KC’s Coterie survived scandal. Now it’s thriving — with 2 world premieres next season

The Coterie Theatre has gone through the worst of times. Now it appears to be the best of times.

The children’s theater in Crown Center survived the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21, then was rocked by scandal when Jeff Church, the Coterie’s longtime artistic director, died by suicide in December 2022 amid accusations of sexual impropriety.

Nevertheless, the 2023-24 season has been the Coterie’s most successful ever, and the just-announced 2024-25 season looks likely to maintain the momentum. It will feature two world premieres — one that’s a partnership with the American Royal and another based on a book by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

“I lucked out,” said Khalia Davis, who has been the Coterie’s producing artistic director for less than three months. “There was already a lot of wonderful work that was being projected for 2024-25, and I’m just here to round it out, support it.

“I feel really grateful that I got to step into a role at a theater that is actually doing well when so many others are struggling right now.”

Davis, former director of the now-defunct Bay Area Children’s Theatre in Berkeley, California, credits Heidi Van, who was the Coterie’s interim producing artistic director, and Jonathan Thomas, who took over as the theater’s managing director.

“It’s a new start, but at the same time I feel like the transition period, Heidi Van and Jonathan Thomas, they did such a beautiful job of continuing the mission of what we do at the Coterie,” Davis said. “We never fell off the tracks.”

She said her own transition has been nearly seamless because of the Coterie’s commitment to presenting shows that deal with social justice and other timely issues confronting the community.

“I feel very aligned with what they already were doing,” she said.

She cites both world premieres: “Horsepower: The Tom Bass Story” and “Just Ask!”

“Horsepower,” the season opener, was commissioned in partnership with the American Royal as part of its 125th anniversary. Born into slavery in Boone County, Missouri, Bass became an internationally known horse trainer and helped found the American Royal horse show in 1905.

“With the Tom Bass story, I think that’s going to be a beautiful way of honoring this man and his legacy but also helping folks understand that he went through a lot to get to his prominence,” she said.

“Just Ask!,” adapted from Sotomayor’s bestselling 2019 children’s book “Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You,” will feature disabled actors as cast members. Davis hopes Sotomayor will attend, if the Supreme Court’s schedule allows.

The remainder of the Coterie’s 2024-25 season consists of “Electric Poe,” its traditional Halloween show at Union Cemetery; a musical version of “Finding Nemo,” which Davis will direct; “Cinderella” with a Latin twist; and “A Year With Frog and Toad,” a musical based on the popular children’s books.

The new season will kick off just five weeks after “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (June 18-Aug. 4) concludes the Coterie’s top-selling season ever. Davis said “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical” during the holiday season “skyrocketed the box-office numbers.”

“I’m blown away at the excitement and enthusiasm of our audiences,” she said.

Coterie 2024-25 season

(Season tickets on sale now.)

▪ “Horsepower: The Tom Bass Story,” Sept. 11-Oct. 6: In this co-production with the American Royal, a boy learns the story of the famed Missouri horse trainer, as well as how to fight modern-day discrimination.

▪ “Electric Poe,” Oct. 16-Nov. 3 at Union Cemetery: A Halloween season favorite returns, with R.H. Wilhoit performing newly adapted works by Edgar Allan Poe.

▪ “Disney and Pixar’s Finding Nemo TYA,” Nov. 6-Dec. 30: Nemo, Dory and friends from the beloved 2003 movie will perform to music by the songwriting team of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (“Frozen”).

▪ “Just Ask!” Jan. 29-Feb. 23: Adapted from the book by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, this musical celebrates children with disabilities and the differences that make each of us unique.

▪ “Cinderella: A Salsa Fairy Tale,” March 19-May 4: In an updated version of the classic tale, Cinderella is a newcomer from Puerto Rico who visits the United States and the ball from the original story is a basketball game.

▪ “A Year With Frog and Toad,” June 11-Aug. 3: This musical is adapted from the books by Arnold Lobel, with the title characters experiencing a new adventure during each of the four seasons of one year.