Time for a set of weekend calendar picks from KC Studio editor Alice Thorson to finish out July. The KC Fringe Festival continues, with performances still going on through Sunday. Aerial dance/performance troupe Lucia Aerial Performing Arts Company are among the many groups featured this year–see them at the Bolender Center Friday and Saturday! Or see the musical Something Rotten! at Starlight, tonight through Sunday. Also tonight, Ensemble Ibérica performs with local Latin alternative band Making Movies at the recordBar. This is also the last weekend for the Summerfest Chamber Music Festival at White Recital Hall on Saturday and St. Mary’s Episcopal on Sunday. For more ideas this weekend, visit Kansas City’s most comprehensive arts calendar at kcstudio.org/events.
13th Annual Kansas City Fringe Festival
July 20, 2017 – July 30, 2017
Now celebrating its lucky 13th anniversary, the Kansas City Fringe Festival is an 11-day explosion of performing and visual arts. It is the single biggest celebration of arts and culture in the Kansas City metropolitan region.
From July 20th to 30th, 2017, the Kansas City Fringe Festival will present 450 performances by around 100 artists at 17 venues, plus visual arts displays at two galleries. More than 25,000 people attend KC Fringe annually.
Something Rotten!
July 25, 2017 – July 30, 2017
Starlight Theatre
From the director of Aladdin and the co-director of The Book of Mormon, SOMETHING ROTTEN! is “Broadway’s big, fat hit!” (New York Post).
Welcome to the ‘90s — the 1590s — long before the dawn of premium tickets, star casting and reminders to turn off your cell phones. Brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard.” When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first MUSICAL!
With its heart on its ruffled sleeve and sequins in its soul, SOMETHING ROTTEN! is “The Producers + The Book of Mormon x The Drowsy Chaperone. Squared!” (New York Magazine).
Ensemble Iberica & Making Movies
July 27, 2017 @ 7:30 pm | $20 – $40
recordBar
A unique collaboration with Latin Alternative band, Making Movies that explores the rhythmic “pulse of the ports” that created the music of the modern world. Where European, African and indigenous populations intermingle in the cross-cultural climates of the New World. This program includes music from Cuba, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Mexico.
LUCIA AERIAL PRESENTS ALTUS
July 27, 2017 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm & July 28, 2017 @ 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity
After a sold out run of CYCLONE, Lucia’s cast and crew from are back with new work! ALTUS is a show juxtaposing our desire to be appreciated based on appearance alone with the unconscious happiness of internal joy and connection…in a high flying series of acts showcasing trapeze, silks, lyra, rope, partner acrobatics and contortion. Performers range in age from 9-50+, and pieces range from group numbers to solos. Artistic team members include Ariana Ferber-Carter, Liv Morrow, Daniel Parks, Georgeanna Layton, and Elena Sherman.
According to the KC Fringe website, “The guiding principle of Fringe Festivals worldwide involve uncensored artistic expression, accessibility and community development. Fringing encourages artists and audiences to explore boundaries and to make bold choices in the creation – or enjoyment – of art. The KC Fringe Festival’s goal is to provide artists an opportunity to create and perform new material right here in our backyard!” Lucia Aerial is excited to be a part of the KC Fringe Festival again this year, and highly suggest attending as many performances throughout the festival as possible!
Summerfest Chamber Music Festival
July 29, 2017 @ 7:30 pm
White Recital Hall
July 30, 2017 @ 3:00 pm
St. Mary’s Episcopal
In his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln faced a divided nation. Less than a month before his March 4, 1861 speech, seven states formally declared themselves the Confederate States of America, tearing asunder a young nation that was only eighty-five years old. Urging his listeners to come together, Lincoln appealed to the “mystic chords of memory” that would “swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched…by the better angels of our nature.” Today, we again find ourselves needing those better angels, needing to find reconciliation and union. As artists, we believe that nothing is as powerful as music in bringing us together, helping us find and celebrate our shared humanity. So invite a friend and join Summerfest this July as we evoke President Lincoln’s Chords of Memory through a series of concerts designed to remind us of who we were, who we are, and who we still might become.
