Molly Jessup memorial service Thursday at 11 a.m.

I wish I would have gotten this up on the blog a few days ago. Pitch theater critic Alan Scherstuhl sent me a couple of remembrances of Molly Jessup, who died from cancer on March 15.

Yesterday, Scherstuhl sent me a link to Playbill.com’s tribute to Molly Jessup, “the leading music director in the Kansas City theatre community.”

The Playbill piece is a great memorial to someone who clearly was a huge part of the local — and national — theater world. I mean, check out these touching tributes from the Playbill piece:

“She possessed the most abundant spirit … out community has lost the center of the wheel — that which held us together with even, measured steadiness,” Donna Thomason of Starlight Theatre said.

“She was the rock of all the

musicals we worked on and developed with great teams,” said Jeff Church of the Coterie. “There are endless

stories about Molly that are fun to remember, from hysterical audition

stories to triumphant opening nights.”

A memorial service for Jessup will be held today at 10 a.m. at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut.