Classical,
Stern’s Schumann steals the show
Friday night at the Lyric Theatre, the pre-concert buzz was all about hearing the American premiere of a piece for violin and orchestra composed by British composer, Sir John Tavener to be performed by the beautiful Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, 21, with the Kansas City Symphony. Lalishri for Solo Violin and Strings was written for Benedetti in 2007. After performing its world premiere with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Litton, Benedetti released a recording of it that same year on theDeutsche Grammophon label.
Benedetti drew a luscious silvery tone from her 1723 Earl Spencer Stradivarius that rose ethereally above the orchestra even in heavily orchestrated passages. Her ability to make the violin sing like a soulful sitar, resplendent with sinuous slurs in an ancient wail of the song of India was a high point of the evening. Also noteworthy in the work was the placement of a string quartet at the back of the stage that seemed to echo serene beauty from the world beyond.
Tavener composed this work with a nod to Drupad, classical Indian music, noted for its complexity of tonality that bends notes into micro tones and rhythmical nuance intended to express and inspire a transcendental journey of the soul. Written in a series of cycles, rather than movements, each punctuated by a brief quote from the slow movement of the Bruch Violin Concerto, the work is an extraordinarily complex piece that cannot be fully appreciated in only one hearing. It merits being presented again soon - hopefully in the new Kaufmann Center for the Performing Arts!
The evening began with a far too seldom heard piece by American composer, Charles Tomlinson Griffes. The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan received its Carnegie Hall premiere in November 1919, only four months before the untimely death of Griffes at the age of 35. Inspired by the poem of the same name by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the piece is a gem of Impressionism - infused with a sunny American accent. Solo passages by Concertmistress Kanako Ito and principal oboist Laura Schaefer-Berndt were particularly expressive and lovely.
As appealing in poetical content as the opening half of the concert was, steeped in mystical eroticism and the lure of the Orient, 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. It brought down the house in what this reviewer considers to have been the best performance she has heard of this work. The driving, frenetic energy of the violins in the second movement opening tutti passages and again at the conclusion of the movement were particularly marvelous to behold.
Bravo! to Stern and the Kansas City Symphony for a Schumann 2nd that will long be remembered for its vitality and beauty.
REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
with Nicola Benedetti, Violinist
Friday, March 27, 2009 at 8:00 pm,
Lyric Theatre, Downtown Kansas City, MO
www.kcsymphony.org
Fiona's List for March 30 - April 5
UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance has done it again! This week they are offering 14 opportunities to attend a concert by a variety of musicians who have worked hard to perform a variety of music for you. With no admission charge, you may enjoy works for flute, piano, jazz piano, voice, jazz composition, clarinet, oboe and bassoon, percussion, bass trombone, jazz band, and vibraphone.
Fiona's 5 personal favorites this week are Bach's B Minor Mass on Tuesday (hasn't been performed in Kansas City by local musicians for 20 years), the UMKC Conservatory Collegium Vocale on Friday, Martin Storey's cello studio class recital on Friday and Emanuel Ax with the Kansas City Symphony on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Friday is this week's difficult choice day. You could attend the Emanuel Ax concert or the Martin Storey Studio recital or the Collegium Vocale concert or a lecture at UMKC or a piano recital in Lawrence by Frederic Chiu or any of the theatre or dinner theatre offerings around town. It's your choice. ENJOY!
We will be making some big announcements over the next few weeks about some wonderful improvements to KCMetropolis.org and Fiona's List. Watch for them!
Fiona HIGHLY recommends another list of events for families, friends, educators and neighbors of children 10 and under. Miss Jackie's April list includes Jazz Storytelling, KCPT reads (where everyone from newborn to 8 yrs old receives a brand new book free), Easter egg hunts and free pony rides, a Teddy Bear Picnic, Read to a Dog and more.To receive her monthly list, send an email to: missjackielists@gmail.com.
Until next Monday morning,
Fiona
KC Events this week and beyond
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Film,
FILM REVIEW: "Sunshine Cleaning" is rewarding cinema
With an opening sequence that is as startling as getting sucker-punched by a Mack truck, Sunshine Cleaning is a brilliant piece of cinema containing a seamless blend of smartly-written comedy and sincere, emotional drama.
Rose Lorkowski (Academy Award nominee Amy Adams, Doubt) is a single mom with low self-esteem trying to eke out a living. Scarred by her mother's suicide when she was a child, Rose's life is further complicated by a young son (Jason Spevack) that can't stay out of trouble and her ongoing, misguided affair with a married police detective, Mac (Steve Zahn).
Always hoping for a better life, Rose goes into the lucrative world of cleaning up after dead people. She enlists the help of her shiftless younger sister, Norah (Emily Blunt, The Great Buck Howard), who resents that Rose is always trying to take care of her.
Despite their initial inexperience and the friction that sometimes arises between them, the Lorkowksi sisters slowly build their Sunshine Cleaning business into a successful enterprise, which gives Rose the chance to put her son into private school and to show her fellow ex-high school cheerleaders that she has made something of herself.
Adams is quickly demonstrating that she is one of the most versatile actresses of her generation. Her potent abilities are as wide-ranging as Cleaning's screenplay as she deftly shifts through her character's intense, emotional vulnerabilities. Adams's performance is complimented by Blunt as she shines in her own right with a character who's perhaps even more pained than her older sister. Blunt, who didn't have a chance to show much in The Great Buck Howard, is simply wonderful, but of course what helps them to be brilliant together is the terrific chemistry they share on screen.
Adams and Blunt are surrounded by a solid supporting cast that includes Academy Award winner Alan Arkin as their father who makes big promises he can't follow through with, and Clifton Collins, Jr. (Capote, Traffic) as a genial one-armed store owner who takes an interest in Rose.
Sunshine Cleaning is a rare gem that should not go unnoticed. It's funny. It's smart. It's heartbreaking. It's uplifting. It's rewarding. It has everything you could look for in a film sans special effects and gimmicks.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Sunshine Cleaning receives an A.
Sunshine Cleaning is rated R and has a running time of 102 minutes.
Now Showing
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.
Leawood Theatre
3707 W 95th St., Leawood
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-642-1133 for more information.
Classical,
Busy Kansas City Chorale inconsistent in weekend concert
One of the downsides to an ensemble building themselves up over a period of years into an internationally known and respected group is that their audience tends to refine their level of expectation as the group grows and matures. Such is the case with the Kansas City Chorale. Especially over the last ten year period, the Chorale, led by music director Charles Bruffy, has taken their place as one of the most musically advanced and award-winning ensembles in the entire Midwest.
The Kansas City Chorale this past weekend presented a concert titled "Music From The New York Tour." This was a programming change from their previously scheduled "Double Chorus Concert" with the Phoenix Chorale (Maestro Bruffy's other professional ensemble.) After the programming for this season had been announced, both groups were invited to sing in New York City at Lincoln Center in a spotlight concert. The New York Concert took place within a week of the group's concerts this past weekend in Kansas City. About half of the repertoire heard in Kansas City was performed in New York, and half was brand new. This busy schedule coupled with Bruffy's daring programming gave the audience a hearing of the Chorale that at some times was unbelievably sublime and at others inconsistent.
The program began with Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae by Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi. This work was recorded by the Chorale on their album Eternal Rest. The work is a memorial for 852 people who died when the luxury ferry Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea in 1994. Mäntyjärvi's choral writing is quite rich, calling on two contrasting vocal soloists to help tell the story of the sinking. Rebecca Lloyd's soprano was lamenting but lovely at the same time. Her bright vocal quality reminded me of the folk singing common in the Baltic region. Baritone soloist Bryan Taylor sang with great warmth and power. This work was highly engaging and very well-executed by Bruffy and the Chorale.
We next were treated to Rheinberg's Drei Geistliche Gesänge, op. 69. In the performance of this work, Bruffy again chose to highlight repertoire from one of the group's award-winning recordings, Rheinberger: Sacred Choral Works. Rheinberger, as a composer from the latter half of the nineteenth century, is regarded as a second-tier composer (try telling that to an organ music aficionado.) While his contemporaries (such as Brahms and Wagner) sought to push the aesthetic of music forward, Rheinberger largely remained true to a more conservative compositional style. In the singing of Morgenlied, the Chorale's tone was like a breath of fresh air, and their approach to text was of the highest level. After singing the relatively short but quite lush Hymne, the Chorale sang Abendlied, which was one of the great highlights of the first half. During this selection, Rheinberger's beautiful lyricism shone through brightly, and the Chorale and Bruffy were completely in sync, almost like two great long-time friends in the middle of a conversation. Every gesture Bruffy gave was matched intimately by the ensemble. As the piece came to a close, the ending chord landed slightly out of tune, but Bruffy deftly addressed the rogue notes, allowing the culmination of the set to not be compromised.
The next section of the concert featured three selections by UMKC Composition students, two of them being world premieres. Zhou Juan's Wind sought to depict the force of nature by using chord clusters that moved around the ensemble, never showing her hand on where they might land or resolve. This modernist work ended with the inclusion of a recorded voice, which seemed odd and was quite unexpected. Nicholas Omiccioli's A Song of Joys showcased lovely imitative melodies that often cadenced with complicated chords. The work was rhapsodic and full of compositional ideas, which led to a feeling of a disjunctive whole. The set concluded with the UMKC Composition Contest winning piece, Ng Wah Hei's O, Know, Sweet Love, which was first premiered by the Chorale last fall at UMKC's "Crescendo" event. This exercise in color and sonic texture danced and lilted in mixed meter (often asymmetrical). This piece was sung quite well, especially the high soprano work of Sarah Tannehill toward the song's conclusion. All three of these student works would fall into the Avant-garde category and thus were extremely difficult. The Chorale occasionally suffered from inconsistent tuning and vowel matching during this set.
Ending the first half was the much-anticipated premiere of Jean Belmont-Ford's The Day Is Done. The composer penned this work specifically for the KC Chorale. The work, set to text by Longfellow, is intimate above all else, giving us rich and buttery chords, sudden tonal shifts to tickle the ear, and luscious unresolved suspensions. The basses, as a section, were featured, often singing quite low in their range. The delicate ending was spoiled by some loud car noise outside the sanctuary.
The entire second half was dedicated to the Messe Pour Double Choeur of Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974). This youthful work by Martin was written in 1922 but was not widely known until very late in the composer's life. Much of this is due to the composer's own actions, not allowing it to be performed due to his own reaction to the work's (perceived) unworthiness. The KC Chorale recorded this work on their album, Eternal Rest. Their singing at the concert was alarmingly inconsistent, based on the quality of the work on the recording. The opening movement, Kyrie, suffered from a lack of vowel cohesion, especially with the bright vowels. The Gloria movement recovered quite nicely, but the drive to the conclusion of the movement was unconvincing. The middle movement, Credo, showcased some the group's best singing of the entire night, especially in the crucificus section. The music was crushing with pain and greatly effective. As Bruffy moved from the Credo to the Sanctus, he did not allow the group to re-pitch themselves as he had done with previous movements. This seemed to catch some of the ensemble off guard. The movement recovered from the shaky start, and the Hosanna section rang with unbridled joy. The final movement, the Agnus Dei, is perhaps Martin's best writing of the whole work. Bruffy's trademark "paintbrush" style of conducting lent itself perfectly to this lush music, as he and the singers allowed the music to fully penetrate the sanctuary of the Church of the Nativity.
This past weekend, the KC Chorale showed that they are mortal (but world-class) musicians. Their concert was highly moving and engaging. Music Director Charles Bruffy demands the best from his ensembles, and his programming always pushes to the limit the scope of artistic possibility and emotional connection. Their appreciative but smallish audience was glad to go along for the ride.
REVIEW:
Kansas City Chorale
Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. (Reviewed)
Church of the Nativity, 119th & Mission Rd., Leawood, KS
Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
Redemptorist Church, 3333 Broadway, Kansas City, MO
For ticket information call 816-235-6222 or online at www.kcchorale.org
Classical,
A fitting farewell to a Kansas City favorite
It's always a treat when The Friends of Chamber Music brings together two Quartets for an evening that culminates in the great Mendelssohn Octet in E-Flat Major, Opus 20. Performing in this case, we have one of the great Quartets of the last 40 years, the Guarneri Quartet, which has announced its retirement after this season. The other Quartet is the Johannes Quartet which is made up of the principal cellist of the LA Philharmonic, the principal violist of the Philadelphia orchestra, a winner of the Paganini violin competition and a Concert Artist Guild competition winner. I have no idea how four musicians with such high powered individual careers can ever find the time to practice together and subsequently tour.
As indicated in a printed insert to the program, as well as from a brief speech by Cynthia Siebert, the founder and director of The Friends, there are thousands of musical organizations in the United States currently in financial crisis. While not saying that The Friends of Chamber Music is in crisis, the Guarneri and the Johannes Quartets generously waived their fees for this concert.
The Quartets have undertaken two joint concert tours this season. In addition to the Mendelssohn Octet, they commissioned William Bolcom to write an Octet titled Double Quartet which they are premiering this season. Another newly commissioned work is Esa-Pekka Salonen's Homunculus for String Quartet. Also new to me is a work by Derek Bermel titled Passing Through, written for, and as a tribute, to the Guarneri Quartet. And so this was an evening of three brand new appetizers followed by a very familiar main course, the piece de resistance of the evening, the Mendelssohn Octet.
The first work was Passing Through by Derek Bermel. Mr. Bermel was born in 1967 (he is three years younger than the Guarneri Quartet) and has been composing for at least 15 years. This quartet starts with the theme of the slow movement from Beethoven's last quartet, Opus 135. The theme recurs throughout the approximately six minute work interspersed and varied with increasingly dissonant passages and occasional slashing rhythms. Beethoven's theme lends it an overall sweet and elegiac tone and is basically inoffensive while not being particularly moving. If I were a member of the Guarneri Quartet, this would not be the final work I would have wanted dedicated to my long and outstanding career.
Esa-Pekka Salonen is one of the world's major conductors and is currently the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic through the end of this season when he will step down to be replaced by Venezuelan wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel. Alongside his busy career as a conductor, he has tried to maintain a career as a composer, even taking a year's sabbatical to just compose.
Salonen's Homunculus for String Quartet is performed in one approximately 14 minute movement. It is a propulsive piece with motoric rhythms and dissonances interspersed with moments of quiet reflection. Salonen seems to like to display lots of string sound effects with his dissonant harmonies. The title refers to an 18th century theory of genetic human reproduction and I have no idea how this relates to the musical work he created. The Johannes Quartet performed it with great verve and seemed to enjoy the sudden changes in tempo and dynamics within the piece.
To close the first half of the program, the two Quartets performed William Bolcom's Octet: Double Quartet. William Bolcom is a noted composer having received the Pulitzer Prize and three Grammys among other awards. In another brief speech before the piece, Cynthia Siebert claimed that the greatness of the Mendelssohn Octet has daunted composers since that time and made them afraid to write a string octet for fear of being unfavorably compared to the Mendelssohn Octet. I find it strange that this one masterpiece has so intimidated almost 200 years of composers that they have feared to match themselves against Mendelssohn. Composers continued to write symphonies after Beethoven's Symphonies No. 5 and No. 9; and composers continued to write piano sonatas and string quartets after Beethoven also. More octets are needed rather than fewer.
In any event, the two Quartets performed this in an interesting layout. The violins and violas were divided left and right across the stage (as is being done by many orchestras performing music of the Classical and Romantic eras because of research into historical performance practices). This allows occasional antiphonal effects that the composer wrote. The cellos were in the center rear of the layout lending weight to the octet.
As for the piece itself, I found it to be basically inoffensive without being inspirational. I am getting somewhat tired of the same musical language used by most contemporary composers. They write with the same style-occasional snippets of melody accompanied by droning dissonances, propulsive rhythms from the minimalist school and sound effects that remind me of music for edgy movies or the Twilight Zone soundtrack. Salonen and Bolcom are both critical musical darlings. I wish they would write something that sounds more original and/or accessible. Regadless, both Quartets gave the work an intense performance.
After intermission, the two Quartets joined for what everyone was waiting for, the Mendelssohn Octet in E-Flat Major, Opus 20.
I know the first thing program notes and reviewers mention is that Mendelssohn composed this Octetat the age of 16. But seriously, is there any other piece of music or art of comparable genius created by one so young? None comes to mind. This work would be considered the capstone to any mature composer's career much less the foundation stone of a career beginning at the age of 16. As I mentioned in my review of the Jupiter Quartet of February 20, you should take a few minutes to read up on the work being done by www.themendelssohnproject.org. It is a fascinating story.
In any event, the Octet is one of my favorite pieces of chamber music. From the beautiful opening theme, to the elfin and pixie dust sprinkled scherzo, to the exciting finale (occasionally using a theme from Handel's Messiah-"And He shall reign forever and ever"-Mendelsshon was a huge Handel fan), this is a justly acclaimed masterpiece. The Johannes Quartet was the primary Quartet in the work led by their sweet-toned first violin, Soovin Kim. At times, the Johannes Quartet seemed to overpower the Guarneri Quartet in the big passages, but they all played well together providing a fitting conclusion to the last time Kansas City will hear the Guarneri Quartet.
I have heard the Guarneri Quartet several times over the last 25+ years thanks to The Friends of Chamber Music and each performance has been remarkable in its own way. The only better way to have heard their last Kansas City performance would have been if there had been a full house. They deserved better from the music lovers of Kansas City.
REVIEW
The Friends of Chamber Music
Guarneri String Quartet and Johannes String Quartet
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Folly Theatre
www.chambermusic.org
City Voices,
Vocal Column for March 30 - April 12
After a frantic March for choral music in our area, we finish off the month with one of the great masterworks in the genre. Then we cool off as area ensembles begin preparing for end-of-the-season events. The offerings here are relatively few, but highly interesting and exciting.
The William Baker Festival Singers
Mass In B Minor
By Johann Sebastian Bach
Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30 pm
Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
13th and Broadway, Downtown Kansas City, MO
Bach's Mass in B Minor is widely considered one of the top if not the absolute crowning achievements in western music history. Due to the work's scope and difficulty, this work has not been performed in Kansas City for a very long time. Don't miss this one time opportunity to experience Bach at the height of his powers. Orchestra members are drawn from the Kansas City Symphony.
For tickets call 913-403-9223 or visit www.festivalsingers.org for more information.
University of Kansas Department of Music and Dance
Oread Singers
Wednesday, April 4 at 7:30 pm
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center
Lawrence, KS
Conductor Abby Musgrove and the Oread Singers present a night of Math and Music with choral songs based on the mysterious and fascinating "Golden Ratio." Choral compositions of many styles and spanning over 1200 years will be presented, as well as a basic introduction to the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci Sequence in music, nature, art, and architecture. The concert is free to the public.
For more information, email oreadsingers@gmail.com.
Country Club Christian Church
Requiem
by Maurice Duruflé
Friday, April 10 at 7:00 pm
Country Club Christian Church
6101 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO
The Chancel Choir at Country Club Christian Church will be performing Duruflé's Requiem as part of their Good Friday service. They will be performing the 1961 orchestration, consisting of strings, harp, timpani, trumpets, and organ.
For more information, visit www.ccckc.org or call 816-333-4917.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kansas City Chorale
Saturday, April 11at 5:30 pm
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, MO
As part of the Mary Atkins Lecture Series, the Kansas City Chorale will present an Easter concert in
Kirkwood hall.
For tickets call 816-751-1178 or online at www.nelson-atkins.org.
City Classics,
Classical Column for March 30 - April 5
Kansas City Symphony
Beethoven "Pastorale" Symphony, plus Emanuel Ax
Friday, April 3 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 4 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 5 at 2:00 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
10th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
In a nod to classicism, this weekend's Symphony concerts feature only two works, both of them giants of the traditional repertoire: Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 and Beethoven's Third "Pastorale" Symphony. The soloist in the Brahms will be Emanuel Ax, an elegant pianist who is a close friend of Symphony conductor Michael Stern's, and who, as a result, has graced Kansas City stages a number of times over the past few years. He has also appeared on the Harriman Jewell Series on several occasions.
The relationship between these two composers is an intriguing one. Prior to Beethoven, the symphony was a form of composition which used only modest forces and set out to achieve only limited goals. Think of the many short symphonies of Haydn and the early Mozart, for example - relatively quaint affairs, by modern standards, lasting a mere 15 or 20 minutes or so. Mozart, admittedly, stretched the bounds of symphonic composition with his last three symphonies, which were thought at the time to be gigantic - his Jupiter Symphony, for example, his last, lasted a full 35 minutes in performance, long enough to be named after the largest planet.
Gigantic, shmigantic, said Beethoven, Mozart's successor and the giant of early 19th century German music. Taking Mozart many steps further, he revolutionized the composition of symphonies (along with his compatriot Schubert), turning the symphony into a huge and overarching art form that made for half an evening's entertainment all by itself. With the Third Symphony, and then continuing with the rest of his works, Beethoven wrote works with an entirely different style of architecture from those of earlier composers. Comparing a Haydn symphony to a Beethoven symphony is a bit like comparing a parish church to a cathedral.
As an example, of this enormous style, the Sixth Symphony has always been an audience favorite. Less bombastic than the Fourth or the Fifth, it portrays a pleasant walk in the country (thus the "Pastorale" sobriquet), and includes imitations of bird songs and the like. But it also has the stretch and scope of Beethoven's other larger-than-life works. It combines the best of both worlds, as it were, and under Michael Stern's direction this weekend's listening should be a pleasure.
In the late 19th Century, after Beethoven and Schubert were gone, Germany produced another great Romantic composer in Johannes Brahms. Talented almost beyond measure, with a modest personality to boot (unlike the fiery Beethoven), Brahms faced the great dilemma posed to all who are doomed to come on the heels of greatness...how do I ever top that? To his everlasting credit, Brahms nurtured his compositional talents for years, never giving way to anxiousness, until he felt fully the master of his craft and able to match Beethoven, note-for-note, on his own terms. His first symphony was not written until the astonishingly late age (for a composer) of 44.
He was a bit younger when he tackled the piano repertoire (26), but followed more in the footsteps of the more modest Mendelssohn than the larger-than-life boots of Beethoven. Nonetheless the piece justly achieved widespread fame within a few years, and is quite rightly compared favorably with some of the greatest piano works of the other German masters.
As for the piano writing, it is virtuosic in spots and requires a major talent to pull it off. Hardly a major pianist has come along since that time who has not tackled it, and Emanuel Ax should be more than capable of providing an excellent performance.
For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org
Lied Center at University of Kansas
Calder Quartet
Thursday at April, 7:30 p.m.
Lied Center
19th and Iowa Streets, Lawrence, KS
Inspired by the innovative American artist Alexander Calder, the Calder Quartet both performs traditional quartet repertoire and partners with modern composers, emerging musicians, and performers across genres. The group was awarded the 2009 ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award in recognition of its exciting programming and collaborations.
In December of 2008, the group collaborated with Grammy-winning pianist Gloria Cheng on the Thomas Adès quintet. The group's live performance on New York's WNYC-FM in 2008 was voted one of the "Best of 2008."
In this concert, the Quartet will focus on works of contemporary composers. On the program are the Mythic Birds Waltz by Terry Riley, the Quartet No. 1 of Christopher Rouse, Amazing Grace by Ben Johnston, and Terry Riley's Cadenza on the Night Plain. It should be an unusual and attractive program for chamber music listeners who are already familiar with all of the classics and are looking for something new.
For tickets call (785) 864-2787 or online at www.lied.ku.edu.
Harriman-Jewell Series
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Tuesday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Folly Theater
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is one of twelve constituents of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, and through its concerts in New York and throughout the country draws more people to chamber music than any other organization of its kind.
Performing repertoire from over three centuries, and numerous premieres by living composers, CMS offers listeners a comprehensive perspective on the art of chamber music. A variety of different artists perform as part of the group, under co-artistic directors David Finckel, a cellist, and Wu Han, a pianist.
In this performance as part of the Harriman-Jewell Series, the group will perform the Missouri premiere of Alan Smith's "Vignettes: Covered Wagon Woman" for mezzo-soprano, piano, violin, and cello. The mezzo-soprano soloist is none other than Stephanie Blythe, one of the leading mezzos in the opera world today, who sung the first title role in Orfeo et Euridice, one of the Metropolitan Opera's movie theater simulcasts earlier this year. She will also start later this year in the Seattle Opera's celebrated Ring cycle of Richard Wagner. So we have no slouch of a mezzo soprano, here.
Other performers in the evening's concert will include Lily Francis, violinist; Warren Jones, pianist; Ani Kavafian, violinist; Priscilla Lee, cellist; Anne-Marie McDermott, pianist; and Paul Neubauer, violist.
Smith's moving song cycle is based on the daily journal of Margaret Ann Alsip Frink, written in 1850, telling of her passage across the country by covered wagon toward dreams of California gold. It's an appropriate subject for our part of the country where three of the major westward-bound covered wagon trails crossed.
Also on the program are George Gershwin's Lullaby for String Quartet; Amy Beach's Quintet in F-sharp minor; and John Antes' Trio in D minor for Two Violins and Cello.
For ticket call 816-415-5025 or online www.harriman-jewell.org
City Stage,
Theatre Column for March 30 - April 12
NOW PLAYING...
The New Theatre Restaurant
Hats! The Musical
Book & Lyrics By Marcia Milgrom & Tony Dodge
Runs February 4 through April 12
9229 Foster, Overland Park, KS.
It is often said that 30 is the new 20, 40 is the new 30, and 50 is the new 40, but regardless of your age, the number of your years is still measured by the actual years you've been alive. Hats! The Musical is New Theatre's newest production to rise from the floors and celebrates life once you hit the big FIVE - ZERO.
Written by Grammy, Golden Globe and Tony Award winning songwriters, and inspired by the Red Hat Society, this fun filled, laugh till you tinkle show will make anyone who is, knows or plans to be 50 roll on the floor in hysterics. Chicago Tribune said "This fast paced, funny musical revue flat out makes you feel great! It beats the support hose off the musical MENOPAUSE!" Joyce Dewit (Three's Company fame) stars as a woman who is "49.9999" years old and edging on the brink of 50. Dreading this unavoidable turn of events a group of women help her discover that with friends, fierce attitude and ferocious vigor anyone can surpass anything. This musical is for any woman of every age and the men who love them.
For tickets call 913-649-SHOW or online at www.newtheatre.com
Theatre for Young America (TYA)
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse
Runs March 3 through April 17
Union Station's City Stage
30 West Pershing Road
From the TYA website: "Back by popular demand: a faithful stage version of the popular books by Kevin Henkes, including Chester's Way; Julius, Baby of the World, and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. This play appeals to the very youngest play¬goer with an endearing young heroine, Lilly, who likes purple, plastic purses, shiny quarters, movie star sunglasses and her teacher. More than anything Lilly wants to grow up to be a teacher herself."
One More Thing: This place connects well with lessons in etiquette, consequences of actions, self-esteem, friendship, familial relationships, humor and careers. This play will be enjoyed by pre-school aged children and up.
For tickets call 816-460-2020 or online at www.tya.org
American Heartland Theatre (AHT)
Backwards In High Heels: The Ginger Musical
Conceived and developed by Lynette Barkley & Christopher McGovern
Book/Original Songs/Arrangements by Christopher McGovern
A Kansas City Premiere
Runs March 6 through April 19
Crown Center - 3rd Level
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO
Ranking #14 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, Ginger Rogers became one of America's most famous singer/dancer actresses ever to set foot on a Hollywood sound stage. Working in the film industry for over 50 years, Rogers completed a total of 73 films, holds an Academy Award and helped revolutionize the movie musical genre with Fred Astaire in over ten cinematic projects. Rogers died at the age of 83 on April 25, 1995 in Rancho Mirage, California.
In this Kansas City premiere, American Heartland Theatre presents her life in the biographical-review Backwards In High Heels, originally opening in Florida 2007. From AHT's website: "The evening starts with young Ginger realizing her destiny as she taps her heart out to the tune 'Tame These Feet.' We follow Ginger's life, including her relationships with her mother, her husbands and the graceful Fred Astaire, as well as her glorious Oscar-winning moment. The evening glides and swirls through such memorable standards as 'Fascinating Rhythm,' 'Change Partners,' 'Embraceable You,' 'A Fine Romance' and 'We're in the Money.' A wonderful tribute, a wonderful evening of music and dance!"
For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online at www.ahtkc.com.
Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Winesburg, Ohio
Book & Lyrics by Eric Rosen
Music & Additional Lyrics by Ben Sussman
Runs March 13 through April 5
Spencer Theatre
4949 Cherry Street, on UMKC Campus, Kansas City, MO
Sherwood Anderson wrote 22 short stories that became the classic novel Winesburg, Ohio. Published in 1919, Anderson's stories center on the character of George Willard and the inhabitants of Winesburg. There is some confusion about which town the author was writing about. Anderson was born and raised in Clyde, OH, and has claimed that the stories and characters are based on the people of his childhood home. However, it should be noted that Winesburg is also a true town in Ohio.
The stories explore loneliness and frustration is small-town America. Anderson paints the people of Winesburg as having the inability to express their deepest thoughts and dreams. George Willard, a writer, is sought after by everyone in Winesburg so their story could be written down and given some meaning and understanding.
From The Reps website: "George Willard is just 18 when the musical begins, full of hopes of a great life as an artist, but because of his ailing mother, he can only dream of escaping Winesburg for the big city. One by one, George encounters the citizens of Winesburg, and begins to learn that secret histories and deep hidden passions are lurking just beneath the surface. At once hilarious, heartbreaking, and triumphant, Winesburg, Ohio is one of the most original new musicals to come along this decade, and a homage to one of the greatest works of 20th century literature."
Eric Rosen - The Rep's artistic director - wrote and created Winesburg, Ohio, with Jessica Thebus - associate artist at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and artistic associate of About Face Theatre - and won the Jefferson Joseph Award for Best New Work and the Barrymore Award for Best Musical.
One More Thing: On The Rep's website you can here a clip from the show!
For tickets call 816-235-2700 or online at www.kcrep.org
The Barn Players
Barefoot in the Park
By Neil Simon
Runs March 27 through April 5
6219 Martway; Misison, KS
One of Neil Simons longest running plays having played at the Biltmore Theatre for 1530 performance, this play included Robert Redford, Elizabeth Ashley and even Tony Roberts and Joan van Ark later on in the run. With only two previews, this play opened on October 23, 1963. Mike Nichols, a close friend of Simon's, directed this first out of five Neil Simon plays and won a Tony award for Best Director of a Play.
Centering on a newlywed couple - Corie and Paul Bratter - making house in a downtown-Manhattan walk-up, the two are finding the new married life a challenge as they face structural problems with their apartment, a strange neighbor and Corie's very motherly mother.
A not-so-successful attempt to revive the play occurred on February 16, 2006 with Patrick Wilson and Amanda Peet as the new couple. After 26 previews and 109 performances this revival could not revive its popularity from the 1960's. It will be interesting to see how The Barn Players will play out this classic Neil Simon comedy.
For tickets call 913-432-9100 or online at www.thebarnplayers.org
Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre
Galileo
by Bertolt Brecht
Directed by Bob Paisley
Runs April 2 - 19
METspace
3614 Main Street, Kansa City, MO
The third in MET's Galileo Project - Placing Science Center Stage, Brecht's play deals with the latter half of Galileo Galilei's life, the great Italian Baroque natural philosopher who was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for his scientific theories and discoveries. Brecht - who has influenced many modern theatre practitioners like Dario Fo, Peter Brook and Tony Kushner to name a few - wrote two versions of this play the frist between 1937-39; the second "American version" between 1945-47. The "American version" premiered at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles on July 30, 1947 and was co-directed by Brecht himself.
From MET's website: "The time is of the emergence of the age of reason when Galileo was teaching young students the incredible account of how the earth moves around the sun, rather than the other way around. His heretical announcement, that both the moon and Jupiter only reflect the sun's light, is brought to the attention of the church and Galileo is summoned to the Vatican. His friends abandon him and his appeal to the Pope is intercepted by the inquisitor. Galileo recants, but even while imprisoned continues his writings surreptitiously."
For tickets call 816-569-3226 or online at www.metkc.org
Kansas City Repertory Theatre
The Borderland
By Jim Grimsley
Directed by Kyle Hatley
Runs April 3 - 26
Copaken Stage
One H&R Block Way (corner of 13th & Walnut), Kansas City, MO
It's a dark and stormy night in Atlanta. Gordon and Helen live in their huge house next to the shack of their dirt poor neighbors, Jake, Eleanor and their five children. Helen, like some well-to-do women, finds it necessary to take an interest in Eleanor while Gordon insists that everyone should be left alone; especially the poor. Suddenly, a nock at the door. It's Eleanor. She's running from her abusive husband, Jake, who then begins an evening of terror. "With spine-tingling intensity, Grimsley's exciting new play explores the uneasy borders that exist between men and women, rich and poor, and urban and rural."
For tickets call 816-235-2700 or online at www.kcrep.org
Martin Tanner Productions
My Name is Rachel Corrie
Adapted by Alan Rickman & Katherine Viner
Featuring Katie Gilchrist
Runs Through April 12
Unicorn Theatre's Jerome Stage
3828 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Some plays are hard to explain, so from their own words:
"On March 16, 2003, Rachel Corrie, a twenty-three-year-old American, was crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer in Gaza as she was trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home. MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE is a one-woman play composed from Rachel's own journals, letters and emails-creating a portrait of a young woman who left her home and school in Olympia, Washington, to work as an activist in the heart of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the three sold-out London runs since its Royal Court premiere, the piece has been surrounded by both controversy and impassioned proponents, and has raised an unprecedented call to support political work and the difficult discourse it creates.
Rachel Corrie is not a saint, nor the devil. She was an energetic and passionate young woman who, from a very young age, saw pain in the world and wanted to heal it. She lived with the dreams, desires, fears, hopes, love and anger that we all experience."
For tickets go online to www.martintanner.com or www.unicorntheatre.org.
ON GOING...
Coterie Theatre at Night
The Breakfast Club
Directed by Ron McGee
Open ended run every Monday night
Westport Coffeehouse
4010 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, MO
A resurrection of the defining 1980's "Brat Pack" movie is being played out on stage as Ron McGee directs The Breakfast Club. More then a cult classic, this play - adapted from the original 1985 film - takes us on a retro-journey of five teenage strangers forced to live out a Saturday detention. Souls are revealed, love sparks, and reality sets in as this play not only reminds us of how times in America once were but how everything stays the same. It should be noted that this production is not suited for those under 16 or 17 years of age.
One More Thing: Stay after the play and hangout with the cast on stage, drink coffee, and listen to 80's music.
Another Thing: Visit www.youtube.com/user/anthonyalexanderpro to watch interviews of the cast and learn about their research of the characters they are portraying.
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online www.coterietheatre.org
OPENING SOON...
The Coterie Theatre
Roald Dahl's The Witches
Adapted by David Wood
Directed by Missy Koonce
Runs April 14 - May 17
Crown Center - Lower level
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO
From The Coterie: "The Grand High Witch has a monstrous plan. Her fellow crones will take over all candy shops and make poisonous candy that transforms children into mice! Luckily, a brave young boy has overheard this terrible plot. With the help of his grandma, who knows something about witches, he will try to stop The Grand High Witch, but time is running out! Roald Dahl reveals the whole ghastly truth about these horrible creatures!"
One More Thing: Do you want to know more about Roald Dahl? Visit his website www.roalddahl.com.
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online at www.coterietheatre.org
Quality Hill Playhouse
How Did I End Up Here?
By J. Kent Barnhart
Runs April 15 - May 3
303 W. 10th Street, Kansas City, MO
In their own words:
"A one-man cabaret revue featuring J. Kent Barnhart. Find out how the Raytown boy who asked for a tuxedo for his fifth birthday became the producer of Kansas City's most intimate theatre. Featuring songs by Cole Porter, P.D.Q. Bach, New York cabaret writers and more, plus Barnhart's trademark witty stories. Barnhart also will reprise his performance of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'..."
For tickets call 816-421-1700 or online at www.qualityhillplayhouse.com
Unicorn Theatre
Bare
Written by Jon Hartmere & Damon Intrabartolo
Directed by Jeff Church
Runs April 24 - May 17
3828 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
In their words:
"Bare, a merge of Spring Awakening and The Dead Poets Society, explores the pleasures and pains of high school seniors at a co-ed Catholic boarding school. Each of them questions where they are in their lives while trying to uphold the standards of their families and the Church. Answers are sought in the confessional, the stage, a rave and a well-locked dorm room."
One More Thing: Unicorn Theatre has partnered with six local University programs for this production to intern on stage, back stage and in the marketing department. The schools are: UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, UMKC Theatre, Park University, Avila University, University of Kansas and University of Central Missouri.
For tickets call 816-531-7529 or online at www.unicorntheatre.org
Minds Eye Theatre
Hair
Book & Lyris by James Rado and Gerome Ragni
Music by Galt MacDermot
Runs April 24 - May 9
Just Off Broadway Theatre
3051 Central, Penn Valley Park, Kansas City, MO
This rock-musical is a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960's. Many of its songs became the cry and anthem of the Anti-Vietnam War Movement and peace rallies held during that time. With its use of profanity, illegal drug use and sexuality as well as its infamous nude scene, Hair was the show that brought along the paradigm shift for the Broadway musical. It first opened off-Broadway at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre in 1967, moved to a discothèque, and then transferred to Broadway's Biltmore Theatre in 1968. Hair ran for an astounding 1,750 performances and then captured another 1,997 performances in London. There have been many performances, recordings and film adaptations of this hip-rock musical. A revival has been scheduled to open on March 31, 2009 in Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre after its brilliant run last summer in New York's Central Park. Minds Eye Theatre will join Boston University on Broadway, The Winthrop Playmaker in Winthrop, MA and Theatre Le Trianon in Paris as being one of four companies to produce this cult-classic.
For tickets call 816-721-2792 or online www.mindseyetheatrekc.com
Dance Around the City,
Dance Column for March 23 - April 5
Kansas City Ballet and UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Benefit Performances for the Salvation Army and Kansas City Free Health Clinic
"Pointes of View: The Art of Dance"
Tuesday March 24 at 7:30 p.m.
White Recital Hall, UMKC Campus
4949 Cherry Street, Kansas City, MO
All donations will benefit the Salvation Army.
To reserve seats for March 24, visit www.salarmy-mokan.org
Phone 816-444-0052 for more information.
Wednesday March 25 at 7:30 p.m
White Recital Hall, UMKC Campus
4949 Cherry Street, Kansas City, MO
All donations will benefit the Kansas City Free Health Clinic
To reserve seats for March 25, phone Sally at 816-777-1595.
Phone 816-444-0052 for more information.
This unique partnership between the Kansas City Ballet and the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance offers a rare opportunity for the dance community to see excerpts from a number of different ballets in an informal, narrated performance. The collaborative effort will showcase the women of the Kansas City Ballet, along with selected UMKC Conservatory dance students, performing excerpts from the Kansas City Ballet repertoire, but utilizing simple, low-key lighting, sets, and costuming. In this 60-75 minute program, titled "Points of View: The Art of Dance", each piece will be introduced by Ballet Artistic Director William Whitener or Ballet Master James Jordan, to give historical context and explain the relevance of the piece to the Kansas City Ballet repertoire.
The excerpts will include works from well-known, award-winning choreographers such as Todd Bolender (Coppelia, Celebration), Twyla Tharp (Brahms Paganini, As Time Goes By), Antony Tudor (Dark Elegies), Isadora Duncan (The Many Faces of Love), and William Whitener (Caprice). Music will
include compositions of Gershwin, Haydn, Mahler, Brahms and others, as well as recorded music.
Some excerpts for the project will be from the critically-acclaimed performances featured at the prestigious Joyce Theater in New York City in March of 2008. This performance gives dance-lovers an educational opportunity to see great works, (with explanatory contexts), performed by professional dancers, as well as to contribute to local, deserving charity organizations, all in the same evening. Suitable for all audiences, this performance will guarantee a feel-good experience from start to finish.
Owen/Cox Dance Group presents
Spring Performance: World Premiere collaboration with artist Nate Fors
Thursday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 27 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m.
H&R Block City Stage Theater, Union Station
30 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO
A relatively new dance group to the area, the Owen/Cox Dance Group features accomplished dancers, original choreography, and original music presented in innovative ways, often blending elements of classical and contemporary works. This concert will feature a world premiere collaboration with artist Nate Fors, along with an assortment of other shorter works. Never disappointing, this up and coming dance group is one for dance fans to keep their eyes on, as they continue to develop their own particular genre of contemporary dance.
For tickets call 816-460-2020 or online at www.unionstation.org
For information on the company, call 816-931-1277 or online at www.OwenCoxDance.org
Carlsen Center at JCCC
Ballet Boyz
Friday, March 27 at 8 p.m.
Carlsen Center at JCCC
12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS
Described as Britain’s most "off-the-wall ballet dancers", the Ballet Boyz raises the benchmark for innovative and original choreography. With a mix of unique repertoire, style, and artistic use of multimedia technology (including film, video, and blogging), this company has developed a devoted following. This is a fresh and exciting young dance company that should not be missed by die-hard dance fans. The company will also be holding a dance residency for interested dance students earlier in the week.
For tickets call 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter
Kacico presents
First Fridays Performance of "Forward Dark Berry Flavors with Accents of Chocolate"
Friday, April 3 at 9:30 p.m.
Fantastic Merlins with Kacico Dance
Kacico Studios West,
2540 W. Pennway, Kansas City, MO
This inventive and industrious dance group invites the audience to participate in a live studio performance that will be video-recorded. The performance will begin following the April First Fridays activities in the Crossroads, and will feature an innovative improvisational collaboration between the dancers of Kacico Dance and the musicians of St. Paul's Fantastic Merlins. Dance lovers are invited to be a part of this live studio audience for this one-of-kind show.
For ticket information call 816-569-5206 or online at www.kacicodance.org
Kansas City Youth Ballet
Spring Performance
Saturday, April 4 at 2 & 7 p.m.
Polsky Theatre, Carlsen Center
JCCC, 12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS
An annual concert gives the public an opportunity to see young aspiring ballet dancers at their best, all levels of student dancers will present their talents, honed by the Kansas City Ballet's renowned teachers. To see tomorrow's ballet stars on the rise, this is the event to attend. Suitable for all ages, the concert is a particular hit among children.
For tickets call 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter
City in Motion Professional Dance Company presents
Beautiful Discord
Saturday, April 4, 2009, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 5, 2009, at 2 p.m.
Gem Theater
1615 E. 18th St., Kansas City, MO
This show features City In Motion's own professional dance company in their annual Spring Concert. Titled "Beautiful Discord", this year's program will include six works by the three Artistic Co-Directors of City In Motion Dance Theater: Andrea Skowronek, Dale Fellin, and Penelope Hearne. CIM company members Stephanie Whittler and Joanna Des Marteau will also premiere new works for the concert. The program choreography will feature a variety of modern dance styles and techniques, including abstract pieces, structured improvisation (performed to live music by the Spoonbender Orchestra), a kinetic study, "visceral" choreography, feminist explorations, and whimsical movement. The annual Spring Concert offers variety and novelty, guaranteeing an entertaining evening of Modern Dance.
For tickets call the Gem Box Office at 816-474-6282, or Ticketmaster at 816-931-3330, or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
For more information about the company, call City In Motion, 816-561-2882, or online at www.cityinmotion.org
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