Why should Broadway be the only place to make good money on revivals? When the economy stinks, theater producers bring back hits from happier times. New productions of Hair, West Side Story, South Pacific, and Guys and Dolls are all currently running on the Great White Way. Restaurants get revivals, too. When business at Yahooz — the cowboy-inspired steak-and-barbecue joint…
Kevin Macdonald’s Washington thriller is a bellows designed to puff up the most beaten-down reporter’s chest. Compressed from the highly regarded BBC miniseries first telecast in 2003, State of Play is an effectively involving journalism-cum-conspiracy yarn with a bang-bang opening and a frantic closer. There are more than a few loose ends left hanging when the case slams shut, but…
A corollary to Anton Chekhov’s rule of plots, which holds that a gun seen above the fireplace in Act 1 must be fired in Act 3: Any stage set depicting a white-walled home of remarkable cleanliness must, in the third act, suffer besmirchment. Ideally, that soiling will illustrate a moral point that the homeowners, invariably well-off white people who are…
The ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Crown Center sparkles with Kansas City’s philanthropic elite. A quick scan of the room picks up familiar faces from the business pages, such as Embarq CEO Tom Gerke with his wife, Rhonda. The open bar is rocking the way an open bar should be when guests pay $300 a ticket. They’re here for “Kids…
A worn-out clutch added hours to Corey Pike’s workday. Pike lives in midtown and works at Zona Rosa. The commute took 15 minutes until Pike turned over his 1997 Honda to a mechanic. Now that he’s riding a bus, Pike budgets two hours for travel. The mechanic quoted a steep price. “I might end up being on the bus for…
On the night of January 1, Kansas City, Missouri, police arrested former Kansas City Star columnist Rhonda Chriss Lokeman — wife of Star publisher Mark Zieman — for allegedly driving drunk. The arrest report said officers had spotted the liberal scold driving her minivan on only three tires. When she stopped for police, she left the van in the middle…
Dear Mexican: In an earlier column, you mentioned that conservatives can’t argue against illegal immigration without degenerating into a diatribe against culture. Here’s an argument that has nothing to do with culture. In California, we now have a severe water shortage. I work for a municipal water agency. We are asking that people ration 20 percent of their water usage….
Title: Grand Slam Official Magazine of the Kansas City Royals Date: 1980 Discovered at: Silver Lining Thrift Shop, 9537 West 87th Street, Overland Park, Kansas The cover promises: Steroids don’t exist. “The K” is Royals Stadium. New York is aware of our rivalry. A season of .500 ball results in firings instead of parades. Representative quote: “ ‘In the past, the…
Feature: “The Cure from Kansas,” April 9 Bitter Pill I wish I could be more enthusiastic about Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ chances of helping to fix our badly broken health-care system by going to Washington to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but being a person who has spent quite a lot of time on that issue in…
FlickrL Rakka Ever since Julia Child began cooking in front of TV cameras in 1962, the American public has developed a hearty appetite — almost insatiable, in fact — for celebrity chefs. Graham Kerr, the Frugal Gourmet, Lidia Bastianich, Rachael Ray…over the last four decades, TV chefs have become a cottage industry. But in this excellent piece , “TV Cooking…
I’ve been wondering about the new business, Phil’s Coffee Shoppe and Grill, that’s taken over the old Max’s Auto Diner space in the groovy, totally “mod” 1960s A-shaped building at 634 E. 63rd Street. So I finally stopped in to see what was up. Built as one of the first drive-through banks in Kansas City, the peaked space at 634…
Councilwoman Deb Hermann says what she’s thinking. Loved this quote from Hermann in The Kansas City Star about an audit revealing the failures of Kansas City’s — but isn’t doing a good job of — encouraging minority and women owned businesses. “What we’re seeing here is a real failure,” said Finance Committee Chairman Deb Hermann. “There are a lot of…
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver and Alvin Brooks pleaded with the public today for tips that will help solve the Raytown quadruple homicide. The bodies of 21-year-old Precious Triplett, 33-year-old Andre D. Jones, 10-year-old Amir Clemons and 7-year-old Gerard Clemons were discovered in an apartment near 61st Street and Raytown Road in March. “Here we are with two children almost babies 7…
Everybody likes record stores. And this Saturday, as I’m sure you know, is National Record Store Day. In only its second year, the vinyl-junkie’s holiday has gotten huge, thanks to big-name recording artists throwing in guitar giveaways, downloads, special-edition re-releases, parties, you name it. Joining the fray are Anti-/Epitaph artists Tom Waits, Booker T. Jones and Bad Religion, all releasing…
I stopped by M&S Grill’s wonderful happy hour last week (more on that Friday) and got to talking to the bartender. It’s one of my favorite bars in the city not only because of the food specials and the atmosphere but because the mixed drinks are so damn good. As I’ve noted before, M&S is a true scratch bar —…
Posing the dire-sounding but not unwarranted question, “How many lives will the Insane Clown Posse ruin?”, Crime Scene KC points us to an article in the Southwest Missourian, which tells of how Robin C. Shelman, a 23-year-old self-described Juggalo from Oklahoma City got thrown in jail for brandishing a hatchet at a woman in a Steak ‘n Shake parking lot…
Just announced: world-renowned Australian pop band the Church is coming to the VooDoo Lounge on June 19, with support from former Swervedriver frontman Adam Franklin. Nostalgia may be the pull for some people going to this show, but this posse has a slew of new releases out. In addition to rolling out two new EPs this past march (Pangaea and…
Music is a great lure. Every weekend, it gets folks somewhere to contribute to a good cause. Rock bands shred desperately in a metro bar to help raise money for a friend in need; organizations looking for donations throw a fancy party with local musicians hired to provide entertainment. An event going down at Crosstown Station this Saturday is kind…
Genetically modified fruit is either amazing or evil. I can’t decide which. No matter which side you fall on, it sure is intriguing. It’s mind-blowing that scientists can take tomatoes and combine them with lemons. It’s a fruit centaur. WebEcoist, a magazine specializing in “environmental oddities,” profiles some of the more promising fruit-and-veggie hybrids, many of which may be commonplace…
A few hours after I posted an item about Kansas City Police Department yesterday, spokesman Rich Lockhart let me know the information might be misleading. According to a police memo last week, the department is cutting domestic partner benefits in an effort to save $421,000 in a particularly tight budget year. While such benefits allow same-sex couples to get shared health…
You know what pisses me off about tea party protesters? These motherfuckers had no problem cashing the economic stimulus checks that President Bush handed out last year. No one was in the streets throwing a hissy fit and burning their stimulus checks then. But I’m never surprised by people who protest against their best interests. Kansas City’s tea party protest…
Domino’s has been in the news a lot lately because of some interesting advertisements. Its CEO burned a letter from Subway and, in another stab against Subway, it aired an attack ad with some fuzzy logic. These commercials aren’t high art but people remember them, which is the point. Now two lowly Domino’s employees have generated some real controversy. The…
