musical

Theater-goers will be in for some "surprises," says Ernie Nolan, the new artistic director of the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City. Nolan assumed the role on July 1, after the retirement of longtime director Cynthia Levin.

Tanner Rose plays the eccentric chocolate maker Willy Wonka in The Coterie Theater production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which runs through Aug. 4. When he's not playing the world's most famous chocolatier, Rose himself works at a Kansas City chocolate shop.

"Nelly Don — The Musical Movie" was written, produced and directed by Terence O'Malley, a local lawyer and the great-great nephew of the real Nell Donnelly Reed. The film opens at several area movie theaters Friday.

Kansas City is alive with the sound of Robert Russell Bennett's music. Bennett is the Kansas City native who orchestrated many of the most well-known musicals of the 20th century. On this episode of Kansas City Local Feature, Kiana Fernandes and Music Theater Heritage founder George Harter examine the life and work of this often-overlooked theater giant.

University of Kansas professor Nicole Hodges Persley's new book illuminates hip-hop’s historical and contemporary significance to musical theater — even beyond "Hamilton."

Sex trafficking, which affects millions of people worldwide, will be depicted in a musical at Kansas City's Fringe Festival the last two weeks of July. Cast and crew involved in the production share how they were introduced to and affected by the subject.

Lee's Summit graduate Bryson Bruce got his start performing in musicals and plays in the Kansas City area. Now he's a touring cast member in one of the most popular musicals of our time.

Bryson Bruce, a graduate of Lee's Summit West High School and the University of Missouri, grew up performing in plays and musicals around the Kansas City area. Now he's a touring cast member in one of the most popular musicals of our time: "Hamilton."

Don Henry was a 1930s college kid from Dodge City, Kansas, who left everything he knew to join the fight against fascism. His life moved one music professor to put the story down in song.

After participating in local theatre and dance groups, these Kansas City natives now perform on Broadway and in national tours.

The national Broadway tour of "Hamilton" has been rescheduled to 2023 — instead of this September at the Music Hall.

A Kansas City doctor on the outbreak's front line, Kansas' Kickapoo and other native communities face the COVID-19 wave, doctors answer personal safety questions as stay-at-home orders taper, and a 9-year-old brings a Broadway favorite to Kansas City streets.