company, has learned to adjust to a local culture that welcomes—but also remains skeptical of—Harold Hill–like entrepreneurs.

Altman says he aims to transform KC Rep into one of the country's leading resi-dent theatres by upgrading and diversifying its range of artists, extending its repertoire to include more new works and large-scale classics of literature, and continuing to raise its production standards. This past season offers a good example of Altman's mission: the debut of a commissioned translation of Ferenc Molnar's Liliom and the local premieres of Mary Zimmerman's staging of Metamorphoses (in a co-production with Connecticut's Hartford Stage Company) and Lisa Loomer's Off-Broadway Living Out, which has toured the country. The 2004–05 season, Altman's fifth, has his fingerprints all over it: some music (Pirates of Penzance), some drama (Harley Granville Barker's Voysey Inheritance, August Wilson's Two Trains Running), some Scrooge, some literary adaptations (Little Women), some new works (Carter's Way) and a soupçon of local jazz.

"Raising standards," however, can be subjective, as noted by a number of local actors who wish that KC Rep would draw more from the local talent pool, instead of hiring so heavily from the outside. "But what does 'local' mean?" asks Altman. "We're not a roadhouse. Who is cast and recruited to work on a play depends on the play itself." By upholding KC Rep's core values—producing six mainstage plays, most of them classics—Altman says that his challenge is to provide "outstanding artistic results in the moment, while moving the theatre forward."

Nevertheless, the future of KC Rep looks bright. If anything, the mixed reactions over its name change stem from the local theatre community's intense affection for one of its own: McIlrath (1917–1999), who is said to have "godmothered" every one of the professional theatre companies that operates in Kansas City today. Dr. Felicia Hardison Londré, a theatre professor at UMKC and a founder of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, notes that "it took tremendous determination, persistence and Irish toughness to create [Missouri Rep] as an academic theatre program and a professional theatre company in a city that had not boasted a residential professional theatre company since the 1920s." Affectionately nicknamed "Dr. Mac," McIlrath "would nickel and dime her way up the aisles," Londré adds, leveraging every moment as a potential funding discussion.

Indeed, many contemporary KC theatre artists, professionals and personalities seem to reflect McIlrath's spirit of pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps and derring-do. One case in point is a well-known creative maverick named Ron Megee. By day, the 36-year-old Megee works as a floral merchandising director for a chain of grocery stores-but his mind is most likely working overtime on his next project or play. Megee's Late Night Theatre has exposed Kansas Citians to parody, satire and a lot of cross-dressers. "Apartments, coffee houses, former porn theatres and a bank building...," Megee says, rattling off the performing spaces his nomadic company has inhabited. His troupe's current space, the former bank building, accommodates about 80 patrons, who may range from college kids out on dates to retirees out for a wild time at shows bearing such titles as Killings at Camp Tittikaka; Bonanza: The Lost Episodes; and Dangerous Dirty Little Liaisons. For all his avant-garde ken, Megee is determined to market his hilarious brand of theatre. At a recent screening of the Nicole Kidman film The Stepford Wives, Megee and his entourage reprised their roles from the LNT production of the same name for a pre-show sketch that garnered cheers: It was live theatre imitating film…imitating film.

For families and playgoers not up for Megee's summer-camp shenanigans, Kansas City offers plenty of traditional theatre, as catchy as its jazz and as flavorful as its famous barbecue. The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, located a mile northwest of KC Rep in the 3.86-acre Southmoreland Park, is a far cry from being a mere summer indulgence. Now in its 12th year, the festival has banded together with the Coterie Theatre, KC Symphony, Lied Center of Kansas, Lyric Opera of Kansas City and UMKC Theatre to present Shakespeare year-round. "Team Shakespeare" presents programs and activities for all ages, designed to showcase the enduring popularity of the Bard.

HASF takes advantage of its prime central location. Minutes away from some of the toniest, more affluent neighborhoods in Kansas City, as well as two local colleges, the festival is a melting pot with a cool hook: free theatre for everyone. Kids and coolers are welcome. "We pull in anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 people for each show," says Tom Banks, HASF's executive director. He credits the festival's partnerships within the neighborhood with providing much-needed support for its success. Nearby Kansas City Art Institute, for example, offers audition space, dressing rooms and storage for actors; the University of Missouri–Kansas City donates rehearsal space and set and prop construction. Cars are parked inside the leafy grounds of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. Last year, more than 500 volunteers from area companies, civic groups and churches assisted. This summer's production of Julius Caesar made its mark in typical HASF fashion: Singles and families flocked to the park early with their wine, blankets and food, an al fresco alternative to reality TV.

Another maverick troupe, a few blocks away and north by northwest of Southmoreland Park, is the Unicorn Theatre, one of the few Kansas City venues with a hardy street-level marquee value. You'll know you're getting close to it when you smell the aroma from nearby Antonio's Pizza. You'll know you're getting really close when you hear blues, reggae, rock, zydeco or jazz spilling out of the Grand Emporium nightclub. You've arrived when you see the carousel-inspired Unicorn sign through the window adorned with black and white pearls that are an homage to last year's "Faux Pas Pearls" celebration of the Unicorn's 30th year.

Situated in a midtown entertainment district, close to the Westport bar scene, the Unicorn is the little alternative theatre that could. To ensure that the Unicorn lives up to its moving target of an identity—"theatre on the edge"—producing artistic director Cynthia Levin brings in shows that are contemporary, adult-oriented and off-the-beaten-track, though in recent years the company has produced a succession of Pulitzer- and Tony-winning plays, including Proof, Wit, Topdog/Underdog and The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?. Unicorn's niche in Kansas City as the provocative, experimental, non-commercial-yet-professional venue is a tall order, since Levin's mandate includes both the development of new plays and introducing local playgoers to the contemporary works of such established names as Wendy Wasserstein, David Hare, Terrence McNally, Tony Kushner and Joe Penhall. Levin's most recent stint as a director was the Midwest premiere of Take Me Out, during which Kansas City audiences got a peek at the wet and wild world of the Empire baseball team, showers and all. Extra folding chairs were added to accommodate additional patrons.

Founded in 1974 as Theater Workshop in the River Market—by three formers students of McIlrath—the Unicorn secured its current reputation and established a strong foothold in 1992. That was the year Levin grabbed the rights to Falsettoland right before Falsettos, based on that show and March of the Falsettos, opened on Broadway, and had the sold-out musical running when the New York production claimed two Tonys. After moving around to various locations, the spunky company today offers a seven-show season in a 150-seat house with a thrust stage. The Unicorn takes risks that offend some, woo others. As Levin explains it, "The world is full of danger and controversy. There are difficult decisions to be made and few easy answers to be given. So we confront provocative issues, encourage discussion and, hopefully, motivate change. We balance stability with spontaneity, strength and tolerance."

Just a few miles north of "Levin Land" is what could be called the Unicorn Jr. Housed on the lower level of Hallmark's Crown Center shopping complex, the Coterie is widely known as Kansas City's 25-year-old home for youth and family audiences. But over the past 10 years, its artistic director Jeff Church has subtly redefined the Coterie's "children's theatre" image into a "multigenerational theatre" with a broader scope and more adventurous fare that caters to diverse audiences of all ages.

Even the very look of the Coterie signals the singularity of its profile. Its newly renovated exterior features massive horizontal cogs that turn overhead; brushed metal tubes and lights help create an eye-popping entrance into what one anticipates will be a mind-expanding theatre event. Founded in 1979, the Coterie "took 25 years to renovate," Church says, going on to note that the capital campaign lasted less than a year and generated more than $400,000.

The Coterie offers six shows per year, juggling three youth-oriented plays and musicals (for example, Black Butterfly, Jaguar Girl, After Juliet) and an annual young playwrights festival with savvier fare (Athol Fugard's Valley Song) and commissioned works (such as Laurie Brooks Gollobin's The Wrestling Season, Carlyle Brown's The Little Tommy Parker Celebrated Colored Minstrel Show). This summer, Church staged a Coterie-adapted version of Broadway's Seussical! The new 75-minute revision, personally supervised and reworked by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, has been fitted for touring to professional children's theatres across the country.

Still, the Coterie remains devoted to its core flock. Caravans of school buses unload through the school years; tourists keep the Coterie's seats filled during the summer months. The Coterie's recipe for success? Simple, according to executive director Joette Pelster: "We refuse to settle."

Securely anchoring this circle of Kansas City's more leading-edge theatres are several venues that offer traditional and commercial shows. The American Heartland Theatre, a presenter of Broadway-style performances, is located in the same Crown Center complex as the Coterie. This season's extended run of Menopause: The Musical, for instance, was no hot flash in the pan; audience demand for Nunsense nonsense continued with Meshuggah-Nuns!

KC audiences with a yen for musicals in an outdoor setting seek out the 8,000-seat Starlight Theatre, located on 14 acres in Swope Park to the southeast of the Coterie and Heartland and next to the Kansas City Zoo. Typical menu items at Starlight, founded in 1950, are national tours of Les Misérables, Aida and Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as local productions of The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music.

Dinner theatre, too, plays an essential role in Kansas City's playgoing life, by way of the New Theatre Restaurant in nearby Overland Park, located in the city's other Kansas half (Dorothy Gale's home state!). A joint venture since 1992 that has its roots in two separate dinner theatres (Tiffany's Attic and Waldo Astoria) in Missouri, NTR boasts a combination of thrust and proscenium stages, modeled after Los Angeles's Mark Taper Forum and New York City's Vivian Beaumont, along with an all-you-can eat buffet. Its proprietors, Richard Carrothers and Dennis Hennessy, describe NTR's role in the community as good food plus a good time, "commercial theatre of the people."

"Seeing the audience connect with a show is the triple axle—the home run," says Carrothers. "We want them to laugh and smile, with no regrets." Though he admits that dinner theatre sometimes has a reputation as lacking in quality, he proudly cites among his theatre's yummy accomplishments that the original Groucho: A Life in Revue ended up in New York City and made Clive Barnes's top 10 best shows of 1987. "New comedies are hard to come by because writers migrate west to Los Angeles, land of the sitcoms," adds Carrothers, who along with Hennessy spent 10 years in Hollywood. Nowhere else but at NTR could you get Mandarin and vodka cream penné—with Marion Ross in Barefoot in the Park.

For all that Kansas City has to offer—theatre on the edge, Shakespeare in the park, a flagship theatre on the rise, even comedy with dessert—at least one gap exists that, if filled, would improve the city's cultural milieu. Unlike St. Louis, which has a black repertory theatre, Kansas City's commitment to black theatre has been at a nonprofessional level, with some notable exceptions in the programming of the Unicorn, Coterie and Kansas City Rep. Colorblind and multicultural casting alleviates the situation somewhat, but not enough. "If you have a largely white audience and all they see are August Wilson plays, all they take away are images of African Americans as victims," says theatre critic Robert Trussell. "They need to see all kinds of images: blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics."

Can Kansas City support a minority-based professional theatre? Eventually, perhaps. In the meantime—reports Kathryn Lamkey, central regional director for Actors' Equity Association—the theatre scene's lack of diversity "becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy." "If actors of color don't see full-time work available," Lamkey says, "they may not commit to Equity status, and stay on the fringe." Such was the case with Damron Armstrong, a 36-year-old black actor who grew up and currently lives in Kansas City and was trained in musical theatre at New York University. Having toured with Little Shop of Horrors, Ain't Misbehavin', Big River and Jesus Christ Superstar, Armstrong says that although he has had roles at the Unicorn, American Heartland, Missouri Rep and others, "I know that most seasons, there won't be a role for me." Armstrong chose to relinquish his Equity card and jobs around in various cities and various stages to remain in the business.

Armstrong isn't alone. To a degree, every professional theatre in Kansas City has a major mix of Equity and non-Equity actors, with the exception of Starlight, which contractually employs Equity performers for major roles, supplementing the show with non-Equity actors for roles such as townspeople, a choir or the inevitable munchkins.

Since its modest beginnings as a scrappy cow town in the mid-1850s, Kansas City has gained most of its national renown from its hot jazz, its hotter barbecue and its inconsistently hot sports teams. But with 100-plus theatres in an 11-county area, it would seem that theatre deserves its rightful place in the city's crown. A 2004 study by the Arts Council of Kansas City indicated that attendance at arts events grew from 3.6 million in 1999 to 4.9 million in 2000 (in a compressed five-county area), an increase of 36 percent.

But meeting the needs of these burgeoning audiences continues to be a difficult task, in part because "no one has enough money to do everything they want to do," says Paul Tyler, economic development specialist for the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City. He says a paradox exists in that Kansas City has such a strong arts community despite its lack of a dedicated public funding stream—no new funding was appropriated at the state level last year, and theatres continue to rely on piecemeal support from grants, foundations, endowments and other sources.

On Kansas City's horizon is a potential crown jewel that may well redefine the theatrical landscape in one broad stroke. A $304-million performing arts center, currently in the planning stages, is slated to rise by 2008 on 17.5 hillside acres in the heart of the bi-state area and will include performance spaces for dance and music as well as a 500–600-seat adaptable theatre space.

What's at stake, however, is more than a plot of land, a massive building and bragging rights. If the multiphase project is realized, Kansas City itself has to decide what to do: Is it ready to move up to "the next level," whatever that means? Or will the art center itself risk enfolding under its wing the dedicated stream of committed theatre artists who have made their own programs so successful over the years? The city stands, in other words, at a cultural crossroads: In one direction remains the Kansas City that was—a place built on homespun charm, Midwest tradition and a solid sense of history. But in the other direction emerges a Kansas-City-to-be—a town that's going about as far as you can go.

Derek McCracken, a writer and native of Kansas City, is the writing studio manager of Hallmark Cards.

© - 2006 by Theatre Communications Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.