This week in Kansas City: Mannheim Steamroller, Burt Bacharach, Right Between the Ears and Chris Kattan

Chris Kattan

Although the cast of “Saturday Night Live” has featured many comedic giants, perhaps only John Belushi and Chris Farley were more malleable slapstick artists than Chris Kattan. His recurring characters included the agitated and easily aroused primate Mr. Peepers, the ludicrous exotic dancer Mango, and Doug Butabi, a dim head-bobbing club goer. Each role is a masterwork of hilarious tics. Kattan parted ways with “Saturday Night Live” in 2003. His five shows at Stanford’s Comedy Club will provide nostalgic fans an opportunity to catch up with the comedian.

8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, 7:45 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, 7:45 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday Nov. 22. Stanford’s Comedy Club. 913-400-7500. stanfordscomedyclub.com. $15-$38. Dinner packages are also available.

Chiefs at Oakland Raiders

Most fans of Kansas City’s professional sports franchises take pride in their reputations for kindness and courtesy. Supporters of the Oakland Raiders, however, seem to go out of their way to be unlikable, an attitude that makes their team’s dismal 2014 campaign especially satisfying. Monitoring the televised reactions of Raiders backers in O.co Coliseum — originally called Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum — should prove very entertaining for Chiefs fans in Kansas City if the teams hold true to form. Most of Kansas City’s watering holes and sports bars will be transformed into Chiefs watch parties on Thursday evening.

7:25 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20. Various locations.

Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach was born in Kansas City in 1928. The man behind hits for stars including Tom Jones, Gene Pitney, the Shirelles, Luther Vandross and Dionne Warwick will be accompanied by 10 musicians in a homecoming concert on Friday. Few living songwriters can draw on a more impressive catalog of songs. Pop chestnuts such as “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” and “Any Day Now,” sublime love songs like “This Guy’s in Love With You” and “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” and corresponding odes to heartbreak, including “Anyone Who Had a Heart” and “Walk on By,” are among the compositions Bacharach may perform Friday.

7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21. Muriel Kauffman Theatre. 816-994-7200. kauffmancenter.org. $39-$79.

Ah’Lee Robinson

In his role as the executive director of the Kansas City Boys Choir and the Kansas City Girls Choir, Ah’Lee Robinson regularly appears at worship services and community events. The familiar figure in the regional music scene also merits consideration as a solo artist. His recital at the Westport Center for the Arts’ Brown Bag Concert series on Friday afternoon will allow listeners to admire Robinson’s voice without the contributions of his young charges. Accompanied by pianist Doriel Demps, Robinson is likely to perform a mix of gospel and secular material.

12:10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21. Immanuel Lutheran Church. 855-201-9922. westportcenterforthearts.org. Free.

“Right Between the Ears”

The Kansas Public Radio program “Right Between the Ears” will present its first holiday show since 2006 at Liberty Hall on Sunday. Audiences can hope that the Lawrence-based troupe’s sketch comedians will unveil eight years of hilarious seasonally themed material at their two shows. The only announced bit — “a call-in show hosted by the White House’s new Ebola czar’” titled “Let’s Talk Ebola” — makes up in topicality what it lacks in themed content. Jokes about the November elections also seem like inevitable topics of a show that otherwise promises to be “all Yuletide-y.”

5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22. Liberty Hall in Lawrence. 785-749-1972. libertyhall.net. $15-$19.

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas

A self-described creator of “groundbreaking, 18th-century rock & roll,” Chip Davis founded an improbable music industry empire from his base in Omaha in the 1970s. He acknowledged the achievement with the recent release of “Mannheim Steamroller 30/40,” an album that marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Mannheim Steamroller’s first Christmas album and the 40th anniversary of the first release on the American Gramaphone record label. Wildly popular electronic renditions of traditional Christmas songs will put two capacity audiences at Muriel Kauffman Theatre into the spirit of the season on Sunday.

3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23. Muriel Kauffman Theatre. 816-994-7200. kauffmancenter.org. $50-$90.

Richard Norton Smith for “On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller”

Celebrated biographer Richard Norton Smith is no stranger to Kansas. Following a tenure at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Center in Abilene, Smith helped shape the direction of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. He’ll return to the Dole Institute to discuss his new study of Nelson Rockefeller. The former governor of New York ran for president three times and served as vice president under Gerald Ford. Smith’s analysis of Rockefeller, a moderate Republican for whom the phrase “Rockefeller Republican” was coined, will almost certainly inspire a spirited discussion of the current political climate in Kansas.

4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. 785-864-4900. doleinstitute.org. Free.

CBE Hall of Fame Classic

Royals fans still smarting over the heartbreaking conclusion of the baseball season can finally shake off their pain by immersing themselves in the new college basketball season. Watching Alabama, Arizona State, Iowa State and Maryland participate in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic is an ideal way to erase the lingering image of Alex Gordon stranded on third base in the final game of the World Series. The Iowa State Cyclones, the regional favorite in the tournament, were ranked No. 14 in the AP’s preseason poll. Under the direction of head coach Fred Hoiberg, the team reached the Sweet 16 last year.

6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25. Sprint Center. 816-949-7000. sprintcenter.com. $12-$102.

Christmas in the Sky and Christmas in the Park

Bolstered by formidable tradition and striking architecture, the holiday lights on the Country Club Plaza rightfully claim the lion’s share of the regional attention devoted to seasonal displays. A different experience can be had at Longview Lake, a scenic spot between Grandview and Lee’s Summit. At Wednesday’s Christmas in the Sky event, fireworks will be accompanied by a music simulcast on radio station 99.7 The Point. The display marks the opening of Christmas in the Park, a drive-through panorama featuring 300,000 lights and 175 animated figures.

Gates open at 5 p.m. for the Christmas in the Sky event on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Longview Lake Beach. 816-503-4800. jacksongov.org. Free.

Christmas in the Park: (5:30-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 5:30-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday) Wednesday, Nov. 26-Wednesday, Dec. 31. 816-503-4800. Longview Lake Campground. jacksongov.org. Free.

Trampled Under Foot

Trampled Under Foot, Kansas City’s favorite blues band for years, is breaking up. The early support of local fans was validated when the band won the International Blues Challenge in 2008. The band named for a Led Zeppelin song subsequently toured much of the world. Its 2013 album “Badlands” topped Billboard magazine’s blues chart. In spite of those successes, the members of the band are going in different directions. Wednesday’s show at Knuckleheads is billed as the final time Trampled Under Foot will perform at the blues-oriented venue.

8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26. Knuckleheads. 816-483-1456. knuckleheadshonkytonk.com. $20 in advance.

This story was originally published November 20, 2014 at 6:00 AM with the headline "This week in Kansas City: Mannheim Steamroller, Burt Bacharach, Right Between the Ears and Chris Kattan."