Archives: April 2015

Ex Machina asks icy questions about humanity

The title of Alex Garland’s new Ex Machina tells you quite a bit about the movie’s chilly perspective. If the phrase resonates for you, it’s because you learned a bit about classical Greek theater at some point, in particular its deus ex machina, or “god from the machine.” In a play, it’s really little more than a way for an…

The MET’s Ballyhoo feels too gentle

Two milestones mark the opening of Alfred Uhry’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo: the beginning of World War II and the premiere of Gone With the Wind. That the latter ultimately has more bearing on the plot tells you a little about Uhry and a lot about the family at the heart of his play. Uhry’s contemporary comedy follows the…

Why isn’t the Church of Scientology paying its downtown tax bill?

Back in 2007, the Church of Scientology bought a historic building across the street from the Kansas City Star’s headquarters. The Star, which at the time leased space in the City National Bank Building, at 1801 Grand, for its advertising functions, covered the transaction on the front page of the March 17, 2007, business section. According to that story, Kansas…

Boulevardia brings Mayer Hawthorne, J. Roddy Walston & the Business, the Mowgli’s and more to the West Bottoms in June

The Boulevardia lineup is in! Over three days in June in the West Bottoms, Boulevard Brewing Co. is pairing bunches of beer with music from local and national acts. The big names include Mayer Hawthorne, J. Roddy Walston & the Business, the Mowgli’s and Atlas Genius, among others. Full lineup after the jump.  Friday, June 19 Outsides In The Valley…

Graham Nash is coming to the Uptown in July

Graham Nash – of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fame – has just announced a new tour. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer stops at the Uptown on Saturday, July 25.  Tickets go on sale Saturday, May 2, at 10 a.m. Purchase here.  Categories: Music Tags: concert announcement, crosby stills nash & young, graham nash, incoming, just announced, uptown

Green Dirt Farm puts Farm Table Dinners on sale tomorrow

One of the hottest culinary tickets in Kansas City goes on sale tomorrow. The Farm Table Dinners — hosted from May through October on the grounds of the local award-winning cheese-making farm, just north of Weston, Missouri —  will be prepared by 15 of Kansas City’s best-known chefs. Each meal features a sampling of the Green Dirt Farm cheeses, passed hors…

Melissa Etheridge is coming to the Uptown in June

In support of last year’s full-length, This is M.E., Melissa Etheridge has just announced a slew of concert dates this summer – including nine with Blondie. Sadly, Kansas City doesn’t get the exciting double-bill, as Etheridge’s solo leg stops at the Uptown on Wednesday, June 24.  Tickets go on sale Friday, April 24, at 10 a.m. Purchase here.  Categories: Music Tags:…

Charli XCX and Bleachers stop at Starlight in August

Charli XCX and Bleachers’ Jack Antanoff sound like an odd pairing, but it’s hard to get mad at the double-headlining tour the two have just announced. On Saturday, August 8, the two artists stop at Starlight Theatre on their “Charli and Jack do America” tour. Los Angeles act Børns will open.  Tickets on sale Friday, April 24, at noon. Purchase…

KU chancellor: State lawmakers’ budget cuts ‘significantly challenging the University of Kansas’ ability to serve Kansans and society’

In not-altogether shocking news out of Kansas yesterday, budget analysts announced that revenue estimates were being revised downward, and the state will have to find about $400 million over the next few years.  From the Star: The latest revenue outlook revealed a deepening budget hole that will test a conservative Legislature’s no-tax willpower when it reconvenes next week. With Kansas’…

Whole Foods’ Lone Elm Taproom opens Wednesday

The taproom inside Whole Foods’ soon-to-open Olathe store isn’t quite finished. Saws whir. Nail guns fire metal into wood. But most of the 12 tap handles are in place, and the local kegs are on the way. “I think the expectation was that Boulevard would be the bulk of our taps,” says Ben Rose, who works for Whole Foods’ regional…

Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn

Bishop Robert Finn is finally out. Pope Francis has reportedly accepted Finn’s resignation. Finally. In September 2012, Finn was convicted on a misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse and received two years of probation. That conviction stemmed from Finn’s shielding priest Shawn Ratigan, who was found to be keeping sexual images of young girls on a laptop in 2010….

Why is Progress Missouri suing the Missouri Senate? A chat with executive director Sean Nicholson

Earlier this year, the liberal advocacy group Progress Missouri — we’re fans — provided a noble and important public service that also happened to be hilarious, when one of its staffers attended a lobbyist-funded dinner for lawmakers at a Jefferson City country club and photographed and live-streamed House members cramming saffron sea bass and honey miso chicken into their jowly faces….

Lady Antebellum is coming to the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater in August

Country super-trio Lady Antebellum has just announced a North American tour in support of last year’s full-length, 747. The “Wheels Up Tour” follows the Grammy Award-winning group from a slew of dates in Australia and Europe. The band stops at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater on Friday, August 21, with support from Hunter Hayes.  Tickets go on sale Friday, April 24,…

A federal judge admonishes the IRS in the Cheryl Womack case

Regular Pitch readers know that key elements of the ongoing criminal tax case against Mission Hills businesswoman Cheryl Womack rest on how the government obtained evidence against her. Womack remains under an indictment issued by a federal grand jury in 2013 that accuses the self-made millionaire of misleading government investigators about her income and her taxes. Ever since Womack almost…

Record Store Day draws solid crowds to local shops, despite damp weather

Nick Spacek hits a handful of local record stores on Record Store Day.  Saturday’s forecast wasn’t so much about chances of rain as absolute guarantees thereof. Anyone hoping not to be thunderstormed upon was woefully (and wrongfully) optimistic. At 8 a.m., Love Garden owner Kelly Corcoran handed out numbers to those waiting in line at just a little before 8, reasoning…