KANSAS CITY CHOIR BOY
Kansas City Choir Boy is a love song for the computer age and a product of the 24-hour news cycle that feeds on the stories of the anonymous “missing.” A theatricalized concept album about love altered by unexpected fate, the show tells the story of two lovers in small town America who separate when one goes in search of her destiny and then disappears. Borrowing themes from ancient myth, the show features songs by acclaimed composer/lyricist Todd Almond performed by rock icon Courtney Love and Mr. Almond, joined by a chorus of sirens, and a string quartet with Musical Direction by David Bloom.
Co-produced by Beth Morrison Projects and HERE Arts Center.
Development support provided by American Repertory Theater and Center Theatre Group. Premiered at PROTOTYPE Festival 2015.
Tour produced by Beth Morrison Projects.
Unsurprisingly awesome….A model for the album experience in the post-LP environment. It merged the headphone fantasia of bedroom listening with the smell-the-sweat shared experience of a club show.
Enchanting allegory about human resilience amid grief
The hottest ticket in town
The songs are attractive, digestible, and stylistically ecumenical, a suite of sparkly electronics, piano anthems, and soulful soliloquies.
Her singing pierced the earnest prettiness of Almond’s rock writing and dug up emotions from within it.
[Ms. Love’s] eyes have a transfixing quality and she moves with a slinky sexual tread. Her voice…retains the singular sound that made her an electrifying front woman for the band Hole: a single sustained note can seem to simultaneously contain a plea, a wound and a threat.
Creative Team
COMPOSER & LIBRETTIST — TODD ALMOND
DIRECTOR — KEVIN NEWBURY
MUSIC DIRECTOR — DAVID BLOOM
FEATURING — TODD ALMOND & COURTNEY LOVE
CHOREOGRAPHY — SAM PINKLETON
SCENIC DESIGN — VITA TZYKUN & CLARK PARKAN
COSTUME DESIGN — PAUL CAREY
LIGHTING DESIGN — DM WOOD
VIDEO & PROJECTION DESIGN — DARREL MALONEY
SOUND DESIGN — BRANDON WOLCOTT
HAIR/MAKEUP DESIGN — DAVID BOVA
"GODDESS" DRESS BY — ZAC POSEN