Kansas City’s downtown is suddenly a showstopper in the performing arts.
By Michael Humphrey

Not long ago, Kansas City’s downtown performing arts scene had all the pep of a requiem Mass. Venues were beautiful but old, and there wasn’t much to do before or after the show. In fact, there were nights when the best concert downtown depended on how well the crickets could harmonize.

However, those days are over. From September through June, the chance to see high-quality professional performances in Kansas City on any given day is nearly guaranteed.

“Kansas City is becoming a serious option for arts lovers,” says William Prenevost, managing director of the Kansas City Repertory Theater, which just opened its Copaken Stage in the heart of downtown Kansas City. “And it’s happening where it should happen–right in the city center.”

Above: The Kansas City Ballet, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2008, presents a blend of contemporary and classical dance performances during the year. Kansas City Ballet photo In Title: The new Kansas City Repertory Theatre adjoins the H&R Block World Headquarters in the center of downtown. Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association photo

World-class performers

It’s not that performing arts are new to Kansas City. Legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti made his U.S. debut in Kansas City. So did violinist Itzhak Perlman. Those premiers came courtesy of the Harriman-Jewell Series, which has brought established and future superstars in music and dance to Kansas City audiences for 43 years.

The 2008 schedule includes the famous–such as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis and the David Parsons Dance Company–and names you might know well 10 years from now–Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter and the experimental dance troupe Diavolo. Performances are held at the Music Hall and Folly Theater.

“These artists are not necessarily hitting every town in the Midwest,” says Clark Morris, executive director of the Harriman-Jewell Series. “Often we may be the stop between the east coast and west coast. When they do appear here, it makes it a wonderful time to come to Kansas City.”

If Broadway is more your style, Broadway Across America plucks several shows straight out of New York and sets them in the historic Music Hall. Remaining shows this season include The Wedding Singer, Twelve Angry Men and Wicked.

Local crescendo

But touring groups can’t sustain a city’s reputation for the arts. The local symphony, ballet, opera and professional theater must keep the beat going throughout the year.

They are “this community’s home team,” says Frank Byrne, executive director of the Kansas City Symphony. And no local arts company has experienced a more rapid rise in prestige over the past two years than the symphony. It’s not difficult to spot the reason: music director Michael Stern.

If the Stern name sounds familiar to lovers of classical music, it should. Michael’s father, Isaac Stern, was considered one of the great violinists of the 20th century.

“With Michael Stern, a lot of things are possible,” Byrne says. “We are experiencing tremendous artistic growth with him.”

And what’s so exciting about the symphony ascending, Byrne says, is it naturally lifts two other companies that depend on the orchestra for its music, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Kansas City Ballet, both of which are celebrating 50-year anniversaries this season.

The Kansas City Ballet is not acting its age. Director William Whitener goes for a blend of contemporary and classical dance that, as the New York Times put it, “gives ballet purists the heebie-jeebies.” For the non-purists, the feeling can be more like adrenaline.

The Lyric Opera is also celebrating by blending old and new. In March, the opera will perform Mozart’s The Magic Flute, followed by the world premier of Kirke Mechem’s John Brown, depicting the fiery abolitionist’s time in Kansas.

Prenevost says the KC Rep Theater, which is based at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Spencer Theater, is also deliberately pushing itself to the next level of excellence, by offering unexpected plays such as Gee’s Bend, that blends quilting and Gospel music to tell a moving story.

“Our goal is to become a top tier regional theater,” Prenevost says. “And we knew that part of that equation was getting a stage like this one.”

In with the new and the old

So the Rep’s Copaken Stage gets the first bow among new venues. And rather than setting down its own footprint on the edge of downtown, the Rep was able to strike a deal to be inside the new H&R Block World Headquarters building, placing it squarely in the middle of the boom. In return, H&R Block uses the theater for training and major meetings during the daytime.

That arrangement and the subsequent design make the 320-seat proscenium theater feel a little corporate. But on the other hand, you won’t find more comfortable theater seats.

And while the Rep basks in the glow of its new venue, construction is underway on what all of the major arts organization leaders say will be a crown jewel in Kansas City–the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, located at 16th and Broadway.

The Moshe Safdie-designed center will house a 1,600-seat concert hall, with acoustics designed by Yasuhisa Toyota, now famous for his design in Los Angeles’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. It will also house a 1,800-seat theater for opera, ballet and theater and a 400-seat auditorium for smaller events. The center is scheduled to open in 2009.

“Kauffman will have a similar impact that the new Nelson-Atkins addition had on visual arts in Kansas City,” says Morris. “It places us among the elite of regional performing arts centers.”

But Kansas City arts leaders say they won’t forget its treasured historic theaters, which host both local and national acts. The Folly Theater, the Lyric Theater, the Midland Theater and the Music Hall provide a glimpse of the elegant past of Kansas City’s culture.

From footlights to city nights

Every arts lover knows the night doesn’t begin and end in the theater.

“Your dining, your parking, your experience on the sidewalk, your experience of the lobby, all of those things affect the enjoyment of the show,” Morris says. “Now, Kansas City can offer a seamless experience.”

Just like the venues, the new options are creating the most buzz. The Power & Light district, which opens this spring, offers nine square blocks of entertainment, bars, a gourmet supermarket, as well as restaurants ranging from The Bristol Seafood Grill to Famous Dave’s Barbeque. It will connect the convention center to the west with the new Sprint Center to the east.

Of course, the best way to explore the renaissance is to stay in the middle of it. Three historic hotels–the President, Hotel Phillips (AAA four Diamond) and the Muehlebach provide elegance and great proximity.

A short walk to the Crossroads district in southern downtown (18th to 20th streets) not only puts visitors in the visual arts district, but also among some of the city’s best restaurants. James Beard Award-winner Michael Smith recently opened his restaurant that bears his name on the corner of 19th and Main. A few steps away, the AAA three Diamond 1924 Main–the restaurant’s name and address–promises a classic prix fixe bistro with a great wine selection.

“You can’t expect people to enjoy themselves fully without options like these,” Prenevost says. “We provide great artistry, and now this vibrant downtown can take care of the rest.”

Michael Humphrey is a new contributor from Kansas City, Mo.