In recent months, time has consistently come unstuck in Kansas City theaters. The lively existential comedies Kimberly Akimbo and Miss Witherspoon gave us young women who looked old, thanks to mysterious diseases or cosmic whim. Between the laughs, both plays considered serious questions about the relationship between the body’s age and the soul’s. Tonight’s world-premiere production of Green Whales at…
The males of the bovine species get a bad rap for being ill-tempered. Who can blame a big old bull for getting pissy when a spur-wearing cowboy plops uninvited onto his hump? See which species truly deserves pity this weekend during the testosterone-fueled contest between bulls and men at the Sprint Center (1407 Grand). Dirt, snot and maybe a little…
Grammy Award winner and Miles Davis disciple Kenny Garrett, one of the top alto saxophonists around, brings his quartet — and a vibrant and cerebral sound — to the Lawrence High School auditorium (1901 Louisiana). The performance is the highlight of this second day of the 33rd-annual KU Jazz Festival, presented by the University of Kansas School of Music. (The…
Hebrew, German, English and surely a little Yiddish emanate from the screen this weekend during the Jewish Film Festival at the Lewis and Shirley White Theatre inside the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City (5801 West 115th Street in Overland Park, 913-327-8000). The schedule includes four films that explore Jewish culture and identity, starting at 7:30 tonight with Unter…
Of course you couldn’t help but blow a whole paycheck on that chic, silver, backless evening gown a couple of months ago. The calendar may have been casual-predominant at the time, but Oscar Night is here. Strut that dress and matching heels on the red carpet at the Conspiracy Room at the Uptown Theater (3700 Broadway, 816-753-8665) for a formal…
The textile art on display at Johnson County Community College’s Regnier Center (12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park) belonged to the mother of someone famous. Ann Dunham’s Indonesian Batik Collection showcases works once owned by President Barack Obama’s late mother, who was an anthropologist. Carolyn Kadel, program facilitator of international education at JCCC, says the Javanese traditional batik “uses natural materials…
The Figurative Image in Contemporary Storytelling is an exhibit featuring the work of Jake Beeson, Brandon Gay, and William Wilmott. Each artist displays a propensity for figurative image, often times influenced by the work of seminal comic book artists. The work tends to focus on consumerism, racism, stealing, general criminal thoughts, and daydreaming. Fri., March 5, 6-10 p.m., 2010 Tags:…
The Belger Arts Center will mark its 10th Anniversary with Beneath the Surface – Excavating the Belger Collection. This exhibition will attempt to give the public some perspective on the wide-ranging collection. Beneath the Surface will feature multiple works from all seven artists who comprise the foundation of the Belger Collection – Terry Allen, William Christenberry, Jasper Johns, Robert Stackhouse,…
Choreographers including Tiffany Sisemore present an even hipper than usual performance by Wylliams/Henry Dance Company. A dance party following the concert features DJ Fat Sal on Friday, March 5, 2010 and DJ Iggy Baby on Saturday, March 6, 2010. Fri., March 5, 8 p.m.; Sat., March 6, 8 p.m., 2010 Tags: 620, Night & Day
Fishtank Performance Studio presents performances featuring, inspired by or merely mentioning PABST BLUE RIBBON. Original material created and performed by David Wayne Reed, Heidi Van, Mark Manning, Phil Hooser, Damian Torres-Botello, Crystal Gould & Sean Hogge, Katie Gilchrist, Ron Megee, Jeff Newman and Matt Weiss. Fri., March 5, 8 p.m., 2010 Tags: Crystal Gould, Damian Torres-Botello, David Wayne Reed, Heidi…
When a show really works, when all elements combine into a whole that’s more powerful than any one of them, then each element will, like DNA, also contain the whole within itself. At the Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s potent production of Broke-ology, a drama set in the Quindaro neighborhood and written by Kansas City, Kansas’ Nathan Louis Jackson, that whole…
Craig Smith will not wait. At the ripe age of 18, the local rapper scurried off to Atlanta — hip-hop’s Motown — hoping to be discovered. But he wasn’t old enough to get into any of the clubs. Now Smith is 21, married and making music in Kansas City. Sometimes he’s so eager to hear feedback on a new track…
Dear Mexican: I’m a pan blanco, and my wife is puertorriqueña. Our son looks basically white, while a casual observer might admit that there is some Latin going on there. I’m not sure how this pertains to my question — it may or may not be worth mentioning. Our son is a high-functioning autistic 12-year-old. The way he looks and…
So I’m at a downtown coffee shop last week when a silver-haired man in a leather blazer passes my table. His face seems familiar. “That looks like Rex Sinquefield,” I tell myself. Sinquefield is a retired fund manager who made a pile of money. He spends his time and bounty advancing free-market principles in Missouri. He owns a mansion in…
It’s hard not to picture Roman Polanski under house arrest in Gstaad, editing his diverting new thriller, in which a former British prime minister dodges extradition while having his memoirs rewritten. Then again, when your life is like a mash-up of the History Channel’s entire catalog of shock programming, autobiography will probably influence your fiction, and Polanski seems inspired as…
Filled with every cop-movie convention since the invention of gunpowder and curse words, Brooklyn’s Finest is three movies in one, all of which you’ve seen before: the sad tale of the sullen burnout a week away from retirement who finds accidental redemption (Richard Gere as Eddie); the tortured tale of the undercover brother named Tango, who’s asked to do one…
Walt Disney mulled an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland for decades before producing an animated feature in 1951. By all accounts, though, he didn’t much care for the prim little protagonist, let alone her supporting cast of “weird characters.” One wonders what Uncle Walt would have made of his studio’s 21st-century, 19-year-old Alice — a tousle-haired 3-D action figure who…
Each year, the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music and Media Conference transforms every hole-in-the-wall bar in downtown Austin, Texas, into a thriving music venue, to which bands flock, hoping to be discovered by record labels and rock journalists. This year, locally based music blog PopWreckoning hosts an event to award three lucky Kansas City bands a slot in its showcase…
The music of We Were Promised Jetpacks embodies the band’s petulant moniker, forging the sonic equivalent of a romantic tantrum. The Scottish quartet’s sound is tender, wistful and dreamy but also a little noisy. Sweeping melodies give way to blasts of postpunk guitar. As with its Glasgow labelmate Frightened Rabbit, We Were Promised Jetpacks could be filed under “sad bastard…
Austin’s Black Joe Lewis is humming a different tune than his soul-revival peers. Backed by a collection of funkmongers called the Honeybears, Lewis pumps out dirty barroom jams, spiced with classic Stax Records grooves, in a garage-rock fever. To tunes already sizzling with sex and sweat, the Honeybears pile on fat horn licks and yowling, vintage guitar riffs. Over it…
As he paws through local thrift and antique stores, your Crap Archivist often finds himself marveling at — and purchasing — works of art that exemplify the vision and talent common to this great city. But these are not those works. This week, Studies in Crap presents three terrifying pieces from the walls of Kansas City’s resale shops. Probable title:…
It’s blasphemy to admit this, but when I recently dined at Tasso’s Greek Restaurant, I missed out on all the things that this restaurant’s devoted fans love most. I didn’t stick around for the belly dancer. I opted not to break any plates. (The $3-per-plate fee seemed extravagant to this former waiter, who broke plenty of plates in the past.)…
Even in a rap game that focuses on excess — too many women, too much money, too much fame — Shadow ‘s second full-length album, Friends Orchestrate Enemies, stands out for its abundance. On his 19 tracks, Shadow has a lot he needs to get off his chest. The production on Orchestrate — which is doper than an Amsterdam café…
In the upside-down world of hip-hop monikers, Lil might denote a bigger-than-life persona. Lil Wayne, Lil’ Kim, Lil Jon: all performers with pint-sized names and arena-sized personalities. So it’s no surprise that local artist Lil Donnyman tha Rapper hits listeners with a heaping portion of homegrown swagger on Nothin But Heat: Mixtape Vol. 1. If rappers keep an ear to…
