Jive Talkin’

The ’70s might seem a dubious decade to people whose only sense of the era comes from photographs and film footage of aggressively ugly fashions and garishly funky soundtracks. The musical playing at the American Heartland Theatre (2450 Grand, 816-842-9999), 8-Track: The Sounds of the ’70s, knowingly acknowledges that tackiness while paying loving homage to one of American music’s most soulful periods. The show’s four-vocalist cast performs Marvin Gaye and Barry White selections as well as the disco grooves that served as the fertile crescent for the hip-hop movement. On the other side of the soul spectrum, 8-Track creator Rick Seeber once directed a production called A Brief History of White Music, so he knows his Barry Manilow and Carpenters. Tickets cost $17 to $32.50. The show runs Tuesdays through Sundays until August 12; see ahtkc.com for times.