Archives: July 2013

Fruitvale Station

As deplorable and upsetting as the George Zimmerman verdict was for many, at least one good thing may have come out of it (apart from reminding everyone that racial injustice is alive and well and worth your outrage): More people might see Fruitvale Station. In a story that recalls the Trayvon Martin saga, this fact-based film (which won both the…

Some Fringe Fest bets are already paying off

Besides straight theatrical productions, Fringe Festival’s opening weekend offered an eclectic mix of poetry, film and performance art. It was, in other words, the usual for this event: a roulette wheel ready to take bets. Here are the highlights and lowlights from this reviewer’s gambling excursion. On the Unicorn’s Main Stage, the Coterie’s Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen is a…

Chatting with Lawrence’s Will Averill and Jerry Mitchell about the Victor Continental Show hanging it up after 15 lecherous years

Tip that martini glass and pour a little out — the long-running Victor Continental Show is coming to a close. The live sketch-comedy musical show, hosted by Jerry Mitchell’s oversexed European playboy, has built up a loyal audience over the past 15 years in Lawrence. Will Averill, the head writer, director and co-artistic director of Card Table Productions (the company…

Jazz Beat: Lonnie McFadden at the Phoenix

Jimmy McFadden was a hoofer through the 1930s and ’40s, tap-dancing onstage with the likes of the Count Basie Orchestra and Jay McShann. He began teaching his sons to tap when they were 3; one of his sons, Lonnie, added trumpet to his talents. Today, you can see the second-generation McFadden continuing the family tradition — blowing that trumpet, singing…

Behind every small brew in KC is a big plan

Here come the cops. The five people drinking in this North Kansas City bar — a place not yet open for business — see a telltale flash of red and blue flickering outside as a black SUV parks. They register the guilty looks of high-schoolers whose parents have just arrived to bust up a party. Cinder Block owner Bryce Schaffter…

Kanrocksas founder Bill Brandmeyer is being sued by local booking and promotions company Mammoth Inc.

Original founders (from left) Hunt, Fritz and Brandmeyer: All these people now hate one another. We dissected the failure of Kanrocksas a few months back, after the festival was abruptly canceled in late May. But the story continues. On Monday, Mammoth Inc., the booking and promotions company hired by Kanrocksas, filed a lawsuit in Wyandotte County against festival founder Bill…

Bourgmont Brewing hopes to go pro in Kansas City

Facebook: Bourgmont Bourgmont hopes to turn the lights on in their own brewery one day. This week’s cover story in The Pitch looks at the microbreweries that have opened or will open this year in Kansas City. In the course of writing the story, I learned a lot more than I could include. Today, I wanted to introduce the Fast…

Tulsa wants the 2024 Summer Olympics. What about a Kansas City bid?

Flame on, Kansas City. Tulsa has thrown its Stetson into the 2024 Summer Olympics ring. Well, until Mayor Dewey Bartlett yanked his support from the Tulsa2024 movement, likely signaling the end of the push to get the Olympics in Tulsey Town. Seriously, that’s what they call it. In Kansas City, we’re Midwest hayseed dreamers, goddamn it. Former Mayor Mark Funkhouser…

Twinkie the Kid rides again, but is he tastier than Mud Pie’s vegan sponge cake?

When Twinkies made their grand return to shelves July 15, I expected Price Chopper to be busier. This was the first time that the beloved treats were available since Hostess Brands shut down last November. Billboards looming over Interstate 35 announcing the corporation’s comeback had taunted me for weeks: bold, colorful signs depicting golden snack cakes large enough to engulf…

Bobby Voelker, UFC fighter, answers The Pitch‘s questionnaire

Name: Bobby Voelker Occupation: Professional MMA fighter Hometown: Overland Park Current neighborhood: Kansas City What I do (in 140 characters): I work construction, go to school and train all the time. What’s your addiction? Movies! What’s your game? Sand volleyball What’s your drink? Corona Where’s dinner? Kyoto Sushi & Steak What’s on your KC postcard? A picture of me pigging…

Anton’s taps an impressive new chef: Brian Bromwell

Brian Bromwell is all about the meat at Anton’s Taproom. Brian Bromwell is hoping that 4 will be his lucky number. He is, after all, the fourth executive chef to oversee the kitchen at Anton’s Taproom & Restaurant since it opened 10 months ago. But if that turnover sounds a bit dramatic, Bromwell is philosophical. He knows that owner Anton…

Jim James is coming to Lawrence in September

Jim James My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James released his soul-tinged solo album, Regions of Light and Sound of God, earlier this year. I’ve had the chance to see him perform live a couple of times since, and he and the band that he has assembled are a treat. (I gushed about it a little here.) James is playing LouFest…

Sporting Kansas City signs coach Peter Vermes through 2017

Peter Vermes is sticking around Kansas City. With Sporting Kansas City sitting in first place with a four-point cushion in MLS’ Eastern Conference, the team announced Tuesday morning that it locked up coach and technical director Peter Vermes through the 2017 season. It’s not a very surprising update from the club. While fans of the Royals and Chiefs complain annually…

The Detroit Coney Food Truck has legit french fries

Don’t just slow down. Stop and eat at the bright-yellow truck. It’s too easy to use frozen french fries. They’re readily available. They cook consistently. And most of us just gobble them down with no regard to whether they started fresh or frozen. So if you’re going to serve fresh fries out of a mobile kitchen, you really have to…

Clark’s American Caribbean Restaurant is closed

The health issues of chef-owner Joseph Clark, who opened Clark’s American Caribbean Restaurant, at 3623 Broadway (formerly occupied by Chubby’s, New Tandoor Cafe and Royal Kabob King, to name a few) with his father and brother earlier this spring, has caused the venue to finally, after a very short life, close. The building’s owner, Greg Patterson, confirmed that Clark’s American…