Category Archives: Entertainment

Did you really think you made me…come.

I love that lyric, intoned breathlessly, over and over again, from Julia Othmer’s “Canyon” video (okay, so she adds the words “on now”.. it’s still hot). Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-dTMeqw2Yw) and you’ll be lining up for her Monday 9pm gig at Jardine’s on the Plaza (Friday’s 2 shows and the 1st show Monday are already sold out). Props to Beena for snagging the Continue reading →

It’s the birthday week for jazz bassists Jimmy Blanton, Eddie Gomez and Steve Swallow. Who are these cats, you ask? Well, Blanton played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and took the bass out of the rhythm section and into the solo spotlight for the first time. Gomez played with Bill Evans and expanded the bassman’s reach into Latin jazz. And Steve Swallow brought the bass guitar to jazz with his long-standing gig backing up vibraphonist Gary Burton.

That makes for three great reasons to get “down” with some of Continue reading →

I love that old Johnny Mercer lyric– a standard that Continue reading →

KC Rep has opened its 2009-10 season with a lovely production of the too-little seen Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical INTO THE WOODS. At Sunday night’s performance, a terrific Continue reading →

I may be as much as a year late getting around to the tasty CD “Smile” by local chanteuse Monique Danielle, but it Continue reading →

It’s Coltrane drummer Elvin Jones’ birthday this week, so celebrate the occasion by checking out some of our Continue reading →

No sooner has the Irish Fest rolled up its shamrocks and shaleleighs at Crown Center than KC lovers of the green (and everybody else with a yen for things Celtic) can start counting on even more Emerald Isle fun. And there’s still nearly two hundred shopping days til St Patrick’s Day!

Newest dates to come down are October 31-November 1, when the international touring company of LORD OF THE DANCE makes a stop at the Carlsen Center, College Blvd and Quivira Continue reading →

Kansas City favorite son Charlie Parker would have been 89 this week, if a combination of heroin and hard-living hadn’t taken the Continue reading →

Get out to some live music and knock one down for Count Basie, who got his start playing with Continue reading →

The excellent revival of David Mamet’s GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (now through Sunday at the H&R Block City Stage downstairs in Union Station) reminds us that, in the generation that preceded Judd Apatow, men didn’t sit around getting high and talking about their feelings. The real estate guys who populate Mamet’s play Continue reading →

This week marks KC guitar genius Pat Metheny’s 55th. Out touring with this most recent foray into six stringed sonics, Pat would probably recommend that you all celebrate by going out and listening to some live jazz in his honor. Here are some options, neighborhood by neighborhood:

PLAZA: Continue reading →

This week’s big birthday guy, Louie Armstrong, may not have had our burg in mind when he crooned “and I say to myself, what a wonderful world,” but Continue reading →

KC Confidentially, Chicago is the place to be this (or any) summer. The weather’s nice, the Continue reading →

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With all of the bad news from out at the ballpark (any of em), it’s nice to know that Tom Watson ain’t the only player making us hometown proud. Karrin Allyson’s new greatest hits CD proves once again that we’ve got some of the finest Continue reading →

Back in the day, Starlight knew how to do it…

Hire a talented Broadway star, surround her with top imported and local talent, put alot of musicians in the pit, get some glamorous costumes and a great big set and put on one of the chestnuts that makes the great American musical our grandest contribution to the performing arts (okay, maybe second to jazz).

But in the Swope Park theater’s rush to be more “relevant” and get touring Broadway shows, everything got sort of smaller and less glamorous. And the local connection went away; along with an orchestra pit with more than three synths, a horn and reed player and percussion. The titles may have been hipper, but the work just wasn’t as grand.

So I’m pleased to report that the Starlight production of ANYTHING GOES (now through Sunday, July 19) brings back the good old days. This first outing for Continue reading →

Is it possible to feel more Continue reading →

It’s summer camp time in the always hip Crossroads Arts District. Now, before you put on your Continue reading →

I’m as happy as the next guy to jump into the car and head down to the Crossroads or Power & Light District and grab a bite. Continue reading →