UMKC Career

In the Fall of 1954, the University of Kansas City (KCU) hired Dr. McIlrath as the Director of the Playhouse and Head of the Department of Public Speaking, Radio and Theatre. Dr. Felicia Londré, a friend and theatre colleague of Dr. McIlrath, described this department as one “that combined speech, theatre, and radio towards a degree in English."24

Dr. McIlrath wrote that to achieve “sustained high-level acting,” actors needed “love of people of all ages, countries, and economic backgrounds.”30 To expose students, professional actors, and audiences to a variety of cultures, she brought theatre professionals “from all over the world” to work at the Missouri Repertory Theatre (MRT) and teach in the KCU (later UMKC) Theatre Department.30 For example, in 1982 Chinese actor Ying Ruocheng came to UMKC to teach and direct. According to Dr. Felicia Londré, he “gave the students a crash course in Chinese culture” while directing The Family by Cao Yu. The resulting production was “shown on Chinese television” and, Dr. Londré said, “taxi drivers and food vendors from Beijing to small villages” saw UMKC students perform.25

The theatre program continued growing as the university went through changes. In 1963, the University of Kansas City became part of the University of Missouri system as the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Dr. McIlrath wrote, “The University Playhouse, which has been in existence since 1933 on our campus and since 1948 in its present structure, continues with the same staff and on the same site as in its former existence as a part of the former University of Kansas City.”36 Joining the University of Missouri System meant that the new UMKC became a public university, and that the Missouri Legislature would have to approve any large-scale changes or construction projects. This would become very important for later university theatre developments. 

In 1972, the Department of Theatre was finally created as an independent academic department within the College of Arts and Sciences. The Department of Theatre reached another significant milestone in 1982, when it gained accreditation to offer “the Master of Fine Arts Degree in Acting/Directing and Design/Technology." According to Anne Einig, this furthered Dr. McIlrath’s goal of combining academic and professional theatre.10

Dr. McIlrath was known as a charismatic and caring leader by her colleagues, employees, students, and Kansas City community members. Former student Ken Jon Booth recalled an occasion in the mid 1960s when Dr. McIlrath gave him $20 (equivalent to around $200 today) when his family was having financial trouble. In a letter Booth wrote to McIlrath in 1973, he told her, “You may be pleased to know that in the past six years, I’ve had the opportunity to pass your twenty dollars on to young people who have for one reason or another needed and deserved a little respite from the wolf at the door. I’ve thought of you and your thoughtfulness each time and will do so in the future when the circumstances warrant."3

One of Dr. McIlrath’s former employees, Maxine Sifers, said in 1999 that Dr. McIlrath “was the most generous person in the world. Both with her time, her money and gifts. On opening nights she would send telegrams to everyone and it was all her own money. She would send gifts to everyone, and flowers, and she always covered everyone."10

Actress Jeanine Hutchings, also speaking in 1999, said that Dr. McIlrath “never said you are wrong, she would instead ask questions, leading you to discover the right answer, and after about the fourth question you knew and went ‘Aha!’”10

Late in her career, Dr. McIlrath traveled to China and the Soviet Union to learn about their cultures and theatres and to meet theatre professionals. Because of Dr. McIlrath’s health difficulties, her doctor advised her to bring her sister, Jeanne Finter, a high school teacher, with her while traveling. The first trips took place in 1978 and 1982 respectively, at the height of the Cold War. The sisters were able to see parts of the world which were usually inaccessible to Americans of the time. Londré later remembered that China “had so long been closed to the West” and that McIlrath and Finter’s visit “was considered rather daring.”25 

The sisters traveled to China as part of a group led by Dr. Edmunds Grey Dimond. Dr. Dimond frequently took groups of medical workers and other professionals to learn about Chinese industries. Jeanne Finter and Dr. McIlrath had to fill out lengthy visa applications, submit their resumes, and compose a typed statement on their purpose for traveling to China in order to be granted admission.19

The trip to Russia was partially organized by Eugene Trani, then the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UMKC, who had traveled to Russia as a Fulbright Scholar. The trip was first proposed by the VAAP, also referred to as the All-Union Agency for Copyright, which dealt with copyright in the Soviet Union. According to Dr. McIlrath’s recollections, the trip was highly controlled. She said that, 

“My sister and I were taken in cars everywhere. We had an interpreter always. We were never given any time to go off on our own at any time. We saw what they wanted us to see; we heard what they wanted us to hear. That did not rule out value and pleasure in the trip; it only means I cannot claim any experience as truly representative.”45

During the trip to Russia, Dr. McIlrath and Jeanne Finter saw “23 plays in 12 days." The sisters believed that their hotel room was “bugged” and didn’t feel comfortable expressing their true opinions of the plays, even in private.45 Despite the tension, McIlrath and Finter enjoyed some of the plays and formed strong bonds with their Russian hosts. When Jeanne Finter passed away in 1984, Dr. McIlrath informed those they had met in Russia. In a letter to Valerie Ivanov, a VAAP employee, Dr. McIlrath wrote that Jeanne had wanted to visit Russia again and assured Ivanov that “she was so especially fond of you all, and you of her, that I wanted you to know."43 

Ivanov and Vassily Sitnikov, vice president of the VAAP, responded with a joint letter in which they said that Jeanne’s death “put all of us who knew and loved her to grief” and told Dr. McIlrath that “the only consolation is that she will continue to live in our memories."18

Dr. McIlrath worked to bring various Russian theatre professionals to Kansas City to direct and teach but found the process difficult. Dr. McIlrath wrote to her friend and Russian translator Maya Goreyeva, “I really did not conceive that it would take as long as it has to get this going."40 Ultimately, despite her best attempts, Dr. McIlrath was unable to bring a Russian director to Kansas City.