By Jeanne Beechwood
Which came first, the egg or the chicken? The fruit or the peel? The darkness or the light? The book or the play? If you ask Eric Yazell, artistic director of a new theater company called the Cyclopedia Ensemble, he will tell you the literature came first. And of course, the ability to read.
Yazell was a theater professor at State Fair Community College in Sedalia for 28 years. He instilled in his students not only the art of theater, but the love of literature and the ability to read it and understand it. He did the same at home. When Eric’s daughter was young, he paid her a penny a page to read. His daughter read all 54 books of the Nancy Drew series.
Yazell retired from being a college professor, but not for long. He ended up working for Apple. It was during this reign he got the idea to open his own theater company, along with his wife Chris Opatrny-Yazell and several former students. His wife happens to be a professor at Central Missouri State who teaches management. Yazell took the plunge and left Apple. He claims he retired from two well paying jobs to work one job with many more hours and a lot less pay.
The Cyclopedia Ensemble was born in 2022 and recently was awarded a Missouri Humanities Council grant. The ensemble’s first show was “The Stinky Cheese Man.” It had the third highest attendance at KC Fringe and also won Best of Fringe 2022. The ensemble is currently in its 2nd season with “Dragons Love Tacos” opening June 20 at the Arts Asylum in Brookside.
This play came from literature and has been read and enjoyed by millions of children. It was on the New York Times bestseller list and the reviews stated it captures both children’s imaginations and adults’ hearts. With Yazell’s adoration of literature and reading, and his reputation of bringing quality theater to thousands of school children every year while at State Fair Community College, he jumped at the chance to produce the play version of “Dragons love Tacos.”
This hilarious tale of dragons with a love for tacos is for young audiences and the young at heart. It also teaches us that every being is unique and capable in their own way. While not a musical, the play does have music. Directed by Kristen Henning, it runs approximately 55 minutes and includes seven paid adult actors–Yazell and his theater company firmly believe young actors deserve their first paid experience (and this reporter wholeheartedly agrees).
The theater’s mission is to hire new actors to perform in a broad range of stories, and “Dragons Love Tacos” is part of their young audience series. The actual book of the same title will be read before each performance, demonstrating how the book and play might be artistically different. And following each performance, a talkback with the audience will be held. Rainy Day Books will have the book available for purchase with autographs for young fans.
The Arts Asylum venue is located at 824 East Meyer Blvd. in Kansas City. Reservations are highly recommended for this family event; go to eventbrite.com or for groups of 10 or more email info@theartsasylum.org. Performances are June 20-21 and 27-28 at 7:30 pm and June 22-23 and 29-30 at 2:30 pm. The June 27 performance will include ASL sign language interpretation for the hearing impaired.
Two more productions will be presented at the Arts Asylum in 2024 by the Cyclopedia Ensemble: “Romantic Fools” (for mature audiences) and “Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors.” For more information or if you’re interested in auditioning for future shows with Cyclopedia see http://www.cyclopediaensemble.com.
During the interview this reporter found Yazell working on dragon heads for the show, while his wife worked on the dragon suits. So which came first, the dragon head or the dragon suit? This show should be dino-mite! Don’t miss “Dragons Love Tacos”!
Jeanne Beechwood is the Artistic Director of The Martin City Melodrama