May 16, 2024
K-State theatre professor directing summer productions in Kansas City
Submitted by the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
Jerry Jay Cranford, associate professor of theatre, will be directing and choreographing two major productions in Kansas City for the summer.
The Coterie, one of the nation's top Actors' Equity union children's theatres, is producing the recent Broadway musical version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with new music by the team behind "Hairspray" and the recent "Some Like It Hot."
This will be Cranford's seventh production for the company, and he is excited to be working with new Artistic Director Khalia Davis. The cast will feature K-State alumni Chelsea Turner and Lindsey Edwards with alumni Mackenzie Goodwin-Tran as stage manager and Jason Coats as box office manager.
The performances begin June 18 through Aug. 4. View more information.
The New Theatre in Overland Park will open "Newsies: The Musical" on July 5 running to Sept. 8. This will be Cranford's fourth production of "Newsies." He previously directed and choreographed the show in Kansas City and Illinois, and he directed the production for the Rose Theatre in Omaha. It garnered him two Best Director of a Musical awards for the Kansas City and Omaha productions.
This summer's Actors' Equity Association production will feature a cast of 21 artists with live musicians performing eight shows per week. As director and choreographer, Cranford is excited to return for "Newsies" after directing last summer's hit, "Dreamgirls." The New Theatre Scholarship Guild has been supporting K-State theatre students with scholarships since the fall of 2017. View more information about "Newsies."