Starlight Theatre and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts bring a brand new family entertainment experience to Kansas City in 2012. Elaborately staged and professionally produced, Starlight Children’s Theatre will delight the young and young at heart!

NARNIA THE MUSICAL
April 6-8, 2012

Break the spell of the White Witch’s endless winter!

This stage version based on the first and most famous of the Narnia chronicles, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” transports audiences to an enchanted world of mythical creatures and spirits where the principal inhabitants, intelligent talking animals, are ruled by the majestic lion King Aslan. When four children enter Narnia, they not only find high adventure, but leave richer for the lessons of courage, selflessness and wisdom they’ve learned.

Six public performances are scheduled:

Friday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 7 at 1:00, 3:30 and 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 8 at 2:00 and 4:30 p.m.

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Presented by

Sponsored by

Starlight Children’s Theatre is generously supported by Paul and Katherine DeBruce

Warm up this holiday season with one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest singers of all time!

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American Legend Mavis Staples will “Take You There” on December 8th with a mix of her greatest hits and songs from her latest album “You Are Not Alone”. 2011 Grammy Award winner Mavis Staples began singing with the family gospel group The Staple Sisters and has since had a career spanning over sixty years. Mavis has been nominated for multiple Grammy awards in five different genres and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Mavis is responsible for blazing a rhythm and blues trail while never relinquishing her gospel roots. See her live one night only on Thursday, December 8th in Helzberg Hall.

A Thanksgiving Note from Jane Chu

Dear Friends,

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection and, of course, to give thanks. We wanted to take this opportunity to update and thank you, our supporters, before the holiday season takes over.

When we opened the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts a little more than two months ago, we knew we were launching something for generations, and our commitment to you is to improve every day.

Here are some Kauffman Center highlights in our first 60 days of operation:

– More than 50,000 people visited the Kauffman Center during our free, public open house on September 18

– Since the opening weekend, more than 70,000 have attended dozens of diverse performances and a total of 132,000 have experienced the building through performances, tours and events

– International and national recognition for Kansas City including stories in the New York Times and on Good Morning America

– Performers from around the world have marveled at the acoustics, the layout, and the experience of performing in the Kauffman Center

– Through the Open Doors Program 11,273 children have already attended diverse performances at the Kauffman Center, and transportation funding has been awarded to over 25,000 students to attend school matinees this school year

– We continue to receive positive feedback from patrons on architecture, quality of performances and theatre spaces

As with any new building, there are always adjustments that need to be made as the building is put to use. Here are some challenges we’ve encountered and how we are addressing them:

Way Finding. We have heard from patrons that it’s a challenge to find your way around and to your seats and in and out of the building.

Solutions in the works:

• Additional visual signage is being produced and will be color-coded and matched to the tickets to help. This is being installed now;
• Additional training and support for house managers, ushers, and volunteers to help patrons find the best route to a seat;
• Changes in the ticketing to identify door numbers and seat levels. This change will take place in early 2012.

Accessibility. Although the building meets or exceeds all ADA requirements, we want to go further. Before opening, we invited several people with a variety of experiences and physical capabilities to tour the facility and suggest ways we can improve accessibility.

Solutions in the works:

• Additional signage is being printed to provide information on existing hearing and visual supports available to patrons;
• Additional training and support for house managers, ushers, and volunteers to support patrons with accessibility needs;
• Push buttons will be installed to improve restroom accessibility by end of year;
• Upgrades to drop off drive and valet that will support patrons who need help accessing the building and have a companion.
• In addition to new signage and support from volunteers to help patrons access the building from the garage, the drop off drive will be redone by the first of the year for a smoother drive and walk area.

Ticket Sales. Our resident organizations and the Kauffman Center have experienced tremendous response to our opening seasons. However, there is room to make the customer experience more friendly.

Solutions in the works:

• Changes to the box office phone system have already been put in place to minimize hold times and ordering time;
• Our website has been upgraded for ticketing purchases, but will go through an additional upgrade before year-end to improve the customer experience;
• Print-at-home tickets will be in full operation within the next two weeks. In addition, a remote will-call station will be created to help patrons pick up tickets faster and get into the show.

We are so appreciative of your support and we will continue to improve in our inaugural year. We are dedicated to opening our doors and making people feel welcome in this building.

We take all of our patrons’ feedback very seriously. Please email us at contact@kauffmancenter.org if you have comments or concerns. We appreciate your patience as we continue to improve and we are moving forward with a great sense of urgency to get make sure you have an outstanding experience at the Kauffman Center.

Have a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to seeing you at the Kauffman Center.

Sincerely,

Jane Chu

President and CEO

Join the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education when it marks its 18th anniversary with a grand night of entertainment and commemoration on November 3, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

TO LIFE! — a musical celebration of life, learning, and legacy — will feature the legendary Marvin Hamlisch, winner of virtually every major arts and entertainment award that exists, including three Academy Awards, four Grammys, four Emmys, one Tony, three Golden Globes, and a Pulitzer Prize. Joining Maestro Hamlisch will be tenor Mark McVey, Broadway’s Jean Valjean for seven years.

Marvin Hamlisch is the composer of well-known motion picture scores including his Oscar-winning score and song for “The Way We Were” and his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s music for “The Sting.” He holds the position of principal pops conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, Seattle Symphony, and San Diego Symphony. He captures the power of music to bring people together, sharing stories that will charm you with his wit and touch you with a testament to his parents who fled pre-war Austria, finding safe haven in the United States.

The evening will honor MCHE’s directors emeriti and past presidents, whose vision and leadership have shaped the organization since its founding in 1993, and pay tribute to our community’s Holocaust survivors. Proceeds from the event will benefit the numerous school and community programs offered by MCHE.

A limited number of patron packages are still available beginning at $1,000. These include a pre-concert cocktail buffet at Webster House, valet parking, and a post-concert dessert reception. Individual donor tickets may be purchased at $180 (includes the dessert reception), $118 (concert only), or $90 (concert only). All amounts in excess of $50 per attendee are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

For more information, to reserve seats, or to make a donation in honor of MCHE’s 18th anniversary, please visit www.mchekc.org, email tolife@mchekc.org, or call 913-327-8192. Tickets purchased after Wednesday, October 26th will be held at the Kauffman Center box office for pick-up after 4 p.m. on the day of the concert.

The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education teaches the history of the Holocaust, applying its lessons to counter indifference, intolerance, and genocide.

University of Kansas student and faculty musicians will have an opportunity to perform two concerts at the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City.
“Opportunities for music students to perform in distinctive venues profoundly impact our students’ musical development,” said Dean Robert Walzel. “Likewise, our students’ enthusiasm to pursue careers in music is fed through experiences performing in the same concert settings as professionals.”
This is not the first time the KU School of Music has connected with a Kansas City arts group to take student and faculty musicians into the larger metropolitan area. The KU School of Music developed a partnership with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City years ago and now offers an apprentice program with the notable opera house.

“We continue to create opportunities for our student and faculty musicians to perform in the Kansas City area, and our successful partnerships with the Lyric Opera and Kauffman Center are two ways in which we have been able to encourage this outreach activity,” said Walzel.

The Kauffman Center concert series with the School of Music, titled “KU at the Kauffman Center,” will feature the following concerts:
7 p.m. Nov. 13
“American Icons”
The KU Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble I will perform a concert titled “American Icons,” featuring a performance of “Manne — That’s Gershwin,” arranged by renowned film composer John Williams, as well as works by Aaron Copland, John Philip Sousa and other American composers. Faculty soloists will perform, and notable guest artists Steve Houghton, drums, and KU alumnus Gary Foster, saxophone, will appear as soloists with the KU Jazz Ensemble I. The Wind Ensemble is directed by Paul W. Popiel and Jazz Ensemble I by Dan Gailey.
7 p.m. May 5:
Maestro David Neely will lead the KU Symphony Orchestra and KU Opera in a spring concert opera. Fresh from their performance in summer 2011 at the Eutiner Festspiele in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where they received glowing reviews for their delivery of “Don Giovanni” and “Hansel and Gretel,” KU music students look forward to an entertaining and inspiring performance on the stage of the new Kauffman Center.
Both events are free and open to the public. Tickets are required as seating is reserved. Please contact the KU School of Music for ticket information: (785) 864-3436. Please note that seating is limited. The Kauffman Center for Performing Arts is located at 1601 Broadway in Kansas City, Mo.
These Kauffman Center concerts have been made possible by the Kansas Partnership for the Arts, a series sponsored by Reach Out Kansas Inc.; Smithyman & Zakoura, Chartered, of Overland Park; and The Zakoura Family Fund.
For more information, contact the KU School of Music at (785) 864-3436 or visit http://www.music.ku.edu.