To tread or not to tread the boards is rarely the question for devoted stage performers.
The more urgent query for such folks is, “When do I get to hit the stage?” And this weekend offers a potpourri of opportunities.
Artists will press their existential envelopes in theater, music and comedy when they tackle plays, concerts and perhaps the most daring thing of all: Standing alone onstage while trying to make people laugh.
Thank goodness for the live platform of creative tension. Where would our weekend entertainment be without it?
1. Oliver!
Consider yourself hard-hearted if you don’t root for the title street urchin of this durable Broadway musical that tells the story of a gang of kid pickpockets run by an amusingly criminal mentor in Charles Dickens’ 19th-century London. Show-stopping melodies – if the audience so decides – include Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself and I’d Do Anything. Well, you might. Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; Musical Theater Heritage, Off Center Theatre at Crown Center, 2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.; tickets: $17-$52 (ages 16 and younger free with paying adult).
2. It’s a Wonderful Life, The Musical
We’ve all seen the much-loved 1946 movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. The musical stage version only adds to the plot’s legendary ability to convey hope and bring tears of joy. Good luck not getting misty when beleaguered protagonist George Bailey discovers that for all of the seemingly impossible challenges in his life, it really is wonderful. Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; Blue Springs City Theatre, 2000 N.W. Ashton Drive, Blue Springs, Mo.; ticket: $8, $10.
3. Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo
Want to get heavy? Take two U.S. Marines and their Iraqi translator in the streets of conflict-ravaged Baghdad and add a tiger. Is it a real tiger or a metaphorical tiger – or both? With potential jeopardy at every turn, the characters struggle to understand what it all means while forging new ground for mercy and deliverance. The fanged beast, figurative or otherwise, can’t be avoided in this human riddle. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. (preview); Friday (preview) and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m.; Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main St., Kansas City, Mo.; tickets: $25 (previews), $35.
4. Chris Botti
Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti’s diverse fan base includes Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Yo-Yo Ma and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, all of whom Botti has either performed alongside or cut tracks with in the studio. Some call Botti’s music “smooth jazz,” which doesn’t do it justice. Call him a jazz-affable genre-bender. The matinee idol looks don’t hurt, either. Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Yardley Hall at Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, Kan.; remaining tickets: 913-469-4445.
5. Eric Church with Dwight Yoakam and Halestorm
The stage for Eric Church’s The Outsiders World Tour is giving fans a 360-degree look at the country music star in action. But such Church songs as Talladega, Cold One, Springsteen and Give Me Back My Home Town are what will offer an even better view of Church and his attitudinal appeal. The crowd will also be treated to a set by ace honky-tonk purveyor Dwight Yoakam, who just gets better with age and will surely play the guaranteed-to-slay, Guitars, Cadillacs. Now that’s hillbilly music! Friday, 7 p.m., Sprint Center, 1407 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.; tickets: $23-$62.50.
6. Eddie Ifft
Not everyone can say they’ve sold out the Sydney Opera House in Australia, but that’s what stand-up comic Eddie Ifft says – unless he meant to say Sydney’s house, which probably doesn’t hold that many people. But, seriously folks, Ifft is a stand-up whose successfully gigged all over the place, whether it be on the road or on TV, including appearances on Comedy Central, BET and the very snarky Chelsea Lately, which is no longer on the tube, but a credit is a credit. For the record, Ifft bills himself as “America’s Dirtiest Comedian.” And he makes fun of his name. How could he not? Thursday, 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 7:45 and 9:45 p.m.; Stanford’s Comedy Club, 7328 W. 119th St., Overland Park, Kan.; tickets: $10-$55.
7. Harland Williams
There was a time in the mid-1990s when Harland Williams just might have become the next big comedy thing in Hollywood. I said might. He popped up as a weird state trooper in Dumb & Dumber and (in an uncredited cameo) as a weird hitchhiker in There’s Something About Mary. In between, he starred in his own weird astronaut vehicle, Rocket Man, which paired him with a chimp – never a good idea. Williams still shows up in quirky, small roles on the big and small screens. But his towering forte remains standup comedy, where his cracked sense of humor can really break up an audience. Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m.; Saturday, 7 and 9:45 p.m.; Kansas City Improv, 7260 N.W. 87th St., Kansas City, Mo.; tickets: $20-$27.