This Week’s Day-By-Day Picks
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Self-employed musicians can rarely afford health insurance. And although a hot blend of whiskey, honey and lemon juice might cure a hacking cough from nine days of bar smoke, other occupational hazards (getting zapped by an amp, falling off a stage, taking a drumstick to the eye) can require a trip to the emergency room. To help improve the quality of life for area musicians, the American Jazz Museum’s Blue Room and the Free Health Clinic of Kansas City have joined to provide our rockers and rollers with basic health needs, preventive medicine and nutrition counseling. Wild Women of Kansas City, a show to benefit the initiative, begins at 7 tonight at the Blue Room (18th and Vine). The lineup includes 85-year-old jazz mama Myra Taylor as well as Geneva Price, Mary Moore, Millie Edwards Nottingham and keyboardist Bill Maness. Admission costs $10. For information, call 816-474-8463.
Friday, June 13, 2003
Can anybody really teach comedic skills to aspiring actors? Just Off Broadway Theatre offers a chance to find out with All in the Timing, put on by students who have completed the Actor Training Studio’s program. Tonight, they’ll stage the comic short plays of David Ives. This could have one of three results: funny because it’s good, funny because it sucks, or not funny at all. The audience has a 2-in-3 chance of coming out on top. The show starts at 8 p.m. at Just Off Broadway Theatre (3015 Central); tickets are $10. For information, call 816-674-5601.
Saturday, June 14, 2003
The early 1980s was a dismal time for those who liked their funk served raw. With George Clinton still hungover from the party that was the 1970s and Sly Stone in crack-fueled hiding, most purveyors of rump-shaking soul music adopted the synthesizer and didn’t look back. This new school of electro-funkateers had a few shining stars (Zapp) and a ton of watered-down Cameo and the Gangs. Perhaps the greatest act of the genre was the Gap Band, which took the knee-deep groove of old-school funk and matched it with the cinematic pop hooks that defined the Flashdance era with sweaty dance hits such as “Party Train” and “She Dropped the Bomb on Me.” Though the group’s impact on the R&B charts has diminished, its influence is still prevalent in today’s pop-soul market. The band performs at the Chris King Old School Jam, 7 p.m. at Starlight Theatre in Swope Park. For tickets, which cost $34.50 to $39.50, call 816-931-3330.
Last month’s flurry of tornadoes struck hard in Liberty, where William Jewell College sustained millions of dollars in damage. With the exception of one building, however, Liberty’s historic downtown area survived. On the Liberty Square, Celebrate Downtown Liberty provides a Flag Day full of events; happy-to-be-alive folks can find a farmer’s market, an original-art sale, a chair auction and an ice cream social to benefit tornado victims. Also, businesses on the square will host sidewalk sales and offer special discounts — how about a $5 buzz cut at Town Square Barber Shop? For entertainment, live music is scheduled throughout the day, closing with an 8 p.m. presentation of the musical Tintypes at the Corbin Opera House. With any luck, the weather will cooperate. For times and other information, call 816-517-2262.
Sunday, June 15, 2003
Concertgoers get more holler for their dollar at Double Your Pleasure!, a union of the Heartland Men’s Chorus and the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus. With nearly 300 men on the Folly Theater stage, harmonies swell with greater intensity. And the two choruses have their own moments in the spotlight. The show starts at 4 p.m. at the Folly (12th and Central). For tickets, which cost $15 to $25, call 816-931-3338.
Dads get in free at the zoo today. (Don’t know why? Please call your father. He is crying.) Now, how does one prove himself a dad? It would be easy if the kid were a dead ringer for the old man. But what about the many men who have not, to their knowledge, participated in the creation of any small humans but who bravely push strollers, buy Finding Nemo Fishtank Fun sand-art sets, and loan car keys to manic teens? What about stepdads, foster dads, Big Brothers and all classes of unofficial father figures? What about George Michael? We did some research, and they get in free, too. Except George Michael. Today, the Kansas City Zoological Park offers the Zoo Classic Car Show and the opening of Top Speed at the IMAX theater. Admission for nondads costs $4.50 to $7.50. For information, call 816-513-5700.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Every Monday, the Jewish Community Center hosts an evening of Israeli folk dancing. Such dancing, described on one Web site as “a cross between the electric slide and the hora,” can be rather complicated, but this group starts with easy dances and does a lot of teaching. The event runs from 7 to 9 p.m.; the center is at 5801 West 115th Street in Overland Park. Admission costs $3. For more information, call 913-649-5914.
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Irish folk singer Bob Reeder says he “medicates” audiences with humor, toasts, limericks, audience sing-alongs and discussions of current affairs. If said audience members are simultaneously self-medicating, Reeder’s show can’t miss. The accomplished musician takes the stage at 8 p.m. at W.J. McBride’s (12030 Blue Valley Parkway in Overland Park). Armed with a banjo, a 12-string guitar and whatever else he decides to bring along, the Irish-American regularly gives McBride’s customers a reason to bust a jig in the large, wood-floored dance hall. Admission is free. For information, call 913-451-3100.
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
In a move of sheer, unparalleled nonsense, glaze-it-yourself pottery joint All Fired Up has organized Diva Day. At this theme night, pottery painters will encounter drag queen comedian Flo and a gourmet dessert bar. All Fired Up (7915 Santa Fe Drive in Overland Park) asks that painters come dressed in proper diva attire, such as a fabulous wig, a fabulous boa or anything else that is fabulous. For reservations, call 913-385-5456.
