Wichita Theatre Fall Preview 2018

Here’s your chance to check one of Shakespeare’s rarest plays off your “seen-it” list. This sharp satire plays in several Wichita area parks throughout September.

Performances are free to the public, though donations are accepted. Pack a picnic dinner, some bug spray, a blanket or lawn chair, and enjoy Shakespeare in the Park!

Fri Sept 7 – College Hill Park, Wichita

Sat Sept 8 – Hap McLean Park, Park City

Sun Sept 9 – Andover Sports Park

Fri Sept 14 – College Hill Park, Wichita

Sat Sept 15 – Buffalo Park, Wichita

Sun Sept 16 – Central Riverside Park, Wichita

Fri Sept 21 – Central Riverside Park, Wichita

Sat Sept 22 – High Park Amphitheater, Derby

Sun Sept 23 – Wichita Scottish Rite (indoor performance)

Kechi Playhouse wraps up its 36th season with two very different shows. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, based on Robert Fulghum's best-selling books, is a funny, charming and heartwarming look at what’s profound in everyday life. A series of stories celebrates the human existence, from whimsical childhood to the wisdom of old age. This revue style show with music runs Aug 31 - Sept 23.

IX’TICHA** Spider-God of the Amazon!!!, running Sept 28 - Oct 28, is a spot-on take on the B-movie monster flicks of the 1940s and 50s. You’ll be screaming...with laughter! If you’re lucky, you may even get a photo op with the giant spider after the show. This audience favorite returns to the Playhouse and is written by Kechi Playhouse owner and producer Misty Maynard.

Need to entertain out-of-town guests, or just wanting to have a fun night out? A show at Mosley Street Melodrama is the ticket. You’ll be in stitches all though the audience-interactive comedy, then humming and toe-tapping along during the musical comedy revue that follows. See Young Frank Einstein from September 6–October 27, and Will Santa Drink Canada Dry? Or Go Tell It To the Mountie from November 8–December 30. Holiday season shows fill up FAST at Mosley Street, so book early.

(Wichita theatre pro tip: there are Uncensored versions of Mosley shows performed one night only after the regular performance. Check out their website for details.)

A delightful valentine to the heroes of World War II, The Andrews Brothers plays at Roxy’s from September 21–October 14. A USO performance from the Andrews Sisters is in jeopardy of cancellation when they fail to appear shortly before curtain. Thankfully three earnest stagehands are determined to go on with the show! Mistaken identities and madcap adventures ensue—imagine Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in a road movie of Some Like It Hot! This show features over 25 songs made famous by the Andrews Sisters, including the showstoppers “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Slow Boat to China,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” and “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive."

Looking for something fun to do with your friends and family visiting Wichita? Introduce them to Wichita’s favorite comedic duo! Kyle Vespestad and Monte Wheeler return to deliver all new songs, all new laughs, and plenty of holiday cheer in The Kyle & Monte Christmas Musical 3. It starts November 16 and runs through December 23. This show will sell out quickly, so make your reservations early.

Roxy’s is 18 to enter, 21 to drink.

The Forum Theatre Company brings three new-to-Wichita shows to this stage this fall. Bonnie & Clyde, a new musical, tells the story of the notorious and ill-fated lovers with a score composed of blues, gospel and rockabilly. It runs September 27–October 14.

Wichita favorite Ray Wills stars in Barrymore, playing November 1–11. John Barrymore, no longer a leading star, must reckon with the ravages of his life of excess as he prepares for a comeback. As he prepares for a triumphant return to Broadway in Richard III, his memorization fails him while memories claim him. This play offers a look into the career and life of the legendary actor.

This Forum is offering something new this year for the holidays with a production of Winter Wonderettes. It’s Christmas 1968. When Santa is a no-show, the four Marvelous Wonderettes hop into action to save the Harper’s Hardware Holiday Party. Packed full of iconic 60s versions of classic holiday hits, this new musical offers sparkling family-friendly holiday fun. It runs from November 29–December 16.

If you love a good mystery novel or watching Masterpiece Mystery, you won’t want to miss Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None at Wichita Community Theatre. It runs October 17–28. One of Christie’s darkest tales and a masterpiece of dramatic construction, this show’s growing sense of dread and unfaltering tension will keep you guessing to the very end.

For the holiday season, WCT will present the classic play Harvey. This tale of Elwood P. Dowd and his imaginary six-and-a-half-foot tall rabbit friend, Harvey, plays November 28–December 9.

The Guild Hall Players will present Arthur Miller’s The Crucible from October 18–21. This American classic is a dramatized and partially fictionalized telling of the infamous Salem witch trials. First produced in 1953, the play served as a warning against the hysteria of McCarthyism.

What shows are you looking forward to most this fall? Any recommendations? Share in the comments!