Pop Art: Vignettes is ready to steal the spotlight

A Vignettes assortment. // Courtesy photo

If you follow the local cocktail scene, you’ve likely seen photos of the pop-culture-infused pop-ups by Vignettes. Most recently, the North Kansas City bar played host to “Winter of Wizardry,” featuring drinks, decorations, and even a magical mystery game, all inspired by a certain school for witchcraft and wizardry. Edward Schmalz, Vignettes’ operating owner, hopes to keep the magic flowing throughout 2024 as his team builds on their successes over the last few years.

If you’re unfamiliar, Vignettes is more than just a few themed beverages. Every few months, it closes for about a week to completely transform the bar. In addition to unique food and drink offerings, that may include staff costuming, art commissions, set design and decoration, live entertainment, and more. Past themes have included “Stranger Drinks,” “Bob’s BARgers,” and the “Malibu Dream Bar,” among many others.

“Essentially, we’re a bunch of theater kids who like to create and drink good cocktails,” Schmalz says. “We bounce themes off of one another until we land on the right fit, then build an immersive experience from there. We try to brainstorm how to get those big moments and memorable callouts that will create a memorable visit for hardcore and casual fans alike.”

Maggie Boone, Schmalz’s wife and the creative director at Vignettes, is unleashing a bit of a passion project for their first new theme in 2024. “Dolly Pop-Up: The Best Little Tribute Bar in Kansas City” promises to be full of rhinestones, glitz, and glam—all with plenty of country twang. Boone herself is a singer, songwriter, and composer, and couldn’t wait to create a tribute to Dolly in the Vignettes space.

“Dolly has been a back-pocket theme for Maggie for a long time,” Schmalz says. “We were just waiting for the right time and thought it would make a great fit for our post-holiday theme.”

Courtesy image

Entertainment will include live music on Friday and Saturday, karaoke on Sunday and Monday, a game show on Tuesday, trivia night on Wednesday, and music bingo on Thursday.

“Entertainment will not be strictly confined to Dolly, but we’ve got some pretty fun ideas for paying tribute to America’s darling,” Schmalz says.

Of course, the magic of Vignettes extends to the drink menu itself, and Bar Manager Scott Helling is creating some absolute bombshells. He is particularly excited about a drink called the Rhinestone Romeo, and he is also in the process of finding glasses shaped like pink cowboy hats for another drink. Generally, there are about a dozen themed cocktails, along with beer and NA options, and a standard food menu.

The scenery and decorations are also coming together, and it sounds like the “Dolly Pop-Up” is going to be yet another winner for the team at Vignettes. Reservations are recommended and available on Vignettes’ website for $5 per person, or you can take your chances with a walk-in. “The Best Little Tribute Bar in Kansas City” is currently scheduled to run until March 16—then the creative process kicks back in.

“We essentially have all of our themes after ‘Dolly’ planned out already through the rest of the year,” Schmalz says. “ We like to be flexible in case something new comes along that we absolutely have to get on board with, but it helps us to create a more engaging experience if we’ve planned ahead. It makes it much easier to find and commission any artists or other specialty needs we might have.”

He is also trying to figure out if and when to break out some of the old favorites. Vignettes has operated for over three years now, and the team has created over two dozen pop-ups during that time. They are focusing more on their home bar pop-ups this year, but they have partnered with other entities to help create themed events. For example, the “Kingdom’s Greetings” holiday pop-up at Arrowhead was a partnership between the Kansas City Chiefs and Vignettes.

“The nature of timed pop-ups is tough,” Schmalz says. “You want to build the excitement, but you also feel bad when people miss things they really want to be a part of.”

Some, like the Swifty-inspired “Just Another Pop-Up To Burn,” proved exceedingly popular and made it tough for people to land reservations. Others, like “The Pop-Up Before Christmas” and “Stranger Drinks,” were fan and staff favorites that may make a return somewhere down the line.

“If we do a repeat, we don’t just want it to be a rehash,” Schmalz says. “We will definitely look to make it bigger and better than before.”

“Dolly Pop-Up: The Best Little Tribute Bar in Kansas City” is open now at Vignettes. Stop by for some karaoke and a tasty cocktail once you get off your 9 to 5. And don’t forget your fringe.

Vignettes is located at 2376 Armour Rd., North Kansas City, MO 64116.