"I'm Not Rappaport" at Kansas City Actors' Theatre

"I'm Not Rappaport" at KC Actors Theatre was a real treat. Since the beginning of my career in KC, I had KCAT on the top of my "gosh I hope I get to work there" list. So when Dennis Hennessy asked me to take this small role in his production, I jumped at the chance—even though it meant rehearsing in tandem with three fringe festival productions.

"Brian Huther as Gilley convincingly conveys menace"
—KC Active

"Brian Huther is sincerely creepy"
—The Pitch

"Brian Huther makes an sharp impression"
—KC Studio

I had the privilege of sharing the stage with some of my KC acting idols: Mark Robbins, Victor Raider-Wexler and Cheryl Weaver. The play itself is beautiful and heartbreaking, just like me.

...life, I mean. Just like life.

"Moulin Rouge" at Stuffed Buffalo Productions

September 2016. The greatest thing I ever learned was just to do this show and let this show do me in return.

This will forever be among my favorite experiences in my life ever forever like whoa.

In the role of Christian, I sang and improvised my way through the beloved Luhrmann film, employing a half-scottish-half-generic-ingenue impression of Ewan McGregor. I was given incredible leeway to improvise and interact with the audience. Nightly, as the cast amassed in the event space across the hall from the Buffalo Room—or when the event space was in use, cramming ourselves into the actual kitchen of the adjoining Westport Flea Market Bar and Grill—there was a tangible electricity in the air. The Bohemian ideals of Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love were attendant muses, mainlining passion and energy directly to our hearts the moment we entered the building. 

I was given such an opportunity to improve my singing voice during these productions (the show was mounted for a weekend, then remounted for a week-long run by popular demand), studying with unbelievably-legit opera tenor Ben Gulley.

I couldn't possibly list everyone who won my heart during this process, but if you really stalk the photos, you'll see a few future-collaborators in the mix.

KC Fringe at The Living Room

Hot damn, you guys. This was a f*%king blast.

For this year's Kansas City Fringe Festival, The Living Room chose to curate a set of four world-premiere Kansas City plays with a single repertory company. I was involved in three of the four productions. In the process, I did just about everything I love: write, direct, act, and maybe I had a few whiskeys.

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1. H4©K$

One of the pieces was a play I wrote with my Friend Dog Studios collaborators, Ben Auxier and Seth Macchi. The play is called "Hacks" or "H4©K$" or however you wanna spell it. It's about two basement-dwelling brothers who can't seem to get off their computers and make a life happen. But all that changes when they're visited by the leaders of a cult that apparently started based on something one of them posted online ten years ago.

H4©K$

Seth Macchi, Ben Auxier, Brian Huther and Ellen Kirk

I played the role of "Devon," the younger brother, while Ben Auxier took on the older "Charlie." Seth Macchi played the cult leader "Echo" and Ellen Kirk—one of our favorites—played the second-in-command "Beam." 

"Word to the wise:  Enter at your own risk.  Fits of laughter engulf the audience as three of the most brilliant and creative comic minds in Kansas City combine their off-beat random thoughts into one of the funniest entries into the Kansas City Fringe Festival in several years."
- Bob Evans, KCfringe.org

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Look at what you've done

You’ve spilt tomato soup all over your poor wifey.

I was particularly happy with some of the lighting effects we were able to achieve on this show.

2. The Table

Once I was committed to the Fringe project, I asked Living Room Artistic Director Rusty Sneary if I could direct one of the pieces, and he was stupid enough to say yes (stupid dummy). 

I relished the chance to direct, and had a great time working on Curtis Smith's "The Table," in which he played the leading role. Ben Auxier was the creepy murdery murderer (or was he?). The play was about repressed male violence. It's a topic I continue to think about, and hope to revisit in future pursuits.

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3. Wicked

Creatures

I also performed in Emma Carter's "Wicked Creatures," the hilarious and disturbing story of a woman in the 1800s trying to develop contraceptives by kidnapping men and... well... experimenting. 

Look, I'm gonna cut to the chase: getting raped onstage is a whole experience—one I'm glad to have had. It gave me a new perspective on stage intimacy and vulnerability. It was fascinating to see how people reacted to the scene, given how rarely a man is the victim in onstage portrayals of sexual violence. 

Emma is a gifted writer and a great human and she took the stage in the role of Clara, opposite my Archie.

(Update: Wicked Creatures was later selected for a reading at the Stella Adler Studio in New York!)

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Hell Yeah.

Putting up four shows with a true repertory ensemble—even just for a lowly fringe festival—remains one of the most incredible experiences of my career.

Brian Huther, Laura Jacobs, Seth Macchi, Curtis Smith, Forrest Attaway, Ellen Kirk, Ben Auxier, Emma Carter

"Fire in Dreamland" at Kansas City Repertory Theatre

In spring of 2016, I appeared as the naíve, privileged "Lance" in KC Repertory Theatre's workshop production of "Fire in Dreamland" written by celebrated playwright Rinne Groff (Saved!, Compulsion), commissioned by Berkley Rep and The Public Theatre.

It was such a delight to work with Marissa Wolf. She was a director with a huge heart and a light, effective touch. And working alongside Bree Elrod was a dream. I don't know an actor more hard-working, capable and kind.

The piece itself was enchanting—and relevant in a half dozen different ways. It has since gone on to a run at the Public in New York.