back by demand...

CROWNS
Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats

 by Regina Taylor

Directed by Jacqueline L. Gafford

Featuring Angela Wildflower Polk, Davita J. Wesley Vaughn, Karen Cline Wright, Tiffany Jones Sipple, Victoria Barbee, Lori Wellman and Mykel Hill

TICKETS NOW ON SALE AND GOING FAST!

NEW DATES:  April 4-21, 2007 (call for showtimes)

Historic Gem Theatre 18th and Vine

Tickets for GEM Performances sold through Central Ticket Office       on our website or by calling  816-235-6222

Click HERE to Buy Tickets Online!

Unicorn Theatre offers $5.00 off for senior citizens and full-time students (with valid I.D.). Group rates are available, and students with valid I.D. can purchase Rush Tickets for $7.00 five minutes before curtain (based on availability)

Want to bring a GROUP?  Click Here for group information.

(Groups Rates available for 10+ people)

Performances also at Park University March 27-April 1. 

Call Unicorn Box office for PARK Performances and Showtimes. 

816-531-PLAY

 

CROWNS, a stand-up-and-testify musical based on the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry, focuses on Yolanda, a young Brooklyn girl who is sent down South to stay with her grandmother. As Yolanda encounters her grandmother and her grandmother's friends in the rituals of preparing for and going to Sunday church service, she begins to discover connections to older traditions and a deeper spirituality. CROWNS is a soul-stirring tribute to the unique cultural phenomenon that fuses faith with fashion by celebrating African-American women and their church hats.

Click to listen to Allison Keyes' interview with Regina Taylor about her dramatic
adapation of the book Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats, which
aired on NPR's The Travis Smiley Show on Dec. 31, 2002

Click to listen to Jeff Lunden's report on the play based on a photo anthology
and the stories behind the hats of CROWNS, which aired on NPR's Weekend
Edition on Dec. 14, 2002

Group Photos by Cynthia Levin--Solo Photos by Ron Berg

2007 Reviews

The Kansas City Star--Posted on Fri., Apr. 6, 2007     
REVIEW | Crowns                                                    'Hat queens' are jewels in Gem's 'Crowns'   (Click to read)                                                                                           Spiritual plays about Southern black culture taps deeply into the roots of theater.           
By DEREK DONOVAN

Pitch--Posted on Apr. 12, 2007     
Heady Stuff  (Click to read)                                                               Hats off to a bigger Crowns.         
By Alan Scherstuhl

2007 Press

Posted Sat,  April 7, 2007

The Kansas City Star

Pain Tops Memories of Easter Bonnets (Click to read)

By MARLI MURPHY

The Kansas City Star--Posted on Sun., Apr. 1, 2007     
STAGE | Gospel Musical                                                                                                   The Gem dons new 'Crowns' (Click to read)                                                                                                     Popular Unicorn production moves to historic jazz district.             
By ROBERT TRUSSELL

Kansas City InfoZine

Posted Tues, March 20, 2007

 Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats Returns               (Click to read)

 

Last Year's Reviews...

 The Kansas City Star Tuesday March 14, 2006 By Robert Trussell

Hats off to ‘Crowns’

Part of the show’s entertainment value comes directly from the incorporation of traditional gospel music and this production is filled with strong singers. A couple of the voices are extraordinary. Much of the show’s warmth and humor comes from the church women as they share personal histories and occasionally interact with the men they have know. In the process they explain why their hats are important and what they signify, how they tap into traditions that can be traced to Africa and often remain in families for generations. “Transcendent” is a word that critics often cheapen but it’s the only just way to describe Polk’s performance. She is the glue that holds this production together. She does what we always want to see good actors do: bring more to the stage than the script calls for.

Find out what else the press said about Unicorn's CROWNS:

The Kansas City Star Thursday March 12, 2006 By Robert Trussell

Play revives crowning glories

The director knows it. The actors know it. And when they came together to stage “Crowns” at the Unicorn Theatre, they knew the experience would be about a lot more than theatrical illusion. “We all know people in our families and in our churches who we’re portraying,” said actress Victoria Barbee. “We can think back to women who have said these exact lines to us.” Director Jacqueline Gafford and the five actresses in the show all were raised in churches where ladies’ hats were every bit as important as they are in this play. Gafford said the play focuses on the traditional importance of the church in the black community.

 

Regina Taylor (Playwright) is the author of OO-BLA-DEE, which received its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in 1999 and later transferred to the La Jolla Playhouse. In April 2000, OO-BLA-DEE received the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award. Ms. Taylor’s recent projects include Crowns, which premiered at McCarter Theatre in their 2002-2003 season, an adaptation of The Cherry Orchard for the Alliance Theatre, The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove, about famed black entrepreneur madam C.J. Walker for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the book for a musical of THE COLOR PURPLE, which is planned for a future Broadway production. Her play Drowning Crow (an adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull) was produced at the Goodman Theatre as part of the 2001 season. Ms. Taylor’s other writing credits include Urban Zulu Mambo, Escape From Paradise, Watermelon Rinds, Inside the Belly of the Beast, MudTracks, Between the Lines and Behind Every Good Man. Her acting credits include roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in numerous regional theatres. Her film credits include CLOCKERS, LOSING ISAIAH, LEAN ON ME, A FAMILY THING, COURAGE UNDER FIRE with Denzel Washington and THE NEGOTIATOR with Samuel L. Jackson. Television credits include "Children of the Dust" with Sidney Poitier and "The Education of Max Bickford". For her role as Lilly Harper on the television series "I'll Fly Away", Ms. Taylor won an NAACP Image Award and received the Golden Globe Award for Best Leading Dramatic Actress.

 

Jacqueline L. Gafford (Director) is happy to be back at the Unicorn after a six-year break. But she was still very busy. Jacqee is currently artistic director of In Play Theatre, a multi-racial company that performs at The Just Off-Broadway Theatre. Jacqee’s work has been seen in many Kansas City theatres over the last 20 years. Jacqee directed Betrayal of the Black Jesus at the Unicorn where she has also performed in Reckless, Flying West, Having our Say and was last seen in Old Settler.

 

ANTHONY T. EDWARDS (Musical Director) is a native of Humboldt, Tennessee, and delighted to be a part of this Unicorn production. Anthony has been privileged to be the Musical Director for theatres across the country including the Denver Center for the Performing Arts where he performed for four years in Always…Patsy Cline. Anthony is currently the Resident Musical Director for the American Heartland Theatre, Epic Entertainment and Bar Natasha. He completed a Bachelor of Music degree in commercial music and piano performance at Belmont University and graduate studies in piano performance at the University of Missouri Conservatory of Music in Kansas City, MO. He has appeared with the New Theatre Restaurant, Quality Hill Playhouse, Starlight Theatre, Theatre in the Park, American Heartland Theatre, Unicorn Theatre, Red Barn Theatre and Waterfront Playhouse in Key West, FL, and Late Night Theatre. Recent shows include Swing Time Canteen, Always…Patsy Cline, Peter Pan, A Grand Night for Singing, The All Night Strut, Red Rock Diner, Valley of the Dolls, The Complete Millennium Musical (abridged), 1940’s Radio Hour, Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, Forever Plaid, Sweet Underground Charity, Honky Tonk Angels, When Pigs Fly!, Pageant, Dames at Sea, Nuncrackers, Annie, The Big Bang!, Mashugganuns, From My Home Town, Married Alive!, My Way, Swing!, The Buddy Holly Story, Menopause the Musical, along with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Bat Boy, Crowns, Convenience, tick, tick…Boom! and The Great American Trailer Park Musical, here at the Unicorn. Anthony lives in here in Kansas City with a great guy named Scott, and a really incredible dog named Samantha.

 

Angela Wildflower Polk (Yolanda) is thrilled to be at the Unicorn once again.  A familiar face on the Kansas City stage, Angela has been seen in Crowns, Permanent Collections, and Bat Boy at the Unicorn; Seussical, The Dinosaur Musical, and School House Rock at the Coterie Theatre; Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Harriet Tubman, and Anansi the Spider at Theater for Young America; and Harlem Knights, with InPlay Productions.  She has made appearances at The Public Theatre in New York City, and has been seen in several regional commercials.  Named as one of Kansas City’s emerging artists by the KC Star, “Wildflower” is living proof of what determination, commitment and hard work can do.  Since her ambitious move to Los Angeles in 2006, she has been working on her newly released cd project, “Urban Diva”.  Wildflower delivers a soulful blend of urban melodies w/a midwest flair.  Her vocally-powerful messages of hope and inspiration are sure to be a “must have” on everyone’s music list. www.urbanwildflower.com 

 

Davita J. Wesley Vaughn (Mother Shaw) is a native of Denver, Colorado, where she first began performing on stage at the age of eight.  Her first solo, Robert MacGimsey’s ‘Sweet Lil’ Jesus Boy,’ was arranged specifically for her young voice by her elementary school principal and performed to his violin accompaniment.  In 1973, at the age of 14, she was spotted in a youth talent show and recruited to perform the music of the Big Band Era as featured soloist with a local youth orchestra.  Her rendition of Erroll Garner’s ‘Misty’ became a trademark of the orchestra.  Since that time, she has performed across the country for various churches and organizations as a soloist, choir director, and workshop clinician.  One of the highlights of her music career came in 1992, when she was invited by the United States Air Force to conduct a gospel choir workshop for Canon Air Base in Clovis, New Mexico.  Davita’s vocal music career has expanded to include performance of lead roles in numerous local musicals, as well as to perform with music director and gospel music artist, Edwin Hawkins, in the chorus of Delilah Rashell Williams’ critically acclaimed play, ‘God’s Trying to Tell You Something.’  Davita resides in Kansas City, Kansas, enjoying life as a pastor’s wife, elementary school teacher, and mother of four talented children. 

 

 

Karen Cline Wright (Mabel) has appeared in over thirty shows in the Kansas City in the last seventeen years.  She is happy to be back working for the Unicorn and in this revival of Crowns.   Karen is also excited to be working with an excellent “all local” cast of Black female (and one man) artists.  Karen continues her employment at the Argosy Casino as the Team Member Activities Manger where she is “Having Fun Creating Fun.”  She still plans to reside in the Las Vegas area, just maybe not as soon as she would have thought.

 

 

Victoria Barbee (Jeanette) started singing as a child in her father's church, over 30 years ago. From here she traveled with the Images of Christ. After college, in 1998, Victoria performed in her first production Black Nativity at the Historic Gem Theatre. Since then Victoria has performed for several theatres here in KC, Topeka and Lawrence including the Coterie, Theatre for Young America, American Heartland and others. She also recently made her directing debut with Herstory Made the Difference at Lawrence Art Center. Currently she is working on a CD project entitled Forever in our Hearts with her father Pastor Leo Barbee Jr. of Lawrence, Ks. The project is in memory of her mother Juanita Anne Barbee, who Victoria recently lost this past August 2005. This show is dedicated to Victoria’s mother who always said “my child always looked good in hats”. Hearty thanks to Cynthia and the wonderful Unicorn Staff – "You folks are the best".

 

Tiffany Jones-Sipple (Wanda) is delighted and honored to be back on stage at the Unicorn with such an amazing cast and staff.  She is no stranger to the Kansas City theater scene, having worked at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre (Carter’s Way), Theater for Young America (Africa’s Daughter), Just Off Broadway (Raisin in the Sun), and the Mabee Theater (Urinetown, the Musical).  She has appeared on the Unicorn Theatre stage in Crowns and Betrayal of Black Jesus.  At the Gem Theater she has been a featured vocalist and works as a writer/creative director for the Live at the Gem Show.  Tiffany mostly enjoys singing with the Voices of Grace at her home church Grace Christian Fellowship, and is the proud mother of a beautiful teenage daughter Alayna.  Tiffany dedicates this performance to her parents, family and friends for their continual support and to all of the beautiful women of color who have made the stories in this play come alive.

 

Lori Wellman (Velma) began singing at the tender age of 3, sitting in the lap of her jazz pianist father.  Her earliest performance was at the age of 15 yrs old when she sang at different music festivals and private functions around the city with her older sister, Angela. With a foundation steeped in elements of gospel and jazz, and coming from a family renowned for jazz here in Kansas City, Lori finds her way to the stage, now honing her skills in musical theater.  She hopes to continue performing in theaters, as well as in different venues about town, continuing to honor the legacy of her musically and spiritually enriched culture.

 

 

Mykel Hill (Man) marks this as his third production at the Unicorn Theatre. He has appeared here as Timber Tucker in An American Daughter and as Leland in Blues for an Alabama Sky. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Wyoming and earned his MFA in Acting from the University of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program. Other roles include: Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice, Randall in Slow Dance on the Killing Ground, Otto in Mephisto, and Robert Dobbs in Eleven Zulu.

 

SPECIAL THANKS
to those who generously donated their time, talents and services to this production:

The Hall Family Foundation

Bungalow Creative

Financial assistance has been provided by Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.

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