The Pitch: January 21, 2016

1 J A N U A R Y 2 1–2 7, 2 0 1 6 | F R E E | V O L . 3 5 N O . 3 0 | P I T C H . C O M

THE MOST PERSONAL THING DYLAN MORTIMER’S STRUGGLES LEAD TO A CURE.

By Tracy Abeln

INSIDE :

The gaps widen in Brownback’s KanCare plan.

By Steve Vockrodt

2

January 21-27, 2016 | Vol. 35 no. 30 E d i t o r i a l

Editor Scott Wilson Managing Editor Justin Kendall Staff Writer Steve Vockrodt Events Editor Berry Anderson Proofreader Brent Shepherd Contributing Writers Tracy Abeln, Jen Chen, Liz Cook, Charles Ferruzza, April Fleming, Natalie Gallagher, Deborah Hirsch, Larry Kopitnik, Angela Lutz, Eric Melin, Annie Raab, Dan Savage, Nick Spacek

can Kansas care?

Gov. Sam Brownback says privatized Medicaid is working in Kansas, but some patients and hospitals don’t see it.

a r t

b y s t e v e vo c k r o d t

Art and Production Director Allyson Peck Contributing Photographers Zach Bauman, Angela C. Bond, Barrett Emke, Chris Mullins, Sabrina Staires

4

a d v E r t i s i n g

Senior Classified Multimedia Specialist Steven Suarez Multimedia Specialists Matt Berry, Savannah Cox, Becky Losey, Ruby Wetzel Production and Digital Coordinator Ashley Reed

god-giVen Dylan Mortimer’s struggles lead to a Cure.

m a r k E t i n g

Director of Marketing and Operations Jason Dockery

b y t r ac y a b e l n

B u s i n E s s

Publisher Amy Mularski Office Administrator Jessica Kittams

9

s o u t h c o m m

Chief Executive Officer Chris Ferrell Chief Financial Officer Ed Tearman Chief Operating Officer Blair Johnson Vice President of Finance Carla Simon Vice President of Content Patrick Rains Vice President of Production Operations Curt Pordes Vice President Local Publications Mark Bartel Controller Todd Patton Human Resources Manager Stephanie Stein Creative Director Heather Pierce

n a t i o n a l

southern accents

a d v E r t i s i n g

VMG Advertising 888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com Senior Vice President of Sales Susan Belair Senior Vice President of Sales Operations Joe Larkin

d i s t r i B u t i o n

The Pitch distributes 35,000 copies a week and is available free throughout Greater Kansas City, limited to one copy per reader.

Additional copies may be purchased for $5 each, payable at The Pitch’s office in advance. The Pitch may be distributed only by The Pitch’s authorized independent contractors or authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of The Pitch, take more than one copy of each week’s issue. Mail subscriptions: $22.50 for six months or $45 per year, payable in advance. Application to mail at second-class postage rates is pending at Kansas City, MO 64108.

c o p y r i g h t

The contents of The Pitch are Copyright 2016 by KC Communications, LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the express written permission of the publisher.

The Pitch address: 1627 Main, Suite 700, Kansas City, MO 64108 For information or to leave a story tip, call: 816-561-6061 Editorial fax: 816-756-0502 For classifieds, call: 816-218-6759 For retail advertising, call: 816-218-6702

on th e coV e r

Magnolia’s reconstructs itself — and regional cuisine — out south.

by charles ferruzz a

17 3 Questionnaire 4 neWs 7 agenda 9 art 15 media 17 Cafe 1 8 B a r t e n d e r ’ s n o t e B o o k 19 on tap this Week 21 musiC 2 5 d a i ly l i s t i n g s 28 savage love

m ean wh i l e at p i tc h . c o m THE ROASTERiE announces the launch of ready-to-drink cold-brew coffee.

GOV. BROWNBACK says the state of Kansas is strong, which is easy to say when you ignore all of the bad stuff.

The Pitch: COVER by allysOn pECk

2

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

pitch.com

Powered by PT’S COFFEE

3

QUESTIONNAIRE

GILLIAN HELM

Executive director, Literacy Kansas City

CHES PARADISE POODaycare & Resort

Twitter handle: @gshelm

WHERE COOL DOGS STAY!

Hometown: Lincoln, Nebraska Current neighborhood: West Plaza What I do: Lead Literacy KC, a growing nonprofit with a crucial mission. Snuggle baby, Case, play ball with toddler, Griffin, high-five my brilliant hubs, run, read and eat good food.

7200 WYANDOTTE ST. KANSAS CITY, MO

816.361.3388

poochesparadise.com

What’s your addiction? Stove-popped pop-

What’s your game? Right now? Hungry Hungry Hippos. It used to be bartending and brunching, but since having babies, I’ve lost all the cool I ever had.

What’s your drink? Black coffee until noon.

Pinot blanc after 5. Water in ßbetween.

Where’s dinner? My husband and I love to cook,

so it’s usually at home. If we’re going out, it’s Port Fonda, Room 39, sushi or Chinese.

What’s on your KC postcard? My 3-year-old in his Alex Gordon jersey.

S A B R I N A S TA I R E S

corn in olive oil. Peanut butter. Smelling my babies’ skin. Biting my fingernails. DIY and mommy blogs.

“My dream concert lineup is ...” I’d love to see Prince and Adele onstage together. Also, the Beatles, Otis Redding, Madonna and (for my mom) John Denver.

“Kansas City screwed up when ...” We didn’t invest more in our schools 10 years ago.

“Kansas City needs ...” Better grocery stores

in mid- and downtown. More indoor play places. An organized resource referral network among service agencies. A smoothie shop.

“As a kid, I wanted to be ...” A lawyer. Not to defend the helpless but to prosecute the bad guys!

“In five years, I’ll be ...” Hopefully more at peace

and self-aware, less controlling and spending a large part of the winter at my new second home in Sonoma. (A girl can dream, right?)

“I’ve been known to binge watch ...” Parenthood.

Property Brothers.

“I can’t stop listening to ...” Right now, the Peppa Pig theme song is running through my head, so besides that, it’s NPR.

My soapbox: Investing in education is the

Twain. Mary Shelley. The students at Literacy KC.

only way to get what everyone wants: an effective, inclusive, high-achieving citizenry and productive economy. And we have to do it in a way that makes sense for all different types of people and learners. We also have to invest in the parents of the children we want to grow up to be successful. They are a crucial piece in the puzzle of lifelong achievement. That means not only providing generic support services, but also realistic, tangible and meaningful solutions to personal growth and achievement. It all starts with literacy and education. Literacy isn’t just about kicking back with your favorite novel. It affects every aspect of life, from paying bills to navigating the Internet, from filling out a job application to helping a child with homework. And it is the great equalizer.

Having access to information and having the ability to read and comprehend that information are the vehicles of education (formal or otherwise) which, in turn, is the road to, well, everywhere.

My favorite toy as a child: Books

My recent triumph: I was appointed execu-

“I just read ...” Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff,

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Do-

Finish these sentences: “Kansas City got it right err and Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and when ...” That World Series celebration was Things That Go (like, a million times).

unreal. And I’d put the philanthropy, good will and overall neighborliness among Kansas Citians up against the people of any other community out there.

Project Runway, were basically like family to me growing up.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure? Miley Cyrus or the Kardashians.

The best advice I ever got: “Model leadership.”

“If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” “Show up.” “Let it be.” “Be nice.”

Worst advice? “Just live off your student loans

for a while!”

My sidekick? One of my kiddos. My cell phone.

Or my breast pump. The things that seem to never go away when you have babies.

Who is your hero? Nelson Mandela. Mark

My brush with fame: I worked at a Planet

Hollywood in Hawaii for a while and met David Hasselhoff and Mario Lopez (big time, right?). And James Valentine, the guitarist for Maroon 5, and his sister, Amanda Valentine, who is probably the coolest young designer working right now and a finalist on

tive director of Literacy Kansas City just a few months after coming back from maternity leave. So learning how to juggle two little ones, a dynamic organization and still find time for dates with my hubs and the occasional run around the neighborhood is defi nitely a work in progress, but a triumphant one! •

pitch.com

BECOME A

INSIDER SIGN UP FOR OUR

NEWSLETTER

http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/NewsletterInfoRegistration/Page J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

3

4

news

By

S t e v e v ock rod t

a l ly s o n p e c k

Can Kansas Care?

Gov. Sam Brownback says privatized Medicaid is working in Kansas, but some patients and hospitals don’t see it.

F

inn Bullers spent his 52nd birthday and this past Christmas in the intensive-care unit at Shawnee Mission Medical Center. He wasn’t sick — not beyond the daily ailments that accompany the Prairie Village man’s muscular dystrophy and diabetes, anyway.

But he had nowhere else to go.

Bullers can’t survive on his own. He relies on a ventilator to breathe and a wheelchair to move, and when he’s alone he is imperiled by the possibility that the machine could disconnect from his throat. His coordination wracked by the degenerative muscular dystrophy, he wouldn’t be able to reconnect it himself.

That’s what happened just prior to his arrival at Shawnee Mission Medical Center.

Booked for a short stay at the Days Inn in Overland Park, near Metcalf and Interstate 435, a room which he had paid for with the little money he had at the time, he was without the caregivers who usually are with him at all hours of the day — workers paid in part by Kansas through the state’s Medicaid program. (One such worker, Bullers says, once stole his credit cards.) In the night, his ventilator fell out.

4

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

“The only thing I could do was bang my head against the door until a neighbor came in and put the tube back in,” Bullers says.

After his weeklong stay at Shawnee Mission Medical Center (at a rough cost of $1,300 a day), he was transferred to the Healthcare Resort of Kansas City, in western Wyandotte County, across the street from Providence Medical Center on Parallel Parkway. Before long, the 90 days he’s allowed to be there will run out, and he’ll have to figure out where to live next.

Bullers, a writer for The Kansas City Star in the late 1990s and aughts, was for a time the face of how Kansas’ decision to privatize its Medicaid program could fail Sunflower State citizens. The policy, called KanCare, put the state’s disbursement of federal money for the most needy into the hands of three private, for-profit insurance companies.

It went into effect on January 1, 2013. A year later, Kansans with disabilities were folded into KanCare. Just before that, Bullers learned that he would not receive aroundthe-clock care, as he had in the past.

At the time, Bullers lived in Prairie Village with his two children. His story drew media attention (including “Kan’t Care,” in

pitch.com

The Pitch’s November 21, 2013, issue), and his benefits were eventually restored.

The strain — both emotional and financial — of his condition eventually ended his 21-year marriage. He was escorted from his home by a Johnson County sheriff last summer, following a divorce-related court order to leave his family home.

Since then, finding a permanent residence has been difficult — in part, he says, because of the managed-care organization that handles him under the KanCare program. Bullers was ready to move to a Prairie Village apartment when United Healthcare rejected the plan; the company sent him a letter explaining that his care required skilled nursing in the home and that such care couldn’t be provided in the apartment.

That leaves the possibility of living in a nursing home, which Bullers rejects. “I can’t imagine a fate worse than that,” Bullers tells The Pitch.

He may have federal law on his side. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people with disabilities who receive state-funded support have a right to live and receive services in a community setting, not just in an institution.

Bullers says United Healthcare may be looking at alternatives. Meanwhile, his case demonstrates some of the issues that continue to dog KanCare as it enters its third year.

While health-care providers tell The Pitch that KanCare works relatively well for patients who don’t rely on it daily, it has led to some struggles for people who require more intensive care. Some health-care providers say KanCare requires a quantity of paperwork that’s cumbersome even by insurance-company standards. They add that the system has routinely denied legitimate claims, forcing delays as hospitals and clinics file appeals. All of which belies the state’s claim that a privately managed Medicaid would streamline the bureaucracy inherent in a state-run program.

The three KanCare MCOs defend their level of service and their interactions with providers, saying the claims processes are nothing out of the ordinary. All three, however, have reported significant financial losses under KanCare. And the road ahead looks no smoother for them — or for people like Bullers.

5

News

A

s Gov. Sam Brownback’s fifth State of the State address crescendoed in the early evening hours of January 12, he made a pair of bold proclamations.

“KanCare is working,” Brownback told the Kansas Legislature. “Obamacare is failing.”

With this statement, Brownback made clear once again that he wants the Legislature to stay the course with KanCare and reject Medicaid expansion, which is an Easter egg for states to consider as part of the federal Affordable Care Act. Medicaid expansion is seen by its advocates as a way to provide more services to the most vulnerable in Kansas and, at least temporarily, give some relief to the financial millstone around the Kansas budget.

Even some members of Brownback’s party say they’re considering it. Jeff King, a Republican senator from Independence, Kansas, gave the notion some tepid support after a hospital in his hometown closed. It’s debatable whether Medicaid expansion would have spared the hospital, but it’s hard to argue it would have hurt.

Unless you’re the governor.

“Today, we have higher reimbursement rates for providers, more services for clients, and most importantly, we have better, measurable health outcomes for Kansans who participate in KanCare,” Brownback said in his speech. “We have also saved nearly $1 billion over the projected cost estimates for the old Medicaid program. We have proven that a Kansas solution is better than one from Washington, D.C.” Brownback’s push to privatize Medicaid resembles most of his other policies as Kansas governor — an all-in approach that dispenses with pesky questions and ignores calls for moderation or reconsideration.

Other states had shifted smaller segments of their Medicaid programs to see whether such moves would produce the anticipated savings. Kansas was the first state to announce that nearly all of its Medicaid program would go into the hands of private companies, the Brownback-selected Sunflower, United Healthcare and Amerigroup.

Brownback’s fellow Republican governors have eschewed some of his other initiatives — particularly his tax policies, which have left Kansas’ finances in a bind — but some have taken notice of KanCare and are considering replicating it in their states. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed up four MCOs — including United Healthcare and Amerigroup — to handle the privatization of his state’s Medicaid program.

A s some newspapers i n Iowa have pointed out, however, much of the talk surrounding Kansas’ Medicaid privatization sounds more like cautionary tales than success stories.

A

mong those who might advise Iowa to think twice are Kansas health-care providers.

On December 29, Kansas lawmakers met for another session of the Robert Bethell Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight. Officials with Lawrence Memorial Hospital were there, and they painted an ugly picture of how KanCare operates.

LMH’s Susan Thomas, a compliance manager for the hospital, and Taryn Schraad, an appeals specialist, told committee members that the KanCare MCOs were “aggressively denying payment” for LMH claims. They added that about 65 percent of claims correctly submitted to the KanCare MCOs had been denied, setting off the appeals process.

“The communication of the claim denial is dismal,” LMH’s administrators submitted in written testimony to the committee. They added that United Healthcare, in its denial letters, gives health-care providers incorrect instructions on how to appeal claims.

“Since transitioning from Kansas Medicaid to KanCare, LMH has experienced undue burden in processing claims for healthcare services provided to KanCare patients,” LMH wrote. “This has resulted in an egregious amount of re-work by LMH staff, significant delays in payment, patient concerns and frustration as well as diminished ability to care for some of the most vulnerable residents in the state of Kansas.”

An LMH spokeswoman tells The Pitch that hospital officials plan to return with more information to present to the KanCare Oversight Committee at its next meeting on January 22.

LMH’s testimony mirrors key grievances that other providers have shared with The Pitch. Many providers have asked to remain anonymous, fearing more headaches with MCOs if they speak publicly.

KanCare’s MCOs appear to deny claims at rates exceeding that of private insurers.

According to quarterly KanCare reports published by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, between 17 percent and 19 percent of claims brought to the three KanCare MCO’s were denied payment between January and September 2015. According to the same report, that added up to more than $1.5 billion in denied claims.

Determining how many claims private insurers deny is tricky; insurance companies treat such data as proprietary information.

But the American Medical Association took a stab at it with a 2013 report, which pegged the denial rate for private insurers in the single digits.

The Kansas Hospital Association has also raised concerns about KanCare’s treatment of health-care providers.

In written testimony sent to the Bethell Committee in December, the KHA said it had surveyed its members to find out how promptly they were being paid for claims sent to KanCare MCOs. The survey indicated that about one-third of claims submitted to the MCOs had been paid later than 90 days.

That’s roughly double the rate of 90-days-ormore collections for Medicare and for commercial insurance companies.

Tish Hollingsworth, vice president of reimbursement for the KHA, says that late claim payments become a problem because once an account payable goes 90 days past due, the chances of recovering diminish significantly. She adds that the denial rates by MCOs may actually be higher because the MCOs classify some claims as “contractual write-offs.” To the hospital, though, it’s the same thing — an unpaid claim.

Hollingsworth isn’t sure exactly what the rate is of claims that are both denied and written off. “It’s fairly high,” she tells The Pitch. “And higher than what the MCOs have reported.”

Of the three MCOs to which The Pitch sent detailed questions, only Amerigroup responded.

“Regarding your inquiry, we comply with the rules and regulations of our regulators, including those related to claims and operations,” Amerigroup spokeswoman Olga Gallardo wrote in an e-mail. “Amerigroup Kansas meets monthly with LMH to provide education, support and identify work issues and concerns, including those related to claims and operations.”

A s K a nCa re enter s it s t h i rd yea r, Hollingsworth says hospitals in Kansas have had some success bringing KanCare MCO paperwork in line. But streamlining, the whole point of KanCare to begin with, remains something of a work in progress.

“We’ve made some pretty good strides at getting things as streamlined as we can,” she says. “The hardest thing all our members would say is the administrative burden of having three organizations as opposed to one.”

Back in western Wyandotte County, Bullers can barely speak above a whisper. A doctor has just taken his blood pressure and promises to return later in the week.

It’s not an ideal situation for Bullers, but it will do for now while he searches for a permanent solution that meets KanCare’s approval. And it’s better than taking up space at Shawnee Mission Medical Center.

“I felt awful [at Shawnee Mission Medical Center],” Buller says. “I never wanted to be in a situation where I was a drain on society.

But the system failed again.” • pitch.com

Need A Drink?

Find happy hours

by time, feature, name or location on your iphone/ blackberry/android.

Check out mobile happy hour app

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

5

6

NA ME TO N O TI TI PE M O C ED AT O C A C AN DY-

The Guild

1621 Locust St, Kansas City, MO 64108

February

6 2 2 0 16

6PM VIP 6:30PM GA

F OR A LI M ITED TI M E...

$15 GA TICKETS & $20 VIP TICKETS 6

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

pitch.com

pitch.com {or} CALL

816.561.6061

7 W E E K O F J A N U A R Y 2 1 - 2 7, 2 0 1 6

PART Y ART Y PHOTO BY JEFF EVRARD

Party Arty, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s biggest soiree of the year, is Saturday night, and you can still snag a ticket to the annual museum fundraiser — this year’s theme is Coloring Outside the Lines — that helps support arts-education programs. A $100 ticket ($60 for museum members) scores you appetizers, drinks and entertainment in the Bloch lobby. Grab them while they last.

pitch.com

DAILY LISTINGS ON PAGE

25

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

7

8

GET WAISTED JAN. 24-FEB 5

Campuses in KC & Lawrence • 1.866.443.9140 • www.wellspring.edu

Saturday, February 6th at the

Corinthian Hall Kansas City Museum Bernice Radle

Featuring host oF american rehab: buFFalo on hgtV and diY network

$20 • historickansascity.org $

5 ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED*

*All $5 class registrations will be donated to the Y Challenger program for children and young adults with special needs to have the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive through recreational and social opportunities.

CLASS SCHEDULE:

SOME CLASSES ARE CLOSE TO CAPACITY! A new series about andtearing tearing down walls A new series aboutbuilding building bridges bridges and down walls

JANUARY 24

JANUARY 25

JANUARY 26

JANUARY 27

2:00 PM

6:30 PM

5:45 PM

6:00 PM

JANUARY 29

JANUARY 30

JANUARY 30

FEBRUARY 5

A new series about building bridges and tearing down walls

THE UNITED CHURCH THE UNITEDMETHODIST METHODIST CHURCH OFOF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF THE THERESURRECTION RESURRECTION

THE RESURRECTION

Join us at any of our 4 locations January 9 - February 7 Join us at any of our 4 locations January 9 - February 7 Join us at any of our 4 locations January 9 - February 7 LEAWOOD CAMPUS 13720 Roe Ave., Leawood, KS 13720 Ave., Leawood, LEAWOOD CAMPUSat Service Times Saturdays 5 pmRoe | Sundays at 7:45,KS 9, 10:45 am & 5 pm 13720 Roe Ave., Leawood, KS am & 5 pm LEAWOOD CAMPUS Service Times Saturdays at 5 pm | Sundays at 7:45, 9, 10:45 Service CAMPUS Times Saturdays pm | Sundays at 7:45,KS 9,(K7 10:45 am & 5 pm WEST 24000at W.5Valley Pkwy., Olathe, & K10) WEST CAMPUS 24000 W. Valley KS (K7 & K10) Service Times Sundays 9, 10:45 amPkwy., and 5 Olathe, pm Service Times Sundays 10:45 amPkwy., and 5 pm WEST CAMPUS 240009,W. Valley Olathe, KS (K7 & K10) DOWNTOWN CAMPUS 1522am McGee Service Times Sundays 9, 10:45 and 5St. pm& 1508 Grand Ave., KCMO DOWNTOWN CAMPUS 1522pm McGee St.McGee) & 1508 Grand Ave., KCMO Service Times Saturdays at 5:10 (1522 and Sundays at 9, Service Times Saturdays at1522 5:10 pm (1522 McGee) andGrand Sundays at 9, 10:45 am and 5 pm (1522 McGee) and 10:15 am (1508 Grand Ave.) DOWNTOWN CAMPUS McGee St. & 1508 Ave., KCMO 10:45 am and 5 pm (1522 and 10:15McGee) am (1508and Grand Ave.) at 9, Service Times Saturdays atMcGee) 5:10 pm (1522 Sundays BLUE SPRINGS CAMPUS 601 NE Jefferson St., Blue Springs, MO 10:45 am and 5 pm (1522 McGee) 10:15 am (1508 Grand Ave.) BLUE SPRINGS CAMPUS 601 and NE Jefferson St., Blue Springs, MO

Service Times Sundays at 9 and 10:45 am Service Times Sundays at 9 and 10:45 am

BLUE SPRINGS CAMPUS 601 NE Jefferson St., Blue Springs, MO Service Times INFORMATION Sundays at 9 and 10:45 amUS ONLINE AT COR.ORG FOR MORE VISIT FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT US ONLINE AT COR.ORG 8

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

pitch.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT US ONLINE AT COR.ORG

6:00 PM

9:00 AM

11:00 AM

O

OT NE SP

!

LEFT

5:00 PM

Visit fitnesscrawl.com for advance registration.

Sign up today! ClassES are filling up fast & will be limited to each studio’s capacity. Please arrive15-30 minutes early.

Sponsored by

9

art

By

t r a c y a be l n

a l ly s o n p e c k

God-Given

Dylan Mortimer’s struggles lead to a Cure.

A

s an artist known for making impressively scaled signs and combining hip-hop symbols with references to Christianity — Google him and his brilliant Prayer Booths still come up first — Dylan Mortimer has always made personal art. But his latest exhibition transcends the personal for something revelatory. Cure is his externalized dialogue with God, one in which he attempts to lay out the terms of his genetic lot, his cystic fibrosis.

Speaking to about 15 people at the LeedyVoulkos Art Center on a Monday evening in December — a talk organized by a group called the Artist Collective in Midtown KC, which meets every month to discuss art, faith and life — Mortimer said that with this show, he was expressing “the most personal thing.”

Mortimer’s earlier work explored aspects of his own story, orbiting the outer reaches first. Among the elements factoring into those pieces was the fact of his being a pastor’s son. Mortimer is himself a pastor, and, at the age of 36, says he has reached a

Above: Mortimer in the gallery. Top right: “65 Roses”; lower right: “Give Me 2 Pair” maquette point — married, two children — at which he’s comfortable exploring the tension between religion and art. As he told those who’d come to hear him speak, he has accepted that he “can’t escape religion.”

Of course, he doesn’t want to. His Christianity is a central part of his existence. As is CF, a genetic, progressive disease caused by one of more than 1,800 known mutations.

About 1,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with the condition; if both of your parents have a copy of the defective CF gene, there’s a 25 percent chance that you, too, will have CF. (Screening for the mutations is still in development stages.)

In his artist’s statement for Cure, Mortimer acknowledges that each of us struggles with something, and that we all die (observations he reiterated in the December talk). Coping with such struggle, and with the knowledge of one’s own mortality, is one reason why religion persists as a force in people’s lives, though, as

Mortimer points out, some people characterize faith negatively — as, he says, “a crutch,” a coping mechanism that’s risible because it is not science. Acknowledging spiritual belief, he points out, isn’t popular among socalled enlightened people — including mainstream artists.

But crutches fulfill a purpose. As he asks: “Why wouldn’t I use a crutch to walk better?”

Or to make art better — to make the process therapeutic for

continued on page 11

pitch.com

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

9

10

DOWNLOAD THE PITCH STREET APP YOUR GUIDE TO

KANSAS CITY NIGHT LIFE TEXT “PITCH” TO 77948

EVERYONE’S

A WINNER

GREAT FUN. GREAT FOOD! CAFÉ Sunday – Wednesday • 8AM – 11PM HOURS Thursday – Saturday • 8AM – 2AM

THURSDAYS • 6PM – 9PM Win $50 IN 7TH STREET LUCKY LOOT every 15 minutes. Plus, get on a color group by earning 5 points. Four lucky players will be drawn to win $ 250 CASH EACH and up to $20 IN 7TH STREET LUCKY LOOT for EVERYONE in their group!

FUEL UP FOR MORE FUN with mouth-watering breakfast items, soups, salads, a variety of hot entrées, and much more. Plus, enjoy $5.49 DAILY SPECIALS, 10AM to 10PM, Monday through Friday!

Must be actively playing with Lucky 7 Card to be eligible to win hot seat drawings. Players are eligible to win one (1) hot seat drawing and the group drawing. Players may only spin the wheel one (1) time. The wheel must make one complete rotation. Lucky Loot from the 6PM – 8:30PM hot seat drawings is valid for three (3) days.

Lucky Loot for the color group is only valid from 9PM to Midnight on the day of the drawing.

7TH-STREETCASINO.COM | 777 N 7th St Trafficway, Kansas City, KS | Must be 21 years of age or older. Management reserves the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time without notice. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700.

10

THE PITCH

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

pitch.com

MORE WINNING. MORE OFTEN.

11

a l l p h oto s b y E . G . s c h E m p f

art

continued from page 9 the artist, to make art that conveys real feeling.

Real feeling, and the sense that you’re seeing an artist confront major personal themes — these come through when you look at the 11 large-scale pieces here. Supported by a few framed works and 20 little maquettes, Mortimer’s art is an enlightening barrage, in a somewhat literal sense — it overwhelms you with sparkly illumination.

Mortimer has worked with marquee lights before, and a couple of the big sculptural works hanging on the walls include them, but his dominant medium at Leedy-Voulkos — chosen mainly for its ability to convey a low-rent baroque effect — is glitter. Lots and lots of glitter. It’s nearly blinding yet deeply attractive. I couldn’t help wanting to stick my face in it.

Cure’s millions of sparkling refractions allude to the universe’s innumerable stars.

With a unifying palette (glitter comes in only about a dozen colors, which Mortimer has manipulated subtly through the use of undertones), the encrusting stand-ins for gold and gemstones evoke a sensory reaction. The effect adds up to an answer to “What’s on your mind, Dylan?” Life is large, this art says. Life is random. Life is difficult to understand.

Within this luminous little galaxy, begin with the multi-piece “Birth Defect,” a huge illustration of stylized cells floating toward a fetus and resolving in blobs of green, glittering mucus. Here, writ large, is the fraction of

a fraction of a chance that Mortimer’s birthright would be clogged lungs, a sensitivity to infection, a truncated life expectancy.

The exhibition progresses with other nods to lifespan, with the second large-scale wall sculpture, “65 Roses,” a reference to the phonetic way that children are taught how to pronounce their condition. As in many of the works here, the central figure is a medicaltextbook-style outline — this one a brain attached to descending nerve fibers, with sparkling red roses bursting out along a fivepointed thought-beam.

“Ascension” features most of a body, its arms held up, open to God, to life, to whatever is in store. The figure’s sky-blue interior is laced with red arteries and blue veins that mimic patterns in the arched faux-stainedglass window behind.

A number of the titles could be called prayers. And in the 3-D structures are hollow spaces where words are outlined and intentionally omitted, forming a kind of spiritual graffiti (see “Help My Unbelief”).

Some of the metaphors at play require a little cultural memory: Recall that Nike Air Jordan shoes once had built-in air pumps, and you’ll better get “Give Me 2 Pair,” along with the half-functioning set of lungs attached to a red-swooshed high-top in “Air Max.” “What the Fucking Hell Is This Shit, God?” shows a running shoe stuck in mucous, struggling, cartoon-like, to break free.

“The God Particle Weeps Too” reaches

Left: “Help My Unbelief”; right: “My New Cells” for the mysterious wonder in science. Its omniscient, eerie eye is painted as a blackand-white, five-ring target, emanating gold tendrils and struck through with three lighted red beams. Below, a three-part dripping blue tear seems to say that even the key to the universe is vulnerable.

The three framed, two-dimensional works titled “Cure” convey a calming resolution to the more exposed and riotous sculptural pieces. All in glitter, one is a beautifully stylized “bad” cell, another a set of pulmonary tracts set upside-down, the pink branches outlined in red and almost completely drained of lime-green (the mucous).

Along with these, “The Internal Struggle” and “Airway Clearance,” off to the side and perhaps the last thing most viewers will see, is a humbly sized work on paper. It’s a kind of snapshot of what Mortimer hopes is happening inside him: “My New Cells.”

Last August, Mortimer started treatment on a newly approved medication, one that targets the defective protein responsible for CF. So far, he says, it seems to be working well. For the rest of us, coming to Cure can be a religious experience, or an experience of religion, and not just Mortimer’s. We all struggle with something. We all die. Art can’t cure these things, but art such as Mortimer’s brushes up against a sense of healing. •

pitch.com

Dylan Mortimer Cure Through February 13 at Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, 2012 Baltimore, leedy-voulkos.com

Other exhibits Rearranging History: Daniel MacMorris and the Pantheon de la Guerre Through March 27. National World War I Museum, 100 W. 26th St.

Take 5: Death

6 p.m. January 21. Featuring Megan Mooney from the Death Café, Jesse Liemkuhler of Belvoir Winery, Curator of African Ar Nil Quarcoopome, Sally King of the KC Funeral Alliance and guest moderator Elle Moxley.

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4050 Oak

Third Thursday at the Nelson: Pajama Jam

6 p.m. January 21. Featuring live music from Ragged Heirs, DJ Joe, Lego Chalice Challenge and a temporary-tattoo station.

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4050 Oak

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

11

12

s ta g e

B r i a n pa u l e t t e

The LasT DJ

At the Living Room, an effective Pontypool dials up the blood.

I

f you’re looking for Broadway belting or Shakespearean saber-rattling, you can take your pick from a handful of local theaters.

But if you want to watch someone bite into a battery and projectile vomit blood, you go to the Living Room.

The theater is enjoying a banner season of high-grade camp. In October, the gory Chainsaw: The Musical painted the stage murderous red. And the company’s latest, an adaptation of the 2008 horror film Pontypool (itself an adaptation of Tony Burgess’s novel Pontypool Changes Everything), boasts a similar budget for fake blood. Also, a far more sinister villain: the English language.

Kimmie Queen and director Cody Wyoming have retrofitted Burgess’s script to the stage, maintaining its violent thrust while restricting the action to a single interior: the offices of Radio Beacon in Pontypool, Ontario. The small set never feels stagnant, thanks in part to a windowed control booth upstage, through which we watch Beacon producer Sydney Briar (Katie Gilchrist) and her assistant, Laurel Ann Drummond (Regina Weller), take calls from listeners and pluck news stories off the wire.

The busy backdrop doesn’t distract from the main focus: Grant Mazzy (John Rensen-

12

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

house), a former shock jock cooling his heels as the station’s new morning-show host.

Mazzy is comically ill-suited to the position, and as he alternates color commentary with nips from a bottle of desk-drawer whiskey, Briar grows increasingly exasperated.

Read the goddamn list of school closures, she orders. Throw to Ken Loney in the Sunshine Chopper.

A pissed-off listener is a wide-awake listener, he replies.

Before they can come to blows, Ken Loney (Mitch Brian, all hockey-fan dialect) calls in with a curious report. A violent mob has gathered outside the offices of a physician named John Mendez, and they’re jumping down one another’s throats. Literally.

The panicked doctor (Bradley Thomas, with a confusing but consistent accent) arrives at the station shortly to explain. A new virus, spread by speaking certain English words, has taken hold, and its sufferers are clawing into one another’s mouths to find relief.

From there, the play hurtles like a runaway train toward its inevitable conclusion.

Drummond begins repeating the same word, eerie as a wind chime, and vomits a spray of blood on the control booth door (one of many cool effects credited to Tab Treml, Weller and

pitch.com

Resenhouse is in for a bad morning.

Curtis Smith). A mysterious report breaks over the airwaves in garbled French. Someone meets their maker at the business end of Chekhov’s fire extinguisher.

The show clocks in at a little more than an hour, and some of the plague’s particulars get lost in the race. It’s never entirely clear how the contagion spreads — or how quickly it incapacitates its hosts. But Wyoming manages to keep his actors grounded, despite the breakneck pace. Rensenhouse’s airborne, contagious talent seems key. If a virus could spread through language, I’d happily contract it from him; his classical crispness translates perfectly to Burgess’s campier world. Frenetic lines emerge from his mouth like so many silk scarves.

Gilchrist also finds success with an uncharacteristically understated performance.

Thomas supplies the right dose of B-movie as Mendez, overly fascinated by the disease’s novelty and progress. (“Oh, I’m sorry, this is awful,” he checks himself in one ecstatic moment.) And Weller is undeniably creepy as the infected PA, though she could do more physically, particularly as the virus takes hold, to define the role.

By

l i z c ook

The claustrophobic set — credited to Wyoming and Tim Ahlenius — amps up the actors’ anxiety. Pontypool plays in polite thrust in what is typically a backstage space at the Living Room. Low ceilings dampen the acoustics and crank up the intimacy.

The small space also allows Wyoming and his production team to focus on a few key technical elements, most notably David Kiehl’s balanced sound design. For much of the play, Rensenhouse speaks directly into the station’s mic, adding an extra layer of spine-chilling resonance to his speeches.

And as the plague sweeps through the town, stage hands stationed throughout the theater stomp on floorboards and pound fists against walls to create a textured soundscape.

Pontypool is a polished piece of theater with authentic scare power, but Rensenhouse’s final monologue is by itself worth the ticket price. As Mazzy prepares to meet a certain end at uncertain hands, he soothes himself on air, broadcasting into the void with a languid purr and a dry-as-toast laugh.

The lights in the station flicker, then die. We file out to the sound of hair raising on a hundred strangers’ arms.

This is camp, but it ain’t cheese. • Pontypool Through January 31 at the Living Room, 1818 McGee, thelivingroomkc.com

aLso pLaying A Number

Through February 7, Mabee Theater, 1100 Rockhurst Rd. (Sedgwick Hall, Rockhurst University)

Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight

Through February 7.

Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, 3614 Main

How to Steal a Picasso

Opens January 27, 7:30 p.m.

Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main

One-Man Star Wars Trilogy

Opens January 26, 7:30 p.m.

Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Rd.

Potted Potter — The Unauthorized Harry Experience Through January 24.

Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Rd.

13

s ta g e

Many Masks

Actor and director Mark Robbins finds beauty and connection in his work.

BY

S U P P O RT KC

Debor a h hir s ch

M

AND

BUY LOCAL

P p PROMOTIONS > Free Stuff

Log on to

to register for some

FREE

s a b r i n a s ta i r e s

Stuff!

A Number KC Actors Theatre, at Rockhurst University’s Mabee Theater (in Sedgwick Hall), 5225 Troost, 816-235-6222, kcactors.org

Bach Aria Soloists Adventures of Don Quixote

@PITCHSTREET CHANCE TO WIN FREE TICKETS MOVIE PASSES MORE+

t

e re

m

.co

r e t it

tw

Saturday, February 6, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 11 East 40th Street, bachariasoloists.com

pitch.com

t s h c

t

I /p

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

TWITTER.C0M /PITCHSTREET

them. As a director, the feeling of satisfaction when a project is completed successfully.

What’s one of your favorite roles?

Roy Cohn in Angels in America.

And a favorite show?

The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter.

What’s the best part about what you do?

The variety and the relative autonomy.

What’s the hardest part?

It used to be dealing with the periods, sometimes very long, of unemployment. Now it’s getting to be mainly the learning of lines.

How did you become involved in the Bach Aria Soloists event?

Last year, I narrated Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with the Bach Aria Soloists, and we enjoyed that so much that Elizabeth [Suh] thought to include me in the present music and narration project, which is inspired by Don Quixote.

When will we see you next onstage?

I’ll be rehearsing in Roof of the World at the KC Rep while simultaneously performing as a narrator with Bach Aria Soloists. •

FOLLOW+

When did you start directing plays?

My first professional directing gig was handed me by Cynthia Levin in 1997. She asked me to direct Molly Sweeney for the Unicorn, and it must have worked out OK — she’s had me direct at the Unicorn several times since.

What do you appreciate about playwright Caryl Churchill, and what is it about A Number, in particular, that you connect to or find compelling?

The things I like best about Churchill are her keen ear for language and her willingness to morph in style from one play to the next. In A Number, I love the fragmented sentences and what they do to the characters’ attempts to either communicate or hide information. She is also a bit of a lefty, which greatly appeals to me, as I am, too. Given that, I really like the fact that in A Number, she takes a chronically hot-button issue and does not politicize it.

Instead, she examines what sort of existential effect it has on the characters and uses it as a way to tell a classic father-son story in a new and unexpected way.

As an actor or as a director, what’s the worst thing that has happened to you during a performance?

As an actor, knocking myself in the skull with my own goddamned sword while playing Macbeth. As a director, sitting helpless in total silence while one of my actors completely lost her memory of what happened next in a play.

What’s the best thing?

As an actor, completing an eight-and-a-halfhour performance of Nicholas Nickleby and accepting a long standing ovation from a packed house while the company gave it right back to

Tickets Passes CDs DVDs & more!

US

ark Robbins is one of those actors who lends marquee appeal to local shows.

Even if he may not think so.

“I have no indication that I have an actual following,” Robbins told The Kansas City Star in 2012. “I don’t even see any quantifiable reason for people to be more inclined to come see a show because I’m in it.”

Everybody else does, though — and has for a while now. As one of the founding members of Kansas City Actors Theatre, Robbins has been a longtime fixture of KC’s theater community, bringing depth and intelligence to scores of roles since the late 1970s as an actor and, later, similarly deep insights from the director’s chair.

Robbins says he gravitated toward the theater because he lacked ability in other fields.

“I realized that I had no aptitude in any other endeavor,” he tells me in an e-mail. That, too, is a little hard to believe, but the work he has chosen clearly suits him.

Robbins is busy right now, directing KC Actors Theatre’s A Number, by Caryl Churchill, which opens this week, and appearing February 6 in Adventures of Don Quixote with Bach Aria Soloists. While preparing for these shows, he answered my questions by e-mail.

The Pitch: What brought you to KC or kept you here?

Robbins: I came here in 1979, fresh out of grad school, for the prospect of work at the Missouri Repertory Theatre. I stayed for the next 37-some-odd years because the work was plentiful and challenging, and the living was comfortable and relatively inexpensive.

What drew you into acting?

The fact that I seemed to have a talent for it, and it kept me in constant contact with very pretty women.

What originally lit the theater spark?

Being an introvert in an unfamiliar high school and suddenly finding myself being applauded by my drama class after doing a scene from The Subject Was Roses.

Where did you train?

Undergrad at Webster College in St. Louis, then grad school at Wayne State University in Detroit.

How are you affected by the audience?

Alternatively buoyed up and completely terrified.

What drew you into directing?

Initially, it was a mounting frustration with what I believed were missteps and mistakes made by working directors. I thought I could do it, if not better then at least as well, if given the opportunity. Now, after much humbling experience, I have a much greater respect for the job, and I really enjoy the total focus and engagement it demands.

the pitch

13

14

film

LittLe Man

© 2016 Disney

INVITE YOU TO SEE

Log on to www.pitch.com beginning Thursday, January 21 to register for a chance to win a pair of complimentary screening passes to see on Tuesday, January 26 at 7:00pm.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. LIMIT ONE (1) COMPLIMENTARY ADMIT-TWO MOVIE PASS PER PERSON. This film is rated “PG-13”. Screening pass winners will be drawn at random on January 25th. Employees of all promotional partners and their agencies are not eligible.

Void where restricted or prohibited by law. Seating is available on a first-come, first serve basis. Refer to screening pass for further restrictions. Screening pass winners will be drawn at random and notified on January 25. SEATING IS LIMITED, SO ARRIVE EARLY. PASS DOES NOT GUARANTEE A SEAT AT THE SCREENING.

OPENS NATIONWIDE IN DISNEY DIGITAL 3D; REAL D 3D AND IMAX™ 3D FRIDAY, JANUARY 29 www.disney.com/the-finest-hours Facebook.com/TheFinestHoursMovie | #TheFinestHours

FIND MOVIE TIMES P ON KANSAS CITY PITCH THURSDAY, JANUARY 21

2.305x4.822

LH

p

14

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

C

harlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa doesn’t have the sprawling scope of his last feature, 2008’s Synecdoche, New York. It doesn’t have the same faint glint of hopeful sentimentality as 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which Kaufman wrote but did not direct. Anomalisa is something altogether more microcosmic, more self-contained and more lonesome — more of those Kaufman hallmarks than anything else he has written. And a film more lonesome than Being John Malkovich or Adaptation is a lonesome film indeed.

Anomalisa is Kaufman’s seventh film as writer, his second as director, and his first animated feature. Originally penned as a radio play under the pseudonym Francis Fregoli (it’s worth Googling that surname, the better to grasp some of what’s at work here), Anomalisa was funded through a Kickstarter campaign spearheaded by Dino Stamatopoulos, a comedy writer and producer whom Kaufman met when the two wrote together on the short-lived Dana Carvey Show. Co-directed by Kaufman and Duke Johnson (who worked with Stamatopoulos on the stop-motion shows Moral Orel and Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole, as well as on the “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” episode of Com-

pitch.com

Anomalisa is Charlie Kaufman’s loneliest (and smallest) movie yet.

By

D. Pat r ick roDger s

even notice that every other character — Stone’s wife and son, the hotel employees, a sex-shop cashier, everyone — is voiced by just one person: t h e u n d e r- s u n g character actor Tom Noonan. When this device comes into focus, we discover just how insurmountably defeating this traveler’s plight is. There are only two people in the world — Michael Stone, and everyone else.

Anomalisa dares you to gaze directly into discomfort, as when Johnson and Kaufman pick up the puppet-on-puppetintimacy torch first lit by Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America: World Police. Some time after we meet the excruciatingly normal Lisa, a simple and selfdeprecating sales asA Stone unturned: Thewlis’ character in Anomalisa sociate from Akron munity), it was assembled frame by frame who is scarred both emotionally and physiover the course of two years, not counting an cally (voiced brilliantly by Jennifer Jason additional year of pre- and post-production. Leigh), the tone splinters from the merely Kaufman and Johnson’s attention to detail is awkward into the surreal. And surreal, of the first thing you notice about Anomalisa. The course, is where Kaufman has always best characters’ 3-D-printed faces are disquietingly been able to reveal the depth of his charhuman, recognizable from tics to pores, and the acters’ — and therefore, of course, his own sets, built to one-sixth scale, are convincing. — psyche.

Kaufman does not make light films. NevBut once you adjust to the sheer spectacle of this miniature version of a business traveler’s ertheless, there tends to be a bigness to them, circumscribed world — airplane, airport, taxi, an acknowledgement of the greater world his hotel — it’s the voice performances that emerge characters inhabit, with morsels — however scant — of optimism scattered along the path. as the film’s arresting achievement.

The story centers on Michael Stone, a re- Anomalisa is small, from its literal physical spected customer-service expert, voiced by scale to the brief window of time it inhabits, David Thewlis. In Cincinnati for a speaking yet it somehow feels more real than anything engagement, Stone finds himself plagued else he has done.

Is Anomalisa Kaufman’s magnum opus? on all sides by banality — rambling cabbies, awkward bellboys, even (by phone) his own No. That remains Synechdoche, a movie he’s family. It’s a ceaselessly mundane white noise unlikely to top unless and until a studio gives tonally in keeping with most of Kaufman’s the man a budget big enough to render a largework: ordinary life disproportionately am- canvas work of such soul-wrenching beauty. plified until it’s both painfully funny and But you can still count on this one to break your heart, and break your heart in that way breathtakingly forlorn.

Stone’s boredom so thoroughly washes over you know is good for you — every once in a you that, by the second act, you might not while, anyhow. •

15

media

Talk nerdy To me

Nerds of Nostalgia takes its podcast out of the basement.

By

Nick Spa ce k

T

a new happy hour

monday through thursday www.facebook.com/bbirdbistro

816-221-7559 1700 Summit St, Kansas City, MO 64108

zach bauman

he nerds are out of the basement. Over the past year, Greg Dedrick and Jenius McGee have taken their Nerds of Nostalgia podcast above ground and in front of audiences.

That’s not a worn-out trope: Nerds of Nostalgia (along with horror-focused spinoff, Nightmare Junkhead) is recorded in the basement of Dedrick’s Pendleton Heights home. On the podcast, Dedrick and McGee banter about the films that have shaped the foundations of today’s geeky subculture.

They also recruit regular guests to discuss topics as wide-ranging as Iron Maiden and the films of the Cannon Group.

Dedrick and McGee have hosted several films at the Alamo Drafthouse, but recent movie nights at Tapcade have proven successful enough that they’ll be hosting a monthly event, Mystery Movie Mondays, springing classic nerd features, starting January 25.

The Pitch caught up with the Dedrick and McGee to discuss how they got here.

The Pitch: What’s the origin story of Nerds of Nostalgia?

Dedrick: I’d been doing a movie night at my house for about four years. The idea was to expose people to movies that I thought were super dope and wanted more people to see. I’d always been big into podcasts and decided to start one with the movie night. It was called the Dedrick Movie Night Podcast, and I expected an audience of noone. But then I ran into this guy.

McGee: I worked at a toy store, and I would teach children how to play marbles and games.

We get tour groups in all the time, and one day, I was at a show at the Uptown Arts Bar, and somebody was like, “Hey, I know you! You work at the toy store and you were awesome with the kids. You should come down to one of our movie nights.” I’m like, “OK. Why not?”

I go over, and I go down these Evil Dead basement stairs and was like, “This is pretty dope.” They’re watching Terminator, and I get introduced to this guy [points at Dedrick], and during the movie, we start talking about The Terminator and Star Wars — all this nerd shit.

It was awesome. We just had this repartee. At the time I was — and I still am — the president of the Kansas City Horror Club, and we were getting ready for our Halloween show fundraiser. He asks me if I want to come on his podcast to promote the show, and so I came on, we start talking about Linnea Quigley, Return of the Living Dead and Night of the Demons, right? It was great.

Dedrick: It was an immediate chemistry.

McGee: It was like Stepbrothers: “Did we just become best friends?” “Yup!” “You wanna go record in the basement and do karate?” “Yup!”

Dedrick: From there, I switched the Dedrick Movie Night to the Nerds of Nostalgia. Our first episode was in January. It’s just grown from there, and it’s fun.

It seems like you guys are willing to follow a tangent down a rabbit hole, because of that sense of fun.

Dedrick: When something sparks like that, I always want to see where it goes, because it might go into some uncharted region. We might uncover some movie we haven’t talked about in ages.

McGee: We might talk about RoboCop, then we’re talking about Lord of the Rings, and next thing you know it’s like, “You know — it’s kind of like RoboCop in that blah blah blah,” and everyone is all, “Oh, shit! It is!”

What led to Monday Mystery Movies at Tapcade?

Dedrick: We did the Halloween and Christmas triple features and had a good reception, and then [Screenland operator] Adam [Roberts] was like, “Go ahead and let ’em try it,” so we’re excited. It’s the usual stuff we would do beforehand. We’ll have 15 minutes of vintage clips, commercials and trailers. And I’ll admit it: I took full inspiration from the Drafthouse.

My original plan was Class of ’86, nothing but movies from ’86 — horror, comedy, what have you — and, nostalgia aside, there’s some good flicks that came out of there. There’s some bad ones, but there’s also the ones that have just aged poorly and are much the better for it — those that kind of transcended that. You’ve

Dedrick (left) and McGee get nerdy. also got those few gems that just — I can objectively say that a few of my all-time favorite movies are horrible — ineptly put together, horribly edited and boom mics are in the shot.

But, if they’re made earnestly and there’s some genuine passion, it makes me love it all the more. Give me Cobra and Invasion USA any day.

McGee: It’s cooler to look at it from an older point of view, you know? There’s a lot of shit you don’t get when you’re that little and that young, and you look at it now, and it’s a case of “Did they really go there?”

How do you take something this massively time-consuming and balance it with a real job?

McGee: I take it super-seriously. If we can’t record one night, I’m like, “Aw, man.” [hums sad theme to A Charlie Brown Christmas] ’Cause I love it, and it’s that old saying: “If you do something you love, you don’t have to work a day.” I treat it like a job but like a fun job where I want to do this. I want to record. I want to host. I want to be out in public, seeing what people think about these movies and our opinions and all that cool stuff.

Dedrick: It’s easy. It’s a good balance, and I just enjoy doing it. In terms of doing the research, I can fit it in between work, and besides, we’ve got the Internet everywhere.

McGee: We’re going to watch these movies and talk about them, regardless.

If there’s a mic on or an audience? It’s just butter on toast. •

pitch.com

BECOME A

INSIDER SIGN UP FOR OUR

NEWSLETTER http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/NewsletterInfoRegistration/Page J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

15

16

PLIVEQ

MUSIC Every Tuesday: Jam Night with Dave Hays @ 7:30pm

Opening Soon in Lee's Summit

301 SE Douglas 64063

N

Now Hiring!!! llywelynsjobs.com

Thursday Jan 21

Friday Jan 22

saturday Jan 23

CB Wry

X-Parte Band

Nace Brothers

6995 W 151st St Overland Park, KS • 913-402-0333 • llywelynspub.com

HAVE SOME BALLS FOR LUNCH! Three Meatball Sliders, Fries & a Drink for $9 Monday – Friday from 11am – 2pm

1806 1/2 W 39TH ST • 816.226.7888 • WWW.MEATBALLDISTRICT.COM OPEN EVERY DAY: 11AM – 10PM • BAR OPEN TILL 1:30AM (FRI & SAT)

The Pitch’s

BEST SANDWICH Home Cooking • Burger • Chicken • Philly Cheese Steak Carry Out Available • (816) 912-2438 7025 Prospect Ave | KCMO

Local. Quality. Service.

KANSAS CITY’S NEWEST & BEST BRAZILIAN STEAKHOUSE

Have Dinner at Seafood & Chicken

600 E 99th KCMO - (816) 942-3000 | 3123 Swope Pkwy KCMO - (816) 924-3474

H A P P Y H O U R - P R I VAT E PA R T Y R O O M S - B A R M E N U

Enjoy the full Churrascaria experience in the dining room or order `a la carte in the bar and patio.

1 1 9 0 0 M e tc a l f Ave n u e O ve r l a n d P a r k , K S 6 6 2 1 3 913-283-9180 • espiritodosul.com 16

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

pitch.com

17

CAFÉ

Southern AccentS

Magnolia’s reconstructs itself — and regional cuisine — out south.

By

Ch a r l e s F e r ru z z a

Magnolia’s Contemporary Southern Cuisine, 9916 Holmes, 816-521-6803. Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. $$ hanita McAfee-Bryant bristles when fans of her first restaurant — which outgrew its space in a rapidly gentrifying urban neighborhood before she could find new quarters — ask her: “Why here?”

She did indeed choose an unexpected zip code for Magnolia’s Contemporary Southern Cuisine, which reopened a couple of months ago in the relative exile of 99th Street and Holmes rather than, say, in the tonier Crossroads or in some cozy midtown storefront.

But there’s a simple reason, and in today’s restaurant economy, it’s a good one.

“I’m a small business, and it was a great deal for me,” she tells me. “I finally have a real kitchen instead of that little room with a tinyass residential oven. I’m finally running the kind of restaurant that I’ve dreamed about.”

It’s a good dream, too, one that dovetails nicely with my own fantasies about Southern cuisine — food that’s fresh, imaginative and comforting. McAfee-Bryant wants to take every advantage of at last having a proper commercial kitchen, and her passion shows. If cooking is an expression of love and Southern cooking a demonstration of maternal love, then McAfee-Bryant wants to be the antebellum mother you never had — even if her food is post-post-bellum.

“Magnolia’s is not your mother or grandmother’s Southern cooking,” she says. That’s what sets Magnolia’s apart from any other restaurant — soul food or otherwise — in Kansas City. The venue represents McAfee-Bryant’s insistence on following her own culinary path, even if it veers out of the traditional (and toward the sublime).

There are no collard greens in the city as flavorful as those served at Magnolia’s. And here they’re made with only collard greens — no bitter mustard greens mixed in — slow simmered in smoked-turkey stock. It’s a traditional dish done in a habit-forming way.

Among the salads here — which are uniformly delicious, though a little expensive — McAfee-Bryant’s pickled-beet salad is a standout, with thick slices of deep-purple, house-pickled beets on a jumble of spicy arugula. They’re dressed with tangy blue cheese and sweet candied pecans, with the sum splashed by a tart, house-made applecider vinaigrette.

Even this, though, is mere prelude to an exceptionally strong core of entrees. It’s a relief to once again taste McAfee-Bryant’s celebrated fried chicken, deliciously moist under a crunchy, discreetly peppery crust.

But I might prefer the pot roast: braised short ribs, succulent and fork-tender and glossy

a l ly s o n p e c k

S

from a silky red-wine demi-glaze. Sided with roasted potatoes, it’s a divinely rich meal.

Even more decadent is this restaurant’s version of shrimp and grits. Over an unexpectedly crispy foundation of a corn-grits cake, a creamy white-wine sauce, dappled with wilted spinach, is flanked by a chorus line of chubby prawns. It’s both artful and full of flavor.

McAfee-Bryant says her new Magnolia’s remains “a work in progress,” and so it is.

She’s still adjusting to the significant uptick in scale; 2932 Cherry was a 55-seat dining room with a kitchen so cramped that her go-to joking complaint — that it was really a closet — was basically true. But by the time that Magnolia’s begins serving liquor this spring, McAfee-Bryant will have moved the dining room into the south side of her new 4,500-square-foot space (currently unoccupied) and remodeled the bistro’s former dining area into a comfortable bar that will utilize the small stage in the room.

That stage notwithstanding, McAfeeBryant is adamant that Magnolia’s is a restaurant — not a nightclub, not a jazz joint,

The biggest hits — buttermilk fried chicken (from right), shrimp and grits, and braised short ribs — are better than ever. and 100 percent definitely not anything like the previous tenant, the Groove Station Bar & Grill. That space, a raucous night spot, was justly unloved by neighbors of the Gomer’s Plaza retail complex. By contrast, Magnolia’s, with its crisp white tablecloths and retro soundtrack (Sarah Vaughan, Etta James, Nat King Cole), is unabashedly old school. But don’t mistake its gentility for ho-hum-ness.

Much about McAfee-Bryant’s menu and style are creatively progressive, and her reborn venue gives me hope that Magnolia’s could reverse the long decline of south Kansas City as a serious restaurant destination.

The original Magnolia’s suffered from erratic service that didn’t help sometimes long waits for food to come out of the kitchen. The new restaurant has overcome most of that, with service that’s polished and smooth and a kitchen considerably more in tune with timing — though some fine-tuning there is needed.

When I tell McAfee-Bryant this, she replies

pitch.com

that she’s “still working on the nuances,” and her attention was evident on each of my visits. (One thing on the menu that could use her critical eye: a starter of house-made chips served with a bacon-horseradish dip, which would have been memorable if the concoction I tasted one evening hadn’t been served at a just-out-of-the-refrigerator temperature.

Dipping was a lost cause.)

McAfee-Bryant is slowly building her dinner business, but Sunday brunch has already taken off. Making a reservation is advisable. The demand is understandable: I ate one of my favorite Sunday meals of 2015 here, enjoying an array of McAfeeBryant’s best-known dishes — red-velvet waff les, Nutter Butter French toast, fare for the window between sleeping in and taking a nap. And my new favorite breakfast sandwich in the city is Magnolia’s “Morning After,” a flaky, oversized cheddar-herb biscuit stuffed with a fried egg, hot Havarti cheese and a thick slice of Dr Pepper–glazed ham.

The house-made desserts include a “chocolate souff lé cake” that’s not very accurately named. It consists of a warm, muffin-sized cocoa sponge cake sided with two scoops of house-made ice cream. (The toasted-marshmallow scoop makes the dish.) A confection called “Not Yo’ Mama’s Banana Pudding” reflects McAfee-Bryant’s use of traditional Southern recipes as inspiration more than template. Instead of banana pudding — the boxed-mix version — she first cooks the bananas Foster-style, searing them with brown sugar, butter and bourbon. She then folds them into pastry cream, layering the rich pudding with crumbled vanilla wafers — Nabisco Nilla, of course. “You can’t use puff pastry or anything fancy for that component,” she says.

“You’ve got to have the real thing.”

I’d say the same about this part of the metro, which, in McAfee-Bryant’s Magnolia’s, now has it. •

Magnolia’s Contemporary Southern Cuisine Pickled-beet salad ...................................... $9.50 Braised short ribs ............................................$24 Buttermilk fried chicken ................................$28 Shrimp and grits ..............................................$22 Collard greens ...............................................$7.50 Chocolate soufflé cake............................... $8.50

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

17

18

Bartender’s noteBook

Photos by zach bauman

Sherry Darling

Cask him anything: República’s Scott Tipton talks fortified wine.

S

cott Tipton warns me, as he pulls down a trio of dainty, patterned Nick and Nora glasses from the high shelves behind República’s bar, that he is no expert on sherry. I think maybe he’s getting there, though. He’ll tell you offhandedly that he’s been known to take down a bottle of Fino with a friend or two in a single sitting. He likes it — even if, he says, other drinkers are still coming around.

“Sherry has this negative connotation in a lot of ways, with our parents’ medicine cabinets and that sort of thing,” he tells me. “For a long time, it was kind of forgotten about and misunderstood. It’s kind of funky by nature, and if it’s not properly stored or if it’s kept for too long, it goes bad. I think people didn’t know what to do with it.”

But over the past five years, Tipton says, bartenders have begun looking to the famous Spanish fortified wine as an alternative cocktail ingredient — a trend that has helped spark broader interest.

Tipton, who joined Bread & Butter Concepts (República, BRGR, Gram & Dun, Urban Table, Taco Republic, Ingredient and G. Berto) last June, pours me some information before he starts pouring the wine.

“To be true sherry, it needs to come from Andalusia, the Southern tip of Spain,” he says. “That territory is geographically unique.

You’re talking about a different climate and completely different soil. Sherry is made from grapes that are unique in their own right.

18

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

Palomino Fino is one of the main grapes, a white grape that grows in Albariza, which is a white, chalky, clay-type of soil there, very different than from other parts of Spain where you’re growing grapes for straight wines.”

From this CliffsNotes summary — which is already pushing my pen messily across my notebook — he goes on to explain that the biological aging sherry undergoes during its fermentation process involves a natural yeast referred to as flor.

This element is what gives sherry its funkiness, as he calls it. Meanwhile, he neatly lines up three styles of sherry for us to taste.

We begin with the Alvear Fino, which looks pale, like a white vermouth.

Tipton explains that this is the driest and most acidic style of sherry, but what hits me first is sourness: tart green-apple notes. The liquid is so light on my tongue that it takes another sip or two to find the salt and the nuttiness Tipton has promised.

Next is the amber-colored Amontillado Napoleon, which glints suggestively in its glass. This is an in-between sherry, Tipton says — I should begin to taste some sweetness, but not too much. Yes: light toffee and almond. But I tell him I could use a bit of body in my glass.

pitch.com

Perfect pairing: Tipton’s Las Ramblas and República’s tapas He smiles and pushes the third taste, Lustau Pedro Ximénez, toward me.

“Pedro Ximénez, or PX, is one of the more prominent sherry grapes,” he says. “I think it tastes like dark, hot fruit — almost as if you left raisins out in the sun and they developed all those sugars. This becomes almost like a sweet, nutty, rich syrup. You can literally pour it on vanilla ice cream as a substitute for Hershey’s syrup.”

A nd here it is: t he t h ick ness I’ve been waiting for. The PX has a sticky sweetness that some drinkers will find cloying, but it also delivers flavors to revel in: hot dates, blackberries, dark honey, even chocolate and coffee.

“Sherry is meant to be consumed with food,” he reminds me. In this case, he orders a plate of duck-legs confit, drizzled with a spicy mole, to go with the PX. I throw manners out the window and tear into one, washing down the fatty duck with a sip of the sherry. The match is sublime. Does the duck taste this good without the Pedro Ximénez, I wonder? I’ll never know — this is what I’ll drink with them from now on.

By

N ata l ie G a l l a Ghe r

We could end the adventure here, but Tipton — still a bartender at heart — is eager to try a new cocktail recipe he has been thinking about. Having sherry in a cocktail is, after all, the gateway to appreciating the spirit solo.

He says, “The culture now sees bartenders delving into the classic cocktails like the sherry cobbler and going, ‘How can I take that old-school drink that no one is playing with and make it my own?’ Which is where the fun comes in.”

Tipton first prepares a traditional cobbler, pretty and simple and properly 19th century, with sherry, fruit, sugar and crushed ice. His version features a blend of Pedro Ximénez, Amontillado Napoleon and Olaroso sherries, topped with fresh blackberries and raspberries; it looks like a grown-up sno-cone. I try not to finish it in less than five minutes, as Tipton slowly talks through a drink called Sangre Swizzle, which will appear on República’s spring cocktail list.

“Blood orange is in season right now, so I did a puree with that,” he says. “I want to use Manzanilla sherry, which is another type of Fino, and yellow chartreuse for some herbal spiciness. Then I made a raspberry cordial with a little bit of rosewater, which should help give it that dark color.”

Tipton does a straw test and shakes his head. “Too sweet,” he says, pulling a face and restarting. “More sherry this time, I think.”

The second Sangre Swizzle pleases him, and he floats a pour of blood-orange puree over the cheerful pink liquid. Thick lines of red run down inside the glass, giving a sort of blood-vein effect. It looks just a little creepy, but the flavors are bright and balanced. The sherry here plays the bitter partner to the sweet cordial, and I find myself smiling at Tipton as my college Spanish comes back to me and I consider the array of imports we have tasted through today. I bid him a flush-cheeked salud and head back into the day. •

SANGRE SWIZZLE

2 ounces Barbadillo Manzanilla sherry ½ ounce Yellow Chartreuse ¾ ounce lemon juice 1 ounce house raspberry cordial (simple syrup, raspberries, rosewater, vodka) Top with Pellegrino blood orange soda Drizzle blood orange puree

Tipton: Combine sherry, Chartreuse, lemon

juice and raspberry cordial. Stir with swizzle stick or barspoon. Top with soda, float puree, garnish with mint.

19

bartender’s notebook MOrE SHErry

ON TAP THIS WEEK

Sampling some of the better gateway cocktails eagle sTreeT Doughnut Lounge

The Doughnut Lounge’s Eagle Street is a twist on a cobbler. Dominic Petrucci’s recipe uses Alvear Pedro Ximénez Solera 1927, orange juice, pineapple juice and Fernet Branca Menta (infused with cucumber). It’s served over ice in a double rocks glass, garnished with a generous sprig of mint.

C o u r t e sy o f kC b i e r C o

las raMblas

Brewery (110 E. Kansas St., Liberty), 7 p.m.

Tipton’s Las Ramblas cocktail was inspired in part by a trip he took to Barcelona, where he spent time in the city’s party district of Las Ramblas. Featuring J. Rieger & Co. whiskey, Julie Ohno’s No. 22 coffee bitters and Oloroso sherry and garnished with brandied cherries, this drink sips like a Manhattan and goes down as smooth as a smile from that handsome stranger at the end of the bar.

Summit tasting, at Hy-Vee (301 N.E. Rice Rd.,

República

ToM & harry Manifesto

The Tom & Harry is one of Manifesto’s three new hot cocktails, and the list of ingredients is rather dizzying. J. Rieger & Co. whiskey, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, egg, steamed milk, nutmeg, absinthe cream and East India Solera sherry come together here, and the results are both cheery and, if we’re being honest, totally dangerous.

banana CiTy rollers Extra Virgin

At Extra Virgin, bar manager Berto Santoro has introduced a tiki-inspired sherry cocktail. The Banana City Rollers features Plantation 3-star rum, toasted-coconut-banana gomme (a bar syrup with sugar, water and gum arabic), Alvear Cream sherry and lime juice. The whole thing is served over ice in a Collins glass and garnished with a fried plantain chip. Close your eyes, and you’re in the Caribbean.

Thursday, January 21

Second Shift tap takeover, at Bier Station (120 E. Gregory Blvd.), 5 p.m.

Crane Brewing tap takeover, at Rock & Run &

Lee’s Summit), 4-7 p.m.

Free beer with a new or gently used board game or book donation, at Double Shift Brewing Co. (412 E. 18th St.)

Crane Brewing launch party, at Tapcade (1701 McGee), 4 p.m.

sunday, January 24

Belgian beer tastings, at Grain to Glass (1611 Swift Ave., North Kansas City)

Monday, January 25

Crane Brewing beer and cheese pairing launch party, at the Foundry (424 Westport Rd.), $25 for a flight of four Crane beers paired with four cheeses, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, January 26

KC Bier Co. Doppel Alt release party, at Brew- Odell tap takeover, with Rawah Rye IPA, Pina bakers (9482 Renner Blvd., Lenexa), 5-7 p.m.

KC Bier Co. Doppel Alt release party, at MO

Brew (1403 W. 39th St.), 6-9 p.m.

Agria Pineapple Sour, Russian Pirate BarrelAged Imperial Stout, Friek and Oak Haven Whiskey Peach Ale, at Barley’s Brewhaus (16649 Midland Dr., Shawnee), 4:30 p.m.

Project Pam tapping, at Flying Saucer (101 E. Crane Brewing launch party, at Grains & Taps

13th St.), 6 p.m.

(224 S.E. Douglas, Lee’s Summit), 6 p.m.

Friday, January 22

Central States Blackout, with black and rare

Crane Brewing launch party, at Flying Saucer (101 E. 13th St.), 5 p.m.

Summit tasting, at Hy-Vee (310 S.W. Ward Rd.,

beers, including Big Boy Imperial Stout, KBS, MILF, Project Pam and more, at Martin City Brewing Co. (500 E. 135th St.)

Lee’s Summit), 4-7 p.m.

Wednesday, January 27

Shmaltz Brewing tap takoever, with Funky

Happy Gillis (549 Gillis St.), $65, 6:30 p.m.

RSVP at 816-471-3663.

Jewbelation 2016, Chanukah in Kentucky and Slingshot, at Barley’s Brewhaus (11924 W. 119th St., Overland Park), 4:30 p.m.

saTurday, January 23

Crane Brewing five-course beer dinner, at

Perennial Abraxas, at Rock & Run & Brewery (110 E. Kansas St., Liberty)

Crane Brewing beer brunch, at the Belfry (1532 Belgian Tripel tapping, at Gordon Biersch (100 Grand), 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

E. 14th St.), 5-7 p.m. Proceeds benefit Little Warrior Princesses.

pitch.com

WALDO

Music Trivia WIN CASH + PRIZES EVERY WEDNESDAY @ 10 PM TEAM & INDIVIDUAL PRIZES WEEKLY WINNER QUALIFIES FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

$250 PRIZE + VACATION PRIZE PACKAGE 7425 BROADWAY STREET KANSAS CITY, MO 64114 816-822-7525 TANNERSBARANDGRILL.COM

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

19

20 KC LIVE! PRESENTS

Authentic Chinese

KIN LIN

from Traditional to Adventurous

CHINESE RESTAURANT

$

Now serving Local Craft Beer, Asian Beer & Wine

We

Vegetarian & Vegan Available

Deliver

314 E 51 ST. Kansas City, MO

816.561.4334

March 26

10% discount on tickets Enter Code: PItchad at ticketmaster.com/voodookc J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

10 Bars

CALL PACKAGE 9PM-MI* DNIGHT $

40 Premium packTFLY.agCOMe

GET YOUR TIX & DETAILS AT TICKE

mardigraskc.com

ORDER ONLINE KinLinKCMO.com GIFT CARDS

the pitch

30 ALL-INCLUSIVE

buy your tickets at...

now available

20

The 8th Annual

pitch.com

p

21

MUSIC

FAITHFULLY

I

t took John-Alan Suter five years to arrive at his latest album, Poet at Heart, which was released in the waning days of 2015. That half-decade, he is quick to say, shouldn’t give his work extra weight. Poet at Heart is not his magnum opus; he regards it more as a debut.

Suter, who performs as Milkdrop, has had plenty of collaborative albums and EPs (nearly a dozen in the past three years), but this is the first release, he says, that is truly him. And the road to it wasn’t always clear.

Poet at Heart traces it origins back to 2010, when Sean Hunt had moved back to Lawrence from San Francisco. Hunt, who performs as rapper Approach, is the founder of Lawrence hip-hop label Datura Records — and he also happens to be a longtime friend of Suter’s.

Poet at Heart came about, Hunt says, at the perfect time.

“One of the first things that I wanted to do when I came back was Milk’s project,” Hunt says. “I hadn’t really produced an album in a long time, so it was a way to get back to the board in that respect, and Milk would handle all the lyrics.”

But, Hunt adds, there were plenty of starts and stops. Suter went through a divorce and several other life changes; Hunt had refocused on his own material. (Makeout with Violence, his first rap album in five years, was released in 2013.)

“The album [Poet at Heart] changed themes and changed sonically about three or four times,” Hunt says. “We would get going for about three or four weeks, and something would happen and we would have to stop.

But about the time I finished Makeout with Violence, we really locked in. I gave him a new

Milkdrop opens up about his latest release.

Introducing John-Alan Suter, the poet palette of music that I’d been working on and it just opened the floodgates. Suddenly, everything started falling into place.”

Hunt speaks with a purposeful cadence. We meet in the farthest back room of Java Break in Lawrence; Hunt is decked out in bright-red Chiefs gear, sipping coffee. (Suter, we have just discovered, has been stranded in Leavenworth due to the weather.)

In a way, Poet at Heart acts as a debut of sorts for Hunt, too. Under the name Aikido Bray, he’s credited as the producer or co-producer for the album’s 12 tracks; it’s the first time he’s worked as a producer on material that wasn’t wholly his own.

“Milk is a tricky artist,” Hunt says. “I’d say about six months into mixing was when I really caught on to what he was saying, because it’s complex. He’s got a unique groove to stuff, so it takes you a minute to understand what’s going on musically. I wanted to make sure the music sounds right and tone sounds right with the tracks, and it kind of took me a while to come around to everything that I was hearing.”

Hunt’s beats evoke a blend of mid-’90s R&B and sleek, slinking modern electronica; they make a smooth backdrop for Suter’s dense, compact verses. Suter’s phrasing can read like code, his themes so subversive that the stories he’s telling are never fully at the surface. Telltale clues of his vision come in song titles, such as “Bless” and “As It Is in Heaven.”

“I think a lot of people take certain things that I say as metaphors or wordplay because of how I write,” Suter says over the phone as

By

N ata l ie G a l l a Gher

Hunt conferences him in, “but a lot of the time it’s very literal. For instance, my morning now consists of everything I say in my music: I wake up, I read from the Bible, I drink coffee, I write, I sit in front of my laptop and draw up some artwork for whatever [album or release] we have coming. I’m very plain.” Suter laughs, and even his laugh sounds serious. “Right now, I’ve got house shoes on.”

Faith-inspired and mainstream music don’t often mix, but Poet at Heart is far from preachyp. Suter uses his lyrics to explore the complexity of religion, and his subtle approach is often more philosophical than anything else. (And there is certainly nothing on the album that could quality as “Christian rap.”)

But Suter is at his most effective when he is being concrete. On “Between Us,” he reflects on a conversation he imagines having with his young son. He opens with a deeper rhetorical question: What do we tell our sons when they were born to be kings/When we know now they’ll never be treated as such. Suter repeats this couplet throughout the track, and each time it sounds heavier.

“That’s the last song that I wrote for the album,” Suter says. “I wrote it on the night of the Darren Wilson verdict. I really wanted to just kind of give my perspective on that event, being that I do have a son who is biracial, so he is kind of viewed on both sides of the fence, as far as his appearance. I wanted to speak from a father’s perspective. How could I send him out into the world with the way things are currently? How do I explain to my son that there are people in this world who look [white] just like me, who look like dad, that might see him in a different way than I do?”

Later, I ask Suter how he reconciles the personal elements of his art with his real life.

What struggle, I wonder, does he have in separating John-Alan the man from Milkdrop the artist?

“The great thing about the music that Sean and I make is that there isn’t a line in between the two,” Suter says. “Milk and John are the same entity, but when I have a microphone in my hand I happen to be Milkdrop, because that’s what I call myself.” Suter pauses. “I don’t think artists give people enough credit as to what they’re able to to perceive. If I didn’t include some of the foundational pieces of who I am in the music, I think people would be able to see through that. With this record, I wanted to just give as much as I could of myself.” • Milkdrop with Approach

L A R R Y KO P I T N I K

jazz beat Brett Jackson Quartet, at Green Lady LounGe

Brett Jackson’s quartet has played occasional gigs at the Green Lady Lounge. But starting this month, it takes over the late show there each Thursday. Jackson preforms both tenor and the far less commonly heard baritone sax (occasionally f lute, too), and his rich tone flows through solos that are alternately dynamic deliciously sinuous . He’s one of the stars of the new generation of KC jazz.

With him is Chris Hazelton — leader of Green Lady staple the Boogaloo 7 — on B-3 organ, Matt Hopper on guitar and Kevin Frazee on drums. It’s the classic organ trio plus a sax as the star, playing traditional jazz with a dash of funk.

—LARRY KOPITNIK Brett Jackson Quartet, 9 p.m. Thursdays at the Green Lady Lounge (1809 Grand ), free admission.

Friday, January 22 Uptown Arts Bar

pitch.com

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

21

22

music

Music Forecast

By

n ata l ie g a l l a ghe r

MORE MUSIC tHursDAY 1.21 Duncan Hill

Jackpot Saloon & Music Hall, 943 Massachusetts, Lawrence

friDAY 1.22

Everette DeVan, Eboni Fondren

The Blue Room, 1616 E. 18th St.

Old Sound (matinee show)

Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts, Lawrence

Soul Preservers feat. Dropout Boogie The Ship, 1217 Union Ave.

Fresh to Def with Eddie Moore Tank Room, 1813 Grand

sAturDAY 1.23

Candyland, Bobby Bohn, DJ lekTrik Riot Room, 4048 Broadway

Super Thief, Big Iron, Hipshot Killer

City and Colour Monday, January 25

The Midland, 1228 Main St.

Yes You Are, HigH up, Drugs & Attics

Dallas Green begins his latest album, October’s If I Should Go Before You, with an epic nine-minute jam called “Woman.” It’s a slowburning ode to his lady, and he delivers the grandiose professions of love — Woman, my love is neverending, like a sea without a shore — amid sizzling guitar lines, creating a post-apocalyptic soundscape that only his affections can withstand. He’s basically Sade with testicles. And though If I Should Go Before You is far from a love album — Green is far too preoccupied by the great overarching theme of mortality for that — it is this initial introduction that makes a lasting impression.

Would that each of us were blessed with a partner who could write such convincing ballads in our honor.

HAlf Moon run

We’re a little bit scared of Yes You Are. This dark power-pop band arrived on the scene in 2014 seemingly fully realized — thanks, in part, to indomitable force Kianna Alarid, former lead singer of Tilly and the Wall, who commands the stage with blinding ferocity. Now, the band is working on a debut EP. Also on deck: High Up, a throwback funk-soul act from Omaha (helmed by Christine Fink, whose powerhouse singing might give Sharon Jones a run for her money), and Drugs & Attics, which finds Yes You Are bassist Willie Jordan stepping into the role of lead singer and guitarist, for a spectacular turn at gritty doo-wop rock.

In October, Half Moon Run released Sun Leads Me On, the long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s Dark Eyes. From the outset, the Montreal band seems to acknowledge the time it took to get to this album. In “Warmest Regards,” the sunshine-tinged opening track, lead singer Devon Portielje tells us, in a delicate falsetto: I wait and I wait to make a new start, a new beginning, but it feels like the end. The song sounds like a Levon Helm B-side, but Half Moon Run doesn’t really commit to straightforward Americana. The next song, “I Can’t Figure Out What’s Going On,” has the band evoking early-aughts Fleet Foxes. It’s a pretty (if not always cohesive) release, one we hope — despite Portielje’s lyrics — won’t be the last.

Friday, January 22

Monday, January 25

Riot Room 4048 Broadway

22

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

The Granada 1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence

pitch.com

WHiteY MorgAn, coDY Jinks

Admit it: You probably don’t have enough honky tonk in your life. Whitey Morgan is in Lawrence on Friday to fix that for you. The Michigan singer-songwriter is on tour with his band, the ’78s, in support of Sonic Ranch.

A good deal more twangy and country-fried than Sturgill Simpson with his crossover appeal, Morgan stays on the tried and true, whiskey-slicked dirt roads he knows well. It works for him, and Sonic Ranch sounds like instant classic country — the kind of thing you can slide between Waylon and Willie and your dad might not notice. Texas native Cody Jinks kicks things off with an acoustic set, which should give his outlaw country songs some extra weight.

Friday, January 22

The Granada 1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence

MiniBar, 3810 Broadway

Jack’s Mannequin, 10 Years in Transit

Granada, 1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence

Vigil & Thieves, Kangaroo Knife Fight, Stiff Middle Fingers, Smallwaves

Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire, Lawrence

sunDAY 1.24

Seeker, Left Behind, Great American Ghost Jackpot Saloon & Music Hall, 943 Massachusetts, Lawrence

MonDAY 1.25

Betse Ellis Birthday Bash The Brick, 1727 McGee

tuesDAY 1.26

Stalley, Steddy P., Ant Tycoon Riot Room, 4048 Broadway

Nile

Granada, 1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence

WeDnesDAY 1.27 Europe

Granada, 1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence

Josh Garrels and John Mark McMillan Uptown Theater, 3700 Broadway

23

TOMORROW HAPPENS HERE “For two weeks every year in March, Austin is transformed by an influx of knowledge-hungry, cool-hunting, experienceseeking, entertainment-pushing trendsetters.”

–The Irish Independent

Learn More: sxsw.com/KCtoSX follow us: @sxsw

T

Y

Photo By: Aaron Rogosin

SUPER SPONSORS

MAJOR MUSIC SPONSORS

MAJOR INTERACTIVE SPONSORS

pitch.com

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

23

24

SCREEN STEALERS

50% + OFF LOCAL

EATS, GOODS & LIVING

BY

E r ic mE l in

F r a n k O c k e n F e l s , F Ox B r O a d c a s t i n g c O .

.com

Your week in film, TV and beyond.

This week: The X-Files

Wednesday 1.20

BUY VINYL SELL VINYL TRADE VINYL 24

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

pitch.com

Season two of the post-WWII spy series Marvel’s Agent Carter premiered on ABC last night. Didn’t DVR it? Find it on demand today. Unlike its dreary network-TV counterpart, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Carter isn’t burdened with setting up the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which leaves Hayley Atwell to battle atomic-age threats and sexism in breezy fashion.

Thursday 1.21

On a break from making Louie, Louis C.K. co-created and produced Baskets, a bizarre comedy series, for his old pal Zach Galifianakis. The premiere is tonight on FX, so expect plenty of uncomfortable deadpan humor as Galifianakis plays the show’s namesake, Chip Baskets, a bitter, classically trained clown who’s slumming it for a rodeo.

Friday 1.22

The 2008 cult-horror movie Pontypool, adapted from a Tony Burgess novel, is now a play. John Rensenhouse stars in the Living Room Theatre’s production as a shock jock who discovers a virus that turns people into cannibalistic zombies. Directed by local musician Cody Wyoming, the show runs through January 31.

saTurday 1.23

If you’ve only seen the Quentin TarantinoRobert Rodriguez Grindhouse double feature from the comfort of your couch, you haven’t really seen it. At 9 p.m., Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet resurrects this oneof-a-kind, mid-budget exploitation tribute, giving us the opportunity to see it the way

it was meant to be seen — late at night, with a rowdy, half-drunken crowd.

sunday 1.24

Meryl Streep earned an Oscar nomination for the 1981 adult-romantic drama, The French Lieutenant’s Woman. The Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library screens the film for free at 1:30 p.m., followed by a discussion with a UMKC professor and psychoanalyst.

Also, after nine spotty seasons and two spotty movies, The X-Files returns as a six-episode miniseries on Fox. Screenland Armour shows the two-episode kickoff live at 9 tonight and Monday for free on its big screen.

Monday 1.25

Word is really starting to get out about USA Network’s paranoid-hacker drama, Mr. Robot, and Amazon’s New York-set comedy Mozart in the Jungle, especially now that both have taken home Golden Globes. Start binging them now: Mr Robot: The Complete First Season is available on Blu-ray and can be streamed on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube and Vudu. Seasons one and two of Mozart in the Jungle are streaming now on Amazon.

Tuesday 1.26

KU film professor Kevin Willmott co-wrote the urgent, gonzo satire Chi-Raq with director Spike Lee. No matter what you’ve heard about this movie — adapted from the Greek play Lysistrata and spoken mostly in hiphop-style verse — you have to see it to believe it. The Blu-ray is out today, or buy or rent a digital copy from Amazon.

Eric Melin is editor of Scene-Stealers.com.

25 continued from page 11

1515 WESTPORT RD. • 816-931-9417

Jan 20 - BoB, Jeff & norm Jan 21 - Troy allen & friends Jan 22 - flannigans righT hook Jan 23 - full CounT Jan 27 - BoB, Jeff & norm WIFI NOW AVAILABLE!

CHECK OUT THE NEW ALL DAY HAPPY HOUR

Live Mexican Music

R : C O U R T E SY O F P I Z Z A B A R L : C H R I S L E E

BOB AND JORGE JAN 23RD 2 - 4 PM

KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY POPS SERIES THURSDAY 1.21

The Magical Music of John Williams 8 p.m., Saturday, January 23 Kauffman Center, 1601 Broadway

ART PERFORMING ARTS

Special Mexican Menu

322 N. 6th Street KCK

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES PARTY

Body-Mind Entente opening reception

Kansas City Symphony Pops Series:

913.371.1103

colonialclubkck.com 8 p.m., Saturday, January 23 Pizza Bar, 1320 Grand

5-7 p.m., UMKC Gallery of Art, 5015 Holmes (Room 203)

Live MuSiC

eveRy FRiDay Night 8-12pM

7 p.m., Kauffman Center, 1601 Broadway

The Magical Music of John Williams

FRIDAY 1.22

SATURDAY 1.23

PERFORMING ARTS

Kansas City Symphony Pops Series:

8 p.m., Kauffman Center, 1601 Broadway

The Magical Music of John Williams

Jan 22 - Doghouse Daddies Jan 29 - Allied Saints Feb 5 - No Band Feb 12 - Kaopectones

CheCk out our website for food speCials & upComing band dates!

Quixotic presents Pulse

8 p.m., Star Pavilion at AmeriStar Casino, 3200 N. AmeriStar Dr.

The Blue Man Group

8 p.m., Yardley Hall at JCCC, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park

COMEDY

Bruce Bruce

8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Improv KC, 7260 N.W. 87th St.

SPORTS

Missouri Mavericks vs. Tulsa Oilers

7:05 p.m., Silverstein Eye Centers Arena, 19100 E. Valley View Pkwy., Independence

Nitro Arenacross

6 p.m., Hale Arena, 1701 American Royal Ct.

Kansas City Symphony Pops Series:

8 p.m., Kauffman Center, 1601 Broadway

PERFORMING ARTS

Best Wine Selection onStrawberry Hill

The Magical Music of John Williams

523 E. Red Bridge Rd. KCMO • Red Bridge Shopping Center •

816.942.0400 • www.theDailyLimitkc.com

EVERYDAY! (816) 461-3000

217 S Main St, Independence, MO 64050 pitch.com

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

25

L:aLex erde

26

TRAcy moRgAn

7 and 9:30 p.m., Sunday, January 24 VooDoo Lounge, Harrah’s 1 Riverboat Dr., North Kansas City

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

pitch.com

7:30 p.m., January 26 and 27 Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Rd.

Quixotic presents Pulse

4 and 8 p.m., Star Pavilion at AmeriStar Casino, 3200 N. AmeriStar Dr.

The Blue Man Group

Noon & 8 p.m., Yardley Hall at JCCC, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park

NATURE

Eagle Days at Wyandotte County Lake

9 a.m.-4 p.m., Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Library, 4051 West Dr., KCK

COMEDY

Bruce Bruce

7 and 10 p.m., Improv KC, 7260 N.W. 87th St.

AUDITIONS

America’s Got Talent

7 a.m.-7 p.m., KC Convention Center, 301 W. 13th St.

SPORTS

Missouri Mavericks vs. Tulsa Oilers

7:05 p.m., Silverstein Eye Centers Arena, 19100 E. Valley View Pkwy., Independence

Nitro Arenacross

6 p.m., Hale Arena, 1701 American Royal Ct.

Kansas vs. Texas men’s basketball

1 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse, 1651 Naismith Dr., Lawrence

Fifth Annual Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Party

8 p.m., Pizza Bar, 1320 Grand

NIGHTLIFE

26

one-man star wars trilogy

27

Sunday 1.24

PERFORMING ARTS

Party Arty: Coloring Outside the Lines

8 p.m., Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak

Moscow Festival Ballet:

2 p.m., Lied Center, 1600 Stewart Dr., Lawrence

The Sleeping Beauty

The Blue Man Group

2 and 8 p.m., Yardley Hall at JCCC, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park

NATURE

Eagle Days at Wyandotte County Lake

Noon-4 p.m., Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Library, 4051 West Dr., KCK

COMEDY

Bruce Bruce

7 p.m., Improv KC, 7260 N.W. 87th St.

Tracy Morgan

7 and 9:30 p.m., VooDoo, Harrah’s, 1 Riverboat Dr., North Kansas City

Oskar Blues presents: True Romance

7 p.m., Alamo Drafthouse, 1400 Main

Bolshoi Ballet’s The Taming of the Shrew

11:55 a.m., Town Center 20, 11701 Nall, Leawood

SPORTS

Harlem Globetrotters

2 p.m., Silverstein Eye Centers Arena, 19100 E. Valley View Pkwy., Independence

MOnday 1.25

FILM

Free Victory Screening: Jackie Brown

7 p.m., Alamo Drafthouse, 1400 Main

TueSday 1.26

PERFORMING ARTS

Patti LuPone: Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

7:30 p.m., Lied Center, 1600 Stewart Dr., Lawrence

THEATER

One-Man Star Wars Trilogy

7:30 p.m., Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Rd.

THEATER

How to Steal a Picasso

7:30 p.m., Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main

One-Man Star Wars Trilogy

7:30 p.m., Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Rd.

FILM

WedneSday 1.27

Follow us

@TheFastPitch Your Filter for Kansas City News

E-mail submissions to calendar@pitch.com or enter submissions at pitch.com, where you can search our complete listings guide.

• Voted KC’s Best Gentleman’s Club • 70 Girls • Oldest Adult Club in Missouri Full Service Kitchen • Great Place to Watch Sporting Events VIP Lounge • Cover Friday & Saturday ONLY! Premium Bottle Service

30 seconds east of the Power & Light District

2800 East 12th St. • Kansas City, MO 64127 816.231.9696 • KcShadyLady.com pitch.com

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

27

28

s ava g e l o v e

No Place for old dildos Try FREE: 816-533-0048 More Local Numbers: 1-800-926-6000

Ahora español Livelinks.com 18+

similar work ethic, we even talked about raising children), but my partner is so damn angry and full of hate. Mostly it manifests itself in racism, and I really don’t like it. He says that I “don’t understand,” like he’s gone through experiences that would justify wholesale prejudice against entire groups of people. The passing of David Bowie has accentuated these differences between us. I want to live better and brighter, to love more, but my boyfriend just keeps hating. He’s unrelentingly racist. I shouldn’t have children with him, right? Better to be 33 and alone, right? This racist stuff is a deal breaker, right? DTMF, right?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Racist Anger Gradually Ends Relationship

Dear RRR: Your question comes up frequently, RRR, and there really isn’t a satisfactory answer.

In Seattle, where I live, a community tool bank recently opened in my neighborhood— but they don’t collect and lend the kind of tools you’re looking to donate. I’ve heard about dildo graveyards in other cities (spots in parks where people bury their used sex toys), but burying sex toys isn’t environmentally responsible.

And while high-quality dildos can be cleaned and safely reused, most people are pretty squeamish about the idea. Which is odd, considering that we routinely reuse actual cocks that have been enjoyed by others — so why not the fake ones?

But even if I can’t tell you what to do with your dildos, RRR, I can tell you what not to do with them: Do not ship your used dildos to the anti-government militia currently occupying a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon. After militia members asked supporters to send them supplies — via the U.S. Postal Service — their spokesperson complained bitterly about all the dildos they were getting in the mail. So if you decide to put your used dildos in a box and send them somewhere, RRR, please make sure the address on the box doesn’t read: Bundy Militia, c/o Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 36391 Sodhouse Lane, Princeton, OR, 97721.

Dear Dan: I understand that monogamy is not something people are good at — and that’s fine. In fact, most of the people I know are in healthy poly or monogamish relationships. Here’s the thing: I’m monogamous. Not the “I’m attracted to other people but won’t act. I genuinely have ZERO desire to fuck anyone but my partner. Fantasizing about others is fun, so is looking, so is porn and role-play. There’s a world of deliciously kinky, weird and wonderful sex stuff I’d LOVE to explore.

But I want to do those things with one partner in a monogamous, intimate relationship. Here’s the kicker: I’d like my partner to feel the same way. I don’t want someone to enter into a monogamous relationship with me if in their heart/groin they’d 28

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

d a n s ava ge

Dear Dan: I am no longer sexually active, but I have a significant collection of sex toys from earlier years. I’m thinking of getting rid of most of them, and it seems such a waste for them to end up in the landfill. What’s an environmentally responsible way to dispose of dildos? I wish there was a place I could donate the dildos where they could be used again. Many of them are quality silicone types, they’ve never been used on a person without a condom, and they’ve been thoroughly cleaned. I’d be happy to donate them to impoverished dildo users in need, if only I knew where to send them.

pitch.com

Rachel Robinson

REAL PEOPLE REAL DESIRE REAL FUN.

By

Dear RAGER: Right.

Dear Dan: My best female friend is marrying her

genuinely like to fuck other people. Am I a lost cause? Surely I can’t be the only genuinely monogamous person there is? I’m 31 and still turn heads, but I worry my quest for a partner who feels as I do is impossible.

boyfriend in March and wants to go on a gay bar crawl on the night of her bachelorette party.

She says it won’t be a problem because, as a bi woman, she’s part of the LGBT community too and because gay people can get married now.

As a gay man, Dan, do you oppose bachelorette parties in gay bars?

One 4 One

Queer And Questioning

Dear O4O: You value monogamy, you want

Dear QAQ: I oppose bachelorette parties in gay bars — or anywhere else, QAQ, and I feel the exact same way about bachelor parties.

a monogamous commitment, and you want someone who feels the same. That’s great, and you have my full support. But you do acknowledge that fantasies about others can be fun, as can looking, as can porn (watching others) and role-play (pretending to be others). So while you may wanna fuck other people — hence the looking, fantasizing and role-playing — you have no desire to actually fuck other people.

If you’re having a hard time finding partners who want what you want — a monogamous commitment without the stress of maintaining the monogamous pretense/facade/fraud, i.e., pretending they don’t at least think about fucking other people — either you’re living in some sort of poly parallel universe where nonmonogamy is the default setting or you’re not giving others the same benefit of the doubt you’ve given yourself. You wanna fuck other people and you don’t seem to think that disqualifies you from making, honoring and genuinely wanting both a monogamous commitment and a monogamous sex life. (The two don’t always go hand in hand.)

If you’re breaking up with people for admitting to the same things you’ve admitted to in your question, then you’re the reason your quest to find a partner has been so frustrating.

Dear Dan: I’m 33, blah blah blah, and live in a big city. I’ve been dating an age-appropriate person for a year and a half. Everything seemed fine (great sex, common interests and hobbies,

Dear Dan: A few weeks ago, you answered a letter

from Seeks Discreet Call Service, a woman in an open marriage who was having Tinder hookups in hotel rooms while traveling for work. She was concerned about her safety and wanted to have someone check in on her, but she couldn’t tell her partner about her hookups (DADT arrangement) or her friends (she’s not out about her open marriage). She asked if there was an app that might help, and you told her there wasn’t an app for that. You were wrong! There are several apps.

PCWorld published a roundup of a few of them (“5 Personal Safety Apps That Watch Your Back,”

by Amber Bouman), and there’s an app called Kitestring (kitestring.io) that has gotten glowing reviews. The gist is that you use the app to set a timer, and when it goes off, you have to alert the app that you are OK. Otherwise, the app contacts emergency services or a predetermined contact and lets them know you are in trouble at your location. So technology does have a solution!

Technological Enhancements Can Help Dear TECH: I really blew that response — so thanks to TECH and everyone else who clued me in to Kitestring, StaySafe, Watch Over Me, bSafe, and all the other apps out there that are exactly what SDCS was looking for.

E-mail Dan at mail@savagelove.net

29

Kansas City’s

HOTTEST

NOW HIRING! GAY CHATLINE You’ve heard about the changes. Come see for yourself. Be a part our our winning team.

Wes Flamingo

TheFlamingo Club, Lawrence, KS

140 North 9th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044 • 785.843.9800

Moonlight Adult Boutique is a fun inviting environment where men, women, and couples can feel comfortable shopping for all your intimate romance needs.

816-841-1588 913-279-9212

dating.

30 minute FREE TRIAL

CHECK OUT OUR ADULT ARCADE

LOCATED AT THE SATE AVENUE LOCATION ONLY

18+

816.841.1577 913.279.9202 30 Minute

FREE Trial!

18+

LONELY

HOUSEWIVES

5053 STATES AVENUE >> KANSAS CITY, KANSAS 66102 913-283-9709 SUN-WED 9 A.M. TO MIDNIGHT ∙ THURS-SAT 9 A.M. TO 1:30 A.M. 8910 EAST US HIGHWAY 40 KANSAS CITY, MO 64129 1-816-255-3431 ALL WEEK 8 A.M. TO 3 A.M.

VDS, D 5 9 .

4 $25 SPENDT A GE ILL P E E R F

8801 EAST TRUMAN ROAD KANSAS CITY, MO 64126 1-816-214-5958 ALL WEEK 8A.M. TO MIDNIGHT

Dating made Easy A N N I V E R S A R Y

FREE

Grand Re-opening Party!

FREE TO LISTEN AND REPLY TO ADS

Saturday, January 30th 7pm-Close

Free Code: Pitch Weekly

to Listen & Reply to ads.

FREE CODE:

• Prizes & Giveaways • FREE Food • Drink Specials all night long • Don’t Forget the Sexy Ladies • No Membership Required

Pitch Weekly

Kansas City

(816) 326.9936 (913) 904.9977 For other local numbers: 18+ www.MegaMates.com

FIND REAL GAY MEN NEAR YOU

You’ve heard about the changes.

Come see for yourself.

Be a part our our winning team.

Kansas City:

(816) 326-9926 (913) 904-9974 www.megamates.com 18+

O F

NOW HIRING!

Wes Flamingo

TheFlamingo Club, Lawrence, KS

1 4 0 N O R T H 9 T H S T R E E T, L AW R E N C E , K S 6 6 0 4 4 • 7 8 5 . 8 4 3 . 9 8 0 0

pitch.com

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

29

30

Are you

INFORMED?

BUY

I for RINitGy Concerts • ff I H W C NO Kansas vent Sta

KC

Sign up for

EDITORIAL NEWSLETTER

E • vents • ketball rting E KU Bas s • Spo Ticket Takers n o ti n e • Conv • Ushers

Apply in person 4050 Pennsylvania Ste. 111 KCMO 64111

913-708-4637

www.libertytax.com

RENT HOUSE LOFT APARTMENT ROOMMATE OFFICE SPACE

Or online www.crowdsystems.com

NOW HIRING B 2 B MARKETERS WAVERS

SELL

Now HiriNg Follow on Twitter: @Phillips_Jobs Like on Facebook: Hotel Phillips Employment Opportunities Link to apply: http://bit.ly/1nMCMWa

for the following full time positions:

&

• Front Desk Supervisor • Housekeeping Supervisor • Housekeepers • Valet • Dishwasher

Classifieds

• Cook

Think Fast. Think FedEx. Interested in a fast-paced job with career advancement opportunities?

Join the FedEx® Ground team as a package handler.

$10.70-11.70/hr. to start IMMEDIATE OPENINGS

QUALIFICATIONS: 18 years or older • Must be able to load

, unload and sort packages, as well as perform other related duties All interested candidates must attend a sort observation at our facility prior to applying for the position. To schedule a sort observation go to

WatchASort.com and select a date/time to attend.

LOCATIONS:

8000 Cole Parkway, Shawnee, KS 66227 12501 NE 40th Street, Kansas City, MO 64161

action employer Minorities/Females/Disability/ Veterans committed to a diverse workforce.

30

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

pitch.com

31 2050 Restaurant/Hospitality/ Hotel

Stylish Apartments in Historic Building on W 39th

HIRING FAIR

Power & Light District Businesses will Host a Hiring Fair TUES. FEB. 2 & WED. FEB. 3 Noon - 8 PM

500 502

2034

ADULT

Adult Employment

BACCALA’ STRIP CLUB NOW HIRING DANCERS Contact Joe 7pm-3am Mon-Sat 816-808-7175

2000

EMPLOYMENT

2024 Construction/Labor THE CITY OF MISSION - PUBLIC WORKS The City of Mission, Kansas has an immediate opening for a Crew Member in the Public Works Department. Crew Members will perform in snow removal operations and various tasks that are skilled and semi-skilled, operation of various equipment in the construction, repair, maintenance and replacement of City streets, parks, ground maintenance, landscaping, storm drainage facilities and systems, as well as other duties. Ideal candidates will possess a current CDL, have considerable knowledge of methods, equipment, material and safe work practices in the public works fi eld.

Suitable candidates will possess any combination of experience and education to perform essential duties and coordinate daily work operations. Benefi ts include vacation, sick leave, health insurance and KPERS retirement plan. Applications accepted until position is filled.

SALARY RANGE: $32,053 to $35,259 Interested candidates please send resume to hr@missionks.org.

Applications should be received

by February 3rd, 2016. No phone calls please.EOE

2028 Driver/Delivery/Courier

CONTRACT DELIVERY DRIVERS

Needed for Valentines Day. Pay Per Delivery.

Use Your Own Car. Make $100-$200 Per Day. If Interested Call 816-241-6150

General

CROWD SYSTEMS

NOW HIRING

FOR KU BASKETBALL SPORTING EVENTS KANSAS CITY CONCERTS CONVENTIONS Event Staff, Ushers Ticket Takers Apply in person: 4050 Pennsylvania Ste.111 KCMO or apply online: www.crowdsystems.com

2042

Legal

$99 DIVORCE $99 Simple, Uncontested + Filing Fee. Don Davis.

816-531-1330

2046

THE GALLERY EVENT SPACE 61 E 14th St Kansas City, MO 64105 Part-time, Full-time, Hourly and Seasonal Positions.

Restaurant Management, Servers, Hosts,Sales Managers, Cooks, Dishwashers,Bartenders, Catering Staff, Cashiers, Security,Facilities, Maintenance, Parking Attendants and more!

Internships also available.

Participating Businesses ready to hire on the spot: Cosentino’s Downtown Market, One Light Luxury Apartments, Kansas City Live! Block, No Other Pub by Sporting KC, Johnny’s Tavern, Leinenkugel’s, T-Mobile, McFadden’s, The Garment District Boutique and more!

For a full list of participating businesses,visit powerandlightdistrict.com

Miscellaneous

FRIEND/ DRIVER NEEDED I am seeking a Friend/Driver to drive a single, well educated, 51 year old LADY to classes, store, errands etc. Mostly in the Northland.

Clean Driving Record.

Professional, Educated Retirees Preferred.

MUST LIVE IN THE NORTHLAND. NOT A SALARY/HOURLY PAID POSITION. Pay is per trip only!

816-876-1416 NO TEXT PLEASE

Get Paid To Wave!

Liberty Tax Service is Now Hiring

913-708-4637 libertytax.com

Trade/Vocational

3000 3002

SERVICES Adoption

ADOPTING YOUR newborn is a treasure. A life of love & security awaits. Ruby 800-477-5408, Exp.Pd.

3034

Insurance

AUTO INSURANCE STARTING @ $40 Auto & SR22, Renters, Homeowners, Motorcycle, Business

MO & KS

DeMasters Ins. LLC

816-531-1000 KCinsurance.com

4000

BUY, SELL, TRADE, MARKETPLACE Miscellaneous

Kratom

2054

Sales/Marketing

Liberty Tax Service NOW HIRING B 2 B Marketers CALL 913-708-4637 libertytax.com 2056

Salon

WAXING HAIR REMOVAL 4 GUYS & GALS! All body parts. Go to bodywax911.com for pricing & FAQs. Call 816-888-4037 for appts

2058 Security/Law Enforcement

TREVECCA SECURITY NOW HIRING Full Time & Part Time Unarmed

Security Guard Positions Gardner, Olathe & KC North Areas, Apply online at trevecca.us or in person at 8320 N. Oak Trafficway L-100 KCMO 64118

1008 Office/Commercial For Sale

THE OCEAN Corp. 10840 Rockley Road Houston, Texas 77099. Train for a New Career. *Underwater Welder. *Commercial Diver. *NDT Weld Inspector. Job Placement Assistance. Financial Aid available for those who qualify. 800-3210298.

4028

FEDEX NOW HIRING Package Handler.Starting

Pay $10.70-$11.70/hr. Immediate Openings. Overnight Shift: Tue-Sat. Midnight-3am and Sunrise Shift 3:30am-7am.

Qualifi cations: 18 years or older.

Must be able to load, unload and sort packages, as well as perform other related duties. All interested candidates must attend a sort observation at our facility prior to applying for the position. To schedule a sort observation go to www.watchasort.com and select a date/time to attend. Location: 8000 Cole Parkway, Shawnee, KS 66227.FedEx Ground employer (Minorities/Females/Disability/ Veterans)committaed to a diverse workforce.Where: 22161 West 167th St, Olathe, KS 66062

2062

Powders, liquids & capsules in stock now! Bali, Maeng Da, Green Malay, Indo White, & Borneo Red Vein. Volume discounts available. Don’t settle for the other guys’ fillers! Available at Main Street Tobacco @ 4307 Main Street 816-531-4441 AND KC Smoke & Vape @ 1605 Westport Road 816-931-4434.

KCKratom.com WANTS TO purchase minerals and other oil & gas interests. Send details to P.O. Box 13557, Denver, Co 80201

1000

REAL ESTATE

1002

1102 Apartments for Rent

1108 Duplexes/Townhouses For Rent

KS-KCKS | $475-$575 913-299-9748

DUPLEX FOR RENT COLUMBUS PARK Cute, main level, super clean,

HEAT & WATER PAID...

NO GAS BILL!KCK-

Offi ce Space for lease in West Plaza. 2nd Floor. Corner of 45th State Line The heart of the KC Startup Village. 900 square Foot. Perfect for small offi ce. Off-street parking & back deck. Affordable at $895 monthly. Includes gas and water, Jeff at 816-719-8000 Offi ce space for lease. 45th State Line. Google fiber. Inc gas/water.

Jeff at 816-719-8000

1100

HOUSING/RENTALS

25 ACRE SETTING. 63rd & ANN, 5 minutes West of I-635 & I-70 One bedroom $475; Two bedroom $575. No pets please. You CANNOT BEAT this value! Don’t miss out on this limited-time offer!

one bedroom duplex. Brand new carpet, street parking. Very established neighborhood in Columbus Park. Rail Car station and Downtown KC within walking distance. $700 a month.$700 depoist. One year lease. Kitchen appliances furnished.

Broker/owner

Call NOW! MUCH NICER THAN THE PRICE!

VALENTINE NEIGHBORHOOD

816-838-7325

$400-$850 Rent 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments & 3 Bedroom HOMES.

DUPLEX FOR RENT

816-753-5576

EAST SALEM INDEPENDENCE

Colliers International, EHO

1102 Apartments for Rent

CALL TODAY!

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE: All real estate advertised herein is subject to Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to adverise, “any preferences, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or dicriminaton.

We will not knowing accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on a equal opportunity basis.

MO MIDTOWN $515 816-560-0715 ARMOUR FLATS APARTMENTS Newly remodeled one bedroom apartment available. Great location! Next to bus stop. Gas, water and trash paid.

3 Bedroom, 1 Bath, Single Car Garage, All Appliances included, Washer/Dryer Hookups, Storage Basement, FORT OSAGE SCHOOL DIST. GOOD CREDIT ONLY 816-716-5408

1110

Roommates

ALL AREAS ROOMMATES.COM. Lonely? Bored? Broke? Find the perfect roommate to complement your personality and lifestyle at Roommates.com! (AAN CAN)

F i n d trhf ee c t p l a c e to e pe

.

T R A E H r u o y hang

Homes for Sale

ALL AREAS ALL PRICES 913-488-8300 www.FORMLS.com Short SalesForeclosures-Condos Townhomes-Single Family Homes.

New & Resale Want to see what your home is worth?

CALL NOW RE/MAX STATELINE Sharon Sigman 913-488-8300 or 913-338-8444

HOUSE • LOFT• APARTMENT • ROOM• DUPLEX

&

Classifieds pitch.com

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

the pitch

31

32 FREE BANKRUPTCY CONSULTATION • PAY M E N T P L A N AVA I L A B L E •

CROWD SYSTEMS-NOW HIRING For KU Basketball-Kansas City Concerts Sporting Events-Conventions Event Staff, Ushers, Ticket Takers

435 NICHOLS ROAD SUITE 200 K A N S A S C I T Y, M O 6 4 1 1 2 8 1 6 . 9 7 7 . 2 7 6 3 We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertisement.

HOTEL ROOMS

A-1 Motel 816-765-6300 Capital Inn 816-765-4331 6101 E. 87th St./Hillcrest Rd. HBO, Phone, Banquet Hall $39.99 Day/ $169 Week/ $499 Month + Tax

Kratom

Powders, liquids & capsules in stock now! Bali, Maeng Da, Green Malay, Indo White, & Borneo Red Vein. Volume discounts available. Don’t settle for the other guy’s fillers!

Available at Main Street Tobacco @ 4307 Main Street 816-531-4441 AND KC Smoke & Vape @ 1605 Westport Road 816-931-4434. KCKratom.com

Needed For Valentines Day. Pay Per Delivery. Use Your Own Car. Make $100-$200 Per Day. If Interested Call 816-241-6150

foldingcartstore.com

CASH FOR CARS

DUI-TRAFFIC-SPEEDING! Kansas & Missouri Reasonable rates!

Susan Bratcher 816-453-2240 www.bratcherlaw.biz

Scared? Anxious? Confused?

CONTRACT DELIVERY DRIVERS

NEED SHOES? loafers.com

EAT

Available at Main Street Tobacco @ 4307 Main Street 816-531-4441 AND KC Smoke & Vape @ 1605 Westport Road 816-931-4434. KCKratom.com Scared? Anxious? Confused?

Help Is Here!

DWI, Solicitation, Traffic,

Internet Crimes, Hit & Run, Power & Light Violations.

816-221-5900 - www.The-Law.com David Lurie Attorney

Unicorn Milk

If you could milk a unicorn, what would it taste like Try this amazing e-liquid flavor & other Cuttwood favorites Boss Reserve, Bird Brains, Mega Melons & Sugar Drizzle

Main Street Tobacco @ 4307 Main Street (43rd & Main) 816-531-4441 AND KC Smoke & Vape @ 1605 Westport Road (Just East of Stateline) 816-931-4434.

foldingcartstore.com Because you can’t carry it all.

A Streetcar Named Desire Restaurant Closing Auction!!!

2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108 Phone: 816-217-1060

AUCTION ENDS: 01/26/2016 07:15 PM CST

WWW.EQUIP-BID.COM 32

the pitch

J A N U A R Y 2 1 – 2 7, 2 0 1 6

Kratom

Powders, liquids & capsules in stock now! Bali, Maeng Da, Green Malay, Indo White, & Borneo Red Vein. Volume discounts available. Don’t settle for the other guy’s fillers!

Auto & SR22, Renters, Homeowners, Motorcycle, Business

Apply in Person: 4050 Pennsylvania Ste. 111 Or Online www.crowdsystems.com EOE

LAW OFFICE OF JENNIFER DODSON

AUTO INSURANCE STARTING @ $40

MO & KS DeMasters Ins. LLC 816-531-1000 KCinsurance.com

Because you can’t carry it all.

Help Is Here!

DWI, Solicitation, Traffic,

Internet Crimes, Hit & Run, Power & Light Violations.

816-221-5900 - www.The-Law.com David Lurie Attorney

LOCAL with Friends

Running or Not! Cash Paid Now! (913) 271-9406

HOTEL ROOMS

A-1 Motel 816-765-6300 Capital Inn 816-765-4331 6101 E. 87th St./Hillcrest Rd. HBO, Phone, Banquet Hall $39.99 Day/ $169 Week/ $499 Month + Tax

Unicorn Milk

If you could milk a unicorn, what would it taste like Try this amazing e-liquid flavor & other Cuttwood favorites Boss Reserve, Bird Brains, Mega Melons & Sugar Drizzle

Main Street Tobacco @ 4307 Main Street (43rd & Main) 816-531-4441 AND KC Smoke & Vape @ 1605 Westport Road (Just East of Stateline) 816-931-4434.

CROWD SYSTEMS-NOW HIRING

P p

For KU Basketball-Kansas City Concerts Sporting Events-Conventions Event Staff, Ushers, Ticket Takers

> Restaurants > Restaurant Guide

CASH FOR CARS Running or Not! Cash Paid Now! (913) 271-9406

AUTO INSURANCE STARTING @ $40

Auto & SR22, Renters, Homeowners, Motorcycle, Business

MO & KS DeMasters Ins. LLC 816-531-1000 KCinsurance.com

$99 DIVORCE $99

Simple, Uncontested + Filing Fee. Don Davis.

816-531-1330

HOTEL ROOMS

A-1 Motel 816-765-6300 Capital Inn 816-765-4331 6101 E. 87th St./Hillcrest Rd. HBO, Phone, Banquet Hall $39.99 Day/ $169 Week/ $499 Month + Tax

pitch.com

CONTRACT DELIVERY DRIVERS

Apply in Person: 4050 Pennsylvania Ste. 111 Or Online www.crowdsystems.com EOE

$99 DIVORCE $99

Needed For Valentines Day. Pay Per Delivery. Use Your Own Car. Make $100-$200 Per Day. If Interested Call 816-241-6150

Simple, Uncontested + Filing Fee. Don Davis.

816-531-1330

Kratom

foldingcartstore.com

Powders, liquids & capsules in stock now! Bali, Maeng Da, Green Malay, Indo White, & Borneo Red Vein. Volume discounts available. Don’t settle for the other guy’s fillers!

Available at Main Street Tobacco @ 4307 Main Street 816-531-4441 AND KC Smoke & Vape @ 1605 Westport Road 816-931-4434. KCKratom.com DUI-TRAFFIC-SPEEDING! Kansas & Missouri Reasonable rates!

Susan Bratcher 816-453-2240 www.bratcherlaw.biz

CROWD SYSTEMS-NOW HIRING For KU Basketball-Kansas City Concerts Sporting Events-Conventions Event Staff, Ushers, Ticket Takers

Apply in Person: 4050 Pennsylvania Ste. 111 Or Online www.crowdsystems.com EOE

Because you can’t carry it all.

NEED SHOES? loafers.com

CASH LOANS... ...WITH 15 MINUTE APPROVAL

WE WANT TO MAKE YOU A LOAN!!!

(816) 842-5336 LICENSED BY THE STATE OF MISSOURI

MERIT BROKERAGE 3607 BROADWAY KCMO 64111 noblefinance.net