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Stubler previews The Living Room

Brian Stubler, actor/writer, previews The Living Room‘s Spring lineup.

Spring will be an exciting time for one of Kansas City’s most innovative and unique playhouses, the Living Room theater, established in 2010 by Shawnna Journagan & Rusty Sneary.

Located in the ever-expanding Crossroads Arts district of Kansas City, the Living Room offers an intimate theatrical experience where the audience, seated in comfortable couches and chairs, literally become immersed by the intimacy of the space and the powerful performances of its actors.

The line-up begins with Mitch Brian’s adaptation of a 1950’s b-movie classic, “A Bucket of Blood.” The production, directed by Kansas City’s Cody Wyoming, stars Matt Weiss as Walter Paisley, a simple busboy who discovers a passion for becoming a sculptor, whatever the cost, even murder. It also headlines Forrest Attaway (previously seen in “The Seagull” at the MET Theater) as Maxwell Brock, a beatnik poet whose penchant for espousing prose will have you snapping your fingers and tapping your bongos.

In addition the cast will feature Kimberely Queen, Damian Blake, and Kelly Main with a supporting cast including Meredith Wolfe, Coleman Crenshaw, Emma Taylor, Bryan Moses, Matt Anderson and Brian Stubler.

The production will be a campy delight, rounded off by some of Kansas City’s finest musicians, Jeff Freling, Johnny Hamil, Kent Burnham, and the lovely vocalist Katie Gilchrist, with original music by Wyoming and Christian Hankel. A bloody and hilarious treat definitely not to be missed!

To find out what he says about the next two at The Living Room (Dog Sees God and Titus Andronicus) continue reading on Examiner.com Get Ready For The Living Room Theater’s Exciting 2012 Spring Lineup! – Kansas City Nightlife | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/nightlife-in-kansas-city/get-ready-for-the-living-room-theater-s-exciting-2012-spring-lineup#ixzz1n1wq1hWj

For more info on Bucket of Blood check out this rocking Promo Video.

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KC Star Preview of Bucket of Blood

Horror will stalk KC stages

Two upcoming productions take their inspirations from campy filmmaker Roger Corman.

BY ROBERT TRUSSELL

The Kansas City Star

The spirit of legendary B-movie director Roger Corman will hover over the Kansas City theater scene this spring.

In March, the Living Room will present “A Bucket of Blood,” a new stage version of a comic horror film set against the backdrop of 1950s beatnik culture that Corman shot for $50,000 in a lumberyard. The film, written by Charles B. Griffith, is a satire on visual art as a young artist finds fame by creating “sculptures” that are actually people encased in plaster.

The version at the Living Room was adapted by screenwriter/playwright Mitch Brian and will be directed by Cody Wyoming. The enormous cast includes actors and artists who are part of the Living Room creative family: Matt Weiss, Forrest Attaway, Damian Blake, Kelly Main, Coleman Crenshaw, Meredith Wolfe, Kimberley Queen (who is also designing the show), Matt Anderson, Brian Stubler, Bryan Moses and Emma Taylor. The production will also feature live music created by Johnny Hamil, Jeff Freling, Kent Burnham, Christian Hankel, Katie Gilchrist and Wyoming.

The show runs March 19-April 1. You can find more information at thelivingroomkc .com. The downtown theater is at 1818 McGee St.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/15/3429613/horror-will-stalk-kc-stages.html

Preview Excerpts for The Seagull

‘The Seagull’: The art of unrequited love

MET seeks the humor and entertainment in Chekhov’s ‘The Seagull.’

BY ROBERT TRUSSELL

The Kansas City Star

Director Karen Paisley summarizes Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” this way: sex, death, love and marvelous clothes.

This week the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre opens the first local professional production of a play by the Russian dramatist in 11 years.

Yes, the denizens of Chekhov’s plays are miserable. But they can also be funny. Chekhov, who died in 1904 at the age of 44, considered “The Seagull” a comedy, and the translation Paisley chose — by British playwright Tom Stoppard — certainly reads funny on the printed page.

“One of the things we always talk about is, you gotta find the funny,” Paisley said. “Nobody’s interested in coming to the theater for two hours of wrist-slitting. … These great plays are like that. You can approach them as if they are sacred text. But I don’t think the playwrights ever intended for them to be that.”

[…]

Paisley has put together an impressive creative team for this show. Scenic designer Jason Coale, who has built sets for the Unicorn and the New Theatre, among other companies, has designed his first scenery for the MET since creating a visually striking set for the company’s production of “Copenhagen” in 2008. Newcomer Shannon Smith designed the “marvelous clothes.”

And the cast would be considered exceptional by any theater company in town.

Cheryl Weaver, last seen delivering a powerhouse performance in KC Rep’s “August: Osage County,” plays Irina Arkadina, the fading actress. Forrest Attaway, who has chalked up a series of fine performances at the MET and the Living Room, plays Trigorin, the novelist. Robert Gibby Brand, whose performances at the MET have been exceptional across the board, plays Dorn, a doctor. The excellent Richard Alan Nichols appears as Sorin, Irina’s brother and owner of the estate.

The big cast also includes MET veterans Alan Tilson and Nancy Marcy as the estate manager and his wife, and a group of younger actors who demand our attention: Coleman Crenshaw, Ashlee LaPine, Chris Roady and Jessica Franz.

Read more of Robert Trussell’s preview at The KC Star

The Seagull opens Friday, Jan 13th at 7:30pm at The Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre and runs until Jan 29th.  Catch a preview performance Thursday (Jan 12) at 7:30!