Actors Theatre gets back on track, opens new holiday show

When the Kansas City Actors Theatre mounted its outstanding production of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” back in August, it marked the end of a lengthy hiatus.

Despite the fact the company has consistently presented the area’s highest-quality plays for the past five years, the group is struggling. They cut their 2009-10 schedule from four productions to two.

Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that Kansas City’s best theatrical artists founded the passionate troupe, not its best businesspeople.

The company is a nonprofit entity with only one full-time staff member, but is having difficulty making ends meet during the current financial downturn. But anyone who has attended one of their productions will undoubtedly root for the folks behind KCAT to overcome their fiscal troubles.

Audrey Porsche, the company’s director of development and marketing, remains optimistic.

“Our ticket sales exceeded expectations, doubling what we set as our goal,” Porsche said. “The response really was terrific. We are certainly stepping up our fundraising efforts, applying for more grants from new sources, looking at new initiatives, etc.”

KCAT is holding its first “Holiday Brouhaha” on Saturday, Nov. 21. To help raise money for future productions, they are presenting a staged reading of the screwball farce “Inspecting Carol.”

The performance will take place at the J.C. Nichols Auditorium and Lobby in the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial, 100 W. 26th St., Kansas City, Mo.

“Inspecting Carol” depicts a struggling theater troupe’s disastrous attempts to mount Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Cast members include Melinda McCrary, Mark Robbins, Gary Holcombe and Walter Coppage, as well as Danny Baker, KCUR-FM development director. John Rensenhouse will handle the directing duties.

The evening also includes hors d’oeuvres by some of Kansas City’s best restaurants and caterers, including Scrape the Plate, Californo’s, Moxie Catering and Andre’s.   A silent auction will feature items such as a week’s stay in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

The company was founded in January of 2004 by a core group of the area’s best talent, including Robbins, Holcombe, Coppage, Tom Mardikes, James F. Mitchell, Greg Mackender, Gregg Markowski, and the late Carol Patterson and Elizabeth Robbins.

According to their mission statement, the company exists to “challenge and enlighten the Kansas City community by producing classic and modern-classic plays using Kansas City theatre artists.”

They have certainly lived up to the standards they set for themselves. The company has staged 14 plays and nearly 200 performances for more than 20,000 theater patrons.

Among the terrific productions they have mounted are Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” the “Talley Trilogy” by Missouri playwright Landford Wilson, and Martin McDonough’s “Cripple of Inishmaan,” which is probably the best theatrical event in the Kansas City area in the past five years.

The company has enjoyed an ongoing collaborative relationship with the University of Missouri-Kansas City theater department, providing young actors and theater tech students the opportunity to expand their horizons in a professional venue.

The next KCAT production will be Mamet’s only all-female show, “Boston Marriage,” directed by McCrary. This comedy set in the Victorian era will be staged in Janurary at the Webster House, a beautifully restored 1885 schoolhouse located in the Crossroads District, 1644 Walnut St., Kansas City, Mo.

For information, visit www.kcactors.org.

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