KC events Oct. 10-16: Hugh Jackman, Kelli O’Hara, Janet Yellen, Neil deGrasse Tyson

Janet Yellen, now a distinguished fellow in residence with the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, is the former chair of Federal Reserve Board. She will be honored with the Truman Medal for Economic Policy Award. A brief ceremony will be followed by a program featuring Yellen in conversation with David Von Drehle, columnist for The Washington Post. 816-400-1212. trumanlibraryinstitute.org. Free; RSVPs requested.

Early 20th-century America comes to life in the musical “Ragtime.” Based on the 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow and with music by Stephen Flaherty, it includes marches, gospel music and ragtime as it tells the story of three families of disparate means pursuing the American dream. “Ragtime” opened on Broadway in 1998, won four Tony Awards and ran for 834 performances. Runs through Oct. 27. 816-221-6987. Tickets are $29-$59 through mthkc.com.

Carl Orff’s 1937 “Carmina Burana” is perhaps the world’s most frequently performed choral work. It became all the more familiar when Old Spice used it in a commercial. Now the Kansas City Ballet will open its 2019-20 season with the world premiere of a “Carmina Burana” ballet featuring choreography by Adam Hougland. “It’s a driving, pulsating, powerful score,” Devon Carney, artistic director of the Kansas City Ballet, told The Star. “It screams dance.” Also, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12, 2 p.m. Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18-19, 2 p.m. Oct. 20. Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. 816-931-8993. Tickets are $34-$124 through kcballet.org.

Live entertainment, food and drink tastings and family activities such as pony rides and pumpkin carving will fill three streets in the Power & Light District for the first Cornucopia festival. Meanwhile, Oktoberfest will be celebrated in the Kansas City Live! Block, with seasonal beers, more live entertainment, food, games and wiener dog races. 816-842-1045. cornucopiakc.com. Free; $5-$30 for Oktoberfest.

The Kansas City Mavericks will begin their 11th hockey season at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena with a game against the Indy Fuel. Last season, the Mavericks finished fourth in the Mountain Division of the ECHL with a record of 36-30-4-2 and 78 points, making the playoffs but losing to first-place Tulsa 4-3 in their best-of-seven series. 816-252-7825. Tickets are $12-$43 through kcmavericks.com.

One of the most versatile stars on Broadway, Kelli O’Hara will perform selections from Broadway and the Great American Songbook in her Kansas City debut at this Harriman-Jewell Series event. The Oklahoma native won her first Tony Award in 2015 as Best Lead Actress in a Musical for “The King & I” and starred in Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me, Kate” earlier this year at Studio 54 on Broadway. She has earned seven Tony Award nominations and has appeared in multiple movies and TV shows, including “13 Reasons Why.” Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. 816-415-5025. Tickets are $37-$92 through hjseries.org.

Before she played the rock icon in the Broadway production of “A Night With Janis Joplin,” earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 2014, Mary Bridget Davies was a Kansas City-based blues singer. She also starred as Janis Joplin in 2016 when the North American touring company played at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Johnson County Community College. 913-469-4445. Tickets are $16-$55 through jccc.edu/theseries.

You’ve seen him as Wolverine in the movies, now you can see Hugh Jackman in “The Man. The Music. The Show.” After launching his worldwide tour in May with sold-out shows across Europe, Jackman began a 22-concert U.S. run that included three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. The Australian will perform songs from “The Greatest Showman,” “Les Misérables” and other films and Broadway shows, accompanied by a 16-piece orchestra and Tony Award nominee Keala Settle. 816-949-7100. Tickets are $26.50-$222 through sprintcenter.com.

Chances are this will be a close game, and not just because of the Chiefs’ many injuries and their inability to stop opposing teams’ running games. Four of the Texans’ five games been decided by seven or fewer points, and the widest margin in the past five regular-season games between the Texans and the Chiefs has been eight points. However, the Chiefs did rout the Texans 30-0 in the 2016 AFC wild-card game. 816-920-9300. Tickets are $170-$525 through chiefs.com.

With pop-rock music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Steven Levenson, “Dear Evan Hansen” won six Tony Awards in addition to a 2018 Grammy for best musical theater album. The title character is a socially awkward young man trying desperately to connect with people around him amid the pitfalls of today’s social media. Also, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16-18, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Oct. 20. 816-994-7222. Tickets are $46-$126 through broadwayinkc.com.

Although written by a different playwright (Lucas Hnath) more than 130 years after “A Doll’s House” by Norway’s Henrik Ibsen, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” is very much a sequel. Having become a successful novelist, Nora Helmer returns 15 years after leaving her husband, Torvald, to finalize their divorce. “A Doll’s House, Part 2” played on Broadway in 2017 with Laurie Metcalf in the starring role. Runs through Nov. 10. 816-531-7529. Tickets are $34-$44 through unicorntheatre.org.

Neil deGrasse Tyson has the rare ability to make complicated science not only understandable but also entertaining. The astrophysicist is host of the radio and TV show “StarTalk” and author of the New York Times best-selling “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.” His new book, “Letters from an Astrophysicist,” reveals a personal dimension of Tyson’s quest to understand our place in the cosmos. 816-283-9921. Tickets are $69.50-$99.50 through arvestbanktheatre.com.

Also this week

Classical music and dance

Rolston Quartet, Oct. 11, 1900 Building. chambermusic.org

NAVO, “Czech Mates,” Oct. 12, Atonement Lutheran Church. navoarts.com

Ensemble Ibérica, “Nadia,” Oct. 14-15, MTH Theater at Crown Center. ensembleiberica.org

Free Symphony Chamber Music Concert, “Music and the Holocaust,” Oct. 16, Kauffman Center. kcsymphony.org

Theater

“Sweet Charity,” Theatre in the Park, Oct. 11-27, Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center. theatreinthepark.org

Comedy

Tom Rhodes, Oct. 10-12, Comedy Club of Kansas City. thecomedyclubkc.com

Tony Baker, Oct. 10-13, Kansas City Improv. improvkc.com

Joey Diaz, Oct. 11, Uptown. uptowntheater.com

Rafe Williams, Oct. 11, Rino. therinokc.com

Boulet Brothers, Oct. 13, The Truman. thetrumankc.com

Music (rock, pop, jazz)

John McEuen and The String Wizards, Oct. 10, Knuckleheads. knuckleheadskc.com

Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin, Oct. 10, Kauffman Center. kauffmancenter.org

Obituary and Abbath with Midnight and Devil Master, Oct. 10, Granada. thegranada.com

Preston Singletary and Khu.éex’, Oct. 10, Polsky Theatre. jccc.edu/theseries

The Drifters, Oct. 11, Knuckleheads. knuckleheadskc.com

Gladys Knight, Oct. 11, Ameristar. ameristarkansascity.com

Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, “Cotton Club Revisited,” Oct. 11, Kauffman Center. kcjo.org

Russian Renaissance, Oct. 11, Polsky Theatre. jccc.edu/theseries

Samantha Fish with Shaw Davis, Oct. 11, CrossroadsKC. crossroadskc.com

Skillet and Alter Bridge, Oct. 11, Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. arvestbanktheatre.com

Gwar with Sacred Reich, Toxic Holocaust and Against the Grain, Oct. 12, CrossroadsKC. crossroadskc.com

Mushroomhead, Oct. 12, Aftershock. aftershockshows.com

PorchFestKC, Oct. 12, Midtown. porchfestkc.com

X Ambassadors, Oct. 12, Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. arvestbanktheatre.com

Kevin Gates, Oct. 13, Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. arvestbanktheatre.com

Mt. Joy, Oct. 14, Madrid. madridtheatre.com

Delain and Amorphis with Anneke Van Giersbergen, Oct. 15, Riot Room. theriotroom.com

Jon McLaughlin, Oct. 15, RecordBar. therecordbar.com

NF, Oct. 15, Uptown. uptowntheater.com

Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, Oct. 16, Liberty Hall. libertyhall.net

Justin Townes Earle with The Josephines, Oct. 16, Knuckleheads. knuckleheadskc.com

Visual arts

“Then and Now: Photography and the Printed Image,” Oct. 10-March 14, Linda Hall Library. lindahall.org

Summit Art Festival, Oct. 11-13, Downtown Lee’s Summit. summitartfest.org

Events/festivals/etc.

Irish Festival, Oct. 11-13, Weston. westonmo.com

Lenexa Chili Challenge, Oct. 11-12, Old Town Lenexa. lenexa.com

Botanical Brewfest, Oct. 12, Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. artsandrec-op.org/arboretum

Bounce-tober Fest, Oct. 12, City Market. thecitymarket.org

Happier Hour: An Evening with Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft, Oct. 12, The Truman. thetrumankc.com

Magic Woods, Oct. 12, Lakeside Nature Center. kcparks.org/event/magic-woods19

Main Street History Crawl, Oct. 12, Kansas City Public Library-Central Library. theworldwar.org

Wild West Days, Oct. 12-13, Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm. mahaffie.org

Donut Fest Kansas City, Oct. 13, Martin Event Space. eventbrite.com/event/59995880293

Great American Jeep & Military Vehicle Expo, Oct. 13, National WWI Museum and Memorial. kcmilitaryvehicles.com

International Lineman’s Rodeo, Oct. 16-19, National Agriculture Center & Hall of Fame and Overland Park Convention Center. linemansrodeokc.com

Book talks/lectures

Aarti Namdev Shahani for “Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares,” Oct. 10, Kansas City Public Library-Central Library. rainydaybooks.com

W. Bruce Cameron for “A Dog’s Promise,” Oct. 14, Rainy Day Books. rainydaybooks.com

Sports/recreation

All American Catfish Tournament, Oct. 12, Lewis & Clark Park at Kaw Point. allamericancatfish.com

College football: Northwest Missouri State vs. Pittsburg State, Oct. 12, Arrowhead. ticketmaster.com

Food

KC Brew & Chew. 5-10 p.m. Oct. 12. Free; beer sampling, $20. City Market, 20 E. Fifth. eventbrite.com/event/73128777141 or thecitymarket.org, 816-842-1271

Farm Table Dinner with chef Vaughn Good. 5 p.m. Oct. 12. $195. Green Dirt Farm, 19935 Mount Bethel, Weston. greendirtfarm.com, 816-386-2156

Whiskey Fest. 4:30-9:30 p.m. Oct. 12. $30-$75. Linden Square, 602 NE 70th, Gladstone. lindensquare.info

Four-course wine dinner. 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10. $75. Loose Mansion, 101 E. Armour. eventbrite.com/event/72155357617 or loosemansion.com

Donut Fest Kansas City. 2-7 p.m. Oct. 13. $10-$25. Martin Event Space, 13440 Holmes. eventbrite.com/event/59995880293

Lenexa Chili Challenge. 6-10 p.m. Oct. 11, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 12. Free. Old Town Lenexa, Santa Fe Trail Drive and Pflumm Road, Lenexa. lenexa.com

Botanical Brewfest. 4-9 p.m. Oct. 12. $60. Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, 8909 W. 179th, Overland Park. opabg.org/arboretum, 913-685-3604

Four-Course Beer Dinner with Schlafly Brewery. 7 p.m. Oct. 11. $60. Pinstripes, 13500 Nall, Overland Park. pinstripes.com/overland-park-kansas, 913-681-2255

Midwest Soul VegFest. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 12. Free. Vine Street Great Lawn, 18th and Vine. eventbrite.com/event/68099404151

This story was originally published October 8, 2019 at 6:00 AM with the headline "KC events Oct. 10-16: Hugh Jackman, Kelli O’Hara, Janet Yellen, Neil deGrasse Tyson."