Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman

Book by Harvey Fierstein

Based on the Play La Cage Aux Folles by Jean Poiret

Directed by Jeff Church       Musical Direction by Molly Jessup

Choreography by Ernie Nolan

August 10-September 9, 2007
PREVIEWS August 8 & 9

EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 23rd!

Featuring Ron Megee, Jim Korinke, Brandon Sollenberger,
Aurelie Roque, Christopher Barksdale, Stasha Case, Jerry Jay Cranford,
Julie Shaw, Spencer Brown, Chris Cobbett, Nick Padgett & Bryan LaFave

Talk back performances August 14, 19 and 21

Meet someone before the show to talk with after.

Singles Night August 16      LGBT Night August 23

6:30 Reception $5

7:30 Show Regular Priced Ticket

Call for reservations.

Sequins and feathers fly as family values and outrageous comedy take center stage in this new spin on the legendary Tony award winning musical. It’s “St. Tropez Night” at La Cage Aux Folles, a popular drag club owned by George and Albin. Their twenty years of domestic tranquility is shattered when their son decides to marry the daughter of the Tradition, Family and Morality Party leader.  La Cage, Broadway’s first gay themed musical, will open your eyes to a whole new idea of family. You will be forced to stand up and shout “I am what I am.”
 

The Reviews are in...

Kansas City Star--Posted on Mon., Aug. 13, 2007
Unicorn’s ‘La Cage’ doesn’t miss a trick

(May require registration)

By ROBERT TRUSSELL 

 

Pitch--Posted on Thurs., Aug. 16, 2007
Small Feats of Bravery  (May require registration)

It's hard to complain about these two, solid shows. But why won't the big boys pick them up?

By ALAN SCHERSTUHL

 

Sun Publications--Posted on Wed., Aug. 22, 2007
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

(May require registration)

By Russ Simmons 

 

eKC--Posted on Fri., Aug. 24, 2007
La Cage perfectly cast; Broken Strings shows potential

By David Ollington 

 

InfoZine--Tuesday Aug. 14, 2007

La Cage Aux Folles: They Are What They Are, and They're Great, Unicorn Theatre, Review

(click for complete story)

by Jeannine Chatterton-Papineau
 

Other Press...

 

Kansas City Star--Posted on Thur., Aug. 23, 2007--Video Blog
The Star's theater critic examines some of the new shows this fall  (May require registration)

Robert Trussell talks about the new season, including shows at the Unicorn and KC Rep.

By ROBERT TRUSSELL 

 

Kansas City Star--Posted on Sat., Aug. 3, 2007
Grand Old Drag  (May require registration)

Gender-bending theater has a long history in KC

By ROBERT TRUSSELL 

 

Camp--Posted on Sat., Aug. 11, 2007
This is who I am  (May require registration)

An Interview with Ron Megee, Starring in Unicorn’s ‘La Cage’
By J. W. Arnold

 

Kansas City Star--Posted on Sat., Aug. 18, 2007
Love Story: ‘Twinkle’ in eyes ignites sparks of love  (May require registration)

By Deborah Shouse

 

Kansas City Star--Posted on Wed., Aug. 8, 2007
Unicorn Season Begins, Cast Named for Next Show  (May require registration)

By ROBERT TRUSSELL 

 

Pitch--Posted on Thur., Aug. 8, 2007
Au Revoir, Monsieur Serrault  

By CHRIS PACKHAM

 

InfoZine--Saturday, July 21, 2007 :: infoZine Staff
Unicorn' 34th Season opens with a new spin on family values

(click for complete story)
                                  

Jerry Herman (Music and Lyrics) There is never an evening when, somewhere in the world, the music and lyrics of Jerry Herman are not being sung by a lady in a red headdress, or a lady with a bugle, or a middle-aged man in a wig and boa.  Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage are home to some of the most popular, most-often performed and most successful musical heroines of all time, and have given Jerry Herman the distinction of being the only composer-lyricist in history to have had three musicals that ran more than 1,500 consecutive performances of Broadway.  His first Broadway show was Milk and Honey (1961), followed by Hello, Dolly! (1964), Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), Mack & Mabel (1974), The Grand Tour (1979), La Cage (1983), Jerry’s Girls (1985) and “Mrs. Santa Claus” (1996), a CBS TV special starring Angela Lansbury.  Showtune, a revue of his life’s work, is performing in regional theatres abound the country.  His string of awards and honors includes multiple Tonys, Grammys, Drama Desk Awards, the Johnny Mercer Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, the Oscar Hammerstein Award, the Frederick Lowe Award, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Theatre Hall of Fame.

Harvey Fierstein (Book) is an American actor, author, and singer and is known for his gravelly voice and campy demeanor. He won the 1984 Tony for Best Book (Musical) for La Cage.   Harvey is best known for his semi-autobiographical play and film Torch Song Trilogy, which he wrote (play and screenplay) and in which he starred winning the 1983 Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and Best Play. For film he has had roles in Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day, and the voice of "Elmer" in the 1999 HBO special based on his children's book The Sissy Duckling. In addition to his film roles he is a stand-up comedian and drag queen, as well as a playwright and columnist on gay issues. In 2003, he won the Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for the musical Hairspray (based on the film by John Waters), joining Tommy Tune as the only people to win the Tony in four different categories. Harvey appeared in the role of Tevye the milkman in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, from February 2005 until the show closed in January 2006.

Jeff Church (Director) is, by day, producing artistic director of the Coterie Theatre, named by TIME magazine as one of the five best theatres for young audiences in the United States.  For the Coterie's 20th anniversary season, Jeff produced the "Great Books/Banned Books" season, which included the professional U.S. premiere of The Lord of the Flies. Once a year, the Coterie is home to a lab for new family musicals, with Stephen Schwartz recently in residence for Geppetto & Son and soon Harry Connick, Jr., for a holiday musical, The Happy Elf. The plays commissioned by Jeff and the Coterie have an impact on theatres for young audiences around the country.   At the Unicorn, he directed The Lisbon Traviata, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Judas Kiss, Loving Lucy and his favorite theatre experience, The Laramie Project.  Prior to Kansas City, Jeff directed and wrote plays and musicals for the Kennedy Center, where he served as a playwright-in-residence for youth and family programs for five years.  For Woolly Mammoth Theatre in D.C., he directed a long-running Rocky Horror Show as well as Al Carmine's WANTED.  He is currently on the board of directors for TCG, a member of The College of Fellows of the American Theatre, and has served as a site reporter and panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

Molly Jessup (Musical Director) is thrilled to be doing La Cage  at the Unicorn.  She has just finished the Coterie summer show, and looks forward to ending her summer with something a bit more adult. Molly is the resident music director for the music theater program at the Conservatory of Music at UMKC, and also teaches music theater in the graduate acting program. In the greater Kansas City theater scene, she has served as resident music director for Starlight Theatre,  The Coterie, Theatre for Young America, and has done A Christmas Carol at the KCRep for over twenty years.  Another favorite theater is Quality Hill Playhouse, where she has performed many times. She looks forward to working with Harry Connick, Jr. this fall, on his new musical, The Happy Elf, which will be seen at the Coterie  in November and December. Many thanks to Cynthia, Jeff and the cast and crew for a fun-filled show!!

 

 

Ernie Nolan (Choreographer) is excited to be making his Unicorn debut. A graduate of the University of Michigan Musical Theatre Program (BFA Musical Theatre) and The Theatre School at DePaul University (MFA Directing), Ernie is a director and choreographer dedicated to revisioning classic plays, musicals, and theatre for young audiences. At The Coterie, where he is a Resident Artist, his directing credits include the world premiere of Flaherty and Arhens’ Twice Upone a Time, the premiere of The Dinosaur Musical by Tony Award nominated Robert and Willie Reale, directing and adapting Once Upon a Treasure Trunk ’06-’07 (as well as ’05-’06 and ’04-’05), and directing in The Young Playwrights’ Festival 2004. He also choreographed the world premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s Geppetto and Son. An Artistic Associate of Emerald City Theatre, Chicago’s largest family theatre, he has directed and choreographed The Jungle Book, Snow White, Seussical and the Chicago professional premiere of High School Musical. Other Chicago credits include The BFG for Chicago Playworks! and readings for Chicago Dramatists. Ernie is on faculty at the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University, South Bend where he teaches Acting and Directing. Recently, he was awarded an Anne Shaw Fellowship and added to the board of Theatre for Young Audiences USA/ASSITEJ.

 

Ron Megee (Albin/Zaza) is elated to be back at Unicorn Theatre! Ron was last seen on this  stage in The Laramie Project. Other great shows here were Santaland Diaries (two years in a row!, and The Salvation of Iggy Scrooge.  Other exciting venues this boy Ron has performed at in this fair city are The Coterie (he was last seen in Stephen Schwartz’s Geppeto And Son plus Rocky and Bullwinkle, Lyle Lyle the Crocodile, Mr. A’s Amazing Maze Play, Neverland and Winnie the Pooh.  He then went on to direct at the “Time Magazine’s Top 5 Children’s Theatre” on the lower level of Crown Center (SchoolHouse Rock 1 & 2, Really Rosie). The Nerd, Mousetrap, and Every Christmas Story Ever Told at the American Heartland Theatre. At Starlight, Ron performed to 8,000 people a night in West Side Story.  Now, Ron’s true passion is his own place...Late Night Theatre, where he has written, directed and starred in over 22 shows, including Valley of the Dolls, Rickshaw Rosie, Rosemary’s Baby, A Very Scary Carrie Christmas, The Bad Seedling, The Killings at Kamp Tittikaka, The Tribute to the Stepford Wives, Rockula and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.    Late evenings, Ron can be found in his loft, dancing wildly around his McCoy pottery with his dog, Atticus, and the Edwardian costume designer.  Love to the sisters and the saints!

Jim Korinke, (Georges), is very pleased to be returning to the Unicorn for this very special production have last appeared here in Orson’s Shadow.  However, it has been a very busy year for Jim.  He finished two feature films, Play On, about a Scottish soccer player on a professional U.S. team; and All Roads Lead Home, about a complex change in family relationships following a tragedy, starring Peter Coyote and Peter Boyle, and set for an October release in movie theatres.  Theatrically, this last year, Jim appeared in American Heartland’s production of Leaving Iowa, and at The New Theatre restaurant in The Busbody, with his old friend, Jamie Farr.  In the past thirty years, this popular and versatile actor has been featured in over 150 productions, including award winning performances in The Music Man, Teahouse of the August Moon, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Shear Madness, South Pacific and All Sinatra.  As always, Jim dedicated his performance to KK, the love and inspiration of his life, the reason for all his efforts.

 

Brandon Sollenberger (Jean-Michel) is thrilled to be making his debut at the Unicorn and is excited to be working with such an incredible cast.  A former student of the U.M.K.C. Conservatory of Music, Brandon has been seen around town in a variety of venues such as: Musical Theatre Heritage, Theatre League, and Starlight Theatre.  He sends his love to all his family and friends for the support and friendships they have given.  Most especially the two most important people in the world…Mom and Dad!

 

 

Aurelie Roque (Anne) is honored to make La Cage aux Folles her Unicorn Theatre debut.  She was just recently in Zanna, Don’t as Roberta at the Just off Broadway Theater.  Some other roles you might have seen her play are leading player in UMKC Conservatory’s Pippin, Bonnie Latour in Anything Goes both at UMKC and Theatre in the Park, Babette the feather duster in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Theatre in the Park, and Sheila Tubman in the Coterie Theatre’s Tales of a 4^th Grade Nothing.  Aurelie will be in the Coterie Theaters Treasure Trunk Show this coming winter.  “…Laughter is timeless.  Imagination has no age.  And Dreams are forever.” –Walt Disney

 

Christopher Barksdale (Jacob a.k.a. Claudine) is excited to be making his Unicorn Theatre Debut.  He is quite a familiar face around Kansas City as he will be celebrating his 20^th season with the Kansas City Ballet.  Christopher has also worked in many other venues both nationally and internationally such as Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Cincinnati Light Opera and the Royal Opera of New Zealand to name a few.  He has also appeared in many productions in town at Starlight Theatre.  Mr. Barksdale would like to thank his partner, his family and friends and the community for their continued love and support.  He would also like to dedicate these performances to the memory of his mentor, Todd Bolender.

 

Stasha Case (Jacqueline) is delighted to make her Unicorn debut! A proud member of Full Frontal Comedy Improv Comedy Troupe since 1998, she has performed with Bell Road Barn, CenterStage Theatre, Martin City M&V Co., Northland Actors Ensemble, Olathe Community Theater and SM Theatre in the Park, among others.  Last year’s roles alone include Little Becky 2 Shoes in Urinetown (JC Barn Players), Louise in Always, Patsy Cline (Chestnut Fine Arts), HopSing (1998 & 2006) in Bonanza (winning “Best Funny Performance 2006” from The Pitch), and understudy for Dame Ron Megee as Lily Tomlin as Violet Newstead in 9 to 5, both at Late Night Theatre.  By day, Stasha has worked at Prosperity Advisory Group, an OP financial planning firm, for over 13 years.  Stasha is grateful for the support of her family, her friends, and her talented, patient husband, Bill.  Thank you Jeff, Cynthia and whoever else is responsible for this wonderful opportunity!

Jerry Jay Cranford (Cafe Owner/Deputy General Dindon) is making his Unicorn debut. Props to Cynthia and Jeff!  He recently moved back to Kansas City from LA with Dana, his partner of 13 years, their 2 dogs, and his mother-in-law.  No longer blue, he performed in Disneyland’s $10,000,000 production of ALADDIN as the Genie.  Prior to that, he performed Prouvaire and Enjolras on Broadway and the National tour of Les Miserables opposite Colm Wilkinson, Sutton Foster, Andrea McArdle, Lea Salonga, and Laurie Beechman.  He starred in the tours of Singing in the Rain and Anything Goes, was featured dancer in Evita-European tour, was featured soloist for the televised International Arts Council Concert at the Frankfurt Opera House, Germany, and was featured dancer on PBS’ Lawrence Welk:  Then & Now Special.  This marks Jay’s fifth association with La Cage:  Jean-Michel in DC, Hanna in Chicago and Dallas (with LeRoy Reams), and director/choreographer in Raleigh, NC.  In May, he served as choreographer for Starlight’s Annual Gala.  Originally from Oklahoma, Jerry Jay has been a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association for over 15 years!
 

Julie Shaw (Cafe Owner's wife/Marie Dindon) is thrilled to be in her first production at the Unicorn.  She has been seen locally at the JCC, TYA, MET, The Barn Players and The Chestnut Fine Arts Center.  Her favorite roles include a Rabbi, Ethel Rosenberg and many others in Angels In America:  Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, Patsy Cline in Always, Patsy Cline, Ms. Pennywise in Urinetown and Sally Bowls in Cabaret.  She will soon be seen in Musical of Musicals at Quality Hill Playhouse.  A former theatre teacher and director for 7-12 grades, Julie created the theatre program at The Barstow School.  She now teaches with the Coterie Theatre and is a full time Mom to her very dramatic son, Jack.  Thanks to Cynthia, Molly and Jeff for this opportunity.  As always, much love to her patient and extremely supportive husband, Stuart.

 

Spencer Brown (Phaedra) was most recently in Zanna, Don't! with Eubank Productions and has been in The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff), Late Night Theatre's Scarrie Carrie Christmas Carol (Sue Snell), Disaster '74, Come Back to the 9 to 5, Dolly Parton, The Scarlet Pimpernel at the New Theatre Restaurant, The Girly Show (Daisy Buckët) and his successful cabaret show Ban This! at Bar Natasha. Delighted to be in his Unicorn Theatre debut, Spencer graduated from the American Musical & Dramatic Academy in New York City last year and would like to thank all of his friends and family who have supported him and the power of a little glitter.

 

Chris Cobbett (Chantal) is proud to make his Unicorn debut in la Cage Aux Folles.  He is a senior double majoring in musical theatre and opera at UMKC’s Conservatory of Music.  Conservatory credits include:  Pirate of Penzance (Pirate King), Giulio Cesare (Achillas), Working (Tom Patrick), Myths and Hymns (Bellerophon), and Anything Goes (Elisha Whitney).  Local theatre credits include:  Brigadoon (Frank) for Musical Theatre Heritage, The Count of Monte Cristo (Fernand Mondego), Theory of the Leisure Class (Ted Olsen), and Far from the Madding Crowd (Jan Coggan) for the Kansas City Festival of New Musicals.  Chris would like to thank his family and friends for their undying love and support.

 

Nick Padgett (Hannah) As a performer has over 80 productions to his credit including shows with; Starlight Theatre, KC Rep, Musical Theater Heritage, Theater League, Quality Hill Playhouse, KC Symphony, Music Theatre for Young People of Kansas City, UMKC Conservatory of Music, KC Murder Mystery Players, Shawnee Mission Theatre in the Park (where he is a past DEMMI Award Nominee for Best Featured Male Dancer), Barn Players, and Leawood Stage Company. He also works regularly as a director and choreographer and is the Producing Artistic Director for Padgett Productions. He has appeared in the feature films All Roads Lead Home, Lenexa One Mile, and Raising Jeffrey Dahmer. Mr. Padgett has also performed for EPIC Entertainment, in Gala's for Starlight Theatre, the American Cancer Society, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, and for George and Barbara Bush, and he was an original cast member of Starlight Theatre's Starlight STARS and performed with this group for two seasons. Print & TV Credits include AMC Theatre's and Nickelodeon. 

Bryan LaFave (Mercedes) is thrilled to be making his debut at Unicorn Theatre in La Cage aux Folles. He was last seen as Ching Ho in Thoroughly Modern Millie at Theatre in the Park, in Steven Eubank’s production of Zanna, Don’t, and as Henry in The Boxcar Children and the Mystery of the Lost Village with TYA. Favorite roles include John Darling (Peter Pan), Doody (Grease), Robert (The Why), Lee (The American Clock), and Ryan (High School Musical) a role he played in the Midwest premiere. Other credits include Pippin, Into the Woods, Sophisticated Ladies, Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, and Working. He currently studies voice with Molly Jessup and plans to enter his third year at UMKC, as musical theatre student, this fall. He sends thanks to Jeff, Molly, and Cynthia for an amazing opportunity; this remarkable cast; and his family and friends for their ongoing love and support.

Call 816-531-PLAY x 10

Box Office Hours:

Monday-Friday 10-5pm

Saturday 12-4pm (During the run of the show)

 

 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)

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

David and Laura Hall

Susan Brandt and Mary Stephenson

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