Kansas City Rep announces new season, with musicals, a tribute to local playwright

Dan Kelly
·4 min read
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The Kansas City Repertory Theater will honor a resident legend during its 2024-25 season.

Nathan Louis Jackson, a Kansas City, Kansas, native who was the KC Rep’s playwright in residence from 2013 to 2019, died Aug. 22 at the age of 44. To celebrate his memory, the upcoming season announced Wednesday by artistic director Stuart Carden features Jackson’s “Broke-ology.”

The season will also feature two Broadway musicals, the return of “A Christmas Carol” and a season finale to be announced later.

As for Jackson’s work, Carden said, “It’s going to be really meaningful to produce his play again. It will be 15 years exactly since we first produced ‘Broke-ology.’

“Many of us that loved him and admired his work are honoring him this year and really working to cement his legacy, both in the theater world and in the television world.”

When KC Rep produced Nathan Louis Jackson’s “Broke-ology” in 2010, it starred, from left, David Emerson Toney, Postell Pringle and Larry Powell.
When KC Rep produced Nathan Louis Jackson’s “Broke-ology” in 2010, it starred, from left, David Emerson Toney, Postell Pringle and Larry Powell.

Jackson, the Rep’s most-produced playwright, also wrote for TV shows such as “Shameless” and “Luke Cage.”

He wrote “Broke-ology” while a student at the famed Juilliard School in New York. It premiered in 2008 at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts and opened a year later off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center after Jackson had received his diploma in playwriting from Juilliard.

KC Rep produced “Broke-ology” in 2010 and went on to stage Jackson’s “When I Come to Die” (2014), “Sticky Traps” (2015) and “Brother Toad” (2018).

Like “Brother Toad,” which deals with the reactions of the community to the shootings of two Black teenagers, “Broke-ology” is set in the Kansas City area — specifically KCK. Despite his success in New York and Hollywood, Jackson chose to live and raise his family in his hometown.

“This is his most personal play,” Carden said.

As for the rest of the 2024-25 season, Carden said that amid the “complications and stress in the world” he focused on assembling a slate of “joyous, theatrically adventurous, really fun and funny and emotionally resonant experiences.”

They will begin with two musicals.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova played Irish musicians and lovers in the 2007 movie “Once.”
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova played Irish musicians and lovers in the 2007 movie “Once.”

“Once” is an actor-musician piece, with all the music played by the 13-actor cast. It also will feature an onstage bar where patrons can buy drinks before the curtain rises.

“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” is a Billie Holiday jukebox musical that will include a local three-piece jazz band. Carden said KC Rep will conduct auditions nationwide for the lead role, but said, “With the rich scene here, I’m hopeful we can identify a local Billie Holiday for our production.”

KC Rep will celebrate the music of Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” running Oct. 8-27.
KC Rep will celebrate the music of Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” running Oct. 8-27.

Next on the schedule will be KC Rep’s 40-plus-year holiday tradition of “A Christmas Carol,” which will return after setting attendance records last year, followed by “Broke-ology” and a yet-to-be-finalized season finale.

Missing from the 2024-25 schedule is “Ghost Light,” which had been KC Rep’s free outdoor Halloween-season production for the past four years. Carden said it is the victim of budget constraints, although he labeled this a one-year hiatus. “I’m not giving up on it,” he said.

KCRep for All, on the other hand, will return. Each season the Rep takes one show on the road to neighborhood centers, public libraries and the like. This season’s offering, “Nina Simone: Four Women,” will make 10 tour stops starting March 7. Carden said next year “Broke-ology” will go to 12 neighborhoods, with an emphasis on KCK.

Season tickets are available now; single tickets will go on sale July 17. More information at kcrep.org.

Stuart Carden, artistic director of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, will direct the season opener, “Once,” which he called “one my all-time favorite musicals.”
Stuart Carden, artistic director of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, will direct the season opener, “Once,” which he called “one my all-time favorite musicals.”

Kansas City Repertory Theatre 2024-25 Season

“Once,” Sept. 3-22, Spencer Theatre: Based on the 2007 movie about two struggling musicians in Dublin, “Once” won the 2012 Tony Award for best musical.

“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” Oct. 8-27, Copaken Stage: This musical features Billie Holiday’s biggest hits, including “Strange Fruit” and “God Bless the Child.”

“A Christmas Carol,” Nov. 23-Dec. 28, Spencer Theatre: The KC Rep’s holiday classic returns for another year, as does Gary Neal Johnson in the role of Scrooge.

“Broke-ology,” Feb. 11-March 2, Copaken Stage: A family in Kansas City, Kansas, navigates the challenges of love and duty with a blend of humor and pathos.

TBA, May 6-25, Spencer Theatre: The final show of the season will be announced at a later date.