Time for weekend calendar picks from KC Studio editor Alice Thorson. This is your final weekend to see’s Unicorn Theatre’s production of Disgraced and Spinning Tree Theatre‘s production of Casa Valentina. Tonight, Metropoltian Ensemble Theatre premieres their production of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, continuing through November 26th. Heartland Men’s Chorus performs their call concert From the Heart on Friday night. Saturday is the premiere of Lyric Opera Kansas City‘s production of the contemporary opera Everest (featured in our Nov/Dec 2017 issue). The Harriman-Jewell Series presents The King Singers at The Folly on Saturday night. Also Saturday night, Carlsen Center at Johnson County Community College presents a night of mariachi with Sol de México®. For more ideas this weekend, visit Kansas City’s most comperehensive arts calendar at kcstudio.org/events.
Disgraced
October 18, 2017 – November 12, 2017
Unicorn Theatre
The personal is political in this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. Amir Kapoor is a successful Pakistani-American lawyer who is rapidly moving up the corporate ladder while distancing himself from his cultural roots. His wife, Emily, is a white artist whose work explores Islamic imagery. When this couple hosts a dinner party for their colleagues, the veneer of civility gives way to a damaging encounter in this unflinching tale of big-city aspiration, cultural assimilation and the truth hiding just below the deception.
Casa Valentina
October 27, 2017 – November 12, 2017
Just Off Broadway Theatre
Harvey Fierstein’s (Kinky Boots, La Cage aux Folles, Torch Song Trilogy, Newsies) newest Broadway play premiered in 2014 to rave reviews. It’s 1962 in the Catskills, and nestled in the land of dirty dancing and borscht belt comedy sits an inconspicuous inn that caters to a very special clientele: heterosexual men whose favorite pastime is dressing and acting as women. “Fascinating and timeless” (New York Magazine)…and based on real people!
Cymbeline
November 9, 2017 – November 26, 2017
Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre
Cymbeline, also known as “Cymbeline, King of Britain,” is a play by William Shakespeare, set in Ancient Britain and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobeline. Althought listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance or even a comedy. Like Othello and The Winter’s Tale, it deals with the themes of innocence and jealousy.
From The Heart
November 10, 2017 @ 7:30 pm
United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
Scheduled for Friday, November 10th, 7:30 p.m. under the world’s largest stained glass window in the stunning new Church of the Resurrection sanctuary, From The Heart celebrates the chorus that has made such a huge impact on the arts and the LGBTQ communities throughout the Midwest. The performance will feature a veritable “Greatest Hits” of the Chorus, including audience favorite, “Like Dust I Rise,” based upon four of Maya Angelou’s poems, and composed by internationally renowned composer, pianist and conductor, Mark Hayes. The work speaks to the heart of HMC’s mission through Angelou’s words. They ring true with hope and resilience in the face of opposition. Hayes will also be featured performing piano solos from his recent album.
EVEREST
November 11, 2017 – November 19, 2017
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
This contemporary tragedy brings to life the white-knuckle rush and devastating true stories of three climbers caught in a blizzard on Mt. Everest in 1996. As the first staged performance since the world premiere in Dallas, Everest promises to take you on an operatic journey unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
Together, Gene Scheer’s unrelenting libretto and composer Joby Talbot’s luminous and inventive score surrounds us with the insurmountable beauty of the Himalayas, the demons and dreams driving each climber upwards, and the undeniable danger that infuses every exhausted step with fear.
The King’s Singers
November 11, 2017 @ 7:30 pm | $30 – $85
Folly Theater
Since 1968, the King’s Singers have been delighting audiences with their uniquely English vocal style, which encompasses everything from Renaissance madrigals to Gilbert and Sullivan to the Beatles. A Series favorite, the “kings of sing” will thrill those who adore a cappella music on its 50th Anniversary Gold Standard Tour.
Mariachi Sol de México® Featuring José Hernández
November 11, 2017 @ 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm | $21 – $35
Carlsen Center – Yardley Hall
The expression of México’s authentic musical heritage lives on through the voice of Sol de México®.
Sol de México embraces the romanticism of Mexico’s land, people and beauty of the heart. José Hernández invites you to enrich your affection for mariachi by experiencing Sol de México’s dynamic energy and rich cultural expression.
Founded in 1981 by Maestro Hernández, the platinum-selling mariachi band Sol de México has broken countless barriers in mariachi music, including becoming the first mariachi ensemble to be nominated for a GRAMMY®. Its original rhythms, fresh sounds and inspiring ideas have energized the world of mariachi for more than 30 years.
As a fifth-generation mariachi, José Hernández is an internationally recognized master of mariachi music. He sings and plays trumpet, violin, guitarrón and vihuela, and is known around the world.
