Classical, Dance,
Fusing sound to skin
Baroque music was made for dancing. Inspired by the court dances of the time -- the minuet, gigue, hornpipe and others -- composers filled their music with movement. "Baroque in Motion," the world premiere collaboration of the Bach Aria Soloists and the Owen/Cox Dance Group, fused sound to skin. Allowing the music to inform every aspect of the dance, from the individual motions to the overall design, choreographer Jennifer Owen elegantly interpreted every note.
The program began with Elizabeth Suh-Lane, the director and violinist of the Bach Aria Soloists, playing the gossamer Sonata for Violin in D. Op. 9, No. 3, by J. M. LeClair. Harpsichordist Elisa Bickers supported the melody with a delicate touch. Together their light dexterity produced immaculate trills and runs. It was the perfect overture for the evening.
This piece was followed by "Vorrei dire un non so che" by Agostino Steffani, featuring soprano Rebecca Lloyd and tenor David Adams. It was a pleasure to hear their voices blend in this lesser known Baroque duet. Restrained and pure, they didn't allow vibrato to interfere with their tone. The arching, overlapping melody soared and their Italian diction was perfect. Unfortunately, the meaning of the text was overlooked, as the singers focused on their notes and not the burning passion they were supposed to be feeling for each other.
After much anticipation, the dancers took the stage: three pairs in three simultaneous pas de deux, tastefully adorned in hues of gray, burgundy and blue. Blending modern and classical dance elements, their bodies interpreted every lyrical nuance of the Ravel Sonata for Violin and Cello, a refreshing piece of early modern music pared down its basic melodic form. The dancers brought it to life as if they were swimming in air. Suh Lane and cellist Paula Kosower infused the piece with a flowing energy that seemed to lift the dancers right off the ground.
Other highlights included a poignant dance solo by Jennifer Owen to "Dido's Lament" by Henry Purcell, sung by Rebecca Lloyd; 
the Bach Cello Suite No. 2 in C-major, BWV 1009, featuring Paula Kosower; and a charming bel canto interpretation of "Care selve, aure grate" from the Cantata for Soprano and Basso Continuo, HWV 88, by G.F. Handel.
The Sonata No. 6 for Violin and Klavier in G-major, BWV 1019, by J. S. Bach capped off the evening, allowing each dancer to shine. This well-designed composition included motives that repeated, sensuous duets and playful chases. Muscular and energetic, the performers pulled out the stops.
The dancers in this group were well paired and highly responsive. They seemed to sing with their bodies and exuded ensemble joy. These dancers are among the best in our local field. By taking risks and extending themselves collaboratively, the Owen/Cox Dance group is able to create performances that enrich and give pleasure.
Watching music being expressed through flesh and blood is mesmerizing, and viewers often long for visual stimulation at concerts. Interpreting music through the body is a natural solution, yet dancers are often reluctant to allow the music to dictate their actions. A partnership is more desirable. Baroque in Motion demonstrated the beautiful pairing of these highly compatible art forms.
REVIEW
Bach Aria Soloists and the Owen/Cox Dance Group
Baroque in Motion
Saturday, June 6, 2009
White Recital Hall
4949 Cherry St. Kansas City, MO
www.bachariasoloists.org or www.owencoxdance.org
KC Events this week and beyond
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Fiona's List for June 17 - 28
Fiona's picks of the week are the two totally different Kansas City Chamber Orchestra concerts on the 19th and 21st. Other favorites for the next 12 days include the Chelsea Chen organ recital on the 21st, the Kacico Song and Dance Project on the 20th and 27th, the Civic Opera Theater production of Don Pasquale on the 26th and 29th, and the International Piano Competition Semi-Finals in Lawrence on the 28th.
Don't forget that there is a short organ recital at the Community of Christ in Independence every day of June, July, and August except the 4th of July. The Auditorium has a grand Aeolian-Skinner Organ with 6,334 pipes; the Temple has a fabulous Casavant Organ with 5,685 pipes. It's worth two special trips to see both buildings and hear both organs. Check fiona's list each week for specifics, but generally the weekday recitals are in the Temple and the weekend recitals alternate between the two organs.
For something different, try one of the other "fiona favorites" found just below the theatre listings on fiona's list. There's something for you for every night of the week. My recommendation this week is STAN KESSLER and the SONS OF BRASIL at Jardine's on the 25th
To see performing arts events through August, click on KC EVENTS on the top navigation bar of the website.
Fiona HIGHLY recommends another list of events for families, friends, educators, & neighbors of children 10 and under. Miss Jackie's June list includes puppet shows, Deanna Rose Farmstead, Powell Gardens, facts and fiction about bats, Funky Mama concert, Jim Cosgrove concert, and more. To receive her monthly list, send an email to: missjackielists@gmail.com
Until next Wednesday morning,
Fiona
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Pam Robison
Wednesday June 17 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Jeff King
Thursday June 18 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
Kansas City Chamber Orchestra presents
<><><>fiona's PICK<><><>
Mozart Festival Weekend
Guest Conductor Gregory Pritchard
Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante featuring violinist Ben Sayevich
Mozart's Concerto movements with soloists from Park University
Mozart's Adagio and Fugue in C Minor
Friday, June 19 at 8 p.m.
Pre-concert talk at 7:00 p.m.
Unity Temple on the Plaza
707 West 47th St., Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-345-6222 or online at www.kcchamberorchestra.org
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Jon Bertschinger
Friday June 19 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Jon Bertschinger
Saturday June 20 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Temple
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
Kacico Dance presents
><><>fiona's PICK<><><>
The Song and Dance Project 2009
KC Singer/Songwriters: Dave Patmore, Erik Karlsson, Laura Lisbeth, Rick Malsick, and Karim Memi along with Kacico Dancers: Kathryn Cowan, Shandi Miller, Lindsay Spilker Tate, Allison Kaut, Holly Harmison, Tuesday Faust, Aaron Brownlee, Maggie Osgood, Chris Dunn (understudy), and Michelle Diane Brown, artistic director. Choreography is by Michelle Diane Brown, Shandi Miller, Lindsay Spilker Tate, Kathryn Cowan, Allison Kaut, and Holly Harmison.
Saturday June 20 at 2:00 p.m.
Mid-Continent Public Library, South Independence Branch
13700 East 35th Street, Independence, MO
Free admission. Call 816-578-4721 or 816-461-2050
www.kacicodance.org
Kansas City Chamber Orchestra presents
<><><>fiona's PICK<><><>
Mozart Festival Weekend
Mahler's Das Knaben Wunderhorn with baritone Thomas Meglioranza
Haydn's Sinfonia Concertante for violin, cello, oboe and bassoon
Mozart's Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter".
Sunday, June 21 at 3 p.m.
Pre-concert talk at 2:00 p.m.
Village Presbyterian Church
6641 Mission Rd , Prairie Village, KS
For tickets call 816-345-6222 or online at www.kcchamberorchestra.org
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Jan Van Otterloo
Toccata by John Weaver,
Intermezzo (from Symphony No. 6) by Charles-Marie Widor,
Intermezzo by James H. Rogers,
Amazing Grace by Christopher Pardini,
Carillon-Sortie by Henri Mulet
Sunday June 21 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
American Guild of Organists, Kansas City Chapter presents
<><><>fiona's PICK<><><>
Pipe Organ Encounter '09 Event
Organ Recital: Chelsea Chen
Sunday June 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
13th & Broadway, downtown Kansas City, MO
Donation requested at the door
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception presents
Father's Day Recital: Men honoring men through music
Sunday June 21 at 3:00 p.m.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
416 W. 12th St., Kansas City, MO
Free admission. www.kcgolddome.org
American Guild of Organists, Kansas City Chapter presents
Pipe Organ Encounter '09 Event
Combination recital and performance anxiety workshop
Recital includes Handel's Concerto Opus 4, No. 6, Allegro Moderato
and Pachelbel's Canon
Carrol McLaughlin, harp and John Schaefer, organ
Monday, June 22 at 7:30 p.m.
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church,
Wornall and Meyer Blvd., Kansas City, MO
Purchase tickets at the door.
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital
Monday June 22 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
Liberty United Methodist Church presents
Choral Concert: Lucnica Chorus of Bratislava (Slovakkia)
Program will include music from the early-Baroque period through their national folk music.
Monday June 22 at 7:00 p.m.
Liberty United Methodist Church
1001 Sunset Avenue, Liberty, MO
Free admission. Call 816-781-4554 ext. 119 for more information.
American Guild of Organists, Kansas City Chapter presents
Pipe Organ Encounter '09 Event
Hymn Festival
Monday June 22 at 11:00 a.m.
Village Presbyterian Church
67th and Mission, Prairie Village, KS
Free admission
American Guild of Organists, Kansas City Chapter presents
Pipe Organ Encounter '09 Event
Faculty Recital
Tuesday June 23 at 7:30 p.m.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church,
40th & Main Streets, KCMO
Free admission.
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Robert Rowlett
Tuesday June 23 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
American Guild of Organists, Kansas City Chapter presents
Pipe Organ Encounter '09 Event
Young Artists' Organ Recital
Wednesday June 24 at 7:30 p.m.
William Jewell College, Gano Chapel, Liberty, MO
Free admission.
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Pam Robison
Wednesday June 24 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
Sprint Center presents
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Thursday June 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Sprint Center
1407 Grand Blvd., KCMO
Purchase tickets at the door. www.SprintCenter.com
UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance presents
Conservatory Connections: Strike a Pose
Music (by Mara Gibson, Lee Hartman, John Cage, and Steve Reich) and dance (choreography by Paula Weber) come together in this special performance highlighting ideas of gesture, pose and movement inspired by works in the exhibition George Segal: Street Scenes.
Thursday June 25 at 6:15 and 7:30 p.m.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Bloch Lobby
4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, MO.
Free admission. Call 816-235-2741 for more information.
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Blake West
Thursday June 25 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium,
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City presents
<><><>fiona's PICK<><><>
Don Pasquale
by Donizetti
Friday, June 26 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 28 at 2 p.m.
Folly Theatre
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-536-9464 or for information visit www.kccivicopera.org
American Guild of Organists, Kansas City Chapter presents
Pipe Organ Encounter '09 Event
Campers' Recital
Friday June 26 at 4:00 p.m.
Central United Methodist Church,
5144 Oak, Kansas City, MO
Free admission
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Blake West
Friday June 26 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
Kacico Dance presents
<><><>fiona's PICK<><><>
The Song and Dance Project 2009
KC Singer/Songwriters: Dave Patmore, Erik Karlsson, Laura Lisbeth, Rick Malsick, and Karim Memi along with Kacico Dancers: Kathryn Cowan, Shandi Miller, Lindsay Spilker Tate, Allison Kaut, Holly Harmison, Tuesday Faust, Aaron Brownlee, Maggie Osgood, Chris Dunn (understudy), and Michelle Diane Brown, artistic director. Choreography is by Michelle Diane Brown, Shandi Miller, Lindsay Spilker Tate, Kathryn Cowan, Allison Kaut, and Holly Harmison.
Saturday June 27 at 2:00 p.m.
Mid-Continent Public Library, Oak Grove Branch
2320 South Broadway, Oak Grove, MO. 816-690-3213
Free admission. 816-578-4721. www.kacicodance.org
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Aaron Jaynes
Saturday June 27 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City presents
<><><>fiona's PICK<><><>
Don Pasquale
by Donizetti
Friday, June 26 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 28 at 2 p.m.
Folly Theatre
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-536-9464 or for information visit www.kccivicopera.org
International Institute for Young Musicians
and the KU School of Fine Arts presents
<><><>fiona's PICK<><><>
International Piano Competition Semi-Finals
Sunday June 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy Hall,
KU campus, Lawrence, KS
Free admission. www.iiym.com
Community of Christ presents
Organ recital: Thom Greathouse
Sunday June 28 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Temple, River & Walnut, Independence, MO
Free admission
THEATRE LISTINGS
New Theatre Restaurant presents
Don't Dress for Dinner
by Marc Camoletti
starring Jamie Farr
Runs April 15 - June 21
Call or visit the website for performance times.
New Theatre Restaurant, 9229 Foster, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 913-649-7469 or online at www.newtheatre.com
American Heartland Theatre presents
Unnecessary Farce
By Paul Slade Smith
A Kansas City Premiere
Runs May 28 - June 21
Call or visit the website for performance days and times.
Crown Center, 3rd Level
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online at www.ahtkc.com.
Unicorn Theatre presents
Speech & Debate
by Stephen Karam
Runs June 12 – July 12
Call or visit the website for performance times.
Unicorn Theatre Jerome Stage, 3828 Main St., Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-531-7529 or online at www.unicorntheatre.org
The Chestnut Fine Arts Center presents
Babes in Hollywood: The Music of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
Directed by Brad Zimmerman
Julie O'Rourke, Julie Shaw, Kipp Simmons, and David Thompson
Runs May 21 through June 21
(No shows on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday)
Chestnut Fine Arts Center, 234 N Chestnut, Olathe, KS
Phone 913-764-2121 for reservations. Visit www.chestnutfinearts.com for more information
Quality Hill Playhouse presents
All Sinatra
Jon Daugharthy, Melinda MacDonald and J. Kent Barnhart
with Steve Lenhert,bass and Ken Remmert, drums
This cabaret tribute to "Ol' Blue Eyes" features over 50 of his songs, including "Witchcraft,"
"The Lady is a Tramp," "Love and Marriage," "The Tender Trap" and more.
Runs May 29 - June 28
Visit the website for performance days and times.
Quality Hill Playhouse
303 West 10th Street, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-421-1700 or online at www.qualityhillplayhouse.com
Paul Mesner Puppets presents
Cinderella
Wednesday, June 17 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Thursday, June 18 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Friday, June 19 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Saturday, June 20 at 2 p.m.
Sunday, June 21 at 2 p.m.
Unity on the Plaza, 707 W. 47th Street, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.paulmesnerpuppets.org
Coterie Theatre presents
Elementary/Family Series
U Bug:Me
Music and Lyrics by Jeremiah Neal
Directed and Choreographed by Ernie Nolan
Runs June 23- August 2
Call or visit the website for performance times.
The Coterie Theatre at Crown Center, Grand and Pershing, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online at www.coterietheatre.org
New Theatre Restaurant presents
The Sound of Music
by Rodgers & Hammerstein
starring Ron Bohmer and Sandra Joseph
Runs June 25 to August 30
Call or visit the website for performance times.
New Theatre Restaurant, 9229 Foster, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 913-649-7469 or online at www.newtheatre.com
theSTEADY,
Sinners, saints and mix tapes (Part 1 of 2)
Several years ago, a couple months into a budding romance, I decided to assemble some mix CDs to impress my new sweetheart. Armed with pretty good instincts and sage advice from Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, I confidently set about cataloguing the contenders, sorting them thematically and paying painstaking attention to the aesthetic arc of the running order.
I decided to put a loosely nautically-themed collection together with songs about wanderlust thrown in for good measure. Finding sensitive, introspective songs for the mix was easy ("Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "In the Aeroplane over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel, "Nightswimming" by R.E.M.) but I needed something for a change of pace. Something playful. Something sexy.
Alacartoona's slinky and irreverent "Every Saint Needs a Sinner" did the trick. Its call-and-response vocals, bawdy humor and sailor's polka shuffle reminded me of salty ocean air on the open seas. It was just the spice my compilation needed.
Years later, the song-and the band itself-has withstood repeated listens. It helps that Alacartoona's sexy and sophisticated take on early twentieth-century European cabaret is inherently anachronistic. With bohemian lyrics and period costumes, the group's theatrical music blends in flourishes of modern pop, folk and jazz. If the Decemberists or the Dresden Dolls were your old school buddies, Alacartoona was the sexy sister who'd always leave home to go backpacking in Europe. You know, the one you'd always wanted to score with.
These days, sister must be tired. Fresh off their ambitious, exhausting "Night is the Mirror" DVD shoot (check out Scott Easterday's review of the culminating live performance of that project, also in this week's issue), Alacartoona recently returned to Jardine's for their monthly Second Thursday Happy Hour Show.
Things kicked off as expected: anyone who's ever been to an Alacartoona gig or has a copy of their debut CD, Songs from the Show, knows the introduction to "Willkommen" by heart. More than just an opener, it's the perfect primer for the uninitiated, welcoming the audience into the world of Alacartoona:
The charming and sultry Ruby Falls (Erin McGrane, vocals and guitar) and bombastic Providence Forge (Christian Hankel, vocals and bass) handle most of the narrative duties. Overton Woolridge (Kyle Dahlquist, vocals, accordion and assorted horns), with his deliberate, somnolent vocal delivery, provides an occasional change of pace. The only member of the band who doesn't sing-or even speak-is Bachelor Calwood (Gregg Jackson, drums), who is content to anchor the group with his intricate rhythm work.
The band seemed relaxed and recovered from their recently grueling schedule but the crowd needed a little coaxing and cajoling to start the evening. I was a bit surprised, having seen the raucous reception they'd received during "Night is the Mirror" and their other Second Thursday shows here at Jardine's. This was, after all, home base. The venue featured an Alacartini cocktail special on these nights and the band even joked about a new fish entrée, the AlacarTuna. But in the end, you can't rely on specials alone. Fortunately, Alacartoona can trust in its terrifically catchy and witty music.
These songs speak of dysfunctional love and restlessness. On this particular night, songs like "For Us," "The Apartment," and "Loves His Lover" were a cocktail of absinthe and adultery, deceit and inexplicable devotion; "The Lesson" and "The Walk" served as cautionary tales of lust and excess. Beyond the domestic and romantic angst were clever tall tales such as the irrepressibly wicked tango of "Perpetual Gin" and the melodic narrative of "Sailor Joe." By the time Alacartoona wrapped their first set with-what else?-"Every Saint Needs a Sinner," the crowd was no longer shy.
During the brief intermission, the members of the Barclay Martin Ensemble arrived in a display of support and solidarity. Erin McGrane appeared on B.M.E.'s 2008 release, Dawn, and performed with the group until her own busy schedule made it difficult to do so. B.M.E. was slated for its first performance at Firefly Lounge later in the evening and it was a pretty classy gesture for the gentlemen to swing by right before their own show.
As I'm telling B.M.E.'s bassist, Rick Willoughby, that I'd be following them over to Westport later that evening, Ruby began Alacartoona's second set with a poem I didn't recognize. The band often effectively incorporates original monologues, spoken word poems and dramatic vignettes into their work. This one was a sultry piece of beat poetry-bohemian, self-referential and almost religious in tone.
It set up a strong second act featuring many newer songs including two new favorites of mine. The first was "Drowning All My Sorrows," which featured Overton singing with a lazy Chesire grin atop Providence's back alley meander of a bass line. By the song's finale, both men are joined by Ruby in a trio of wry lament: "we're trying to drown all our sorrows but they're learning how to swim."
After Providence takes a turn with the ironically pleasant and sunny-sounding "Day After Day," Ruby flirts and cavorts through the audience with her skirt-flashing promenade in "Fluff and Tickle." Then the band changes pace with easily one of their most aggressive songs, "First Contact," a staccato, militaristic machinegun-fire march featuring a throbbing five-string bass climax.
My other new favorite tune, "The Sneakers," was actually co-written by Providence's real-life daughter, Bishop Hankel, who has inherited her dad's sinister sense of humor. At age four, she approached him with the concept, a fully-formed verse and the hook for this stalker's fairy tale. It slithers along with a snake charmer's gait, warning that "when the sun goes down / if you should close your eyes / you know we'll come for you / then we cut / we cut / we cut, cut, cut, cut, cut."
By the time we hear fan favorites such as the breezy, melodic "The Honey Won't Soothe the Sting" or "Just a Drink or Two"-always an uproarious highlight in live performance-the crowd is whipped up and losing themselves in the debauchery. It's always such a wonderful sight to see.
And Alacartoona herself has gotten worked up for the rousing climax of "Where'd You Get That / Ruby's Lament," a theatrical suite that finds Ruby crumbling beneath the weight of junkie-ism and despair. The languid refrain of this dirty bohemian fantasy--"we'll lie around all day"--belies the band's real-life industriousness. They put in a lot of work to make it look this effortless.
It was time for me to make my way over to Firefly Lounge to catch the beginning of Barclay Martin Ensemble's show. With a silent apology I left Alacartoona to her fate, the sounds of forlorn hound dog howls on Overton's trombone and Ruby's contrastingly playful laughter sending me out into the evening.
Check back next week for the second half of "Sinners, Saints and Mix Tapes," a special two-part edition of "The Steady."
Review:
Alacartoona
Thursday, June 11 at 5:30 p.m.
Jardine's Restaurant and Jazz Club
4536 Main St., Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-6480 or online at www.jardines4jazz.com
www.alacartoona.com
GIGGIN' ON THE STEADY
Rick Willoughy of Barclay Martin Ensemble
Composer, Musician in
Quixotic: Lux Esalare
Friday, June 19 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, June 20 at 8 p.m.
Thursday, June 25 at 8 p.m., Friday, June 26 at 8 p.m., Saturday, June 27 at 8 p.m.
Spencer Theatre
UMKC Performing Arts Center
4949 Cherry,Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.quixoticfusion.com
Alacartoona
Wednesday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Californo's
4124 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-531-1097 or online at www.californos.com.
www.alacartoona.com
Film,
"Cowtown Ballroom" is an entertaining revelation
For 38 months in the early 1970s, the Cowtown Ballroom was the hottest place for live music in Kansas City, yet its place in our city's history has been obscured by time and remembered only by those of the "Baby Boom" generation who experienced it. Now everyone can relive that brief but remarkable period by viewing the enlightening independent documentary Cowtown Ballroom... Sweet Jesus.
Co-produced and Co-directed by Joe Heyen and Anthony Ladesich, Cowtown Ballroom...Sweet Jesus embarks on a surprisingly complex journey that spans not only the countercultural revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but also the height of the Kansas City's unique jazz sound in the late 1920s and 1930s. This is primarily done with an avalanche of interviews involving concertgoers, musicians and promoters alike that date back to when the Cowtown Ballroom was known as the El Torreon in 1927.
With insights from musicians like the legendary B.B. King, who was familiar with both venue incarnations, Heyen's film portrays Kansas City as being a nexus point for a variety of sounds like delta blues, big band and jazz. Furthermore, in King's eyes Kansas City was a unique place where black Americans had an opportunity to flourish and experiment with music.
Eventually, the El Torreon was used as a skating rink, but as the psychedelic wave crashed onto Kansas City from both coasts, a vision was born to foster local music talent and in a nutshell the Cowtown Ballroom was born. For 38 months, until its owners were forced to close it because of economic reasons, the venue played host to acts like the Kansas City Philharmonic, Van Morrison, Frank Zappa, Linda Rondstadt, B.B. King, Foghat, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
Despite the brevity of some of the interviews, every musician who played at the Cowtown Ballroom remarkably seems to remember their one appearance there and how much they enjoyed it. Interviews with former hippie concertgoers are often the most entertaining of the bunch as their recollections of events sometimes varies with seemingly how much LSD they took at the time. Heyen and Ladesich smartly gave this documentary some scholarly weight too by including interviews with Chuck Haddix, director of the Marr Sound Archives at UMKC's Miller Nichols Library, and UMKC history professor Dr. Mary Ann Wynkoop.
Cowtown Ballroom... Sweet Jesus is quite insightful and coincidentally provides a nice counterweight to the darker Kansas City documentary currently in theaters - Black Hand Strawman. Heyen's effort, which has excellent production qualities all around, is also a great time capsule in that it shows how the music business was before it became as corporate as it is today.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Cowtown Ballroom...Sweet Jesus receives an A- .
Cowtown Ballroom...Sweet Jesus is unrated and has a running time of 80 minutes.
Now Showing
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO.
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.
Theatre ,
Farce or Fiction?
The show features "two likable cops operating out of their league, a possibly crooked mayor and his innocent acting wife, a shy accountant with a tendency to drop her drawers, a double agent who'd like to get IN those drawers, and a Scottish hit man with a brogue that gets thicker the angrier he gets." OK, it sounds funny. How could it miss? Especially with a talented cast, and a playwright, Paul Slade Smith, who in 2007 was named one of "50 to Watch -- writers of exceptional merit and promise" by The Dramatist magazine.
But sometime in the first act, I started to get restless. And by the second act, I was having déjà vu. The same things kept happening over and over. How many times can a man drop his pants before it's not funny anymore? How many times can the mayor burst in on an awkward situation before the audience starts yawning? When you stretch out a one-minute gag to last 15, it will be funny only for the first minute. Paul Slade Smith's script was not very well crafted.
Perhaps I'm being too hard on the playwright. After all, it's the responsibility of the director and actors to turn the writer's lines into something of significance. But there were times when actors moved simply because they were told to, as when female cop Billie, played by Jill Szoo, hops up to a set of doors while tied up but doesn't attempt to open them and escape. Or when the mayor, Kevin Albert, wanders in and out of the hotel rooms for no discernible reason other than the script said so.
The actors did well enough. Craig Benton received a few chuckles as Agent Frank, and was an interesting character to watch. Kevin Albert was enjoyable as Mayor Meekly, although one couldn't help but feel that his character should have been more prominent in the play. Jessalyn Kincaid enthusiastically played Karen Brown, an accountant whose part consisted of dressing and undressing. Jill Szoo had some agreeably silly quirks and phrases as the female cop. John Wilson played the main character, Eric Sheridan, with good-natured bumbling. Zach Woods, the Scottish hit man, was silly, but not frightening enough to be convincing. Cynthia Hyer, as the mayor's wife, functioned as a kind of deus ex machina.
Alex Perry's set was a creative solution to the problem of two hotel rooms with adjoining doors. Complete with closets, bathrooms, hallways and adjoining doors, it was a fair replica of a normal hotel -- although almost too spacious. Up by the doors the action was cramped, yet the downstage playing area had a lot of rarely used open space. Perhaps the furniture needed to be rearranged to better suit the thrust stage.
The naturalistic lighting was by Shane Rowse, and I enjoyed the dimmer lights in the hallway and bathrooms (often the case in hotels). Paul Hough's costumes were serviceable, but there were some small details, like wrinkles and lack of pantyhose, that took away from the design. Roger Stoddard did well with the sound, especially the playback from the cops' video footage.
I wish I could find more things to praise. After all, it wasn't a terrible show, just bland. The audience seemed to have a good enough time. But considering the time spent, the show was simply unnecessary.
REVIEW
Unnecessary Farce
By Paul Slade Smith
A Kansas City Premiere
Crown Center, 3rd Level
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO
www.ahtkc.com.
theSTEADY,
Alacartoona: Night is the mirror
Alacartoona is a modern cabaret "theatrical music" group. Friday evening, May 29, they performed a sensational show for a sold-out audience at Crown Center's Off Center Theater. The group had spent the previous two days filming in the Off Center Theater for the production of their forthcoming DVD, Night is the Mirror. Camera operators were filming Friday's live show as well, so that scenes from the performance can be added to the movie.
Tables and chairs were provided in the orchestra section of the theater. There was a waitress in fishnet stockings, and a little person in a tuxedo. DeDe Deville, who promenaded with placards for the Intermission and Act II, made a special appearance. Cocktails were in abundance, and absinthe lollipops were available that made your tongue both green and numb.
Alacartoona is Ruby Falls, vocal and guitar, Providence Forge, bass and vocal, Overton Wooldridge, accordion and vocal, and Bachelor Calwood, drums and percussion. The music was paired down; only the instrumentation that was needed was present. The troupe also delivered monologues and dialogs: emotive vignettes that were acted out.
Phil Kinen, Producer and Theatrical Director with Alacartoona for the DVD production, introduced the show which opened with a off-stage monologue by Ruby Falls. "At times, the night is thin, overly brittle, so much so that a finger, angled properly and applied with just the right balance of pressure and control, might crack it,..."
In the spirit of cabaret the two main vocalists, Ruby Falls and Providence Forge, mingled and sang directly to members of the audience, sometimes sitting on their laps and caressing their cheeks. Sexuality and carousing were dominant themes.
The cabaret troupe then entered the stage and performed their opening number, "Willkomen." The lyric says "Welcome, come to the show, make yourself at home." Taken literally, this message of the song was quite simple. But the motive of the song, and the rest of the show, promoted a bigger idea--that there was a story behind the scenes, and a history to the characters. Each song or acted scene was a piece of the larger ambiguous story. Will the upcoming movie, Night is the Mirror, reveal secrets, or spin more mystery?
There were a number of interesting dialog pieces that were well acted that stood on their own. One scene involved all the performers in the group. Providence Forge was seated addressing one member of the audience while the rest of his cabaret troupe-mates provided the responses.
The scene, "Too Much," featured a quick exchange between Providence and Ruby Falls:
Providence...
Yes Ruby...
What happened?
I don't remember.
Too much
Not enough
Bored
Complacent
Needy
Sated
Fearful
Careless
Illogical
Unrealistic
Black and white
All fire red
You fell asleep
What?
Fear is pain remembered
Pain is fear remembered...
One of the songs, "Sneakers," was a particularly well crafted and eerie story. It was spine-tingling and cinematic. It invoked images that suggest an entire horror movie.
We are the sneakers
We're hiding in the night
We're putting out the lights
One by one
We are the sneakers
We watch you live your lives
We're sharpening our knives
Just for fun
For when the sun goes down
If you should close your eyes
You know we'll come for you
Then we cut
We cut
We cut, cut, cut, cut, cut
REVIEW
Alacartoona
Night is the Mirror
Friday, May 29, 2009
Off Center Theater, Crown Center
Kansas City, MO
The Alacartoona DVD, Night is the Mirror, is due to release later this year.
For more information visit their website www.alacartoona.com.
Theatre ,
Smells like team spirit
Now that we have seen the passing of generations, from the so-called greatest to X, and possibly even Y and Z, we are at the beginning of another generation: one that is attracted to both social justice and social networking, able (so far) to juggle technological advances not seen since the Industrial Age of the nineteenth century and to mentor their parents in the zany Zeitgeist composed of advertising, culture and a mosaic of passing influences. Who are these people?
If music tells us something of this newest generation's thinking, art less so, and writing, well, apart from blogging, Twittering, and Facebooking, lesser still, it is heartening to be in the company of a young writer who neither talks up nor down to his characters or his audience. Stephen Karam, who was barely twenty-six when his first play, Speech & Debate, premièred in New York in 2007, is not writing in the vein of the expected: throughout his play (at the Unicorn, which opened on June 12, directed by Missy Koonce), when pivotal moments arise the characters fall silent. Partly, it represents teen inability to articulate what is truly at hand, yet it is also serves as a pause, like the moment between serves when a tennis player bounces the ball to gather concentration. Karam's characters are a talky trio, but they know when words are not enough.
Language is everything in Speech & Debate. The play opens with new transfer to a Salem, Oregon high school, a friendless gay African-American named Howie (Tosin Morohunfola), in a chat room where he hooks up with an anonymous older man. When a second student, the shy Solomon (Doogin Brown), a self-conscious "reporter" as he insists on being described, stumbles across the Internet correspondence he is incensed--yet also views the story as a big break. (The mystery man is someone high up in the high school.) Solomon's teacher (a hearty Kathleen Warfel), worn down by his constant demands to publish controversial subject matter in the school paper, persuades him to take part in a newly established Speech & Debate club. If it is meant to preoccupy him, his poor teacher is in for a rude awakening.
The club's team leader, Diwata (played supremely by Lauretta Pope), is no less of a misfit (she sends out podcasts, it seems, to herself, and obsesses about Mary Warren, the accused witch in that other Salem play, The Crucible). But Diwata's self-confidence and ambition draws all three outsiders into a circle that for all its clichés of self-esteem actually feels honest onstage. Diwata needs Solomon and Howie as much as they need her; that none of them knows it for much of the play is unsurprising. What earns this comedy its marks is how subtly Karam's writing pulls back the stereotypes of each character. Despite his namesake, Solomon's wisdom is directed at everyone but himself; his ambivalent sexual orientation is mirrored by Howie's openness: when Diwata gets a harebrained scheme to involve them all in a group performance (which may or may not involve Solomon's disclosure of criminal activities) as their Speech & Debate presentation, the play threatens to dissolve into either Judd Apatow slapstick or John Hughes über-sentimentality. In fact, it shies away from both, finding its feet on a middle ground between acceptance and wariness.
The play moves along, courtesy of loud-music-and-club-lighting blackouts between each scene. And as ever, it is a delight to see how much imagination can be poured into a small stage (in this case, a mostly bare one as well, with the props stashed in oblong boxes that resemble nothing, so they can be anything: a seat, a wall, a stage on the stage). The three young actors, mostly playing only a few years earlier when they were really in school, have a tough job: how to communicate through characters that are not versed in communicating. At the beginning, Solomon's teacher asks him why he does not talk with his parents about sex; later Howie and Diwata ask the same question. Much of what transpires between the three is not in the script, but in the acting. Ensemble acting need not be a tour de force to be convincing; the audience (mostly the over-fifty set) I sat with was thoroughly convinced: they laughed as loudly as they sat silently when the writing called for it.
The idea of outing someone, whether a private individual or a public name, is, if thoughtfully considered, a difficult task, something not easily to be toyed with. Speech & Debate may use contemporary settings and situations to make its theme bankable; what I find more intriguing is how unraveled the ending is. Through various machinations, many quite funny and inspired (especially the final musical number), each of the teens finds some solace in his or her decision to be his or herself; and yet. When Solomon advances the idea to Howie that they might hang out as friends, it is not like ordering up a Smoothie. Something is left to debate, something not so simple as Googling to get an immediate answer.
REVIEW
The Unicorn Theatre
Speech & Debate
Written by Stephen Karam
Directed by Missy Koonce
Running through July 12
Call or visit the website for performance days and times
Jerome Stage at the Unicorn Theatre
3828 Main St., KCMO.
For tickets call 816-531-7529 or online at www.unicorntheatre.org.
Classical,
A pop music odyssey with Heartland Men's Chorus
If the phrase "boy band" conjures up nothing but memories of the eighties and nineties, then Sunday's concert by the Heartland Men's Chorus would have been an interesting surprise. The show was packed with one hour and forty minutes of music that chronicled well-known numbers from across the decades from a variety of hit-making bands. It played to a packed house on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, entertaining hundreds of faithful followers.
The HMC is at home at the Folly Theater. It is the ideal space for, director, Dr. Joseph Nadeau and his team to launch creative ventures in repertoire, movement, staging and lighting design. When this venue is sold out, however, the single revolving door simply cannot accommodate the crowd and ticket holders do not get processed efficiently, thus Sunday's show started 15 minutes late. Executive Director Rick Fisher was on hand to warmly welcome the sold-out house and set a spirited tone for this pops concert. To follow was a jam-packed program with thirty-five numbers (if individual songs in medleys are counted).
Although the opening Sh-Boom was somewhat uninspired, the program did gain momentum and captured the audience. The show was emceed by Chris Hernandez, who reveled in the dramatic rendering of the classic Dick Clark persona. The audience watched his fashions and hair styles evolve and even saw him "age" throughout the afternoon. More importantly, Hernandez provided useful context that included details about the bands or facts about a song. This was an integral part of the successful program, but had he offered information for every piece instead of only a select few, his role would have been more consistent.
One highlight of the first half was soloist David Wood, who offered up just the right gruff, raspy tone for his part in Shout. He delivered his solo from an elevated stage situated above and behind the risers. For added visual appeal, Oliver Schwab's set boasted huge records flanking each side of this loft-like platform (and these records gave way to a cassette tape and CD for the eighties and nineties during the second half of the program). With Shout came the first choreographed moves for the group, and while the prescribed gestures at times gave momentum to a number, much of the choreography was plodding and at times pedantic. To be fair, it is not easy to coordinate 100 singers standing on risers, but the listless moves added little to the program.
In the Still of the Night brought a disco ball and a passionate dancing couple, so sweet nostalgia was the key here. Under the Boardwalk, a song so full of summer imagery, again incorporated some choreography that was lost on this reviewer: a beach ball and blankets were in play and although flirty was probably the goal; the elementary antics did little to summon ideas of romantic relaxation "on a blanket with my baby." For the Beach Boys medley, Hernandez appeared in a colorful aloha shirt and bare feet to usher in the vibe. The car for I Get Around was the set design highlight of the first half, and the choreography here was clever. Sherry featured The Heartaches and this small ensemble produced a convincing falsetto. The Beatles medley to follow demonstrated that Nadeau found some credible choral arrangements of these pop numbers to make the most of his large group. Some difficulty with uniform phrase endings was evident here, but this was more about the party and pink ruffled tuxedo shirts were a hit with the audience.
The second half of the show brought on the seventies and the singers abandoned their suits for jeans, polo shirts, and sneakers (wardrobe changes play an integral part in the HMC style). This new relaxation loosened the mood for the music to come. The opener was barn burner Bohemian Rhapsody. Soloist Kelly Marzett controlled the stage with a straight, at times piercing, tone that combined effectively with the unruly guitar solo. This was the rock 'n roll some listeners came for!
Fan favorites followed like Earth, Wind and Fire's After the Love is Gone and I'll Be There by The Jackson 5 (Aubrey Williams' solo was modest but engaging). The short snippet of Hotel California was easily the highlight of this 5-number set, when the singers celebrated the percussion-only accompaniment. That's the Way (I Like It), a KC and the Sunshine Band sensation, encouraged the audience to be even more participatory. 
No pop music odyssey is complete without something from the Village People and that medley featured some familiar characters, complete with shorts, tank tops, and a variety of hats. No one could resist joining in on spelling out "YMCA" with wild arm motions. And while one may not expect to hear a choral arrangement of Mr. Robato, the number allowed the group to sing full voice and use glow sticks at the same time. By the time the boy bands of late were the feature, Dick Clark is having trouble reading his cue cards, but the audience sees things clearly, enjoying Backstreet Boys and NSync hits from the more recent past. William Wilson's solo on As Long As You Love Me was perfect-his fresh sound hit the mark here.
The simple choral arrangement (like those by David Maddux and Ed Lojeski) were no stretch for these experienced singers, and so this is really no time to critique balance, sonority, blend, or diction. These were melody-driven numbers and more an exercise in HMC giving the audience what they came for. At times the HMC Dancers were more of a distraction than a complement, and the choreography was reminiscent of a high school musical, but the instrumentalists contributed a solid rock vibe throughout with inspired accompaniment, and the concert was a success overall. The afternoon ended with Goodnight Sweetheart, and it was worth the wait to hear the ensemble at work with some vocal subtleties largely absent throughout the rest of the program. This was a fitting finale that showcased the group's more polished sound.
There is a reason that this is one of the most well supported choral groups in the city: they deliver spirited performances, clever (at times risky) programming, and always a surprise or two.
In any case, they did what they do best: charm audiences and ensure that listeners will come back for more.
REVIEW:
Heartland Men's Chorus
Heart Throbs: The Best of the Boy Bands
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Folly Theater
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
www.hmckc.org
Dance, theSTEADY,
Quixotic Dance Fusion is flying high in Kansas City
Videography by Anthony Ladesich
Edited by Mary C. Taylor
Produced by Scott Easterday, KCMetropolis.org
Quixotic Dance Fusion
Lux Esalare
Friday, June 26 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 27 at 8 p.m.
Spencer Theatre at UMKC
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
Founded in Kansas City in 2004 Quixotic is the brainchild of award winning sound designer & visual artist Anthony Magliano and by award winning dancer/choreographer Keelan Whitmore.
Quixotic is an ensemble of musicians, dancers, aerialists, composers, designers, and choreographers collaborating to produce new forms of artistic expression. This inventive group of artists goes beyond the limits of any specific art form to create a total sensory experience for its audience. Quixotic makes performance art interactive and eliminates the barrier between performer and audience.
Lux Esalare features imaginative aerial and dance works to an all new sound track featuring live video feeds and unique interactive projection surfaces.
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.quixoticfusion.com
Film,
"Rudo Y Cursi" wears two masks well but fails to score a goal
It's a story that's as old as Cain and Abel - In the comedic drama Rudo Y Cursi, two brothers, or in this case half-brothers, are pitted against one another in the fan-crazed world of Mexican soccer.
With direction and screenwriting by Carlos Cuarón (Y tu mamá también), Rudo Y Cursi begins in a poor, rural village where Beto (Diego Luna), nicknamed Rudo, and Tato (Gael García Bernal), nicknamed Cursi, live with their extended family as they eke out an existence by working on a banana plantation. Rudo is a temperamental, somewhat unlikable husband and father with a gambling addiction. Cursi is a romantic dreamer who wants to become a professional singer, but has a laughable singing voice.
Winds of change blow into town when a scout from Mexico City named Batuta (Guillermo Francella) watches a local soccer match involving the two half-brothers. Batuta, who has a taste for fast cars and beautiful women, eventually signs them to two different professional teams in Mexico City. Rudo establishes fame as a hard-nosed goalie while Cursi becomes popular for his ability as a scoring machine and his relationship with a sluttish, gold digger pinup model (Jessica Mas). Inevitably they square off against each other in a match that will alter their lives.
Rudo Y Cursi never seems to know what it wants to be. It contains a few good laughs thanks to Bernal's lively performance and Cuarón's script, but it also becomes darkly dramatic thanks to Luna's portrayal of a man who falls into a dark abyss of jealousy and addiction. Ultimately, Cuarón is able to balance comedy and tragedy. The film is able to wear the two masks that represent theater.
The strength of Rudo Y Cursi is not its ability to be a great sports film. In soccer terms, it doesn't bend like Beckham. Nearly all of the soccer action takes place off camera and so we are stuck with watching stadium crowds react to events that aren't really there. It's like being on the field with your back turned to all of the action. As a consequence, it's nearly impossible to accept that the two half-brothers are as good as the hype. It also significantly diminishes any adrenaline rush that an audience member can typically feel during a sports-themed film. As a result, the climax, which is predictable, has about as much excitement as watching an underwater basket weaving competition.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Rudo Y Cursi receives a C+.
Rudo Y Cursi is rated R and has a running time of 103 minutes.
Now Showing
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square
4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO.
For tickets and show times call 913-383-7756 or online at www.tivolikc.com
City Voices,
Vocal Column for June
Kansas City Chamber Orchestra
Mozart Festival Weekend
Sunday, June 21, 3:00 p.m.
Village Presbyterian Church
6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS
Mozart's' "Jupiter" Symphony no. 41, Hayden's Symphony Concertante and Mahler's
song cycle Das Knaben Wunderhorn which will be sung by baritone Thomas Meglioranza.
Meglioranza, who sings with the Boston Symphony, Minnesota orchestra and National Symphony of Washington, D.C., among others, was a winner of the 2005 Walter W. Naumburg International Competition, the 2002 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the 2002 Joy in Singing Award and the 2003 Franz Schubert and Music of Modernity International Competition in Graz, Austria. He has previously appeared with the Chamber Orchestra.
A pre-concert talk will begin an hour before the performance. Bruce Sorrell conducts.
For tickets call the Central Ticket Office at (816) 235-6222, or online at www.kcchamberorchestra.org.
Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City
Don Pasquale, by Donizetti
Friday, June 26, at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, June 29 at 2:00 p.m.
Avila University Goppert Theater
11901 Wornall Rd, Kansas City, MO
Under the new leadership of David Adams, the Civic Opera Theater is presenting Donizetti's wonderfully entertaining opera Don Pasquale. The performance will feature Julie Wyma, Ben Hilgert, Chris Cobbett, and Kurtis Shoemake as the title character.
For tickets call 816-719-1835 or online at www.kccivicopera.org
Dance Around the City,
Dance Column for June
Quixotic Dance Fusion
Lux Esalare
Friday, June 19 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 20 at 8 p.m.
Thursday, June 25 at 8 p.m.
Friday, June 26 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 27 at 8 p.m.
Spencer Theatre at UMKC
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
Founded in Kansas City in 2004 Quixotic is the brainchild of award winning sound designer & visual artist Anthony Magliano and by award winning dancer/choreographer Keelan Whitmore.
Quixotic is an ensemble of musicians, dancers, aerialists, composers, designers, and choreographers collaborating to produce new forms of artistic expression. This inventive group of artists goes beyond the limits of any specific art form to create a total sensory experience for its audience. Quixotic makes performance art interactive and eliminates the barrier between performer and audience.
Lux Esalare features imaginative aerial and dance works to an all new sound track featuring live video feeds and unique interactive projection surfaces.
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.quixoticfusion.com
UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Conservatory Connections: Strike a Pose
Thursday, June 25, 6:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Bloch Lobby, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, Missouri
Conservatory Connections is the community outreach program of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, and on June 25 they will present two performances of a music and dance presentation at the Nelson Atkins Museum, to complement the Museum's exhibition of the works of George Segal, entitled "Street Scenes." The choreography is by Paula Weber.
Best of all, no ticket is required and the performance is free.
For information online, see www.conservatory.umkc.edu or www.nelson-atkins.org. Check the calendar of events section of either web site.
Kacico Dance
The Song and Dance Project 2009
Saturday June 27 at 2:00 p.m.
Mid-Continent Public Library,
Oak Grove Branch,
2320 South Broadway, Oak Grove, MO.
KC Singer/Songwriters: Dave Patmore, Erik Karlsson, Laura Lisbeth, Rick Malsick, and Karim Memi along with Kacico Dancers: Kathryn Cowan, Shandi Miller, Lindsay Spilker Tate, Allison Kaut, Holly Harmison, Tuesday Faust, Aaron Brownlee, Maggie Osgood, Chris Dunn (understudy), and Michelle Diane Brown, artistic director. Choreography is by Michelle Diane Brown, Shandi Miller, Lindsay Spilker Tate, Kathryn Cowan, Allison Kaut, and Holly Harmison.
Free admission. For more information call 816-578-4721 or visit www.kacicodance.org
City Stage,
Theater Column through June 24
Now Playing
Unicorn Theatre
Speech & Debate
By Stephen Karam Directed by Missy Koonce
Runs June 12 - July 12
3828 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
In their words: "Three misfit teens reluctantly join forces to combat local corruption, sex scandals and bad casting in the high school play by forming their school's first speech and debate team. They soon realize three voices are stronger that one and this could be their chance to finally be heard by the school and even the world. Their expose culminates in a time-traveling George Michael-inspired musical version of Miller's The Crucible."
For tickets call 816-531-7529 or online at www.unicorntheatre.org
KC Shakespeare Festival
The Merry Wives of Windsor
June 16- July 5
Southmoreland Park
The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival will again stake tents and build a stage for another summer of Shakespeare in Southmoreland Park. In 2009, the Festival will make a comic departure from its past three seasons of historical dramas and tragedies to present The Merry Wives of Windsor, one of Shakespeare's funniest and cleverest comedies.
The Merry Wives of Windsor has been called the original "sit-com", complete with wacky situations and a wide array of comic characters. The story revolves around Falstaff, one of Shakespeare's greatest characters. The story goes that Shakespeare, having killed Falstaff in Henry V, was so overwhelmed with requests to bring back the portly knight, including a request from Queen Elizabeth herself, that he finally relented with the penning of Merry Wives. The tale revolves around Sir John Falstaff's attempts to cuckold two men by wooing their merry wives. Several comic suitors complicate the plan and general silliness abounds as the wives turn the tables on Falstaff.
For more information, call 816-531-7728 or online at www.kcshakes.org
Theatre for Young America
Treasure Island
Runs June 23 - July 3
Union Station's City Stage
30 West Pershing Road, Downtown Kansas City, MO
In their own words: "Dramatized from the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, this exciting play starts at the Admiral Benbow Inn, where an old sea captain is given the black spot - a death mark - by pirates. Young Jim Hawkins finds the treasure map and soon sets sail for the mysterious Treasure Island. Manned by a crew of rowdy pirates, the ship becomes a scene of mutiny and conflict which spill out onto the island where Jim Hawkins proves his mettle."
For tickets call 816-460-2083 or online at http://www.tya.org/
On Going
Quality Hill Playhouse
All Sinatra
May 29 - June 28, 2009
303 W 10th Street, Kansas City, MO
Celebrate the music and style of one of America's most important musical figures. Although he didn't write music or lyrics, Frank Sinatra's unique phrasing and delivery made every song he recorded "his" song.
Melinda MacDonald, Jon Daugharthy (pictured at left) and J. Kent Barnhart star in this cabaret tribute to "Ol' Blue Eyes" featuring over 50 of his songs, including "Witchcraft," "The Lady is a Tramp," "Love and Marriage," "The Tender Trap" and more. Steve Lenhert and Ken Remmert return to their places on the bass and drums, respectively, to complete the ensemble.
For tickets call 816-421-1700 or online at www.qualityhillplayhouse.com
Coterie Theatre at Night
The Breakfast Club
Directed by Ron McGee
Every Monday night at 7:30 p.m. until August 24th.
Westport Coffeehouse
4010 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, MO
A resurrection of the defining 1980's "Brat Pack" movie is being played out on stage as Ron McGee directs The Breakfast Club. More than a cult classic, this play - adapted from the original 1985 film - takes us on a retro-journey of five teenaged strangers forced to live out a Saturday detention. Souls are revealed, love sparks, and reality sets in as this play not only reminds us of how times in America once were but how everything stays the same. It should be noted that this production is not suited for those under 16 or 17 years of age.
One More Thing: Stay after the play and hangout with the cast on stage, drink coffee, and listen to 80's music.
Another Thing: Visit www.youtube.com/user/anthonyalexanderpro to watch interviews of the cast and learn about their research of the characters they are portraying.
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online www.coterietheatre.org
Read the KC Metropolis Review here.
Closing Soon
Theatre for Young America
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Extended run now through June 20
H&R Block City Stage in Union Station.
This extension is allows patrons who see The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe to have the opportunity to view Disney's Chronicles of Narnia Exhibit at Union Station. The Chronicles of Narnia Exhibit, runs May 22nd through August 23rd.
This adaptation is based on the C. S. Lewis novel of the same name. The first on a seven book series, it is s the story of four children, Susan, Lucy, Edmond and Peter who escape the London blitz of World War II, when they are sent to live with their uncle in the countryside. Lucy's discovery of a magic wardrobe in her uncle's home, leads her and her siblings into a world where "it is always winter, but never Christmas", the land known as Narnia. Here the children discover strange wonders: centaurs, talking beavers, goblins, fairies, and a fawn-like creature known as Tumnus, who befriends the children. But Narnia is a land of contrasts as well. There is evil, in the person of the ambitious and calculating White Witch who battles to rule all of Narnia, and goodness and nobility, embodied in the powerful Lion King Aslan, who opposes her and her diabolic schemes.
For tickets call 816.460.2083. or online at www.unionstation.org
The Barn Players
Lucky Stiff
June 5-7, 12-14 & 19-21 Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2:00pm
6219 Martway, Mission, KS 66202
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the authors of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, MY FAVORITE YEAR, RAGTIME and the animated film ANASTASIA exploded on the musical theatre scene with this zany, offbeat, and very funny murder mystery farce about an unassuming English shoe salesman forced to take the corpse of his recently-murdered Atlantic City croupier uncle on a week-long vacation to Monte Carlo. Should he succeed, Harry Witherspoon stands to inherit $6,000,000. If not, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn. Harry comes up against his uncle's insanely jealous and legally blind mistress, her much put-upon optometrist brother and Annabel Glick, a zealous representative from the Universal Dog Home determined to see Harry's inheritance "go to the dogs."
For tickets call (913) 432-9100 or online at www.thebarnplayers.org
American Heartland Theatre
Unnecessary Farce
By Paul Slade Smith
Directed by William J. Christie
Runs May 8 - June 21
Crown Center (Upper Level)
2450 Grand Boulevard, Downtown Kansas City, MO
From their website: "A farce, indeed, and a very good one, too! This laugh -out loud comedy has everything one can hope for in a modern-day farce: two likeable cops operating way out of their league, a supposedly crooked mayor with impeccable timing, his innocent-acting wife, a shy accountant with a penchant for dropping her drawers, a nervous double agent who'd like to get IN those drawers, a Scottish hit man whose brogue gets thicker the angrier he gets, two adjoining hotel rooms, simmering sexual tension and eight doors a slammin'"
The cast includes John Wilson, Jill Szoo, Jessalyn Kincaid, Kevin Albert, Craig Benton, Zach Woods, and Cynthia Hyer.
One more thing: An interpreted performance will be available for the hearing impaired on June 17 at 7:30pm.
For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online www.ahtkc.com
New Theatre Restaurant
Don't Dress for Dinner
By Marc Camoletti
Runs April 15 - June 21
9229 Foster, Overland Park, KS.
Starring Jamie Farr (Klinger from televisions famed M*A*S*H), this twisting comedy ran for two years in Paris and an astonishing seven years in London where it played for over 2000 performances between the Apollo and Duchess Theatres. This rollercoaster ride of a play involves a husband, a wife, a mistress, a best friend and a cook. What possible mischief could come from these Marc Camoletti characters? Author of the recent New Theatre production Boeing-Boeing, Camoletti trained as an architect until three of his plays were produced in Paris simultaneously which launched his career. This French born playwright has seen great success with his works - many of which have been produced in 55 countries. 18 of his plays have seen 20,000 performances in Paris alone. Although he passed away in 2003, his hilarious works are still being produced to this day.
For tickets call 913-649-SHOW or online at www.newtheatre.com
Read the KC Metropolis Review here.
The Chestnut Fine Arts Center
Babes in Hollywood: The Music of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
Directed by Brad Zimmerman
Thursday May 21 through Sunday June 21
Chestnut Fine Arts Center
234 N Chestnut, Olathe, KS
Babes in Hollywood salutes the legendary musical careers of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney and features such American classics as Over the Rainbow, You Made Me Love You, Easter Parade, But Not for Me, The Man Who Got Away, On the Sunny Side of the Street, Meet Me in St. Louis, That's Entertainment, Where or When, Born in a Trunk, Yankee Doodle Boy, Come Rain or Come Shine, Strike up the Band and many more.
For tickets call 913-764-2121. Visit www.chestnutfinearts.com for more information.
Shawnee Mission Theatre in the Park
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
June 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21
Directed by Jim Shelton
Shawnee Mission Park Ampitheater
7710 Renner Rd, Shawnee, KS
"Goin' courtin'" has never been as much fun as in this rip-roaring stage version of the popular MGM movie, adapted by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay. Millie is a young bride living in the 1850s Oregon wilderness whose plan to civilize and marry off her six rowdy brothers-in-law to ensure the success of her own marriage backfires when the brothers, in their enthusiasm, kidnap six women from a neighboring town to be their brides.
Bursting with the rambunctious energy of the original film, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is all boisterous fun and romance that harkens back to the glory days of the movie musical. New songs by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn have been added to a melody-drenched classic film score by Johnny Mercer and Gene de Paul that includes wistful ballads, charming comic turns and rousing show-stopping dances.
For more information call 913-312-8841 or online at www.theatreinthepark.org
Coming Soon
Coterie Theatre
U: BUG: ME
June 23 - August 2, 2009
Book, Music & Lyrics by Jeremiah Neal
Directed & Choreographed by Ernie Nolan
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO
Life isn't so easy when you're an earwig or a fly! Pico the fly knows all about it! His best friend Esteban is a clever earwig who discovers a revolutionary way to harvest soil! With high hopes, the oddly-paired bugs enter the Queen Bee's annual contest with plans to revolutionize the world! (The bug world, that is...) When the bitter horse fly Packo steals their plans, Pico and Esteban need help to avoid a creepy-crawling catastrophe!
Live music from the 'Ant-Hill-Band' will rock U: Bug: Me with hilarious songs.
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online www.coterietheatre.org
News,
Thanks to KCM supporters
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Local Arts News,
KC Rep's Eric Rosen to direct at Sundance Institute Summer Theatre Lab
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kansas City, MO (June 15, 2009) - Sundance Institute has tapped Eric Rosen, artistic director of Kansas City Repertory Theatre, to direct Diagram of a Paper Airplane by Carlos Murillo for the 2009 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, July 7-22, at the Sundance Resort in Utah.
"I am very excited to be returning to Sundance Theatre Lab, which has been so beneficial to my own professional growth," said Rosen, who served as dramaturg there in 2004 for the development of Moisés Kaufman's Tony nominated 33 Variations. "I've been involved in the development of many new plays over the years, and know firsthand how the creative environment at Sundance fosters and supports imagination, innovation and risk."
Murillo is a Chicago-based playwright (dark play), director and teacher. Rosen directed a reading of Diagram of a Paper Airplane in May at the 2009 Inge Festival in Independence, Kansas. "I've known Carlos for the past four years from Chicago, and I think his work is lyrical, imaginative and deeply theatrical," continued Rosen. "To be so quickly reunited with him for the continued development of this piece is an honor."
Diagram of a Paper Airplane is a noir-style, soul-searching investigation into the life and legacy of a once-visionary playwright whose death prompts a prickly reunion of family and colleagues who are driven by curiosity and guilt to attend a post-mortem play reading of his alleged masterwork, which they hope will illuminate a shared but secretive past.
Additional 2009 Sundance Institute Theatre Laboratory fellows and projects selected for this year's residency are An Iliad, adapted by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson, directed by Lisa Peterson; The Lily's Revenge by Taylor Mac, directed by David Drake; Ngwino Ubeho by Odile Gakire Katese, directed by Rebecca Taichman; and Palomino by David Cale, Writer-in-Residence. More information about the Sundance Institute Theatre Laboratory and the 2009 fellows and projects can be found at http://www.sundance.org.
"The 2009 Sundance Theatre Lab reaffirms the Institute's commitment to serious and poetic writing for the stage; as well as our insistence that artists of vision be given the room and support to create works of great ambition, "said Sundance Institute Theatre Program Artistic Director Philip Himberg. "We look forward to hosting them on the Sundance Mountain and to providing both atmosphere and creative advisors to help further their work."
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a not-for-profit organization that fosters the development of original storytelling in film and theatre, and presents the annual Sundance Film Festival. Internationally recognized for its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Angels in America, I Am My Own Wife, Spring Awakening, Boys Don't Cry, Sin Nombre and Born into Brothels.
For more information on the Kansas City Repertory Theatre visit http://www.kcrep.org
City Classics,
Classical Column for June 17- July 1
UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Conservatory Connections: Strike a Pose
Thursday, June 25 at 6:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Bloch Lobby, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, Missouri
Conservatory Connections is the community outreach program of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, and on June 25 they will present two performances of a music and dance presentation at the Nelson Atkins Museum, to complement the Museum's exhibition of the works of George Segal, entitled "Street Scenes." The choreography is by Paula Weber.
Best of all, no ticket is required and the performance is free.
For information online, see www.conservatory.umkc.edu or www.nelson-atkins.org. Check the calendar of events section of either web site.
Kansas City Civic Opera
Don Pasquale
Friday, June 26 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 28 at 2:00 p.m.
Goppert Theater, Avila University
119th and Wornall, Kansas City, MO
Summer time in Kansas City is tough sledding for true-blue opera fans, as there isn't much going on because of the summer shutdown of the Lyric Opera and the opera programs at both UMKC and the University of Kansas. However, not to fear...our own community opera company, the Kansas City Civic Opera, has stepped into the breach with a summertime presentation of Gaetano Donizetti's delightfully hilarious Don Pasquale. It will be presented the last weekend in June at Avila College.
Okay, let's face it. The plot of Don Pasquale is basically the same as that of almost every other comic opera: a lovely young girl and a handsome fellow wish to get together, but are being thwarted by a dirty old man, who has designs on the girl. But through various tricks and machinations, often with the aid of sympathetic friends, they defeat the dirty old man, leave him embarrassed and embittered, and walk off arm in arm at the end.
Such a plot may be easy to recite, but to pull it off musically is actually one of the trickiest things a composer can do, and nobody ever did it better than did the early 19th century bel canto master, Donizetti. In fact, although he was ill and nearly dying at the time he wrote Don Pasquale late in his career (1843), his musical invention had lost none of its charm. In a poll of opera experts taken by a European opera magazine about ten years ago, Don Pasquale ranked among one of the top five comic operas ever written (curious about the others? They were Il Barbieri di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) and Der Rosenkavalier (Cavalier of the Rose)).
David Adams, the fine tenor who also serves as the general producing director of the Civic Opera, has put together a fine production team for this performance. Bass baritone Kurtis Shoemake, soprano Julie Wyma and tenor Ben Hilgert, all of the UMKC Conservatory of Music, sing the principal roles. Jeremy Mims will conduct and Rick Truman is doing the stage direction. It should be just plain midsummer fun.
For tickets call (816) 719-1835, or e-mail at COTofKC1@gmail.com. The Civic Opera web site is www.kccivicopera.org.
Des Moines Metro Opera
Tosca June 19, 21 and 26; July 1, 4 and 12
Der Freischutz June 20 and 28; July 3, 7 and 11
The Barber of Seville, June 27 and 30; July 5, 8 and 10
Blank Performing Arts Center
Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa
There is one more option for opera diehards who want a taste of opera during the summer. Just a three hour drive from Kansas City is the Des Moines Metro Opera, which actually performs in Indianola, Iowa just south of Des Moines. Founded 37 years ago by a Simpson College professor and opera fanatic, Dr. Robert Larsen, the Des Moines Metro Opera summertime festival has become one of the best-known in the country. Fans from all over the country flocks to Iowa, believe it or not, to enjoy outstanding productions in a small-scale theater which you can almost reach out and touch the performers.
Don't be fooled; the Des Moines Metro attracts top-class talent, easily comparable to the singers we often enjoy at the Lyric Opera here in town. The festival features a fine chorus made of summertime apprentices from music conservatories around the country, and the stage direction and conducting, both by Dr. Larsen, are outstanding.
This season's summer festival features a couple of old warhorses - Tosca and The Barber of Seville - and one unusual piece, Weber's rarely performed Der Freischutz (The Freeshooter). If you plan it right you can catch all three operas on the same weekend. Don't be surprised if you see some friends while you are there...many Kansas Citians love to journey north for a weekend to catch the action in Indianola.
For tickets call (515) 961-6221 or online at www.desmoinesmetroopera.org.
Local Arts News,
Friends of Chamber Music announces 2009-10 season
The Friends of Chamber Music is pleased to announce the 2009-10 concert season, continuing a great legacy of providing Kansas City with the world's best musicians, progressive programming and the intimate voice of classical music.
The Friends of Chamber Music 2009-10 Concert Season
International Chamber Music Series
St. Lawrence String Quartet-Saturday, November 7 at 8 p.m., Folly Theater
Takács String Quartet-Saturday, January 9 at 8 p.m., Folly Theater
Tafelmusik-The Galileo Project: Music of the Spheres Sunday, January 31 at 4 p.m., Folly Theater
Artemis String Quartet-Friday, March 12 at 8 p.m., Folly Theater
Venice Baroque Orchestra-Friday, April 23 at 8 p.m., Folly Theater
Master Pianists Series
Nareh Arghamanyan-Friday, October 2 at 8 p.m.. Folly Theater
Stephen Prutsman-Friday, February 12 at 8 p.m., Folly Theater
Kevin Kenner-Friday, April 9 at 8 p.m., Folly Theater
Early Music Series
Anonymous 4- Saturday, October 24 at 8 p.m. Visitation Catholic Church
The Tallis Scholars - Thursday, December 10 at 7:30 p.m., Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
trio mediæval-Sunday, April 18 at 2 p.m., Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Special Presentation Concert
Behzod Abduraimov, piano and Stanislav Ioudenitch, piano - Friday, March 5 at 8 p.m., Folly Theater
"What Makes It Great?" with Rob Kapilow
Zemlinsky String Quartet - Saturday, November 14 at 11 a.m. and Sunday, November 15 at 2 p.m.
Locations TBA. "The American Quartet" by Dvořák
Gilles Vonsattel, piano - Saturday, January 16 at 11 a.m., and Sunday, January 17 at 2 p.m.
Locations TBA. Chopin's Ballades No. 3 and No. 4
Programming to Enhance Your Concert Experience: FORTE Film Series
Copying Beethoven - Thursday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m., Tivoli Cinemas
Immortal Beloved - Thursday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m., Tivoli Cinemas
Impromptu - Thursday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m., Tivoli Cinemas
Special Lecture Event
Lecture/Demonstration by: Tim Westergren , Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Pandora.com
Friday, November 6 at 7:30 p.m. Location TBA
For season and single tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org.
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