Big Slick Celebrity Weekend 2019: What you need to know
The 10th annual Big Slick Celebrity Weekend invades Kansas City on Friday and Saturday. Here’s everything you need to know:
The basics
Hometown stars Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet, Rob Riggle and David Koechner are scheduled to host 38 famous guests. Since 2010, Big Slick has raised more than $8 million to benefit the Cancer Center at Children’s Mercy hospital. See bigslickkc.org for more info and tickets.
The big events
▪ The celebrity softball game at 5 p.m. Friday at Kauffman Stadium. Anyone with a ticket to the Royals vs. White Sox game at 7:15 p.m. that night can come early to watch the celebrities cavort on the field. If you purchase through the Big Slick site or on royals.com/bigslick, $5 goes to the charity. You can also watch the game on the Royals’ Facebook page.
▪ A free outdoor block party from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Prairiefire shopping center in Overland Park. The highlight: a celebrity red carpet arrival around 9:45 a.m. outside Pinstripes. The celebrity bowling tournament inside is sold out.
▪ The charity auction, which used to always sell out at a smaller venue, is now called the Party & Show and has been moved to the Sprint Center to accommodate thousands more fans. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 8. Plenty of tickets remain for $79.
Last year’s big auction items included a Captain America shield signed by the “Avengers” cast (thanks to Ant-Man Rudd) and set visits to “Modern Family” (thanks to Stonestreet) and “Saturday Night Live” (thanks to Sudeikis). But the show also features performances: comedy, song — “American Idol” alums Chris Daughtry and David Cook performed a killer duet last year — even magic.
Who’s coming
In all, 38 celebrity guests are scheduled to come to KC. Most have connections to at least one of the hometown hosts. Like this: You may remember in the movie “I Love You, Man,” Rudd worships the band Rush. Now Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson is a first-time Big Slick guest.
A few guests, like the hosts, are Kansas Citians — Heidi Gardner, David Cook, David Dastmalchian, Katherine McNamara. Or they live with someone who grew up in the area — Olivia Wilde, who is Sudeikis’ fiancee, and Jake Tapper, whose wife is from St. Joseph.
Or, as far as Kansas City is concerned, they walk on water: Patrick Mahomes.
The complete list:
▪ Actress Becky Ann Baker (“Freaks and Geeks,” “Girls”)
▪ Actor Dylan Baker (“The Good Wife,” “Happiness”)
▪ Comedian Nate Bargatze, a Big Slick first-timer
▪ Actor Bobby Cannavale (the Ant-Man movies, “Boardwalk Empire,” “Will & Grace”)
▪ Actress Sarah Chalke (“Scrubs,” “Roseanne,” “Speechless”)
▪ Musician Richard Christy (drummer on “The Howard Stern Show”), a Big Slick first-timer
▪ Musician David Cook of Blue Springs (“American Idol”)
▪ Actress Eliza Coupe (“Future Man,” “Happy Endings”)
▪ Actor David Dastmalchian of Overland Park (“Ant-Man,” “Blade Runner”)
▪ Musician Chris Daughtry (“American Idol”)
▪ Actor Charlie Day (“Horrible Bosses,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”)
▪ “Saturday Night Live” star Heidi Gardner of Kansas City, a Big Slick first-timer
▪ Singer/actress Selena Gomez (“The Dead Don’t Die,” “Wizards of Waverly Place,” so many hit songs)
▪ Comedian Seth Herzog (“The Tonight Show”)
▪ Actor Josh Hopkins (“Whiskey Cavalier,” “True Detective” “Cougar Town”)
▪ Actor Richard Kind (“Inside Out,” “Cars,” “Spin City”)
▪ Actor Zachary Levi (“Shazam,” “Chuck” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
▪ Actor Samm Levine (“Wet Hot American Summer,” “Drunk History,” “Inglourious Basterds”)
▪ Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, a Big Slick first-timer
▪ Actor Taran Killam (“Saturday Night Live,” “Single Parents”)
▪ Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes
▪ Actress Katherine McNamara of Lee’s Summit (“Shadowhunters,” “Arrow,” “The Maze Runner”)
▪ Sports broadcaster Curt Menefee (“Fox NFL Sunday”)
▪ Actor Haley Joel Osment (“The Sixth Sense,” “Future Man”)
▪ Actor Kevin Pollak (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Billions,” “The Usual Suspects”)
▪ Actor Kevin Rahm (“Lethal Weapon,” “Madame Secretary,” “Mad Men”)
▪ “Today” show host Al Roker
▪ Actress Andrea Savage (“Veep,” “Step Brothers,” “I’m Sorry”)
▪ Actor Adam Scott (“Big Little Lies,” “Parks and Recreation”)
▪ Actor Tom Everett Scott (“That Thing You Do,” “I’m Sorry,” “13 Reasons Why”), a Big Slick first-timer
▪ Actress Cobie Smulders (the Avengers movies, “How I Met Your Mother”), a Big Slick first-timer
▪ Actor Martin Starr (“Silicon Valley,” “Spider-Man”)
▪ CNN journalist Jake Tapper
▪ Comedian Sarah Tiana
▪ Actor James Van Der Beek (“Dawson’s Creek,” “CSI Cyber,” “Varsity Blues”)
▪ Magician Blake Vogt (“America’s Got Talent”)
▪ Actress Olivia Wilde (“Tron: Legacy,” “House,” director of “Booksmart”)
▪ Actress Ariel Winter (“Modern Family”), a Big Slick first-timer
Other ways to support
▪ An online silent auction, running until 8:30 p.m. June 8, includes such goodies as a “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” set visit, an Xbox signed by the cast of “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” a private suite at a Chiefs game at Arrowhead and even an autographed Passover Seder book from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Details and bidding are at bigslickkc.org.
▪ For a minimum donation of $10 you can enter a sweepstakes to win a 2019 Tesla Model 3, which will be stuffed with “Junk in the Trunk,” surprise items donated by the Big Slick hosts. You have until Oct. 2 to enter at bigslickkc.org.
What were they in again?
Here’s what makes the hometown hosts such a big deal:
Paul Rudd, Shawnee Mission West grad: The “Ant-Man” and “Avengers” movies. Also: “This is 40,” “Role Models,” “Anchorman,” “Clueless.”
Jason Sudeikis, Shawnee Mission West: “Booksmart,” “Horrible Bosses,” “We’re the Millers,” “The Angry Birds” movies, “Saturday Night Live.”
Rob Riggle, Shawnee Mission South: “12 Strong,” “21 Jump Street,” Fox NFL Sunday, “Dumb and Dumber To.”
Eric Stonestreet, Piper High: “Modern Family,” “The Toy Box,” “The Secret Life of Pets” movies.
David Koechner, Tipton (Missouri) High (but wife Leigh went to Shawnee Mission South): “Anchorman,” “Superior Donuts,” “CHIPs,” “Get Smart.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2019 at 4:59 AM.
