Kansas City Rep announces 60th season, spotlighting civil rights and Constitution

Dan Kelly

Shows about singer/songwriter/civil rights activist Nina Simone and a 15-year-old girl’s unique relationship with the Constitution will highlight the Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s 60th anniversary season.

KC Rep on Tuesday announced its 2023-24 season, featuring two relatively new shows (“Nina Simone: Four Women” and “What the Constitution Means to Me”) along with two familiar titles (“Cyrano de Bergerac” and “Little Shop of Horrors”) that make up the season-ticket package. Returning, but not part of the package, are the traditional “A Christmas Carol” and the free “Ghost Light: A Haunted Night of Songs and Stories from KC’s Cultural Crossroads.”

“This year, in celebration of the 60th, we really wanted to bring some excitement and energy and have a lot of ways for people to access the season,” said Stuart Carden, the Rep’s artistic director.

“Four Women” premiered in 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. It focuses on a period shortly after the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, when the jazz and civil rights legend was writing perhaps her best-known song, “Mississippi Goddam.” Simone died in 2003 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Carden said the play has a lot of Simone’s songs but is not a typical musical.

“It sort of walks the line between a musical and a play with music,” he said.

“The four women in the piece are all in some way parts of her, and they represent different aspects of points of view from Black women of this period.”

Heidi Schreck wrote “What the Constitution Means to Me,” which was a sensation on Broadway and will run Oct. 24-Nov. 12 at KC Rep’s Copaken Stage.
Heidi Schreck wrote “What the Constitution Means to Me,” which was a sensation on Broadway and will run Oct. 24-Nov. 12 at KC Rep’s Copaken Stage.

“What the Constitution Means to Me” was written by Heidi Schreck, an actress (“Billions” and “Nurse Jackie”), producer and writer who also starred when it premiered on Broadway in 2019. It earned nominations for the Pulitzer Prize and for a Tony Award for best play.

It tells the story of a 15-year-old Schreck who participated in debate competitions about the Constitution.

“It is a really engaging, surprising look at the Constitution,” Carden said. “It would seem as if it could be dry, but it is so personal and smart and really consistently funny.”

“Cyrano de Bergerac” and “Little Shop of Horrors” also will provide laughs. “Cyrano” is a new adaptation of the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand that will feature a multi-identity cast. “Little Shop” is a rock musical that ran on Broadway and was made into a 1986 movie.

Not to be forgotten is “A Christmas Carol,” which KC Rep has been producing for more than 40 years. Gary Neal Johnson, who has played Scrooge for many of those, will return in the role.

“More people know us for ‘Christmas Carol’ than anything,” Carden said. “It’s such a loved piece, and I understand why.”

Season ticket holders can renew for 2023-24 at kcrep.org/renew.

The subscription renewals deadline is June 9, and single tickets will go on sale July 19.

Gary Neal Johnson will return as Scrooge in the Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s traditional production of “A Christmas Carol.”
Gary Neal Johnson will return as Scrooge in the Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s traditional production of “A Christmas Carol.”

KC Rep 2023-24 season

“Cyrano de Bergerac,” Sept. 5-24, Spencer Theatre: The familiar story of a love triangle — built around Cyrano providing the words for another man to seduce the lovely Roxane — is freely adapted from Rostand’s original play.

“What the Constitution Means to Me,” Oct. 24-Nov. 12, Copaken Stage: It was a sensation off-Broadway before moving to Broadway in 2019, when The New York Times described it as “not just the best play to open on Broadway so far this season, but also the most important.”

“Nina Simone: Four Women,” Feb. 13-March 3, 2024, Copaken Stage: Follows Nina Simone’s career shift from artist to artist-activist and incorporates her civil rights anthems such as “Mississippi Goddam,” “Go Limp” and “Young, Gifted, and Black.”

“Little Shop of Horrors,” April 30-March 19, 2024, Spencer Theatre: After amusing theater and movie goers for more than three decades, the man-eating plant Audrey II will return.

Also (not part of season subscription)

“Ghost Light: A Haunted Night of Songs and Stories from KC’s Cultural Crossroads,” Oct. 13-14, Roanoke Park: This fourth annual presentation featuring musicians, writers, storytellers and food trucks has become a Halloween season staple. Free.

“A Christmas Carol,” Nov. 21-Dec. 24, Spencer Theatre: The holiday season doesn’t truly begin until KC Rep’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol” opens and Ebenezer Scrooge encounters Christmas Past, Present and Future.

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