$5 MARCH 2012 magazine $5 MAY 2012 WWW.KCSTAGE.COM STEVE THOMPSON Gilchrist t t t t t t t t t t t t YOUR ad could go right here. t t See back panel for details! t waNT to TRY SOMETHING t NEW?! t belly dance classes! ·Belton ·Brookside ·Midtown KC ·Lee’s Summit Performances in KC + beyond. Available for Girls’ Night In, Bachelorette Parties, Wedding Receptions & MORE! NEXT MONTH’S [troupeduende.com] SPOTLIGHT: MARCUS MULL Blog Notes www.kcstage.com/blog Artist Inc Receives National MAC’s Budget Increased Foundation Grant The Missouri House budget committee Artist INC, a collaborative partnership voted to add $600,000 to the Missouri Arts of the Charlotte Street Foundation, the Council’s budget. Since the governor has Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas recommended an additional $600,000, City, and the UMKC Innovation Center, it brings the recommended amount received a $30,000 grant from the Emily to $1.2 million. The committee also Hall Tremaine Foundation, a Connecticut- recommended an increase of $100,000 based national arts funder, to support to Missouri Humanities Council, Public business training seminars for local artists. Broadcasting, Historic Preservation, and The Artist INC grant is the first Tremaine the Library Networking Fund. For more Foundation award given to a Kansas advocacy news, check with the Missouri Citizens for the Arts at www.mo4arts.org. City program or organization. For more Cover photo by Bob Compton information, visit www.artistinckc.com. New Administrative Top Billing Kansas City Young Audiences Appointments at KC Rep Spotlight on Katie Gilchrist .......................2 Present Awards Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s artistic Starring Kansas City Young Audiences presented director Eric Rosen has announced Summer Reading Guide ...........................4 their annual distinguished artist and two appointments to the theatre’s IFKC Presents ........................................11 educator awards at its bAm! (because administrative staff: Rob Knop is the new Seasons ................................................12 ARTS matter) event on March 29. The senior director of marketing and Jennifer Ingraham is the new senior director for event recognizes the educators and Stand-Ins teaching artists who have enabled the advancement. Knop was with the Seattle Repertory Theatre for fourteen years in Blog Notes ..............................................1 organization to achieve its mission of Events .....................................................3 providing arts education experiences to a number of roles, and holds a BA in communications from Syracuse University. Performances ..........................................6 the youth of Greater Kansas City. The Calendar ................................................8 Lighton Prize for Teaching Artist Excellence, Ingraham comes from Park University as Film Clips .............................................15 recognizing excellence by professional the director of corporate and foundation Auditions ..............................................17 teaching artists, was presented to Cathy relations for three years, and holds an MS Barton and Dave Para. The Distinguished in journalism and integrated marketing Cast of Characters Educator Award, honoring educators and communications from the University of Scott Bowling ............................Webmaster Kansas. Tricia Kyler Bowling ...............Subscriber Rep school representatives who understand the Richard Buswell .................Managing Editor importance of integrating the arts into daily Bryan Colley .......................... Blog Curator classroom curriculum, was presented to ArtsKC Gives Inspiration Grants Jamie Lin .........................Editorial Assistant Libia Kozisek of the Blue Valley School The Arts Council of Metropolitan Greater Angie Fiedler Sutton ............ Associate Editor District. For more information, visit www. Kansas City has offered $7,266 in Cassandra Whitney ......... Graphic Designer kcya.org. Inspiration grants for eight local artists: Letters to the Editor ...... [email protected] Griffen Alexander, Trey Bryan, Jason Dixon, Ari Fish, Greg Haynes, Julie KC Stage is available at Barnes & Noble on Malen, Deborah Riley, and Nihan Yesil. the Plaza and http://kcstage.magcloud.com. The Inspiration grants range from $500 If you’re interested in selling KC Stage or to $1,500 each, and artists interested in would like to have us send you an issue, call applying should go to www.ArtsKC.org/ ArtistServices.aspx. (816) 23-STAGE. KCVol. 15 • No.STAGE 7 • Issue 153 • May 2012 [email protected] • (816) 23-STAGE PO Box 410492 • Kansas City, Missouri 64141-0492 June Deadline: May 10 www.kcstage.com © Copyright 2012 by KC Stage. All material contained in this pub- lication is the property of or licensed for use by KC Stage. Any use, duplication, or reproduction of any or all content of this publication is prohibited except with the express written permission of KC Stage or the original copyright holders. Printing by Alphagraphics. www.kcstage.com MAY 2012 1 Spotlight on Katie Gilchrist by Pete Bakely What’s Katie Gilchrist Doing Now? Where Did Katie Gilchrist Come From? Let’s say you were to try to follow Katie Gilchrist and She’s a Kansas City woman born and raised. Her father see every show she was doing. Let’s narrow it down a was a firefighter. And the urge to perform bloomed late. little. Let’s try to see every show she was involved in “I was a jock,” she says, “and the only reason I for the Months of February and March 2012. auditioned was my best friend at the time was doing First, you would had to have seen Oleanna, David it. It was The Wizard of Oz. It was the first time I heard Mamet’s terrifying play about sexual politics in an audience laugh at something I’d done. And I did academia which was presented at the Living Room every single show after.” Theater in February. Katie directed David Fritts and At Archbishop O’Hara High school, after her Lauren Friedlander in the tense drama. conversion (to acting) she was active in theater and On February 15, you would have seen Katie sing with choir, but had no formal training until she got into Cody Wyoming at Californo’s in Westport as part of college. the national Love Hangover music festival. She went to St. Mary’s College in Leavenworth on a On February 23, 24, and 25, you would have seen her soccer/theater/music/academic scholarship. “I played play Yitzhak in the concert production of Hedwig and soccer all the way through. They just kind of threw the Angry Inch with Justin Van Pelt at the Off Center money at me for everything,” she laughs. “I did a lot Theater. of theater and played a lot of soccer.” Previews for Hungry, featuring Katie in a leading St. Mary’s gave her the opportunity to perform many role, began February 29 at the Unicorn Theater. It ran different types of parts. She was in Stephen Sondheim’s until March 18. musical Company. At the age of nineteen she played Immediately following this, Katie dropped into The Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. And she played Helena in A Living Room’s production of Bucket of Blood, a stage Midsummer’s Night Dream opposite local actress and working of the classic Roger Corman horror film, where producer Heidi Van. “Heidi’s the only one who’s ever she sang husky chanteuse numbers every night. really made me crack up onstage.” She was also in rehearsals for The New Century Follies, She graduated in 1999. Time passed. She got married. a burlesque review presented at the renovated Folly She auditioned for and was accepted into the UMKC Theater where she sang with her longtime friends and MFA program as an actor. Somewhere in there she got collaborators Caroline Oates and Annie Cherry. She divorced. began rehearsals for “Dream Ballet”, a short play by Alli “UMKC lost me a husband and gained me a life. A Jordan that Katie’s directing as part of the inTENsity lot of the things I believe and the philosophies I adhere short play program at the Fishtank Performance Studio to as a performer came from that program.” at the end of April. Not wanting to lose any aspect of the opportunity Oh, and every Thursday night you would catch her she was given, she missed only one day out of the three singing with the band Hot Caution at the Czar Bar from years she attended. That was when her goddaughter 10 until 1. made her first communion. What most performers consider a good year, Katie The grad school experience put her in classes with did in two months. She shows no sign of letting up. teachers from all around the country, especially from Unbelievably, I managed to find two hours in her the Dell’Arte School in California. They had a rotating schedule to interview her about her life and career as teacher in the UMKC faculty and their style of physical one of the hardest working performers in the Kansas comedy has been highly influential on Katie. She also City area. worked with Cynthia Levin of the Unicorn and that association continues today. Continued on page 14 2 KCSTAGE “Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.” ~ Alfred Hitchcock Events Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City Arts Advocacy: May 23: 5:15 pm Wed The mission of the Arts Advocacy Council is to develop a unified effort for the purpose of influencing public arts policy and funding in Kansas City metropolitan government agencies. Meetings are free and open to the public, so please be sure to invite your friends, family, and co-workers. Enjoy complimentary appetizers and drinks, network with arts advocates, and stay up-to-date on the latest arts news in the Kansas City metropolitan region. Kansas City Young Audiences, 5601 Wyandotte St, (816) 994- 9245, www.artskc.org Arts Cultural Competency Workshop: May 30: 8:30 am Wed The Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City invites you to attend our Cultural Competency Workshop with Dr. Doris Wright Carroll. It is the Arts Council’s goal that through this workshop organizations and individuals will learn how to capitalize not only on their own cultural strengths as an organization but to embrace the cultural strengths of those around them.