May 20
Dare to: Ride a new (upside-down!) wooden coaster
The sounds of cracking whips and stampeding horses launched us click-clacking up the first hill. That’s when the panic set in.
May 20
Dare to | Rent a B-cycle
I notice people smiling at me. It’s that genial Kansas City smile, so I can’t tell if they’re thinking ‘how charming’ or ‘dork.’
May 19
KC firm T2 Studios puts digital graphics in high gear for events
In the last few years, the Kansas City-based video production firm T2 Studios and its so-called Experience Lab have gained a growing reputation for creating what are called immersion experiences. In a world of way-too-much stuff passing before our eyes, what all these flashy sights are about is an elevated form of marketing.
May 18
KC Symphony, conductor and pianist Asher Fisch overcome early missteps
Parts of Friday’s performance of the Kansas City Symphony, led by conductor and pianist Asher Fisch, were plagued by a variety of issues with balance, blend and synchronization. Despite the flaws, the orchestra was able to capture the music's inherent beauty.
May 18
Spencer Museum’s collection inspires two artists to take different paths
Ann Hamilton and her former teacher, Cynthia Schira, have teamed up for a joint exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. “An Errant Line” derives its most compelling moments from the human drama of the presepio.
May 18
Three big voice and organ works worthy of a cathedral
It may not be a sacred space, technically speaking, but when the Kansas City Chorale and organist Jan Kraybill join forces for a concert this Friday, Helzberg Hall will be filled with numinous sounds worthy of a cathedral.
May 16
‘The Guns at Last Light’ completes Rick Atkinson’s long-in-the-making history of WWII
“The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945” is the third volume of Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy, which details the triumph of the Allied powers in Europe and North Africa. He began researching the project in 1999. But, arguably, he began working that story 18 years before that, during a three-hour drive through southeastern Kansas.
May 16
‘An innate taste for art’ defined collector and dealer Byron Cohen
The local art world will remember Byron Cohen, who died May 10 at the age of 72, as a dealer who loved his work and was also good at it. Cohen was an avid art collector before retiring from real estate development to become a dealer.
May 18
Washington Ballet’s ‘The Sun Also Rises’ doesn’t quite succeed
The very idea of a ballet adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises” ought to invite snickers. Yet there was no derision in evidence when the Washington Ballet gave the world premiere of Septime Webre’s two-act staging at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater.
May 19
No weak link in Cantus ensemble’s lineup
The Harriman-Jewell Series presented an eclectic performance Thursday by Cantus, a nine-voice, Minneapolis-based men’s vocal chamber ensemble. “On the Shoulders of Giants” was a polished and rewarding program to hear. The really outstanding voice of the nine belongs to tenor Paul Rudoi, but there’s no weak link in the group.
May 16
‘Guns at Last Light’ completes sublime history of WWII
In the third volume of Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy, he reconstructs the period from D-Day to V-E Day by weaving a multitude of tiny details into a tapestry of achingly sublime prose.
May 18
Local military takes 200-year journey through the story of U.S. Army
A reader-friendly version of more than 200 years of U.S. Army history would seem a contradiction in terms. But that’s what Kansas City area military scholar D.M. Giangreco achieves with “The United States Army: The Definitive Illustrated History.”
May 16
Paper wrap: 'The Office' ends its 8-year run
That's a wrap! Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. lives on, but "The Office" has closed shop. The NBC workplace comedy, set at the fictional company's Scranton, Pa., branch, aired its finale Thursday to end an eight-year run.
May 17
NYers furious over photos taken through windows
In one photo, a woman is on all fours, presumably picking something up, her posterior pressed against a glass window. Another photo shows a couple in bathrobes, their feet touching beneath a table. And there is one of a man, in jeans and a T-shirt, lying on his side as he takes a nap.
May 15
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ puts phasers on stun
“Into Darkness” picks up shortly after J.J. Abrams’ 2009 “Star Trek” prequel, as Captain James T. Kirk tries to balance his new authority aboard the Enterprise with his natural propensity for rule-breaking. It’s not going well.
May 17
Farewell, Stefon: Bill Hader to leave ‘Saturday Night Live’
With just one departure, “Saturday Night Live” is losing its excitable “Weekend Update” city correspondent, Stefon; its frenetic incarnations of James Carville, Al Pacino, Vincent Price and Julian Assange; and any number of unctuous, self-satisfied game-show hosts. All of which is to say that Bill Hader, an eight-year veteran of “Saturday Night Live,” will be leaving that NBC late-night franchise when its season ends Saturday.
May 16
‘Kon-Tiki’: Old-fashioned adventure | 3 stars
This old-fashioned film provides a glorious cinematic display of man vs. nature — although from Thor Heyerdahl’s perspective, he was more caught up in man vs. the scientific community.
May 14
As ‘The Office’ shuts down, a salute to its British predecessor
As "The Office" airs its series finale after eight years on NBC, the time feels right to salute the show that spawned it. Transplanting the BBC-produced, British version of "The Office," starring a previously unknown scamp named Ricky Gervais, to American soil was an exacting business.
May 16
Ticketmaster settles rewards lawsuit for $23M
Ticketmaster has agreed to settle claims for up to $23 million over a lawsuit affecting more than a million people who, after buying a ticket online, were enrolled in a rewards program that cost $9 a month but never gave them any benefits.
May 16
Bob Dylan inducted as honorary member of arts academy
On Wednesday, Bob Dylan became the first rock star inducted into the 115-year-old American Academy of Arts and Letters, joining a membership that includes E.L. Doctorow, Chuck Close and John Ashbery.
