Springield theatre seeking donations to avoid foreclosure

Backers of the Gillioz (gil-OYS) Theatre are pleading for donations to keep the Springfield landmark from being sold in a New Year's Eve foreclosure sale.

more at the Missourian

Columbia doc "Zielinski" going to Slamdance

What started four years ago with a beat-up, mud-caked VHS camcorder and a proposal to help “bring down the U.S. government” has turned into quite the success story in the making for Chase Thompson and Ryan Walker.

more at the Columbia Daily Tribune

KC Improv Festival 2010 performances

KCiF:10 Improv Show Part 1 

From The Kansas City Improv Festival 2010 - With Ace, Spite & Improv-Abilities.

KCiF:10 Improv Show Part 2

[Thanks, Tony]

Time names "Venice" second best play of the year

Rap musical, political parable, updated Greek tragedy, a reworking of Shakespeare's Othello — there's more going on in this ambitious musical than in a season's worth of run-of-the-mill Broadway tuners. A collaboration between composer-performer Matt Sax and Eric Rosen, artistic director of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Venice has been honed on the road (in K.C. and Los Angeles) before a possible stab at New York. Set in a mythical country emerging from 20 years of police-state oppression, the story centers on a populist hero who returns from exile to usher in a new era. The obvious political parallels to the Bush-Obama era are leavened by moments of passionate lyricism, helped by a wonderful score from Sax, who also serves as the lucid rapping narrator.

more at Time

She&Her "Eight Reindeer Monologues" review by Grace Suh

New companies are sprouting like mushrooms, a sign of the vitality of our town's theater scene. These agile, energetic groups are putting in sweat equity, experimenting with new ideas, trying to find their voices and audiences. It's an exciting time, but sometimes the value placed on "edginess" and on pieces that push envelopes and buttons results in weak material that's simply unworthy of the passion and hard work.

more at The Pitch (after the Sylvia review)

New Theatre "Sylvia" review by Grace Suh

In some of the most detailed and insightful character work I've seen this season, Susan Louise O'Connor plays Sylvia as a delightfully typical yet singular pup. From scratching fleas and settling blissfully onto the forbidden sofa to performing dumb pet tricks and begging for walks, O'Connor does canine personality to shaggy perfection. And, boy, does she know how to sniff a crotch.

more at The Pitch

Eartha Delights performing at Succotash

Burlesque performer Eartha Delights delights an audience at a private party at the famed restaurant, Succotash in Kansas City, Missouri.

[Thanks, Tony]

Unicorn "Very Joan Crawford Christmas" preview by Steve Walker

Watch any old movie from the 1930s or '40s and you're likely to hear Kansas City worked into the script. One reason may be that it was a stop for planes and trains traveling between the coasts. But another reason could be traced to the fact that many movie stars of the period were from Kansas City, including Ginger Rogers, Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow. The most famous native, though, was Joan Crawford, who is the subject of a new play with a twisted holiday theme. 

listen at KCUR