Kansas City Ballet: Pinocchio

Kansas City Ballet: Pinocchio at Folly Theater

Every lie Pinocchio tells comes with a price, and every act of bravery brings him closer to the boy he longs to be. Kansas City Ballet's Second Company brings Bruce Wells's narrated family ballet to the Folly Theater, tracing the wooden puppet's journey through choices that test his honesty and courage. One wish drives him forward: to become a real boy. Whether he earns that transformation depends entirely on what he's willing to risk.

Narration threads through the performance, giving younger audiences a guide through Pinocchio's twists and turns while the dancers bring movement and personality to Carlo Collodi's beloved characters. It's a partnership that lets families follow the story together without losing the physical storytelling that makes ballet so compelling. The score draws on music by Nicola Piovani and Amilcare Ponchielli, supporting the shifts between mischief and tenderness that define Pinocchio's adventures.

What makes a puppet real? It's not magic alone. Love, honesty and courage shape Pinocchio's path, and the consequences of his decisions—good and reckless alike—carry weight. This is a story about becoming, about the gap between what we want and what we're willing to do to get there.

Kansas City Ballet's Second Company performs Pinocchio at the Folly Theater. Get Pinocchio tickets and follow a wooden puppet’s very human wish.