Opera Review: Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s Roméo et Juliette at Muriel Kauffman Theatre

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The last vestiges of skepticism left my mind during the fourth act of Charles Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” on Sunday, March 17. Only then was I willing to acknowledge that I was taking in a very good production. 

Even from my $39 seat in the back row of Muriel Kauffman Theatre I was moved by the chemistry between Ben Bliss and Andriana Chuchman. Most of the voices successfully traversed the vast space between the stage and my remote location. 

Compelling visuals were complemented by conspicuous direction that allowed me to track the action without opera glasses. And The Kansas City Symphony sounded more than serviceable.

I’ve misspent my time and money on a few disappointing nights with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. It may not have been particularly fashionable or fresh, but the production of “Roméo et Juliette” was grand opera done right.

Concert Review: Nickel Creek at Muriel Kauffman Theatre

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Nickel Creek didn’t make much of an impression when I heard the progressive bluegrass band perform in 2001.  Twenty-two years later, I witnessed Nickel Creek for just the second time at Muriel Kauffman Theatre on June 13.  I was astounded.

While I’d taken in individual appearances by Chris Thile, Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins in various configurations during the intervening years, discovering the band had matured into a live powerhouse was a wonderful surprise.

Following Gaby Moreno’s engaging solo set, Nickel Creek offered a thorough career survey.  Supplemented by bassist Jeff Picker, Thile and the Watkins siblings showcased their innovations.

The technical mastery of the quartet was underscored by the best sound field I’ve encountered in the occasionally tinny opera hall.  More significantly, the skepticism I had for Nickel Creek’s increasingly knotty songcraft evaporated.

Seated amid a cluster of superfans in a comped seat amid the capacity audience of 1,800 prior to the show, I tried not to roll my eyes at the anticipatory euphoria.  It turns out the devotion was deserved.  I’m looking forward to my third Nickel Creek concert in 2045.

Kansas City's Ten Best Music Venues

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Uninformed trash talk in the comment section of a radio station’s social media post about a local music venue irritated me last week.  While I’m not free of bias, my longtime patronage of performances ranging from rap to opera makes me uniquely qualified to assess Kansas City’s live music landscape.  Additional commendable spaces would obviously be included on an expanded list.  The primary genres associated with each establishment are in parentheses.

1. Knuckleheads

Improbably transforming from a motorcycle repair shop into a sprawling music complex with four stages, Knuckleheads is the authentic roadhouse the House of Blues franchise pretends to be.  (Blues, country, oldies.)

2. Green Lady Lounge

Kansas City’s most popular presenter of jazz features more than 70 hours of live music every week.  The adjacent Black Dolphin and Orion Room supplement the primary stage.  (Jazz.)

3. The Ship

The bohemian West Bottom establishment renowned for good vibes just added a larger stage to an upscale annex.  (Soul, country, jazz.)

4. Starlight Theatre

Kansas City doesn’t possess the natural splendor of cities like Denver and San Francisco, but the expansive al fresco amphitheater in Swope Park is very pretty.  (Musicals and popular touring acts.)

5. recordBar

Every big city has a go-to rock club.  An excellent sound system and loyal staff help make the downtown venue Kansas City’s top intimate room for touring bands and local rock-and-rollers.  (Rock, hip-hop, pop.)

6. The Folly Theater

The absence of a Kansas City landmark on this list isn’t an oversight.  Cowtown’s arts scene has its own version of the fable about the unclothed emperor.  The Folly Theater has substantially better acoustics than the two halls of the more prestigious performing arts center.  (Classical, jazz, oldies.)

7. Westport Coffee House

The theater below the coffee shop is Kansas City’s finest listening room.  There’s no need to go hungry or thirsty as music is played.  Burgers and drinks are available in the adjacent tavern.  (Jazz, poetry comedy.)

8. The Blue Room

On its best nights, the venue operated by the American Jazz Museum offers the sounds and ambience that travelers from Europe and Asia hope to experience while visiting Kansas City.  (Jazz, soul, blues.)

9. BB's Lawnside Blues & BBQ

The authentic Kansas City- not the splashy metropolis depicted by tourism bureaus- is exemplified by the earthy roadhouse serving up savory barbecue and beer-soaked blues.  (Blues.)

10. The Black Box

The flexible indoor/outdoor space in the West Bottoms is a relative newcomer to Kansas City’s live music scene.  (Rock, hip-hop, jazz.)

Concert Review: The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s "Tosca" at Muriel Kauffman Theatre

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I didn’t know what to make of the lovely family seated near me in the cheap seats of Kansas City’s splashy opera house on Friday, May 7.  After witnessing scenes of torture, attempted rape, murder and suicide in Giacomo Puccini’s provocatively melodramatic 1900 opera “Tosca,” two perfectly behaved little girls in matching dresses and their doting parents walked out of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts as if they’d just taken in a showing of Disney on Ice.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production rattled me.  “Tosca” was the first professional opera I’d experienced in-person since 2019.  As documented extensively at this site, I came to opera late in life.  I immersed myself in the form during the pandemic.  When I finish watching the Hungarian State Opera’s mesmerizing new four-hour rendering of Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal,” I’ll have taken in 303 online operas in the past two years.

The initiative altered my expectations. Having seen Luciano Pavarotti play the ill-fated painter Mario Cavaradossiin in two filmed productions of “Tosca,” my standards are now unreasonably high. Only Marina Costa-Jackson’s turn in the title role didn’t disappoint me last night. Other positives: the Kansas City Symphony was electrifying, the lighting was excellent and the informal banter among patrons in the peanut gallery was refreshing.