Places Magazine

Places Summer 2012

A preview of Performing Arts at Johnson County Community College www.jccc.edu/TheSeries

Sheryl Crow Summer Celebration Lyle Lovett The Series for 2012-13

Light Up the Lawn Concerts Free Summer Movies

Suzanne Vega

Singer Sheryl Crow to appear at JCCC to lend support to breast cancer survivors Sheryl Crow will perform several songs and talk about recharging her life after breast cancer as part of a fundraiser that will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 14, in the Carlsen Center’s Yardley Hall.

The event will benefit Back in the Swing USA®, a grassroots Kansas City-based national nonprofit that focuses on helping cancer survivors get “back in the swing” of life by improving and protecting their health and preventing cancer recurrence.

For tickets to the Sheryl Crow Summer Celebration, contact the college box office at 913-469-4445 or visit BackintheSwing.org.

Crow, who turned 50 in February, underwent “minimally invasive” surgery and radiation therapy six years ago after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She has since become a champion for breast cancer survivors.

“She fits in so beautifully with our message because in her own personal life she exemplifies empowering herself to recharge her lifestyle to improve and protect her health in mind, body and spirit after her primary treatment ended,” said Barbara C. Unell, who founded Back in the Swing in 2000.

Crow, who has won nine Grammy awards, blends rock, country and pop into a mainstream sound. Her latest album, 100 Miles from Memphis, is a reference to Kennett, Mo., a small town 100 miles from Memphis, Tenn., where she grew up. She now has two adopted sons, Wyatt, born in 2007, and Levi, born in 2010.

Crow is expected to be on stage for about 30 minutes, talking and singing a few songs. Other cancer survivors (whose names won’t be announced until that evening) also will speak.

Afterward, the audience will be invited to partake of complimentary desserts in the Carlsen lobby. They also will have the chance to be among the first to buy a copy of The Back in the Swing Cookbook: Recipes for Eating and Living Well Every Day After Breast Cancer by Unell and Judith Fertig. The $29.99 book from Andrews McMeel Publishing is expected to be available in bookstores in August.

Any individual or organization interested in becoming a sponsor for the evening can contact Bob Unell at 913-481-6364 or email Bob@BackintheSwing.org.

Sponsors will receive complimentary tickets to the event and cookbooks.

They also will be invited to stop by the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art before the event, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., to sample some of the recipes in the cookbook.

Unell founded Back in the Swing after experiencing breast cancer herself and realizing that survivors need evidence-based, individualized, integrative medical support to recover from the effects of treatment. At that time, no personalized, comprehensive clinical care services for breast cancer survivors existed.

With the support of the Kansas City area community, Unell said, Back in the Swing five years ago helped launch and fund The Breast Cancer Survivorship Center at The University of Kansas Cancer Center in Kansas City, Kan. The nonprofit also has helped fund other programs in the Kansas City metropolitan area and promotes the work of similar centers across the country.

Unell hopes the evening will be inspiring, joyful and empowering.

“We want people to feel good about their experience at the event,” she said. “Our name is our mission.”

Tickets $75, $50 ($75 ticket includes complimentary copy of cookbook) 913-469-4445 BackintheSwing.org.

Lyle Lovett to show off diverse influences at Yardley Hall Lyle Lovett, a singer and songwriter who fuses country with folk, rock, swing, pop and gospel, will perform at 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 28, in the Carlsen Center’s Yardley Hall.

Lovett’s latest album, Release Me, mixes cover and original songs that demonstrate the diversity of his influences. For more than three decades, he has created his own style of Americana, defying convention and breaking down barriers along the way.

Lovett, 54, was born in Klein, Texas. He began his music career while attending Texas A&M University in the late 1970s, where he graduated with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and German.

Each of his 14 albums, from his self-titled debut in 1986 through 2009’s Natural Forces and this year’s Release Me, are powerful reminders that he possesses one of the most distinctive voices in music. His sell-out concerts, whether with his versatile Large Band or in an intimate acoustic setting, serve as showcases for Lovett’s unique gift for storytelling and the tradition of timeless music Lovett continues to create.

Lovett has won four Grammy awards: Best Country Album in 1996 for The Road to Ensenada, Best Country Duo/Group with Vocal in 1994 for Blues for Dixie with the Texas swing group Asleep at the Wheel; Best Pop Vocal Collaboration in 1994 for Funny How Time Slips Away with Al Green; and Best Country Male Vocal in 1989 for Lyle Lovett and His Large Band.

In addition to his music, Lovett has appeared in a dozen feature films, including several directed by Robert Altman.

Release Me, which came out in February, features a photo of Lovett dressed in a suit, tied up in rope, standing on a country road. He told TIME magazine in March that he was trying to point out that Release Me was his last album with Curb/Universal Music Group, the record label that first signed him in 1985.

“I’m proud of it and grateful they kept me around all these years,” he told TIME. “It’s kind of a rare thing…But I am very much looking forward to what’s next. The music business has changed a lot since 1985. There’s just a greater ability than ever to reach your audience yourself.”

Lovett and Nathaniel Kunkel produced Release Me and Lovett’s Christmas EPSongs for the Season, released last year. Both include Frank Loesser’s timeless Baby, It’s Cold Outside, which features Austin, Texas-based singer Kat Edmonson on vocals, and Lovett’s own The Girl with the Holiday Smile.

Lovett told Billboard that Release Me includes some songs that have been important to him over the years that he had just never recorded. Besides the one by Loesser, the album features works by Jesse Winchester, Townes Van Zandt, Michael Franks and Chuck Berry. Lovett said he wanted Release Me to be a “punctuation mark for this whole part of my career.”

Tickets $150, $65, $55 913-469-4445 www.jccc.edu/TheSeries

JCCC announces lineup for 2012-13 Performing Arts Series season Actress Shirley MacLaine , the musical Shrek and radio show host Garrison Keillor will be among the standout performances slated for the 2012-13 season of the Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College.

manager of the Performing Arts Series. “We’re proud to present the widest variety of performances in the Greater Kansas City area in one facility – dance, theatre, comedy and many genres of music. We hope when patrons join us, they create special memories that will encourage them to come back to Yardley Hall again and again.”

The eclectic lineup, which opens with Lyle Lovett on Aug. 28, also will feature the jazz, blues and gospel sounds of Dr. John and the Blind Boys of Alabama and the immaculate technique of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble. Oscar-winner Shirley MacLaine will share her life stories and Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet will perform Moulin Rouge.

Season ticket packages are already on sale and single tickets will be available June 4. To buy tickets, call the college box office at 913-469-4445 or visit jccc.edu/TheSeries.

“We’ve been presenting an incredible array of concerts, shows and events in the heart of Johnson County since 1990,” said Emily Behrmann, general

Here are the performances in chronological order. All shows begin at 8 p.m. in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center unless otherwise noted.

7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28 Lyle Lovett delivers a range of music from alternative country to rock, including songs from his latest LP, Release Me.

Friday Sept. 28, Polsky Theatre Nellie McKay’s music is part cabaret, part sparkly pop and as tuneful and clever as the best of the Great American Songbook. She’s released four highly acclaimed albums of original music.

Friday, Oct. 12 The National Circus of the People’s Republic of China from Beijing will put an edgy spin on some of the greatest circus acts of our time.

7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21 Dr. John and The Blind Boys of Alabama explore the connections between jazz, blues and gospel when Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dr. John and five-time Grammy Award winners The Blind Boys of Alabama perform from their award-winning compilation, Spirituals to Funk.

Saturday, Oct. 27 Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble plays with immaculate technique, dramatic power and expressive scope. The program includes works by Brahms, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn.

Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19 and Oct. 20 The Capitol Steps’ On the Record translates political banter from both sides of the aisle into your favorite pop tunes. Recent hits from their Desperate Housemembers album include Fun Fun Fun ‘ Til Obama Takes Our Tea Bags Away, March Like an Egyptian and I’ve Grown Accustomed to My Facebook.

Saturday, Dec. 1 President’s Choice, with the artist to be named later. The show will be a benefit for the JCCC President’s Scholarship.

Friday, Dec. 7, Polsky Theatre PROJECT Trio will provide high-octane chamber music with a “beatbox” flute player.

Saturday, Nov. 10 Compagnie de Danse Jean-René Delsoin (Haiti). This group of outstanding, vibrant dancers and drummers embody choreography that captures Haiti now. The performance will last about one hour and be followed by a question-and-answer session and discussion with the artistic director, Jean-René Delsoin.

Saturday, Dec. 15 Bowfire’s Holiday Heartstrings will feature energized holiday favorites in a one-of-a-kind musical and theatrical extravaganza, with 12 violins stringing together one show-stopping fiddling and step-dancing hit after another.

7 p.m Sunday, Jan. 27 Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet presents Moulin Rouge ®. Set in turn-of-the-century Paris, Matthew and Nathalie tempt fate as they seek love and destiny.

7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 Richard Scarry’s Busytown, geared toward children pre-kindergarten to second grade, features lovable characters such as Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat who lead catchy sing-a-long songs.

Saturday, Nov. 17 Oscar-winner Shirley MacLaine will unpack her trademark wit and talk about memories of her Hollywood movies and personal experiences in showbiz.

Friday, Feb. 8 The BBC Concert Orchestra performs, led by principal conductor Keith Lockhart, who also conducts the Boston Pops. Sophie Shao is featured soloist for Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85.

7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10 The Harlem Quartet, equally at home with modern classics and combustible jazz, brings a fresh and upbeat attitude to classical music.

The program includes works by Haydn and Chick Corea.

7 p.m. Sunday, March 24 Arlo Guthrie features a celebration of Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday.

Arlo will perform favorites such as This Land is Your Land, 900 Miles and his hit, Alice’s Restaurant.

2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 Shrek – The Musical takes place in a faraway kingdom where things get ugly when an unseemly ogre shows up to rescue a feisty princess.

7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24 The Swingle Singers have performed behind the scenes on GLEE! and now you can hear and see them live.

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27

7 p.m. Friday, March 1 Ballet Folklorico Quetzalli de Veracruz and Tlen-Huicani, a visual fiesta of culture and folklore, features the regional dances and traditional folk music of old Mexico.

In Stories from Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor shares hilarious anecdotes about growing up in the Midwest and becoming a late-life father.

Friday and Saturday, April 5-6 MOMIX – Botanica. This multimedia experience, which will transport you to a fantasy world, combines athletic dance, riveting music, outrageous costumes and inventive props.

Saturday, April 20 Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. These players believe that all genres of music – from Tchaikovsky to Otis Redding – are open for reinterpretation as long as they are played on the ukulele.

Saturday, April 27 Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo turns into an outrageous spoof when farce collides with classical ballet and guys perform both the men’s and women’s roles.

Friday, March 8, Polsky Theatre

7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 7-8, Polsky Theatre

Broadway’s Next H!T Musical is all improvised and it’s all funny. Made-up hit song suggestions from the audience create a full-blown musical on the fly.

Dinosaur Petting Zoo, presented by Erth Visual and Physical Inc., has awesome prehistoric creatures like cute baby dinos and teeth-gnashing giants in a petting zoo like no other.

For best seats, order early. Call 913-469-4445 or buy tickets online at www.jccc.edu/TheSeries.

Box Office: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday • Call 913-469-4445.

Tickets are required for most events in Polsky Theatre and Yardley Hall. Programs, dates and times are subject to change. Discounts are available for students.

PAS Administrative Office: Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday • Call 913-469-4450.

A request for interpretative services must be made 72 hours before a performance. Call the box office at 913-469-4445 or TDD/TTY 913-469-4485.

Persons with disabilities who desire additional support services may contact services for patrons with disabilities, 913-469-8500, ext. 3521, or TDD/TTY 913-469-3885.

JCCCTheSeries.wordpress.com

Facebook.com/JCCCTheSeries

@JCCCTheSeries

Kansas City bands to take the stage for summer lawn concerts Some of Kansas City’s best bands will perform at Johnson County Community College this summer as part of the college’s “Light Up the Lawn” concert series.

June 22, Hearts of Darkness

The concerts, which take place one Friday every month, are free and open to the public. They begin at 8 p.m., or dusk, on the front lawn of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. Lawn chairs, blankets and picnic baskets (without alcohol) are welcome.

The concerts are sponsored by the Nerman and the Performing Arts Series at JCCC. Hearts of Darkness, which will perform on June 22, is an 18-piece band that formed in 2007 in Kansas City. Its sound starts with the roots of the 1970s Afrobeat and builds off the traditions of Kansas City’s big-band jazz. On top of that are American funk, rock and hip-hop. The band was nominated for “Best Live Act” and the band’s Les Izmore was nominated for “Best Frontman” by Pitch Weekly in 2009.

July 20, She’s a Keeper

Two bands will perform on July 20: She’s a Keeper, and Rex Hobart and the Honky Tonk Standards.

She’s a Keeper is a five-piece ensemble that plays folk and pop-rock. The band uses an array of instruments that includes guitars, drums, banjo, piano, mandolin and cello. Its music defies easy description. From sweet-sounding ballads that crescendo and roar to tunes with raffish upbeat grooves, their songs are brimming with melodious hooks and three-part harmonies.

Rex Hobart and the Honky Tonk Standards are all country and western. The band proudly carries the torch of straight-up, bleary-eyed, ‘60s style, honky tonk music. They play serious, hard country in the tradition of their heroes, who include Merle Haggard, George Jones and Johnny Paycheck. The audience can expect to hear classics and critically-acclaimed originals.

On Aug. 24, The Latenight Callers will take the stage after Victor & Penny open for them. The evening is co-sponsored by the JCCC Campus Activities Board. Victor (Jeff Freling) and Penny (Erin McGrane) sing what they call antique pop on ukulele and guitar. They bring a fresh twist to the music of the early 20th Century and unique arrangements to modern tunes.

The Latenight Callers, which defines its genre as "Noir-a-Go-Go," was one of the most popular bands that played in last summer's lineup. The band recently celebrated the release of its Easy Virtues EP.

Aug. 24, The Latenight Callers

Rex Hobart and the Honky Tonk Standards.

JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 12345 COLLEGE BLVD OVERLAND PARK KS 66210-1299

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID Johnson County Community College

www.jccc.edu/TheSeries

JCCC offers free summer evening movies starting June 6 Johnson County Community College again will offer a summer movie series this year. The presentations are free and open to the public.

No tickets or reservations are required. All will be shown on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in Yardley Hall in the Carlsen Center. Refreshments will be available for a small fee.

June 6 – Seven Brides for Seven Brothers This musical features brilliant choreography, a spirited score and an imaginative plot about six brothers who decide to find brides for themselves after their seventh brother does so.

July 11 – The Great Caruso This biographical drama with outstanding music loosely traces the life of tenor Enrico Caruso, played by Mario Lanza. Caruso lived from 1873 to 1921.

June 13 – Show Boat This colorful musical looks at life along the Mississippi in the early 1900s.

July 18 – Some Like It Hot Sugar Kane, played by Marilyn Monroe, whirls through the flamboyant settings of Chicago and Miami Beach in 1929 as a vocalist in an all-girl band. Hilarity ensues when two musicians (played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) on the run from the mob join the band.

June 20 – Sweet Charity Charity Hope Valentine (Shirley MacLaine) works as a taxi dancer with her friends. She longs for love but has bad luck with men. Will she ever find happiness?

June 27 – Meet Me in St. Louis This captivating musical starring Judy Garland is based on Sally Benson’s slice of Americana about a family’s experiences during the year of the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

“This is a good time for people from the community to come and visit the performing arts spaces,” said Emily Behrmann, general manager of the Performing Arts Series. “The movies offer entertainment and a cool place to be on a hot summer evening.”