PNC Broadway Presents: Chicago—The Musical
If a little snow shoveling has not gotten your heart rate up, or you’d prefer a more pleasurable experience, then come to Chicago—The Musical, from January 7 through 12 at the Kauffman Center.
Chicago is still the one musical with everything that makes Broadway shimmy-shake: a universal tale of fame, fortune, and all that jazz, with one show-stopping song after another and the most astonishing dancing you’ve ever seen. The gangster-era Windy City has never looked so spiffy.
In the whirlwind of Chicago’s Jazz Age, two of the Cook County Jail’s most notorious murderesses—vaudeville star Velma Kelly and chorus girl Roxie Hart—become fierce rivals as they compete for headlines amidst a media frenzy.
Broadway’s longest-running musical has been razzle-dazzling audiences for 27 years, and after more than 10,000 performances, six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, and a Grammy, they’re just getting started.
Joy Is Resistance at the Kansas City Museum
Through February 28, you can check out this continuing exhibit featuring members of the African American Artists Collective including Stasi Bobo-Ligon, Toni Gates, Tracy Milsap, Joseph Newton, Sonié Joi Thompson-Ruffin, and Jason Wilcox. The exhibit, on the second floor of the Kansas City Museum, is free and open to the public.
If you wondered why “joy” was such a buzzword in Kamala Harris’ political campaign, learn a little here about why.
Ever since African Americans arrived in this country centuries ago, they have faced unimaginable adversity. They have been enslaved, marginalized, and subjected to systemic racism. Yet amid racial trauma, one thread has remained unbroken: the power of Black joy. Joy is Resistance is an exhibition that celebrates the unyielding spirit of Black people through the lens of five visionary artists from the African American Artists Collective.
This exhibit explores how joy has served as a balm for pain, a testament for survival, and a vibrant expression of self-affirmation. Whether through bold colors, intimate portraits, abstract interpretations of Black life, or storytelling, each artist in this exhibit demonstrates joy in their own unique way.
The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes
Like Forrest Gump and The Sound of Music, The Princess Bride (1987) has entered the realm of much-beloved movie fame.
It features more memorable lines than The Godfather, as Inigo Montoya (played by Mandy Patinkin) says, again and again: “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
Or Buttercup (played by Robin Wright) speaking to Westley (Cary Elwes): “We’ll never survive.”
Replies Westley, “Nonsense. You’re only saying that because no one ever has.”
On Saturday, January 18 at 7 p.m. at the Kauffman, watch this film again, then hear Cary Elwes dish on its making, detailed in his best-selling book As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride.
Garibaldi Trio Plays the Music of Contemporary Composers
The holidays are long over, as is the New Year’s Day hangover. It’s cold and dreary. What will tempt you to go out on a January evening to the 1900 Building? How about this?
On January 30 at 7 p.m., the Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City hosts a trio of accomplished musicians who will play the works of living composers. An intimate concert with wonderful music you might never have heard before. What a treat!
Garibaldi Trio includes clarinetist José Franch Ballester—who shows “technical wizardry and tireless enthusiasm” (The New York Times); violist Marina Thibeault—Radio-Canada’s classical “Révélation” of the year; and pianist David Fung—praised for his “poetic and exquisitely sculpted interpretations” (The Washington Post).
Those living composers include Dobrinka Tabakova (born 1980), a Bulgarian-British artist; Stephen Chatman (born 1950) known for music featuring the oboe and chorus; Jörg Widmann (born 1973), a German composer, clarinetist, and conductor; Lowell Liebermann (born 1961), an American composer and pianist known for his contemporary sonatas and piano concertos.