Category: Performing
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Artist to Watch: Samantha Gossard
Mezzo-soprano Samantha Gossard’s first big role came during second grade in a musical called Steamboatin’. “I was ‘Mississippi Meg’ and I had a big monologue and a big solo, all requiring a thick southern accent — definitely a comedic role. I remember everyone laughing so much and thinking I was ‘adorable,’ and I remember my second-grade self being perplexed by that, because in my mind, I was just doing what I was supposed to do; I was committing to the role!”
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This Guy Walks Into a Bar and Sees a String Quartet Playing
Classical Revolution KC is part of a growing trend to bring classical music out of the concert hall and back into people’s lives via serendipitous discovery. “If you just grab a random 30-year-old off the street and ask, ‘Do you go the symphony?’ they’ll say, ‘No.’ It’s just not their scene,” said Nick Bell, co-founder of Classical Revolution KC, chatting after their “Chamber Music in the Bistro” performance in the bar of Californos in Westport.
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Spinning Tree Whirls Ahead
Spinning Tree Theatre directors Michael Grayman and Andy Parkhurst are not status quo types. They go for broke — in the pieces they choose to produce, in the venues they select, and in the actors and musicians they contract. Spinning Tree has only been active in Kansas City for four years, but already Grayman and Parkhurst have more than fulfilled their goal.