The first seed of Intelligentsia was planted along with a crazy idea. In the spring of 2011, Sam Wright showed Erin Hartnett a newly completed, 12-song, original rock opera set in the zombie apocalypse. Despite her distaste for zombies, Erin immediately put all her organizational and stage management skills into producing the show, which began appearing at music venues around Kansas City under the guise of an 8-piece rock band, The SlaughterHouse Opera. In 2012, the pair produced the show for a successful run at Kansas City Fringe Festival.

From then on, Sam has continued bringing crazy (horse) ideas to Erin for perusal, generating vast creative energy which they continue to harness toward the production of poignant, ground-breaking, and highly entertaining live theatre. Adopting the moniker of the intelligentsia, the class of artists, thinkers, and movers who attempt to influence the culture and policy of their communities, they intend to do just that in the emerging global community.