Dorothy’s Songs

Perhaps now, with unemployment at around 9 percent and Wisconsin’s recent siege by union protesters, it’s time to break out that old Depression classic “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime.” Or maybe you’re feeling a surge of Kansas nostalgia, one that hearkens back to the early days of Technicolor and Judy Garland. Or possibly you’re still disappointed in yourself for not having done more about the Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s. Should any of these be the case, then the new revue at Quality Hill Playhouse, Look to the Rainbow: The Lyrics of Yip Harburg, is for you. Harburg, a high school friend of Ira Gershwin’s, was a prominent lyricist in the 1930s and ’40s — he wrote lyrics for The Wizard of Oz — before being blacklisted in the ’50s. The show, which opened last weekend, rings out at 3 and 8 p.m. today at Quality Hill Playhouse (303 West 10th Street), with additional performances through April 10. Call 816-421-1700 or see qualityhillplayhouse.com. Tickets cost $26. That’s 260 dimes, if you can spare them.

Wed., March 30; Thu., March 31; Fri., April 1; Sat., April 2; Sun., April 3; Tue., April 5; Wed., April 6; Thu., April 7; Fri., April 8; Sat., April 9; Sun., April 10, 2011