Vanessa Severo as Susannah Mullally and Nedra Dixon as Pearl Johnson

Nedra Dixon as Pearl Johnson and Vanessa Severo as Susannah Mullally

Nedra Dixon as Pearl Johnson

Vanessa Severo as Susannah Mullally

Nedra Dixon as Pearl Johnson

Lighting design by Victor En Yu Tan and scenic design by Matthew Mott

BLACK PEARL SINGS! photography by Jeff Rumans

Two women. One black, the other white. One educated, the other not. One pushing to make her name in a male-dominated world, the other committed to finding a missing daughter.

These are the characters — indeed, the only characters — in Frank Higgins’ “Black Pearl Sings,” a play about the power of music and language that became one of the most-produced plays in regional theater during the last five or six years…

Read the Kansas City Star article HERE

Playwright Frank Higgins, Nedra Dixon (Pearl Johnson), Vanessa Severo …

Spinning Tree Theatre proudly announces our 5th season of plays and musicals

WEST SIDE STORY

Book by Arthur Laurents. Music by Leonard Bernstein. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Spinning Tree founders Michael Grayman and Andy Parkhurst have a rich history with the show (a combined 9 professional productions, including the 40th anniversary Broadway tour supervised by Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents), and are delighted to reproduce the original Jerome Robbins choreography with an all-local professional cast.

August 20 – September 6, 2015

THE TURN OF THE SCREW

Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, from …

Frank Higgins (Playwright), Nedra Dixon (Pearl Johnson), Walter Coppage (Director), Vanessa Severo (Susannah Mullally)

Frank Higgins (Playwright) is the author of the plays Black Pearl Sings and The Sweet By ‘n’ By, the latter produced with Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow. His play The Taste Test will be produced in June in Kansas City at the Just Off Broadway space in a co-production by Phoenix Theatre and The Melting Pot Theater. In July the Coterie Theatre will workshop his new play for young audiences Born Blue: The Diary …

Lauren Braton, a superb singer, has evidently found her artistic home at Spinning Tree Theatre, where she was handed two opportunities to demonstrate her acting ability. She was hilarious as the Countess in “A Little Night Music,” which featured strong performances throughout. (Melinda MacDonald’s performance of “Send in the Clowns” was stunning.)

Then Braton played a very different role in Spinning Tree’s fall production of “Violet,” the delicate musical about a disfigured young woman’s odyssey across the South to be healed by a televangelist. Braton dug …

Buy Tickets HERE – or Call (816) 569-5277

Buy Tickets HERE – or Call (816) 569-5277
 
Thursday, April 23 at 7:30pm (Preview Performance)
Friday, April 24 at 8:00pm (Preview Performance)
Saturday, April 25 at 8:00pm (Opening Night)
Sunday, April 26 at 2:00pm
 
Wednesday, April 29 at 7:30pm
Thursday, April 30 at 7:30pm
Friday, May 1 at 8:00pm
Saturday, May 2 at 8:00pm
Sunday, May 3 at 2:00pm
 
Thursday, May 7 at 7:30pm
Friday, May 8 at 8:00pm
Saturday, May 9 at 8:00pm
Sunday, May 10 at 2:00pm
 
TICKETS – General Admission*

$40 Center Section
$27.50 Right/Left Sections
$15 Student i.d. (call 816-569-5277 to …

Buy Tickets HERE – or call (816) 569-5277

Buy Tickets HERE – or call (816) 569-5277

Friday, March 6 at 8:00pm (Preview Performance)
Saturday, March 7 at 8:00pm (Opening Night, Reception to follow)
Sunday, March 8 at 2:00pm
 
Wednesday, March 11 at 7:30pm
Thursday, March 12 at 7:30pm (Talkback following performance)
Friday, March 13 at 8:00pm
Saturday, March 14 at 8:00pm
Sunday, March 15 at 2:00pm
 
Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30pm
Thursday, March 19 at 7:30pm (Talkback following performance)
Friday, March 20 at 8:00pm
Saturday, March 21 at 8:00pm
Sunday, March 22 at 2:00pm
 
 

TICKETS – General Admission*

$35 Center Section
$25 …

On Nov 8, 2014, we shared with our “Violet” opening night audience that we are producing WEST SIDE STORY in our 2015-16 season.

Spinning Tree Theatre founders Michael Grayman and Andy Parkhurst have a rich history with the show. Michael worked with Jerome Robbins & Arthur Laurents on the 40th Anniversary Broadway Tour, and Michael & Andy met while performing on the 40th Anniversary European Tour, staged by original cast member Alan Johnson. They performed in a total of 9 professional productions of WEST SIDE STORY.

Michael …

KCUR FM’s Steve Walker sat down with “Violet” directors Michael Grayman and Andy Parkhurst to discuss the Kansas City premiere of the award-winning musical.

Read the full article and see rehearsal footage HERE

Spinning Tree Theatre directors Michael Grayman and Andy Parkhurst have a knack for producing unusual theatre. They combine the best of Kansas City’s actors and musicians with cool venues and often quirky or edgy material. The fact that they’ve only been around for four seasons hasn’t fazed them at all. They have never shied away from a challenge, and Violet presents more than one kind of challenge, both to the producers and to the audience.

Violet tells the story of a young woman travelling …