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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

By Steve Shapiro   Sun, Mar 22, 2009

At first glance, Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio appears unlikely as ideal material to be turned into a musical. A quasi-novel of intertwining short stories, published in 1919, after a lengthy gestation period in which the restless author moved out of his native Ohio, he set his sights on writing once he was seriously ensconced in the creative milieu of Chicago.  The book represented a literary and personal breakthrough for Anderson; yet for the rest of us, his stories-secrets, really, of a sort that Dostoevsky tossed off effortlessly, given the strong Russian stomach for tragedy-claimed a place for things not to be spoken about. Pederasty, older women yearning for young men, religious figures of authority deluding themselves about the temptations of lust, drinking, insanity, death: all of these private demons shape the small-town folk of Winesburg, few of whom can or will ever acknowledge their inner selves to anyone. Claustral, closeted, and clandestine-such self-doubts and self-loathings hardly constitute the romanticism of the lyrics to "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered."

Yet Eric Rosen, the Artistic Director of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and his collaborators Andre Pluess, Ben Sussman, and Jessica Thebus, understand that the underneath elements of a musical can be dark, even frightening,. And that is apparent in their startlingly original production, which opened at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre on March 20. Good material comes from the most unlikely sources, as Stephen Sondheim has proven. Who could have predicted that the grim tale of a scalpel-swinging barber named Sweeney Todd would have produced so many beautiful songs? From Show Boat(racism on a plantation) to South Pacific (wartime racism), Grey Gardens (Jacqueline Kennedy's aging aunt and cousin who lived in a filthy mansion) to The Color Purple (the violent life of a Southern African-American woman), American musicals have added a unique extra layer to familiar (and unpleasant) material that deserves to be recognized in this liveliest of art forms. Auden might have written that no one was ever saved in a concentration camp by a poem, but a great singer who thrills an audience with "Ol' Man River" invokes an entire range of history, politics and culture in a single song-art's calling.

And so from the haunting opening, a train whistle cutting through a darkened wooden two-story set, the shadows of the roughly dozen actors who make up the citizens of Winesburg thrown in high relief, a feeling occurs that Rosen's creative team has found a way into this strangest of American classics. Strangely wonderful scenes are devised throughout the musical in a continuum of verve and nerve. The cast gathers around a bed pushed into the center, singing a repeated hum louder and louder, as an old man tosses and turns; suddenly, the singing stops, the singers withdraw, and the old man, known as The Writer (impressively acted by James Judy), stumbles forward to read from a notebook about "truths." 

In Anderson's prose it reads: "When the world was young there were a great many thoughts but no such thing as a truth. Man made the truths himself and each truth was a composite of many vague thoughts. All about in the world were the truths and they were beautiful." Anderson's version continues: "It was the truths that made the people grotesques." Believing in their own truths, the alcoholic, the eccentric, the loner and the liar all wrap themselves in a fixed state, neither able to look back nor move forward. Grotesque, indeed: a view of individuals like statues or biblical characters frozen at the moment of sin. Rosen and his collaborators extend this eerie metaphor throughout the musical, from the scene in which the cast's raised arms recall wavering tree branches in a Washington Irving story (or a Tim Burton movie), to moments when the intricate walking-dance choreography halts, to the duets: the actors stand far apart from each other to emphasize their aloneness. 

The Writer introduces each character's story following Anderson's format in the novel: "concerning -," whereby Wing Biddlebaum's shaking hands and Enoch Robinson's artistic delusions and Rev. Hartman's wandering eye and the other characters' private grotesqueries are dramatized. One character in particular stands out: George Willard (Geoff Packard), the eighteen-year old son of a well-to-do businessman, Tom (Gary Neal Johnson), and a dying mother, Elizabeth (Leslie Denniston). 

George is Sherwood Anderson's alter ego in Winesburg, Ohio. The show's ending is a page torn from the author's own book of life; but Anderson gives his budding writerly self a dreamer's naïvité that separates him, just, from the other characters who cannot see past themselves. One recurring line George sings and then pauses, unable to continue, begins, "If only I could..." He does not finish it until the play's last scenes. Until then, as a cub reporter for the local newspaper who runs around asking people for news (which he then rewrites to sound grander), George is the musical's investigating angel; his flaw, though, is missing what is really happening between the daily exchanges of ordinary news-sometimes, as in his developing romance with a banker's daughter, Helen White (Ashlee LaPine), and a nervous more sexual awakening with an older teacher (Lesley Bevan), even when he is making his own news.

The songs have a Sondheimesque mood; they are interior monologues set to music. Remarkably, Rosen and company have enlivened Anderson's stark prose which was intended to be dreamy yet was also drab, e.g., [Enoch] "never grew up and of course he couldn't understand people and he couldn't make people understand him. The child in him kept bumping up against things, against actualities like money and sex and opinions." The songs convey something palpably human about Anderson's inexpressive characters, which read like robots of suffering. It is an achievement to take these turn-of-the-century characters and give them sympathetic shading so that sensibility which was black and white is now filled with the color of another century, where dreams appear differently in the telling but remain the same repositories of sadness and disappointment. 

This production at the Rep is neither reality musical theatre nor a new-age updating of the American Dream. Using much of Anderson's dialogue and action, Rosen stays within the original idea of a series of narrated portraits. It is when he and his production crew break through-as in Enoch Robinson's story, where a large frame drops and a group of actors playing New York aesthetes fill the empty space, posing in twisted tableaux that recall Thomas Hart Benton's figures (and then even more chilling, with their writhing fingers, a scene from Hieronymus Bosch)-that one senses Rosen is employing the fullest techniques of theatre. When the characters break into song in a stream-of-conscious way it sweeps along the theatergoer: the whole production is more than an attempted period musical or a postmodern revival-this is finer and closer to an operatic presentation. 

Sherwood Anderson was not the first writer to despise his hometown: Dante wrote The Divine Comedy to criticize his hometown rivals, and Joyce, though he left Ireland for good never ceased to write about it. There is still, I think, something quintessentially American about leaving home and then never leaving home, in a writer's mind, which has imprinted so much great literature on our psyche; perhaps it is because we founded our country as explorers, as runaways, as exiles. At the musical's end, George has seen through a glass darkly and what he has seen has changed him: it is time for him to leave. Through Rosen and his collaborators' imaginative reconfigurations and their hard-working ensemble's energy, George's leave-taking is not as heartbreaking as it might be. In keeping with both Anderson's and the musical's mysteries, the show ends not with a fake finalé but, rather, as it begins: darkness reigns, a train whistle sounds; only now George reveals a hint of a smile. 

     
REVIEW
Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Winesburg, Ohio
Directed by Eric Rosen
Running now through April 5 
Spencer Theatre 
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-235-2700 or online at www.kcrep.org 

By Sandy Eisenberg   Sun, Mar 22, 2009

Michael Nunn and William Trevitt met while studying at the Royal Ballet School in the UK.  They joined The Royal Ballet in 1987 and both soon became leading dancers. In 2000, Nunn and Tevitt left the Royal Ballet to co-found Ballet Boyz, or as it was originally known, “George Piper Dances”.  Oxana Panchenko trained at the Kiev Ballet School and joined the Kiev Opera House, English National Ballet, and City Ballet of London, before joining Ballet Boyz in 2001.  She was the winner of the Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards: Outstanding Female Artist (classical) in 2003.  That same year George Piper Dances was the winner of Theatrical Management Association (TMA) for outstanding achievement in dance.

In 2004, the company’s production of Broken Fall won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production.  We are very fortunate to have this 30-minute work as our opening piece this Friday evening.  The work plays with ideas of weight, support and trust.  Broken Fall was originally choreographed by Russell Maliphant for Nunn, Trevitt and Sylvie Guillem in 2003.  Some of us might remember that Guillem was the lovely young teenager who Rudolf Nureyev plucked from the Paris Opera Ballet corps to become a soloist.  Ms. Panchenko is not quite Sylvie Guillem, but her beautiful body, high arches and artistry are superb, and she performs the part that was premiered by Guillem, in the current production of Broken Fall.  

When creating the score for Broken Fall, Barry Adamson originally used a percussive hard rock beat, while the piece was in rehearsal.  But at the last minute he changed to light strings.  Nunn explains that even though the instrumentation was changed, the dancer’s body remembers the quality and energy of the movement from the original score.  

In this writer’s opinion, choreography is generally best seen sitting elevated, so floor patterns are clear.  For this

 performance, my recommendation is to sit in the middle of the orchestra section or closer.  The same way viewing David Parsons’ Caught is best seen from below, so that the height of the jump can fully be realized, Broken Fall consists of daring beautiful lifts and falls so if seated high the impact might be lost without seeing the distance of how high the lift is or how low she drops.   The evening consists of the trio and three duets, and therefore floor patterns are not an issue.  The beauty is in the exquisite dancing and choreography. 

EdOx was choregraphed by Rafael Bonachela with a score for Double Bass by Ezio Bosso.  Ms. Panchenko will dance with Tim Morris who joined Ballet Boyz in 2007.  Propeller was choreographed by Liv Lorent, with music by Ezio Bosso/Vivaldi.  The evening will close with a lighthearted ballroom duet titled Yumba vs Nonino,choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, and set to music by Osvaldo Pugliese and Astor Piazzolla.  Dance critic Debra Craine writes that this “affectionate tango parody is a gentle mockery of combative egos onstage and a celebration of the Boyz’ lifelong friendship offstage.”  Following the performance, there will be a “Q&A” session, led by a member of the company.    

Intrinsic to Ballet Boyz’s work is the way the Company produces and presents dance using film and video clips created by Nunn and Trevitt that show behind-the-scene activities of dancers mixed with onstage performances, thereby demystifying the art of dance and the choreographic process.  Both dancers are avid still photographers, so for them, the natural progression into moving pictures makes sense.   Their signature use of film will include pre-recorded film of the choreographic process, and will also incorporate specially filmed footage to reflect Kansas City’s environment and personality, which they will shoot locally when they arrive.  The filmed footage will appear at the opening of the performance and in between pieces, but not during the dances. Nunn and Trevitt hope that this device will make the audience comfortable with what they are about to see. They are packaging the work so that people will better understand the choreographic and creative process.  They claim the idea came about because they didn’t want the audience “fidgeting about” between pieces, while the dancers changed costumes. 

Angel Mercier, Director of the ArtsEducation Program at JCCC, regularly teams up with the artists who perform on the Carlsen Center Performing Arts Series to create residencies for the community, while the performers are in town. On Wednesday, March 25th, Ballet Boyz will begin their teaching schedule with a media film class at Shawnee Mission West High School, in which SMW and JCCC media students will participate..  That afternoon, they will be off to teach two 1-1/2 hour professional classes for the Kacico Dance Company.  On Thursday the 26th, they will give a 60-minute “informance” with Q & A for 300 fifth and sixth graders at Paola Community Center; and then off to Danceworks Conservatory to teach two 1-1/2 hour classes for their students.  Friday, March 27th the “Boyz” will teach a FREE Repertoire Class from 10am – 12pm that is open to dance teachers and advanced students on the Yardley Hall stage (see below for sign up info).

In 2008, Ballet Boyz won an International Emmy and the Rose d’Or in Lucerne, Switzerland for their documentary on Christopher Wheeldon creating a new work in Russia entitled “Strictly Bolshoi”.  This was the first time an “outside” choreographer had been invited “in” by the Bolshoi.  The “Boyz” met Wheeldon during their Royal Ballet School days, which led to the documentary, and the Boyz commissioning works by Wheeldon for their repertoire. Wheeldon and William Forsythe are just two of the names in a very impressive repertoire of 22 commissions.

Now is the time to catch this “hot” company, which has never before performed in Kansas City.  As the Daily Telegraph observed, “Michael Nunn and William Trevitt have made dance cool, sexy, and hugely enticing”. 


Carlsen Center at JCCC
Ballet Boyz: The Greatest Hits 
Friday, March 27, 2009 at 8 p.m.

Repertoire Master Class for Advance Dance Students and Teachers
Friday, March 27, 2009 10am – 12pm 
Yardley Hall Stage
FREE:  Reserve your space by calling the Box Office

Yardley Hall at Johnson County Community College
College and Quivera, 12345 College Boulevard Overland Park, KS
For tickets call (913) 469-4445 or online at www.jccc.edu/CarlsencCenter 

By R. Douglas Helvering   Mon, Mar 23, 2009

The following preview article is a continuation and culmination of an article published in last week's edition, presented in two installments. Later this month, the William Baker Festival Singers will present a concert of Bach's immortal Mass in B Minor. Looking forward to that concert, Music Director William Baker spoke with our choral/vocal writer R. Douglas Helvering about the work and his organization's preparation for this momentous event.

The programming of a work such as the Mass in B Minor is not done lightly by any organization let alone a community-based chorus. A music director has to weigh many factors when planning the performance of such a large piece. Dr. Baker mentioned his time singing under the direction of Robert Shaw in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, getting a taste of the power and majesty of the great choral/orchestral masterpieces. He developed a lengthy "bucket list" of great works that he wanted to conduct someday. "Though I will never tire of a regular parade of Brahms German Requiem(s), HandelMessiah(s), and Vivaldi Gloria(s), I have long wanted to perform larger-scale works like theSt. Matthew Passion (Bach), the B Minor, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. By the end of this month I will have cleared that portion of my list. The Festival Singers have other big projects planned for the next couple of years that will include Bach's St. John Passion and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. I hope one day to also have the joy of conducting the Hindemith When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed and Britten's War Requiem, among a long list of others that will continue to grow as long as God gives me time and strength to keep working!" he said.

Bill was led to program the B Minor Mass under recommendation from Jerry Carpenter, the Festival Singers' bass section leader and retired high school choral conductor. After the group's performance of the Bach St. Matthew Passion in 2007, Carpenter suggested that the group might be ready to tackle Bach's Mass. After much consideration, less ambitious plans for the 2008-2009 season were laid aside, and the preparation for this concert began.

It is not a coincidence that Baker chose the Christian season of Lent, as believers look forward to the celebration of Easter, to program this classical but immensely sacred work. How does a music director, especially of a non-faith-based organization, juggle the classical elements of the work with the spiritual elements? Baker again looked to his mentor, Robert Shaw, for direction in answering this question. He said, "One of my favorite arguments that he (Shaw) often made was his contention that the element of spirituality and expression, and the element of musical precision, were never in conflict but always mutually supportive. Shaw believed, as do I, that the spirit of music (and I would add the spirituality of music) can only be revealed when every basic element of pitch, rhythm, dynamic, articulation (diction for singers), and texture are properly disciplined and lovingly attended. Likewise, he would say such a level of discipline is only made possible by a deep spiritual and artistic commitment. In other words, one could not exist without the other." Though Baker leads a secular cultural organization that explores music and art for the inclusive purpose of its contribution to the edification of all people (whatever their faith or lack of faith), he said that escaping the spiritual implications of Bach's faith and the spiritual power of his sacred works is impossible. On a personal level, he believes that music of such profound depth can only be made possible by the intercession of a loving creator. But, having said that, he said that the key to unlocking that spiritual power lies in the tasks of disciplining pitch, rhythm, dynamic, articulation and texture in the context of the highest musical integrity and most committed scholarship.

The history of the Mass in B Minor is very unusual. The work is a liturgical setting in Latin of the Catholic Mass. Bach was a lifelong Lutheran. There are still some people that believe the Reformation, the time in which Martin Luther created the Lutheran church, was a strict repudiation of the Catholic faith. In contrast, Luther's goal was to reform the existing church's theology. As a result, the liturgical aspects of Lutheranism and Catholicism are largely aligned. It must be noted that even though Bach was a Lutheran and the Mass in B Minor is a Catholic piece, not one word of Bach's Mass text is inconsistent with historic Lutheran theology. 

The "Missa" portion of the mass (the Kyrie and Gloria) was known to both Lutherans and Catholics in common usage in Bach's day. This portion was composed in 1733 as an application for a court appointment for the new Elector of Saxony, Augustus III (a Catholic). The dating of the rest of the piece is sketchy. Some believe the "Sanctus," the beginning of the last major section, was composed in 1724. Some of the music in the "Symbolum Nicenum" (Credo) is thought to be among the last notes of sacred music that Bach composed. It is known that Bach himself assembled the various portions of the work into a whole near the end of his life, at a time when the only other project engaging him was the completion of the Art of the Fugue.

Bach's reasons for personally taking time to assemble these separate parts of the mass, written at different times over a period of a quarter-century, remain unrealized. Some scholars have expressed a feeling that Bach was making a final statement about the universality of faith (perhaps hoping that the church would one day again be united). Such an idea is only conjecture. For Dr. Baker, the most profound aspect of Bach's assembly of the Mass in B Minor is that the composer surely knew that he would never hear a performance of the whole work. It was not customary for a mass setting to function in those days as a concert piece, and the work was too large for anything but the most spectacular of liturgical occasions. Baker added, "Nearly every other work Bach composed was created for a specific performance event that he led himself. Could it be that he left us this work as his benediction to posterity? I would like to think that is the case, but it will remain a mystery until we get the answer from the composer himself in the world to come."

In any work of such length and complexity (the full Mass in B Minor has 27 shorter sections divided into four main sections, with a performance lasting about two hours), it is conceivable that one might be drawn to a particular section or movement as a favorite. Dr. Baker said that the work is so great, profound, and multifaceted that it is hard to find one. "The two-fugue opening "Kyrie" is different than any other such setting by Bach. The second "Kyrie," by contrast, has the ancient spirit of a Palestrina motet. The "Cum Sancto Spiritu" is among the most riveting and captivating music in all of history. The performers are completely taken up in it. The setting of the "Crucifixus" is as convicting as it is expressive. Of course, the famous "Dona Nobis Pacem" has to be counted as one of history's most articulate and convincing cries for peace."  In trying to nail him down to give his absolute favorite section of the work, Baker said, "My favorite part is the mystery of how the disparate sections composed over so much time have come together as such a miraculous 'one'." 

Indeed, it will be an extremely daunting task to bring this work into a satisfying cohesion for the performance on March 31. Music director William Baker's commitment to great music-making for the community to enjoy is at the heart of his organization's mission. That mission, to enhance quality of life through the study, recording, broadcast, promotion, and performance of music of timeless beauty and inspiration, could not be applied more appropriately in this case. Kansas City music lovers should feel compelled to take advantage of this rare opportunity to hear a work widely regarded as one of the supreme achievements of classical music.


The William Baker Festival Singers
William O. Baker, conductor
Mass in B Minor, BWV 242
By Johann Sebastian Bach
Tuesday , March 31at 7:30 p.m.
Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral
Broadway at 13th Street in Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 913.403.9223 or online at www.festivalsingers.org   

By R. Douglas Helvering   Mon, Mar 09, 2009

The following article is a continuation and culmination of an article published last week, presented in two installments. Later this month, the KC Chorale will present a concert of music for double chorus. Looking forward to that concert, Artistic Director Charles Bruffy gave a rare interview to our choral/vocal writer R. Douglas Helvering. 

As a musician, Charles Bruffy cites the legendary Robert Shaw as one of his most influential teachers and mentors. Charles first worked with Shaw in the summer of 1994 in France and was a close friend up until the conductor's death in 1999. Reflecting on his time with Shaw, Bruffy said: "To sing with Robert Shaw was to study with him (if you were alert and paid attention.) He had an enduring impact on me." Indeed, maestro Shaw had an enduring impact on an entire generation of up-and-coming musicians, and now, 10 years after his death, he is beginning to impact an entirely new generation of musicians through the work of his pupils and protégés. One of Robert Shaw's mantras for musicians was to "master the basics." Bruffy has taken that approach one step further, saying: "Our eye is always on the art, because if you take care of the extravagances, the necessities will take care of themselves." 

This comment struck a chord. How often have we heard recordings by really fantastic choirs but were left wanting more than just a well-sung and well-tuned rendition? By focusing on the big picture, Bruffy's professional ensembles are able to connect with audiences like few other chamber choirs. "When everyone becomes so laser focused, everything else raises. Then, the tone becomes beyond what is normally possible. I have the luxury of working with the kind of singers that I do where each person brings their own muse. If all they did was sing the flecks on the page, then we wouldn't be able to make the kind of art that we do. It's a group dynamic requirement that every person comes with 'batteries included'."

In speaking about his choral approach with the Kansas City Chorale and Phoenix Chorale, Charles said: "We try to sing with a disarmed, vulnerable, and honest approach. I love it when the listeners allow themselves to be immersed in the sonar experience." He discussed specifics of his approach to diction, mentioning that his ensembles have to remain flexible with their performance of language. They use what they call "cathedral diction" when performing in larger spaces, taking special care to project the consonants of the text so that the audience can appreciate it more easily. When recording, through the use of expensive and sensitive microphones, the group dials back their approach to diction, striking a delicate balance so that the text is audible and present without becoming overly intrusive. He added, "I'm the luckiest person in the hall. I get to stand where the sound is very immediate, and I get to finger-paint and be interactive with the sound." 

Some of maestro Bruffy's most recent success has been in receiving acclaim for his recordings. Last month, Bruffy's Phoenix Chorale won a Grammy award for Best Small Ensemble Performance for their recording Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary,released on the Chandos record label. The recording was nominated in three other categories: Best Classical Album, Best Choral Performance, and Best Surround Sound Album. 

Last year, Bruffy's joint recording with the Kansas City Chorale and The Phoenix Chorale,Grechaninov: Passion Week, was nominated for four Grammy awards, including Best Classical Album, Best Choral Performance, Best Surround Sound Album, and won for Best Engineered Classical Album. For Charles, the story of the Grechaninov recording is a gratifying one. He told of the process ... "You make your own recording and give it to the label, just like shopping a book around. You choose the best fit for your goals and go with that company. Why would I choose anyone else than Chandos! They already had the Grechaninov recorded by a Russian Choir, so they weren't interested at all. They told us that before we did our recording sessions. We sent it to them anyway because we wanted to let them know what was happening with the two choirs, and the next thing you know they had bumped the Russian recording down to their lower level label and bumped us up. Then it was nominated for four Grammys!" 

It's a rare accomplishment for a midwestern American choir to outshine a Russian choir doing Russian music. For Bruffy, the hardest aspect of the recording was "bridging the gap between 'really good and passible' to truly authentic...where it sounds like it's a Russian chorus. We couldn't have done it without Olga Ackerly's (UMKC Conservatory of Music professor) guidance." Not resting on their recent success, the Kansas City Chorale will be recording, among other selections, a new work written especially for them by acclaimed choral composer René Clausen. Clausen's Mass is written for unaccompanied double chorus and uses the traditional liturgical text, divided into five movements. In perhaps a bit of superstition, Bruffy plans to record this next project in the same venue where the Grechaninov was recorded.

Our conversation next turned to the issue of choral programming. In recent years, Bruffy's programming has won great praise, receiving the ASCAP-Chorus America award for Adventurous Programming in 2000. With the international status of his two professional ensembles, Charles has had the privilege of working with some of the world's best composers as well as bringing fresh talent some greatly deserved recognition. Bruffy added, "Just because we can sing a song doesn't necessarily mean that we should. It's fun, though, when people ask me for a suggestion for a particular type of piece. We all (as choral leaders) have a responsibility to take care of one another and be as generous as we can." 

So, with all of this success, where does Charles Bruffy go from here? What long-term aspirations does he have? He offered this: "I haven't planned anything that's happened so far. I don't want to say that I'm satisfied with status quo, but frankly, why would I want to do anything else? Getting to work with two ensembles like this, I'm very comfortable and lucky that I get to make my whole life around art. It's a real joy to work with them." One of Bruffy's biggest hopes and dreams revolves around the education and involvement of young people. Though he clearly said that he thinks conducting is his calling in life (not necessarily teaching), he actively thinks about the young generation being shown that it is fun to be good...that it's cool to be productive, proactive, positive, and successful...that it's fun to require perfection of ourselves.

Charles Bruffy is one of the lucky ones among us. In his own words, he is "doing what he was put on the planet to do." As choral music enthusiasts and Kansas City residents, we are blessed to have such a dedicated musician living and working among us. As the arts scene continues to blossom in our fair town, one can count on the Kansas City Chorale and Charles Bruffy continuing to lead the way. There are many exciting events happening here in Kansas City. We are all looking forward to the opening of the new Kauffman Performing Arts Center, which will finally give us a truly world class venue to showcase our hometown talent as well as host internationally distinguished guests. Charles Bruffy is also looking forward to the completion of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. "I would go down there and help with the bricks and mortar if they'd let me. I can't wait!" Indeed, we all can't wait. And, when it comes to maestro Bruffy and the Kansas City Chorale, we can't wait to hear them again in concert.

For more information about the Kansas City Chorale and Artistic Director Charles Bruffy, visit them on the internet at www.kcchorale.org.


Kansas City Chorale
Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m.
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
  

By Lee Goodman   Tue, Mar 17, 2009

I was in New York a week or so ago for a four night culture packed trip.  

Artistically, I planned my trip to coincide with Art Fair Week.  I attended Armory, Pulse, and Scope Art Fairs.  I didn't have time for Volta.  Armory is the biggest and most prestigious of the fairs with most of the biggest dealers and biggest name artists.

One fascinating aspect was that I was granted a VIP Pass to Armory.  Aside from getting you in free to the fairs and a lot of museums in town for the week, you can also sign up for visits to the residences of private collectors.  I did go to one located a half block west of Central Park on West 67th Street.  The apartment was perhaps 800 square feet with just two rooms and 1 ½ baths.  I've had hotel rooms that were bigger and I've seen bigger closets in Leawood.  The owners were AVID art collectors and had managed to cover almost every square inch of their apartment with modern art-some by major established artists, but many by emerging artists.  There was art underneath glass coffee tables, on top of counters, in the hallway to their apartment.  They even hung art on the front and backs of the doors.  Fascinating.  

I was also lucky enough to be invited to the Armory Brunch at the home of Susan and Michael Hort.  The Hort's daughter, Rema, tragically died of cancer several years ago.  She was heavily involved in modern art and started the Young Collector's Society for the New Museum.  The Horts established a foundation to help fund bring cancer patients and their families together while undergoing treatment and also to help young artists just out of art school.  The Hort's purchased and renovated an old industrial building in Tribeca some years back and use the top three floors as their residence.  They are MAJOR art collectors of mostly emerging artists with only a fraction of their art on display at any one time.  The renovated living space is all wood floors, light colors, a few brick walls and the overall space is very open and airy.  Just like a loft space you might see in Architectural Digest.  Their art is beautifully hung and displayed.  While I didn't like everything (I doubt if anyone would like everything in my house), there were some incredible works on display.  The combination of a great living space and so much new art was a great experience.  For more information on the Horts and their foundation, see www.rhmfoundation.org.

The Art Fairs were reportedly slower than in previous years due to the economy and the downturn in the art market.  While I saw a lot of what I consider 'junk,'  there were many major pieces I would have loved to buy -  if only I were really loaded.  Going through Armory was the equivalent of going to the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney, the Modern section at the Metropolitan Museum times five.  There was a tremendous amount of art including Picassos, Chagalls, Pollacks, all the way up to the trendiest of current artists.  

On another artsy note, I did go to the new Museum of Art and Design at Columbus Circle.  This is a smallish museum in a beautifully redone building.  The collection on display is interesting and focuses, obviously, on design.  If you like design, go see it.  If not, skip it.

I also spent three hours browsing the art galleries in Chelsea, many of which have been hit hard by the recession and quite a few have closed.  If you have never been to Chelsea, it can be a wonderful way to browse some great contemporary art for a few hours.  

Musically, the trip was hit and miss.  I'll cover Broadway first.  

BTW-If you are going to New York any time soon, get a ticket to South Pacific at Lincoln Center.  I saw this production a year ago and it is one of the best productions of any Broadway musical I have ever seen.  It is playing at least through June and won seven well-deserved Tony Awards.  

On this trip, the best Broadway show I saw was Billy Elliott.  This musical is based on the movie of the same name about a boy from an Irish coal mining town and family who wants to be a ballet dancer and features music by Elton John.  While I am not a big Elton John fan, this is some of his best work -  from labor strike protest songs, to show biz numbers to heart-breaking ballads.  The experience was very powerful.  The production is excellent as were all the leads.  Billy Elliott originally opened in London a few years ago and received rave reviews as did this New York production.  This is certain to take home most of the Tony Awards for musicals.  A must see.

I had also bought a ticket to Shrek, the musical based on the animated feature from several years ago.  I bought a ticket because it was to star Sutton Foster as Princess Fiona along with Brian d'Arcy James as Shrek.  They are two of my favorite Broadway performers and are enormously talented.  The production was magnificent with great sets and costumes.  All the performances were great.  The problem was the music which was very routine and basically inert.  There wasn't a single memorable song in the entire score.  Too bad as it wasted some great talent.

New York is full of small theater companies that produce rarely-performed works.  So I went to see a production of Cabaret Girl by Jerome Kern and P.G. Wodehouse from 1922.  I just figured I would never get another chance to see this.  It was produced by Musicals Tonight (www.musicalstonight.org) with minimal sets and all the actors reading from the score.  While I appreciated the effort and was glad to have seen it, I found it to be less than Kern's best effort and discovered in the process that  I don't seem to be too wild about 1920's British humor.

I also attended the York Theater's (www.yorktheatre.org)  production of Enter Laughing.  This is a revival of a flop from 1976 originally titled, "So Long 174th Street".  This was more professionally done than Cabaret Girl with several minor "name" actors whom you might recognize from TV and movies.  While it received a rave review from the New York Times, I certainly understand why it flopped.  It was well performed, but still a mediocre musical.

 If you are wondering about any of the current crop of straight plays on Broadway, ask someone else.  I only go to musicals because I am intellectually shallow.

Now on to opera at the Metropolitan Opera.  The hot ticket was to Bellini's La Sonnambula("The Sleepwalker") with Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Florez in the title roles.  I had only seen La Sonnambula once before in Paris and was unimpressed.  I thought this was a perfect opportunity to try it again with a great cast at the Met.  The production was by Mary Zimmerman who set the story as a modern day "story within a story" where the plot is acted out by people rehearsing for a production of La Sonnambula.  While I was not wild about this production, I didn't think it did it any harm.  Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Florez (two of my absolute favorite singers) were marvelous and I doubt this could have been better sung or acted.  Truthfully, I still find La Sonnambula to be rather boring (ok, I absolutely refuse to take a cheap shot and say it was a snoozefest) with only one great aria for each lead.  This is probably why the Met has rarely produced it over the years.

I also saw the Met's new production of Verdi's Il Trovatore.  This was a great production updated slightly to the early 1800's (although there was no reason to really do so).  It starred Sondra Radvanofsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Alvarez and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.  Great music, great cast, great production and great conductor.  Who could ask for anything more?

On a sad travel note, while I flew on Midwest Air, there is really no more Midwest Air since they were bought out by Republic Airlines.  The seats are back to the industry standard cramped seats with minimal legroom.  The overhead bins are small and everyone is trying to cram them full to avoid paying $15 for a checked bag.  Even the highly touted chocolate chip cookies are inferior to what Midwest offered.  This is really sad because a flight on the old Midwest was something that was enjoyed.  Now it is something to be endured.  Well, at least the plane landed on the runway and not the Hudson River.  

By R. Douglas Helvering   Sun, Mar 15, 2009

The following preview article will be presented in two installments. Later this month, the William Baker Festival Singers will present a concert of Bach’s immortal Mass in B Minor. Looking forward to that concert, Music Director William Baker spoke with our choral/vocal writer R. Douglas Helvering about the work and his organization’s preparation for this momentous event.

Capping one of Kansas City’s busiest and most advantageous months of choral music performances in recent history, the William Baker Festival Singers, along with distinguished guest soloists and members of the Kansas City Symphony, will present one of the most respected and cherished choral works in western music history, the Mass in B Minor of Johann Sebastian Bach. 

The William Baker Festival Singers is a 50-voice choir that specializes in memorized concerts of sacred, short-form a cappella repertoire.  Traditionally, they also present one concert per year focused on one or more masterworks for chorus and orchestra or chorus and organ.  Recent concerts here in Kansas City have included standard repertoire works such as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Durufle’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, and Haydn’sTe Deum.  They have also performed some lesser known modern works that have included Kodaly’s Laudes Organi and Bernstein’s Missa Brevis.  

 A national organization, the William Baker Choral Foundation is a based in Roeland Park, KS and currently sponsors seven choirs based in three states. The Festival Singers (www.festivalsingers.org) is the flagship ensemble of the organization. They are planning to add three more ensembles this coming fall for a total of ten choirs under their umbrellar. Additionally, the Choral Foundation sponsors Amber Waves Music Publishing, a year-round student intern program that alternates annually between Kansas City and Atlanta, and consulting services nationwide for community and church music organizations.

Music director and co-founder Dr. William Baker said that an emphasis on repertoire is a defining characteristic of the work of the Festival Singers. As with many choirs, they program unaccompanied repertoire from all periods, including leading 21st century composers. But a core value of the chorus is a scholarly investment in authentic performances of American folk hymns from the Southern or “Sacred Harp” traditions, African-American spirituals, and gospel music. Baker added, “I have a great affection for African-American music, and I am determined to do my best to approach it with the same dedication to authenticity and scholarship that I seek to apply to the works of Bach and Mozart.”

So, how does a performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor fit in with the mission and scope of the Festival Singers? Baker considers the performance of masterworks one of the key missions of his organization. “I think it is very important that we provide a forum where these great works can be performed in Kansas City for Kansas City audiences by Kansas City performers.” According to Dr. Baker, this performance of the Mass in B Minor will be the first performance by Kansas City-based musicians in over two decades. “It is a wonderful thing to have great touring ensembles from the coasts and from Europe to perform these great works here in the heartland, but it is critically important that our own community is able and willing to invest the money, the effort, the artistry, and the energy to mount such performances ourselves.”

In addition to performances, Baker explained that music education is also a critical mission of the Choral Foundation. Only a handful of the Festival Singers members, who are largely college-educated musicians, have performed this work. Preparing and performing it is a life-changing experience. “I believe that great music changes lives and destinies. I believe that great music and art changes communities. Changing lives, changing destinies, and changing communities is what the Choral Foundation and the Festival Singers is all about.”

The Festival Singers, now in their 11th season, has consistently programmed repertoire that many similar organizations wouldn’t dare attempt. The Mass in B Minor is one of the greatest achievements (and hardest works to perform) of western civilization. Baker feels that it is a thrilling opportunity and a humbling responsibility to bring the work to our home city. “It is a responsibility that I take seriously, not just for the musical community that I serve, but for my own children and for their children who I hope will make this great community their home as well.”

Log on to www.kcmetropolis.org next week to read the conclusion of this preview article, as Dr. Baker discusses his reasons for programming the work, his approach to the performance, the work’s sacred ramifications, and his favorite sections of the work. 

The William Baker Festival Singers
William O. Baker, conductor
Mass in B Minor, BWV 242
By Johann Sebastian Bach
Tuesday , March 31at 7:30 p.m.
Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral
Broadway at 13th Street in Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 913.403.9223 or online at www.festivalsingers.org  

By R. Douglas Helvering   Mon, Mar 02, 2009

The following article will be presented in two installments. Later this month, the KC Chorale will present a concert of music for double chorus. Looking ahead to that concert, Artistic Director Charles Bruffy gave a rare interview on February 27, 2009 to our choral/vocal writer R. Douglas Helvering.

If you have lived in the Kansas City area for any amount of time and love choral music, you are sure to know of the Kansas City Chorale and their artistic director, Charles Bruffy. Kansas City area residents are extremely fortunate to be living here in a time of great artistic activity and excellence, and running ahead of the pack is the vaunted Kansas City Chorale. The Chorale is performing its twenty-seventh season this year. Bruffy has been their conductor since 1988. Over the past twenty years, with Bruffy’s leadership, the Kansas City Chorale has cemented themselves as an ensemble with an international reputation and recognition for their innovative programming and highly consistent artistic achievement. The twelve men and twelve women who perform with the Chorale are some of this area’s best musicians. In the sure hands of maestro Bruffy, they are continuing to push the limits of the art of choral music in substance, style, and synthesis.

I had the rare opportunity to sit down with Charles Bruffy for an intimate conversation recently. Through all of his artistic accomplishments, he remains largely enigmatic to those in the arts scene. He doesn’t do many public appearances other than the Chorale’s concerts, and (like many of us) he values his private time. Music lovers would be interested to know that he doesn’t own an iPod (and doesn’t even want one) and enjoys listening to country-western music. When asked why he continues to live and work in Kansas City, he answered, “I love it here. I love the four seasons. I love the people here. If anybody is bored in this town, it’s their own fault.” As we sipped coffee at his residence in the south part of town, we discussed (among other topics) the Chorale’s upcoming concert, his artistic philosophy and choral technique, his recent Grammy win, his approach to repertoire, and his long-term goals and aspirations.

The Kansas City Chorale is undergoing final preparations for their next concert, which will be presented on Saturday, March 21 at 7:30pm at the Church of the Nativity at 119th and Mission Road in Leawood, KS and on Sunday, March 22 at 2 pm at Redemptorist Church at 33rd and Broadway in Kansas City. As of Saturday, February 28, the Chorale’s website still listed that the Phoenix Chorale would be joining them on this concert. Sadly for us in Kansas City, this will not be the case. It is quite expensive for an arts organization (especially in this tough economic climate) to bring twenty-four musicians via airplane for a concert, and the decision was made to not bring the Phoenix Chorale to Kansas City (as they are also traveling to Indiana and to New York City to present concerts this spring.)

In another change from what is posted on the Chorale’s website, Rene Clausen’s Mass will not be performed. The group still plans to prepare the work, but it will be performed (and recorded for release) at a later time. Though this is a let-down for Clausen fans, there will be plenty of other fantastic music on the concert. The Chorale partnered with UMKC’s Conservatory of Music last fall to sponsor a composition contest. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winning compositions will all be performed at the upcoming concert. Also on the concert is Jean Belmont-Ford’s The Day Is Done, set to text by Longfellow.

Charles Bruffy is one of the hardest working men in the choral art.

This season alone, he serves as the director of the Kansas City Chorale, The Phoenix Chorale (formerly the Phoenix Bach Choir), The Kansas City Symphony Chorus, and as the director of music at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church in Overland Park. In addition to these responsibilities, he maintains an active schedule as a choral clinician and guest conductor all across the world. When asked how he manages to keep all of these choral “balls” in the air, he responded by saying: “Luckily, none of my groups are working on the same music. Last year we tried that (using the same programming in multiple ensembles), and it drove me nuts!” With so many groups, one might think that Bruffy could save some time and energy by overlapping his programming. He disagreed. “When all of the singers contribute, we have an immediate evolution into the identity of the piece. When we have sung the same songs in Kansas City and Phoenix, it has been interesting to lead rehearsals and then observe how the choir grabs onto the piece, onto the complexion of the piece. It’s quite tangibly different. One might think that with the same conductor it would be the same product, but I invite if not insist that the singers make a personal contribution, personally identify with, have affinity for, and take ownership of the end product.”

Not many directors have the task of leading professional ensembles and volunteer ensembles. Does a conductor’s approach change given the different type of ensemble? Bruffy answered with a resounding “no!” “Synchronizing…unifying…it’s all the same process,” he said. As a conductor, even though his schedule is quite busy, Bruffy put forth that the music itself is the easy part. It’s all of the outside organization that strains him most. “A conductor’s most important skill is just to listen and respond.” His level of expectation for all of his ensembles remains consistent, no matter what. “The most important thing about choral music or any music is that it communicate.” Finding the most organic way with each ensemble for that music to communicate is perhaps what Bruffy is best at achieving.

For more information about the Kansas City Chorale and Artistic Director Charles Bruffy, visit them on the internet at www.kcchorale.org.

Visit www.kcmetropolis.org next week to read the second installment of this interview with Kansas City Chorale artistic director Charles Bruffy.

By Lee Goodman   Sat, Mar 07, 2009

Giuseppe Verdi (Joe Green) was the biggest composer of Italian opera from around 1840 until his death in 1901.   While some may disagree, for consistent high quality music, plots, character, suspense, entertainment - Verdi was the greatest opera composer who ever lived.   In his lifetime, he was the most famous opera composer in the world and the most popular and beloved man in all of Italy.  His fame was enormous.  And remember, this was before TV, movies, radio, recordings etc., when opera was the main form of popular entertainment in Italy and much of Europe.  Every small town had an opera house and large cities had several.  Everyone above a poor peasant went to the opera as often as he could afford to.  Everyone!  Not just cultured people but everyone.  And Verdi's operas were the most popular.  When he premiered a new opera, it was like a new Harry Potter book, the Lord of the Rings movie, Star Wars, the Super Bowl and more all rolled up in one package.  He changed the style of opera from the birdie chirping style of his predecessors and added much more drama into the plot and into the music itself.  Sort of like going from Hello Dolly to Les Miserables.  

Verdi's career was so long that brilliant scholars have categorized his works into three periods - cleverly labeled Early, Middle and Late.  While he was popular during his early composing period, suddenly with Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata he really hit his stride in his 'middle' period.  These three masterpieces at the beginning of his middle period shot his career to Number One like a bullet and radically changed the style of opera composition to something more forceful and dramatic. 

To begin with, his plots were radically different.  Previous composers used traditional characters of kings/queens/nobility with plots of love/revenge etc.  Verdi started writing operas with controversial plots.  Rigoletto is about a murderous hunchbacked court jester out to murder his noble boss.  Il Trovatore is about gypsies, revenge, mistaken identities and burning people at the stake.  And La Traviata is about ladies of the night.  All three of these operas and particularly La Traviata had some problems with the government censors of the time and La Traviata was even banned in England for several years.  But eventually Verdi became so popular that the censors couldn't stop him and his operas spread all over the world.

It is difficult for anyone today to imagine how revered and beloved Verdi was in his day.  Try to imagine a combination of Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, some supermodel, Oprah, and Tiger Woods all rolled up together.  This is how popular Verdi was in his later years.  His music was sung and played everywhere - in bars, cafes, music halls, by organ grinders in the streets, in family parlors around the piano, in concert halls, in opera houses.  He was absolutely adored in Italy.  When he died in 1901 in Milan, literally the entire city turned out for the funeral.  When his coffin was drawn through the city, the streets were lined with the entire population of the city and much of the population from miles around to pay their respects.  

La Traviata is certainly on anyone's list of the ten greatest and most popular operas ever written.  The La Dame aux Camelilas was a novel about a courtesan by French author Alexandre Dumas, fils that Verdi turned into La Traviata. In the opera, the courtesan's name is Violetta. La Traviata in Italian translates The Strayed One or The Wayward One.

The story of a high priced hooker falling in love with a regular guy and forced to give him up proved incredibly scandalous initially, but the idea has endured (think of the movie Pretty Woman).  The opera was booed at its first performance due to the subject matter- - also the tenor lost his voice and the soprano, supposed to look like a frail petite beauty, looked more like the before pictures in a successful diet book.  However, when it was revived a year later, it was received with thunderous applause and has remained enormously popular.  

No matter how little experience you have with opera, the soaring melodies, the passion, the drama will all sweep you up.  Just think how Julia Roberts responded when she was taken to see La Traviata by Richard Gere in Pretty Woman.  You might even notice a similarity in plots.  The melody of the toast aria in the first act has been used in the Three Tenor Concerts as well in countless commercials.  The music is instantly likeable and memorable.  

A Very Brief Synopsis:
Act I
The opera opens in Paris in 1840 (or whenever the director decides to place the action).  Violetta, a high class courtesan, is throwing a big party for all her clients.  We notice that she occasionally exhibits a hacking cough.

(Sidenote:  As anyone in 19th century Europe would instantly know because of her coughing, she has tuberculosis, consumption, the white death.  This disease was the scourge of the 18th and 19th centuries. Whenever a character in a play, novel, or opera coughed or fainted in the 19th century, they had tuberculosis and would die.  Fully 25% of Europe died from tuberculosis, including Chopin, the Bronte sisters, Thoreau and Kafka.  Even in the 20th century in the U.S. in 1924, over 200,000 Americans died of TB. As late as the 1940s, over 40,000 died each year in the U.S.  Not until streptomycin in the 1950s did we get a handle on TB.)

Alfredo, the tenor, has fallen in love with her, proclaims his love for her so ardently that she even wonders if he might be "the one".  

Act II
Violetta and Alfredo are living in sin together in her little country house.  Unknown to Alfredo, his father comes to visit Violetta to tell her that their affair is ruining his family's reputation.  She agrees to break up with Alfredo without saying why and does so in a Dear John letter.  Alfredo is naturally upset and when he crashes a big party that she is at, he publicly humiliates her for breaking up with him.  This greatly dismays the crowd and earns a stern rebuke from his father.  Even if she is a high class Madame, you should not publicly insult a woman in such a crude fashion.

Act IIi
Violetta is near death.  She receives a letter from Alfredo's father informing her that he told his son the truth and Alfredo is coming to see her.  Alfredo does arrive and they have a few minutes together before she dies in his arms.

Cast Biographies:
Starring as Violetta is famed soprano Mary Dunleavy, who has sung this role at the Metropolitan Opera, Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu, the New York City Opera, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and with the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest. She is also singing it at Glimmerglass this season.

Dunleavy has been featured in principal opera roles with major companies around the world, including Gilda (Rigoletto) at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Teatro Municipal de Santiago and others; Konstanze (The Abduction From the Seraglio) with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Cincinnati May Festival, Washington National Opera, New York City Opera and Opera Company of Philadelphia; most of the principal Mozart soprano roles with the Metropolitan Opera and the opera companies of Philadelphia, Michigan, Boston and Portland; and roles from Strauss, Bizet, Massenet, Donizetti, Bellini and Thomas with  the Opéra National de Paris, De Nederlandse Opera, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as the opera companies of Dallas, Amsterdam, Naples, Montreal and Washington.

Singing opposite Dunleavy will be tenor Chad Shelton as Alfredo. Shelton has previously appeared with the Lyric Opera in Cosi fan tutte and The Rake's Progress. His other roles include the title role of Mozart's Idomeneo, Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Duke in Rigoletto, Ottavio in Don Giovanni, which has sung with such companies as the San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Portland, Arizona, Utah, Central City and Orlando operas. This season he also performs at Opéra National de Lorraine and Théâtre de Caen, and his other European venues include Opéra National de Lorraine and Opera Australia.

The third principal role, of Giorgio Germont, Alfredo's father, will be sung by baritone Lester Lynch. Known for the roles of Count DiLuna (Il Trovatore), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Amonasro (Aida), Crown (Porgy and Bess) and the title role in Macbeth, Lynch has sung with the opera companies of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, Santa Fe, New York City, St. Louis, Kentucky, Nashville, Dayton and others. He has previously portrayed Germont in Houston and Cleveland. He is coming off a series of performances as both Porgy and Crown (alternating) in Lyric Opera of Chicago's Porgy and Bess.  His awards include the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the George London Vocal Competition, and the Sullivan Awards, and the Richard Gaddes Award with Opera Theater of St. Louis.

Other singers appearing in La Traviata are Benjamin Hilgert as Gastone, Jonathan Stinson as Baron Duophol, Andrew Harris as Marchese D'Obigny and Scott Conner and Dr. Grenvil. Sarah Burke appears as Annina.

La Traviata is being conducted by Lyric Opera artistic director Ward Holmquist, and is being staged by Kathleen Smith Belcher, making her Lyric Opera debut. She is an assistant stage director at the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the San Francisco Opera, and is an assistant professor of music and dance at the University of Kansas.

Special thanks to Don Dagenais for cast bios.


Lyric Opera of Kansas City
La Traviata
by Giuseppe Verdi
Saturday, March 14 at 8 p.m.
Monday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
Lyric Theater, 11th & Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-471-7344 or online at www.kcopera.org

By   Sat, Sep 22, 2012

Click here to see all the  events on the KC Events performing arts calendar.


How do you list your events on KC Events? It is easy!!
As an arts organziation or musician, you can add and edit your own events.

KCMetropolis.org's mission is to promote traditional and independent classical music, dance, theatre and independent film. We are very sorry, but we do not cover pop, rock, Christian or country music; we do not cover the visual arts or non-performing arts community events. If you would like to send a press release about an upcoming performing arts event, please send to press@KCMetropolis.org.

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By KCM Staff   Sun, Feb 22, 2009

PART 2
Local media maven Laurie Arbore interviews composer, commentator, author and NPR star Rob Kapilow about "What Makes it Great?"

 Rob and Laurie converse about his long-lasting engagement in Kansas City with The Friends of Chamber Music, discoveries, his new book and his own compositions. 

From an interview in December 2008

This weekend, Kapilow will return to the metropolis for the 15th year of  "What Makes it Great?" with guest artists, the Zemlinsky String Quartet.

Video by Mike Strong
Editing by Nathan Granner

The Friends of Chamber Music
Zemlinsky Quartet
Dvorák String Quartet No. 12 in F. Major, Op. 96 "The American.
Saturday, Nov. 14 at 11 a.m. 
Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ
205 W. 65th Street, Kansas City, MO 64113
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 pm 
Paradise Park 1021 NE Colbern Rd Lee's Summit, MO 64086
For tickets or information call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org

Coming in January...
Gilles Vonsattel
Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47 and Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F-Minor Op. 52
Saturday, Jan. 16 at11 am
Goppert Theater at Avila University
11901 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145  
Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 pm
Atkins Auditorium Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street Kansas City, MO 64111

By KCM Staff   Sun, Feb 22, 2009

PART 3
Local media maven Laurie Arbore interviews composer, commentator, author and NPR star Rob Kapilow about "What Makes it Great?"

 Rob and Laurie converse about his long-lasting engagement in Kansas City with The Friends of Chamber Music, discoveries, his new book and his own compositions. 

From an interview in December 2008

This weekend, Kapilow will return to the metropolis for the 15th year of  "What Makes it Great?" with guest artists, the Zemlinsky String Quartet.

Video by Mike Strong
Editing by Nathan Granner

The Friends of Chamber Music
Zemlinsky Quartet
Dvorák String Quartet No. 12 in F. Major, Op. 96 "The American.
Saturday, Nov. 14 at 11 a.m. 
Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ
205 W. 65th Street, Kansas City, MO 64113
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 pm 
Paradise Park 1021 NE Colbern Rd Lee's Summit, MO 64086
For tickets or information call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org

Coming in January...
Gilles Vonsattel
Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47 and Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F-Minor Op. 52
Saturday, Jan. 16 at11 am
Goppert Theater at Avila University
11901 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145  
Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 pm
Atkins Auditorium Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street Kansas City, MO 64111

By   Mon, Mar 09, 2009

 
The Coterie Theatre has begun something new. And I think I like it. Starting this season, the Coterie is performing at the Westport CoffeeHouse on Monday nights. Thanks to the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the Coterie has received a major grant that will allow them to reach a wider audience. "The Breakfast Club- Live" is not the first. Last October, The Coterie at Night performed their own rendition of "Night of the Living Dead." Judging from my small experience last Monday, the idea seems to be taking off.

Directed by Ron Megee, "The Breakfast Club- Live" had all the flavor of the original movie (perhaps a bit more slapstick), without any of the long pauses. The show ran under 80 minutes without an intermission (the movie runs 97). The theatre itself is small and the actors use every inch of it. Seating is first come first serve, so try to get a seat towards the front, or on the tiered risers so you can see the stage. After the show, everyone is invited to stick around for a dance party and an opportunity to graffiti on the tables.

I knew from the very beginning that the play would follow the movie very closely. The Universal Studios music and the spinning globe at the beginning gave it away. Anything that could not be achieved with traditional staging was carried out, tongue-in-cheek, by "movie magic girl". From flying bologna to slamming car doors, she was there to make sure that nothing was left out. Even Jon Fulton Adams' costume design closely mimicked the movie costumes.

But there were also some differences. Carl the janitor's part was cut down to one small scene. I suppose because Carl and Mr.Vernon were played by the same versatile actor, Tim Ahlenius. (Although, I admit, I would've loved to see Ahlenius do a scene with himself!) Also, the actors, especially the women, looked nothing like their movie counterparts. I liked this choice, but I almost wish it applied to all, or none. It was distracting to see Alex Saxon look so much like the original Brian when Patricia Rusconi looked nothing like movie Allison.

Matthew Leonard's Bender was a less frightening character than Judd Nelson's original creation. He seemed more like a slightly dangerous class clown, and less like a criminal. My favorite Bender scene was when he was arguing with Mr. Vernon and received 8 more weeks of detention. Chioma Anyanwu's Claire was more confident, possibly more spoiled than Molly Ringwald. I could continue to compare, but I'm glad these actors chose to make their own choices instead of simply copying the movie characters. Matthew Schmidli, Andrew, had his moment of glory when he monologued about the pressure him father put on him to win. Patricia Rusconi, Allison, had some great bits to work with, although I'm not sure I believed the budding romance between her and Andrew. Alex Saxon, Brian, was the glue that held all the other characters together.

Scott Hobart's scene design is basic, but functional. My favorite set piece was the cardboard cutout locker row, complete with a padlocked door that opens. Realism was not the aim, either in setting or in staging, and that was just fine. Lighting was basic, but adequate.

I wish I could say more, but honestly, this show was delightful and charismatic. I was drawn in and, for once, I could sit back, relax and enjoy without the need to analyze (like I so often do). I would encourage the young and young at heart to go see a wonderfully entertaining performance.


REVIEW:
The Coterie Theatre
The Breakfast Club - Live!
Directed by Ron McGee
Open ended run every Monday night
Call or visit the website for performance times.
Westport Coffeehouse
4010 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online www.coterietheatre.org

By Michael D. Smith   Mon, Mar 09, 2009

True. This portion of KCMETROPOLIS.org is designed as a place to primarily discuss independent films. As such, when you think of independent film the last thing to cross your mind would be Watchmen, based upon the 12-issue comic series published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987, and written by Alan Moore. Yet it is a rare commercial exception that deserves attention not because it may look cool, but because of its rich thematic depth and uniqueness.

The story begins with the killing of Edward Blake / The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, ABC's Grey's Anatomy), a superhero employed by the government whose bloody demise mirrors the indiscriminate brutality he had displayed towards men, women and children for decades. The setting is in an alternate version of Cold War America circa 1985 where Richard Nixon is serving another term as president and the Doomsday Clock ticks ominously closer to nuclear annihilation.

Although superheroes, or vigilantes as their detractors call them, have either been banned or secretly hired by Nixon, Walter Kovacs / Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley, 1976's The Bad News Bears) seeks out the truth behind the death of his former colleague. The deeper the flawed, antisocial Rorschach digs the more disturbed he becomes by the conspiracy he uncovers.

One by one, Rorschach seeks out the remaining heroes who can make a difference - the unassuming, somewhat shy Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson, Lakeview Terrace); the lovelorn Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman, The Brothers Solomon); the near omnipotent Dr. Manhattan / Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup, Almost Famous) whose great power is causing him to lose touch with his humanity; and the smartest, wealthiest man alive Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias (Matthew Goode, The Lookout).

Ultimately, as the Doomsday Clock counts down to midnight and Armageddon, Rorschach and the others race against time to find out who is manipulating events that may spark an all-out nuclear war between the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union.

Directed by Zack Snyder (300), Watchmen often paints a dark, disturbing portrait of the American dream. Greedy corporate executives and a trigger-happy, ultraconservative government are the agents of oppression in a society that has a bleak outlook towards its own future. ... Sound vaguely familiar?

Being a member of "Generation X," I am old enough to recall what it was like to have the spectre of nuclear catastrophe lurking below the distant horizon, and doing drills in school that had as much of a chance to save us from an atomic bomb as I do now to win a Heisman Trophy.

Because the Cold War has been over for nearly 20 years, it's hard to imagine that Watchmen will have the same resonance with younger generations. Of course a nuclear catastrophe is still possible but we as Americans don't think about it every day.

Snyder's cinematic presentation of Moore's original creation is more than just people dressed in costumes beating up bad guys with fancy special effects. It's raw. It's disturbing. It's a reflection of what could have been and could still be. It's about brave people who feel fear yet manage somehow to do the right thing. It's about brave people who feel fear but instead do the wrong thing. It's gritty. And it's not at all for children.

With the exception of Crudup, the cast lacks a lot of notoriety, but they rise up to the challenge of bringing complex characters to life. The most notable of them all is Haley who earned fame as a child actor in the mid-1970s. His performance is nothing less than brilliant as a thoroughly angry man who has buried his real identity after the actions of a child murderer tosses him over the edge of sanity. The eyes are the windows to the soul as the old saying goes and in Haley's eyes you can feel the penetrating, unyielding anguish his character is drowning in.

If you are a lover of cinema, then you should watch Watchmen.

On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Watchmen receives an A-.

Watchmen, which is in wide release across the Kansas City area,
is rated R and has a running time of 163 minutes.

By Michael D. Smith   Wed, Mar 11, 2009

Teachers are the most underpaid professionals in the entire world. It's hard to comprehend the stress they endure unless you have walked in their shoes, but a realistic glimpse into this noble profession is captured in The Class, an engrossing tale set in a Paris public high school classroom where one teacher is routinely challenged by his students.

French language teacher Francois Marin (Francois Bégaudeau) instructs students from a rough neighborhood who have diverse ethnic, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. From day one they pepper him with questions that are formulated not from some longing to learn and better themselves, but to waste time and annoy Mr. Marin.

In spite of the insolence many of them hurl at him, Mr. Marin forges ahead in a relentless effort to get his students to think and to express themselves in a manner that demonstrates respect not only for himself, but also for each other. Mr. Marin's approach is different in that he speaks frankly to his students, however, this backfires on him when one day he goes too far.

As the recipient of a 2009 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination, and five more at the 2009 César Awards, including a win for best adapted screenplay, The Class achieves its brilliance by making you, the filmgoer, feel like you are sitting in the classroom.

As a former high school teacher, I could fully sympathize with the frustrations of Mr. Marin and his fellow teachers who at times are ready to throw in the towel, but then are also rewarded when a student's proverbial light bulb suddenly turns on.

Like NBC's Law & Order series where the personal lives of the principle characters are left mostly in obscurity, we the audience never venture into what the kids call "the hood," or into the homes of the teachers. The Class remains singularly devoted throughout to what happens in the school setting. This devotion helps vault it over other melodramatic films involving teachers who journey into bad neighborhoods and end up doing so well with their troubled, rebellious kids that by the end they're all going to Harvard University.

The Class does occasionally become a little tedious due to a pace that can be sluggish. Furthermore, nearly all of Mr. Marin's students are unlikable characters, making it hard to really care about them. Additionally, the teachers as a collective are sometimes played too dispassionately.

 If there is such a thing, I hope that in some alternate version of Earth, teachers get paid like superstar athletes.

Appropriately enough, on a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, The Class receives a B+.

The Class is rated PG-13 and has a running time of 128 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, KS
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-642-1133 for more information.

By Sarah Tyrrell   Mon, Mar 16, 2009

An opera company can do no wrong when programming La Traviata and on Saturday night, Verdi's number opera adequately amused a Lyric Opera of Kansas City audience of about 1,125. It seems that what held an audience's attention in nineteenth-century opera houses works just as well for the twenty-first: love, loyalty and loss, combined with miscommunication and betrayal, are still the ticket.  

Verdi was a composer (and businessman) keenly aware of how to hook an audience. Perhaps more importantly, though, was Verdi's pursuit of what might make an opera successful beyond its first run. To that end, and in an age of "disposable" music, he chose stories and wrote accompanying music that proved to be timeless. After his first major success in the 1850s, Verdi went on to compose one masterpiece after another, and his 1853 La Traviata remains wildly popular. And while everyone knows that we lose the heroine in the end (nineteenth-century opera composers certainly would not pass up a good death scene), this well-paced production made for an enjoyable journey to Violetta's demise. 

The trouble with Traviata is quite simply the familiarity of it all. The work contains no shortage of beloved characters and arias, which poses challenges for cast and crew: they must meet listener expectation while infusing this frequently performed opera with some twist or turn-something unexpected to make this Traviata more memorable than the last. This production opened with a sparkling party scene, with a boisterous chorus providing a believable social backdrop to immediately define Violetta's current way of life.  The visual appeal of each scene to follow, thanks to the artistry of Peter Beck's designs, did not disappoint. The core of each set was the multi-paned window construct, which provided an element of continuity throughout the opera. In fact, some important dramatic effects were achieved via the constancy of this single element, but it was most magical as the backdrop for the final scene. As Violetta lay dying, these windows, part of rather spare and dark scenery now (whereas in Acts two and three they were vivid and reflective), contributed to the shadowy pallor of the room and to Violetta's ashen face. Adding visual appeal were the costumes, where Mary Traylor's touch meant lush dresses and jewelry throughout. 

No singer was a match for Mary Dunleavy tonight (her closest competition was Lester Lynch's Germont), and the required vocal acrobats seemed effortless for her. She is also a skilled actress, transitioning easily between Violetta's lighter, irreverent self and a darker, more dramatic vocal quality. Verdi's accompanied recitatives let Dunleavy demonstrate her dramatic instincts (early on these passages were for her to wrestle with surrendering to the notion of selfless love), while the more lyrical arias meant extended exploration of this multifaceted character. Dunleavy never missed the opportunity to prove impeccable vocal control (she only suffered one rough release all evening), offering delicious dynamic contrasts and subtle phrase shadings along with an admirable consistency over her wide range (even if it did take until Act two for the voice to sound thoroughly warmed up). 

When Giorgio Germont and Violetta meet in Act two, Violetta is already a changed woman-absolved of her past and almost demure-and her vocal style reflects it.  Having moved beyond her own needs now, Violetta quietly agrees to give up Alfredo for the sake of the family name, and the moment is a poignant and memorable bit of theater. Lynch literally filled the Lyric with his rich baritone, and he was rendered here as sympathetic and fittingly "fatherly." Dunleavy and Lynch manage to conjure more of a relationship in this single dialogue than the audience had yet seen materialize between Alfredo and Violetta; Verdi's affinity for singers does not hurt, and here Dunleavy takes full advantage of the orchestral support to really free up her vocals. 

Chad Shelton was at a disadvantage. Most opera-goers, long before the curtain goes up, hold a pre-conceived idea of who they want Alfredo to be. Shelton's version of this familiar character did not develop quickly and at times his gestures and stage movements seemed affected and unnatural. But another interpretation could dispel this criticism: Shelton did, early on, exude just the right air of desperation to let Violetta know that he had admired her from afar for some time (and she countered with just the right edge to let him know that she was probably not the girl for him).  One could actually be led to believe that this slow character evolution was part of Shelton's plan: Alfredo only gradually becomes secure in his relationship with Violetta, so Shelton did not release the warmth and resonance of his voice until Act three, and then a true leading man emerged from this tenor.  In between, Shelton seemed to shine through the more aggressive aspects of his character, even if he lacked sincerity in depicting the softer emotional side of Alfredo. Shelton was absolutely at his best in Act two, confronting the Baron with conviction and cruelly disrespecting Violetta. The hostile sentiment between them (when Violetta asks Alfredo to leave the party) was most compelling. 

Typical of Verdi is brilliant ensemble writing and the trios, quartets, and chorus numbers were fantastic. Act three was a high point for the chorus when the boisterous gypsies inserted an element of exoticism, believably engaged in the action. The orchestra was well rehearsed and smartly balanced, but at times was too much competition for the soloists. Dunleavy clearly owned the stage, but the secondary characters were admirably adept as well, demonstrating the strength and depth of the assembled cast. Scott Conner's Grenvil was appropriately ominous at Violetta's final hour, and as Annina, Sarah Burke was suitably subordinate and doting. 

Once again the rich collaboration of the Lyric staff resulted in a welcome spin to this classic narrative. Kathleen Belcher treated the first two acts as events from Alfredo's memory, which added a touch of intrigue (but one wonders if maybe Violetta would have remembered things differently). While this may not prove to be a listener's most memorable Traviata, the accomplished cast and crew gave the audience what they came for: high drama and a few spectacular vocal moments. 
 

Lyric Opera of Kansas City
La Traviata 
Saturday, March 14 at 8 p.m. (Reviewed)
Monday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
Lyric Theater, 11th & Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-471-7344 or online at www.kcopera.org

By R. Douglas Helvering   Wed, Mar 11, 2009

Since 1965 the Harriman-Jewell series has been bringing some of the best international and domestic artists to Kansas City. In years past, they have presented Pavarotti in his professional recital debut, Itzhak Perlman in his first local recital, and 19 American recital debut performances by prominent artists. Now, in their 44th season, their offerings are as good as ever, featuring performances by Joshua Bell, Danielle de Niese, and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Next season's headliner is the world-class cellist Yo-Yo Ma. This past Friday, the Harriman-Jewell series presented the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra in their Kansas City concert debut.

This orchestra was reconstituted from a fractured assortment of professional ensembles in Dublin in 1997. Their roots date all the way back to the mid 1800s, when Dublin was considered a close second to London as the most vibrant metropolis in the British Isles. This concert, titled "The Irish Spectacular,"  attempted to mix musical aesthetics, presenting a concert that gave equal treatment to classical, pops, and traditional Celtic music traits. In such a concert, all in attendance could find a portion that emotionally connected as well as fell short.

The concert opened with In Spirit, an overture by Jonathan Casey. This rhapsodic piece featured Uilleann pipe soloist Aidan O'Brian. The orchestral colors were quite lovely. One could hear instances of stopped horns, solo harp, low flutes, and the many solo pipe passages. Music Director Derek Gleeson provided basic and clear direction from the podium, but in an asymmetrical section he tended to rush the compound portion of the tempo. The orchestra's seating arrangement was a bit odd, as the first and second violins flanked the conductor upstage while the lower strings were farther away from the audience. The double basses were stuck back in the corner stage left. The resulting ensemble aesthetic was clean and vibrant but quite bright, which suited the evening's repertoire.

Irish composer Patrick Cassidy penned the next two selections. Aughrim Suite again featured O'Brien on the pipes. The piece was set in a folk style, with the orchestra largely filling the role of accompanist to the pipe, banjo, fiddle, and folk-influenced percussion. Soprano Denise Brennan then sang an aria excerpted from Cassidy's oratorio Deirdre of the Sorrows.  The song had a wonderful hymn-like opening. Brennan displayed a lovely voice, but her high range was hindered by obvious jaw tension, which kept her from opening up her voice to its full potential.

By a long shot, the highlight of the concert was Inishlacken, a concerto for two violins composed by Bill Whelan (the composer of Riverdance). The concerto was constructed using classical elements, having three movements each written in traditional classical forms. The two violinists featured were billed as a classical player (Cora Venus Lunny) and a traditional player (Athena Tergis). I honestly didn't see much of a difference in the stylistic traits of their parts in the concerto. The two featured violinists performed quite well together, interlocking themes and playing in parallel motion with spot-on intonation. Cora played with great passion, flying through tricky double and triple-stop sections with relative ease. Athena's sound was lighter than Cora's, offering great tenderness in the second movement. The orchestra's role was again that of the accompanist, as the ensemble's writing was bland and backing while the solo violins soared at the front of the stage.

The second half of the concert was a hodge-podge of music announced from the stage, which proved difficult at times to understand what exactly we were hearing. Traditional violinist Frankie Gavin took on the role of concert leader, showcasing not only his fiddle and guitar prowess but also his gift of gab and personality. His arrangement of Handel'sArrival of the Queen of Sheba into an Irish jig was quite entertaining.

The "Women of Ireland," a trio of singers comprised of Michelle Lally, Denise Brennan, and Ingrid Madsen, Irish dancer Fiona Collins, and fiddler Athena Tergis, were featured (along with fiddler Frankie Gavin and pipist Aidan O'Brian) for the majority of the second half of the concert. In Song for Ireland, the three singers displayed a nice group aesthetic (similar to the sounds of Alison Krauss or the Wailin' Jennys) as well as their own unique vocal color in the verses. Sitting down front in the orchestra, the sound was muddy and vague. The featured singers and instrumentalists played with microphones, and the floor audience only got amplified sound from the boom speakers at the top of the stage. I'm sure the sound was great for those in the balcony, but the sound on the floor was less than desirable. 

The second half of the show had some nice tunes but nothing that really stood out as a tour-de-force. Singer Michelle Lally gave a delicate rendering of You Raise Me Up, made famous by Josh Groban. Soprano Ingrid Madsen provided a warm and inviting sound to a setting of the classic Robert Burns poem A Red, Red Rose. 

My expectations for this concert were quite high. I am a fan of Celtic music and frequent the highly popular Kansas City Irish Festival. I even own a few of the Elders' (KC-based Irish rock band) recordings. This concert gave me nothing to really complain about. The orchestra played well, and the featured soloists were all capable performers. In the end, nothing gelled the way it could have, which proved to be disappointing. Nevertheless, the Dublin Philharmonic, with their guest soloists, gave a good-sized audience at the Folly Theater an evening of music that, although not artistically challenging us, provided a nice opportunity to relax and enjoy.


Review 
Harriman-Jewell Series
The Irish Spectacula
Friday, March 6, 2009
Folly Theatre, Downtown Kansas City
www.harriman-jewell.org 

By   Tue, Mar 10, 2009

In the beginning there was one.  

This "one" was called a dithyramb, or leader, who performed plays in ancient Greece.  These dithyrambs were part of an annual Greek festival held in Athens to celebrate the cultivation of wine.  This festival was known as The Dionysia and honored of the god of wine Dionysus.  It was from this 'one person play' that theatre began its journey to what we know today, and on Saturday, February 28th The Friends of Chamber Music gave the metropolis an opportunity to experience the beginnings of theatre.  

Benjamin Bagby - singer, actor and medieval harpist - performed the epic poem Beowulfwith only lighting, a harp and a diverse range of characters.  He alone played a multitude of people from large numbers of men, to the menacing monster Grendel and of course the title character himself.  Bagby, currently a faculty member at the Sorbonne University in Paris, performed this masterful piece of work in Anglo-Saxon English with subtitles.  

The story told by Bagby centers on the battle against Beowulf and the monster Grendel.  King Hrothgar, inheriting a stable kingdom from his ancestors, decides to build a great banquet hall.  The whole kingdom comes together to rejoice this magnificent structure with merriment and festivities.  But the Gods dislike perfection and nothing 'good' can go without punishment. And from the depths of their joy comes Grendel, a descendant of Cain.  Grendel descends on the banquet hall and slaughters everyone.  And from thereon in, anyone inside the banquet hall after nightfall is doomed.  How something so magnificent (the banquet hall) could be so tainted by pure evil was never clearly understood (by the characters or the audience, for that matter), but that didn't stop Beowulf from planning to rid the people of this horrific creature.  With great speeches of bravery, drinking and intelligent planning, Beowulf manages to kill without sword, without shield, with only his bare hands.  

It was truly amazing to experience Bagby's commanding presence.  He sat on stage, harp in hand, pulling the audience into his world.  So well did he perform that the supplied subtitles translating Beowulf from Anglo-Saxon English to modern English were almost more of a crutch than a necessity.  Bagby's ability to communicate the story in an ancient language to a contemporary American audience was seamless, effortless and successful.  He convincingly and sincerely forced us to "LISTEN!" - as he commanded in the first line of the evening.  With slight facial contortions, a glance one way or another, this storyteller was Beowulf one moment and then the envious Unferth - who challenged the boasting, braggart Beowulf into proving his bravery - the next.

This critic must commend Bagby for selecting the most familiar part of this epic poem.  Beowulf's battle with Grendel serves as the highlight in the story.  Anything other than this section might have been disastrous.  However, it must be said, that the evening still clocked in at about 90 minutes with no intermission.  The poem in its entirety seems never ending, and though Bagby's production is only a blip on the proverbial screen, the whole evening felt just as never ending.  Many of the details and side stories could have been cut without jeopardizing the message.

It seemed as the performance came to an end, that the length of the production was the only criticism voiced by majority of the audience. This made me think... is sitting for 90 minutes really a bad thing?  In Germany and Europe theatre pieces have lasted as long as two hours without any intermission.  Are we just being 'American' in our complaints?  My thought would be yes, but then it is the job of the performer to make sure those minutes don't pass by like a snail in a rabbit race.  At times Beowulf dragged, and when Bagby took miniature breaks to tune his instrument, I had an urge to rise up from my seat and take a quick stretch.  Sometimes having an intermission allows the audience to generate a cathartic experience for themselves rather than waking up a sleeping leg in the end.  

Unfortunately, I went home unmoved by the evening.  Theatre is at its best when a play's message resonates inside you.  When you go home and still have it running through your mind. Think about one of the greatest movies you've ever seen.  You can picture it, you can recall the emotions you had while watching it and you can probably retell the story to anyone.  The same goes for theatre.  Beowulf, though a great academic experience, was a removed one for me, and did not stay with me beyond the performance.

The Friends of Chamber Music does a great service for this metropolis by presenting this particular kind of work along with the other works in their Early Music Series; Beowulf was the last in this particular series.  What they have on the docket for next year has yet to be announced, but this critic will be eager to find out.  The Friends of Chamber Music gives the metropolis an opportunity to experience early theatre only seen by audiences in New York or other major international arts centers. The Early Music Series encapsulates performance and music into one evening of unmatched proportions.  No other company in town can open a time capsule and catapult you into the essence of theatre.  "Bravo, Friends, bravo!"


REVIEW
The Friends of Chamber Music
Beowulf
Presented by Benjamin Bagby
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
www.chambermusic.org 

By Gayle G. Hathorne   Tue, Mar 17, 2009

The Academy of Ancient Music created superb cutting-edge chamber music last Friday night at the Folly Theatre with their performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos for The Friends of Chamber Music International Chamber Music series.  In what was the opening night of the ensemble's American tour to introduce its newly released CD recording of the same program on the Harmonia Mundi label, the AAM sizzled with vitality and finesse, and provided Friends' Director, Cynthia Siebert, one more giant plumed feather in her cap for presenting the ensemble in her series' Epic Journey.  

Formed in 1973 by Christopher Hogwood, and since 2006 under the leadership of brilliant harpsichordist, Richard Egarr, AAM is comprised of the world's finest and most notable Baroque soloists, each a star in his and her own right.  Bach's six richly varied concertos were the perfect medium for the ensemble to present a dazzling array of stellar solo and chamber ensemble performances that left audience members enriched, intrigued and wanting to hear more.

The concert opened to the raucous rude toots of hunting horns in the Concerto No. 1, played with gusto by renowned British horn soloists Andrew Clark and David Bentley.  Bach, in his whimsical language set the horn parts metrically and musically in opposition to the string instruments, to illustrate the awkwardness of including fox-hunting horn players performing on their valveless coils of brass alongside the sophisticated royal court musicians, of whom some could have been performing on Guarneri or Stradivarius instruments already half a century old.  Aside from the intentional musical challenges composed by Bach, the chamber ensemble with its one virtuoso player to a part, directed by Egarr from the keyboard, had a bumpy beginning to overcome.  Intonation initially seemed a bit off kilter, although that may have been the aural senses adjusting to the lower frequency pitch to which the period instruments were tuned, and the string players were out of synch with Papa Egarr in tempi.  But soon snippets of masterful musical phrasing surfaced one instrument to the next to articulate with energy and edge what must surely be one of Bach's strangest compositions, a secular allegorical tone poem of 18th Century Court life.  

In the second movement, the interplay between Rodolfo Richter on violino piccolo and Frank de Bruine, oboe, underscored the tonal warmth of their wooden instruments in that melancholy and introspective bridge in which no horns are scored.  The horn duet with a trio of oboes in the third movement was very musical, and it was great fun to hear the horn improvise the last statement of the theme.  Clark, holding his valveless natural horn atop his shoulder in the fashion of a hunting horn, brought well-conceived musical lines and swells to the first horn part, and dazzling lip trills.  

While the stage was being re-set to accommodate the players for the next work, Concerto No. 6, Egarr chatted charmingly about its allegorical background.  Although Bach's music stands gloriously on its own musical integrity, an evening of his music without even a nod towards the fabulously complex context of symbolism in which he framed every one of his compositions would have been seriously remiss.  Egarr noted that Concerto No. 6, a "low concerto with only violas and gambas and without violins", is based upon the Meeting of the Three Quick and the Three Dead, in which three young princes (2 violas and cello), returning from hunting in the woods find three cadavers (2 viols and violone), who warn them to repent, for Death is the fate of all.  At the onset of the work, the three cadavers, placed strategically to Egarr's right, together with the harpsichord, pushed relentlessly sometimes a quarter beat ahead of the more leisurely tempo taken by the three princes.  Nevertheless, as the music progressed, all at once what had been a bit of a tug of war morphed into an aural embrace of contrasting deep timbres and oneness of phrasing.  The familiar third movement played by the trio of Baroque period instrument virtuosos instead of by a string section, sparkled richly, and was rounded out by a stunningly beautiful cello solo played by Joseph Crouch.  From that moment onwards, the evening soared from one high point to the next.

As the stage was set again for Concerto No. 2, Richard Egarr offered informative tidbits about the work, which he pronounced to be a "treble piece" featuring trumpet, recorder, violin and oboe, accompanied by a string quintet.  Indeed, it was the spectacular high point of the evening for this reviewer.  Stellar Baroque trumpet virtuoso David Blackadder stole the show with his amazingly beautiful round sound that emanated from a natural (valveless) trumpet, right from his first pianissimo lip trill entry that blended perfectly with violin soloist, Pavlo Beznosiuk.  Blackadder's control of dynamics was simply superb, always staying tastefully under even the recorder, and always with a pure glittering beauty of tone sans vibrato, that seemed to just bounce along to Bach's ebullient (and outrageously difficult) score.

The second half of the program revealed even more of the glorious rich fullness of sound and vitality of expression of this cracker jack of an ensemble.  In the Concerto No. 5, soloists Beznosiuk on violin, together with baroque flutist Rachel Beckett and Egarr on harpsichord, sported their solos against the accompanying strings, with Crouch, the cellist as moderator in the middle, in a very balanced ensemble.  Egarr's extended harpsichord solo was brilliantly conceived and executed, another high point in the evening of highs.  

It was followed by the beloved Concerto No. 3, in which the vibrant interplay of alternating string players was fascinating to watch - a benefit one could never enjoy merely from hearing a recording of the work.  Its second movement, consisting of a single measure, was symbolically the pivotal moment of the concerto that provided 49 measures, or the mystical 7 squared, which led into a wildly exciting third movement taken at a frenetic clip that gathered even more momentum as it swung with vibrancy to its exciting end.  

The evening concluded with the Concerto No. 4, featuring the beautiful tones of flutists Rachel Beckett and Robert Erlich and violinist, Rodolfo Richter, whose crazy runs executed with brio and spicatto bowing provided a visual treat.  The cascades of energy springing from his fingers seemed to flow directly into the hearts of the audience, who rose as one in a standing ovation to express their overwhelming enjoyment of an evening of extraordinary musical accomplishment.


REVIEW:
The Friends of Chamber Music
Academy of Ancient Music
Friday, March 13, 2009
The Folly Theatre
www.chambermusic.org  

By Michael D. Smith   Sun, Mar 15, 2009

To believe or not to believe. That is the question many are asking about Joaquin Phoenix's retirement from the acting profession in order to become a rap artist. If true, then he has left us with a poignant, swan song performance as the troubled son of a Brooklyn business owner smitten with opposite women in Two Lovers.

We know from the moment we meet Leonard (Phoenix) that his desire to continue on with this life is barely more than his desire to move on to the next. A past engagement that ended in failure has left him a damaged soul who is now sheltered by his loving parents Reuben (Moni Moshonov) and Ruth (Isabella Rossellini).

As Reuben sells out his dry-cleaning business, Leonard is introduced to the prospective new owner's daughter, Sandra (Vinessa Shaw, 3:10 to Yuma), a caring, stable woman who is interested in Leonard from the start. Despite Sandra's overtures, Leonard becomes spellbound by Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), a neighbor who is in a destructive relationship with a wealthy married man (Elias Koteas). 

Leonard doesn't intend to hurt anyone maliciously, but his emotional state becomes more and more dominated by raw, compulsive tendencies that cause him to live in a kind of fantasy world. His relationship with Sandra, who would probably give him the most happiness, is sporadic yet it's enough to keep her devoted to him. He instead focuses his intention on rescuing Michelle, a woman he believes is just as crazy as he is.

Directed and co-written by James Gray (We Own the Night, The Yards), Two Lovers is a slow-paced romantic drama that lacks some depth when it comes to character development. Shaw does a fine job with her role, but the script does not give us much beyond that she is simply a "good girl." The same is true for Paltrow's character who's presented merely as an emotional trainwreck.

Perhaps best known for his roles in Gladiator and Walk the Line, Phoenix is quite brilliant in his allegedly final screen role. It is easy to pity his character while also becoming so utterly frustrated with him that you want to reach out and shake some sensibility into his brain. It's also a performance that leaves you questioning if Leonard is sad or happy with the way things turn out. 

So what will happen to Phoenix's career now that he has pulled a Thelma and Louise and driven off a cliff? His recent bizarre appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman and a fight with a belligerent concertgoer has left two questions: Has Joaquin Phoenix snapped? Or has he pulled off a publicity stunt so spectacular that even the late Andy Kaufman would be impressed?

On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Two Lovers receives a B.

Two Lovers is rated R and has a running time of 110 minutes. 

Now Showing
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO. 
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.

Rio Theatre
7204 W. 80th St., Overland Park, KS
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-383-8500 for more information. 

By Steve Shapiro   Tue, Mar 17, 2009

Superheroes and superstars alike are conspicuously absent from Kelly Reichardt's meditative Wendy and Lucy, an independent film whose throwaway budget of $200,000 would not be enough to pay for an intern's cup of coffee on the set of Watchmen. The director employed her own dog, a Golden Retriever named Lucy, for the co-starring role; Lucy's human co-star is played, with tremulous optimism, by Michelle Williams. Her character, Wendy Carroll, is a young single woman, with a windblown helmet haircut, plaid shirts, a money belt, a notebook in which she records her limited expenses, and an old Honda Accord which she hopes will transport Lucy and her from their hometown of Muncie, Illinois to southeast Alaska, where she has heard they need workers in the salmon canneries. When Wendy's car gives up the ghost in a small Oregon town, her life falls apart as well-the movie does anything but. In tiny increments, this film records the many ways a life at odds with the universe can survive, just. 

Wendy is a windblown speck across the horizon, a forgotten shadow (when she calls home from a pay phone, her sister is suspicious that she is up to something); she is a stick figure, not because of any lack of character as written by Reichardt and Jon Raymond (his short story "Train Choir" was the inspiration for the movie), but rather because that is her character: she is not bursting at the seams with "personality," the way most contemporary movies and fiction insist upon these days, i.e., the overloaded characters in Rachel Gets Married, where people are always doing something. Wendy simply lives: if her dilemmas-the Honda needs work, she gets into minor trouble with the law, Lucy disappears-seem small-time, as they apparently do for many impatient viewers, the point is to feel what she is feeling, as much as she is able. 

This beautifully composed Zen film does not work up to a summing-up scene of enlightenment-the kind of epiphany built up to in, say, Satyajit Ray's Indian movies or the final frozen image of The 400 Blows-but the moviegoer who is able to go along with this film about solitude and hope in the distance will not be let down. The director does not punish her, the way recent French movies have seemed to attack their female characters; Reichardt clearly cares about Wendy (and Lucy), and gives her an inner strength (she hums to herself) more believable than any tortured fantasy character with fancy-shmancy powers.
 
Wendy and Lucy shimmers with the kind of unforced intimacy that Altman showed in many of his best pictures. The scenes are not framed for Oscar moments, nor are there necessarily one scene that the entire movie can be wrapped around. Reichardt's 2006 movie, the equally quiet Old Joy, focused on two old friends who drive off for the weekend, discussing and reminiscing, over which time each character reveals himself. In this movie, the focus is singularly on Wendy, and the camera tracks her movements without judgment; when spoken to, Wendy seems to need to take in the attention first before responding. Michelle Williams-this is her finest performance-hardly acts, or acts sparingly: she cocks her head, stares into the distance, gives nothing away. Yet it is precisely in her understated performance, like Shelly Duvall's in the first half of Altman's 3 Women when her newly arrived character tries to break into the local apartment singles scene only to be humiliated, that recalls his great-hearted affinity for actors and for letting them shape their own creations. With Altman's passing, there is a huge void in American pictures; there is no one to express the afflictions and benedictions of daily life, whether in a comedy or a Western setting or even a farce. Altman worked from Nature, and Kelly Reichardt has a similar expressiveness.

The film runs a bare hour and twenty minutes, yet there is nothing threadbare about it. Wendy's problems are answered, occasionally, by the various townspeople (Will Patton, probably the movie's other biggest name, plays a sympathetic auto mechanic). As Wendy wanders through the town's empty parking lots and deserted side streets-framed, ingeniously, by picture postcard mountains and tall trees which seem to offer sanctuary but appear to be too far to ever reach-the movie's theme emerges. Characters are defined by what they do: supermarket stocker, mechanic, police officer: along comes Wendy, who does not fit into any category. What should be done about her? If there is one scene that seems to have been shot for pointed attention it comes midway when Wendy talks with an older, gentlemanly Walgreens security guard. She says, "You can't get a job without an address," and he replies, "You can't get an address without an address. You can't get a job without a job. It's all fixed." The kōan-like quality of the security guard's conversation is not meant as a bluff, the way a European filmmaker would use it as a provocation. Reichardt and her co-writer are searching for a path to-something. In Wendy's interactions with the car mechanic and the security guard (played delicately by Walter Dayton) who helps her out after Lucy is found, the unsaid things matter most: there is no Wi-Fi in the film to ease the matter of encountering other people.

Reichardt works with her camera like a writer: she knows intuitively when an image speaks a thousand words, which explains the spareness of her screenplay. Michelle Williams's dialogue is less consequential than her presence onscreen, especially when it concerns Lucy. If certain scenes register still-life elegance, it is not the studied brilliance of Terrence Malick's landscapes but something closer to looking out the window from a traveling car or bus: beauty can be framed by the most ordinary means. It never lasts, but there is always another image to be discovered. In that sense of the faded past admixed with a blank future Wendy and Lucy is the most real American movie of the past few years. Wendy is present at all times, never more than in the final scenes, heartbreaking yet, yes, imbued with the spirit of the American dream that most American art (and audiences, too) yielded to nothing long ago.

Now Showing
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO. 
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.

Glenwood Arts
9575 Metcalf
Overland Park
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-642-4404 for showtimes 

By   Sun, Mar 22, 2009

How do you get a room full of children and adults to go on a far-reaching journey for one hour without any breaks?  Ask Laurie Brooks because her newest play Atypical Boy is a perfect lesson in playwriting and audience captivation.  

The Coterie Theatre's latest production by Brooks is a story about Boy (Alex Espy) born into a far away world where "conformity is compulsory" and "being like your neighbor" is not only expected but required.  Narrated and directed by The Ordinary (Martin Buchanan), the play's characters portrayed by actors and puppets, move in and around the audience. 

Boy is unique and not able to conform to the rules, and is therefore shunned by society. He is sent to treatment centers and subjected to outlandish tests designed to make him fit in.  As a result of his shunning, a 'monster' (portrayed by a puppet) emerges from Boy's alter-ego.  He is exiled to The Edge of the World where he meets other 'atypical' characters like Girl (Heidi Van) who is struggling to retain her humanity, and Hugo (Jason Loverde), once a person, but who is now ruled by his monster side.  After much angst and discovering that being nice is hard, the play comes to a halt so the audience can participate.  

Brooks has created an amazing amalgamation of fantasy and reality whirled into one; the world of the play isn't real, but the emotions are.  About her play she says "There's the big fear we have of difference - it's not something we talk about or admit; but if we can control the thing we're afraid of - if we can 'fix it', then it gives us some modicum of control."  Throughout Boy's life everyone tries to control him, hide his differences, come up with some sort of reason to explain his atypical-ness, but in the end he is what he is: an atypical boy.  Brooks continues, "So what we can't understand or categorize we push away.  In the play society wants to be able to control.  If they can fix Boy and control him their world will be perfect."    

It is important to note that this play was commissioned by the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette Syndrome.  In a letter Eisenreich states that this commission was "an opportunity for audiences to explore the complex issues concerning people living with invisible disabilities...While the play does not mention Tourette Syndrome or any specific disability; it uniquely addresses issues about acceptance, how we treat others, and forming relationships in an entertaining and thought-provoking manner."

Watching this play unfold I not only saw the exploration of acceptance with those who have disabilities - invisible or otherwise - but also struggles with any sort of difference from gender identity, to sexuality, to learning disabilities like dyslexia.  Brooks has created a story that everyone can identify with regardless of life's experiences.  

As the play was reaching its climax The Ordinary stopped the action and asked the audience what we thought was happening.  He asked us what we thought the monster in the Boy represented.  He asked us what we thought Boy should do and to even tell him.  And here was an opportunity for us - the audience - to share our feelings about the action thus far.  This critic has never participated in this kind of theatre and it was powerful.  Allowing for this kind of freedom between play and audience might have been chaotic if not handled with care - but with his graciousness and gentle tone, Buchanan as The Ordinary created a welcome environment for open dialogue, and he was successful.  

What Brooks did in that moment could be likened to Anton Chekhov's "string breaking" sound in the middle of his play The Cherry Orchard.  That sound, that one minuscule moment, dissolved the barriers between audience and actor.  In Chekhov's play the characters and the audience hear the "string break" together, everyone stops to acknowledge the sound, and then the play continues as if nothing happened.  There are several schools of thought as to the meaning of that "string breaking" sound, but it doesn't matter because its function is genius.  

By inviting the audience to participate in her story, Brooks made actor and audience one.  We made a journey together and each of us had a stake, and perhaps even a decision, in what was going to happen next.  We became accountable for our actions through the lives of the characters on stage.  In essence their world became our world and vise versa.  "What interests me and what I was trying to explore with this play," Brooks said, "is what happens when someone is shunned and doesn't 'fit in.' What if it's an entire world - an entire society - that you're shut out of?  Who is culpable?"  


REVIEW
The Coterie Theatre
Atypical Boy
By Laurie Brooks
Through March 29
2450 Grand Blvd, Level One Crown Center Shops, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online at www.coterietheatre.org 

By Gayle G. Hathorne   Tue, Mar 03, 2009

A full house at the Lyric Theatre was treated to the brilliant trumpet virtuosity of Alison Balsom Friday night as she made her debut appearance with the Kansas City Symphony. Following hot on the heels of violinist, Julia Fischer, who wowed Kansas City last weekend with her spellbinding leadership of the St. Martin in the Fields orchestra, Ms. Balsom staked her claim as Fischer's brass player equivalent in this sizzling new generation of women concert artists.

Donned in a gorgeous grey sleeveless full gown with train, her long, blonde hair flowing about her, the lithe, glamorous, and nearly 6 foot tall Ms. Balsom conjured images from last week’s Oscar runway as she made her way to the front of the stage. From the start of the Henri Tomasi Concerto for Trumpet, Balsom delivered an exquisite array of tonal colors ranging from lyrical, singing tones with impeccable dynamic shading to sparkling staccato flourishes, all within expressive musical lines that illuminated Tomasi’s densely complex score. Apart from serving as a showcase for trumpet technique, the concerto is not particularly musically accessible; however, in the hands of this extraordinary musician, its complex leaping harmonic intervals and virtuoso demands were scaled with effortless agility.

Balsom presented a rich variation of tonal effects even within the many muted passages, and presented the trumpet line always within the context of Tomasi’s larger musical scheme. The first movement cadenza, set trapeze-style to the accompaniment of a snare drum roll, rang with Balsom’s dazzling tone, singing as freely and lyrically in the stratosphere high notes as in the treacherously difficult bottom notes of the trumpet range. A mood of mystery was set in the second movement as it opened to the strumming of a harp above a cymbal roll and cello drone, upon which Balsom’s muted trumpet spun musical magic in an expressive, lyrical delivery more suggestive of a great violinist than of a brass soloist. The third movement began with muted staccato trumpet sparkles that led into a lush romantic development section.

That work was followed by Haydn’s Concerto in E-flat Major for Trumpet and Orchestra in which music making of the highest order was brought from the heart of this superb artist. Balsom and Concertmistress Ito interacted marvelously onstage in a lively spurring of musical ideas to create an interpretation that inspired the orchestra to release the boundless joy encapsulated in Haydn’s work. Even in the cadenza, Balsom’s formidable technical command of the instrument allowed her to express the beauty of Haydn’s musical ideas, rather than stress the usual bragging of notes and techniques that cadenzas often serve. The second movement was played with elegance and meticulous attention to dynamic nuance as Balsom challenged the orchestra to meet her pianissimo. Clean and brilliant, the third movement was highlighted by Balsom’s arsenal of techniques that included fantastic embellishments and pianissimo trills. It was exciting to hear for the first time the music inherent in this jewel of a work. The house went wild with applause and a standing ovation, for which they were rewarded with an encore – Libertango by Astor Piazzola. Its swaying Latin rhythms and the sheer beauty of Balsom’s round, seductive tone inspired Musical Director, Michael Stern to dance the tango on the podium, whilst conducting.

Stern had opened the evening’s program with Schumann’s Manfred Overture in a glorious palette of orchestral colors, which descended into a shaky transition into Schumann’s darker thematic material via syncopated rhythms and unusual key modulations. The depth of Schumann’s sturm and drang expression of the dark Manfred tale was not allowed to develop fully in the agitated section, glossed over superficially by Stern who focused his direction from the violins down to the lower brass, instead of building up from the tonal foundation of the lower instruments to embellish with the higher octaves. That aside, great pathos was unleashed in the solo celli passage, followed by tight string ensemble passages.

Following intermission, Stern directed the Symphony in a fine rendition of Richard Strauss’ autobiographical tone poem, Ein Heldenleben. The glorious unison opening "Hero" theme statement by the celli and horns that spans nearly four octaves was full of soaring vigor, followed by the full orchestral forces to produce a rich, warm sound, resplendent with ringing brass. In the third section depicting the "Hero’s Wife," Concertmistress Kanako Ito served up a luscious violin cadenza, teaming with nimble glissandi and full beauty of tone. The backstage trumpet fanfare that followed was clean in articulation and intonation, answered by the onstage horn solo of Alberto Suarez in a gorgeous wail, which led into the next section of the 50 minute work in which the percussion figured prominently, depicting troops in a battle scene. In all, it was an exciting performance, highlighted a second time by a prolonged violin solo section played stunningly by Ito, calling the Hero back to his beloved Companion. Other notably fine solo spots in the work were heard by English hornist Kenneth Lawrence, Principal bassoonist Ann Bilderback, Principal oboist Lora Schaefer-Berndt, and Principal hornist Alberto Suarez. As Stern led the orchestra to a splendid conclusion, the audience, once again, rose to express their enthusiasm with a full standing ovation.


REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
With Alison Balsom, trumpet
Friday, February 27, 2009 at 8:00 pm,
Lyric Theatre, Downtown Kansas City, MO
www.kcsymphony.org

By   Sat, Mar 07, 2009

The Lied Center in Lawrence hosted The Pajama Game, the latest in a series of traveling Broadway shows to hit the KU Campus. George Abbott and Richard Bissell wrote the book. Music and lyrics were by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Michael McFadden directed the traveling show.

The most prominent issue for me was the story itself. The original play was written in 1954 and this version was also staged in that decade. A workplace romance goes wrong when the couple ends up on opposite sides of a union strike. Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad. However, from a modern perspective, the whole show reeks of potential sexual harassment lawsuits. Many of the women working in the pajama factory are pursued by their superiors. Babe, the leading lady, refuses advances from her boss numerous times before finally relenting. That isn’t very romantic. It’s unethical.

A clear vision from the director might have saved the show. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case either. Many of the actors adopted so drastically different acting styles, they could have been from entirely different productions. Thomas Demarcus, Hines, was cartoonish --great for songs, but awkward during his speaking lines. Martin C. Hurt chose to play Mr. Hassler, the big boss, as a real person from a serious drama. Many of the other performers shifted between these two extremes, as if they hadn’t received direction one way or the other. It seems nobody really knew if this was a comedy, a farce, a drama, or a romance.

Crystal Kellogg, as Babe Williams, was a talented performer and a strong presence onstage. However, her line delivery seemed over-rehearsed, especially in the beginning of the show. Sid Sorokin, the factory supervisor played by Jason Winfield, was an extremely confusing character. He fluctuated between easy indifference and bouts of rage, leaving us to wonder if his character had split personalities. Gladys, played by Loriann Freda, had a similar problem. Early on, she developed a character walk, and voice, which she did not consistently maintain. Out of everyone, I think Mabel, played by Kathy Halenda, was my personal favorite. She did first-rate work and made me laugh, without trying to steal the spotlight. That is admirable.

To their credit, the actors kept up their energy, despite the obvious inclination to “phone it in” in the middle of Kansas (ouch… we’re people too!). And honestly, The Pajama Game script does not give actors a chance to shine, so perhaps my judgments are a bit harsh.

So maybe I should say some positive things. The set was fabulous. Jim Kronzer transported us seamlessly from factory, to a park, to Babe’s house, to Hernando’s Hideaway (my favorite) while keeping everything in the same world. He gave the production a unique look, which held the show together.

The lighting was interesting, subtle, shocking, and always executed well. The lights were designed by Chris Lee. Memorable lighting scenes include the dance silhouettes in “Steam Heat”, the neon and saturated colors of “Hernando’s Hideaway”, and the subtle kitchen-y feel the lights gave to Babe’s house. Lee’s resume reflects his versatility. He has done everything from Shakespeare to Broadway drama to Las Vegas shows.

Costumes were based on Martin Pakledinaz’s Broadway design, nominated for a Tony in 2006. They were good, and generally fit the characters. I was confused by the costume color palate, which seemed to clash quite a bit, with itself, and with the set. Perhaps there was some miscommunication. Or, perhaps it was meant to clash, showing tension between characters. But hey, who am I to judge a Tony award-winning design?

To sum up, this was a tough show to sit through. Although in retrospect, the catchy songs may have saved it from total disaster. I didn’t enjoy the antiquated ideas about women in the workplace. Why it was revived, I’ll never know. The Pajama Game needs to be put to bed. For good.


REVIEW:
Lied Center
The Pajama Game
Friday, February 27, 2009
Lied Center, KU Campus, Lawrence, KS

By Michael D. Smith   Tue, Mar 24, 2009

John Malkovich has always excelled at playing widely diverse characters from the disturbed, would-be presidential assassin in In the Line of Fire to the fired C.I.A. analyst inBurn After Reading. But never has he been more brilliant in such an eccentric, comedic role than as a demanding yet sympathetic mentalist in The Great Buck Howard.

We are introduced to Buck by law school dropout Troy Gabel (Colin Hanks) as he seeks to find his true life calling. His first step is answering an ad to become a celebrity's personal assistant, leading him to become Buck's full time road manager as they crisscross the country, traveling from one small town to another.

Buck, who is always pointing out that he was on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 61 times, alternates between berating and praising Troy as he continues to live with the seemingly delusional hope that one day he will be back on top again.

It is in Cincinnati where Buck decides to perform the biggest trick any mentalist has ever attempted. To ensure everyone sees it, celebrity publicist Valerie Brennan (Emily Blunt,Sunshine Cleaning) steps in to help with the media coverage. As expected, a romantic fling develops between her and Troy as Buck suddenly finds himself thrust into the spotlight, but not quite in the way he had planned.

In a role inspired by The Amazing Kreskin, Malkovich disappears with an unforgettable hair piece, a shoulder-dislocating handshake and an exaggerated smile into a character whose quirky and temperamental nature causes him to be both disdainful and likable, yet nearly always generating laughs. Comedy is hard but Malkovich makes it look easy.

The story is just as quirky Buck is for there is a bombardment of celebrity cameos throughout, ranging from Conan O'Brien and Tom Arnold to Martha Stewart and George Takei. The amount of it borders on absurdity yet it manages to retain a sense of pure fun.

Tom Hanks also appears in two scenes as Troy's overly concerned and disappointed father who is desperate to see his son make a successful living as a lawyer. While their father/son scenes are nice, they don't fit well with the story's overall flow. 

Colin is solid with his effort but there is nothing memorable about it and could have been done by any myriad of young thirtysomething actors playing someone in their early twenties. 

On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, The Great Buck Howardreceives a B.

 The Great Buck Howard is rated R and has a running time of 90 minutes. 

Now Showing
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.

Glenwood Arts
9575 Metcalf, Overland Park
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-642-4404 for more information. 

Mon, Mar 16, 2009

Guarneri String Quartet

Kansas City Symphony Chamber Players
Quartets Come Alive
Friday, March 20 at 8:00 p.m.
Visitation Church
5141 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

The Kansas City Symphony's new Chamber Players series features outstanding musicians from the Symphony playing chamber music in small ensembles.  It's an idea that has been pursued by many other orchestras around the country, but is now being taken up by the Symphony in a set series of chamber recitals conducted by assistant conductor Steven Jarvi.

This concert, the second in the series, features the string quartets of Verdi and Shostakovich.
Verdi, you say?  He didn't write anything but operas, did he?  Well, actually he did write a string quartet, once. According to Verdi biographer Dyneley Hussey, the piece was written during a period of enforced leisure in 1875 while Verdi, then 62, was awaiting a delayed performance in Naples of his Requiem. 

His mind was full of the recently composed Aida, and some of the themes of that opera shine through, particularly in the first allegro.  However, "its style is wholly light and free from anything in the nature of bombast." One critic called it "not great" in the sense that Beethoven's string quartets are great, but worthy of occasional exploration both because it was an "interesting excursion" into instrumental music for a composer who usually concentrated on something else, and also because "it makes delightful hearing."

This concert, coming as it does in the midst of the Lyric Opera's production of Verdi's La Traviata, should afford listeners an interesting alternative excursion into the music genius of this towering 19th century composer.

As for the Shostakovich Eighth String Quartet, it is of an entirely different nature, coming from a composer often afflicted with the curse of Stalinist Russia, yet trying to remain true to his Russian heritage.  He wrote it during a dark hour of his afflictions, embedding his own name in the score, translated into musical notes.

We should praise and support director Jarvi for bringing to us this interesting repertoire performed by Symphony musicians whom we can now get to hear in a much more intimate setting than is normally the case.

For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org

The Friends of Chamber Music
Guarneri and Johannes String Quartets
Saturday, March 21 at 8:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

This is definitely the weekend for string quartets, as on Saturday evening you will have a chance to hear two of the best nationally renowned quartets, after hearing four players from the Kansas City Symphony try their hands at quartet music (see previous listing).

The Friends of Chamber Music will present the Guarneri String Quartet and the Johannes String Quartet in a joint program.

The Guarneri, long one of the most celebrated quartets in the country, has announced the end of its long collaboration this coming fall, so this will be your final chance to hear the group in Kansas City.  The Guarneri has circled the globe countless times since it was formed in 1964, playing in the most prestigious halls in North and South America, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia.  As a farewell finale to its career, the quartet is touring extensively throughout the United States in this collaboration with the Johannes String Quartet.

The Johannes, by contrast, is a quartet of much younger musicians, bringing together the principal cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the first American to win the Paganini Violin Competition in 24 years, and a concert artist Guild International Competition winner.

This collaborative concert with the two quartets includes premiere performances of Octet: Double Quartet, a new work written for the two ensembles by award winning composer William Bolcom, commissioned by the Music Accord consortium of presenters, as well as the glorious Mendelssohn Octet.  Also on the program is Derek Bermel's Passing Through and Homunculus, written for them by the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. The Bermel piece, according to one reviewer, "intersperses increasingly dissonant episodes into the chorale from Beethoven's final quartet." The Salonen represents a relatively new excursion into composition by one of today's most energetic orchestra conductors.

For tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org

Lyric Opera of Kansas City
La Traviata
Friday, March 20 at  8:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 22 at 2:00 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
10th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

Just a reminder that this weekend offers your final two chances to catch the Lyric Opera's production of one of Italian opera's shining masterpieces, Verdi's La Traviata.  The title role gives the word "diva" a whole new meaning, and its challenges, requiring a voice ranging from the dramatic to the coloratura, are nothing new to the Lyric's soprano, Mary Dunleavy. She has already mastered the role for audiences at New York's Metropolitan Opera and many other companies, so why not here in Kansas City?

She is partnered by tenor Chad Shelton, celebrated for his prior appearances at the Lyric in the title role of The Rake's Progress several years ago (but his voice has darkened since then), and the powerful baritone Lester Lynch, who recently starred at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  It's one of the finest casts the Lyric Opera has ever assembled, and you won't want to miss it.

For tickets call 816-471-7344 or online at www.kcopera.org

Carlsen Center at JCCC
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Friday, March 20 at 8:00 p.m.
Johnson County Community College
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS

Founded  81 years ago, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra has performed with many of the world's leading conductors, including Neeme Jarvi (principal conductor from 1963 to 1979), Valery Gergiev, Kurt Masur, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Leonard Slatkin, Igor Stravinsky and others. The orchestra has premiered works of the leading Estonian composers Arvo Part, Erkki-Sven Tuur, and Eduard Tubin.

Now under the direction of Paavo Jarvi, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra has recorded several discs for Virgin Classics, winning a Grammy Award in 2003 and BBC Music Magazine's Best Orchestral Recording award in 2006.

The Orchestra is now in its debut American tour, which features Van Cliburn 2005 Silver Medalist Joyce Yang as piano soloist. She will be featured in Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3. Also on the program are the Symphony No. 2 by Sibelius and other works.

For tickets call 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc.net

Harriman-Jewell Series
Yevgeny Sudbin, pianist
Thursday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

In this free Discovery Concert, the Harriman-Jewell series presents the 28-year-old Russian phenom Yevgeny Sudbin, whose pianism has been compared with some of the greats in the past. Sudbin will play the music of Scarlatti (a favorite), Haydn and Chopin, but also show his Russian side with the music of Prokofiev and 20th century composer Nikolai Medtner.  The Harriman-Jewell Series should get due praise for its presentation of these occasional free concerts featuring outstanding musicians.

Free tickets available at 816-415-5025, or online www.harriman-jewell.org

Conservatory of Music and Dance, UMKC
Conservatory Wind Symphony
Thursday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m.
White Recital Hall
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO

The Conservatory Wind Symphony is always one of the most pleasing of the music ensembles offered by the Conservatory.  Under the direction of Steven D. Davis, conductor, the Wind Symphony offers in this program three world premieres by Conservatory faculty members:  Chen Yi's UMKC Fanfare, Zhou Long's The Future of Fire, and Paul Rudy & Bobby Watson's Finally... (yes, that's the title). 

Also are the program is a piece by another Conservatory composer, James Mobberley, entitled Words of Love. To represent the non-Conservatory composers, the Wind Symphony will perform Kammerkonzert by Alban Berg.

Joseph Parisi is a guest conductor, and the guest artists include soprano Rebecca Sherburn, pianist Robert Weirich, violinist Benny Kim and jazz saxophonist Bobby Watson.

For tickets call  816-235-6222, or online at www.conservatory.umkc.edu

Conservatory of Music and Dance, UMKC
Signature Series
Hung-Kuan Chen, piano
Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m.
White Recital Hall
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO

The Conservatory of Music's Signature Series featuring outstanding guest artists continues this weekend with a recital by Taiwanese pianist Hung-Kuan Chen. Trained in Germany, Chen is regarded as an extraordinary interpreter of Beethoven's music, and won top prizes in the Arthur Rubinstein, the Busoni and the Geza Anda International Piano Competitions, among others. He is also the recipient of the Avery Fisher Career grant.

He is the chair of the Piano Department of the Shanghai Conservatory and is the Director of the International Piano Academy in Shanghai. Prior to those appointments he was on the faculty of Boston University, New England Conservatory Preparatory, and was a Distinguished Artist in Residence at Mount Royal Conservatory in Canada.

On this concert, Chen will perform the Intermezzo in E Major by Brahms, Beethoven's Sonata No. 28 in A Major, two Chopin Nocturnes, and Rachmaninoff's Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor.

For tickets call 816-235-6222, or online at www.conservatory.umkc.edu 

Mon, Mar 09, 2009

The Friends of Chamber Music
The Academy of Ancient Music
Bach's Complete Brandenberg Concertos
Friday, March 13 at 8 p.m.
Folly Theater
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

One of the major movements in classical music during the past 30 years has been the return by some ensembles to original instruments and original performances practices to try to recapture great compositions of the past in the way that the composers would have intended them to be heard. Probably the leading exponent of this performance practice has been the Academy of Ancient Music, which since its founding by Christopher Hogwood in 1973 has become one of the most recognizable names among world orchestras. Even now, 36 years later, the Academy is known for the freshness and vitality of its performances.

Concerts across six continents and over 250 recordings demonstrate the Academy's pre-eminence in music of the baroque and classical periods.

In 2006, Hogwood assumed the title of Emeritus Director and passed leadership of the AAM on to the brilliant young keyboard player Richard Egarr. He has proven to be a worthy successor. National Public Radio christened him "the Bernstein of early music", and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote "with Richard Egarr's brilliance as its Music Director, this orchestra is playing better than ever". Egarr's first recording as AAM Music Director was awarded a Gramophone Award for baroque instrumental music; his second climbed to number 1 in Amazon.com's "Movers and Shakers in Music" chart.

In this performance under the auspices of The Friends of Chamber Music, the Academy appears on the Folly Theater stage performing all six of Bach's pathbreaking Brandenburg Concertos.  It's rare to hear all six concertos performed in one concert (the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra did it several years ago, to great effect), and this performance should be a real treat.

For tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org
 

Lyric Opera of Kansas City
La Traviata
by Giuseppe Verdi
Saturday, March 14 at 8 p.m.
Monday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
Lyric Theater, 11th & Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

One of the most celebrated production of Ward Holmquist's ten years as artistic director of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City was the La Traviata which opened his directorship here. Now, on the occasion of his eleventh season, the Lyric Opera is producing the piece again, with Holmquist again taking the baton and this time directing celebrated Metropolitan Opera star Mary Dunleavy in the title role.

La Traviata has long been considered a tour de force for the greatest sopranos of the age, and it is still true that no soprano, no matter how famous in other roles, can really be considered to have "made it" on the opera stage without a few productions of La Traviata under her belt.  Fortunately, Dunleavy fits the bill splendidly, having performed the role at the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, and in Barcelona, among other venues. The Lyric Opera is indeed fortunate to have obtained the services of one of today's leading sopranos for this role.

La Traviata is more than just a "soprano's opera," though. It is a moving story that requires sensitive direction and a compelling cast in all of the roles. The Lyric Opera is also bringing to the stage tenor Chad Shelton, who previously sang the title role in The Rake's Progress with the company (and other roles as well), and the powerful baritone Lester Lynch, who earlier this season was featured at the "other" Lyric Opera (the one in Chicago) as Porgy in Porgy and Bess.  Both Shelton and Lynch should be superb in their roles.

In this author's opinion this cast looks, at least on paper, to be one of the strongest the Lyric Opera has ever assembled. Early reviews from those involved in rehearsals are that the performance should be one of the best ever in Kansas City.

For tickets call 816-471-7344 or online atwww.kcopera.org
 

 Kansas City Chamber Orchestra
Beethoven, Bach and Britten
Tuesday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Village Presbyterian Church
6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, Kansas

Last week we jumped the gun a tad and announced this concert, just so you wouldn't be caught short with only a day's notice. But we mention it again because you may not want to miss it. The Kansas City Chamber Orchestra under the sensitive leadership of Bruce Sorrell will be performing Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and Beethoven's rarely ventured Grosse fuge, one of his most atypical and forward-thinking compositions.

The program also includes Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge and Belmont Ford's Remembrance, which was commissioned by the Chamber Orchestra to celebrate its 10th anniversary twelve years ago, and the life of Marion Gillerlain. It is a richly rewarding work of love, loss, and renewal.

For tickets call 816-961-1324 or online at www.kcchamberorchestra.org
 

 Topeka Symphony Orchestra
Hollywood Spectacular
Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m.
White Concert Hall
Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas

This concert by the Topeka Symphony under the direction of John Strickler, will feature excerpts from Hollywood blockbusters like The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Ben Hur and others. Also on the program is the first movement from the Wieniawski Concerto No. 2 for Violin, featuring 2009 Youth Talent Winner Philip Marten.

For tickets call 785-232-2032 or e-mail tso@topekasymphony.org
For mor information visit www.topekasymphony.org (tickets not available online)

Mon, Mar 02, 2009

Harriman-Jewell Series
The Irish Spectacular: Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra
Friday, March 7 at  8:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
12th and Central, Dowtown Kansas City, MO

The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra was founded more than 150 years ago and until the 1930's gave concerts exclusively in the city of its birth. Suspended during World War II and the years following, the orchestra was reconstituted in 1997 under the direction of Music Director Derek Gleeson, drawing its members from Irish and other European orchestral musicians. The new Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra gave its premier concert during the 1997 Kilkenny Arts Festival at the great 13th century Norman cathedral, "St, Canices" in the ancient city of Kilkenny.

The orchestra specializes in bringing together the finest Irish and European musicians to perform music of Ireland.

This concert will include guest artists Frankie Gavin (violin), Aidan O'Brien (Uilleann pipes and Irish flute), Cora Venus Lunny (violin), Eric Cunningham and Peadar Townsend (bodhran and percussion), and "Women of Ireland" (vocals, violin, and dance).

The evening's program includes In Spirit, an overture by Jonathan Casey that features Uilleann pipe soloist Aidan O'Brien; Inishlacken, a double violin concerto for classical violin (Cora Venus Lunny) and traditional Irish fiddle (Athena Tergis) by the composer of Riverdance, Bill Whelan; Aughrim Suite by Patrick Cassidy based on the Battle of Aughrim, featuring Uilleann pipes (Aidan O'Brien); and the aria (Carmel Conway) from Cassidy's cantata Deirdre of the Sorrows, based on the ancient Celtic legend of the same name. Traditional Irish fiddle player Frankie Gavin will be featured on Bardinerie, 1920's Jigs, and Queen of Sheba.

The final half of the concert, entitled "A Gala Celebration of Celtic Music," includes original orchestral arrangements by Irish composers. Celtic mystical and folklore traditional musical elements are interwoven with symphonic orchestral color and structures, some featuring Irish instrumental soloists performing on traditional Irish instruments of fiddle (Frankie Gavin and Athena Tergis), Uilleann pipes, Irish flute, whistles, and banjo (Aidan O'Brien), bodhrán and percussion (Eric Cunningham and Peadar Townsend), vocals (Michelle Lally, Denise Brennan, and Ingrid Madsen), and Irish traditional dancer Fiona Collins.

For tickets call 816-415-5025 or online at www.harriman-jewell.org

Kansas City Youth Symphony
Young Artist Solo and Ensemble Showcase
Thursday, March 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Congregation Kol Ami
7501 Belinder, Prairie Village, KS
Free admission

Concerto Showcase
Sunday, March 8, 4:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
Free admission

The Kansas City Youth Symphony is presenting its solo and ensemble showcase of young artists on Thursday evening.  Then, on Sunday afternoon, the Youth Symphony presents a concerto showcase at the Folly Theater.  Both events are free and open to the public.

Quartet Accorda and Friends Concert
Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel at Park University Campus
8700 N.W. River Park Drive, Parkville, MO
Free admission

Park University is gaining a reputation for putting on excellent concerts by both faculty and students. This author has found no information about the content of this concert, but if it is up the usual Park standards it should be excellent.

 The Friends of Chamber Music
What Makes It Great?
with Rob Kapilow
Maia String Quartet
Haydn's String Quartet in G Major, Op. 76, No. 1

Saturday, March 7 at 11 a.m.
The Folly Theatre, Downtown Kanas City, MO
Free Admission: For information call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org

Sunday, March 8 at 2 p.m.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org

The inimitable Rob Kapilow will give another one of his entertaining and informative What Makes It Great? presentations this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at the Folly Theater under the auspices of the Friends of Chamber Music.  This one will focus on the Haydn String Quartet in G Major, and feature the playing of the Maia Quartet.

Kansas City Symphony
Community Connections Performance: A Soldier's Tale
Saturday, March 7, at 2:00 p.m.
World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial
100 West 26th Street, Kansas City, MO

This free concert by the Kansas City Symphony Chamber Players is part of the Symphony's Community Connection series.  A selection of players from the Symphony will perform music from the World War I era, Stravinsky's Octet for Winds and Stravinsky's l'Histoire du Soldat. The concert will be held in the J.C. Nichols Auditorium at the World War I Museum.

Free admission, but call 816-471-0400 to reserve.

UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Faculty Recital with Carter Enyeart, cello
Saturday, March 7 at  5:00 p.m.
Immanuel Lutheran Church
1700 Westport Road (at Genessee), Kansas City, MO
Free admission

Carter Enyeart is a professor of cello with the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, and will be performing a program of Bach cello suites (C Major, D Minor and E Flat Major) at the free faculty recital.  It should be a treat!

Bach Aria Soloists
Letters and Music
Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Kansas City Central Library, Kirk Hall
14 West 10th Street, Downtown Kansas City, MO
Free admission but reservations are required. Call 816-701-3407 or visit www.bachariasoloists.com for more information

Soprano Rebecca Lloyd and guests Beau Bledsoe, guitar, and Jane Solose, harpsichord, join Bach Aria Soloists founder Elizabeth Suh-Lane, violinist, for this free program presented with the Kansas City Public Library.  The presentation will include Bach's Sonata for Violin and Basso Continuo in E Minor; duets by the violinist Fritz Kreisler for violin and guitar, arranged by Beau Bledsoe; Baroque jewels by Purcell, Couperin and Rameau for harpsichord; Manuel de Falla's gorgeous Le Tombeau de Debussy for Guitar, and other pieces to be announced.

Actor Robert Brand will complement the program with readings from letters by the composers relating to the works being performed.

Hauskonzert of the Year
Music and Musings
Sunday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Home of Benny and Edith Lee
6300 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO
Tickets are free,

With Jane Solose, harpsichord and Beau Bledsoe, guitar. Featuring actor Robert Brand in dramatic readings of composer's letters and the music of Bach, Purcell, Kreisler, DeFalla and others.

Amission charge and tickets must be reserved in advance by calling 816-701-3407. 
Visit www.bachariasoloists.com for more information
 

Community of Christ Dome & Spire Series
Duo Organ Recital: David Raymond and Carl Gravender, organists
Sunday, March 8 at 3:00 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
River and Walnut Streets, Independence, MO
Free admission

The Community of Christ's Auditorium organ is really two organs, with consoles and sets of pipes 200 feet from each other at opposite ends of the room. Both main and antiphonal consoles will be used in this recital, which is a rare occurrence. Des Moines organists David Raymond (Cathedral Church of St. Paul) and Carl Gravender (Plymouth Congregational Church) will perform duet and solo works by Bach, Vierne, John Rutter, Richard Purvis, Charles Callahan, and others, concluding with a thrilling rendition of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries"  from Die Walkure.  It should be quite a treat!

Northland Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, March 8 at 3:00 p.m.
Park Hill South High School
Free admission

The Northland Symphony Orchestra will perform a program of Berlioz, Holst and Mendelssohn favorites at Park Hill High School. The concert will also feature the winner of a high school soloist competition.

Kansas City Chamber Orchestra
Beethoven, Bach and Britten
Tuesday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Village Presbyterian Church
6641 Mission Road
Prairie Village, Kansas

The Kansas City Chamber Orchestra has long been a favorite local classical group, combining the precise and sensitive direction of Bruce Sorrell with an interesting and varied selection of repertoire, including both the traditional and the unusual.

This concert features the music of Beethoven and Bach.  What could be more traditional, you say?  But ah, this isn't just any Beethoven...this is Beethoven's late and monumental Grosse fuge, a work thought rather strange at the time, startling in its anticipation of dissonant music, and found to be incomprehensible by many of his fellow composers.  It's rarely heard in concerts here, and this will give you an excellent opportunity to sample this unusual and challenging work.

The Bach selection is more usual fare, but should be a great listen.  His Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 is deservedly one of his most famous works.

Other pieces on the program include Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge and Belmont Ford's Remembrance, which was commissioned by the Chamber Orchestra to celebrate its 10th anniversary twelve years ago, and the life of Marion Gillerlain. It is a richly rewarding work of love, loss, and renewal.

For tickets call 816-961-1324 or online at www.kcchamberorchestra.org
   

Mon, Mar 02, 2009

The month of March is full to the brim of fantastic choral and vocal performances. The following listings are only some of the highlighted performances over the next two weeks. For a complete listing of performances in our area, visit our full performing arts calendar.
 

Luther College
The Nordic Choir
Conducted by Craig Arnold
Monday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Liberty United Methodist Church
1001 Sunset Avenue, Liberty, MO

The Nordic Choir boasts one of the most impressive pedigrees of all American collegiate choirs. Many choral enthusiasts know of the Nordic Choir via their many tours with conductor Weston Noble, who conducted the group for 57 years. Founded in 1946, Luther College's (Decorah, IA) flagship ensemble continues their tradition of great choral music with Dr. Craig Arnold at the helm. The choir is giving this concert as part of their trip to Oklahoma City to perform at the National Conference of the American Choral Director's Association.

Free admission with free-will offering gratefully accepted.
For information about the Nordic Choir, visit www.music.luther.edu/ensembles/nordic.

The Topeka Festival Singers
Elijah - an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn
Monday, March 2 at 7:30pm
White Concert Hall at Washburn University
1700 SW College Ave, Topeka, KS

As if Mendelssohn's St. Paul wasn't enough for oratorio enthusiasts, being performed at Village Presbyterian Church, we get the composer's other triumph in the genre Monday night in Topeka.

2009 is the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth, and many performing ensembles are paying tribute by performing Mendelssohn's works.

Tickets available at the door or call 785-267-3500

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD
Madama Butterfly
by G. Puccini
Featuring Cristina Gallardo-Domâs and Marcello Giordani
Saturday, March 7 at noon

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD is continuing their successful run of live broadcasts this year. The Met will transmit a total of eleven live and ten encore events this season from September to May. Don't miss the excitement of experiencing the Met on the big screen. Cristina Gallardo-Domas, the original Butterfly of the production when it opened the 2006-07 season, returns to the title role of the late Anthony Minghella's stunning production, a classic of the new Met repertory.

Several movie theaters in town are showing this event.

For ticket information, visit www.fathomevents.com.
Visit our big calendar to view local venues showing this performance.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City
La Traviata
by Giuseppe Verdi
Saturday, March 14 at 8 p.m.
Monday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
Lyric Theater
11th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

In the operatic genre, Verdi is the reigning king. His spellbinding tragedy, La Traviata, gives new meaning to the idea of being hopelessly in love. The heartfelt work takes us through the entire emotional spectrum from romantic bliss to eternal anguish. Metropolitan Opera star Mary Dunleavy (Violetta), who has received rave reviews for her performance, will lead the cast. The opera will be sung in Italian with English subtitles.

For tickets call 816-471-7344 or online at  www.kcopera.org

By KCM Staff   Tue, Oct 28, 2008

Mon, Mar 09, 2009

UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
UMKC Senior Dance Recitals
Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 8, 2009 at 2 p.m.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
White Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center,
4949 Cherry St., KCMO 64110

In preparation for their professional careers, graduating senior dance students must present works of their mastery of the dance to fulfill their requirements for graduation.  These performance requirements must include original works by the students, as well as a choreographed ensemble piece, and a solo.  

The Senior Dance Recitals are always fresh and exciting to see, for they showcase new talent at the beginning of their careers, before they join professional dance companies across the USA.  

Free Admission.  For information call 816-235-2799
or online at www.conservatory.umkc.edu/calendarofevents.aspx
 

Reach...  a movement collective, inc. presents
Reach Spring Fling 2009
Thursday, March 12,  5:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Czar Bar,
1531 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108

Reach...  a movement collective, inc. is a small, but refreshingly creative, not-for-profit, Modern Dance company.  This show is their annual Spring fundraiser and will be held in a bar venue, and featuring some of the KC Crossroads most popular (and edgy) entertainers.  The program includes performances by Reach (a movement collective), Heidi Van and the Coppelia Project (a feminist clown mime version of Coppelia), Brian Padavic and Jake Eisfelder, Sweet Louise, Loaded Dice (comedy improv), Spite (like your psycho ex-girlfriend without the restraining order), and Unleashed.  

$10 suggested donation at the door.  For more information, go online to www.reachkc.org/
 

Carlsen Center at JCCC
In the Mood, a 1940s Musical Revue
Sunday, March 15 at 2:00 p.m.
Carlsen Center, JCCC
12345 College Blvd, OPKS

This big band swing, theatrical, musical review brings the memorable music and dance of the Greatest Generation to the stage.  Featured will be 1940s and WWII retro songs and acts, including music by Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Erskin Hawkins, the Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra, and others.  Authentic music, arrangements, choreography, and costumes from the 1940s set this revue apart from other retro shows.  Featuring live performances by the In the Mood Singers and Dancers and the String of Pearls Big Band Orchestra, the show was developed in affiliation with the USO, (United Service Organizations), and was created as a series of tours to commerate the 50th anniversary of World War II with the purpose to educate and entertain audiences across the USA.  Uplifting and inspiring, this nostalgic show will delight family audiences of all ages.  
 
For tickets call 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter

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. (Benefit for Salvation Army.)
Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m.  (Benefit for Kansas City Free Health Clinic.)
White Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center,
4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, MO

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.  This 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).  The music will feature compositions of Gershwin, Haydn, Mahler, Brahms, and others, 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.  

Reservation Info:
Kansas City Ballet and UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Benefit for The Salvation Army on Tuesday, March 24
Visit www.salarmy-mokan.org to reserve seats.

Kansas City Ballet and UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Benefit for The Kansas City Free Health Clinic on Wednesday, March 25
For more information or to reserve seats, call Sally at 816-777-1595.
 
An RSVP is requested to assure seating. Free-will donations will be accepted the night of the event and will benefit either The Salvation Army on March 24th or The Kansas City Free Health Clinic on March 25th.

Mon, Mar 30, 2009

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.

Mon, Mar 30, 2009

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

Mon, Mar 02, 2009

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

Unicorn Theatre
The Clean House
by Sarah Ruhl
Runs February 27 - March 22, 2009
Unicorn Theatre
3828 Main St., Kansas City, MO

Lane, a successful doctor who likes everything in order, hires a quirky maid who hates to clean but loves to tell jokes in Portuguese. When the maid befriends the doctor's sister-who does love to clean-a strange yet perfect match is made.  A comic look at the secrets we sweep under the rug, laughter we don't understand, events we can't control and how hard it is to keep houses (and lives) tidy.
For tickets call 816-531-7529 or online at  www.unicorntheatre.org

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

OPENING SOON

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

Musical Theatre Heritage (MTH)
Who's Lerner & Loewe?
Runs March 5 through March 22
Off Center Theatre
Crown Center - 3rd Level
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO

In 1942 Alan Jay Lerner (lyrist and librettist) was heading to the restroom when he took a wrong turn and managed to run into Frederick "Fritz" Loewe (composer).  A brief conversation ensued and a lifelong friendship and rocky professional relationship stormed forward.  For over 30 years the writing team created some of the greatest classic American musicals ever to hit the Broadway stage.  After each show it would be reported that one would never work the other again.  Despite their intensity for the art, both Lerner and Loewe understood their dynamic which garnered some of their greatest works as individuals.  Six months before Lerner's death, the musical team earned a Kennedy Center Honor in December of 1985.
    
Host George Harter gives us an evening of classic Lerner & Lowe music from Brigadoon, Camelot, Gigi, Paint Your Wagon and My Fair Lady.  With Cary Mock on piano audiences will hear the delectable voices of Nathan Granner, Lindsey McKee, Brandon Sollenberger, Teri Wilder, Emily Harris and Kevin Bogan.  

 One More Thing: If you're not familiar with Lerner & Loewe go to MTH's website to view some video clips from the musical team's repertoire.  

For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online at www.musicaltheaterheritage.com
 

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.
 

Theatre for Young America (TYA)
I Never Saw Another Butterfly
A co-production with Avila University
Opens March 8
Union Station's City Stage
30 West Pershing Road

In conjunction with Avila University, Sprint Foundation and Union Station, TYA will be performing I Never Saw Another Butterfly.  This production runs simultaneously with the current exhibit A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul and The Jewish People, now at Union Station and open to the public through March 27.  "This play is based on the writings of children who passed through the Terezin concentration camp in World War II."  This is not the first time Avila University and TYA have partnered together, but if you haven't seen a production this one is a must see for any first timer. 

One More Thing: Many shows are already sold out please visit Avila University's exhibit website for available dates and times.

For more information visit www.avila.edu/blessing/events.asp   

Potluck Productions
The 2009 Kansas City Women's Playwriting Festival
Directed by Richard Alan Nichols 
Runs through March 8
Just Off Broadway Theatre, 
3051 Central in Penn Valley Park

Becoming an annual event in the metropolis, Potluck Productions presents another festival featuring new works from women playwrights.  Fostering original works, new and veteran playwrights and promoting women in the art of theatre, Potluck Productions does their part to add to the ever growing American theatre repertoire.  

From Potluck Productions:
This year's Festival features the following works: "Glass Jaw" and "Slow Dance With Cake" by Tracey Evans; "De-Con-Struction" by Kirsten Fatland; "Sweet Potato Pie(s)" by Nancy Gall-Clayton; "Canyon's Edge" by Barbara Lindsay; and "Turtle Beach" by Aoise Stratford.

Featured in this year's festival is the following Kansas City talent: Ari Bavel; Tanya Barber; Glendora Davis; Ryan Laws; Ellen Loschke; Michael Masterson; Kathy Murphy; Hank Rector; Joyce Slater; and Lucille Windsor.

For tickets call 816-523-5038 or online at www.kcpotluckproductions.com

The Coterie Theatre
Atypical Boy
By Laurie Brooks
Runs March 10 through March 29
Crown Center - Lower level
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO

Laurie Brooks has worked with The Coterie Theatre before.  Her play The Wrestling Season was commissioned by The Coterie, featured at Kennedy Center's One Theatre World, printed in the Playscript Series of American Theatre Magazine's November 2000 issue, and winner of several "Best of" awards here in Kansas City, Seattle and Dallas.  This time Brooks is trying something new with her newest work Atypical Boy.  

From The Coterie's website: "...award winning playwright Laurie Brooks [has written] a spirited play that serves as metaphor for youth with invisible disabilities.  In this comedic play, enter a funny, fable-like world that is created with color, expressive characters and puppets.  Here, conformity is valued and individuality is misunderstood.  But in the midst of this is a young person who is disenfranchised because he cannot match the others.  What's more, when the story reaches its highest point, playwright Brooks stops the action and lets you, the audience, interact with the characters!"

One More Thing: If you want to know about Brooks visit her website atwww.lauriebrooks.com.

For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online at www.coterietheatre.org
 

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
James C. Olsen Performing Arts Center
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

By Don Dagenais   Mon, Mar 16, 2009

The Kansas City Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Bruce Sorrell has been a reliable source of outstanding chamber music performances in Kansas City for over twenty years. On March 10 the group performed a strings-only concert with music by the four B's, Beethoven, Bach, Belmont and Britten (well, Kansas City composer Jean Belmont now goes by "Jean Belmont Ford," but it was too good a coincidence to pass up).

The Beethoven Grosse fuge, Op. 133 is one of the master's final compositions and has puzzled generations of musicologists ever since. It is unlike virtually anything else he wrote, and strikes notes of clashing dissonance that are more typical of 20th century music than anything from the Romantic era.

True to its name ("Grand Fugue"), the music is both a fugue and large in scale. Beethoven utilized several key themes, introducing them constantly throughout the piece, and then setting them up against one another, doing musical "battle," as it were, often producing angular tones and striking dissonances. All of this is very difficult for a conductor to control, and Sorrell's pacing was metronomic, which is probably the only sensible way to approach this piece.  Just keeping the players together takes real effort, as the music tends to want to fly away in all directions, without control.

The middle section produce soft and flowing tones, sounding about as traditional as Beethoven allowed himself to get. There, Sorrell conducted more expansively, allowing the strings to wax and wane with soft and flowing melodies. For the final section, however, it was back to clashing themes, painted more brightly and airily this time, with surprising stuttered stops and starts showing a syncopation that we are not used to hearing in Beethoven.

The section playing was outstanding and altogether the orchestra gave the piece a solid reading, making a case for one of Beethoven's most challenging compositions.

Jean Belmont Ford's Remembrance is a setting of three poems by Rossetti and Tennyson, sung by a mezzo-soprano with string accompaniment. The singer of the evening was Krista River, whose floating tones expressed the music well, although much of the time the melodic interest seemed to be more in the orchestra than in the vocal writing. 

Belmont displayed a flair for rich string sounds, with clean and angular music that, to these ears, sounded Coplandesque at times. The second song, "Remember me when I am gone away," seemed to be the thematic and musical heart of the piece, with sweeping melodies and pizzicato accompaniment at times.  The final song, the Tennyson, featured a middle section that was majestic in scope and sound, but ended in quiet resignation, unlike much of what had gone before.

Bach's justly renowned Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 rounded out the first half of the program with its familiar musical themes batted back and forth like a tennis ball among a reduced force of only ten string players plus harpsichord. The rapid pacing and brilliant bow work produced a technical tour de force, undoubtedly what the composer was after, although at times it seemed to be almost out of control.  But sometimes that is what is most appealing about the Brandenburgs, and Sorrell's forces, so familiar with this music, carried it out with panache.

The second half of the program was devoted entirely to Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, written by the young composer to honor his teacher and mentor. At times, as with many "variations" compositions, the original melody was lost in the midst of the variations, but the brilliant string writing was captivating all the same.  

Consisting of an introduction and theme, then ten separate movements, the piece offers a startling contrast of styles. It opens with an adagio, moving on to a brilliant march (well, as brilliant as a march can get without the brass), a waltz, a stirring Italian-style dance complete with strumming violas and cellos, and a beautiful centerpiece for solo violin, played attractively by concertmaster Tony DeMarco.
Britten's waltz variation includes sections both the traditional 3/ 4 time and in 2/4 and other timings, oddly interspersed to produce a staggered syncopation, with hints of dissonance reminding one of Richard Strauss.  A short "perpetual motion" movement found the entire orchestra playing rapid sixteenth notes up and down the strings, a sort of an all-orchestra "Flight of the Bumblebee." 

Other variations included a funeral march, complete with apocalyptic sensations punctuated by a repeated three-note figure in the bass, an eerie and otherworldly "chant," and a finale consisting of a fugue in which various themes were separately introduced and then interwoven together, ending with a solid major chord, repeated (Beethoven-like) several times as if to bring us "home" again after the many journeys upon which the piece had taken us. In each of these sections the Chamber Orchestra sounded expressive and sure of itself in this often difficult music.

The Chamber Orchestra concert ended, as it had begun, with a fugue, which was appropriate enough for this evening, which wove together an impressive variety of different musical themes and styles.


REVIEW: 
Kansas City Chamber Orchestra
String Masterworks
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Village Presbyterian Church
6641 Mission Rd., Prairie Village, KS 
www.kcchamberorchestra.org 

By KCM Staff   Sun, Mar 01, 2009

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City will present its 52nd season of opera that will showcase productions drawn from the works of the great operatic composers. The season opens in September with Puccini's tragic masterpiece Tosca, followed by Gilbert and Sullivan's sidesplitting satire H.M.S. Pinafore in November. March will bring Verdi's ever-popular Rigoletto, and the season concludes with Mozart's Don Giovanni in May 2010.

"With this season we are showcasing some of the greatest operas ever written, operas which have stood the test of time," stated general director Evan Luskin. In an effort to economize during these trying financial times, the Company will present four performances of each of its 2009-10 season productions, instead of the usual five. "The Lyric Opera of Kansas City will continue to produce operas of the highest quality" said artistic director Ward Holmquist. "There is much to be excited about in the 2009-10 season, including the debut of Richard Paul Fink to our stage and the return of many
other acclaimed singers." All four full-length operas will be presented in their original language with English subtitles projected above the stage.

Tosca
by Giacomo Puccini
Sung in Italian with English subtitles
September 11, 13, 16, 19, 2009
Unbridled emotions explode throughout this powerful drama. Puccini's dramatic music set in Rome during the time of the Napoleonic Wars is the backdrop for a political game of cat-and-mouse. A beautiful new production by director of design and technical production R. Keith Brumley. Cast and director to be announced at a later date.

H.M.S. Pinafore
by Gilbert and Sullivan
Sung in English with English subtitles
November 6, 8, 11, 14, 2009
Gilbert and Sullivan are back again by popular demand. The pair's hilarious tale of love, rank and birthright will delight fans with the duo's wit and musical genius. This sidesplitting opera features loveable characters and a memorable score that includes iconic tunes such as "I'm called little buttercup," "When I was a lad" and "Nevermind the why and wherefore." It is the perfect introduction for a first timer. Cast and director to be announced at a later date.

Rigoletto
by Giuseppe Verdi
Sung in Italian with English subtitles
March 20, 24, 26, 28, 2010
The tragic story of a cursed, hunchback jester and the deadly fate of his innocent daughter
is the setting for some of opera's most memorable melodies. This Verdi classic is jampacked
with passionate, invigorating music including the arias "La donne è mobile" and
"Caro nome."

Dramatic leading baritone Richard Paul Fink, a regular at major opera houses worldwide - including the Metropolitan Opera, Opera National de Paris and the Sidney Opera - will perform the role of Rigoletto. In 2007 the Calgary Herald hailed, "Fink showed the full heft of a classic Verdi baritone... Dramatically he was completely convincing." Garnett Bruce, director of the acclaimed La Cenerentola in 2004 and the 2008 audience favorite The Magic Flute, will return to the Lyric Opera to direct this production.

Don Giovanni
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sung in Italian with English subtitles
April 24, 28, 30 and May 2, 2010
Don Giovanni's 2,065 conquests give him more than his little black book can handle. Opera's greatest lover and ultimate bad boy will use Mozart's unforgettable music to seduce even the purest of hearts.

Mezzo-soprano Christine Abraham will return to the Lyric Opera stage to perform the role of scorned lover Donna Elvira. Ms. Abraham previously was seen in the Company's first Baroque opera Julius Caesar in 2008. Bass Andrew Gangestad, whose voice was deemed "glorious" by The Kansas City Star during the 2007 production of The Barber of Seville, will sing the role of Giovanni's comedic and loyal servant, Leporello.

Ticket Information
Season ticket prices range from $60 to $252. For ticket information, contact the Lyric Opera Ticket Office at (816) 471-7344 or toll free at (877) OPERAKC (673-7252), visit www.kcopera.org or visit the Lyric Opera ticket office at the Lyric Theatre, 11th and Central Streets in downtown Kansas City.

Season ticket holders receive a substantial discount - four shows for the price of three. Subscriptions will go on sale to the general public on Monday, March 9, 2009. Subscribers to the 2008-09 season will receive subscription renewal information beginning the week of March 2. Single tickets will go on sale to the general public on August 17, 2009.

Mon, Mar 16, 2009

NOW PLAYING...

Unicorn Theatre
The Clean House
by Sarah Ruhl
Runs February 27 - March 22, 2009
Unicorn Theatre
3828 Main St., Kansas City, MO

Lane, a successful doctor who likes everything in order, hires a quirky maid who hates to clean but loves to tell jokes in Portuguese. When the maid befriends the doctor's sister-who does love to clean-a strange yet perfect match is made.  A comic look at the secrets we sweep under the rug, laughter we don't understand, events we can't control and how hard it is to keep houses (and lives) tidy.

For tickets call 816-531-7529 or online at  www.unicorntheatre.org

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

Musical Theatre Heritage (MTH)
Who's Lerner & Loewe?
Runs March 5 through March 22
Off Center Theatre
Crown Center - 3rd Level
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO

In 1942 Alan Jay Lerner (lyrist and librettist) was heading to the restroom when he took a wrong turn and managed to run into Frederick "Fritz" Loewe (composer).  A brief conversation ensued and a lifelong friendship and rocky professional relationship stormed forward.  For over 30 years the writing team created some of the greatest classic American musicals ever to hit the Broadway stage.  After each show it would be reported that one would never work the other again.  Despite their intensity for the art, both Lerner and Loewe understood their dynamic which garnered some of their greatest works as individuals.  Six months before Lerner's death, the musical team earned a Kennedy Center Honor in December of 1985.
   
Host George Harter gives us an evening of classic Lerner & Lowe music from Brigadoon, Camelot, Gigi, Paint Your Wagon and My Fair Lady.  With Cary Mock on piano audiences will hear the delectable voices of Nathan Granner, Lindsey McKee, Brandon Sollenberger, Teri Wilder, Emily Harris and Kevin Bogan. 

One More Thing: If you're not familiar with Lerner & Loewe go to MTH's website to view some video clips from the musical team's repertoire. 

For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online at www.musicaltheaterheritage.com

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.

Theatre for Young America (TYA)
I Never Saw Another Butterfly
A co-production with Avila University
Opens March 8
Union Station's City Stage
30 West Pershing Road

In conjunction with Avila University, Sprint Foundation and Union Station, TYA will be performing I Never Saw Another Butterfly.  This production runs simultaneously with the current exhibit A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul and The Jewish People, now at Union Station and open to the public through March 27.  "This play is based on the writings of children who passed through the Terezin concentration camp in World War II."  This is not the first time Avila University and TYA have partnered together, but if you haven't seen a production this one is a must see for any first timer.

One More Thing: Many shows are already sold out please visit Avila University's exhibit website for available dates and times.

For more information visit www.avila.edu/blessing/events.asp  

The Coterie Theatre
Atypical Boy
By Laurie Brooks
Runs March 10 through March 29
Crown Center - Lower level
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO

Laurie Brooks has worked with The Coterie Theatre before.  Her play The Wrestling Season was commissioned by The Coterie, featured at Kennedy Center's One Theatre World, printed in the Playscript Series of American Theatre Magazine's November 2000 issue, and winner of several "Best of" awards here in Kansas City, Seattle and Dallas.  This time Brooks is trying something new with her newest work Atypical Boy. 

From The Coterie's website: "...award winning playwright Laurie Brooks [has written] a spirited play that serves as metaphor for youth with invisible disabilities.  In this comedic play, enter a funny, fable-like world that is created with color, expressive characters and puppets.  Here, conformity is valued and individuality is misunderstood.  But in the midst of this is a young person who is disenfranchised because he cannot match the others.  What's more, when the story reaches its highest point, playwright Brooks stops the action and lets you, the audience, interact with the characters!"

One More Thing: If you want to know about Brooks visit her website at www.lauriebrooks.com.

For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online at www.coterietheatre.org

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
James C. Olsen Performing Arts Center
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

Olathe Community Theatre Association (OCTA)
110 in the Shade
Book by N. Richard Nash
Lyrics by Tom Jones
Music by Harvey Schmidt
Runs through March 28
500 E. Loula; Olathe, KS

On October 28, 1954, N. Richard Nash's play The Rainmaker made its debut at the Cort Theatre in New York where it ran for a 125 performances and starred the fabulous Geraldine Page.  Set during a drought in the depression era, the play focused on Lizzie Curry and her family influenced "journey" to find herself a husband.  Starbuck, the new man in town who offers cash in exchange for rain, promises much but winds up stirring up trouble.  The musical version stays mostly true to the original play even using many of Nash's original words as lyrics to songs. 

As for the team of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, this was the first Broadway show since their off-Broadway hit The Fantasticks which opened in 1960.  Directed by Joseph Anthony and choreographed by the infamous Agnes De Mille, the musical opened on October 24, 1963 at the Broadhurst Theatre and ran for 330 performances.  The musical team received Tony Award nominations as did members of the cast.  A slew of revivals have been made through out the years; most recently in 2007 starring Audra McDonald who won a Drama Desk Award for her performance.
Eric Magnus, OCTA's director for this production, says about the musical: "I think everyone has felt like a Lizzie at one time or another in their life. Will someone ever love me for who and what I am? Will I spend my life alone or will I find that special someone? Those are a couple of the biggest questions anyone can face in their life."

For tickets call 913-782-2990 or online at www.olathetheatre.org.

Paul Mesner Puppets
True Story of the Three Little Pigs
March 25 at 4 p.m.
Liberty Theatre
1300 S. Withers Drive, Liberty, MO

You think you know the story of the three little pigs?  Well, join the children at Liberty Theatre to find out what Paul Mesner and his puppets are saying about the tall tale involving three porkers and one bad wolf.

For more information call 816-756-3500 or online at www.paulmesnerpuppets.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

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...

Check back in April to discover more openings of fantastic theatrical productions here is our metropolis.  

Mon, Mar 16, 2009

The month of March is full to the brim of fantastic choral and vocal performances. The following listings are only some of the highlighted performances over the next two weeks. For a complete listing of performances in our area, visit our full performing arts calendar.


Lyric Opera of Kansas City
La Traviata
by Giuseppe Verdi
Monday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
Lyric Theater,
11th & Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

In the operatic genre, Verdi is the reigning king. His spellbinding tragedy, La Traviata, gives new meaning to the idea of being hopelessly in love. The heartfelt work takes us through the entire emotional spectrum from romantic bliss to eternal anguish. Metropolitan Opera star Mary Dunleavy (Violetta), who has received rave reviews for her performance, will lead the cast. The opera will be sung in Italian with English subtitles.

For tickets call 816-471-7344 or online at www.kcopera.org

The Liberty Symphony Orchestra
Touch of Classical Concert
featuring countertenor Jay Carter and pianist Ann Lewis
Monday, March 16 at 7:00 pm
Corbin Theatre Company
15 North Water St., Liberty, MO

Benefitting Harvesters, rising star Jay Carter will sing arias and art songs with the help of pianist Ann Lewis. Music by Purcell, Dowland, Brahms, Schubert, Mozart, and Handel will be presented.

Seating is very limited. Tickets are available at the door or by phone at 816-792-3200.

The Conservatory of Music at UMKC
Conservatory Choral Ensembles:
Canticum Novum, Bella Voce and the Conservatory Concert Choir
Tuesday, March 17 at 7:30 pm
Village Presbyterian Church, 67th and Mission, Prairie Village KS

This choral concert, benefitting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, will feature Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna, Vaughan Williams' Four Mystical Songs, Ives' The Circus Band, and music by Britten, Belmont, Palestrina, Jennings and Handel.

Free admission, but donations to the Komen Foundation are gratefully accepted.

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD
Madama Butterfly
by G. Puccini (Encore presentations)
Featuring Cristina Gallardo-Domâs and Marcello Giordani
Wednesday, March 18 at 7:00 pm
Thursday, March 19 at 1:00 pm


The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD is continuing their successful run of live broadcasts this year. The Met will transmit a total of eleven live and ten encore events this season from September to May.

Don't miss the excitement of experiencing the Met on the big screen. Cristina Gallardo-Domas, the original Butterfly of the production when it opened the 2006-07 season, returns to the title role of the late Anthony Minghella's stunning production, a classic of the new Met repertory.

For ticket information visit www.fathomevents.com.
Various movie theatres around town.  Check out Fiona's List for venue info.

The Kansas City Chorale
Highlights From Lincoln Center

Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Church of the Nativity
119th & Mission Rd., Leawood, KS

Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
Redemptorist Church
3333 Broadway, Kansas City, MO

Fresh off their command performance in New York at Lincoln Center, our Grammy-winning hometown Chorale will present highlights from their recent concert.

Featured will be the double-choir mass of Martin, music by Rheinberger, and world premieres by Jean Belmont Ford and winners of the first annual UMKC Conservatory Composition Competition.

For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at  www.kcchorale.org.

Te Deum
Creating Breath - a concert of sacred choral music

Saturday, March 28 at 7:30 pm
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
12th and Broadway, Downtown Kansas City, MO

Sunday, March 29 at 3:00 pm
Village Presbyterian Church
67th at Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS

Music director Matthew Christopher Shepard and his new 16-voice chamber choir, Te Deum, will present a concert entitled "Creating Breath." This inaugural program does not just tell the creation story, but reflects on every creation story, dwelling on the excitement, anticipation, and fear found in the common human experience of creation. Featured music is composed by Howells, Poulenc, Britten, Tavener, Victoria, and Pärt.

For more information call 913-671-2304 or email matthew.shepard@villagepres.org.

The Heartland Men's Chorus
Spring Concert: And Justice For All
Saturday, March 28 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, March 29 at 4:00 pm
Folly Theater
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

Fresh off their appearance at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Oklahoma City earlier this month, the Heartland Men's Chorus and music director Dr. Joseph Nadeau present their spring concert, entitled "And Justice For All."

Throughout history, oppressed people have turned to song to express their struggles, joys, hopes, and their vision. The HMC will examine the issue of civil rights through the music of the movement.

For tickets call 816-931-3335 or online at  www.hmckc.org.

Mon, Mar 23, 2009

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 

Mon, Mar 23, 2009

Kansas City Symphony
Benedetti Plays Tavener
Friday, March 27 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 28 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 29 at 2:00 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
10th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

In the concerts of March 27-29, the Symphony will perform the familiar Schumann Symphony No. 2, a piece which was long neglected but which in recent years has become recognized as the masterpiece of his four symphonies. It's a gorgeous work, filled with references to his revered predecessors Bach and Beethoven, and maintains a sprightly and upbeat vigor despite the fact that the composer was seriously ill at the time he wrote it.

To this author's taste, though, the Schumann is just the obligatory nod to classicism found in this concert, for two far more unusual pieces grace the rest of the program, American composer Charles Griffes' The Pleasure Dome of Kublai Khan and British composer John Tavener's Violin Concerto, receiving its United States premiere at this concert.

Charles Griffes was one of a group of American composers who came to the fore in the late 19th and early 20th century (he lived from 1884-1920), all of whom were trying to find their "American" voice to distinguish themselves from their more famous European compatriots. Like many young American compositional students of the day, Griffes studied in Europe, and absorbed influences from a variety of sources, including Debussy and Ravel among the French and Scriabin and Mussorgsky among the Russians. He had a flair for the exotic, however, and tried to pursue this in his music.

The Pleasure Dome of Kublai Khan, premiered in 1919, was based on a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who in turn was inspired by the lifestyle of the celebrated Kublai Khan, grandson of the notorious Genghis Khan, who was the emperor of China from 1260 to 1294 and ruled a territory far  vaster than any European monarch.  Most famously for Europeans, he was visited at court by the Italian adventurer Marco Polo, who wrote of the great Khan and his court in his entertaining travel books which were disbelieved by Europeans for centuries but which are now known to be largely true.

The great Khan did in fact maintain a "pleasure dome," supposedly hidden away in the enchanted wilderness, which is mentioned in the Marco Polo writings. It inspired Coleridge, and then Griffes, who found in the story an outlet for his exotic flair. Shimmering and melodious, the music reflects the influence of the Impressionists, with its mystical hues.  It isn't all soft and airy, though; the motif of the savage wilderness is expressed by momentary bursts from the brass, after which the piece fades to a quiescent close.

John Tavener is an equally fascinating composer. Born in 1944 in Wembley, he found his calling primarily in sacred music because of an intensely religious nature. In 1977 he joined the Russian Orthodox Church and became much influenced by Orthodox theology and Orthodox liturgical traditions. He was particularly drawn to its mysticism, and studied and set to music the writings of church fathers such as St John Chrysostom. His most often performed pieces include his short unaccompanied four-part choral setting of William Blake's The Lamb (1982) and a grand choral piece, The Akathist of Thanksgiving (1987), written in celebration of the millennium of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Tavener's work is tonal in nature and is often compared with the works of the famous Estonian composer Arvo Part.

His recent Violin Concerto, subtitled "Lalishri," was written for the young Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti (okay, her name doesn't sound Scottish but that's what the publicity says) and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It is based upon Hindu themes, apparently reflecting reports that Tavener's religious interests have broadened in recent years.

According to writings by the 14th-century Hindu saint, Lalla Yogishwari, the poet discovered the atma or the true self within, realizing that it was God inside her, and was so enchanted that she danced naked through Kashmir. To downplay the prurient interests here, the idea was that "spiritual nakedness manifests itself in bodily nakedness."  Lest you think that the Symphony has carried itself a bit too far, please rest assured that Miss Benedetti, who will play the piece herself here in Kansas City, will perform fully clothed.

According to Chester Novello, the publisher of this music, Tavener says that "[Yogishwari's] poetry with its combination of intensity and simplicity made me think of the 'innocent intensity' of Nicola Benedetti's playing."   

This program has an admirably wide range of music and performance styles, and this writer, for one, is looking forward to it as one of the highlights of the Symphony season.

For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org

Kansas City Symphony
Music of World War I
Saturday, March 28 at 1:00 p.m.
World War I Museum
100 West 26th Street, Kansas City, MO

In addition to its classical series this weekend, the Symphony offers a free concert on Saturday afternoon in the J. C. Nichols Auditorium at the beautiful World War I Museum, featuring music of the World War I era.  Music of Poulenc, Prokofiev, Hindemith and Ravel headline the program, which will be performed by selected musicians from the Symphony.  The local band should be congratulated for these free public concerts, which offer a great opportunity for members of the public to hear the Symphony's talented musicians at no charge.

For free tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org

Kansas City Wind Symphony
Nights of Wonder and Magic
Friday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m.
Village Presbyterian Church
6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, Kansas

The Kansas City Wind Symphony continues to gain a reputation and one of the best small instrumental ensembles in town, and this weekend it presents two performances of its spring concert.  We have no information about the music to be performed on this program, but Dr. Philip Posey, the director, is sure to have something up his sleeve.  Best of all, admission is free.

UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Conservatory Connections: Minima
Friday, Marcy 28 at 6:00, 6:45 and 7:30 p.m.
Nelson Atkins Museum of Art
Minimalism Gallery
4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, Missouri

What better place to hear modern minimalist music than the Minimalism Gallery of the Nelson Atkins Museum?  That's what UMKC's minimalist music group, called KcEMA, The Kansas City Electronic Music Alliance, thought.  The group "mines the conceptual world of minimalist composition in proximity to visual results of similar pursuits," according to the publicity for these free programs.  The same program will be repeated three times this Friday evening.

Free admission.

 
Heartland Men's Chorus

Heartland Men's Chorus
And Justice for All
Saturday, March 28 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 29 at 4:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO

The Heartland Men's Chorus presents its Spring concert this weekend, entitled And Justice for All, which takes as its theme "the 90th anniversary of the Constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote, the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn Riot." The concert explores the  civil rights movement in its many aspects, including "the work that's been done, and the work still to do."

This concert will feature songs of inspiration and hope from these civil rights movements and others.

For tickets call 816-931-3335 or online at www.hmckc.org

Te Deum
Music by Britten, Stanford, Tavener, Part and Thompson
Saturday, March 28, 7:30 p.m.
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
12th and Broadway, Downtown Kansas City, MO

Sunday, March 29, 3:00 p.m.
Village Presbyterian Church
6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, Kansas

Te Deum, a vocal group, will present the music of the above composers in this concert being  given at two different churches this weekend.  The group is directed by Matthew Christopher Shepard.

For more information call 913-671-2304

Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City
Spring Break in Latin America
Sunday, March 29 at 3:00 p.m.
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel
Park University Campus, Parkville, MO

The Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City is a community orchestra headquartered at Park University but run by an independent board, which has gained a wide reputation throughout the Northland and the rest of Kansas City for excellent performances. The orchestra has been conducted for five years by Andrés Franco, the former assistant conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony.  

This concert will feature much music which is probably unfamiliar to most Kansas City classical music listeners.  The composers on tap include Enrique Soro, Daniel Alomia Robles, Ary Barroso, Arturo Marquez and others. In addition, returning to somewhat more familiar territory, the Philharmonia will join forces with Ga Hee-Lee, a young pianist and winner of the Kansas City Music Teacher's Association Concerto Award, for a movement from Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1.

For tickets call (816) 588-8033. Website is www.kcphilharmonia.org (tickets not available online) 

By Laurie Arbore   Mon, Mar 02, 2009

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By KCM Staff   Mon, Jun 16, 2008

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