Arts & Entertainment

Night & Day Events

Week of September 27, 2001

By Gina Kaufmann 

27 Thursday
About this time of year, the butterflies that have been hanging out in our region for what seems like only a little while decide to relocate. It's so predictable: Every year they choose Mexico as their migration spot. Tonight at 7, Dr. O.R. Taylor, professor of entomology at KU, explains the role of citizen scientists -- people who help scientists track millions of monarch butterflies on their pilgrimage south. He also discusses how the information they gather aids in conservation efforts. This wildlife seminar, King of the Monarchs, is held at the Kansas City Zoological Park, 6700 Zoo Drive. Tickets cost $10 a person. For more information, call 816-513-5700.

28 Friday
Tonight, Lee's Summit Community Theatre performs Laughter on the 23rd Floor, a play based loosely on Neil Simon's experiences working on "Your Show of Shows," the weekly program that aired live on Saturdays in the 1950s. Laughter on the 23rd Floor, a somewhat nostalgic retrospective of television's heyday, is full of one-liners and silly situations involving a hypochondriac who dreams of having a virus named after him, a Russian immigrant trying to learn to pronounce the letter F and a guy in a beret. In spite of the play's comedic nature, the story of the struggle to keep good television alive in the face of McCarthyism and the growing popularity of insipid happy-family scenarios is actually serious and thoughtful. The show starts at 8 p.m. at the Summit Inn and Suites, 50 Highway and Chipman Road in Lee's Summit. Tickets cost $25. For more information, call 816-968-9737.

29 Saturday
A new adult writing class has started at the Lackman Library, 15345 87th Street Parkway in Lenexa. One Thousand Stories, taught by UMKC professor Mike Humphrey, teaches older adults how to write well-crafted stories based on events from their lives. Humphrey is compiling stories by older Kansas Citians on a Web site, www.kcstories.com. He's working on gathering memories of Pearl Harbor and John F. Kennedy's assassination in the hope that more experienced members of our community might have insights we can use as a reference in confusing times. Today is the last chance to join this six-week course, which began last week. The group meets at 1 p.m. For more information, call 913-495-7543.

When most of us think of concerts planned at the last minute, we think of small-time gigs put together by fledgling performers who are still trying to figure out what they're doing. However, though planning for tonight's rare concert of Indian classical music began just a week ago, three renowned Indian musicians, all of whom are second-generation performers trained by their equally famous parents, are scheduled to perform. Rakesh Chaurasia plays the bamboo flute, Rahul Sharma plays the santoor (a hundred-stringed lute) and Shaffat Ahmed Khan plays the tabla (an Indian drum). These musicians don't tour together, and the trio has no name -- and no need for one, since the musicians don't record together or compose their own repertoire. But tonight, they're coming together to perform ragaas, classical Indian songs that have been played for generations. The show takes place at Blue Valley Northwest, 13260 Switzer in Overland Park (the location is the only evidence of the concert's last-minute planning) beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $15 to $35, and proceeds go to relief efforts in New York City. For more information, call 913-345-0514.

30 Sunday
Last year, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (4420 Warwick Boulevard) held a silent film series called "Before They Could Talk." Among the films from the golden age of silent cinema was 1929's Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks. It must have been well received, because festival coordinators have decided to show the same movie this year in what they're calling an "encore performance." Brooks plays Lulu, a seductress whose mystique wreaks utter havoc. The problem is that she's really good at inspiring temptation and getting what she wants, but the objects of her wanton affections rarely escape unscathed. Scratch that. They never escape unscathed. In fact, they generally end up dead. That's just how melodramas go; it's not Lulu's fault. The Gillham Park Orchtet will accompany the film, playing an original score composed by Jeffrey Ruckma, also known for his work with experimental musicians in the Terrestrial Consort. The screening begins at 2 p.m. For more information, call 816-753-5784.

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