Review: Pitch Weekly

American Heartland finds fun in science
By Grace Suh
The Pitch
Tuesday, Sep 28 2010

Playwright Norm Foster is to theater as Danielle Steel is to literature: a happily prolific producer of reliable, mainstream entertainment who makes no pretension to art. Foster's specialty is light theatrical comedy; he has churned out dozens of slick, formulaic, punch-line-stuffed crowd pleasers. Thus the sobriquet (sometimes said as praise, sometimes as condemnation): "the Canadian Neil Simon."
Foster obviously doesn't mind the comparison. The first scene of Love List, one of his most popular comedies, begins as a fairly direct rip-off of Simon's The Odd Couple, with the flattest of mismatched stock characters (fussy, factoid-obsessed statistician Bill and his earthier, commercial-novelist best friend, Leon), a conventionally wacky conceit (Leon signs up confirmed bachelor Bill with a matchmaking service run by a Gypsy) and predictable jokes.
Like an eHarmony questionnaire for dummies, the dating service requires only that patrons list their top 10 criteria for the mate of their dreams (i.e., the Love List). The reluctant Bill fills in the list with qualities such as "ambitious" and "speaks her mind" (and protests Leon's inserted contribution: "likes kinky sex"). Premise in place, the audience is set for an evening of groaners. And yet, there must be something in that old magic after all because, scene by scene, Love List opens up, surprises and, somehow, actually works.
Much of the credit for Love List's success belongs to its three fantastic actors. Veterans Sean Grennan and Scott Cordes exhibit effortless timing and chemistry as flustered workaholic Bill (Grennan) and brash, bawdy Leon (Cordes). But it's St. Louis import Shanara Gabrielle (making her Kansas City debut) who takes the star turn, playing Justine, the embodiment of Bill's love list. A modern-day Judy Holliday, Gabrielle portrays Justine with just the right dizzy charm and effervescent obliviousness. And like slapstick heroines of old, she's comfortable using her bombshell body for comic effect. She gets an assist from director Paul Hough, who deserves credit not only for the production's polished, zippy pace but also for its costumes, which show an impressively nuanced understanding of sluttiness.
Justine's welcome arrival in the second scene sets off a chain reaction that gives the lightweight but well-constructed Love List its dramatic momentum. The play picks up steam as Bill and Leon gradually figure out the workings and consequences of the list. The list subsequently undergoes multiple revisions (as does Justine). Interesting complications result when, like Frankenstein's monster, Justine begins to have consciousness (and criteria) of her own. Gabrielle gets to show off split-second timing as her character turns, and turns again, on a dime.
For a breathless scene or two — and almost despite itself — Love List comes dangerously close to making us think. Big-boob jokes bump up against Schrödinger's cat, parallel universes and cosmic determinism (what Leon describes as "a hole in the cosmic pie crust"). Not to worry. Time wrinkles, and quick as a flash, we're back to Neil Simon territory and a neat but satisfying conclusion. Like Justine, Love List is clever enough to avoid being too smart but is just smart enough to allow your inner snob to enjoy itself.

Review: Johnson County Sun

Strong performances make “Love List” memorable
by Russ Simmons
Johnson County Sun
September 29th, 2010


As Stephen Sondheim aptly put it, "You gotta have a gimmick if you want to get ahead."
Playwright Norm Foster came up with a pretty clever gimmick for his situation comedy "The Love List," now playing at the American Heartland Theatre.
In a twist reminiscent of John Hughes’ 1985 film "Weird Science," a couple of guys accidentally concoct the "perfect woman" only to discover that perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Upon arriving home after his 50th birthday dinner, a nerdy statistician named Bill (Sean Grennan) is given an unusual present by his pal Leon (Scott Cordes).
The gift is a form to fill out for a dating service run by a strange gypsy woman. Bill is to list, in order of importance, 10 traits to define the perfect woman. Reluctantly, Bill fills out the form and shortly thereafter,voila! A gorgeous, smart and successful woman named Justine (Shanara Gabrielle) appears at Bill’s door.
Carrying on as if they’d been involved in a lengthy affair, Justine makes herself at home. At first, Bill thinks that someone is putting him on. Soon, however, he learns that he can affect Justine’s behavior any time he erases an item from the list and inserts a new trait.
This Frankenstein-meets-Henry Higgins experiment starts going terribly wrong as Bill discovers that getting what you wish for can be dangerous. While there are some funny moments in Foster’s script, his ideas are generally better than their execution.
Grennan makes Bill an awkward everyman, a decent soul caught up in existential dilemma. Cordes provides the right note as Leon, an unapologetic chauvinist who isn’t nearly as cynical as he claims to be. Gabrielle is a real find, displaying great timing and intelligence as the woman of Bill’s dreams. Her ability to quickly shift gears as Bill manipulates his list is an impressive demonstration of sharp acting skills.
Paul Hough’s direction is rock solid. He’s proven able to improve upon the material he’s been given. Thanks to strong performances and slick execution, another otherwise forgettable play is made memorable.
"The Love List" runs through Oct. 24 at the American Heartland Theatre, 2450 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. For tickets, visit www.ahtkc.com or call (816) 842-9999.

Review: Great Comedy at American Heartland Theatre

By Robert MacLean
Johnson’s County Gazette

So, you wanted to sit back and have a good laugh or two. The Love List at American Heartland Theatre at Crown Center is just what you need. You’ll get far more than a laugh or two. Your side may hurt afterward from laughing.

Only three actors bring to life a cleaver, rather simple idea. One man gets his friend to complete a list of ten qualities he’d like to find in a woman. Before he can turn in the list to a so-called dating service, Shanara Gabrielle, playing Justine, shows up with all those qualities. The med catch on slowly and can’t believe that is happening. Some incredible comedic situations begin to occur as the two men struggle with some of the deeper meanings of life (sort of). Sean Grennan and Scott Cordes bring these fellows to life. You’ll enjoy the comedic abilities of these two. Gabrielle, however, runs away with the show as a beautiful woman who changes each time the men erase and replace an item on the list. For an actress, that’s got to be fun.

Heartland is easy to get to. You park free in the parking garage and walk just steps to the theatre. They don’t give us heavy, avant-garde drama, just the light-hearted productions we need these days. And they do it so vey well.

The Love List runs through October 24. Tickets: 816-842-9999

Review: Kansas City Star

Good cast elevates a shallow script in
American Heartland Theatre's 'The Love List'

By ROBERT TRUSSELL
The Kansas City Star

There’s fluff and then there’s fluff.

“The Love List,” a romantic comedy by Canadian playwright Norm Foster, has less emotional depth than the Weather Channel on a mild day, but Foster writes crisp dialogue and has constructed his script around an entertaining, Twilight-Zonish idea.

The result is a comedy that starts slow but generates increasing laughter from a willing audience with a quirky sense of humor and offbeat plot. This is a commercial play custom-made for regional theaters, but it’s realized with a sense of style.

The American Heartland Theatre production, directed by Paul Hough, elevates the writing with a good cast. Actors Sean Grennan, Scott Cordes and Shanara Gabrielle get the most out of the material, even if their varied acting styles don’t always mesh.

Grennan, a New York-based actor familiar to Heartland audiences as both a performer and a playwright, plays a Bill, a 50-year-old divorced statistician who’s comfortable dealing with numbers but feels ill-equipped to seek female companionship.

His buddy Leon, played with consummate timing by Cordes, is an author of commercial fiction who gives Bill a unique birthday gift: Membership in a dating service. The first thing Bill must do is fill out a form listing all the attributes he wants in a mate.

Leon takes his leave, Bill nods off and before he knows it Justine, a woman he’s never seen before, swoops into his apartment with a bag of groceries ready to make dinner and be a “perfect” mate for the dumbfounded numbers-cruncher. Shanara Gabrielle, making her Heartland debut, lights up the stage with charisma, beauty and a wicked sense of comedy.

The audience figures out much sooner than Bill or Leon what’s happened. Through some strange metaphysical confluence — or, as Leon puts it, “a tear in the cosmic pie crust” — their imagined perfect woman has come to life.

Then they discover that they can alter her behavior by erasing certain qualities on the list and replacing them with others. Gabrielle is most impressive in her ability to make these leaps — from hostile to affectionate, from ambitious to lazy, from hard-nosed to sensitive — seamlessly. She has to change moods more often than she changes costumes.

Yours truly laughed out loud several times on press night, but I found myself wishing that I might see these actors in a show with a just a little meat on the bone. We must take small pleasures where we find them.

Scenic designer Alex Perry’s realization of Bill’s apartment is a nice piece of work. Not only does he vary from the Heartland’s standard template of having opposing doors at stage left and stage right, he creates a classy environment of polished steel and stained wood. Hough takes credit for the costumes, notable principally for the succession of sexy outfits worn by Gabrielle, and Shane Rowse’s lighting adds depth to the set and creates smooth scene transitions.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/16/2227471/good-cast-elevates-a-shallow-script.html#ixzz0zhfRivPH

Review: Johnson County Sun

Area stages feature musicals for all ages, tastes
By Russ Simmons
Sun Publications
Wednesday July 21, 2010

To its credit, the American Heartland Theatre always strives to bring fresh, unfamiliar plays to local audiences.

Sometimes the material selected by the staff doesn’t reach the same high standard they set in every other aspect of their productions.

Happily, the musical comedy "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" proves to be a great match for the theater. It’s got a funny, smart and inventive script that allows the venerable Crown Center theater company to present itself at its very best.

This wildly entertaining show is about a small town spelling bee that shines a spotlight on the strengths and foibles of six awkward adolescents, played beautifully by Price Messick, Olivia Marsh, Adam Branson, Michael Dragen, Jamie Lin and Lauren Braton.

The contest is officiated by the vice principal (Ken Remmert) and a local real estate agent (Coleen Grate). An imposing figure doing community service (Jermaine Blackwell) keeps everyone in line.

While the competitors are mostly nerds and social outcasts, Rachel Sheinkin’s observant script doesn’t hold them up for ridicule. It’s very funny, but also quite empathetic.

Plus, the music and lyrics by William Finn have just the right lighthearted bounce to mesh with Sheinkin’s book. The cast, along with pianist Anthony T. Edwards and drummer Tod Barnard, deliver the tunes splendidly.

Director/choreographer Steven Eubank infuses the show with plenty of kinetic energy, and he makes good use of the inventive set by Paul Hough and Shane Rowse.

The witty show is a bit edgier than some of the Heartland’s other offerings. One number deals comically with a common embarrassment shared by many adolescent males.

But the show dares to be touching, too. Braton plays a young woman whose parents fail to show up for the contest. Her number "The I Love You Song" provides a surprisingly moving moment.

Some audience members are recruited for each show to participate as contestants in the bee. While this is little more than a gimmick, it can provide some spontaneous moments of hilarity.

The correct spelling for the latest AHT entry would be "h-i-t."

"The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee" runs through Aug. 22 at the American Heartland Theatre, 2450 Grand, Kansas City, Mo. For information, call (816) 842-9999 or visit www.ahtkc.com.

Here is a link to the review at Sun Publications!

Review: Kansas City Star

'Putnam County Spelling Bee' at American Heartland Theatre is funny and poignant

By ROBERT TRUSSELL
July 15th, 2010 - The Kansas City Star

Director /choreographer Steven Eubank captures all the quirky charm of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" in his production at the American Heartland Theatre. And he throws in some agreeable quirks of his own.

Eubank has made a name for himself in recent years by directing campy alternative material — the recent "Eating Raoul," "Reefer Madness" and several productions of "The Rocky Horror Show" — and with this production shows himself equally adept at staging more mainstream material.

The humor in this PG-13 show is sometimes broad, sometimes nuanced and unpredictable, but consistently good-natured. Rachel Sheinkin's dialogue and composer William Finn's lyrics are formidably witty. The show is also written to allow theatergoers to be invited on stage as guest competitors in the fictional spelling bee.

The writers imagine a small-town spelling competition between brainy adolescents, all of whom are social outcasts of one sort or another. William Barfee (Michael Dragen) is a kid plagued by allergies. Leaf Coneybear (Adam Branson) goes into a sort of dissociative trance when he spells.

Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Olivia Marsh) has a lisp and two dads. Olive Ostrovsky (Lauren Braton) is sure her absent father will arrive at the competition any minute. Marcy Park (Jamie Lin) is so accustomed to monotonous success that failure looks attractive; and Chip Tolentino (Price Messick) is the reigning champion whose effort to claim the trophy a second time is derailed by the stirrings of puberty.

Running the contest are vice-principal Douglas Panch (Ken Remmert), who has returned as the official pronouncer after an unspecified "incident" five years earlier, and Rona Lisa Peretti (Colleen Grate), a one-time champion who is now Putnam County's most successful realtor. Consoling the kids who are knocked out of competition is Mitch Mahoney (Jermaine Blackwell), an intimidating ex-convict fulfilling his community service.

This is a very funny show but it contains just enough reality to become a poignant depiction of adolescence. Olive, who rides a bus to the contest and whose parents are missing in action, becomes an irresistible character as played by Braton, and her budding friendship with William, played with keen comic timing by Dragen, is a sweet little love story.

Indeed, this is a terrific cast. Remmert once again demonstrates his skill as one of Kansas City's most talented comic actors. Branson sustains a crazed intensity throughout. Grate is a classy presence with an appealing comic sensibility. Messick, as usual, brings an eccentric sense of humor to the show. And Blackwell, Lin and Marsh deliver strong performances in their Heartland debuts.

The two-man band — Anthony Edwards on keyboards and Tod Barnard on percussion — create an impressively full sound. Paul Hough and Shane Rowse teamed up on the inventive scenic design, while Rowse's effective lighting scheme supports the action with subtle shifts in mood. Costume designer Cheryl Weaver had some fun, especially with the outfits for the nerdy teenagers.

If you're looking for deep meaning, you won't find it in this show. You will, however, encounter an enjoyable night at the theater.

ABOUT THE SHOW

"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" runs through Aug. 22 at the American Heartland Theatre. Call 816-842-9999 or go to www.ahtkc.com.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/15/2084886/putnam-county-spelling-bee-at.html#ixzz0tkudCWzO

Review: Pitch Weekly

The cure for Bee-ing

by Alan Scherstuhl
Thursday, Jul 15 2010 - Pitch Weekly

Not a month goes by that I don't recall the girl who, during my elementary school's spelling bee, marched up to the microphone and proclaimed with unshakable conviction that should was spelled S-H-O-O-D. The laughter that followed is the closest thing I've seen to the wrath of God unleashed. Years later, she got knocked up by the guy who drove the bus to vo-tech. Nobody will ever convince me that these events were unrelated.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee never dares humiliation this complete. Still, this clever goof of a musical glances against the hard truths of growing up wretched and friendless. One contestant suffers an unwanted boner; another daydreams that her parents have bothered to show up.

Portraying these afflicted children in the American Heartland Theatre production are restrained, convincing adults. Set free for once from playing a romantic lead, Lauren Braton is marvelous fun as Olive Ostrovska, a fidgety kid in love with her dictionary. In the second act, which is admirably darker than the first, she lavishes her considerable voice and technique on a song of raw loneliness that is the show's highlight. Braton is matched by Michael Dragen as William Barfee, an unkempt tub of a kid beset by allergies, sinus problems and an imperial self-regard. Too often cast in forgettable second-banana roles, the nimble Dragen here makes each line not only comical — a phlegmy eruption from a troubled geek — but also entirely believable. Much of the rest of the cast is strong as well. (Also credible are the real people hauled onstage to play along as spelling-bee contestants.)

--

So, here is as well-calibrated a musical comedy as Broadway has built in years. What a relief to see the craftspeople at The American Heartland Theatre turned loose on a show up to their talents. The gymnasium floor of Paul Hough and Shawn Rouse's set is amusingly scuffed; Anthony Edwards' piano (accompanied by percussionist Tod Barnard) is more full and clear than most larger ensembles; and director Steven Eubank's staging and pacing are ace. The show clips along but
never rushes, and we're invited to linger with the performers in the big moments.

Eubank also handles choreography, to mostly good effect, although the dances usually seem to be making fun of the idea of dances. As in the songs, by William Finn, this is fun but just barely fresh. The numbers are best in the rare moments when they shake free of the parodic mode and instead offer something more human.

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Spelling Bee attests to the power of the musical, even in its late and largely self-parodying period, a time when every song seems to recall an earlier and usually better show. It's even hardworking enough to include a couple of dark numbers to please those who are too cynical for crowd-pleasers.

You can read the article at pitch.com as well, by clicking here.

* The italicize and indented text was sent to us by reviewer Alan Scherstuhl. It was cut from his printed review.

REVIEW: The Heartland's Dixie Swim Club is a kick

By Alan Scherstuhl
Thursday, May 13 2010

The American Heartland Theatre's new comedy, The Dixie Swim Club, might more truthfully have been titled "Thank You for Being a Friend." That's not just because at least two running gags and one entire character seem lifted from The Golden Girls, or because Missy Koonce, fresh off her triumphant monologue in Pride & Joy, seems touched here by the spirit of Bea Arthur. Playing a middle-aged Atlanta lawyer who's alternately charmed and exasperated by her four best friends from college, Koonce — tall, dry, husky-voiced, well pantsuited — is so deft at reacting to the silliness around her that her stern-ish poker face is funnier than the written jokes.

As engineered by writers Jesse Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, The Dixie Swim Club is as much a thank-you note as it is theater. As it charts the lives of five middle-aged female friends who share a beach house each summer on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it celebrates the idea of lifelong friendship with enough warmth and insight to inspire even skeptics to feel along with it. (It's probably no coincidence that I phoned two old friends the weekend after opening night.) In through-the-years scenes that find the women cheering and carping right into old age, the show is always funny and tender (more than the norm) and sharply performed. It's also never quite dramatic.

The well-cast comic actresses sell it. Cathy Barnett puffs up the writers' notion of a health-nut mother hen into a full, vital character. Cheryl Weaver finds fresh spirit in an exhausted type (the aging Dixie sexpot). And Jennifer Mays — noticeably younger than the rest, though the women are meant to be the same age — somehow finds coherence in an impossible character, one designed entirely to fit jokes. (I'd complain more specifically, but her first joke, while deeply implausible, is such a doozy that I can't spoil it.)

Then there's the redoubtable Debra Bluford, irresistible as the joke-cracking mother of a jailbird and a cult member. Handing a joke to Bluford is like handing a Marine a knife: She knows a dozen ways to kill with it. "I never knew what happiness was until I got married," she says in a measured, confident way. "By then, it was too late."

She has all the best lines, but she scores with even the lesser ones. "If you had to do it all over again, would you still have kids?" someone asks. "Sure," Bluford responds, her great dimple deepening and the crowd already laughing in anticipation. "Just not the same ones."

This cast keeps The Dixie Swim Club buoyant. The camaraderie that flourishes among its members is more potent than anything in the script (credit to director Donna Thomason). The way Barnett beams at her friends, the way Koonce helps Bluford put her feet up, the way Mays' eyes soften as she reminisces about their days on the college swim team — these gestures evoke a truth that the script, to its credit, never directly states: The people we love most will certainly change, but if we're lucky, the love that we feel will not.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT PITCH.COM HERE

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change

at the American Heartland Theatre
A Review by Robert Parris MacLean

No April Fools here. The American Heartland Theatre at Crown Center put on a wonderful musical comedy about love and life. Even the title brings a truth-infused laugh: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. With the book and the lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts, you’ll need to have your laughing muscles in good shape.

The show consists of twenty “scenes,” each complete with a song. There are only four remarkably capable actors, two men, two women, who spoof all the aspects of relationships between the sexes, from beginning flirtations to growing old together. There were many clichés, but you welcome them. I did not experience a single lull in the activity on stage. What a delight; I laughed or smiled all evening. I can’t remember a stage production that brought that kind of response from me in years, if ever.

Of the four performers, I enjoyed the sparkle of Jessalyn Kincaid most. She has appeared on most stages in the area, but it was here that she shined the most. She told me she was delighted by a number she performed addressing a TV camera that projected her image on a large screen. This close-up allowed her to express subtleties that are almost never found on a stage. It’s something reserved for movies. Unfortunately, at a performance a few nights earlier, the camera failed and all the intimate opportunity was lost. However, look for her to do more significant things here in K.C.

One unsung hero of the evening was Anthony T. Edwards, who performed the piano accompaniment for the actors/singers. This takes a lot of skill and stamina. He performed seamlessly and we knew the music was in good hands.

Heartland Theatre is a delight. There are no bad seats. The intimate surroundings belie that the theatre seats quite a few people. Parking is inside, just steps away from the theatre and all of Crown Center. You also get a ten percent discount at Crown Center restaurants with your ticket. Don’t let the Heartland slip off your radar. This show was wonderful and the next one, The Dixie Swim Club, is expected to be a fun non-musical comedy.

(Now playing through April 25; The Dixie Swim Club, May 7 to June 27)

Review from the Johnson’s County Gazette
April 1, 2010

Kansas City Star Review: American Heartland Theatre’s ‘You’re Perfect …’ isn’t a run-of-the-mill revue

By ROBERT TRUSSELL
The Kansas City Star

Somehow your humble theater critic missed "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," one of the most successful musical revues in recent times, when it was first staged in Kansas City 12 years ago.

So I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the current production at the American Heartland Theatre turned out to be. It’s better than it probably has a right to be.

The word “revue,” of course, often spells trouble for theatergoers looking for a good story, but this show represents a high level of craftsmanship, particularly in Joe DiPietro’s lyrics. The Heartland production, directed by Paul Hough, elevates the material to the highest level possible and showcases four of the brightest young musical-theater actors in town.

The show is a collection of vignettes about the vagaries of love, sex, dating and marriage. Blind dates, bad dates, parenthood (depicted here as a kind of mental illness), the repetitious nature of married life, old age — the show covers most of the bases. And while much of the material feels familiar, DiPietro and composer Jimmy Roberts, find clever things to do with it.

Every now and then they resort to getting laughs with jokes about bodily functions, but even when they go the low road they do so with a certain amount of finesse.

The performers charged with portraying the dozens of personalities crossing paths and bringing the music to life are Jessalyn Kincaid, Natalie Weaver, Jon Daugharthy and Adam Branson.

Kincaid has a sexy, ethereal stage presence and she sings like an angel. But she’s also a skilled comic actress and demonstrates that ability repeatedly in this show.

She also provides the most warmly human moment of the evening as a divorced woman recording her first dating video. Framed by a real camera and projected on a huge screen, Kincaid delivers a nuanced monologue that gives the audience a breather from the hilarity and reveals the writers’ laudable effort to make a few serious points about relationships.

Indeed, for this show to work you need versatile actors, and everyone on stage is up to the task. Weaver shifts from all-business career gal to lonely housewife to widow without seeming to break a sweat. Her solo highlight is “Always a Bridesmaid,” a funny/sad lament by a woman who seems destined to always be a participant in wedding ceremonies but never anything more.

Weaver and Daugharthy kick the proceedings off in a non-musical sequence in which two people who meet through a dating service decide to skip the first and second dates and get down to business. It’s a clever bit of writing and the two actors achieve just the right tone.

Daugharthy steals “Scared Straight,” a sequence in which he plays a prisoner serving seven life sentences who lectures young single people about the dangers of ending up alone.

Daugharthy and Weaver are excellent singers, as is Branson, who shares a couple of nicely played moments with Kincaid, especially in “A Stud and a Babe,” an early sequence in which they play geeks on a date who imagine how intoxicating life would be if only they could be sexy and virile.

The nonstop piano accompaniment is provided by musical director Anthony T. Edwards. Roberts’ music, occasionally injected with a gospel and country feel, is easy on the ears, even if you can’t remember a single melody line after the show.

Del Unruh’s simple but classy scenic design and Sarah Oliver’s clever costume designs are major plusses. Shane Rowse’s lighting affects mood, creates transitions and visually delineates the many scene changes.

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"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" runs through April 25 at the American Heartland Theatre. For more information, call 816-842-9999 or go to www.ahtkc.com.

To reach Robert Trussell, call 816-234-4765 or send email to rtrussell@kcstar.com.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/18/1820077/american-heartland-theatres-youre.html#ixzz0jZqBerGM

Reviews for Glorious!

Kansas City Star:
"a first-rate cast for this comedy, which delivers clever jokes, absurd humor and just a whiff of serious intent"

"[found] find myself laughing out loud"

Johnson County Sun:
"Glorious! delivers the laughs"

KC Metoropolis:
"Debra Bluford, an American Heartland Theatre regular, stars as Florence Foster Jenkins. Her performance was vivacious; her singing dreadful (as it should've been). She was charming, and found the difficult note of self-confidence without arrogance."

"The message of this show is simple and somewhat cliché. Follow your dreams. In this case, however, it is truly inspiring to know that Jenkins pursued her dream of singing, even when she was declared "no good" by any reputable critic."

Latest Review!

Check out the great review of It's A Wonderful Life: A LIVE Radio Play from the Pitch!

The reviews are coming in and "Wonderful Life" is indeed Wonderful!

Here are a few highlights from some of the reviews of "It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play".


This crisply directed, well-acted show hits most of the right notes and avoids potential pitfalls.

The “Wonderful Life” narrative is re-created faithfully, although a bit compressed in places, but the cast brings the material to life without making it overly sentimental or campy.

[Ken Remmert is] a show unto himself and his timing is impeccable.

Read more from the Kansas City Star review here.

Read more from the Pitch Weekly review here.

Perhaps the most impressive feat this production accomplishes is that it manages to get the audience thoroughly engrossed in George Bailey’s story even though we’re always aware that we’re watching a radio re-enactment.

Even those who consider “It’s a Wonderful Life” to be an example of “Capra-corn” may fall prey to the nostalgic charms of this good-natured holiday offering.

Read more from the Sun Publications review here.

Review: It's Midnight at AHT

Here are just a few tidbits from the review of "I'll Be Back Before Midnight" from KCMetropolis.com.
Click Here to read the entire review.

• Award-winning playwright, Peter Colley's, "I'll Be Back Before Midnight," currently running at the American Heartland Theatre, kept audience members on the edge of their seats and guessing right up until the end. Somewhere between an Agatha Christie mystery and an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, this fast-paced comedy thriller doesn't disappoint.
• With its wicked and worrisome twists and turns, "I'll Be Back Before Midnight" is a fearful, yet comedic tale and a good kick-off for AHT's 2009/10 season.

Review: Heartland play arrives with poignancy, polish

Check out the review of "Are We There Yet?" from Russ Simmons in the Johnson County Sun.  Just click HERE!

While your checking out the reviews, HERE is the Pitch Weekly review by Alan Scherstuhl.

KC Star Review is in

"Director Paul Hough has assembled some of Kansas City’s best musical theater talents — Cathy Barnett, Jessalyn Kincaid, Ken Remmert and Tim Scott."

Read the entire review by clicking here.

A Great Review AND A Great Deal for YOU!

Well, the show is open and audiences love it! Robert Trussell wrote a great review which can be found here. And, as promised, here's a final shot of the set now that it's all finished.

(Look! There's Tech Director, Shane Rowse, coming in the far right door!)

Do you have your tickets yet? Call now and get a special deal - Buy one ticket at regular price, get the second at half price! This offer is valid on performances through May 31, 2009 only, so book your tickets today! Call 816-842-9999 and mention code DH0589SN. This special offer is subject to availability and not valid with any other offers.

See you at the show!

The American Heartland Taps Out a Ginger Rogers Tribute

Alan Scherstuhl of the Pitch Weekly had this to say about Backwards in High Heels:

"The American Heartland Theatre's Backwards in High Heels: The Ginger Rogers Musical is a high-spirited tribute to the headstrong Texas hoofer who walked away from her partnership with Fred Astaire at the peak of their success. It earns its keep on sweat, hustle and a score I'm tempted to call swell — especially when the talented ensemble taps through "We're in the Money" or "I Got Rhythm."

Musical director Anthony Edwards finally gets songs worth his talent. Dancers come in twos and fours, in solos and in full-ensemble extravaganzas, executing director Jeremy Benton's choreography with dash and verve."

Click HERE to read the entire review at the Pitch Weekly Online.

"Some seriously talented actors"

Read the review from the Kansas City Star

The first review is in!

Check out what infozine thinks about Backwards in High Heels!

"Backwards in High Heels" at American Heartland Theatre, Review