Posted October 04, 2023in Center Stage
The Des Moines Community Playhouse is a regional leader when it comes to community theatre programming and engagement. While Des Moines Performing Arts leads the way in bringing the best of Broadway and global entertainment to its stages, the Playhouse continues to forge new paths and alliances that benefit Iowans.
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Posted September 06, 2023in Center Stage
This column has covered the arduous path that Tallgrass Theatre Company has traveled to replant its creative roots into West Des Moines. Forced to move from its original home in the Rex Mathes school and coping with the pandemic, its diligent search for a new performing space was finally rewarded.
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Posted August 02, 2023in Center Stage
The Cloris Awards celebrate nine years as the catalyst for central Iowa in recognizing the united excellence of community-produced theatre. Through its annual Awards Program, the Cloris Awards unite the Des Moines theatre community and enhance the visibility of local theatre companies and productions. The arts and cultural economic numbers
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Posted July 05, 2023in Center Stage
Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) has a sterling reputation not only in its home state, but across the nation and within opera communities globally. Their visionary growth strategy has given Iowans unique bragging rights. Their programming is celebrated each year and draws a significant part of its patronage from outside
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Posted May 31, 2023in Center Stage
The Des Moines Community Playhouse has leveraged more than a century of community development and partnership into diverse programing that reaches across the entire range of live theatre tastes. Being a cultural adventurer is easy for the Playhouse’s patrons, as season ticket holders can attest. Their next show, “Native Gardens,”
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Posted May 03, 2023in Center Stage
With a constant flair for finding exceptional scripts to produce, Iowa Stage Theatre Company prepares its next gem. “A Bright New Boise” will grace the Stoner Theater stage from May 12-21, and its selection brings Samuel D. Hunter’s Obie Award and Drama Desk nominated play to central Iowa audiences. Add
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Posted April 05, 2023in Center Stage
Just like how Iowa’s landscape seems to burst with springtime growth, the performing arts scene is bursting with a diverse range of tantalizing offerings in April. From national touring shows at Des Moines Performing Arts, to powerful locally produced shows from Tallgrass Theatre Company, Iowa Stage Theatre Company, Ankeny Community
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Posted March 01, 2023in Center Stage
Most of us have had that moment of unintended personal accountability when our words are thrown back in our faces. It’s a very uncomfortable learning experience. So, what happens when a country has one of those moments? Such is the power of the reimagined musical, “1776.” Studying history can make
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Posted February 01, 2023in Center Stage
When two Iowa theatrical leaders join forces, it holds great promise as a “must-see” experience. Pyramid Theatre Company and the Des Moines Community Playhouse unite to present Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson.” This also marks the Des Moines return of Pyramid’s founding dynamo, Ken-Matt Martin,
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Posted January 04, 2023in Center Stage
Each new year holds the annual promise of allowing us to refresh ourselves and sally forth into another 365 days of adventures. Regardless of age, many find a special joy in witnessing the reaction of children to creative wonders. The world of theatre is an especially vibrant gateway to imagination
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