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Starlight Theatre (Kansas City, Missouri)

7,958-seat outdoor theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Starlight Theatre
Map
Location4600 Starlight Road
Kansas City, Missouri 64132
Coordinates 39°00′28′′N 94°32′05′′W / 39.007813°N 94.5348°W / 39.007813; -94.5348
OwnerCity of Kansas City, Missouri
OperatorStarlight Theatre Association
Live Nation (concert booking)
Capacity Starlight: 7,739
Cohen: 1,200
Construction
Broke ground1925
OpenedJune 4, 1950
Construction cost1ドル.5 million
ArchitectEdward Buehler Delk
Tenants
Broadway Shows
Concerts
Starlight Indoors
Community Engagement Programming
Website
www.kcstarlight.com

Starlight Theatre is a 7,739-seat[1] outdoor theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, United States that presents Broadway shows and concerts. It is one of the two major remaining self-producing outdoor theatres in the U.S. and Starlight's Cohen stagehouse also permits it to present many national Broadway touring shows.

History

[edit ]
Starlight Theatre stage.

Starlight Theatre’s story dates back to 1925, the year Romania’s Queen Marie paid a visit to Kansas City. To celebrate her arrival, the Kansas City Federation of Music organized a showcase of local talent for the Queen that was also open to the public.

Profits from the showcase were then placed in the city trust and proposals for the location of Kansas City’s outdoor theatre began. One suggested site was where Kansas City Art Institute now stands, but area residents disapproved of building such a large structure in their neighborhood. Another possible location was just north of University of Missouri–Kansas City, although these plans were also shelved because officials feared the theatre would compete with the newly completed Municipal Auditorium.

After 15 years of proposals, the need for a venue to house celebrations commemorating Kansas City’s 100th birthday sped up the process. A committee was quickly chosen, Swope Park was deemed the location, and construction began in December 1949. On June 3rd, 1950, in a facility not yet fully complete, the historical revue, Thrills of a Century, opened at Starlight Theatre in celebration of Kansas City’s 100th birthday. The show played nightly through July 10. Hundreds of local citizens participated in the pageant, and thousands turned out each night. Show highlights included the staging of the Battle of Westport, and the original locomotive that crossed the Hannibal Bridge 81 years before chugging across the stage on specially built rails.

Following the success of Thrills of a Century, the Starlight Theatre Association of Kansas City, Inc., was formed as a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization. John A. Moore was elected as the association’s first president, and New York veteran Richard Berger was hired as Starlight’s first producing director, a position he would hold through 1971.

Starlight opened its first Broadway season with the performance of The Desert Song on June 25, 1951.

In 1958, Jerry Lewis paid for a stage extension that covered the orchestra pit. In the early 1980s, the stage was permanently extended over the orchestra pit, bringing on stage action closer to the audience. This extension lasted until the building of the 10-story Jeannette and Jerome Cohen Community Stage in 2000.

During the 1960s production of the musical Mr. President , President Harry S. Truman made a guest appearance in the opening night show. An attack of appendicitis forced Truman to leave Starlight by ambulance during the intermission.[2]

Starlight is one of two self-producing outdoor theatres in the U.S.[3] [4]

The addition of the Jeannette and Jerome Cohen Community Stage in 2000 made it one of the largest roadhouses in the country. Starlight began presenting major national tours in 2000 to bring more recent and contemporary Broadway musicals to Kansas City.

Starlight Theatre hosted Great Plains' musicians Melissa Etheridge (from Kansas) in 1994, Sheryl Crow (from southern Missouri) in 2008, 311 from Omaha in 2013, and The Fray from Denver in 2009.

To provide entertainment year-round to current patrons and new audiences, Starlight created a live indoor theatre series called Starlight Indoors that premiered in 2015. Featuring small comedies, musicals, parodies and other unconventional shows, Starlight Indoors is presented inside the heated performance space of Starlight’s Cohen Community Stage House.

Broadway show history

[edit ]
1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
1956 1957 1958 1959 1960
1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
1966 1967 1968 1969 1970
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
1986 1987 1988 1989
  • Bye Bye Birdie
  • Annie
  • The King and I
  • Fiddler on the Roof
1990
  • Oklahoma!
  • Camelot
  • West Side Story
  • Brigadoon
1991 1992
  • The Music Man
  • Peter Pan
  • Show Boat
  • Hello Dolly!
1993
  • Big River
  • Oliver!
  • 42nd Street
  • Annie Get Your Gun
  • Tommy Tune Tonight

1993-1994 Indoor Series at the Midland Theatre

  • Lost in Yonkers
  • The Who's Tommy
  • Sayonara
  • The Secret Garden
1994 1995
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
2001 2002 2003 2004
  • Cats
  • Annie
  • The King and I
  • Camelot
  • Chicago
2005
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
2011 2012 2013 2014[5] 2015
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

All shows postponed / cancelled due to COVID-19

2021 2022 2023 2024
  • The Cher Show
  • STOMP
  • Disney's The Little Mermaid
  • Shrek The Musical
  • Come From Away
  • West Side Story
  • Peter Pan

[6]

Upcoming Season

[edit ]
2025
  • Mean Girls
  • School of Rock
  • Ain't Too Proud
  • Disney's Frozen
  • Life of Pi

Indoor Show History

[edit ]
2015
  • 50 Shades! The Musical - The Original Parody
2016
  • Dixie's Tupperware Party
  • Late Nite Catechism
  • Potted Potter
  • One-Man Star Wars Trilogy
2016 - 2017
  • The Secret Comedy of Women: Girls Only
  • Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, Live!
  • Sister's Christmas Catechism
  • First Date!
  • Disenchanted!
2018
  • Forbidden Broadway
  • Dixie's Never Wear a Tube Top While Riding a Mechanical Bull
  • Broadway's Next Hit Musical
2018 - 2019
  • The Naked Magicians
  • Sister Strikes Again!
  • One Funny Mother
  • Friends! The Musical Parody
  • American Girl Live
2019 - 2020
  • Spamilton: An American Parody
  • Dixie's Tupperware Party
  • The Office! A Musical Parody
  • That Golden Girls Show! - A Puppet Parody
2020 - 2021 Starlight@Home
  • The Hip Hop Nutcracker
  • Dixie's Happy Hour
  • Starhaven Rounders
  • Rhythm of the Dance
  • The Sorcerer's Apprentice
  • Rock of Ages (The All-Star Reunion Concert)
2022 - 2023
  • The Crown - Live! a parody by Daniel Clarkson
  • Dixie Longate: Cherry Bombs & Bottle Rockets
  • The Second City Hits Home
  • Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation

See also

[edit ]

References and notes

[edit ]
  1. ^ Technical Specifications
  2. ^ Roe, Dr. Jason. "Starry, Starry Nights". The Kansas City Public Library. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  3. ^ "Starlight's History". Starlight.
  4. ^ Cole, Suzanne P.; Engle, Tim; Winkler, Eric (April 23, 2012). "50 things every Kansas Citian should know". Kansas City Star . Archived from the original on May 7, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  5. ^ "Starlight Theatre Announces 2014 Broadway Season". Archived from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  6. ^ "Starlight's Broadway Show History". Starlight. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
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