After another long hiatus, the Meow returns for the start of the 2006-2007 season and the season-opening 5th Annual Gala. Come and celebrate with us, as we get ready for another fantastic year in Kensington.

5th Annual Gala: Stray Cabaret

Kensington Arts Theatre will be holding its 5th Annual Fundraising Gala on Saturday, September 9, 2006 at the Kensington Town Center in Kensington, Maryland. Some of the areas top talent will take the stage and perform favorite Broadway hits in a themed Stray Cabaret. We will also have an open bar, yummies from area restaurants and a silent auction offering prizes such as vacations, dinners at exclusive restaurants and first class tickets to theatrical and sporting events. I've saved the best for last...it is tax deductible. We will be providing the donation receipts at the Gala for tax submittal. Kensington Arts Theatre takes pride in presenting quality, thought-provoking productions. Our goal is to give the public and ourselves the opportunity to explore material seldom done in community theater. Our third season's Kiss of the Spider Woman earned five WATCH (Washington Area Theatre Community Honors) awards including Best Direction and Best Music Direction. In our fourth season we achieved excellence with Company, Assassins and Nine (not yet judged by WATCH). We plan to continue this tradition next season by producing Urinetown, Godspell and Sweeney Todd. As a new and growing community theater group, we are constantly trying to improve the quality of our productions by purchasing new and better equipment. Last year, we were able to purchase new lighting equipment, new sound equipment, and upgrade the power capacity to the theater. This year, we are hoping to find a new performance space, to be able to create our own theater, with storage space and a construction area. Unfortunately, it is impossible to make these improvements from ticket sales alone. As a non-profit organization, all donations to KAT are tax-deductible and we will acknowledge your generosity in our show programs throughout the season. Please come and support the arts in the area and a theater group that dares to push the envelope. Click here to go to the Gala page »

Labor Day Parade

This past Labor Day, The Town of Kensington held its 39th Annual Labor Day Parade and Festival. The parade commenced at the corner of St. Paul Street and Plyers Mill Road, marched south on Connecticut Avenue, and ended in the Antique Row District on Howard Avenue in Kensington. Kensington Arts Theatre was on hand as the resident company of the Town Hall and performed "Seasons of Love" from the hit musical RENT at the Grand Stand area and at various other locations throughout the parade route. The weather was beautiful and we had ten KAT members march. This year's festival featured lots of family entertainment including live music and children's activities in Reinhardt Park like face painting and balloon sculpting. We were thrilled to make our debut in the parade, and we were especially pleased to hand out flyers to the Kensington residents. These flyers were to promote our new season, of course, but also our new ticket pricing for Kensington residents and Kensington Civil Service employees. Instead of the $18 adult price, Kensington residents may now come to our shows for the low price of $10. And Kensington Civil Service employees will be admitted FOR FREE! We would like to give a special thank you to Ernie Achenbach for making t-shirts for the parade reading "KAT is Awesome," Robin Covington for coordinating activities, and Ken and little Eva Salins for marching with us. We were fortunate to find Ken and Eva, who was dressed up in an adorable black and white cat costume. She was so helpful in handing out flyers. The event helped increase the awareness of KAT to Kensington locals and we look forward to being involved in the parade for years to come. Click here to go to KAT Online »

You're in Urinetown

Book by Greg Kotis Music by Mark Hollmann Lyrics by Greg Kotis, Mark Hollmann Directed by Craig Pettinati Music Direction by Josh Tuckman Choreography by Thalia Kirimlis Produced by Doe B. Kim Rehearsals are underway for KAT's Fall 2006 show, Urinetown, directed by KAT founder, Craig Pettinati. A stellar cast and crew have been assembled to make this KAT's most provocative show to date. We welcome back to our stage, veterans Michael Nansel, Jaclyn Young, Andy Izquierdo, Jeff Breslow, Casey Jones, Katie McManus, Malinda Ellerman, Ryan Manning, Duane Monahan and Mark Hamberger and would like to personally welcome newcomers Hannah Willman, Gilly Conklin, Sam Nystrom, Blake Brophy, Erica Reinsch, Albert Coia, John Loughney, and Liz Sabin to KAT's stage. We are glad you joined us. Stage concept and design was conceived by Craig Pettinati, Kevin Garrett and Matt Karner, and in typical fashion, it will be nothing short of invention. We're looking forward to the ride. The deeply thoughtful message of the play concerning abuse of power, corruption and oppression is wrapped in a deliciously anarchic and satirical coating that appeals directly to the sensibilities of just the kind of blossoming minds you find on campuses. The inspiration for the piece came from the author's travels through Europe on a dime, where he found himself spending an exorbitant percentage of his budget on public toilets...yes, you pay to pee in many European countries. Ruminating on this punitive tax, he found himself in Romania at a rally for Dictator Ceausescu. The scenes of brutish crowd control and intimidation linked with the prior injustice and...voila...Urinetown. The show opens October 27. See you there. Click here to go to the Urinetown page »