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Melissa Etheridge / Jewel at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-07-31)

MELISSA ETHERIDGE SETLIST  If I Wanted To I Want to Come Over Don't You Need A Burning Woman Come to My Window Bring Me Some Water I'm the Only One You Can Sleep While I Drive Like the Way I Do JEWEL SETLIST Standing Still Hands Long Way 'Round Intuition No More Tears Morning Song You Were Meant For Me Foolish Games Satellite The New Wild West Who Will Save Your Soul   MELISSA ETHERIDGE TOUR DATES   AUG 1 The Ledge* Waite Park, MN AUG 3 Rose Music Center at The Heights* Huber Heights, OH AUG 4 The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor* Windsor, Canada AUG 5 Interlochen Center for the Arts* Interlochen, MI AUG 7 The Astro Amphitheater* La Vista, NE AUG 9 Iowa State Fair Grandstand Des Moines, IA AUG 10 Wisconsin State Fair Milwaukee, WI AUG 11 Pavilion at Ravinia# Highland Park, IL AUG 13 Saint Louis Music Park# Maryland Heights, MO AUG 14 Everwise Amph-White River State Park# Indianapolis, IN AUG 16 Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater# Chautauqua, NY AUG 17 Blue Hills Bank Pavilion# Boston, MA AUG 18 Snow Pond Center for the Arts# Sidney, ME AUG 20 Kings Theatre# Brooklyn, NY AUG 21 Bethel Woods Center for the Arts# Bethel, NY AUG 22 TD Pavilion at the Mann# Philadelphia, PA AUG 24 Wolf Trap# Vienna, VA AUG 25 Wolf Trap# Vienna, VA AUG 27 Freeman Arts Pavilion# Selbyville, DE AUG 28 Women Who Rock Pittsburgh, PA SEP 13 First Bank Amphitheater Franklin, TN SEP 14 Salvage Station Asheville, NC SEP 15 Wilson Center Wilmington, NC SEP 17 Koka Booth Amphitheatre* Cary, NC SEP 19 Sweetland Amphitheater* Lagrange, GA SEP 20 Bourbon & Beyond Louisville, KY SEP 21 Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre* Charlotte, NC SEP 24 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino* Hollywood, FL SEP 26 The Sound at Coachman Park* Clearwater, FL SEP 27 Saint Augustine Amphitheatre* St. Augustine, FL SEP 28 Sound Amphitheater* Gautier, MS OCT 1 Moody Amphitheater* Austin, TX OCT 3 Riverwind Casino* Norman, OK OCT 4 WinStar Casino* Thackerville, OK OCT 5 Walmart AMP* Rogers, AR OCT 7 The Lensic Performing Arts Center Santa Fe, NM OCT 9 Fox Tucson Theatre Tucson, AZ OCT 11 Jim & Linda Lee Performing Arts Center Prescott, AZ OCT 12 Wild Horse Pass Resort and Casino Chandler, AZ OCT 13 Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts Cerritos, CA OCT 15 The Magnolia El Cajon, CA OCT 16 Fox Performing Arts Center Riverside, CA APR 11, 2025 Grand Opera House Wilmington, DE APR 16, 2025 Lyell B Clay Concert Theatre Morgantown, WV MAY 5-7, 2025 The Sea and ME Miramar Beach, FL * = Jewel   / # = w Indigo Girls   JEWEL TOUR DATES   Aug. 1 Waite Park, MN The Ledge* Aug. 3 Huber Heights, OH Rose Music Center at The Heights* Aug. 4* Windsor, ON The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor* Aug. 5* Interlochen, MI Kresge Auditorium* Aug. 7* La Vista, NE The Astro* Sep. 17* Cary, NC Koka Booth* Sep. 19* Lagrange, GA Sweetland Amphitheatre* Sep. 21* Charlotte, NC Skyla Credit Union* Sep. 24* Hollywood, FL Hard Rock Live* Sep. 26* Clearwater, FL The Sound* Sep. 27* St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine* Sep. 28* Gautier, MS The Sound Amphitheater Oct. 1* Austin, TX Moody* Oct. 3* Norman, OK Riverwind Casino* Oct. 4* Thackerville, OK Lucas Oil Live* Oct. 5 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP * = with Melissa Etheridge Read More Melissa Etheridge Kansas native Melissa Etheridge just released a new live album, taped live at the corrections center in Topeka called “I’m Not Broken”. Etheridge will play hits like “Come To My Window,” “I’m The Only One” and more ..

With a hazy triple-digit heat index and ominous storm clouds approaching on the horizon, it looked somewhat touch-and-go, but everything worked out for a memorable outdoor night at Starlight Theatre with singer-songwriters Melissa Etheridge and Jewel.

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Jewel (Kilcher) would be up first, dressed in a frilly yellow dress, heeled ankle boots, and a sharp-looking feathered hat, playing an hour-long set in her first area appearance in four years, since before the pandemic.

Devout fans yelled requests throughout, with the singer acknowledging them, saying, “We’ll take requests, I’m your blonde jukebox tonight” but also confirming she would be playing a shorter set, due to backstage instructions regarding the oncoming storm clouds.

Her latest album was 2022’s “Freewheelin’ Woman” (via Worlds Matter Media) and she played a ballad from that record on which Darius Rucker guests, “No More Tears”, a song that is related to her youth foundation as well.

On stage, she was accompanied by steady handed guitarist, Stanton Adcock, who has played with Eric Clapton and who we thought was still touring with The Wallflowers. Kilcher still has that knack for making her shows seem very intimate – when someone requested “Morning Song”, she reached out to give them a shirt before playing the song and stopped mid-verse to explain her namechecking of author Anais Nin.

She stopped to wait until a front row patron returned to their seat while noticing their comfortable footwear, sipped some tea between songs, admitting she was drinking from a Kelly Clarkson mug they had backstage, and asked the crowd to tell her (more like 'yell') a joke while she tuned her acoustic guitar.

On one of her earliest and biggest hits, the Steve Poltz co-penned, “You Were Meant For Me”, she brought her young son, Kase, out to play drums. The deep cut “The New Wild West” was written during the 1996 presidential campaign era- a song she has brought back, saying it also fits the current political times. The evening of course, ended with her first and biggest hit, “Who Will Save Your Soul”.

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The true stars of the evening were arguably Melissa Etheridge’s band (Max Hart on keyboards and guitar, Eric Gardner on drums Joe Ayoub on bass) who pulled double duty, playing with both headliners; and because of less need of a set change, were able to start Etheridge’s set in less than half the time it would normally take to switch out.

Melissa Etheridge, a native of nearby Leavenworth, KS, came out storming herself for her seventy-two-minute set, opening with 1994 radio hit, “If I Only Wanted To”, dressed in gypsy cowboy black with matching cowboy hat (part of her tour hat collection), and smiling often, playing as close to a hometown show for this tour.

The new album (and accompanying documentary) is I’m Not Broken– Live from Topeka Correctional Facility (on the legendary Sun Records label), recorded Johnny Cash-style, at a women's’ prison an hour west of the venue, and a place she re-visited again, the day before playing this show.

After mentioning the Kansas City Chiefs, Etheridge mistook the audience’s low-voice yells as boos, but she was later corrected by her wife’s voice in her earpiece and had the crowd chanting the team’s war cry between songs for the rest of the set. “I’m only doing it because the drummer is a Patriots fan!” she admitted, keeping the chanting going.

“A Burning Woman” is the centerpiece of the new record, and Etheridge quickly taught the crowd the chorus, so all could sing along. The familiar strumming that begins her first hit, “Bring Me Some Water” brought everyone to their feet, as Etheridge reminisced coming to this very same venue as a child and taking in a musical or two with her family, never imagining she'd ever play here.

“I’m the Only One” typically would have ended the main set- a blistering bluesy version which showcased her guitar and harmonica skills, but she and the band stayed on stage, getting the signal to continue playing as storms were still enough in the distance.

An impromptu “You Can Sleep While I Drive” was called to play as an audible from Etheridge to her band - a song about traveling, which she said she always dreamt of since she was young- being on the road, since starting out as a musician playing locally.

One last Chiefs war cry began an extended “Like the Way I Do” as Etheridge flashed her Chiefs guitar strap, cutting loose for the next thirteen minutes on a truly memorable version of the hit song, to end the evening with. “Kansas City, nobody loves you Like the Way I Do”! Etheridge exclaimed.

Despite the heat, incoming storms, and elements, both Melissa Etheridge and Jewel managed to pull off spirited and well-received performances with venue management timing things almost perfectly, Intense rain and wind would hit from the west about fifteen minutes into the drive home and subsequently, our power was knocked out for the next twenty-two hours upon our return home… but I’m Not Broken.

(Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)

MELISSA ETHERIDGE at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-07-31)

MELISSA ETHERIDGE at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-07-31)

JEWEL at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-07-31)

JohnC ♥ johnc@weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com

Shrek The Musical (Broadway Touring) at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-07-26 through 07-28)

(Shrek Playbill from Starlight Theatre Kansas City, MO)   KANSAS CITY SHOWTIMES   Fri 07/26, 8:00PM Sat 07/27, 8:00PM Sun 07/28, 8:00PM   SHREK THE MUSICAL TOUR DATES July 30-31 Knoxville, TN Tennessee Theatre August 2-4 Detroit, MI Fisher Theatre August 6-18 Toronto, ON Princess of Wales Theatre September 4-5 Pensacola, FL Saenger Theatre September 6-8 New Orleans, LA Saenger Theatre September 9 Conway, AR Reynolds Performance Hall September 12 Bangor, ME Cross Insurance Center September 13-15 Boston, MA Emerson Colonial Theatre September 19 Roanoke, VA Berglund Performing Arts Theatre September 20-22 Tysons, VA Capital One Hall September 24-25 Sarasota, FL Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall September 26 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall September 27-29 West Palm Beach, FL Kravis Center for the Performing Arts October 1 Baton Rouge, LA Riverside Centroplex October 2 Senatobia, MS Heindl Center for the Performing Arts October 3 Athens, GA Classic Center in Athens October 4 Evans, GA Columbia County Performing Arts Center October 5 Jacksonville, FL Center for the Performing Arts October 6 Spartanburg, SC Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium October 8 Oxford, AL Oxford Performing Arts Center October 10 Davenport, IA River Center Adler Theatre October 11-12 Madison, WI Overture Center for the Arts October 13 Lima, OH Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center October 15 Evansville, IN National Events Plaza October 16 St. Louis, MO Stifel Theatre October 17 Portsmouth, OH Riffe Center for the Arts October 20 Ames, IA Stephens Auditorium October 23 Grand Forks, ND Chester Fritz Auditorium October 24-26 Sioux Falls, SD Washington Pavilion October 28 Grand Rapids, MI Forest Hills Fine Arts Center October 29 Cedar Rapids, IA Paramount Theatre October 30 Champaign, IL State Farm Center November 2 Waukegan, IL The Genesee Theatre November 12-13 Yakima, WA Capitol Theatre November 15-16 Spokane, WA First Interstate Center for the Arts November 17 Bellingham, WA Mount Baker Theatre November 22-24 Costa Mesa, CA Segerstrom Center for the Arts Nov. 26 – Dec. 1 Las Vegas, NV Smith Center for the Performing Arts December 17-22 San Jose, CA San Jose Performing Arts Center December 27-29 Salt Lake City, UT Eccles Theatre Read More Broadway in Kansas City Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album....

It’s good to be green--

The successful film franchise about the big green ogre with an even bigger heart comes to life for Shrek The Musical, a national tour production which plays Starlight Theatre in Kansas City for the weekend.

The musical is based on the first Oscar®-winning Dreamworks animated film (from 2001, which in turn was based on the 1990 children’s book from ex-New Yorker cartoonist William Steig) and tells of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey, alongside a wisecracking Donkey and a feisty Princess Fiona who resists her rescue.

This musical adaptation first opened on Broadway in 2008 and ran through early 2010, featuring music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. The Broadway production received eight Tony Award® nominations including Best Musical and won the award for Best Costume Design for Tim Hatley.

This touring show has become recently refreshed by the creative team, with all-new original direction and choreography by Danny Mefford, and is filled with new orchestrations. This re-imagined production brings the show closer to its roots of showcasing an unexpected antihero who realizes his self-worth and shows the real value of love, friendship, and acceptance.

The show added a framing device to narrate the story, a group of people who have gathered together to present the story, and the swamp setting, fairytale characters and familiar scenes from the film unfolds. Favorite songs from the original production remain like "I Know It's Today" and "Who I'd Be", but pacing is also improved to avoid the show from dragging at non-musical points.

Like the film, the story, setting and dialogue appeals to all ages, with some humor purposely very childlike, and other jokes having a more adult context. The actors in their bright colored costumes delighted the children, who were also amazed to see characters read to them at bedtime like Little Bo Peep, the Gingerbread Man, and The Three Blind Mice, all come to life.

The second act began with a dance routine by a group of rats (with the Pied Piper) followed by a burp-off between Shrek and Fiona… which of course, the kids loved.

The lead trio of actors (Nicholas Hambruch, Cecily Dionne Davis, and Naphtali Yaakov Curry as Shrek, Fiona, & Donkey respectively) were all very entertaining and lived up to embodying the characteristics of the characters that we know from the animated films, with Hambruch doing a respectable “if it’s not Scottish, it’s crap” accent a la Mike Myers, and Curry mirroring the needed comic relief and attitude that Eddie Murphy made so memorable in the films.

The six-piece band, mostly hidden in a corner of stage left played well, even working in an instrumental of Counting Crows’ “Accidentally in Love”, but I’ll write something I never thought I would- I kind of missed that annoying Smash Mouth song (and maybe “I’m a Believer” too)  And while Timmy Lewis played Lord Farquaad in the over-the-top, campy, primadonna way we expected, we still imagine him as overly short, like in the films.

An extra nod to the merchandising choices, as numerous in the crowd were wearing their green ear headbands, there was a full-size Gingerbread Man puppet (could maybe double as an oven mitt?) and even a fluid-filled pen that has Donkey running back and forth.

With a recent official announcement that a new Shrek film will hit movie theaters on July 1, 2026 (with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz returning as voices, and Murphy has also hinted at a Donkey standalone film as well) this is an ideal time to re-acquaint yourself with the franchise, and the Broadway touring version of Shrek The Musical is one to bring the entire family to.

 (National Tour Photos provided by their website) / Click on any image to enlarge and see in full) 

john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / Twitter.com

Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Broadway Touring) at The Music Hall, Kansas City MO (2024-07-23 through 08-04)

(Moulin Rouge Playbill from The Music Hall Kansas City, MO) KANSAS CITY SHOWTIMES   Tuesday, July 23: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 24: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 26: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 27: 2 p.m. Saturday, July 27: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 28: 1 p.m. Sunday, July 28: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 30: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 31: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, August 1: 7:30 p.m. Friday, August 2: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 3: 2 p.m. Saturday, August 3: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, August 4: 1 p.m. Sunday, August 4: 6:30 p.m.   MOULIN ROUGE TOUR DATES Aug 6–Aug 11 TULSA, OK Tulsa Performing Arts Center Aug 20–Sept 1 DES MOINES, IA Des Moines Civic Center Sept 3–Sept 15 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK Civic Center Music Hall Sept 17–Oct 6 DETROIT, MI Opera House Oct 8–Oct 20 NASHVILLE, TN Tennessee Perf Arts Center Oct 22–Oct 27 CHATTANOOGA, TN Memorial Auditorium Oct 29–Nov 3 MEMPHIS, TN Orpheum Theatre Nov 19–Jan 12, TORONTO, ON CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre Jan 14–Jan 19 INDIANAPOLIS, IN Murat Theatre Jan 21–Feb 2 GRAND RAPIDS, MI DeVos Performance Hall Feb 18–Mar 2 LOUISVILLE, KY The Kentucky Center Mar 4–Mar 16 RICHMOND, VA Altria Theater Mar 18–Mar 23 SARASOTA, FL Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Mar 25–Mar 30 WEST PALM BEACH, FL Kravis Center Apr 15 –Apr 27 GREENVILLE, SC Peace Center Apr 29 –May 11 KNOXVILLE, TN Tennessee Theatre May 13 –May 25 AUSTIN, TX Bass Concert Music Hall May 27 –Jun 8 SAN ANTONIO, TX The Majestic Theatre Jun 10 –Jun 15 FORT WORTH, TX Bass Performance Hall Jun 24 –Jul 6 SAN DIEGO, CA San Diego Civic Theatre Jul 8 –Jul 20 SAN JOSE, CA Center for the Performing Arts July 22 –Aug 3 TEMPE, AZ ASU Gammage Aug 5 –Aug 10 DENVER, CO Buell Theatre Read More Broadway in Kansas City Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album....

The attention’s currently all on the City of Lights with the Summer Olympics just starting...but without a flight or passport, can those in Kansas City transport themselves to Paris, and during all of its Belle Epoque-era glory?! – Yes, you can Can, CAN!!

Adapted from the acclaimed film from director Baz Luhrmann that starred Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is currently playing at The Music Hall in downtown Kansas City, now through next Sunday, August 4.

The ten-time Tony Award® winner is out on its first North American Tour and with more than a little help from the songs, tells a classic tale of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love. This freshly updated version is directed by Alex Timbers, with a book by John Logan; music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements by Justin Levine; and choreography by Sonya Tayeh, all of whom are Tony Award® winners for the production.

In a potentially risky, but necessary move, the soundtrack (which drives so much of the two acts), has been expanded and updated to include more contemporary hits (including familiar chartoppers by divas Adele, Katy Perry, Sia, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Britney Spears), many in the forms of medleys and mashups.

The choices mostly work (now including 70 songs from 160 songwriters) and in addition to newer songs, manages to include selections from artists like The Rolling Stones, who did not grant permission to be included in the film version.

The show’s promise to "enter a world of splendor and romance, of eye-popping excess, of glitz, grandeur, and glory", is immediately delivered upon your walk into the auditorium, seeing the illuminated logo and bright-red stage set, that resembles an oversized 3D Valentine’s Day card come to life.

As expected, the burlesque costumes, set design, and lighting were par excellence as cast members portraying bohemians and aristocrats sang and danced about, with a special nod to the handful of perfectly executed lighting cues that required exact precision throughout the show.

Set in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris in 1899 (right before the 1900 Olympics there, FYI), the musical tells the story of Christian, a young composer (the role now Americanized, as he’s come from Ohio [why not KC for this run?]) and the cabaret dancer and actress, Satine, whom he falls in love in.

Both leads (Christian Douglas and Gabrielle McClinton respectively) were in strong voice, with McClinton particularly shining during the first act singing a Katy Perry hit, and Douglas during the second act, with the tango version of The Police’s first hit and the production’s signature song, “Come What May”, both of which were also in the theatrical version.

Robert Petkoff was entertaining and provided much comic relief as ringleader Harold Zidler, and the remainder of the cast was in collective sync and hit all their notes and marks without fail. The story (inspired by the classic Italian opera La Traviata) is a timeless and tragic story of boy-meets-girl; but like the film, the attention and the attraction is more on the ‘icing’ than the ‘cake’- the grandeur of the production, the flash and splash of colors, and the numerous pop hits and medleys... and that’s more than ok.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical is not a production to ponder philosophically- it’s a wonder to behold, an extravaganza whose hand you want to take, and quite possibly the 'most jukebox’ of any jukebox musicals with so many familiar songs. It invites you to their party, offers you a cup of absinthe (to see the Green Fairy) and is a lavish spectacle that happily takes you along this highly enjoyable ride. Should you go to this ‘Paris’? – Yes, you can, Can, CAN!!

Moulin Rouge! The Musical plays in Kansas City at The Music Hall through Sunday, August 4 with Tickets available here: Moulin Rouge (Touring) Tickets | Event Dates & Schedule | Ticketmaster

  (National Tour Photos by Matthew Murphy and provided by their website) / Click on any image to enlarge and see in full) 

john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / Twitter.com

STOMP (Broadway Touring) at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-14 through 06-16)

(STOMP Playbill from Starlight Theatre Kansas City, MO) STOMP! TOUR DATES DES MOINES, IA 06/20/24 - 06/23/24 Des Moines Civic Center CINCINNATI, OH 10/11/24 - 10/12/24 Aronoff Center YORK, PA 10/15/24 Strand Theatre READING, PA 10/16/24 Santander Arena PITTSBURGH, PA 10/18/24 - 10/19/24 Benedum Center CONWAY, AR 10/22/24 UCA Reynolds Performance Hall EAST LANSING, MI 11/6/24 - 11/8/24 Wharton Center for the Performing Arts MANHATTAN, KS 11/10/24 McCain Auditorium LOWELL, MA 11/15/24 - 11/16/24 Lowell Memorial Auditorioum CUTLER BAY, FL 11/23/24 - 11/24/24 Moss Cultural Arts Center COLO. SPGS, CO 01/6/25 - 01/7/25 Pikes Peak Center EUGENE, OR 01/10/25 - 01/11/25 Hult Center NORTHRIDGE, CA 01/18/25 - 01/19/25 CSU The Soraya/YSNC SANTA BARBARA, CA 01/21/25 Granada Theater SEATTLE, WA 01/24/25 - 01/26/25 The Moore CHANDLER, AZ 02/7/25 - 02/8/25 Chandler Center for the Arts MIDLAND, MI 05/10/25 - 05/11/25 Midland Center for the Arts DALLAS, TX 05/31/25 - 06/1/25 Winspear Opera House ORLANDO, FL 06/6/25 - 06/7/25 Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Read More Broadway in Kansas City Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album....

Matchboxes, brooms, garbage cans, and crumpled newspapers – anything can provide rhythm.

The percussion group Stomp (stylized in all caps) proves this and more, in the latest installment of their long and award-winning theatrical run, coming to Kansas City for the weekend at Starlight Theatre. Using their bodies and found objects as instruments, the eight-member ensemble entertained under the stars for their ninety-five-minute performance, done without any intermission.

The show started across the pond in Brighton, UK in the early ‘90s, blending dance, musical numbers and of course, beats into a building presentation that gets more impressive as it goes. The show began its US run in NYC in 1994, finally closing in January of last year after over 11,000 performances but has expanded internationally and toured semi-regularly throughout North America.

The show is one of a kind and for all ages, with not so much a central storyline, as a series of street performances and skits, all performed wordlessly, so audiences young and old, and from any culture, can experience the humor and awe of each number. And by using “found objects” (similar to Blue Man Group), the audience can easily relate to the most common pieces found in everyday life, can be worked together to create a rhythmic beat.

Without giving too much away, performances include percussive rhythms created with push brooms, plastic tubing, newspapers, Zippo lighters, moving on sawdust, trash can lids, and 55gal. drums, inner tubes, and even shopping carts. The cast members even scale the set to provide a couple numbers while suspended in the air, and it isn’t until near the end, to see why the group is really called “STOMP”.

We saw the production about fifteen years ago in Minneapolis and were as entertain then, as now, proving the seemingly simple idea of making an organized “bang and a clatter’” on simple everyday objects, really can be compelling and entertaining.

STOMP (again similar to Blue Man) is one of those performance shows that both Broadway fans, and those that don’t regularly go to the theater, can enjoy, and because of the universality of its themes and skits, can be identified with, by those young and old. It’s become a theater ‘classic’ everyone should experience at least once, to see and feel the rhythm.

STOMP plays in Kansas City at Starlight Theatre through Sunday, June 16 with Tickets available here: Events | Kansas City Starlight Theatre (kcstarlight.com)

  (National Tour Photos provided by their website) / Click on any image to enlarge and see in full) 

 

john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / Twitter.com

Sarah McLachlan w/ Feist at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)

SARAH MCLACHLAN SETLIST Sweet Surrender Building a Mystery I Will Remember You Drifting Song for My Father World on Fire Adia Beautiful Girl Answer Witness Fumbling Toward Ecstasy: Possession Wait Plenty Good Enough Mary Elsewhere Circle Ice Hold On Ice Cream Fear Encore: Gravity (new song) Angel FEIST SETLIST Mushaboom So Sorry A Man Is Not His Song My Moon My Man Hiding Out in the Open Fruits of My Labor (Lucinda Williams cover) The Water In Lightning 1234 Let It Die   SARAH MCLACHLAN TOUR DATES Jun 10 Maryland Heights, MO Saint Louis Music Park Jun 11 Chicago, IL Huntington Pavilion Northerly Island Jun 13 Sterling Heights, MI Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill Jun 14 Cincinnati, OH PNC Pavilion Jun 16 Indianapolis, IN Everwise Amph  Jun 18 Lewiston, NY Artpark Mainstage Theater Jun 19 Toronto, ONT Budweiser Stage Jun 20 Laval, QC Place Bell Jun 22 Boston, MA Leader Bank Pavilion Jun 23 Bridgeport, CT Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater Jun 24 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall Jun 26 Philadelphia, PA Mann Center Jun 27 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion Jun 29 Nashville, TN Ascend Amphitheater Jun 30 Atlanta, GA Cadence Bank Amphitheatre  Jul 02 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP Jul 03 Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory Jul 05 Austin, TX Moody Amphitheater Jul 06 Sugar Land, TX Smart Financial Center Jul 28 Salmon Arm, BC, Roots and Blues Festival Nov 02 Peterborough, ONT Memorial Centre Nov 04 Moncton, NB Avenir Centre Nov 05 Halifax, NS Scotiabank Centre Nov 07 Quebec City, QC Centre Videotron Nov 08 Ottawa, ONT Canadian Tire Centre Nov 09 London, ONT Budweiser Gardens Nov 12 Winnipeg, MB Canada Life Centre Nov 13 Saskatoon, SK Sasktel Nov 14 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome Nov 16 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place Nov 18 Kelowna, BC Prospera Place Nov 20 Victoria, BC Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre   FEIST TOUR DATES JUN 10, Saint Louis Music Park Maryland Heights, MO JUN 11, Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island Chicago, IL JUN 13, Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre  JUN 14, PNC Pavilion Cincinnati, OH JUN 16, Everwise Amphitheater Indianapolis, IN JUN 18, Artpark (Mainstage Theater) Lewiston, NY JUN 20, Place Bell Laval, QC JUN 22, Leader Bank Pavilion Boston, MA JUN 23, Hartford Healthcare Ampitheater Bridgeport, CT JUN 24, Radio City Music Hall New York, NY JUN 26, TD Pavilion at the Mann Philadelphia, PA JUN 27, Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD JUN 29, Ascend Amphitheater Nashville, TN JUN 30, Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park Atlanta, GA JUL 2, Walmart AMP Rogers, AR JUL 3, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory Irving, TX JUL 5, Moody Amphitheater Austin, TX JUL 6, Smart Financial Centre Sugar Land, TX SEP 12, Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival Fredericton, NB SEP 15, Rifflandia Victoria, BC SEP 17, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre St. Catharines, ON SEP 18, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre St. Catharines, ON SEP 19, Royal Botanical Garden Burlington, Canada SEP 22, Burning Kiln Winery St. Williams, Canada READ MORE Sarah McLachlan Taking advantage of the Circuit City closeouts, I bought Sarah McLachlan's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy Legacy Edition for $8. This is not a bad deal, considering that amazon lists it for $24.98 …

“It's a long way down to the place, where we started from….” – “Ice Cream”

What once was, was reborn again as Canadian songstress Sarah McLachlan made her long-awaited return to Kansas City to celebrate the 30^th Anniversary of her landmark third album, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” at Starlight Theatre.

The night began with a generous, near-hour-long opening set from fellow Canadian and 11-time Juno Award winner Feist, in support of her sixth album Multitudes (Interscope Records) which was released last year. The heartfelt and introspective record is centered around the themes of life and death: the sudden loss of her father and the birth of her adopted daughter.

Leslie and her four-piece band started with the strong and familiar- opening with radio hit, “Mushaboom” with the new “Hiding Out in the Open” played a few songs in; a track she mentioned as encapsulating the stories of people’s lives she heard from, finding their way back to normalcy following the period of global isolation.

The tour, which started in Seattle last month, had made its way through Colorado the previous couple nights and was where the band performed on a small radio show, covering Lucinda Williams’ 2003 deep cut, “Fruits of my Labor” which was stopped and re-started before it found its musical path live.

“In Lightning” from the newest record, featured Kate Bush-like tribal rhythms and lifting band harmonies and her counting hit, “1 2 3 4” (which she even once sang on ‘Sesame Street’) was a late set highlight, even separating the singing of two-part harmony of the song, cleverly between those crowd members from the Kansas side, and those from Missouri.

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After a set change and brief dramatic build-up with flourish, Sarah McLachlan marched out beaming, dressed in a flowing white strapless springtime dress to the introductory notes of 2006 hit, “Sweet Surrender” to begin her 125min. headlining set.

“It doesn’t mean much, it doesn’t mean anything…” she started singing, but to fans that hadn’t seen her on out on the road since 2016, it clearly meant everything. Older fans even wore their vintage Lilith Fair tour shirts from its three years in the late 1990’s (of which, we were at two of them, held across the metro at the other outdoor amphitheater) and its brief comeback in 2010.

1997’s “Building a Mystery” was next, another massive hit that especially had middle-aged couples holding on to each other and singing along to every lyric. McLachlan herself has kept in mostly great voice- the range and signature lilt of her delivery is as distinguishable as ever- despite saying she battled some laryngitis in rehearsals for this seven-week/30-date tour, and some dust and dirt likely inhaled during a swirling, windy performance at Red Rocks, just prior to the KC show.

McLachlan’s demeanor came across as genuine, happy, funny and honest as she shared a few stories in-between a bevy of mostly familiar hit songs. She normally works 2014’s “Song for my Father” into her setlists now, a tribute to the dad she lost to cancer, but sings the song with joy and remembrance, not in sorrow.

“World on Fire”, a twenty-year old song, is (unfortunately) more appropriate in current times, and after never revealing its meaning, she’s only in recent years disclosed that 1997 hit ballad, “Adia” was about falling for her drummer (and eventual husband), who happened to be her best friend’s ex. But the song is more about the aftermath of that fallout, and the two friends reconciling (both getting divorced as well).

McLachlan spoke cheekily of her two grown daughters (and their insistence she make at least one costume change during the show, a la Taylor Swift), dedicating “Beautiful Girl” to the bliss and the trials of parenting.

An extended instrumental outro on “Witness” allowed for some sharp guitar dueling and her band (which includes longtime touring husband and wife duo of Luc Doucet and Melissa McLelland, also of Whitehorse) and gave McLachlan a chance for that wardrobe change into something more comfortable- a patterned dark sleeveless blouse and leather leggings, to move forward with playing 1993 album, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” in its entirety.

Also being celebrated was her non-profit school of music, for which $1 per ticket will be donated to the School in her name, which provides high-quality music education and mentorship free to children and youth facing barriers to access. As well, it was guitarist Doucet’s birthday and while there was no cake rolled out, some kind words and a long hug were given.

1993’s “Fumbling” is an album that has aged better than most people think – its universal themes of life, love and death set to smart arrangements and unforgettable choruses, with even the few deep cuts that weren’t singles, still as standout as the hits were.

“Good Enough” remains as strong a take on self-worth and female empowerment as it was thirty years ago, and the ballad “Hold On” remains both heart-wrenching and inspirational as it reflected the times when HIV was still rampant and a health mystery.

The mood quickly brightened of course, with the gleeful hit, “Ice Cream” and home videos of fans singing along on the backdrop, as the live audience also sang along. The album’s closer, “Fear” about a final surrender to love, also gave the band another chance to shine as the song built into an impressive ending crescendo, to round out the main set.

The encore began with a new ballad, “Gravity” from a yet-to-be-released album, about the emotional struggles in raising her oldest daughter and the relief that came with family therapy and segued into perhaps her most famous ballad, “Angel” with her band rejoining on stage for the final song and subsequent bows and accolades.

With threats to women’s rights, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the ongoing struggle for an equal wage, it’s an ideal time for Sarah McLachlan to re-emerge on live stages and with forthcoming new record; but beyond that, it’s just plain musically empowering to have she and Feist together on the same bill, playing under the stars of a fine spring evening.

(Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)

SARAH MCLACHLAN at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)

SARAH MCLACHLAN at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)

FEIST at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)
FEIST at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)

JohnC ♥ johnc@weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com

The Cher Show (Broadway Touring) at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-05-28 through 06-02)

(The Cher Show Playbill from Starlight Theatre Kansas City, MO) THE CHER SHOW SETLIST ACT ONE If I Could Turn Back Time (Part 1)- Star, Ensemble If I Could Turn Back Time (Part 2)- Star, Babe, Lady Half Breed- Georgia, Babe A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes- Babe, Star You Better Sit Down Kid- Georgia Half Breed (Concert Version)- Babe, Star, Lady Da Doo Ron Ron- Babe, Lady, Star, Gracia, Fanita, Ensemble Be My Baby- Babe, Gracia, Fanita The Shoop Shoop Song- Babe, Bridget, Colleen, Star, Lady, Girl Group I Like It Like That- Dave Clark Five I Got You Babe- Babe, Sonny Little Man- Sonny When The Money’s Gone- Babe, Sonny, Lady, Ensemble Vamp- Star Ain’t Nobody’s Business- Bob Mackie, Lady, Babe, Star, Ensemble Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)- Lady Living In A House Divided- Star, Babe, Lady, Sonny Bang Bang (Reprise)- Lady, Star, Ensemble Believe (Ballad)- Star, Babe, Lady Song For The Lonely- Star, Lady, Babe ACT TWO All I Ever Need Is You- Sonny, Lady Heart Of Stone- Lucille Ball, Lady Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves- Star Midnight Rider/Ramblin’ Man- Gregg Allman Just Like Jesse James- Star, Gregg, Ensemble Dark Lady- Sonny, Gregg, Ensemble Baby, Don’t Go- Sonny Strong Enough- Lady, Star When The Money’s Gone (Part 2)- Star The Way Of Love- Star The Beat Goes On/It Don’t Come Easy- Babe, Mackie, Assistant, Ensemble, Star I Found Someone (Part 1)- Star I Found Someone (Part 2)- Star, Rob I Found Someone (Part 3)- Star I Got You Babe (Reprise)- Sonny, Star You Haven’t Seen The Last Of Me- Star, Lady, Babe A Dream Is A Wish (Reprise)- Babe, Star, Georgia Finale- Star, Babe, Lady, Ensemble Take Me Home - Bows- Company THE CHER SHOW TOUR DATES June 3 ORPHEUM THEATRE Sioux City, IA June 4 – 5 PEORIA CIVIC CENTER THEATER Peoria, IL June 6 – 9 STRANAHAN THEATER Toledo, OH June 12 – 13 TOBIN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS San Antonio, TX June 14 – 16 BUDDY HOLLY HALL OF PERFORMING ARTS & SCIENCES Lubbock, TX June 18 – 23 CURRAN THEATRE San Francisco, CA more 2024 and 2025 dates officially announced soon! Read More Broadway in Kansas City Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album....

“If you’re waiting for someone to believe in you, you’ll be waiting forever. You must Believe in yourself” – Cher

That credo, an unbridled determination, and her strong personality and unfiltered attitude (along with some luck and opportunity) helped define Cher into the mega-star she has become over the last six decades.

In some overdue appreciation, she’s been selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this October and this now-touring stage musical chronicles the many ups and downs of her life, set to the soundtrack of so many familiar and classic hit songs.

The Cher Show production has rolled into Kansas City, to open the season outdoors at Starlight Theatre, playing through June 2. We were fortunate to attend opening night on a weather-perfect evening under the stars.

The Cher Show is a so-called 'jukebox musical' with a book by Rick (Jersey Boys, Peter and the Starcatcher) Elice, with the part of Cher played by not one but three actresses (similar, but different in approach to the recent MJ: The Musical which also used three actors in different life stages).

Ella Perez as "Babe" portrays her in the 1950s and 60s as a young teenager; Catherine Ariale as "Lady" embodies the 1970s rising sensation, and the show is anchored by Morgan Scott as “Star”, the reborn and evolved diva of the 1980s, ‘90s, and today. The three 'ages' often interact with each other, sing in duets and as an ensemble, and help each other out at various points.

The musical began as a Lab in 2017 in NYC, followed by its world premiere in Chicago, in June 2018, then opened on Broadway that December. It would go on to win Tony Awards for Stephanie J. Block (Lead Actress in a Musical) and for Bob Mackie (Costume Design for a Musical). After a pandemic delay, the touring version has hit the road, directed by Casey Hushion and choreographed by Antoinette DiPietropolo, with scenic design by Kelly James Tighe, and lighting design by Charlie Morrison.

Outdoor live theater, it must be said, is a different experience than inside a typical hall, with the elements of the immediate surroundings becoming a shared and ancillary part of the overall, perhaps more immersive. A passing siren, an overhead helicopter, and occasional moth flying through your eye line are all a part of the whole. There’s some added collective awareness, knowing the actors on stage are hearing and seeing the very same things that the audience does.

We’ve come to expect from these so-called “jukebox musicals” that the songs don’t necessarily all follow chronological order, and that’s forgivable only when used for dramatic effect, and those changes did work effectively for this production – 1989’s comeback hit, “If I Could Turn Back Time” is a perfect opening number- full of energy and sets up the storytelling method of the musical, and that same year’s “Just Like Jesse James” seemed tailor-made to introduce Gregg Allman, just after the start of the second act.

The story divides itself into two halves- the young Cher- just starting out and meeting Svengali Sonny Bono (played with infectious enthusiasm by a height-accurate Lorenzo Pugliese), and their eventual marriage and subsequent split. The second half devotes itself to Cher on her own - left virtually penniless after leaving Sonny (similar to Tina Turner leaving Ike with nothing), her venture into stage and film acting, and the musical resurgence that's cemented her legacy as a major star.

There are a few unexpected guest stars (Dave Clark Five, Lucille Balll, Robert Altman) but were all deemed important enough in Cher’s life to warrant an appearance. After Sonny and Cher, the show’s bonafide third star of the show- designer Bob Mackie (played by the exuberant Tyler Pirrung) and his fabulous gowns and dresses- make their appearance two-thirds through the first act, and a montage of his most famous and familiar designs for the entertainer, is dutifully worked in.

There are supposedly over 650 different costumes used throughout the show, including the vintage miniskirts and hippie clothing from the 50’s into the '60's and onward. But it’s clearly the color-popping, lavish, costly, and revealing Mackie designs that are the wardrobe jewel, and dominated CBS primetime in the 1970’s when he dressed Cher, as well as Carol Burnett, Liza Minelli, Bernadette Peters, and other starlets of the era.

The set itself filled just over 2/3rds of the available Starlight stage and was overall somewhat minimal, made up for by dramatic lightning and video projections (created by Tighe and Jonathan Infante) that emulated television broadcast sets, backstage rooms, and locations, with moving panels that could change the setting in seconds.

And it was an interesting narrative device to have the three ‘ages’ of Cher interact together so much – both to all sing and harmonize (proving there’s vocal strength in numbers) as well as to have the character’s meet to discuss and evaluate some of the life choices and circumstances (both good and bad), that occurred along the way. Scott in particular, as “Star” not only displays a confidence as the elder Cher but was entrancing and commanded the stage during her solos and dramatic moments.

Other highlights included the touching ballad, “Song for the Lonely”, Cher’s heartfelt eulogy after Sonny passes away, and the final redemption of an icon (personified by her biggest hit, 1998's joyous "Believe") who experienced so much, but still managed to do things her way.

The Cher Show plays in Kansas City at Starlight Theatre through Sunday, June 2 with Tickets available here: Events | Kansas City Starlight Theatre (kcstarlight.com)

  (National Tour Photos by Meredith Mashburn provided by their website) / Click on any image to enlarge and see in full) 

john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / Twitter.com

The Rolling Stones w/ Gary Clark Jr. at NRG Stadium, Houston TX (2024-04-28)

THE ROLLING STONES SETLIST Start Me Up Get Off of My Cloud Rocks Off Out of Time Angry Beast of Burden Mess It Up Tumbling Dice You Can't Always Get What You Want (band introductions) Little T&A (Keith Richards on vocals) Sympathy for the Devil Gimme Shelter Honky Tonk Women Miss You Paint it Black Jumpin' Jack Flash Encore: Sweet Sounds of Heaven (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction GARY CLARK JR SETLIST Maktub Bright Lights This Is Who We Are (with Naala) Feed the Babies Hyperwave What About the Children When My Train Pulls In THE ROLLING STONES TOUR DATES MAY 2nd Jazz Fest NEW ORLEANS, LA MAY 7th State Farm Stadium GLENDALE, AZ MAY 11th Allegiant Stadium LAS VEGAS, NV MAY 15th Lumen Field SEATTLE, WA MAY 23rd MetLife Stadium EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ MAY 26th MetLife Stadium EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ MAY 30th Gillette Stadium FOXBORO, MA JUNE 3rd Camping World Stadium ORLANDO, FL JUNE 7th Mercedes-Benz Stadium ATLANTA, GA JUNE 11th Lincoln Financial Field PHILADELPHIA, PA JUNE 15th Cleveland Browns Stadium CLEVELAND, OH JUNE 20th Empower Field at Mile High DENVER, CO JUNE 27th Soldier Field CHICAGO, IL JUNE 30th Soldier Field CHICAGO, IL JULY 5th BC Place VANCOUVER, BC JULY 10th SoFi Stadium LOS ANGELES, CA JULY 13th SoFi Stadium LOS ANGELES, CA JULY 17th Levi’s ® Stadium SANTA CLARA, CA Read More The Rolling Stones As the Rolling Stones’ 50th Anniversary Tour continues into 2015, the band has entered the digital download era not with recent shows from their current tour, but a handful of more classic shows on both …

The diamonds are still shining bright! -
The Rolling Stones are back on the road with a brand-new tour performing in 16 cities across North America through mid-July.

We've got boots on the ground for the opening night of their North American Tour at the huge NRG Stadium in Houston, TX, where they were joined by Texas native Gary Clark Jr as opening support.

The new album is Hackney Diamonds (via Polydor/Geffen Records) released last October produced by Andrew Watt and Don Was. It features twelve tracks that fit nicely into the Stones vast musical canon - everything from the up-tempo opening track, "Angry" (which they played live) to ballads like "Dreamy Skies".

Showing they can still be "street fighting men," the album's title takes its name from the slang term of the shattered glass that occurs when a burglar smashes a car or shop window to gain access, in the dodgy Hackney neighborhood of East London.

Guests on the record include Paul McCartney, Elton John, Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder... but don't hold your breath expecting them to appear live, though you never know....

The Tour is sponsored by AARP (so strangely true, we couldn't make that up!) and features membership-eligible members Mick Jagger (80-years-old) vocals, harmonica, rhythm guitar, percussion, keyboards, bass guitar; Keith Richards (80-years-old) rhythm and lead guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, backing and lead vocals; Ronnie Wood (76-years-old) lead and rhythm guitars, bass, backing vocals, pedal steel guitar.

Drummer Charlie Watts passed away in August 2021. Backing touring musicians include Darryl Jones (bass) Steve Jordan (drums); Chuck Leavell (keys); Bernard Fowler, Matt Clifford, Tim Ries, Karl Denson, and Chanelle Haynes.

Opening acts will rotate depending on the city/date with these announced so far: Joe Bonamassa (May 15 in Seattle), Lawrence (May 26 in NJ) Tyler Childers (June 3 in Orlando), KALEO (June 11 in Philadelphia) and Lainey Wilson (June 30 in Chicago).

On this night, blues-rock guitar man Clark was an ideal choice for this Lone Star state crowd, bringing with him an expanded Texas-size band of five musicians and three vocalists that entertained an already mostly full stadium, for fhe evening's first forty-five minutes.

Jagger, still in fine form, announced prior to "Gimme Shelter", "We first came to Texas in 1964- that was my first rodeo" and we liked when he remarked, "Shut up already, damn" just before conducting the crowd on the "ooh-oohs" of "Miss You" - perhaps a subtle nod to Prince's "Housequake."

REPORTING and ALL PHOTOS BY JOHN RAFALSKI

(click on any image to enlarge and see in full)

 

John C ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥X / twitter.com ♥ bsky.ap

Johnny Cash: The Official Concert Experience at Kauffman Center, Kansas City MO (2024-02-10)

JOHNNY CASH: THE OFFICIAL CONCERT EXPERIENCE- MUSICIANS   Eric Hofmanis- Guitar / Vocals Jack Romano- Guitar / Vocals Debbie Horton- Electric Guitar Brittany Grove- Keyboards / Vocals Jonathan Schneider- Drums Peter Michaels, JR.- Bass Guitar JOHNNY CASH: THE OFFICIAL CONCERT EXPERIENCE SETLIST Set 1: Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash cover) So Doggone Lonesome (Johnny Cash cover) I Got Stripes (Johnny Cash cover) Give My Love to Rose (Johnny Cash cover) I Still Miss Someone (Johnny Cash cover) San Quentin (Johnny Cash cover) Cry! Cry! Cry! (Johnny Cash cover) Luther Played the Boogie (Johnny Cash cover) Five Feet High and Rising (Johnny Cash cover) Wildwood Flower (The Carter Family cover) Home of the Blues (Johnny Cash cover) Flesh and Blood (Johnny Cash cover) Jackson (Billy Edd Wheeler cover) Ring of Fire (Merle Kilgore cover) Set 2: I Walk the Line (Johnny Cash cover) There You Go (Johnny Cash cover) Tennessee Flat Top Box (Johnny Cash cover) What Is Truth (Johnny Cash cover) All Over Again (Johnny Cash cover) Forty Shades of Green (Johnny Cash cover) Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down (Kris Kristofferson cover) The Man Comes Around (Johnny Cash cover) Boy Named Sue (Shel Silverstein cover) Man in Black (Johnny Cash cover) Big River (Johnny Cash cover) Get Rhythm (Johnny Cash cover) I Walk the Line/ Ring of Fire Folsom Prison Blues reprise Daddy Sang Bass (Johnny Cash cover) I'll Fly Away (Rev. J.M. Gates cover) JOHNNY CASH: THE OFFICIAL CONCERT EXPERIENCE TOUR DATES FEB 13 Holland Performing Arts Center Omaha, NE FEB 14 Mayo Civic Center Rochester, MN FEB 15 Marcus Performing Arts Center Milwaukee, WI FEB 16 Fisher Theatre Detroit, MI FEB 17 Genesee Theatre Waukegan, IL FEB 18 Niswonger Performing Arts Center Van Wert, OH FEB 20 Penn State's Eisenhower Aud University Park, PA FEB 21 Valentine Theatre Toledo, OH FEB 22 RiverPark Center Owensboro, KY FEB 23 Canady Creative Arts Center Morgantown, WV FEB 24 Schuster Center Dayton, OH FEB 25 CoMMA Performing Arts Center Morganton, NC FEB 27 Peabody Auditorium Daytona Beach, FL FEB 28 Sunrise Theatre Fort Pierce, FL FEB 29 Wildstein Ctr for the Perf Arts Avon Park, FL MAR 1 Columbia County Perf Arts Center Evans, GA MAR 2 RiverCenter for the Perf Arts Columbus, GA MAR 3 River Center Baton Rouge, LA MAR 5 The Berglund Center Roanoke, VA MAR 6 Santander Performing Arts Center Reading, PA MAR 8 Merrill Auditorium Portland, ME MAR 9 Emerson Colonial Theatre Boston, MA MAR 10 The Stanley Theatre Utica, NY MAR 12 The Clay Center Charleston, WV MAR 13 Knight Theater Charlotte, NC MAR 14 Capitol Music Hall Wheeling, WV MAR 15 Emens Auditorium Muncie, IN MAR 16 Luhrs Performing Arts Center Shippensburg, PA MAR 17 Dow Event Center Theater Saginaw, MI MAR 20-24 Fallsview Casino Resort Niagara Falls, ON Read More Broadway in Kansas City Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album....

“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash” -

That very distinctive baritone greeting is one we’re all very familiar with, but sadly one we won’t hear live from the legendary Man in Black, who passed away in 2003.

His songs have continued to kindle his memory and now some twenty years later, the legend lives on in Johnny Cash: The Official Concert Experience, which is out on an extensive nationwide tour and made a weekend stop in downtown Kansas City at the Kauffman Center.

The more-than-a-concert utilizes archival footage from the Johnny Cash Show which aired on ABC from 1969-1971 with any instrumental backing removed from the vintage clips, and a live band on stage providing the accompanying music live. While firmly planted in Cash’s heyday of the 60s and ‘70s, it’s also a musical journey that features narrated stories and content, via video from John Carter Cash, Johnny and June’s only son.

In addition to the famous and not as known songs, anecdotes and some commentary by Cash highlight some of the causes he championed as the quintessential working man for the downtrodden. On stage, the six-piece band was headed by co-vocalists/guitarists Jack Romano and Eric Hofmanis, with Brittany Grove providing keys and the June Carter-style vocals, and a formidable lead guitarist in Debbie Horton, who looks like your short, unassuming lunch lady aunt, but who actually played with Cash once.

The performance was in two sets, with fourteen songs from the eras featured in each, on a stage with backdrop that mirrored the mood and set décor of Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium circa 1970 (and the then-home of the Grand Ole Opry), where the 58-episode TV series was originally shot. We even see a nine-month-old John Carter Cash, who made his TV debut on the stage and show, before he could even walk or talk.

Because of the choice of archival footage, most of the setlist stays before 1971, but a second set highlight was “(When) The Man Comes Around,” a 2002 selection from Cash’s fabled American Recordings series, done in his later years with producer Rick Rubin, and one of the last Cash would write and release during his lifetime.

Lead singer Hofmanis is a veteran Cash musical tribute artist and was handpicked by Carter Cash to fill his late father’s shoes, so comes knowing the material very well and he and Romano (alongside Grove) didn't try to mimic the original voices; instead, added their own signature while staying in the musical wheelhouse of so many of these classic songs.

Romano managed to get the crowd on their side with savvy by mentioning the Kansas City Chiefs, who would go on to win their third Super Bowl to end the weekend with local excitement; also saying he was glad the show wasn’t booked for the Sunday of the big game.

Everything together makes for an entertaining evening and also a vivid reminder of what a towering musical presence (both literally and figuratively) that Cash really was. He was born in Depression-era rural Arkansas and would go on to almost every accolade in his field, including inductions into the Country Music, Rock and Roll, Gospel Music, Songwriters and the Canadian Country Music Halls of Fame.

Additionally, Cash was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor, United Nations Humanitarian Award, Library of Congress Living Legend Medal and Grammy Legend Award, so his legacy is firmly in place, and this tribute show is very well-deserved and keeps the light of those memorable songs burning bright.

Award-winning director Dean (The Simon and Garfunkel Story, Graceland Live) Elliott heads the combined audio and video presentation, stating in a release, "Cash’s music is rooted in honesty, compassion, continuity and family. It is real. Every person who attends this concert is touched in some profound way by his spirit, humanity and, of course, by the unforgettable music.”

  ((National Tour Photos provided by their website) / Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)   

JOHNNY CASH

JOHNNY CASH

JOHNNY CASH

JOHNNY CASH

JOHNNY CASH: THE OFFICIAL CONCERT EXPERIENCE

Johnny Cash: The Official Concert Experience

Johnny Cash: The Official Concert Experience

Johnny Cash: The Official Concert Experience

john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / Twitter.com

Girl From The North Country (Broadway Touring) at Kauffman Center, Kansas City MO (2024-01-23 through 1-28)

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY SHOWTIMES Tuesday, January 23 7:30 PM Wednesday, January 24 7:30 PM Thursday, January 25 7:30 PM Friday, January 26 7:30 PM Saturday, January 27 2:00 PM Saturday, January 27 7:30 PM Sunday, January 28 6:30 PM GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY TOUR DATES JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 4 NASHVILLE, TN TPAC FEBRUARY 6-11 GREENVILLE, SC Peace Center FEBRUARY 13-25 CHICAGO, IL CIBC Theatre FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 10 PHILADELPHIA, PA Forrest Theatre MARCH 12-24 BOSTON, MA Emerson Colonial Theatre MARCH 27-31 TAMPA, FL Straz Center APRIL 9-21 DALLAS, TX Music Hall at Fair Park APRIL 23-28 AUSTIN, TX Bass Concert Hall APRIL 30-MAY 5 HOUSTON, TX The Hobby Center MAY 14-JUNE 2 LOS ANGELES, CA Hollywood Pantages Theatre JUNE 4-9 LAS VEGAS, NV The Smith Center JUNE 11-16 SALT LAKE CITY, UT Eccles Theater JUNE 18-23 PORTLAND, OR Keller Auditorium JUNE 25-30 SEATTLE, WA The Paramount Theatre JULY 30-AUGUST 18 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Golden Gate Theatre Read More Broadway in Kansas City Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album....

Like the ships that dock and then embark back out, the people of Duluth and the North Shore, each have their own story to tell--

That’s part of the basis of “Girl From The Country”, a celebrated musical-drama set in Depression-era Nov/Dec 1934 Duluth, MN, now out on its first North American Tour, which is currently playing inside the Kauffman Center in downtown Kansas City, through this Sunday.

Written and directed by Irish playwright Conor McPherson and featuring Tony Award-winning orchestrations by Simon Hale, it’s notable for re-imagining 20 legendary songs of Bob Dylan, in compelling arrangements that are often very different than the originals.

The ensemble cast of distinctive (and somewhat odd) characters consists mostly of townsfolk and weary travelers whose lives intersect and are transformed in a local guesthouse during the weeks around the Thanksgiving season, when this northern port city is already well in the throes of a usually unforgiving winter.

Starting in London in 2017, the story made its way to off-Broadway in the following year and then to Broadway itself in 2020, but its run was cut short due to the pandemic-era closure. The national tour was finally underway last fall, beginning with a Minneapolis run at the Orpheum Theatre, coincidentally a downtown venue Dylan himself once owned (1979-88) with his brother.

In “Our Town”-style, the story is narrated by town resident Dr. Walker (played opening night by Danny Vaccaro), a physician to the Laine family headed by guesthouse owner Nick (played this night by Paul Blankenship), who risks the bank foreclosing on his property and who has to take care of his dementia-ridden wife, Elizabeth. Their children are their son, Gene, a jobless prisoner to the bottle and their black adopted teen daughter, Marianne, who becomes mysteriously pregnant and struggles with her future options.

Other guest house dwellers include Mrs. Neilsen, a widow waiting on the windfall from her late husband's will and the Burkes family, who lost their business in the crash and are dealing with the learning disability of their son, Elias. A late-night storm adds characters Pastor Marlowe, a bible salesman, and Chicago-bound former boxer, Joe Scott.

Dylan’s songs are more featured in the second-half with an extended, somewhat trippy version of the hit, “Like a Rolling Stone” sung by Elizabeth being the most memorable of the first act. There are a few medleys with two combined songs, and 80’s radio hit, “Jokerman” manages to re-appear with a reprise version.

The selection of the songs seemed very judiciously thought-out, to try and accommodate the drama narrative, instead of falling back on the simplicity of a jukebox musical and are somewhat centered on Dylan’s ‘Christian trilogy’ of more spiritual 80’s albums. More fervent fans of Dylan are rewarded with versions of several deep cuts, and all the re-imagined songs are strongest when the full chorus of the company brings additional vocal soul to the fabled lyrics.

In some ways, this presentation may be more satisfactory to someone who isn’t as familiar with Dylan, as the diehard will tend to naturally associate the known subject matter of the song (i.e. “Hurricane” written for wrongfully imprisoned Ruben Carter) rather than going along with how they enhance the presented story line. The disconnect is this songbook was not created to serve this particular narrative, but the songs often do end up working to at least partially embellish the allegory of these Steinbeck-like characters.

The lighting, sets, onstage musicians, and authentic costumes all embrace and reflect the spirit of that somber era and most of the players were in fine voice on opening night. They excelled most as a collective; when several would huddle around a central mic, or as the company provided harmonies from the shadows, as the lead character sang the verses.

Expected to provoke different reactions from theatergoers, Girl From The North Country will undoubtedly spark conversation and analysis afterword- from the song selections and interpretations themselves, to the philosophies evident and representations of the various characters- their place in the overall scope of the story and the moral transformation that each experiences, as a result of the tumultuous events around them.

 ((National Tour Photos by Matthew Murphy were provided) / Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)    

JOE SCOTT AND MARIANNE LAINE

JOE SCOTT

GENE LAINE AND EX-GIRLFRIEND KATE

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY CAST

NARRATOR DR. WALKER

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY CAST

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY CAST

john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / Twitter.com

Putumayo Presents Bossa Nova

PUTUMAYO PRESENTS: BOSSA NOVA Track Listings Blue Bossa - Ana Caram Quando Falas Coração - Mauricio Pessoa Ondas - Bïa Canto Das TRÊS Raças - Clara Bellar with Dori Caymmi Provas de Amor - Flávia Dantas Manhã de Carnaval - Amanda Martinez Meu Mundo É Hoje - Péri Dança Da Solidão - Yvy Maraey Te Esperei - Tamy Começa Com S - Orquestra Bamba Social Read More Putumayo This year, Putumayo is releasing Jazz Christmas, an uplifting collection of mostly instrumental jazz for the holidays. If you like World Music, chances are, you probably own a Putumayo album. They are known for compiling some of the best … Bossa Nova Astrud Gilberto, whose vocal performance on the first song she ever recorded, “The Girl From Ipanema,” helped bring the lasting wave of Brazilian bossa nova into the 1960’s mainstream, died on Monday at the age of 83. …

We are big fans of the Putumayo World Music record label and it’s good to know that after thirty years the label is still highlighting music from around the globe with Bossa Nova being its latest issue.

In 1993 Dan Storper, owner of a successful line of Latin American handicraft shops had an “ah ha” moment and decided to start a music label after a chance encounter, seeing the African band Kotoja play at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Think of Putumayo as that cool, hip friend who did all the legwork and has crafted a bespoke playlist to highlight a particular musical genre that you may have never heard of. At least that’s how I view it, for I have listened to many of Putumayo’s musical collections over the years, ranging from Afro-Cuban and Reggae to African and Espana.

With Bossa Nova Putumayo visits a musical genre that is seventy years old. Starting in the southern neighborhoods of Rio De Janeiro, it is a relaxed form of samba with unconventional chords, innovative syncopation and quiet vocals that seem to glide over the accompaniment.

It seems fitting that the label is visiting the genre for the woman responsible for launching the music onto the global stage just passed away this summer. It was Astrud Gilberto along with her husband, guitarist Joao Gilberto and jazz sax player, Stan Getz, that introduced bossa nova to the world with “The Girl From Ipanema,” an international hit that would go on to win the Grammy’s Record of the Year in 1964.

The first song on Putumayo’s issue is a nod to that song. Ana Caram’s cover of jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham’s “Blue Bossa'' captures what makes the music so appealing: creating a sense of place, a place of warm ocean breezes, sandy beaches as idle hours whittle away. In fact, the whole collection transports you to a place that does not involve the hectic schedule of a modern life, but provides a little respite.

As the label states on its press release: “Putumayo Presents Bossa Nova is an opportunity to present some of the contemporary voices that are keeping the heart and soul of bossa nova alive and thriving.”

Also, Putumayo has created a special 30th Anniversary Playlist, available on Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora and YouTube. It’s a curated list highlighting the music of the past three decades with the opening song “Sawalé” being one of the songs Storper heard Kotoja play on that fateful day at Golden Gate Park.

dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com