Night & Day Events

26 Thursday
With a name like SuperNationals II, how can this weekend’s chess championship at Bartle Hall not be, as promised, a four-day “bonanza”? Also known as the Second National Scholastic Chess Championship, the event will mark the largest scholastic chess tournament in the world, attracting 6,000 school-age participants and 4,000 spectators. Who knows, maybe among the participants lurks the next young Josh Waitzkin (the subject of the 1993 film Searching for Bobby Fischer) or Hikaru Nakamura, who became the youngest American master ever at ten years old? The real Hikaru Nakamura, who’s now thirteen, will be in attendance today, as well as many other chess greats whose names we’re not smart enough to recognize. The tournament festivities run through Sunday. Match times vary; for information, call 816-513-3200.

Never let it be said that pundits don’t have what it takes to be the “featured entertainment.” The headlining act at this year’s Truman Library Institute fundraising event, “Wild About Harry,“ consists of those loveable political analysts of CNN’s Capitol Gang. The three will let loose with commentary as they entertain those political junkies who don’t let the $125 ticket price stand between them and their chance to see Margaret Carlson, Mark Shields and Bob Novak engage in an after-dinner debate on current political issues at 8:30 p.m. at the Fairmont Hotel, 401 Ward Parkway. Let the fur fly! For information, call 816-833-0425.

27 Friday
Kansas City’s resident cabaret revue guru, J. Kent Barnhart, gets retrospective once again tonight when he asks, How Did I End up Here? — which also happens to be the title of his new show at Quality Hill Theatre, 303 West 10th Street. The Raytown native whom Variety once deemed “the quintessential glib Cole Porter sophisticate” mixes American standards, songs from the New York cabaret scene, fancy piano work and funny stories through May 6. Show times vary; for information, call 816-421-1700.

Shoppers who want to get the goods at Pembroke Hill’s annual Clothesline Sale — the mother of all garage sales — would be wise to get up and at ’em early. The sale starts at 9 a.m., and the professional garage sale prowlers will already be there looking for the best bargains, including clothing, shoes, furniture, antiques, collectibles, linens, toys, books, bicycles and paper goods. Even if you can’t get there early, the sale lasts through Saturday at Pembroke Hill School, 5121 State Line Road — but don’t blame us if all the best stuff is gone. For information, call 816-936-1200.

28 Saturday
This weekend, the Missouri Repertory Theatre unveils the piece de resistance of artistic director Peter Altman’s debut season: Company, the Rep’s first-ever musical production. The Stephen Sondheim musical delves into the subjects of marriage and relationships from the perspective of soon-to-be-35-year-old Bobby, whose world is defined by five married couples. Company might make a fine antidote to the insipid musings on single life after thirty found in Bridget Jones’s Diary. The Rep performance takes place at the UMKC Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry. Show times vary; for tickets, call 816-235-2700.

So its name is a little saccharine, but the Loved Churches Campaign is a good thing. It’s a simple effort designed to counteract — if not completely supersede — the negative effects of hate mail recently sent to fifteen local black churches. The good folks at Hate Busters, a local nonprofit that works against hatred and bigotry, alerted people all over the world, and soon thousands of “love letters” proclaiming support for these churches poured in. Today at 1:30 p.m. at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4500 Warwick, the letters will be presented to the “loved churches” before going to a permanent home at Central Baptist Seminary, where all of Kansas City can go to feel the love. For information, call 816-792-2272.

29 Sunday
At St. Paul’s School at 40th and Main, girls have the opportunity to learn how to play like women — women’s lacrosse players, that is. The recently formed KC Girls’ Lacrosse Club meets every Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. to teach girls the fundamentals of women’s lacrosse. Any girl over the age of ten can bring sneakers and a mouth guard and learn basic skills and rules. A demonstration stick will be provided. For information, call 816-916-4418.

30 Monday
For a band that released its debut album less than a year ago and is just embarking on its first nationwide tour, members of The Churchills aren’t doing too poorly. The album, You Are Here, has done well on college radio, and the band’s tasty alterna-pop has earned it the label “bubble grunge.” If nothing else, fans may flock to the band’s show at 9:30 tonight at the Grand Emporium, 3832 Main, just to get a Churchills T-shirt like the one tightly hugging the chest of Sopranos clan member Meadow on a recent episode. Bada-bing! For information, call 816-531-7557.

1 Tuesday
So when a bunch of environmentalists get together, what kind of movies do they watch? Swamp Thing? A River Runs Through It? Not exactly. Instead, it’s Subdivide and Sprawl, Wildlands and Public Transit. And while those flicks may not be box-office material, they certainly will enlighten. Throw in a little popcorn and candy for fun, and the Sierra Club has itself a Movie and Popcorn Night in place of its regular meeting at 7 p.m. at the Central United Methodist Church, 52nd and Oak. Call 816-779-6708 for information.

2 Wednesday
Sometimes all one needs to get focused is a personal crisis. In the case of Chris Duarte, it took the breakup of his marriage and his band, as well as a heroin addiction, to help him hone his songwriting talent. And if the title of his latest album, Love Is Greater Than Me, isn’t a tip-off as to how well he weathered the storm, perhaps the high-octane blues-rocker’s performance at 9 tonight at The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts in Lawrence, with Indigenous will satisfy fans’ curiosity as to whether Duarte’s fancy fretboard work remained intact. For information, call 785-842-1390.