With a few exceptions, most contemporary dramas can be sorted into one of two camps: clean-lined plays confronting a social problem, or scripts trailing some moral mess to a big, chewy family confrontation. My Old Lady, by Israel Horovitz, fits solidly in the latter — but there are few greater theatrical pleasures than watching the Kansas City Actors Theatre smolder…
Open just 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays (and into the evening each First Friday), Howard’s Café & Grocery (1708 Oak) and its addictive cheeseburgers are usually reserved for those who work near the Crossroads. That’s finally about to change: Chef and owner Craig Howard is preparing to expanded both his hours and his menu, starting Friday, February…
In 2012, Tara was sexually assaulted by her husband at their home in the St. Louis area. A month later, she suspected she might be pregnant. Tara (not her real name) was 26 years old, traumatized by her abusive husband (from whom she was now separated) and unsure what to do next. She had grown up in mid-Missouri and remembered…
Abortion, a safe and legal medical procedure, has been stigmatized nearly to the point of extinction in the red states.The latest proof, as if any more were needed, comes in the form of a legal document filed recently by Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. It tells an infuriating story of gutlessness on the part of area hospitals that…
Missouri faces a budget shortfall, and the state’s new governor wants people to believe Republicans had nothing to do with it.The Missouri governor is responsible for making midyear budget cuts. Gov. Eric Greitens on Tuesday announced a $146.4 million reduction in new or increased spending. In a similar budget-balancing move, former Gov. Jay Nixon made $115.5 million in cuts last…
Kansas City hit the concert jackpot this morning, with an announced Radiohead tour date at the Sprint Center on April 5. KC is just one of nine U.S. tour dates, apart from the Coachella Festival. The band is touring on last year’s fantastic A Moon Shaped Pool. The band last played in Kansas City on the King of Limbs tour…
One of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s talking points is to blame the state’s persistent budget problems on a “rural recession.”But Tom Vilsack, the outgoing secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says rural America is in a pretty good place. In an exit memo, Vilsack notes that median household income in rural areas of the U.S. increased by 3.4 percent…
A few announcements are rolling in this morning that are unrelated to ice or the Chiefs, including a few upcoming shows. First, Def Leppard is coming to the Sprint Center on June 21, along with the original members of Poison (Bret Michaels, CC DeVille, Bobby Dall and Rikki Rockett). Tickets for this ’80s bonanza/mess go on sale at noon Friday,…
From the flamboyant flapper dresses and the elegant suits of its Prohibition-era setting to the rich locations of Boston, Tampa and, eventually, Cuba, the sensuous appeals of Dennis Lehane’s 2012 novel, Live by Night, would be obvious to any filmmaker. The one who has brought the book to the screen is Ben Affleck, whose previous films as a director (Gone…
AtmosphereSean “Slug” Daley has never been in the position of having nothing to say, and on Fishing Blues — the latest record from Atmosphere, the Minneapolis hip-hop group he founded with DJ Anthony “Ant” Davis more than 20 years ago — the rapper is as eloquent as ever. These days, Slug’s verses trend ever so slightly toward domestic themes, but…
In 1965, pianist Ramsey Lewis’ version of “The In Crowd,” with its joyous bounce, crossed over to hit No. 5 on the pop chart. The next year, the Ramsey Lewis Trio won the Grammy Award for best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance for “Hold It Right There.” (The drummer was Maurice White, who three years later would leave to co-found…
Thursday, January 12%{}%Colony, a USA Network sci-fi show about the human-led resistance to an occupying alien force, is back tonight for its Season 2 premiere. Josh Holloway (remember Sawyer from Lost?) and Sarah Wayne Callies (remember Rick’s wife on The Walking Dead?) are a married couple who split strategies — he’s working to undermine from within, while she goes rogue…
Hometown: Farmington, MissouriCurrent neighborhood: Westport/ValentineWhat I do (in 140 characters or less): I walk. I explore. I observe. I laugh. I make others laugh. I live.What’s your addiction? Streaming television, whiteboards, extra-fine pens and coffeeWhat’s your game? Spades, Trivial PursuitWhat’s your drink? Horsefeather or Manhattan What’s on your KC postcard? Tuesday, November 3, 2015: Kansas City celebrating the Royals’ World…
Warren Rosser, the painter born in South Wales, has lived in the United States since 1972. For 28 of those years, he was chairman of the Painting Department at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he remains the William T. Kemper Distinguished Professor of Painting. Friday, January 13, his first solo show at Haw Contemporary takes over that space’s three…
The big question in the runup to Gov. Sam Brownback’s State of the State speech Tuesday night was whether he would even address the state’s humongous budget deficit.Well, yes, he did. He even hinted at a few measures that will be included in his budget proposal, to be unveiled on Wednesday. And that proposal, Brownback emphasized, will be balanced. In…
Update: Saturday’s Free State tour, described later in this post, has been canceled, thanks to the threat of icy weather.After three years of helping would-be brewers learn how to make beer, Overland Park’s Brew Lab is getting ready to make a few brews of its own.The successful brew-on-premises shop is moving into a larger space in February, with plans to…
Glenn Dyer is a 73-year-old former Marine colonel with parted white hair and a soft, slow, deliberate way of speaking. He is grandfatherly. In 2010, he retired from a position with the Department of Defense in San Diego and moved, with his wife, Leslie, onto 160 acres of land that has been farmed continuously by members of Dyer’s family since…
Martin Scorsese’s Silence, adapted from the 1966 novel by Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, is not entertaining in a traditional sense — though it isn’t without excitement or amusement — but it is an arresting, unforgettable experience. Scorsese and his co-screenwriter, Jay Cocks, aim to challenge their audience, disabusing our ideas of what it means to lead, to be spiritual, to…
Now in its eighth year, KC Restaurant Week this time presents diners with more variety than ever before — 180 restaurants — giving them just 10 days (January 13-22) to research, explore and indulge. It’s a lot, but hunger finds a way.Mine does, anyway. Below, then, are the 15 menus I found myself circling as I looked over every last…
The State of Missouri spends a lot of time in court defending the practice of capital punishment.Before Christmas, the state solicitor was in Kansas City to argue before the Missouri Court of Appeals that a lower court was wrong to order the state to reveal the source of its lethal-injection drugs.On Sunday, BuzzFeed News published a sealed court document indicating…
The Lee’s Summit school district announced Monday that it has hired a new superintendent: Dennis Carpenter, the current superintendent of Hickman Mills schools.Carpenter’s new office is only 10 miles from his current one, but he will be stepping into a very different job. Eighty percent of Hickman Mills students are African-American; all receive free or reduced-price lunches. Lee’s Summit students,…
Announcements are coming out in a flurry this morning. The first comes from Green Day, hitting the Sprint Center on August 11 on its “Radio Revolution Tour,” a nod to an album of the same name released last October. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday, January 13, at 10 a.m., via Green Day’s website. Then comes word that…
When new Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall was sworn in last week, his 17-year-old son, Cal, made news by attempting to “dab” during the family photo-op with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.Dabbing is a dance move, or really just a motion, made popular over a year ago by the rap group Migos. Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton helped mainstream it…
Tired of reeling from one budget crisis to the next, Republicans in the Kansas Legislature are considering repealing one of Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature polices: the tax exemption on income that people earn through limited liability companies. Brownback continues to defend the LLC exemption, telling reporters last week that “a key piece of how you get America growing again is…
