Here's true urban renewal. In just two seasons under artistic director Eric Rosen, the Kansas City Repertory Theatre has gone from being an institution that people support dutifully, out of some reverence for the very idea of supporting the arts, to something altogether more exciting: a theater so vital that people cheer it, support it and care enough to argue about it. From new plays such as Broke-ology (an affecting drama set in Kansas City, Kansas) to classics such as Bus Stop (an affecting drama set in the local past) to musical extravaganzas Into the Woods (genius!) and A Christmas Story (garish!), the KC Rep's latest season has not only managed to give us superior shows, crafted by superior talents, that have attracted national attention, but has also restored theater to the top of this town's cultural heap.
