UMKC’s weekly arts and culture roundup

Every week, the University of Missouri-Kansas City offers an array of on-campus activities. It’s nothing new. UMKC has a long legacy of hosting countless culturally enriching events. These activities are part of what has made UMKC an arts and culture powerhouse. The influence of UMKC-based and UMKC-trained artists extends well beyond the campus’ edge, so their activities are listed here as well.

 UMKC Theatre Presents, “Eat This! KC Chews on the Politics of Food”

From mother’s milk to no-carb diets, there is little that is so essential and so much on our minds as the food we eat. UMKC Theatre cooks up a provocative play about food production in the world premiere of “Eat This! KC Chews on the Politics of Food.” The play will preview March 2, 4 and 5; open on March 6; and run through March 10 at Studio 116 at the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center on the UMKC campus.

“Eat This!” is a theatrical event with music and movement written and directed by Stephanie Roberts, assistant professor of Physical Theatre. It is the compilation and thoughtful storytelling of more than 50 taped interviews conducted by Roberts and UMKC Theatre students with farmers, parents, food producers, urban gardeners and celebrity chefs. After the performance, the audience will share a meal together prepared by BREAD! KC.

Roberts came up with the idea after she finished producing and directing the hit show “Slammed!” a 2010 production that used the same format of interviewing many people and creating a documentary-style play based upon those interviews.

“I wanted to do another project that allowed students to be directly involved with the creation of a piece with the community,” Roberts said. “When I searched for a subject that affected everyone, I quickly landed on food.”

“Eat This!” has been a year in the making. Students began meeting with Roberts weekly last winter, watching documentaries and reading news articles and books about food and food politics. Then, they conducted and recorded more than 50 interviews with people from the Kansas City area.

“I am grateful to be a part of the process, and I hope I can honor these people by telling their stories,” said Nicole Greenberg, a graduate student.

Food and its production are issues that attract a wide spectrum of opinions and passions.

“Everyone is coming from a different place,” said Roberts. “But I hope that the audience will learn something new about what goes onto their plate – whether that means the process that went into growing or raising their food, the issues involved with that product or a new perspective on the people that brought it to them.”

What: UMKC Theatre Presents “Eat This! KC Chews on the Politics of Food.”
Where: Studio 116, James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry Street, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Saturday, March 2- Sunday, March 10.
Tickets: Single ticket prices are: Adult, $15; Senior (60+), $10; Non-UMKC Student, $10; UMKC Faculty/Staff, $10; UMKC Student, $6. Industry Night is Monday, March 4, tickets are $10.  For tickets, call the Central Ticket Office at (816) 235-6222 or purchase online at www.umkctheatre.org (additional fees apply with online ticket purchase).
Get more details.

Friday, March 1 – Thursday, March 7

What: “Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945”
Where: Dean’s Gallery, Miller Nichols Library, 800 East 51st St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: Through April 10.
It’s free. Get more details.

What: A master class with Leonard Hindell, bassoonist with the New York Philharmonic.
Where: Diastole, 2501 Holmes Street, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Saturday, March 2, 9 a.m.
Free. Get more details.

What: Senior Recital with Grant Smiley, trumpet and Melody Steed, organ.
Where: Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, 415 West 13th Street, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Saturday, March 2, 5 p.m.
It’s free. Get more details.

What:  Conservatory Choirs: Celebration of Peace Festival. Conservatory Choirs join with some of the finest high school choirs in the Kansas City metro to present the Celebration of Peace Festival, a concert to benefit the Rose Brooks Center, featuring varied choral pieces as well as compositions by noted American composer, Eric William Barnum. Barnum has composed an original piece on the theme of peace that will receive its world premiere on this performance.
Where: Community of Christ Temple, 1001 West Walnut Street, Independence, Mo.
When: Saturday, March 2, 7:30 p.m.
Get more details.

What: Doctoral Recital with Charles Calloway, trumpet, and Patricia Higdon, piano, and the UMKC Graduate Brass Quintet: Dustin Williams, trumpet; Matthew Haislip, horn; Kathleen McGowan, trombone; Brielan Andersen, tuba.
Where:  Rainbow Mennonite Church, 1444 Southwest Blvd, Kansas City, Ks.
When: Monday, March 4, 7:30 p.m.
It’s free. Get more details.

What: Jazz Combos: Jazz students perform in combos.
Where: Grant Recital Hall, 5227 Holmes Street, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Tuesday, March 5, 7:30 p.m.
It’s free. Get more details.

What: Artist Certificate Recital with Catherine Kei Fukuda, violin, and Richard Jeric, piano and Pei-Lun Tsai, clarinet.
Where: Diastole, 2501 Holmes Street, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Wednesday, March 6, 7:30 p.m.
It’s free. Get more details.

What: “The Long March: America’s Enduring Struggle for Civil Rights,” 18th Annual Richard D. McKinzie Symposium. Co-sponsors: UMKC Bernardin Haskell Lectures Fund, the Kansas City Public Library, the UMKC College High School Credit Partnership, the UMKC Division of Diversity Access & Equity, and the Black Studies Program.
Where: Truman Forum, 4801 Main St, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Friday, March 1, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Get more details.

What: Trash or Treasure? The Curious Items and Strange Artifacts of Just Colcord. Colcord believes that art is something you engage with, something that you play with. Explore his experimental worlds and stop motion films on view at the Toy and Miniature Museum.
Where: Toy and Miniature Museum, 5235 Oak Street, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Wednesday, March 6, 10 a.m.
Get more details.

What: V-Day UMKC 2013 presents a benefit performance of “The Vagina Monologues.” Proceeds from all activities benefit the UMKC Violence Prevention and Response Project and V-Day’s 2013 spotlight campaign.
Where: UMKC Student Union Theatre, 5100 Cherry St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: Thursday, March 7, 7 – 9:30 p.m.
Get more details.

What: The Kansas City Repertory Theatre presents: Clay. The final event of this year’s First Page Festival will be a remounted encore performance of the hip-hop musical Clay, a new work that debuted with much acclaim at KC Rep in 2008.
Where: 1 H&R Block Way, (corner of 13th & Walnut), Kansas City, Mo.
When: Through March 2.
Get more details.

What: Opening of Santa Muerte. “Santa Muerte” is a new exhibition concentrating on the dramatic increase in violence that has taken place over the past two decades in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez. An insatiable drug war, volatile political status, and widespread poverty have morphed the city into a hellish breeding ground for murder and femicide, consequently reshaping urban cultural identity. Artists from both Mexico and Texas offer their perspectives on the current situation.
Where: Fine Arts Building, room 203, 5015 Holmes Street, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Through April 5.
It’s free. Get more details.

What: Design Speaks Series – Stefan Mumaw. Stefan Mumaw is the newly minted Creative Director and Purveyor of All That Rocks for Callahan Creek, a Kansas City-area ad agency. This is part of the Art Department’s 2012-2013 Visiting Artist & Scholar Lecture Series.
Where: UMKC’s Department of Art & Art History, 204 Fine Arts Building, 5015 Holmes Street, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Wednesday, March 6, 4 p.m.
It’s free. Get more details.

What: “On Golden Pond” is a poignant comedy about the seasons of life and the bond that can develop between the very young and the very old.
Where: The New Theatre Restaurant, 9299 Foster, Overland Park, Kan.
When: Through March 31.
UMKC Connection: Co-owners Dennis Hennessy and Richard Carrothers are both UMKC graduates and both were presented this year with honorary doctorates by the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences.
Get more details.

What: The Coterie Theatre presents “Tell-Tale Electric Poe 2013.” One act and one musician perform Edgar Allen Poe stories and poems with musical lines.
Where: 2450 Grand Blvd., Suite 144, Kansas City, Mo.
When: February 23 – March 10.
UMKC Connection: Two UMKC graduate theatre students founded the Coterie.
Get more details.

What: Cabaret Concert. Sponsored by the Symphony Guild, this event benefiting the Symphony includes an intimate cabaret-style concert featuring the Kansas City Symphony under the direction of Assistant Conductor Aram Demirjian.
When: Sunday, March 3, 4 p.m.
Where: 7640 Tiffany Springs Parkway, Kansas City, Mo.
UMKC Connection: The Kansas City Symphony was founded by faculty member Karl Krueger in 1933.
Get more details.