Alan Portner

3 weeks ago | broadwayworld.com | Alan Portner

Kansas City Actors Theatre kicks off their twenty-first season with a super production of Jen Silverman’s THE ROOMMATE about two women who stumble awkwardly towards each other and learn a bit more than either one is ready to absorb. This two hander has been kicking around regional theaters for about ten years before landing on the stage of the Booth Theater on the Great White Way at the end of 2024 for a limited engagement with Patty LuPone and Mia Farrow in the starring roles.

1 month ago | broadwayworld.com | Alan Portner

Today we are speaking to one of the Lead Actors in Walt’s Disney’s production of “The Lion King.” “The Lion King” opens on May 22 for a two week run through June 1 at the Kansas City Music Hall. Erick D. Patrick is speaking with us today, May 14, from Orlando, Florida where “The Lion King” touring company is completing a one-month residency as it passes a special milestone. “The Lion King” will have been performed to over twenty- seven million people.

1 month ago | broadwayworld.com | Alan Portner

JERSEY BOYS at New Theatre Restaurant is a delightful evening out on the town. The show tells the mostly true story of sixties pop legends Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. This show is an original and fun trip down memory lane with a singing group who offered a unique sound that still resonates almost seventy years later. JERSEY BOYS was written before almost all the juke box musicals that have overwhelmed the Great White Way today.

Mar 10, 2025 | broadwayworld.com | Alan Portner

Kansas City Actors Theater presents an exceptional production of DOUBT, A PARABLE by John Patrick Shanley in the unexpected, but perfectly selected sanctuary of the Kansas City United Church of Christ in the Brookside area. DOUBT is definitely a play worth going out of your way to see. Not only is this an excellent drama, but this cast and this director, Gary Heisserer, are outstanding with this material.

Feb 23, 2025 | broadwayworld.com | Alan Portner

A super cast makes the most of Neil Simon’s 1988 word-salad comedy masterpiece entitled RUMORS. This one is played strictly for laughs. RUMORS opened last week at New Theater Restaurant in Overland Park. RUMORS is headlined by TV’s Emmy Award Winning Alley Mills (The Wonder Years) as Claire plus a cast of the usual suspects. All are in fine fettle in this very funny piece directed by New Theatre’s Co-Artistic Director Dennis D. Hennessey.