Theater League is the Kansas City-based national musical theatre presentation and production company, which has satellite presenting programs in a number of American cities. It will introduce its Missouri audiences to readings of seven new works over two weekends, with presentations on July 15 and July 22.
Playbill.com previously reported the titles of the works, some of which have had developmental readings around the country. The shows are presented in reading form with (mostly) Kansas City-area artists and directors involved in a number of venues.
Works were solicited in recent months in an open submission process. The July 15 presentations are Frog Kiss, An Unlikely Romance, Too Good To Be True, Maccabeat and Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class.
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"Our mission at Theater League is to enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve with the thrill of live theatre," said Mark Edelman, Theater League president, in a statement. "We believe that introducing Kansas City audiences to new, fresh musical theatre productions is an important part of this mission. And by giving these new pieces a chance to be enjoyed, we plan to also offer new talent and new ideas the opportunity to grow and thrive. We are energized by the possibilities this exciting venture offers." If the program takes off, Theater League, Inc., markets around the country may be witness to a reading festival, letting other regional audiences in on the process of giving voice to new works. One of the Crossroads Festival's goals is for the Theater League to possibly fully produce a festival production for future presentation in its venues. Theater League markets include Greensboro, NC, Long beach, CA, Mesa, AZ, Pasadena, CA, Richardson, TX, South Bend, IN, Thousand Oaks, CA, and Toledo, OH.
Following a national call for submissions, seven new musicals were selected. Readings will be staged at a variety of small venues in and around the downtown Kansas City "Crossroads District."
The festival will operate under Actors' Equity staged reading rules. Equity and non-Equity actors are expected to perform in the piano-and-voice presentations.
The readings "offer audiences the opportunity to hear new works before their full-staged premieres and give authors and composers critical feedback on the road to" a future life.
Here are the titles, creative teams and casts for the 2006 Crossroads Musical Theater Festival:
Cast: Katherine Lindhart, David Eiduks, Chris Cobbett, Richard Rischar, Robert Brand, Brad Torres, Michael Dragen, Jeremy Lobaugh, Brandon Sollenberg, Christina Rogers, Emilee Minnick, Mary Joe Duggan, Lyndsey Agron, Lee Ann Mahoney, Sarah La Barr, Mikael Allen, Doug Dodson, Patrick Hamilton and Nick Padgett.
Cast: Lucille Windsor, Meagan King, Lena Andrews, Elaine Fox, Denis Knowlton, Bruce Jessup, Phil Eatherton, Robert McNichols and Dan Erbe.
Cast: Chris Waugh, Lucille Windsor, Bob Kohler, Abbi Miller, Katie Knipp and Chris McCoy, Chris Holbrook, Tara Varney, Cory Dowman, Marcie Ramirez and Lauren Braton.
Cast: Lauren Braton, Cory Dowman, Katie Knipp, Bob Kohler, Josh Lerner, Abbi Miller, Marcie Ramirez, Nathanael Schiffbauer, Jake Walker, Sam Wright, Ruth Biggus, Alex Biggus, Tara Varney and Marcie Ramirez.
Cast: Mark Snethen, Teri Wilder, Judi Jones, Bonita Hanson, Vanessa Severo, Jim Korinke, James Wright and Dean Vivian.
Cast: Jim Korinke, Heidi Stubblefield, James Wright, Elaine Fox, Lyndsey Agron, Chris Cobbett, Mark Snethen, Dean Vivian and Cindy Baker.
Cast: Kip Niven (as Elmyr), Teri Wilder, David Eiduks, Brandon Sollenberg, Lena Andrews, Andrea Boswell, Spencer Brown, Michael Dragen, Haley Hannah, Bonita Hanson, Sarah La Barr, Lee Ann Mahoney, Nancy Nail, Ken Remmert, Rick Truman and Sam Wright.
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Chris McCoy is artistic director of Kansas City Crossroads Musical Theater Festival. He has worked for Theater League, Inc. for two years as both presentation manager and manager of education and community programs.
For more information about projects and programming of work in Theater League markets (including Kansas City), visit www.theaterleague.com.
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Founded in 1976, Theater League is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, community-based performing arts organization "dedicated to the development of professional legitimate theater, both as a cultural and an educational resource."
Serving its constituent communities by producing and presenting Broadway musicals, plays and new works in local performing arts centers, "the League enriches the lives of more than 300,000 theatergoers annually, made possible by the support of the organization's 55,000+ members, who subscribe to Theater League's cultural offerings."
Theater League produces and presents professional theatre series in Long Beach, Pasadena and Thousand Oaks, CA; Phoenix and Mesa, AZ; Kansas City, MO; Richardson, TX; Greensboro, NC; South Bend, IN; and Toledo, OH.
Performing arts centers and historic theatres "play host to the organization's Broadway musicals and plays." Its related activities include special performances for students of the performing arts, which feature question and answer sessions with theatre artists and a Theater ROCKs (Reach Out to Kids) program, "which brings at-risk youth to the theatre for special educational and cultural opportunities."
In addition, the League's own in-house producing division mounts annual revivals of classic Broadway fare featuring stars of stage, screen and television. These Theater League-produced tours allow the organization further flexibility in meeting the diverse schedules and goals of each of the venues and communities we serve.
Founder and president Mark Edelman is a member of the League of American Theaters and Producers and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.
Outreach projects include the League's Teatro Latino division, created to bring Spanish-language plays to audiences in the West and Southwest.