Family Affair

THU 6/26

Mind's Eye Theatre, which has made a colorful splash on the theater scene with A Clockwork Orange and The Rocky Horror Show, lends its support to a Kansas City premiere at Just Off Broadway Theater this week. The plot of Michael Perricone's The Last White Family on Dorchester Road concerns a washed-up porn star in his late twenties whose suicide attempt merely incapacitates him. So back he goes to his Bronx roots, where his dysfunctional White Family is seriously culturally outnumbered. "It's as tragic as a Tennessee Williams play," insists Mind's Eye Artistic Director Christopher King.

Directing the script is Avila College senior Jeremy Thomas, who says that all members of the nutty family in question "are outrageously addicted ... horrible characters who become beautiful characters." Thomas adds that he's thrilled to be associated with Mind's Eye. "I like their realistic but in-your-face style."

The play opens Thursday, June 26, and continues through Saturday, July 5, at Just Off Broadway Theater (3051 Central). For a detailed schedule, see www.justoffbroadway.org, or call 913-341-9399 for more information.-- Steve Walker

Hensonesque
Local puppeteers are moving right along.

THU 6/26

Paul Mesner Puppets has taken its farcical production of Sleeping Beauty all over the country, along the way winning an award that Jim Henson created to recognize high achievement in puppetry. For this show, Mesner tells the classic fairy tale with a few new characters, including finicky chefs, a fortune-telling frog and a queen with a bath fetish. The production may be created for children, but it entertains adults who grew up on Sesame Street, held onto their Fraggle Rock T-shirts and mourned Henson's passing. It starts at 10 a.m. and again at 1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Unity Temple on the Plaza (707 West 47th Street). Tickets cost $6. For information, call 816-235-6222.-- Sarah Smarsh