‘Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi' to open Jan. 26 at Coterie
KANSAS CITY — The world premiere of the musical “Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi” will be from Jan. 26 through Feb. 28 at the Coterie Theatre on level one of Crown Center Shops in Kansas City.
Performances are Tuesdays through Sundays. For specific dates and times, visit coterietheatre.org.
Tickets are $15 for adults; $10 for all children, students and seniors age 60 and older; and $9 for season ticket holders. Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more. Tickets may be purchased at coterietheatre.org or by calling the Coterie box office at 816-474-6552 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.
Based on Twain’s coming-of-age memoir, this musical shows how the famous author’s identity was forged with his years on the Mississippi.
Young Samuel Clemens leaves home to be a cub pilot on a Mississippi steamboat in 1858 and finds himself learning about life, death, love and writing.
The book and lyrics are by Douglas M. Parker with music by Denver Casado. The show is directed by Coterie Artistic Director Jeff Church.
“The prototypes of several of Twain’s great characters will appear in this production, which is ideal for the middle school and high school portion of the Coterie’s audience who are not exposed to many professional musicals,” Church said.
The cast features Price Messick (Samuel Clemens), KC Comeaux (Henry Clemens), Logan Ernstthal (Horace Bixby), Steven Eubank (Abner Reese), Matthew Rapport (Taylor and Mason) and Katie Karel (Adele). Musicians are Daniel Doss (piano), Sascha Groschang (cello) and Ziva Patt-Rappaport (violin).
The artistic and production company includes Daniel Doss (music director), Anthony T. Edwards (music supervisor), Megan C. Gross (set designer), Georgianna Buchanan (costume designer), Art Kent (light designer), David Kiehl (sound designer), Amy M. Abels Owen (stage manager), Scott Hobart (technical director, master carpenter), Delinda Pushetonequa (properties) and Rachel May Cain (production assistant and house manager).
“Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi” is only the second musical the Coterie has produced specifically for preteen and young adult audiences. The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded the Coterie a $35,000 grant for Artistic Excellence to support this production and the theater’s summer musical, “Lucky Duck.”
In celebration of the NEA grant award, the Coterie is inviting audience members to climb aboard for a personal tour of the elaborate steamboat set after Friday night performances on Feb. 5, 12, 19 and 26.
On Jan. 29, audiences are invited to a free post-performance reception with the director and cast members. A question-and-answer sessions about the show will take place after the 2 p.m. performances on Jan. 30 and 31.
In addition to the NEA, funding is provided in part by the Missouri Arts Council and the ArtsKC Fund.
