Alan Portner is a Regional Editor at Broadway World – Kansas City. With over 40 years of experience in journalism, he focuses on arts and entertainment, particularly in the realms of theater, plays, and musicals. Portner's work has been featured in BroadwayWorld.com and KC Studio.
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Alan's coverage is heavily focused on theater reviews and interviews within the Kansas City area. He seems to have a keen interest in local productions, particularly musicals and Broadway shows. Therefore, if you're involved in local theater productions or events in Kansas City, especially those related to musicals or Broadway shows, Alan would likely be interested in hearing from you.
Given his focus on entertainment news and reviews of theatrical performances, reaching out with press releases about upcoming shows, behind-the-scenes insights into production processes for popular plays or musicals could also pique his interest. Additionally, individuals involved in the creative aspects of these productions may find success reaching out for potential features or interviews.
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Get all the top news & discounts for Kansas City & beyond. Overland Park, KS — The New Theatre & Restaurant has built its reputation on
MTH's World Premiere production of “ Moby Dick a sea shanty ” should not be missed. This “ Moby Dick ” is a remarkable, boiled-down, reinterpretation of Herman Melville 's massive dark 1851 tome.
Think of the greatest songs you've never heard - the soaring melodies, the unexpected anthems, the driving beats, the lyrics that speak to a feeling you didn't know could be expressed in words.
A full auditorium of just over three hundred patrons filed into the newly renovated Warwick Theater for a re-imagination of Stephen King’s “The Shawshank Redemption.” This theatrical adaptation is written by Irish playwrights Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns, an unlikely yet inspired pairing. Both men came to prominence as stand-up comedians before turning their attention to drama. Owen O’Neil is present for this Saturday evening performance.
The air at New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park is thick with the scent of high-end buffet favorites and the electric hum of a sold-out crowd. The curtain has risen on a revival of the 1960s Broadway classic Cactus Flower, and if the opening week's standing ovations are any indication, Kansas City has another bona fide hit on its hands.
It is not often that Kansas City audiences get the chance to see the “World Premiere” engagement of a new comedy from an award-winning Broadway performer and playwright. This month Unicorn Theatre presents “Don’t Touch My Hair,” by Douglas Lyons.
By: Alan Portner
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Moments before the world premiere of “Don’t Touch My Hair” at the Unicorn Theatre, playwright Douglas Lyons sits relaxed, thoughtful and unmistakably energized. The new play, opening May 8, 2026, marks the latest chapter in what he calls the “Deep Breath Trilogy,” a body of work dedicated to centering Black women not only in struggle, but in joy.
By: Alan Portner
Marilu Henner is currently starring as Stephanie Dickinson in Cactus Flower at The New Theatre & Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas. Best known for her work on Taxi and for her Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) - Henner remains one of the most dynamic and wide-ranging performers working today.
The show I saw last week on Wednesday, July 8, featured three warm-up acts and Ayrn performing under the stage name A.J. Chris. A.J. Chris was the feature comic of the evening. A.J., who has already had significant success in the UK, had warned me that she had come home to try out a new routine in development to see how a U.S. audience would respond to her acquired U.K. sensitivity might play to a Kansas audience. A.J.I was impressed with A.J.’s fearlessness, her body control, and her facial expressiveness. She is a funny young lady with the looks that could easily help her catch on. .
This joint White Theatre and Coterie production succeeds with dazzling sets, super special effects, the best pit band I have heard in many years, and a cast who seems determined to wring every bit of value out of the playscript and the score that is there.What did our critic think of DISNEY'S FROZEN at White Theatre?
