 | Wayne Bryan, now in his 18th season as producing director for Music Theatre of Wichita, has produced over 75 large scale musicals, and helped guide MTW to being the highest subscribed arts organization in Kansas. Broadway acting credits include Good News!, Tintypes, and Rodgers and Hart (supervised by Richard Rodgers). TV credits include "M*A*S*H" (CBS), "American History" (PBS), and "Keystone" (A&E). Awards: 1999 Brotherhood Sisterhood Award from NCCJ; 2002 Recipient of Governor's Arts Award; Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago) as director; Atlas Award (San Diego) as actor. Co-authored new version of Good News! seen around the world, author of many articles on musical theatre. He can be reached at WBryanKS@aol.com, or at the Music Theatre office (316) 265-3253. |
Arts & Entertainment
2006-05-01 16:01:00
Music Theatre presents ‘Broadway’
Question: Broadway Theatre in Wichita, is it possible?
ANSWER: The Silver Screen meets the Great White Way in Music Theatre of Wichita’s 35th Anniversary season, presenting five Broadway musicals inspired by classic films.Broadway and the cinema have always been linked. In the early days of the “talkies,” movie moguls in California began making films out of Broadway shows, and importing actors with legitimate stage experience (since they evidently knew how to talk!). Since then, most great stage plays have been turned into films.But lately this process has been reversed, with well-remembered movies becoming full-scale Broadway musicals. Current New York hits include “Hairspray,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “The Color Purple,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Tarzan,” and “The Phantom of the Opera,” all of which are indebted to screen versions that made those titles well-known to the theater-going public. So this year, Music Theatre of Wichita “Goes to the Movies!”“The Full Monty” kicks off the season with its raucously funny and deeply touching story of six unemployed blue collar workers who become hapless male strippers for one night only. Based on the Academy Award winning film of the same name, this recent Broadway smash is a real winner. The men of “The Full Monty” will bare all (or will they?) June 7-11. (This show is recommended for mature audiences, due to adult language and brief nudity.)“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” brings the MGM classic film to the stage June 21-25. Seven robust frontiersmen woo potential spouses with breathtakingly athletic dances. MTW proudly presented this show in 1993, but the exceptional dancers hired for this season at MTW might make this the most spectacular dance show ever presented here. “The Wizard of Oz” is an all-family favorite with a thrilling cyclone, singing Munchkins, flying Monkeys, dancing Jitterbugs, and a melting Witch. The excitement is live, onstage, July 5-9. The adventures of Dorothy, the Tin Man, Lion, Scarecrow and Toto are suitable for the entire family. (A specially edited 90-minute matinee is being offered Saturday morning, July 8, at 10 a.m., to which children 3 and older will be admitted. Our usual minimum age requirement is 5.)“Sweet Charity” will have you singing “Hey, Big Spender” for weeks! Adapted by Bob Fosse from the classic Italian film “Nights of Cabiria,” this sizzler enjoyed a recent revival on Broadway, but hasn’t been seen at MTW for thirteen years. Dance hall hostess Charity Hope Valentine casts her spell in Wichita July 19-23. “Thoroughly Modern Millie” will close the season with another spectacular MTW Premiere. Millie Dillmount (from Kansas!) takes New York City by storm as she changes the lives of everyone she meets. See the Roaring Twenties brought to life in this Tony Award winning “Best Musical” from August 2-6. Individual ticket prices range from $14-$48, with discounts for seniors, students, and groups of 20 or more. For information, simply contact the Music Theatre of Wichita Box Office at 316-265-3107, or you can visit the website www.musictheatreofwichita.org for all the latest details.
