Here’s an early batch of weekend calendar picks from KC Studio editor Alice Thorson. This week, the irreverant musical DISENCHANTED! opens at Starlight Theatre and runs through March 19th. Unicorn Theatre’s production of the Tony Award-nominated Eclipsed opens tonight and runs through April 2nd. Friday night, the Harriman-Jewell Series presents the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine at Kauffman Center. On Saturday, the new Bloch Galleries at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (covered in the March/April issue) open to the public. And Saturday night Ben Folds performs with the Kansas City Symphony. For more ideas this weekend, visit Kansas City’s most comprehensive arts calendar at kcstudio.org/events.
DISENCHANTED!
March 7 – March 19
Starlight Theatre
Poisoned apples. Glass slippers. Charming princes. Who needs ‘em?! Not Snow White and her posse of disenchanted princesses!
In a hilarious hit musical that’s anything but Grimm, your fairytale heroines come back to life to set the record straight. By tossing off their tiaras and serving up a sassy, subversive musical, these royal renegades have sold out multiple venues nationwide.
DISENCHANTED! was conceived by Dennis Giacino, a former history teacher and musician at heart. He penned a musical number skewering the “princess pop culture” that transformed Pocahontas from a revered Native American heroine into a pin-up vixen of the silver screen. Giacino soon discovered other princesses with a bone to pick about their popular personas, and this irreverent musical was born. (This not-for-the-kiddos musical is for ages 14+)
Eclipsed
March 8 – April 2
Unicorn Theatre
Five extraordinary women are brought together by the upheaval of civil war in Liberia. Four are held captive as wives of a rebel commanding officer, while the fifth works to free them in this stirring tale of hope, humor and resilience. This Tony Award-nominated drama comes from playwright Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne on AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
March 10 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Series patrons have come to expect the best orchestras, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine upholds that standard. The program features Kiev native Alexei Grynyuk as soloist for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Dvorák’s “From the New World” No. 9, and Wagner’s “Flying Dutchman” overture.
The Bloch Galleries – Public Opening Event
March 11 | Free
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
In June 2015, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art welcomed into its collection 29 masterworks by the leading Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists of the 19th century — among them Pierre Bonnard, Eugène Boudin, Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Alfred Sisley and Vincent van Gogh.
The Marion and Henry Bloch Collection, created over many years, was among the few outstanding collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art remaining in private hands. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is the grateful recipient of this transformative gift, which inspired a major renovation of the museum’s European 19th- and early-20th-century galleries.
In Spring 2017, the new Bloch Galleries will open to the public, offering visitors an immersive experience with the Bloch Collection masterpieces, integrated into the museum’s rich collections. The new galleries are made possible by funding from the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation.
BEN FOLDS with the KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY
March 11 @ 8:00 pm
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Multi-platinum-selling singer/songwriter/producer Ben Folds returns to join forces with the Kansas City Symphony. First as the leader of critically-acclaimed band Ben Folds Five and now as a solo artist, his career includes multiple studio and live albums, a remix record, music for television and film, plus numerous collaborations with artists from Sara Bareilles to William Shatner. Don’t miss this one-night-only performance with Ben Folds and your Kansas City Symphony! Tickets start at $50.
