Time for weekend calendar picks from KC Studio editor Alice Thorson to finish off July. Tonight, join the Truman Library in commemorating the desegregation of armed forces in 1947. Also tonight, listen to KC’s premier Salsa & Latin Jazz ensemble t the Blue Room. Opening tomorrow night, Starlight Theatre presents the musical Hairspray, with shows through August 2. Saturday night, stop by Mutual Musicians Foundation for an evening of Kansas City jazz from Bennie Moten, Count Basie and Charlie Parker. Saturday and Sunday, Summerfest closes with an exploration of chamber music. For more events this weekend, visit Kansas City’s most comprehensive arts calendar at kcstudio.org/events.
Truman Library 70th Anniversary of EO 9981
July 26, 2018 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
“It is my deep conviction that we have reached a turning point in the long history of our country’s efforts to guarantee freedom and equality to all our citizens,” President Harry S. Truman proclaimed in an address before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1947. One year later, President Truman signed his name to two documents—Executive Orders 9980 and 9981—desegregating the armed forces and the federal workforce.
Please join the Truman Library on the 70th anniversary of this important date—July 26, 2018—for a special event commemorating numerous actions Truman took to advance civil rights, including convening the President’s Committee on Civil Rights and signing Executive Orders 9980 and 9981. Retired Col. Norma J. Bradford will share her insights on her career in the U.S. Army and her rise from second lieutenant to colonel. Bradford will be joined by Rawn James, author of Double V: How Wars, Protest and Harry Truman Desegregated America’s Military. Their conversation will focus on the historical impact of Truman’s executive order to desegregate the military and view it through the lens of Bradford’s military career.
This free program is preceded by a reception, and RSVPs are requested.
KC Latin Jazz Orchestra
July 26, 2018 @ 7:00 pm | Free
American Jazz Museum – The Blue Room
KC Latin Jazz Orchestra is the premier Salsa & Latin Jazz ensemble in the Kansas City region. Navigating the universe of Afro-Latin music under the influence of jazz, Pablo Sanhueza has 15 years of dedication to the uplifting of Latin American culture in the Heartland. A KC Latin Jazz Orchestra concert is always a high energy and timeless experience for intercultural audiences.
Hairspray
July 27, 2018 – August 2, 2018
Starlight Theatre
Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon, Hairspray takes you back to 1962 Baltimore, as 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad sets out to dance her way onto TV’s most popular show. Can a big girl with big dreams (and even bigger hair!) change the world…and still have time to win the boy she loves?
This mega-hit is piled bouffant-high with laughter, romance and enough deliriously tuneful songs to fill a nonstop platter-party. It’s the winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. As The New York Times says, “If life were everything it should be, it would be more like Hairspray. It’s irresistible!”
Contains adult language and subject matter.
Bennie, Basie, and Bird: An Evening of Kansas City Jazz
July 28, 2018 @ 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm | $35 – $40
Mutual Musicians Foundation
Join us for the First Annual Bennie, Basie, and Bird: An Evening of KC Jazz at the Mutual Musicians Foundation. The evening will include food, drinks, and jazz.; an exploration into the sounds and styling from Bennie Moten, Count Basie, and Charlie “Bird” Parker. Enjoy live performances with original and contemporary arrangements or their classics. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door (plus fees.) There will also be a raffle for various prize packages during the night. Raffle tickets can be purchased during Bennie, Basie, and Bird at 6 for $5, 15 for $10, and 30 for $20.
The evening celebrates this history of Kansas City jazz and such jazz greats as Bennie Moten, Charlie Parker and Count Basie – all who played and jammed at the Mutual Musicians Hall which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Part of Kansas City’s rich history includes its contribution to the development of the distinctive American music style known as jazz.
This event is a wonderful opportunity to listen, learn and experience Kansas City jazz and its history.
This wonderful evening is being organized by the Jackson County Historical Society, the Mutual Musicians Foundation and the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors. All proceeds benefit the event organizers.
SUMMERFEST 2018
July 28, 2018 @ 7:30 pm
White Recital Hall
July 29, 2018 @ 3:00 pm
St. Mary’s Episcopal
Summerfest ends our series with an exploration of what makes chamber music tick. Ottorino Respighi’s Quartetto Dorico recasts the string quartet into a single movement work that reimagines the past through the lens of the present. J.S. Bach’s eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, brings us a Duet No. 1 in E minor that similarly mixes two styles – in this case the Baroque style he outlived and the newer, simpler Classical style that developed during his life. Jacques Ibert’s Trois Pieces Breve for wind quintet began life as incidental music for a comedy and carries that humorous feeling into the concert version. And Heinrich Hofmann’s Octet in F major proves that Brahms was not the only composer in the 19th century living in the past while making music for the future.
