Wichita Live Theatre Guide: Spring 2022

Spring brings a brand-new audience interactive comedy to Mosley Street Melodrama! Launch into laughs with "Kids in Space," written by Scott Noah and starring a galaxy of Wichita favorites. It's paired with a musical "Journey Through the Cosmos" in the second act and runs April 1–May 14.

Next up, you'll have the time of your life at "Dirty Square Dancing." Mosley Street Melodrama brings back this favorite by Carol Hughes May 27–July 9.

Tickets are available for show only or show plus dinner or brunch.

Roxy's wraps up its excellent 2021–2022 season with two new-to-Wichita musicals. "Bright Star," running April 7–24, is inspired by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's Grammy-winning collaboration and features a delightful country and bluegrass score. (Did you know that Steve Martin is a bluegrass banjo master?) The musical brings the North Carolina folk tale of Iron Mountain Baby to life.

In the multi-award-winning "Priscilla: Queen of the Desert," two drag queens and a transgender woman travel to perform a drag show at a resort town in the remote Australian desert. Traveling aboard their lavender tour bus, Priscilla, they encounter a number of strange characters and incidents, widening comfort zones and finding new horizons wherever they go. This musical runs May 5–22.

Wichita Community Theatre continues its 76th season with a dramedy by Neil Simon. In "Jake's Women," running April 21–May 1, a novelist faces a marital crisis by imagining conversations with the women in his life. These include his daughter, his revered first wife who died young, his boisterous and bossy sister, his witty and opinionated therapist, his current wife from whom he is separated, and his new girlfriend. The scenarios vary between wildly hilarious and heartbreaking as Jake navigates the balance of creativity and reality. Fans of Neil Simon will want to take this opportunity to see one of his lesser-produced works.

If you love golf or just love to laugh, you'll want to see "The Ladies Foursome" by Norm Foster, running June 9–19. The day after Catherine's funeral, three of her friends gather on the green to play a round in her honor. They are joined unexpectedly by another old friend of Catherine's whom they've never met…and who has some revelations to share. Over the course of 18 holes, secrets and confessions unravel as the women discuss love, sex, family, and everything in between.

Melodrama returns to the Empire House Theater at Old Cowtown Museum with the formation of a new theatrical troupe! The Empire House Players will present "A Sure Bet (or Marryin' a Librarian" by Patricia Middleton April 29–May 1.

When a town founder dies and leaves his fortune to build a library, villain Jack Pott steals the will and tries to convince the citizens to build a casino instead! Heroine Paige Turner tries to avert the impending moral crisis with the help of heroic Texas Ranger Darren Deeds, who is hot on the trail of another con man…or could the two villains be one and the same? Boo the villain and cheer on the heroes as you enjoy a delightfully punny performance.

The Forum Theatre Company brings another new-to-Wichita musical to the stage with "Five Guys Named Moe," running April 29–May 15. In this high energy hit, down-on-his-luck Nomax gets inspiration from five "Moes" on the radio. Enjoy a jazz-laced rhythm and blues score of classic Louis Jordan songs, performed by a stellar dancing cast and five-piece band.

Last year, the new Crown Arts Collaborative brought live theatre back to the historic Crown Uptown Theatre with a pre-season of three successful shows. Now, CAC opens its 2022 theatre lineup with the landmark musical "Rent," running April 29–May 22. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, "Rent" is a timeless story about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today.

See the kooky characters you know and love in a new way in "The Addams Family Musical," running June 3–26. What will happen when goth princess Wednesday falls in love with a "normal" young man from a respectable family? Can the two families come together, or will all end in disaster?

Tickets are available for show only or show and dinner.

Dinner and a show? Enjoy an all-inclusive evening of entertainment at Prairie Pines, with a high-energy interactive comedy played between courses of a delicious meal. Their spring show, "Lost to Space," is written by Wichita theatre favorites Tim and Karen Robu, and runs May 27–July 2.

Kechi Playhouse celebrates its 40th anniversary this year! This is an amazing accomplishment for the independently owned and operated theatre, run by the Wichita theatre community's beloved Misty Maynard. The season opens with a hilarious love letter to community theatre—"Play On!" by Rick Abbot. In this madcap comedy, running June 10–26, a theatre group desperately attempts to put on a murder mystery while the playwright keeps changing the script. Everything that can go wrong…does!

Any recommendations or upcoming shows we missed? Share in the comments!