All American

FRI 7/4

This Fourth of July, we’d like to form a more perfect union. We’d also like to establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility, but we’re starting small. The pairing of classic-rock favorite George Thorogood with gospel/rockabilly/punk phenomenon The Reverend Horton Heat at the City Market (5th and Walnut) is a good place to start. The vastly entertaining Reverend spreads his gospel in Kansas City all the time. If he hasn’t converted you yet, you’re just not American — in the Texan sense of the word. And over the Fourth of July weekend, what could be more perfect than a union of outdoor festivals, alcohol consumption and songs about alcohol consumption? The Reverend Horton Heat can answer Thorogood’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” with a song called simply “Beer.”— Gina Kaufmann

Radio Days

American Heartland Theatre says Hazelnuts to you.

SAT 7/5

Setting a comedy in a radio station is a peachy excuse to cast singers as musicians, turning the performance into something a bit more … musical. Such is the case with Radio Gals, opening Saturday at the American Heartland Theatre (2420 Grand). Starring tried-and-true local gals Lori Blalock and Debra Bluford, the show is set at a 500-watt grassroots station — call letters WGAL — and tracks the rise of an “all girl” band, the Hazelnuts. If you look too closely, though, the gender police may call up a chromosome test. Radio Gals comes from the clever guys behind Pump Boys and Dinettes and includes performers as adept at fiddle or Autoharp as they are punch lines.

It’s an evening of what The New York Times called “a cheery, nostalgia-dipped musical.” Tickets cost $15 to $29. Call the box office at 816-842-9999.— Steve Walker

Lisa Marie Lives

WED 7/9

It takes a big set to give infamously cutting David Letterman the stiff-arm. Madonna, of course, did so by indignantly rattling off a profane soliloquy; Terry Bradshaw even smacked the late-night master in the jaw. Most recently, Lisa Marie Presley shut him down by refusing to offer private anecdotes about her father. So don’t expect Presley to talk about daddy when she performs at Wednesday’s Red, White and Boom. Anyway, her more personal songs might satisfy your curiosity. The show starts at 3:30 p.m. (Presley goes on at 8:35 p.m.) at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Bonner Springs. Tickets cost $17.50 to $42.50. Call 816-931-3330.— Sarah Smarsh