Archives: July 2022

Best of Kansas City voting is now open!

Voting is open for Best of Kansas City from now until Sept. 30. The Best of Kansas City voting round is now open! From September 1-30, vote for your favorite metro businesses, artists, and much more. Help make this our fourth straight year of record-breaking turnout for voting in 500+ categories! After filling out your ballot, start getting hyped to…

Keep Them Coming: Age gaps and algorithms

Keep Them Coming with Kristen Thomas. // Photo by Nicole Bissey “Oh you’ve got a younger man—you Cougar!” I gently remind folks who say this to me that culture dictates with an age gap of under nine years, I am instead referred to as a Puma, thankyouverymuch. My partner and I have an almost 6-year age gap, making me a…

Spend the Night won’t leave the audience snoring July 7

  Co-hosts Stacy Cay and Megan Graves cozy up for their Summer Sleepover Tour. // Courtesy Stacy Cay If you’re tired of quiet nights in but don’t want to change out of your pajamas, co-hosts Stacy Cay and Megan Graves have the perfect show for you. Spend the Night is a slumber party-themed comedy performance coming to The Bird Comedy…

Four Inane Questions with actor Robert Hingula of Theatre in the Park

School of Rock runs July 6–9 this week. 

Robert Hingula. // Courtesy Theatre in the Park Talk about a change of pace. By day, Robert Hingula is a mild-mannered shareholder with KC’s Polsinelli Law Firm where he focuses on employment law and negotiating labor disagreements. By night, Hingula has been known to tear it up on stage—specifically the musical theater stage. Hingula has appeared both with local community…

Dish & Drink KC: Smokey refreshments at Q39 and Red Kitchen’s superior margaritas

Smoked cocktails at Q39. // Photo by Tyler Shane Q39 now smoking cocktails One of Kansas City’s most notable barbecue joints, Q39, is now serving cocktails to match their elevated meats.  The restaurant has partnered with several local distilleries such as Tom’s Town, J. Rieger & Co., Union Horse, Una Familia, and Restless Spirits to create unique recipes. Classics such…

The Phoenix brings classic comfort and musical versatility together

Brunch and ballads for all who enter

Alex Abramovitz and His Swing’n KC Jazz Band get down during weekend brunch. // Photo by Liz Goodwin The Phoenix has a history of throwing down. Although this jazz bar and eatery didn’t come into its current form until 1990, the building’s roots go back another century. It’s been a party spot of sorts for decades, but its modern era…

Dissent and distribution: Jill Cockson’s boozy Bechdel test

Swordfish Tom's owner calls on the bar industry to take a public stance on Roe.

Jill Cockson at her flagship Kansas City bar, Swordfish Tom’s. // Courtesy Jill Cockson Like many citizens, Jill Cockson woke up Friday, June 24 to a different country. Her partner told her the news: Roe v. Wade was overturned. Waves of stupefying shock and anger gave way to frenetic processing and a search for answers.   Cockson is one of the…

The Yawpers turned a low-key night at recordBar into a raucous affair

The Yawpers. // Photo by Isaac Biehl The Yawpers with Dan Jones and The Squids recordBar Friday, July 1 A First Friday during Fourth of July weekend meant there was plenty going on all over the city, so recordBar wasn’t necessarily a packed house for The Yawpers’ show. But the Colorado-trio didn’t care—they still brought the same energy as they…

Drink This Now: Tropical Matcha Latte at Café Corazón

Tropical Matcha Latte at Café Corazón. // Photo by Kala Elkinton Now with two locations, Café Corazón is serving up a tropical matcha latte as part of its summer menu. The coffee shop recently added an array of dishes that lend to their Latinx and Indigenous heritage, including an Argentinian choripán and classic Cuban sandwich. They continue to serve up…

Thor: Love and Thunder is a bright chapter in Marvel’s directionless Phase Four

Taika Waititi’s latest is a prog-rock album cover come to life with plenty of Guns N'Roses thrown in.

(L-R): Natalie Portman as Mighty Thor and Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Marvel Studios’ THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. Photo by Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved. By far the best part of 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok was the color and noise Taika Waititi brought to what felt like a bloated, dull MCU landscape. It’s an absolute delight to see…

The Bridge 90.9’s full 909 song playlist of the best in ’00s music

We here at The Pitch adore our pals over at The Bridge 90.9. If you need proof, read this feature we gave them for their 20th birthday last year. We’re also big fans of the themed events they’ve been putting together in the last few years, including their birthday cover song series and annual full days of mental health programming…

KC Voices: The smoke and mirrors around government funding and Kansas’ Amendment 2

Register to vote by July 12, and vote on or by August 2.

Women’s reproductive rights protest at the Plaza June 24, 2022. // Photo by Angela Bond We’ve been asking members of the KC community to submit stories about their thoughts and experiences in all walks of life. If you’ve got a story you’d like to share with our readers, please send it to brock@thepitchkc.com for consideration. Today, former lawyer and current…

Four Inane Questions with 99.7 The Point’s Nikki Vivas

Kansas City native Nikki Vivas calls herself a “designer diva with an old soul.” (She’ll gladly choose a good bottle of cabernet and a Frank Sinatra record on the turntable over clubbing any day, she adds.) Currently, Nikki is the quippy co-host of 99.7’s whackadoo radio show, Ponch & Nikki in the Mornings. The 16-year radio veteran tells us 1)…

Eat This Now: The Mozzarella Salad at Fox and Pearl

The Mozzarella Salad at Fox and Pearl. // Photo by Kala Elkinton Come for the aesthetic, come back for the mouth-watering food. Either way, get your booty over to the Westside for the mozzarella salad at Fox and Pearl, stat. Make it your go-to dish this summer, and enjoy delicate mozzarella cheese chunks paired with cherry tomatoes that have been…

Independent Missouri Senate hopeful says Trump should face criminal probe over Jan. 6

John Wood believes there is enough evidence of a possible crime by the former president to warrant a Justice Department investigation.

John Wood questioning a witness during a hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. // Screenshot: C-SPAN An attorney running as an independent for the U.S. Senate in Missouri says Congress’ inquiry into the Jan. 6 insurrection has turned up enough evidence to warrant a criminal investigation of former President Donald…

Parson’s ‘Stronger Missouri, Safer Missouri’ initiative believes business opportunities, more police funding will help former convicts

"The building projects the same level of muddled, misguided ideology for helping the formerly incarcerated as Parson's latest pitch for increasing police support."

Gov. Mike Parson speaking at the Transition Center of Kansas City. // Photo by Emeline Hutton The Transition Center of Kansas City (TCKC) welcomed Gov. Mike Parson, Senator Tony Leutkemeyer, and more on June 27, to talk about a new initiative claimed to fight crime by providing opportunities. Parson and Leutkemeyer utilized their speaking time at the dais to remind…

Scare-It Halloween fundraises for 28th trick-or-treat event after two years of cancelled events

After a two-year hiatus, Scare-It Halloween is back on Gladstone Boulevard. // Courtesy Dylan Van Gerpen The Gladstone Boulevard neighborhood has been hosting its annual Scare-It Halloween, a family-friendly night of trick-or-treating, since 1992.  On Halloween night, eight blocks of Gladstone Boulevard are blocked off from traffic and filled with food, music, performers, and—of course—trick-or-treaters. In its three-hour runtime, the…

Minions: The Rise of Gru won’t make you think, but it will make you smile

(from left) Minions Bob, Kevin and Stuart in Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru, directed by Kyle Balda. While most people may tout domination of the animation film industry by Disney and Pixar, doing so ignores several franchises that have shaken things up the last few decades, at least financially if not in terms of artistic legacy. Dreamworks’ Shrek and…