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This year marks the Kansas City Ballet's 39th annual production of The Nutcracker. It's a holiday tradition, with a cast of just over 200; most of whom are children.
In , Charles Dickens depicted his iconic Ebenezer Scrooge as the original grumpy old man - someone whose mean streak is matched only by his unyielding pockets. That he becomes a gentler man by the close of the story is no surprise to anyone who's seen Kansas City Repertory Theatre's production of the play over the past 31 years.
A granddaughter's quest to find recordings of her musician grandfather uncovers the story of Kansas City's legendary western swing radio show, the Brush Creek Follies.
This year marks the first time Handel's "Messiah" will not be performed at the Community of Christ Auditorium in Independence since 1916. The challenge: how to transfer the sound of almost 250 voices from a cavernous hall to the more intimate Helzberg Hall.
Parking garages in Kansas City are infused with art from the light and sound work called , next to City Hall; to the dancing lights in the underground garage at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art from a reflecting pool overhead. In the new parking garage at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, there's a public art installation activated by movement.
In the 1970s, "The Story of Ferdinand" was set to solo violin by British composer Alan Ridout. The musical version will be presented next weekend at the Kansas City Public Library by the Bach Aria Soloists.
The Tony-award winning musical "Avenue Q" satirizes children's television programs, like "Sesame Street." But it echoes the life lessons with a subversive twist. "Avenue Q" has its Midwest premiere at the Jewish Community Center.
When Kansas City Young Audiences was founded in 1961, its mission was to provide children in local schools the chance to see and hear classical music performances they might otherwise never experience. The definition of arts education has expanded through the years.
Tony Award winning performer Idina Menzel has had a career on stage, in films and television, and in music. This weekend, she joins the Kansas City Symphony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kansas City Young Audiences.
For the past few years, 31st and Troost has been home to the Troost Festival. But this year, a new festival took root at the spot. A festival that taps into the Indian history of the place.
When President Obama announced two weeks ago that the United States would be withdrawing troops from Iraq by the end of the year, the other top news trending that week was that Lindsay Lohan would be posing for Playboy. The fact that the latter story garnered as much attention as the former didn't escape a trio of local theater artists who are returning to The Fishtank with a new play featuring the fictional troubled celebrity whose Kansas City debut last winter left her desperate for more attention.
The 1920s and '30s marked the heyday of Kansas City jazz. Political boss Tom Pendergast tolerated drinking in an era of prohibition. And musicians flocked to play the dozens of clubs in this "wide open town."
For the past 14 years, the Mattie Rhodes gallery on the Westside has commemorated the Day of the Dead by asking local artists and community members to make altars in memory of ancestors and loved ones who've passed away. But this year, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is collaborating with the Mattie Rhodes Center, as well as the Guadalupe Center and the Mexican Consulate, to create a large community altar in the museum's central Kirkwood Hall.
Lately, zombies seem to be everywhere, from television to right here in Kansas City.
Artist Romare Bearden was born in North Carolina, and he grew up in the middle of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920's. Much of his work depicts African Americans, but Bearden said his real focus was the universal human experience.
Where do all those knights, peasants and assorted royalty go during the rest of the year?
It's rare that a two-career couple finds itself at the same work site at the exact same time. But such is the case for the next several weeks for actors Cinnamon Schultz and Brian Paulette - married in life and on stage in the Kansas City premiere of "God of Carnage."
Sculptor Petah Coyne's is a massive installation, featuring a 14-foot-high apple tree covered in black sand, and taxidermied pheasants and peacocks. The subtitle of the work refers to Coyne's friendship with the late poet Leslie Scalapino, and nü shu a centuries old Chinese writing technique used by women, stories told in secret writing.
Writer Joan Didion has built her career by turning her gaze outward. Whether exploring political turmoil in El Salvador or the back lots and bedrooms of Hollywood, Didion writes in a style referred to as literary journalism.
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, or fiction can illuminate truths. Lawrence-based artist Judith Levy collapses the two, and reimagines history in an exhibition called .
Kansas City actor Gary Holcombe, known for his dramatic, comic, and musical performances on many professional stages, died on Monday at the age of 66. A veteran of Broadway musicals, like "Big River," "South Pacific," and "42nd Street," Holcombe also starred as Oliver Warbucks in the national tour of "Annie."
UMKC grad student Dan Warneke created "Stella Starlight"-- a disc based on a star chart, which is played on an antique music box.
Mark Twain's tells the story of a young boy a bit of a troublemaker - growing up in a town along the Mississippi River.
Mike Sims was first introduced to lithography, described as the closest of all printing processes to pure drawing, as a student in the late 1960s. And Sims was hooked.
Artist June Ahrens sits with Chief Curator Barbara O'Brien to discuss her works relating to September 11, in the exhibition .
This summer's heat didn't affect the staff building scenery for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, probably the first time in three decades. In June, the Lyric moved tools, lumber, and other items from an un-air conditioned space in the East Bottoms to a new production facility in the East Crossroads.
Three world premieres are slated for the Kansas City Symphony's inaugural season in Helzberg Hall. And they all take inspiration from a Kansas City trademark: fountains. The first, by renowned composer Chen Yi, called , premieres this weekend.
Artist June Ahrens draws on a wide range of materials, from rusty razor blades and air conditioner filters to insulation foam and pillows.
Hours before the opening gala for the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts at the Muriel Kauffman Theatre, Broadway stars Patti LuPone and Tommy Tune discussed some of their signature roles and what it's like to open a new hall.
The concrete-and-glass shell-shaped Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts opens tonight. And it's been almost two decades in the making.
