Brian McTavish

Brian McTavish is a freelance writer specializing in the arts and pop culture. He was an arts and entertainment writer for more than 20 years at The Kansas City Star. He regularly shares his “Weekend To-Do List” at KCUR-FM (89.3)/kcur.org.

Art News: KC Comics Master Launches New Miniseries

David Dastmalchian grew up in Overland Park devouring superhero comic books and dreaming of being in the sort of fantasy, science-fiction and horror movies that enraptured him. “Would I get to be an actor? I hoped and I prayed,” Dastmalchian said in a recent phone interview from the set of “MacGyver,” the hit reboot of […]

January 22, 2020
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Arts News: Works of Puppeteers from KC Featured in New ‘Mister Rogers’ Film

It was an expectant moment when Spencer Lott first slid his hand into an old puppet once used by Fred Rogers on the beloved children’s TV series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” A moment later, he was filled with an all-encompassing sense of wonder. The accomplished “Sesame Street” puppeteer and former Kansas City area resident had been […]

January 9, 2020
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Arts News: Anatomy of a Paleo Artist

In his new art book, “Lost Anatomies: The Evolution of the Human Form,” esteemed paleo artist and Kansas City area native John Gurche presents a captivating cache of 189 images steeped in both science and imagination. “I’ve been working on this collection for 27 years,” Gurche said. “It started out of frustration with what I […]

December 11, 2019
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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

How do Kansas City arts leaders celebrate the most wonderful time of the year? Here’s a stocking-full of favorite holiday traditions as shared by eight movers and shakers on the local arts scene.

December 2, 2019
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“I Want It to Be Magic.”

For Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol,” the Noel is greater than the sum of its parts. The perennial holiday show’s crowd-pleasing components include its huge cast of 20 adults and 10 youths sporting mid-19th-century fashions and ear-tickling British vernaculars, captivating singing and dancing underscored by live period music, a computerized rotating set and a series of unforgettable ghosts who deal in dynamic tough love after making supernatural entrances to die for.

November 18, 2019
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No Flyover Town: Kansas City Joins Google Arts & Culture

Since 2011, the mission of Google Arts & Culture has been to make the world’s cultural information accessible online. And, this spring, Kansas City became the first city in North America to get its own dedicated page on the far-reaching website and app. Suddenly, the Heart of America has a significantly higher profile in the digital ether.

July 1, 2019
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