Illustration by Bob Unell The evening of November 7 was beautiful in Ohio. As polls closed and votes rolled in, it became apparent that reasonable access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care would be enshrined in that state’s constitution. Supporters crowded into hotel ballrooms and bars and clubs to cheer and laugh and weep for joy. Moms…
The new Grimm Tattoo location in the West Bottoms. // Courtesy Facebook This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing…
Owner Carley Morton // Photo by Zoe Strohm Under the Cover , Kansas City’s first romance-only bookstore, began with a smut podcast, wisdom teeth removal, and a dream. Romance books are nothing new to owner Carley Morton. Morton and her friend Jesicha Fontana, with the help of friend and producer Kelly Weddle, have hosted the podcast Smut Stuff since December…
Halley Vincent loads up her riding lawnmower and prepares for delivery. // Courtesy photo This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll…
Milking Christmas in 2022 at The Black Box in KC. // Photo by Paul Andrews Audiences to the University Theatre’s next production will enjoy cheery musical numbers, over-the-top costumes and sweet storylines driven by even sweeter characters—literally, some of them are gingerbread cookies. Through all that, along with self-aware humor, a satirical message on capitalism and corporate greed emerges. Milking…
Jared Horman. // Photo by Zach Bauman This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. …
Hillary Clemens in KCAT season 19 production of LITTLE WOMEN // Photo by Brian Paulette Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Kansas City Actors Theatre and they’re celebrating with a dynamic lineup of shows for their 2024-2025 season. Kansas City Actors Theatre is an artist-led and artist-driven nonprofit organization that seeks to highlight Kansas City’s diverse theatre community. Their…
Officials won’t explain why the Kansas courts have been offline for more than a month, requiring paper filing and limiting public access to court records for 104 counties to this singular space at the Judicial Center in Topeka. With so many questions surrounding the “incident,” writes Max McCoy, the public’s trust is at stake. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector) Something happened Oct….
Aztec Shawnee Theater. // Courtesy photo This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. Closed…
Photo by Murray Close The original Hunger Games trilogy feels like it belongs to a different time. In a sense it does; those movies came out just over a decade ago, following the success of the Twilight movies, which followed the success of the Harry Potter movies. All of them were based on successful YA series, with Twilight and Hunger…
Screenshot from Cleaver’s Instagram account. After meeting with constituents and representatives on Saturday, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II shared on the record his pivot to a new stance on the international incident taking place between Israel and Gaza. Without saying he would sign the Ceasefire Now Resolution, he has made a change to publicly calling for a ceasefire in Gaza—a…
Dark Star Orchestra. // photo by Allison Scavo Dark Star Orchestra The Madrid Theatre Wednesday, November 15 Sometimes we have the perfect plan and things out of our control happen, like sound issues delaying a set. While it was resolved, the band members who could be heard played their guitars softly to an off script tune. It was as if…
Courtesy of Sony Pictures In the beginning, there was Grindhouse. In 2007, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez lived out their childhood dreams by recreating the B-movie theatrical experience through a back-to-back double feature of movies (Rodriguez’s Planet Terror and Tarantino’s Death Proof). Those movies sandwiched a set of trailers for other pretend Grindhouse features. One of these was Eli Roth’s…
West Bottoms Whiskey Co. Kansas City Whiskey // Photo by Mike Dahlor Everything about this pour cries out “Kansas City!” From the steel jaw of the brand logo, Murdock, to the content in the bottle itself, this is a whiskey steeped in Kansas City history and tradition. West Bottoms Whiskey Co. owner and operator, Alex Lindsey confesses that was his…
Meg Tully leads a group protesting MU Health’s cancelation of transgender minors’ prescriptions chants toward Columbia City Hall Sep. 15. Two months later, adolescents from Boone County are suing the university for revoking their gender-affirming care (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). Two transgender boys filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to reverse the University of Missouri’s decision to stop providing gender-affirming care…
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft testifies before a Missouri House committee in 2020 (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). Secretary of State Jay Aschcroft will try again to salvage the ballot summary he wrote for abortion rights initiative petitions with an appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court. Ashcroft’s language has been savaged in opinions from two courts, most recently when the Western…
Courtesy Social House Entertainment Emo’s wild ride back into the mainstream continues in 2024 with the return of Social House Entertainment’s “Not Just A Phase Fest” on Saturday, June 2, 2024 at Legends Field. The nostalgia event touts headliners Yellowcard, atop a current line-up including Bayside, 30H!3, Hoobastank, Secondhand Serenade, and Emery. Kansas City’s own DJ Joey Donut who si…
Courtesy of the Mercury Room This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. The Mercury…
Mashawi Mix plate at Queen Sweets and Mediterranean Grill // Photo by Farima Ferguson Queen Sweets and Mediterranean Grill is a quaint and charming Jordanian eatery in Lenexa. It appears understated, as it’s tucked away into a strip mall with other Middle Eastern shops, including Holy Land Cafe and Pak Halal Foods. But this small, casual restaurant is filled with…
What should we be concerned about ahead of this week’s upcoming rematch? // Photo by Adobe Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are arguably the two best quarterbacks in the league right now. With the Chiefs vs. Eagles Super Bowl LVII rematch on Monday, November 20th; who will be the team to take the crown of victory this time around? The…
Greg Razer. // Photo by Zach Bauman This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. …
Jason Sudeikis at Thundergong. // photo by Kylee Gregg Thundergong is the annual benefit to raise money for Steps of Faith, “a nonprofit public charity dedicated to providing prosthetic care, hope, and comfort to amputees needing financial support.” Thanks to CEO Billy Brimblecom, Jr.’s longtime friendship with now-Hollywood star Jason Sudeikis, every year, a cavalcade of stars take to the…
We Are Blood. // Photo by Ryan Bruce Written and directed by KC author and theatre staple Ryan Bernsten, We Are Blood is currently amid a short run at Olathe Civic Theatre Association where the brisk 90 minute show dabbles in some hard truths and a spectrum of existential horrors. Kathleen (Kendra Keller) and her adult son Raymond (Luke Knopke)…
Courtesy Searchlight Pictures People love an underdog story, even more so when it’s a sports underdog story. From Rocky and The Mighty Ducks, to tales of real-life come-from-behind success like Miracle and Cool Runnings, audiences love to see the little guys (and gals, and those who are neither) rise. For the most part, Taika Waititi’s football (soccer, whatever, you get…
