Reviews and previews of upcoming shows.
8-Track: The Sounds of the ’70s Each decade, radio’s definition of “oldies” refreshes itself in accordance with the key demographic’s nostalgic sweet spot. These days, the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys of the world have been cut for the Elton Johns and — shudder — Billy Joels. Nobody knows more about tonguing said sweet spots than the American Heartland Theatre, where this tribute, studded with more than 50 hits, is precisely calibrated to please. Expect some disco, some Eagles and some “I Write the Songs” (likely the first song ever performed at both the populist Heartland and the tradition-guarding Quality Hill in the same season). Through Aug. 12 at the American Heartland Theatre, 2450 Grand, 816-842-9999. (Alan Scherstuhl)
On the Spot! The Improv Comedy Game Show A fork in the eye to improv’s we’re-all-in-this-together spirit, On the Spot pits a quartet of the quickest comics in town against one another in competition for points and laughs. (Audience members get the prizes.) Last month, host Jared Brustad wielded a skinny, ’70s-style TV microphone and managed to win almost as many laughs as his contestants. Brustad is joined this week by local improv svengali Trish Berrong, Keith Curtis of CounterClockwiseComedy, Caroline Donnelly of Improv-Abilities, and the spectacularly young Rene Boudreaux of the Fakers. 7 p.m. Saturday at Westport Coffee House, 4010 Pennsylvania, 816-678-8886. (Alan Scherstuhl)
Sweet Charity It’s no big trick to trace this campy revival’s surprising pedigree: Fedirico Fellini, whose Nights of Cabiria inspired the original Bob Fosse and Neil Simon production and who is dimly present here in the character of Vittorio Vidal. This touring production is less interested in Fellini than in Christina Applegate (here replaced by Trading Spaces‘ Paige Davis as Charity), who led a revival to Broadway glory a few years back; it’s also much more interested in Charity as a dancer than as a prostitute, which she of course totally is. Starlight’s bring-the-family ad campaign indicates that this should be a fine chance to teach the kids about subtext. Through July 15 at Starlight Theatre, 6601 Swope Pkwy., 816-363-7827. (Alan Scherstuhl)
Twice Upon a Time: The Lorax and the Emperor’s New Clothes Seussical writers Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the team behind this world-premiere musical, have written Broadway tunes that flatten out Dr. Seuss’ poetry. With neither the words to rely on nor much set to speak of, the tale of the Lorax and his vanishing Truffula forest is left almost entirely to the imagination. Then, for reasons presumably more pragmatic than artistic, this bare-bones Lorax is paired with a lengthy, plot-stuffed take on The Emperor’s New Clothes, which offers better songs, some fun performances and a more confusing narrative. Through Aug. 5 at the Coterie Theatre in Crown Center, 2450 Grand, 816-474-6552. (Reviewed in our July 5 issue.) (Alan Scherstuhl)
