With 292 performances under its belt, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts has taken a few moments to reflect on its inaugural year. But only a few, as the 2012-13 season revved back up in early August when Starlight Theatre brought 12 performances of Aida to Muriel Kauffman Theatre.

For many around town, the image of dancer Danielle Glynn, a senior at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and Dance, holding what appears to be a shell to her ear, deserves a second glance. The shell is half of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The Save the Date card has generated some buzz for Crescendo 2012, says event chairwoman Lisa Hickok.

Variety is key in engaging the community with The Lied Center. English poet William Cowper, in his 6,000 lines of blank verse called The Task,..