7 Must-See Events

Theatre, sports, dance and more

We are Kansas City’s university, and our hometown’s energy influences everything that happens here. We welcome our community to campus for an array of events, and we’re also happy to recommend opportunities on behalf of our alumni and friends. These activities are part of what give UMKC a vibrant campus life, and make UMKC an arts and culture powerhouse.

1. UMKC Theatre Presents: ‘Women’

UMKC Theatre undergraduate students present “Women,” by Chiara Atik. Preview performances are Oct. 5 through Oct. 8. The show runs through Oct. 14. The show will be in Grant Hall Theatre, 5228 Charlotte, on the UMKC campus. Tickets are $20 for adults; $15 for senior citizens; $10 for UMKC students; $13 for UMKC faculty and staff; and all performances are Pay What You Can. Tickets can be purchased online.

 

2. UMKC Conservatory: Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company

The Conservatory’s artist-in-residence, Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company, will perform on Oct. 5 and Oct. 6.

Details:

The performances will be at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 5 and Saturday, Oct. 6 in White Recital Hall, James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry St. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222 or purchasing online.

3. UMKC Women’s Soccer

Good to know:

UMKC is Kansas City’s Division I sports team.

Details:

Join UMKC Women’s Soccer when they take on New Mexico State University at 1 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 7. General admission tickets start at $8 and can be purchased online. UMKC students are free with a current student ID. UMKC faculty and staff can also get $5 admission with a current UMKC ID. Stay up-to-date with UMKC Athletics by downloading the UMKC Roos Athletic App.

 

4. ‘A Life In A Year’ Part 1: Developing Kansas City

Robert Barrett, a Kansas City-based photographer, recently donated his photographs to UMKC Libraries, giving everyone access to more than 100,000 images. They are the lasting representation of Barrett’s life and experiences, and a rich storehouse of our shared history and culture over the past four decades. Beginning this fall UMKC Libraries is embarking on “A Life In A Year,” a year-long retrospective of Barrett’s work in three parts:

Part 1: Developing Kansas City
Part 2: Focusing on Faces
Part 3: Exposing our Environment

Details:

“A Life In A Year” Part 1: Developing Kansas City will be on display through Dec. 14 in the Link Gallery on the Ground Floor of Miller Nichols Library. It is free and open to the public.

 

5. Federico Solmi: ‘The Great Farce’

This is the most recent chapter in New York-based Italian artist Federico Solmi’s unfolding investigation into the unspoken archetypal myths that provide the underpinning for nativist ideologies. Mining the contradictions and inaccuracies of historical narratives that the artist views as having lured their target audiences into a chaotic era of misinformation, Solmi takes particular aim at the society of the spectacle, whose bottomless thirst for glittering pageants of mind-numbing banality can be opportunistically used to purposefully deprive the citizenry of their right to the truth, in the process undermining their capacity to engage in critical reflection of the world around them.

Details:

The exhibit is part of the Open Spaces Arts Experience 2018. It runs through Oct. 25 at the UMKC Gallery of Art, Room 203 of the Fine Arts Building, 5015 Holmes St., Kansas City, Mo.

 

6. The Coterie: ‘Becoming Martin’

This world premiere centers on the mentorship Martin Luther King, Jr., receives when he enters Morehouse College at age 15. Through debate over civil disobedience concepts, Morehouse College President, Dr. Benjamin Mays, sets young MLK on a path towards fighting for civil rights. This play is a Coterie commissioned work by noted filmmaker, screenwriter, director and playwright Kevin Willmott. He currently serves as a professor of film studies at the University of Kansas and is hailed as one of the most prolific independent filmmakers today, with films such as Ninth StreetC.S.A.: The Confederate States of America, and Chi-Raq, for which he was executive producer and co-writer with Spike Lee. A post-performance Question and Answer session will follow each performance.

Good to know:

Two UMKC graduate theatre students founded The Coterie.

Details:

The show runs through Oct. 21 at The Coterie, 2450 Grande Ave., Kansas City, Mo. Tickets can be purchased from The Coterie Box Office by calling 816-474-6552 or online.

 

7. ‘Always… Patsy Cline’

“Always…Patsy Cline” is more than a tribute to the legendary country singer who died tragically at age 30 in a plane crash in 1963. The show is based on a true story about Patsy’s friendship with a fan from Houston named Louise Seger, who befriended the star in a Texas honky-tonk in 1961, and continued a correspondence with Patsy until her death. The musical play, complete with down home country humor, true emotion and even some audience participation, includes many of Patsy’s unforgettable hits such as “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Sweet Dreams” and “Walking After Midnight.” The show’s title was inspired by Patsy’s letters to Louise, which were consistently signed “Love always… Patsy Cline.”

Good to know:

Co-owners Dennis Hennessy and Richard Carrothers are both UMKC graduates; the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences presented both honorary doctorates in 2012.

Details:

The production runs through Dec. 2 at New Theatre Restaurant, 9229 Foster, Overland Park, Kan. Tickets can be purchased online.

Check the following for other upcoming events:

 

|Article by Bridget Koan, Strategic Marketing and Communications


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