Top picks for the weekend, week ahead
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. Crescendo
Crescendo is one of Kansas City’s premier arts events, hosted by the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. The event has raised more than $1 million for student scholarships in the past four years.
Details:
7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 10 in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo. Ticket prices start at $30.50 and can be purchased from the Kauffman Center website.
2. UMKC Men’s Basketball vs Haskell
Good to know:
UMKC is Kansas City’s Division I sports team.
Details:
4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 12 at Municipal Auditorium, 301 W. 13th St., Kansas City, Mo. Ticket prices start at $11 and can be purchased online. All UMKC students get into home games for free with current UMKC ID!
3. Disgraced
The personal is political in this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama presented by the Unicorn Theatre. 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.
Good to know:
Three UMKC Theatre graduates started Unicorn Theatre.
Details:
The show runs now through Nov. 12. Tickets can be purchased online or from the Unicorn Theatre Box Office at 816-531-7529.
4. Capturado: Faces of Cuba
This is an exhibit featuring photographs by Jimmy Adegoke, Ph.D., professor in the UMKC Department of Geosciences. It highlights the rich diversity of the Cuban people.
Details:
Now through Dec. 15, the “Capturado: Faces of Cuba” exhibit will be on display at the Miller Nichols Library, Ground Floor – Link Gallery, 800 E. 51st St., Kansas City, Mo. It is free.
5. Driving Miss Daisy
Daisy, a wealthy, acerbic widow, has wrecked another car. Her son decides she needs a chauffeur and hires an unemployed black man named Hoke. Daisy and Hoke dislike each other initially but over the course of 25 years, the two grow to become very dear friends. This funny, joyful play won the Pulitzer Prize and the film adaptation won four Oscars, including Best Picture.
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:
Now through Nov. 26. New Theatre Restaurant is located at 9299 Foster St., Overland Park, Kan. Tickets can be purchased online.
6. Every Day Contains All of History
The UMKC Gallery of Art, UMKC Black Studies Program and the Bernardin Haskell Lecture Series present an exhibit with Jared Thorne, “Every Day Contains All of History.”
Details:
The free exhibit will run through Nov. 17 at the UMKC Gallery of Art, Room 203, Fine Arts Building, 5015 Holmes St., Kansas City, Mo.
7. ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’
Join Charlie Brown on a memorable journey as he tries to direct the school Christmas pageant. In their letters to Santa, everyone seems to be acting materialistic – so Charlie Brown tries to restore holiday spirit with a ragged little fir tree. Experience the power of this wonderful story live onstage as Charlie Brown turns to his best friend Linus to learn the season’s real meaning. Special encore: Snoopy’s Christmas Eve encounter with the Red Baron!
Good to know:
Two UMKC graduate theatre students founded The Coterie.
Details:
The show runs now through Dec. 31 at The Coterie, Crown Center, Suite 144, 2450 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. Tickets can be purchased online.
Check the following for other upcoming events: