Stage capsules
A Christmas Carol Could even that hooded and horrifying Ghost of Christmas Future have guessed that Charles Dickens¹ slight, sentimental Christmas ghost story would outshine even Great Expectations or David goddamn Copperfield in the public imagination 163 years after its composition? This is the Kansas City Repertory Theatre¹s 26th stab at it, and the troupe has again assembled a grand cast: Gary Neal Johnson as Scrooge, with Kathleen Warfel, Merle Moores, Mark Robbins and Rusty Sneary in other roles. Here¹s a story you know like the house you grew up in: Outside it, you may not remember every bit, but once you¹re in, you¹ll recognize what¹s behind every corner. Ghost of Christmas Future says the good money¹s on this happening next Christmas, too. Through Dec. 24 at the Spencer Theatre in UMKC¹s Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry, 816-235-2700.
Christmas All Over the Place The title implies that somebody has to do some cleaning up — “There’s Christmas all over the place! Get a mop!” — and the show’s inventive staging almost guarantees it. Inspired by New York’s Paper Bag Players, Theatre for Young America’s holiday throw-down is like a gifted kids’ art class brought to life: The show’s wiggle-worms and musical fir trees are built from paper bags, craft paper and cardboard boxes. This celebration of creative recycling is appropriate for kids of preschool age and older. Mornings and afternoons through Dec. 30 at Union Station’s City Stage, 30 W. Pershing Rd., 816-460-2083.
Christmas in Song Now that J. Kent Barnhart and Quality Hill Playhouse have remembered that all God’s children got rhythm, Christmas in Song is better than ever — maybe the best Christmas show in town. Many of the songs are unfamiliar, but the arrangements are lively. Barnhart’s singers all excel: Matt Leisy’s tenor is gliding and golden, Elaine Fox’s opera-trained pipes shine light on her songs, and radiant newcomer LeShea Wright is a soul-drenched gospel singer with a voice both plush and raw. Through Dec. 25 at Quality Hill Playhouse, 303 W. 10th St., 816-421-1700. Reviewed in our Nov. 23 issue.
Every Christmas Story Ever Told As labored, pandering messes go, this has its moments, mostly involving Ron Megee, who seizes every chance he can to shine in a show otherwise bereft of highlights. Ripped from The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged), Every Christmas Story sends actors dashing satirically through libraries of familiar material — in this case, Christmas tales. Megee stars with the funny Martin English and the grating Ken Remmert. Digging deep into his gift — that unique alloy of abandon and elegance — Megee makes each of his many characters here memorable, hitting grace notes that no one else would have thought of and bringing delights the script never could. Through Dec. 31 at the American Heartland Theatre, 2450 Grand, 816-842-9999. Reviewed in our November 30 issue.
Legends Joan Collins and Linda Evans — those hair-pulling, pool-crashing rivals of Dynasty, shoulder-padded-up like linebacker prostitutes — star together in James Kirkwood’s comedy about rival divas asked to star together in a show. Legends has famously made its way across the country twice, chewing up scenery chewers like Mary Martin and Carol Channing but never quite hitting New York. There’s some rumbling that this production might, so checking it out might give you bragging rights, even if you’re not much inclined toward staged cat-fighting between actresses unlikely to do anything that might endanger a nail — or, these days, a hip. Through Dec. 10 at the Lyric Theatre, 1029 Central, 800-776-7469.
Monkeys With Hand Grenades Of the three different shows offered at Comedy City, Monkeys is the most anarchic, despite being the only one with a script. Aimed at grown-ups (as opposed to CC¹s popular keep-it-clean improv game shows, which run every weekend), Monkeys offers rapid-fire sketch comedy, attempting to cram 30 separate plays — each written by and starring the troupe — into just 60 minutes. The quality varies from show to show, but the smart, sharp cast guarantees at least a couple of killer bits; on their best nights, they¹re a delight. Second Friday and Saturday of each month at 10 p.m. at Comedy City, 300 Charlotte, 816-842-2744.
A Number Last October, UMKC’s production of playwright Caryl Churchill’s sex-and-imperialism comedy Cloud 9 set us reeling. Now, just as we’ve righted ourselves, the Barn Players — our most esteemed community-theater company — offer up A Number, Churchill’s slightly sci-fi life-of-a-clone drama. No surprise that it’s scarifying: a cloned young man discovers not only that he’s a clone but also that there’s plenty more of him out there. Oh, and his original is headed home. The second entry in the troupe’s not-for-the kiddies “Barn Alternative” series, this production marks the play’s Kansas City debut. Chris McCoy directs; we still smile about his Frog Kiss in this summer’s Musical Theatre Festival. Through Dec. 10 at the Barn Players, 6219 Martway in Mission, 913-432-9100.
Songs for a New World More a concert than a musical, Daniel Doss and Sarah Mae McElroy’s production of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs is essential for fans of Brown, perhaps musical theater’s most exciting young composer. It offers loosely related numbers, some grand and some yearning for grandeur; despite strong singing and some thrilling songwriting, it gets wearying. Audience members are asked to invest again and again in the story songs of new characters unrelated to everything that’s gone before. Still, Andrea Boswell builds a couple of comic songs into epics, and veteran Damron Russell Armstrong scrapes movingly at the top of his range during a piece set on one of Christopher Columbus’ ships (a number that feels wildly out of place because the rest of the show is concerned mostly with the strained romances of modern urbanites). Through Dec. 9 at Union Station’s City Stage, 30 West Pershing Rd., 816-460-2020. Reviewed in our Nov. 30 issue.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing The Coterie’s streak of thoughtful, inventive children’s shows stops dead with this manic and maddening botch of Judy Blume’s classic novel. More interested in period music and outfits (in this case the early ’70s) than in the story’s emotional center, Tales strands the narrator, Peter (a likable Steven Eubank), whose plain-spoken, truth-telling monologues hardly register. And a set constructed out of giant Tinker Toys is, like most of the show, wholly at odds with Blume’s realistic portrayal of growing up. Through Dec. 29 at the Coterie Theatre at Crown Center, 2450 Grand, 816-474-6552. Reviewed in our Nov. 23 issue
Terror on the Toyland Express Since its inception, the Mystery Train has staged clever, interactive mysteries set on dining cars headed to or from Union Station in various eras of Kansas City¹s past. This time, things get weirder: The train is a Lionel electric, chuffing around the mayor¹s Christmas tree in front of Union Station, and the murderer, the victim and assorted other passengers are all toys. Was the culprit Post-Partum Barbie, Murder-Me Elmo or just a lack of batteries? Whatever the solution — and, after playing along with the actors, you will be asked to provide one — we¹ve hit on one sure-fire clue indicating this could be good: George Forbes, one of the city¹s most compelling actors, heads the cast. Through Jan. 6 at the Hereford House, 2 E. 20th St., 816- 813-9654.
12 Days of Schtickmas Another silly, all-ages Christmas show from the Martin City Melodrama, that troupe of last-century throwbacks that has for 22 years specialized in over-the-top vaudevillian comedy. Its holiday show is best-known for the set piece “Water Glass Symphony,” a musical goof that might have killed on Ed Sullivan. What keeps the shows selling out, though, are the good spirits, the sight gags and the chance to boo and hiss in a way that’d get you booted from the Unicorn. Reservations are recommended. Through Jan. 1 at Metcalf South Mall, 9601 Metcalf in Overland Park, 913-642-7576.
