KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Repertory Theatre announced Gary Neal Johnson, veteran actor and perennial "Ebenezer Scrooge," will be awarded with the Dr. Patricia McIlrath Award for Arts Advocacy.
The award, also known as the "Dr. Mac" Award, was named after KCRep's founder and honors a "theatre artist or philanthropist whose involvement has made a lasting and meaningful impact on the cultural life of Kansas City," per a press release from KCRep.
This will mark the first time the "Dr. Mac" Award has been given to an artist.
Since the 70s, Johnson has been in a series of performances at KCRep, as well as other theaters in Kansas City and across the country, capping his career with a 25-year run as Ebenezer Scrooge in KCRep's "A Christmas Carol."
Johnson has 100 production credits at KCRep alone, with his first performance being in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in 1973. He continued with "Nicholas Nickleby" in 1983, "All My Sons" in 1988, "Our Town" in 1990, "The Miracle Worker" in 1999, "Give 'Em Hell, Harry" in 2006, "Cabaret" and "August: Osage County" in 2011, "Death of a Salesman" in 2013 and "Last Days of Summer" in 2018.
In his 1,100 performances over the last 25 years as "Ebenezer Scrooge" in KCRep's "A Christmas Carol," Johnson made his most distinguishing theatrical run, according to KCRep.
"Gary Neal Johnson has shown what it means to commit — to a role, to his craft and to our theatre community — reminding us that classic stories endure because they speak to the human condition," KCRep Artistic Director Stuart Carden said in a press release.
The award will be presented at the 2026 KCRep Gala, An Emerald Evening in Oz, on March 28 at the Midland Theatre, located at 1228 Main St. in Kansas City, Missouri.
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