Sometimes, things just come together perfectly. Just ask Amanda Boyle and Jeanne Tiehen. The two Kansas University Theatre doctoral candidates are both in their first year of the program and both are getting their first opportunity to direct on campus. It couldn’t have worked out ...

“Something’s coming, something good,” Tony sings in the first act of “West Side Story,” and he might have been announcing the arrival of what has become one of the most significant shows in American musical history. With a new tour hitting the Lied Center stage Tuesday night, KU ...

Fairy tales never grow old, but that doesn’t mean new life can’t be breathed into them. Thus, the classic story “Rapunzel” gets a new twist courtesy of the Paul Mesner Puppet company at the Lawrence Arts Center ...

Richard Hellesen doesn’t usually write historical plays. But when Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., asks you if you’d like to write something to open their new Center for Education and Leadership, well, you don’t say no. “I told them, yes, I was interested,” he says. “They ...

Any good artist will tell you that inspiration can strike anywhere. Still, one doesn’t expect it to happen while being stung by fire ants. “We were at a workshop taking place in the Outback,” says Jacob Rajan, who co-wrote and stars in Indian Ink Theatre Company’s production of ...

When you have a story featuring monsters, gods and larger-than-life heroes, it’s not an easy thing to put onstage. Ric Averill, the Lawrence Arts Center’s artistic director of performing arts, was not daunted. He got a lot of help. “We have 45 young actors, 15 community actors, and ...