AHT will give Grennan two slots in the milestone 2011-12 season, as well as stage the Kansas City premieres of the musicals Nobody Lonesome For Me, Bingo! and The Marvelous Wonderettes, and a revival of the classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest.
A Chicago-bred, New York City-based actor-playwright, Grennan will also appear in one of his own plays in 2012. The writer's musicals with Leah Okimoto, Married Alive!, A Dog's Life and Another Night Before Christmas, premiered at American Heartland.
Grennan's new non-musical plays premiering at AHT in 2012 are:
Beer For Breakfast
Jan. 6-Feb. 19, 2012
By Sean Grennan
World Premiere
Featuring Cathy Barnett, Scott Cordes, Martin English and Sean Grennan
"Four middle-aged buddies reunite for a 'guy's weekend' complete with old music, cheap beer and enough cholesterol to stop Superman's heart. These guys are out to prove they've still got it, so they are going to party like it's 1978! It's all going well until one of them doesn't show up…but his wife does. Snowed in overnight, an epic struggle ensues: Will man be judged the superior sex or will woman prevail? Will love triumph or will old grudges win? And finally, perhaps most importantly, if Doritos are made from corn, why can’t they be considered a serving of vegetables?!"
As Long As We Both Shall Live – A Mystery Farce
May 4-June 17, 2012
By Sean Grennan
World Premiere
"Addison Ashe is smart. Like, insanely smart. She got perfect SATs, mastered psychology, quantum and auto mechanics, mixed martial arts, yodeling and more — all in a matter of weeks. Despite all that, she's never had too much luck with guys…until now! She's set to marry the man of her dreams, but mysterious murders threaten to cancel their nuptials. What do you do when you're one of the smartest people alive, it's your wedding day, your mother-in-law hates you, the priest is shady, the wedding planner has been killed (leaving you the prime suspect) and now someone is out to get you, too? You'll find out that it's murder to make marriage work these days! See if you can solve the 'Addison Ashe Mystery,' As Long As We Both Shall Live." Grennan's family comedy-drama Making God Laugh will premiere this summer at Peninsula Players in Door County, WI. His work includes Phantom of the Country Opera (published by MTI and produced by Marriott Theatre in Chicago) and Ms. Cinderella (Marriott Theatre). His musical Rodeo was a finalist at the L.A. ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Festival in 2002 and, subsequently, was the sole ASCAP-sponsored work in the Perry-Mansfield "New Noises" festival in Steamboat Springs, CO. He also penned the non-musical comedy Luck!
For information about 2011-12 season tickets, call (816) 842-9999 or visit www.ahtkc.com. AHT operates under an agreement with Actors' Equity Association in a 440-seat theatre located in downtown Kansas City in Crown Center.
