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Tue, Mar 09, 2010
Charles Bruffy and the Kansas City Chorale staged a spring concert this weekend. The "Sing to Love" theme combined with timely references to the eagerly-awaited season nicely colored the lengthy program. The ensemble sounded in top shape and delivered a diverse yet thoughtfully unified collection of memorable pieces.
Wed, Mar 03, 2010
The KC Ballet covered all the bases in its winter repertoire performance Thursday night at the Lyric Theatre. The Midwestern company, which is making a national name for itself, offered selections of ballet, contemporary, African and modern in a diverse showing.
Tue, Mar 02, 2010
Once in a great while, a work –whether a symphony, play, book, or even a movie –comes along that makes you sit up and take notice. Saturday evening, at the Kansas City Repertory’s Copaken Stage, I had such an experience with "Broke-ology."
Mon, Feb 22, 2010
A KCM VID Interview: Fresh from his electrifying win of the 2009 London International Piano Competition Grand Prize at the age of 18—the youngest winner in the history of the competition—Behzod Abduraimov joins Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Gold Medal winner Stanislav Ioudenitch in concert on March 5.
Mon, Feb 15, 2010
The Fine Arts Chorale knows how to show an audience a good time. "Heartfelt Voices: Our Ode to St. Valentine's Day" blended a fresh, exciting program of love songs with art by Jenny Hahn, chocolate from Andres along with wine and a bit of bubbly courtesy of Rimann liquors.
Tue, Feb 09, 2010
In the world of dance, there is a movement to reclaim the body... and that movement was amply exhibited in "A Modern Night at the Folly." The audience experienced choreography that wrestled with breaking limits as well as choreography that challenged acquiring limits.
Wed, Feb 03, 2010
From the vantage point of a wired, Googled, You-Tubed, Twittering world, where circumnavigating the globe can be done in less than 80 minutes, it was fun to be transported back to a time when performing such a feat in 80 days was considered a quantum leap in world travel.
Tue, Jan 26, 2010
"Hot Swing" at the Folly Theatre coincided with the 100th birthday celebration of Django Reinhardt, who before passing away in 1953, helped shape the "gypsy jazz" sound.
Wed, Jan 20, 2010
Think of Gregory Hines and you think of tap dancing. He brought excitement, nostalgia and the itch to tap at the Carlsen Center last Saturday night. Of course, the late great hoofer was not actually there, but his legacy was close at heart.
Tue, Jan 12, 2010
Hearing the Takács String Quartet is an exercise in ear training. They have that polished, burnished and seamless sound that comes when four musicians play with orchestral unity and unselfish responsibility to one another.
Tue, Jan 05, 2010
This will be the first time that some of us - make that nearly all of us - will have the opportunity to hear Menachem Wiesenberg's music when "Reflections" makes its U. S. premiere with the Kansas City Symphony this weekend. David Peironnet talked with the composer about 'new' classical music and his new work.
Tue, Dec 29, 2009
A preview some of the outstanding classical music and dance performances to watch for during the rest of the 2010 season.
Tue, Dec 22, 2009
Kansas City Ballet's "The Nutcracker" is a timeless, classic production and has become a well-deserved local Christmas tradition. For the most part, the production remains the same from year to year - Tchaikovsky's score and Todd Bolender's choreography - even the scenery and costumes haven't changed much in the past several years. What makes each performance unique and exciting - or not - is the performer's interpretations. A dance review.
Tue, Dec 15, 2009
Christmas is the time of 'Lessons and Carols' - lessons coming from the Biblical tradition and carols first intoduced by St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century, becoming popular throughout Europe in the 15th century. The male vocal ensemble, Cantus joined with Theater LatteDa of Minneapolis Friday night at Yardley Hall to teach a lesson of a different sort with carols from all over Europe.
Tue, Dec 08, 2009
Once again the KC music and dance scene is overflowing with riches this weekend - and merits top billing on KCMetropolis. It is impossible to cover - or attend - everything, but here is a hearty list for your consideration.
Mon, Nov 30, 2009
After the Kansas City Repertory Theatre's 29-year run of performing "A Christmas Carol," Eric Rosen, in only his 2nd full season as its artistic director, deserves a theatric medal of valor for breaking with three decades of tradition to stage this new musical.
Wed, Nov 25, 2009
"Lost Souls" was commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony from Avner Dorman who wrote the work for pianist, Alon Goldstein. The final product was a perfect melding of orchestra - with a phenomenal interpretation by Maestro Stern - composition and performance: it was at once Stern's work, and Goldstein's work, and, ultimately, Dorman's work.
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
Hänsel and Gretel lost in the Missouri Ozarks? It turns out that the German classic by the Gebrüder Grimm transcends time and place just fine, the Opera Department of the UMKC Conservatory superbly demonstrated this weekend in their production with four performances at White Recital Hall. In fact, Grimm has never sounded more grand.
Wed, Nov 18, 2009
Wow. Native son David Parson's Parson Dance with members of the East Village Opera Company presented an amazing evening of music and dance at the Folly Theater last Friday as part of the Harriman Jewell Series. The performance is still seared into my brain days later.
Tue, Nov 10, 2009
There is nothing like a Gilbert and Sullivan getaway to escape reality and "H.M.S. Pinafore" handily transports an audience. In the world of the G and S operetta, social class conflicts are easily resolved, baby farming is explained without difficulty and the coarse language of everyday is discouraged in favor of refined, elegant dialogue.
Tue, Nov 03, 2009
Dame Emma Kirkby reminds me of Shakespeare's Queen Mab, that mythological fairy that makes mischief in people's dreams. Taking the Polsky Theatre stage at Johnson County Community College last Friday night with lutenist Jakob Lindberg, she presented the music of John Dowland and Henry Purcell.
Mon, Oct 26, 2009
Last Saturday night, while streets were blocked to crowds watching the bonfires of WaterFire float down Brush Creek, an intimate crowd of ancient music lovers gathered at the Visitation Catholic Church for a journey within. There the serenely scintillating voices of Anonymous 4 imparted the cloistered incantations of 13th century royal Castilian nuns in a bonfire for the soul.
Tue, Oct 20, 2009
Kansas City Ballet's first performance of its 52nd season offered a mix of everything - two classical excerpts, a contemporary pas de deux and a local favorite. Audience members who did their homework knew they were in for a treat because three of the four pieces were Kansas City Ballet premieres.
Tue, Oct 13, 2009
The Cypress String Quartet opened the UMKC Signature Series with an ambitious program that featured mature works of Mozart, Bartók and Beethoven to a nearly full house last Saturday night at White Recital Hall.
Tue, Oct 06, 2009
How on earth could a dramatic radio interpretation of a science fiction book possibly cause mass hysteria? Were the Americans of 1939 so gullible and naïve as to think Martians were actually invading New Jersey? After seeing, hearing and feeling the re-enactment of H.G. Wells and Howard Kochs' "The War of the Worlds" as presented by the uber-talented L.A. Theatre Works, I'm no longer surprised by the infamous impact.
Mon, Sep 28, 2009
Quixotic has succeeded in exploring new dimensions of dance, music and design, but what really made that first performance unique was that it was stripped of all distractions. There were no chairs, no fancy ceilings, no stuffy surroundings. It was literally a blank canvas that was transformed before the spectators' eyes.
Tue, Sep 22, 2009
The third movement of the Debussy quartet was without question the high point of the evening. The Quartet's gorgeous blend supported Ito's luminous muted violin solo that she passed seamlessly to cellist Storey, and Chung brought introspective genius to the viola part. The masterful interplay of nuance interwoven throughout revealed the Accorda at its scrumptious best.
Mon, Sep 14, 2009
At its turn-of-the-century premiere, "Tosca" was perceived as particularly coarse and was criticized for a focus on ill-mannered tyrant types and for pervasive brutality. It seems, though, that Kansas City opera-goers do not mind such decadence: just as the opera did in Italy in 1900, "Tosca" opened to a packed house at Kansas City's Lyric Theater last Friday night.
Tue, Sep 08, 2009
If you miss the touring version of "Mamma Mia!" that opened last night for a one-week run at Starlight Theatre, you can always track it down in Germany, Amsterdam, Switzerland or Spain; from Newcastle to Taipei, the bubbly musical taken from those ingratiating Abba songs precludes language and geographical barriers.
Tue, Sep 01, 2009
Octarium's Artistic Director, Dr. Krista Blackwood, enjoys mining for underperformed musical material. Her programs have consistently offered listeners a taste of the obscure. Whether the group is commissioning brand new pieces specifically for their voices, altering existing pieces for eight soloists, or digging the depths of choral libraries for works unknown, the result is always a program with surprises around each turn.
Mon, Aug 24, 2009
War is hell, but first there's political hell to pay in the often profane comedy "In The Loop" when a lowly British cabinet minister opens a Pandora's box during an interview and endangers secretive efforts by America and the United Kingdom to launch a war.
Mon, Aug 17, 2009
Starlight Theatre's production of "Chicago," looks all the sharper, given all we have witnessed in the rise of celebrity journalism and the cutting of corners in matters of truth and justice. Those who have seen only the movie version might be surprised: this version (itself a 1996 revival) moves to a tighter tempo.
Wed, Aug 12, 2009
Theatre in the Park closed its 40th anniversary season last weekend with a Kansas legend: "The Wizard of Oz." Whether it was due to the ingenious costumes, the versatile sets or the passion of the amateur performers, this was one well-conceived and expertly directed production.
Thu, Jul 23, 2009
Like walking through a Baroque garden, a Romantic landscape painting or an unpredictable Modern field of wildflowers, the 2009 Summerfest season is inspired by natural beauty.
Wed, Jul 15, 2009
Cole Porter might well have been named Cool Porter. More than 70 years after he wrote some of the finest, wittiest, kickiest music and lyrics in the American theatre - make that in American music - his oeuvre remains instantly recognizable and dreamily memorable.
Thu, Jul 02, 2009
KCMetropolis.org will take a 'publishing' hiatus until early August to implement some new features including the KC Events community-wide performing arts calendar.
Tue, Jun 30, 2009
The Choir sang traditional hymns, choral masterpieces, and folk music from America and around the world. They even included popular songs from musical theater.
Mon, Jun 22, 2009
For this production of "The Merry Wives of Windsor, " director Sidonie Garrett leans toward the visual--more Coen Bros. immediacy than the traditional Laurence Olivier subtlety. Working in an outdoor setting, Garrett must insure the last rows get the punch line before the front half is laughing at the next joke.
Tue, Jun 16, 2009
"Baroque in Motion," the world premiere collaboration of the Bach Aria Soloists and the Owen/Cox Dance Group, fused sound to skin. Allowing the music to inform every aspect of the dance, from the individual motions to the overall design, choreographer Jennifer Owen elegantly interpreted every note. Photos by Charles Stonewall
Tue, Jun 02, 2009
Chiaroscuro is an Italian word that invites contemplation of that which lies beyond the appearance of light and shade. It was a fitting program title for the debut of a superb new choral ensemble under the direction of former King's Singer and Professor Emeritus of Choral Conducting at Yale, Simon Carrington.
Tue, May 26, 2009
"A Flea in Her Ear," much like Michael Frayn's theatrical comedy "Noises Off" and Preston Sturges's 1948 movie "Unfaithfully Yours," if about anything, is about the love of performing. The KC Rep cast takes dialogue that needs a specific Mel Brooksian mania and finds it; this is one of those ensembles that probably could entertain an audience with a Chinese takeout menu.
Mon, May 18, 2009
Angry double stops led into an ending that demonstrated Skride's fierce skills. She reveled in the final movement like a gymnast who knew she had won the gold.
Mon, May 11, 2009
"Should Have Been Choral" is a collection of a cappella arrangements of secular songs originally composed as orchestral symphonies, operatic overtures, music from Broadway shows and popular songs.
Sun, May 03, 2009
There are stars, and then there are stars -- and then there is Denton Yockey. In his new capacity as president and executive producer of Starlight Theatre, Yockey is the guiding force behind the actors, singers and dancers seen from under the night skies.
Tue, Apr 28, 2009
When the Kansas City Repertory Theatre announced in 2007, that its new artistic director would be the thirty-something Chicagoan Eric Rosen, the search committee was gambling on youth and youth's ability to summon something stirring in an environment when every night is opening night and the show begins at the top of the ninth inning.
Wed, Apr 22, 2009
The evening was like eating dinner in a fine new restaurant. It started with a Twyla Tharp appetizer, the entrée was prepared by Jorma Elo and the dessert was from Moses Pendelton.
Mon, Apr 13, 2009
Theatre Review: Rain pours down and thunder echoes throughout Jim Grimsley’s surreal suburban drama The Borderland.
Wed, Apr 08, 2009
Finally - Bach’s monumental B Minor Mass was the crowning glory of a month of magnificent musical offerings in Kansas City.
Wed, Apr 01, 2009
As appealing in poetical content as the opening half of the concert was, the show-stopper Friday night was Director Michael Stern’s exuberant performance of the Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61 by Robert Schumann.
Mon, Mar 23, 2009
Dance Preview: Intrinsic to Ballet Boyz’s work is the way the Company produces and presents dance using film and video clips that show behind-the-scene activities of dancers mixed with onstage performances.
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