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Professional Theater

Drama, comedy, biographies, and avant-garde performance pieces are all a part of professional theater repertoires in Kansas. Here are a few theaters to look into:

The Unicorn Theatre – Kansas City. The Unicorn Theatre is Kansas City's foremost theater, with a reputation for performing thought-provoking and inspiring plays, as well as original pieces. In fact, 20 percent of all their performances are world premieres. The Unicorn has won multiple awards and is highly regarded throughout the state.

The Great Plains Theatre Festival – Abilene. The Great Plains Theatre Festival opened in 1995, founded by two New York actors who wanted to bring theater to the small-town atmosphere of Abilene. The main stage season generally consists of six shows performed by local and national professional actors.

Community Theater

In contrast to professional theater, community theaters are commonly non-profit organizations with volunteers working on set and costume design, direction, acting, and more. Increasingly, community theaters are sponsoring local playwrights so that they have brand-new material which truly resonates with area audiences. Find these new works or already-popular plays by checking local listings for community theaters in the area. Here are a few we recommend:

Kechi Playhouse – Kechi. Founded in 1983, the Kechi Playhouse has a solid foundation in performing well-known plays that attract theatergoers and actors from all over the state. The Playhouse performs an average of six shows each season.

Lawrence Community Theatre – Lawrence. Audiences are drawn to the Lawrence Community Theatre because of the intimate setting it provides. The building's unique design with a thrust stage keeps every seat in the theater less than 20 feet away, so audiences feel like they're right in the middle of the action.

The Barn Players Theatre – Mission. The Barn Players Theatre has been around since 1955, when a local interior designer and theater lover turned an old barn into a theater. Although the Barn Players no longer perform in the barn house, they are still highly acclaimed and well supported in the community.

Children's Theater

For a more family-friendly experience, bring the youngsters you're traveling with to one of Kansas' children's theaters:

The Coterie Theatre – Kansas City. Called "One of the five best theatres for young audiences in the U.S." by Time magazine, the Coterie provides children and young adults with lively, entertaining, and intelligent performances.

Act One – Kansas City. Act One is a Christian theater group that produces children's plays rooted in Christian values. Located at the Harmony Vineyard Church, they average between three and five shows each season.

Seem To Be Players – Lawrence. A professional children's theater company, the Seem To Be Players perform at the Lawrence Art Center. The company has received the Governor's Arts Award as a State Arts Treasure, as well as numerous other awards and recognitions.

Musical Theater

Musical theater combines song and dance with normal dialog, creating a lively show. Kansas offers a number of musical theaters, including the following:

Starlight Theatre – Kansas City. The Starlight Theatre was built to commemorate the city's centennial anniversary in 1950, and it's been entertaining Kansas City with Broadway musicals ever since. Although far from both Hollywood and Broadway, the theater has seen its share of celebrities, and even has a Walk of Stars. The Walk of Stars includes stars for entertainers like Tony Bennett, Bernadette Peters, and Angela Lansbury, each of whom has graced Starlight's stages with their talent in one musical or another.

Music Theatre of Wichita – Wichita. The MTW boasts Kansas' largest subscription base for a non-profit arts organization, as well as having one of the nation's top 10 summer theater programs. Their season runs from June to August, with five Broadway-style musicals performed during that time.

Dinner Theater

Combine mealtime with show time, and visit one of the Sunflower State's highly acclaimed dinner theaters:

New Theatre Restaurant – Overland Park. Deemed the "best dinner theater operation in the country" by the Wall Street Journal, the New Theatre Restaurant is known for its stream of celebrity entertainers, its fabulous rendition of Broadway musicals, and its five-star cuisine, created to directly compliment that night's performance.

Crown Uptown Professional Dinner Theatre – Wichita. As Wichita's only year-round professional dinner theater, the Crown Uptown performs Broadway musicals and offers a bulging buffet.

Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy – Topeka. The TCTA began in 1936, making it the nation's longest continuously-running community dinner theater. The group performs improvisational comedy, musicals, dramas, and more. Some performances include a dinner buffet while others don't, so make sure you check the schedule carefully to ensure you choose the right performance for you.

Festivals

If one show a day isn't enough for you, you may want to go to a theater festival. Theater festivals generally last for two or three days, with back-to-back performances in different genres by theater groups from across the state or even the country. Check your local listings to see what's going on while you're in Kansas. The following are two festivals held annually:

William Inge Theatre Festival – Independence. Workshops, lectures, and performances abound at this nationally recognized festival. For over 20 years now, theater professionals and the public have joined together in mid-April at Independence Community College to celebrate William Inge, other famous playwrights, and the art of theater.

Kansas City Crossroads Musical Theater Festival – Kansas City. July brings musical theater to Kansas City with two weekend-long events called the Kansas City Crossroads Musical Theater Festival. During this time, visitors will be wowed with performances of seven different new musicals, which hope to make the leap to Broadway.

Heart of America Shakespeare Festival – Kansas City. Since 1996, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival has provided the Kansas City area with three weeks of tribute to the Bard. The festival has since become a destination event, bringing in many visitors each year from across the country to attend the free performances.

University Theater

Keep in mind that most of Kansas' colleges and universities offer their students degrees in theater arts. To earn experience, students often perform at least one live show per semester. Kansas State University in Manhattan and Kansas University in Lawrence are both examples of schools with excellent theater arts programs, but there are many more throughout the state.

Your travels to the Sunflower State are sure to bring you joy in many ways. Why not make a trip to the theater one of them? Whether you're interested in musical, dinner, or children's theater; want to check out a professional or community theater; or desire a weekend filled with performances at a theater festival, Kansas has it all.

Tags:  theater kansas theatre festival community musical professional performances state dinner