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 Buy your tickets now for CROWNS, presented by Park University and the Unicorn Theatre.
>> See show slideshow Returning to the Kansas City area for another soul-stirring performance March 27-April 1, 2007... CROWNSPortraits of Black Women in Church Hats by Regina Taylor Directed by Jacqueline L. Gafford First City-Wide Performance LocationPark University Jenkin and Barbara David Theater (Alumni Hall) 8700 NW River Park Drive, Parkville, Mo. Buy TicketsFor tickets, call the Unicorn Theatre box office (816) 531-PLAY (7529) Students with I.D.: $5 General admission: $15 Groups 20 or more: $12 each (reservations required)
Future performances of CROWNS will be available on April 4-21 at the historic Gem Theatre, located at 18th and Vine in Kansas City, Mo. About CROWNSCROWNS is a stand-up-and-testify musical play with "hattitude." The story focuses on Yolanda, a young Brooklyn girl sent to stay with her grandmother in the South where she observes ladies in the rituals of Sunday church services. Yolanda discovers her connections to the traditions and a deeper spirituality. One of the most successful plays in the Unicorn's 33-year history, CROWNS is a soul-stirring celebration of African-American women and their church hats. A Learning Experience for High School StudentsIf you are looking for a unique learning experience for older students, CROWNS is it. Study guides will be available, and talk back sessions with the cast will enable students to ask questions. About the Playwright
About the Director
About the Music Director
The Cast
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Regina Taylor (Playwright) is the author of OO-BLA-DEE, which received its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in 1999 and later transferred to the La Jolla Playhouse. In April 2000, OO-BLA-DEE received the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award. Ms. Taylor's recent projects include Crowns, which premiered at McCarter Theatre in their 2002-2003 season, an adaptation of The Cherry Orchard for the Alliance Theatre, The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove, about famed black entrepreneur madam C.J. Walker for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the book for a musical of THE COLOR PURPLE, which is planned for a future Broadway production. Her play Drowning Crow (an adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull) was produced at the Goodman Theatre as part of the 2001 season. Ms. Taylor's other writing credits include Urban Zulu Mambo, Escape From Paradise, Watermelon Rinds, Inside the Belly of the Beast, MudTracks, Between the Lines and Behind Every Good Man. Her acting credits include roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in numerous regional theatres. Her film credits include CLOCKERS, LOSING ISAIAH, LEAN ON ME, A FAMILY THING, COURAGE UNDER FIRE with Denzel Washington and THE NEGOTIATOR with Samuel L. Jackson. Television credits include "Children of the Dust" with Sidney Poitier and "The Education of Max Bickford". For her role as Lilly Harper on the television series "I'll Fly Away", Ms. Taylor won an NAACP Image Award and received the Golden Globe Award for Best Leading Dramatic Actress.
Jacqueline L. Gafford (Director) is happy to be back at the Unicorn after a six-year break. But she was still very busy. Jacqee is currently artistic director of In Play Theatre, a multi-racial company that performs at The Just Off-Broadway Theatre. Jacqee's work has been seen in many Kansas City theatres over the last 20 years. Jacqee directed Betrayal of the Black Jesus at the Unicorn where she has also performed in Reckless, Flying West, Having our Say and was last seen in Old Settler.
Anthony T. Edwards (Musical Director) is a native of Humboldt, Tenn., and is delighted to be a part of this Unicorn production. Anthony has been privileged to be the musical director for theatres across the country including the Denver Center for the Performing Arts where he performed for four years in Always... Patsy Cline. Anthony is currently the resident musical director for the American Heartland Theatre, Epic Entertainment and Bar Natasha. He completed a Bachelor of Music degree in commercial music and piano performance at Belmont University and graduate studies in piano performance at the University of Missouri Conservatory of Music in Kansas City, Mo. He has appeared with the New Theatre Restaurant, Quality Hill Playhouse, Starlight Theatre, Theatre in the Park, American Heartland Theatre, Unicorn Theatre, Red Barn Theatre and Waterfront Playhouse in Key West, Fla, and Late Night Theatre. Recent shows include Swing Time Canteen, Always... Patsy Cline, Peter Pan, A Grand Night for Singing, The All Night Strut, Red Rock Diner, Valley of the Dolls, The Complete Millennium Musical (abridged), 1940's Radio Hour, Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, Forever Plaid, Sweet Underground Charity, Honky Tonk Angels, When Pigs Fly!, Pageant, Dames at Sea, Nuncrackers, Annie, The Big Bang!, Mashugganuns, From My Home Town, Married Alive!, My Way, Swing!, The Buddy Holly Story, Menopause the Musical, along with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Bat Boy, Crowns, Convenience, tick, tick?Boom! and The Great American Trailer Park Musical, here at the Unicorn. Anthony lives in here in Kansas City with a great guy named Scott, and a really incredible dog named Samantha.
Angela Wildflower Polk (Yolanda) is a graduate of Spelman College where she received her B.A. in Theatre Arts. She has performed in several Kansas City productions including (Coterie Theatre) The Dinosaur Musical, Suessical, Everyday Heros, Sacagawea, Schoolhouse Rock, Frankenstein; (Theatre for Young America) Goldilocks, Anansi the Spider, The Three Pigs, and many more; (Unicorn Theatre) Batboy 1 & 2, Permanent Collection; and (Just Off Broadway Theatre) Harlem Knights. She has performed at the Public Theatre in New York City, and most recently moved to LA where she just completed her first on-camera pilot. Angela can be seen in several regional commercials and in town as one of Kansas City's own "Diva performers. Putting God first, she is a singer/actor destined to color the world a shade all her own.
Davita Wesley Vaughn (Mother Shaw) is a native of Denver, Colo., where she first began performing on stage at the age of eight. Her first solo, Robert MacGimsey’s Sweet Lil Jesus Boy, was arranged specifically for her young voice by her elementary school principal and performed to his violin accompaniment. In 1973, at the age of 14, she was spotted in a youth talent show and recruited to perform the music of the Big Band Era as featured soloist with a local youth orchestra. Her rendition of Erroll Garner’s Misty became a trademark of the orchestra. Since that time, she has performed across the country for various churches and organizations as a soloist, choir director and workshop clinician. One of the highlights of her music career came in 1992, when she was invited by the United States Air Force to conduct a gospel choir workshop for Canon Air Base in Clovis, N.M. Davita’s vocal music career has expanded to include performance of lead roles in numerous local musicals, as well as to perform with music director and gospel music artist, Edwin Hawkins, in the chorus of Delilah Rashell Williams’ critically acclaimed play, God’s Trying to Tell You Something. Davita resides in Kansas City, Kan., enjoying life as a pastor’s wife, elementary school teacher, and mother of four talented children. 
Karen Cline Wright (Mabel) has appeared in over 30 shows in the Kansas City in the last 17 years. She is happy to be back working for the Unicorn and in this revival of Crowns. Karen is also excited to be working with an excellent "all local" cast of Black female (and one man) artists. She continues her employment at the Argosy Casino as the Team Member Activities Manger where she is "Having Fun Creating Fun." She still plans to reside in the Las Vegas area, just maybe not as soon as she would have thought.
Victoria Barbee (Jeanette) started singing as a child in her father's church over 30 years ago. From here she traveled with the Images of Christ. After college, in 1998, Victoria performed in her first production Black Nativity at the Historic Gem Theatre. Since then Victoria has performed for several theatres here in Kansas City, Topeka and Lawrence including the Coterie, Theatre for Young America, American Heartland and others. She also recently made her directing debut with Herstory Made the Difference at Lawrence Art Center. Currently she is working on a CD project titled Forever in our Hearts with her father, Pastor Leo Barbee Jr. of Lawrence, Kan. The project is in memory of her mother Juanita Anne Barbee, who Victoria recently lost this past August 2005. This show is dedicated to Victoria's mother who always said "my child always looked good in hats." 
Tiffany Jones-Sipple (Wanda) is delighted and honored to be back on stage at the Unicorn with such an amazing cast and staff. She is no stranger to the Kansas City theater scene, having worked at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre (Carter's Way), Theater for Young America (Africa's Daughter), Just Off Broadway (Raisin in the Sun), and the Mabee Theater (Urinetown, the Musical). She has appeared on the Unicorn Theatre stage in Crowns and Betrayal of Black Jesus. At the Gem Theater she has been a featured vocalist and works as a writer/creative director for the Live at the Gem Show. Tiffany mostly enjoys singing with the Voices of Grace at her home church Grace Christian Fellowship, and is the proud mother of a beautiful teenage daughter Alayna. She dedicates this performance to her parents, family and friends for their continual support and to all of the beautiful women of color who have made the stories in this play come alive.
Lori Wellman (Velma) began singing at the tender age of 3, sitting in the lap of her jazz pianist father. Her earliest performance was at the age of 15 when she sang at different music festivals and private functions around the city with her older sister, Angela. With a foundation steeped in elements of gospel and jazz, and coming from a family renowned for jazz here in Kansas City, Lori finds her way to the stage, now honing her skills in musical theater. She hopes to continue performing in theaters, as well as in different venues about town, continuing to honor the legacy of her musically and spiritually enriched culture.
Mykel Hill (Man) marks this as his third production at the Unicorn Theatre. He has appeared here as Timber Tucker in An American Daughter and as Leland in Blues for an Alabama Sky. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Wyoming and earned his M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Washington's Professional Actor Training Program. Other roles include: Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice, Randall in Slow Dance on the Killing Ground, Otto in Mephisto, and Robert Dobbs in Eleven Zulu.