KC Rep to Stage The Living Room's Re-Imagined CAROUSEL, 3/8-31

Excitement is building for Kansas City Rep's presentation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel, directed by Kyle Hatley, the theatre's associate artistic director. This is the musical theatre event that sparked delight in hearts of audience members and critics alike when it was first presented in 2011 by The Living Room (TLR), one of Kansas City's most imaginative small theatre companies. The Rep is now bringing TLR's beautifully re-envisioned Carouselto Spencer Theatre for a second production.

The Rep's well-known theatrical craftsmanship, under the creative guidance of Hatley and TLR artistic director Rusty Sneary, has transformed the 650-seat Spencer Theatre into an intimate, 400-seat theatre-in-the-round to tell the universal story of love, longing and sacrifice.

Eric Rosen, artistic director of the Rep, has described TLR as, "Young, scrap­py, fiercely determined, collabora­tive, and endlessly inventive. The Living Room is more than just a theatre - it is a collection of young artists whose sense of ensemble and commitment has formed a home for dozens of emerging and established KC theatre artists. Kyle and his collaborators found a way to make this show ache with meaning, emo­tion, and intense musical power, thanks to a theatrical vocabulary that took the story down to its most elemental roots."

Hatley is a busy actor, director, playwright and producer. At the Rep, he has directed The Borderland, Broke-ology, A Christmas Carol 2010-12, Circle Mirror Transformation and Little Shop of Horrors. Hatley also acted in the Rep's productions of The Whipping Man and The Glass Menagerie.

The cast of Carousel includes:

Molly Denninghoff (Julie Jordan) KC Rep: A Christmas Carol, Saved. Local: James and the Giant Peach, Seussical, Frindle (Coterie Theatre); Carousel, This Is How It Goes (The Living Room); The Marvelous Wonderettes (American Heartland Theatre); Gypsy (Musical Theatre Heritage); In Trousers, Eating Raoul (Egads Theatre Company); Regional: The Buddy Holly Story, The Unexpected Guest, Boeing Boeing, Camelot (Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre); Quilters (Avalon Theatre Company); Okoboji Summer Theatre. Upcoming: The Buddy Holly Story (The New Theatre). Education: BFA Theatre Arts, Stephens College.

Georgia Dubois (Enoch Snow's Daughter) KC Rep: A Christmas Carol. Local: Coterie Theatre, Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, The Living Room. Georgia is in the 2014 class of Shawnee Mission East. She loves acting, running and apparel design.

Charles Fugate (Bascombe) KC Rep: Cabaret, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, A Christmas Carol. Local: Shipwrecked! (Spinning Tree Theatre); Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre); Next Fall (Unicorn), The Mousetrap, The Real Inspector Hound (Kansas City Actors Theatre); The Music Man, (Starlight Theatre); Our Town, Geppetto and Son, Frankenstein (Coterie Theatre); multiple performances at Quality Hill Playhouse, American Heartland, New Theatre. Regional: Quixote in Man of La Mancha, de Becque in South Pacific (Great Plains Theatre). Next: Hello Again (Spinning Tree Theatre).

Katie Gilchrist (Nettie) KC Rep: Pippin, Guys and Dolls. Local credits: Everyday Rapture, Hungry, Distracted, Rabbit Hole (Unicorn Theatre); Translations (Kansas City Actors Theatre); Tommy, Enchanted April, Hedda Gabler (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre); Talk Radio, Carousel, Betrayal, Bucket of Blood (The Living Room); The Scarlet Pimpernel (New Theatre); The Little Princess, 101 Dalmatians (Coterie Theatre). Education: MFA in Acting and Directing, UMKC. Upcoming: The Death of Cupid (The Living Room). www.kategilchrist.com

Liz Clark Golson (Carrie) KC Rep: debut. Local: The Marvelous Wonderettes (American Heartland Theatre); A Funny Thing...Forum, Pride and Prejudice (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre); The Music Man (Musical Theatre Heritage). Regional: Cabaret, Singin' in the Rain, HAIR, A Chorus Line, Sweeney Todd, Barefoot in the Park (Mount Washington VAlley Theatre Company); The Producers (Ivoryton Playhouse); Footloose (Jersey Shore Entertainment); Oklahoma! (Thomaston Opera House); Boeing Boeing (Seven Angels Theatre). Education: BFA, The Hartt School, University of Hartford.

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