Kip's Korner

We are extremely grateful for our community, patrons, sponsors, and supporters. And we all agree y'all are "Simply The Best"! Thanks for your guesses for our new season during our SIX day countdown of CLUEs we left you on our social media channels. (wink wink) So without further ado, here's the final (and quick) countdown to our 2024-2025 Season. Full Announcement Video below...

  The picture above was taken by yours truly, between shows on Saturday, March 16. Back in my touring days (well years), one of my favorite things to do was sit in the house of an empty theater, just looking at the stage. I did a lot of my soul-searching doing just that. There is an energy there, some magic, that only seems to exist on that different plane. It had been a long time since I had done this in a theater until Jesus Christ Superstar was here this past weekend. And guess what? The magic is still there. It was good for my soul. For me, seeing the 50 th Anniversary Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar  was very exhilarating, and very nostalgic. I had forgotten how much I love that glorious score. This version exceeded my expectations and brought me back to my younger self who was full of dreams but hadn’t set out to accomplish them yet. The phenomenal singing, the contemporary and athletic choreography and the electrifying guitars, drums and keyboards came together in such a way

  I’m happy to report that my buddy Josh Young, Tony-nominated for Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, is back home from NYC now and graciously set aside some time to chat with me for Kip’s Korner. Remember, last week I shared with you that Josh brought his 14 students from Missouri State University’s Musical Theatre Program to NYC to perform in their Senior Showcase for Broadway Creatives, Agents, Managers, etc. Well, it was a huge success, and this Class of 2024 had a record-breaking 170 callbacks from this showcase. “Bear Up” is the rallying cry of Missouri State University and that’s exactly what Josh’s students did in NYC! If you haven’t read PART ONE of my blog post about Josh, please go back to Kip’s Korner on March 6, before proceeding here. For everyone else let’s get to my interview with Josh right now: Let’s go back to your audition for Jesus Christ Superstar. Walk us through the process of that audition and everything else that led to you booking the role of Judas. Actually

  It’s a reunion of the “Barricade Boys,” and I get to put the spotlight on the uber-talented, and my friend, Josh Young. I won’t annoy you with a #IYKYK, but rather explain that if you were ever a male member of the Marius Company Tour of Les Misérables then you were also an official member of the “Barricade Boys.” I believe Josh and I met in September of 2003 when he joined the tour in Atlanta as Marius. He also has the distinction of playing Marius in more subsequent productions than any other actor. As you know I could talk about Les Misérables all day long but let’s skip ahead to the Jesus Christ Superstar part. Making it to Broadway is an incredible feat in and of itself, but can you imagine also being nominated for a Tony Award for your Broadway debut? Well Josh can because that’s exactly what happened for him when he played Judas in the Broadway Revival of Jesus Christ Superstar in 2012. And I will be giving you the insider’s scoop on all of that and more in PART TWO of “T