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Steve Walker

Arts Reporter

Since 1998, Steve Walker has contributed stories and interviews about theater, visual arts, and music as an arts reporter at KCUR. He's also one Up to Date's regular trio of critics who discuss the latest in art, independent and documentary films playing on area screens. 

In addition, Walker has taught creative writing and film criticism classes at the Kansas City Art Institute and currently teaches at the University of Kansas. His writing has appeared nationally in The Sondheim Review, The Advocate and Theater Week, and locally in The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Business Journal, Ingram's, The Pitch and Review.

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Up to Date
10:14 am
Fri November 2, 2012

Up To Date's Indie, Foreign & Doc Critics' 'Three To See' Nov. 2-4, 2012

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Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of November 2-4, 2012?

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Up to Date
1:00 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

Up To Date's Indie, Foreign & Documentary Critics' 'Three To See' October 26-28, 2012

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Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of October 26-28, 2012?

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Performance
9:04 am
Tue October 23, 2012

'Irma Vep' A Show Dependent On Clothes Encounters

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Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
In rehearsal, Mark Robbins, as Lady Enid Hillcrest, gives a disapproving look as Ron Megee, playing Jane Twisden, pours herself another hot toddy.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Mark Robbins, as Lady Enid Hillcrest, listens intently as Ron Megee, portraying Jane Twisden, regales her with stories of life on the haunted estate.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Portraying Lady Enid Hillcrest, Mark Robbins shudders upon hearing of werewolves.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Dresser Kyle Mowry, steps in to help Ron Megee make his transformation into the Egyptologist Lord Edgar Hillcrest.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Dresser Marianne Rowse waits in the wings while Mark Robbins, as Alcazar, and Ron Megee, as Lord Edgar, discover an Egyptian tomb.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Ron Megee (at left) takes a note on his character, Lord Edgar, with Director Tom Aulino in between rehearsing scenes.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Dressers Kyle Mowry and Marianne Rowse watch the action on stage from the wings.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Ron Megee, as Lord Edgar Hillcrest, is astonished to discover the undisturbed sarcophagus of an Egyptian mummy.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Alcazar played by Mark Robbins and Lord Edgar, played by Ron Megee read the secret formula to revive the princess.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Dressers Kyle Mowry and Marianne Rowse await a costume change.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Waiting for his cue to go on stage, Mark Robbins is dressed as Pev Amri, the beautiful mummy.
Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Mark Robbins transformed into Pev Amri, the beautiful mummy.
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The Kansas City Repertory Theatre's latest production, The Mystery of Irma Vep, features eight characters of both sexes, including the Lord and Lady Hillcrest, their maid and butler, and a couple of surprise visitors.

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Up to Date
11:38 am
Fri October 19, 2012

Up To Date's Film Critics' 'Three To See' October 19-21, 2012

Credit redesignrevolution.com
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By and and Cynthia Haines

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of October 19-21, 2012? Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.

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Film
6:00 am
Thu October 18, 2012

Coming Of Age With Scars In 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'

Credit Courtesy of npr.org
Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller comprise a trio with "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
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Like any writers worth their salt, Stephen Chbosky channeled the best and worst episodes of his youth into a book called The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

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Up to Date
11:22 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Up To Date's Film Critics' 'Three To See' October 12-14, 2012

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By and and Cynthia Haines

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of October 12-14, 2012?

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Film
6:00 am
Fri October 12, 2012

In 'Samsara,' A Planet And Its People As They Live And Breathe

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Credit Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories
Native dancers captured in "Samsara"
Credit Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories
Training exercise at a martial arts academy in "Samsara"
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The visual spectacle of the wordless documentary Samsara is the result of five years of filming in twenty-five countries on five continents.

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Performance
5:00 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Political Theater Gets Loud In 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson'

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Credit Cynthia Levin / Unicorn Theatre
Shea Coffman and Katie Karel in "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson."
Credit Cynthia Levin / Unicorn Theatre
Andrew Jackson (Shea Coffman) in command in "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson."
Credit Cynthia Levin / Unicorn Theatre
Cast of "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" doing "I'm So That Guy."
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If there's not enough political theater in the run-up to the November elections, the Unicorn Theatre is offering a bit more with its production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, the emo rock musical biography of America's seventh President. 

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Up to Date
10:28 am
Fri October 5, 2012

Up To Date's Indie, Foreign & Documentary Critics' 'Three To See' October 5-7, 2012

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By and and Cynthia Haines

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of October 5-7, 2012?

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Film
4:49 am
Wed October 3, 2012

Silences Broken, Secrets Revealed At Kansas International Film Festival

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Credit hollywoodreporter.com
Kori Cioca, one of the brave young women whose military careers were shattered by sexual assault in "The Invisible War."
Credit examiner.com
Maimed by a land mine, an Asian elephant is fitted with a prosthetic leg in "The Eyes of Thailand."
Credit thesouthern.com
"Between Two Rivers" documents the rise and steep plummet of Cairo, Illinois.
Credit Courtesy Kansas International Film Festival
A Bulgarian cinematographer is mistakenly believed to be a spy in "Voice Over."
Credit Courtesy Kansas International Film Festival
"Small Creatures" looks at life as a teenage thug in contemporary Scotland.
Credit Courtesy Kansas International Film Festival
NPR reporter Steve Lickteig's family secrets are unearthed in the documentary "Open Secret."
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Good documentaries are like prize-winning journalism in their ability to wage war on toxic secrets.

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Up to Date
11:44 am
Fri September 28, 2012

Up To Date's Indie, Foreign & Documentary Critics' 'Three To See'

Credit Carole Bethuel / Cohen Media Group
An image from director Benoît Jacquot's version of Marie Antoinette's last days in Versailles in "The Queen of Versailles"
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By and and Cynthia Haines and Bob Butler

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of September 28-30, 2012? Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.

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Up To Date
10:06 am
Fri September 21, 2012

Up To Date's Indie, Foreign & Documentary Critics' 'Three To See'

Credit brkly
Wayne White is the artist featured in the documentary, "Beauty is Embarrassing".
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By and and Cynthia Haines

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of September 21-23, 2012? Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.

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Film
4:55 am
Fri September 21, 2012

Documentary Explores Why Artist Thinks 'Beauty Is Embarrassing'

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Credit missionmission.org
A "word painting" by Wayne White mixing phraseology and thrift store art.
Credit classtire.com
Artist Wayne White, star of "Beauty is Embarrassing" at Screenland Crown Center
Credit fastcocreate.com
Pee-Herman and artist Wayne White in the early days of "Pee-Wee's Playhouse"
Credit cmybacon.com
A Wayne White "word painting" asks "DUDEORCHICK?"
Credit sfgate.com
Wayne White puppet of L.B.J. in "Beauty is Embarrassing"
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 Wayne White may be the most amusing and prolific artist you’ve never heard of. 

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Film
5:15 am
Thu September 20, 2012

A Feral Joaquin Phoenix Elevates 'The Master' Into Brilliant Cinema

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Credit The Weinstein Company
Joaquin Phoenix gives an Oscar-worthy performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master"
Credit The Weinstein Company
Philip Seymour Hoffman as the cultish Lancaster Dodd in "The Master"
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On the evidence of Phoenix’s literally bruising performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s brilliantly directed yet schematically vague The Master, audiences will be wondering if the actor is okay, both physically and psychologically.

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Performance
5:00 am
Thu September 20, 2012

Kansas City Rep Brings 'Pippin' Into The 21st Century

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Credit Don Ipock / Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Kansas City cast members (in front, l to r): Katie Kalakura and Katie Gilchrist with Tony nominee Mary Testa and Claybourne Elder in KC Rep's "Pippin."
Credit Don Ipock / Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Cast of Kansas City Rep's "Pippin" rock out the Spencer Theatre.
Credit Don Ipock / Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Claybourne Elder (in white t-shirt) as "Pippin" at KC Rep.
Credit Don Ipock / Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Wallace Smith in the "Pippin" role that made Ben Vereen famous.
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The journey of a young prince is the subject of the musical Pippin, which opens the Kansas City Repertory Theatre's 48th season this week.

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