Theater

An Evening of Three One-Act Plays The event: the Kansas City Actors Theatre, our best new theater company, lays claim to the Off-Center Theatre, Kansas City's brand-new stage space in what used to be the movie house in Crown Center. True to its nature, the KCAT mounts challenging art just up the stairs from the Crayola Café. The program: Julie Marie Taylor and Cynthia Rider in twin monologues sliced from Alan Bennett's Talking Heads; and Jim Birdsall as the hard-drinking lout in Krapp's Last Tape, a bitter, spiky pill from Samuel Beckett. David Fritts directs. Through Jan. 27 at the Off-Center Theatre on level three of Crown Center level, 2450 Grand, 816-235-6222. (Alan Scherstuhl)

Monkeys With Hand Grenades The paradox of Comedy City's long-running sketch show Monkeys With Hand Grenades: Although it's the only show in which Comedy City's seasoned, talented performers even bother with a script, it is by far the venue's least predictable evening of comedy. Thanks to a cast of writers and wildly variable styles and subjects, it's hard to gauge how any Monkey show will go. Two factors make this month's performance especially promising. First, it's the "Best of 2007" show, meaning all the sketches are proven to work. Second, it's the final appearance of longtime Monkey Pete Calderone, a funny man whose scripts have often delivered the troupe's sharpest bites. Reservations are recommended. Jan. 19, at Comedy City, 300 Charlotte, 816-842-2744. (Alan Scherstuhl)

The Unsyncable Spencer Brown A performer as gifted as his puns are bad, Spencer Brown is a glammy whirlwind of musical theater. His funny, frivolous Bar Natasha cabarets are full-on events; each time out, he ups the ante (and the hemlines) precipitously. Monday night, this consummate diva takes on his most daring role to date: a man ready to ditch the show tunes for the balls-out rock songs that have long enlivened his repertoire. (Anyone who caught him burning down "Live and Let Die" at Late Night or previous cabarets knows he's as good an Axl as he is an Ethel.) The good news: He's backed by a full band. The bad news: He's promising a little more Meat Loaf than we're really comfortable with. Jan. 21 at Bar Natasha, 1911 Main, 816-472-5300. (Alan Scherstuhl)