Entertainment

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The American Theatre Guild has presented many good shows for its 2023-24 Broadway in Wichita season and soon, the season will be finishing up with what is sure to be a crowd favorite.

The national tour of the hit Broadway musical 'Mean Girls' will be making its way to Wichita's Century II Concert Hall April 19 through 21, with performances at 8 p.m. Friday, April 19, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 20, and 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, April 21. Tickets are available for purchase at BroadwayWichita.com, Century2.com or by calling 855-755-7328.

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

“The Little Mermaid” is a story and musical beloved by fans all throughout the world and soon, the story will be swimming its way through Liberal.

The Cottonwood Elementary School music students will presenting “The Little Mermaid Jr” Friday, April 19 in James Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the show will start at 7 p.m. The show is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story by Hans Christian Andersen and follows a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric. Circumstances ultimately lead her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him.

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The arts can be a tricky business to break into, especially with theatre, and especially if you happen to be a woman. Recently, Chelsea Peretti (best known for her role on the show “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) attempted to bring that to life with her directorial debut, “First Time Female Director.”

In the film, aspiring writer Sam Clifford (Peretti) is thrust into the role of director when her theater's director is fired. Chosen by the theater's artistic director, Sheldon (Andy Richter), Sam is asked to direct the theater's upcoming play, with some ... interesting results, to put it politely.

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

Rex Havens has been entertaining audiences with his comedic stylings for the past three decades and next month, he will be bringing his show to Liberal as part of this year’s Chamber Bash festivities the evening of March 16.

As Havens tells it, comedy has been part of his life for a long time.

“I've been doing this for 30 years, and as a young person, I always had more comedy records than music records because I just loved whatever formula it was that made people laugh and make that wonderful sound. That wonderful, warm sound of a room full of laughter made me really, really happy, and it's kept me going,” Havens said. “I started going to open mic nights, I was in Chicago at that time, and you do that for the while just for the love of it, and eventually I met a bunch of people and made my way up the comedy ladder. I started in clubs, like many other comedians, and then after that, I started working for some agencies, and they started sending me out on gigs, and I also worked cruise ships for a number of years, and I would spend about 10 weeks a year doing those jobs. The cruise ships were really nice because I ultimately ended up visiting several places I might not otherwise have gone to, and there were even some times when my family got to come along.”