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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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Arts & Culture
5:00 am
Tue June 5, 2012

Living With Bipolar Disorder Feels 'Next To Normal'

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Credit Theater League
Credit Theater League
Credit Theater League
Credit Genaro Molina
Credit Broadway World
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According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 5.7 million Americans are affected by bipolar disorder, a mental illness accompanied by moods that can swing from deep lows to dizzying highs.

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Up to Date
11:21 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Up To Date's Film Critics' 'Three To See'

From "Undefeated," one of Up to Date's indie, foreign, and doc film critics' "Three to See."
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By and and Cynthia Haines and Bob Butler

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the Memorial Day holiday weekend of June 1-3, 2012? Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.

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Film
10:29 pm
Thu May 31, 2012

Changes At AMC Entertainment; Independent, Foreign & Documentary Film Reviews

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Credit Photograph © 2011 / Music Box Films
A scene from Monsieur Lazhar, the French-Canadian film that was nominated for this year's foreign language Oscar and is on the list of independent, foreign, and documentary films reviewed on Friday's Up to Date
For Greater Glory
Credit © 2011 - Freestyle Releasing
Bernie
Marley
Credit Fox Searchlight
Sound of My Voice
Credit Wilson Webb / Sony Pictures Classics
Darling Companion
Credit Dan Lindsay & TJ Martin, The Weinstein Company
Undefeated
Credit First Position Films
First Position
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By , and and Bob Butler and Cynthia Haines

Chinese company Wanda Group's recent purchase of Kansas City-based AMC Entertainment could have an effect on the way the company runs its business here and abroad.

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Performance
5:00 am
Thu May 31, 2012

'Pete 'n' Keely' Bring Retro Chic To Quality Hill Playhouse

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Credit Larry Levinson
Credit Larry Levinson
Credit Larry Levinson
Credit Stephen Sorokoff
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After a season of musical retrospectives saluting such composers as Rodgers and Hart, and Kander and Ebb, Quality Hill Playhouse is interrupting its regular programming for the Off-Broadway musical comedy, Pete 'n' Keely.

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Up to Date
11:19 am
Fri May 25, 2012

Up To Date's Film Critics' 'Three To See'

Credit Bess Kargman / Sundance Selects
Dancer Rebecca Houseknecht in "First Position"
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By and and Cynthia Haines

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the Memorial Day holiday weekend of May 25-28, 2012? Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.

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Film
9:00 am
Fri May 25, 2012

'Undefeated' & 'First Position' Explore Challenges Of Youth

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Credit Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin
Coach Bill Courtney and player in "Undefeated"
Credit Bess Kargman
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Two new documentaries arrive in Kansas City this week that look at how a young person's capability for moxie and dedication can be advantageous in two seemingly disparate fields: high school football and ballet.

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Film Review
2:03 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

Jack Black Finesses Black Comedy In 'Bernie'

Credit Deana Newcomb
Shirley MacLaine & a hopelessly devoted Jack Black in "Bernie"
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Director Richard Linklater's terrific new film, Bernie, unleashes actor Jack Black from his Kung Fu Panda pajamas only to find -  lest we'd forgotten - that he's a really good actor.

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Up to Date
9:59 am
Fri May 18, 2012

Up To Date's Film Critics' 'Three To See'

"Jiro Dreams of Sushi," a documentary about 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his business in the basement of a Tokyo office building, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.
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By and and Cynthia Haines

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of May 18-20, 2012? Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.

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Performance
5:00 am
Thu May 17, 2012

Broadway Actress' Route To 'Everyday Rapture'

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Credit Joan Marcus
Sherie Rene Scott in "Everyday Rapture" on Broadway
Credit Cynthia Levin / Courtesy of Unicorn Theatre
Katie Gilchrist as Sherie Rene Scott in "Everyday Rapture"
Credit Cynthia Levin / Courtesy of Unicorn Theatre
Jeremy Watson accompanies Katie Gilchrist in "Everyday Rapture"
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This week's opening of the musical Everyday Rapture at the Unicorn Theatre marks the first time it has been staged anywhere outside New York City. 

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Up to Date
11:42 am
Fri May 11, 2012

Up To Date's Film Critics' 'Three To See'

"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" - one of Up to Date's Film Critics' "Three to See"
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By and and Cynthia Haines and Robert Butler

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of May 11-13, 2012? Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.

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Up to Date
7:53 am
Fri May 11, 2012

Independent, Foreign & Documentary Film Reviews

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By , and and Cynthia Haines and Robert Butler

An ensemble of some of England’s finest actors, a satire on contemporary American culture, the latest from the unique mind of filmmaker Guy Maddin, the relationship between the newly elected Pope …and his therapist.

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Film Review
8:14 am
Thu May 10, 2012

A Pleasant Stay At 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'

Judi Dench on passage to India in "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"
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On the heels of Downton Abbey, the National Theatre of London's HD broadcasts at the Tivoli, and Adele, it seems everything British is hot again.

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Up to Date
11:44 am
Fri May 4, 2012

Up To Date's Film Critics' "Three To See"

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By and and Cynthia Haines

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of May 4-6, 2012? Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.You can click on the highlighted links for Steve Walker's film reviews.

Cynthia Haines: A Separation, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, We Need to Talk About Kevin

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Film
11:08 am
Thu May 3, 2012

'We Have a Pope' - But Not Just Yet

Nanni Moretti in session with Michel Piccoli's reluctant Pope
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Nanni Moretti's new film We Have a Pope opens inside the Vatican, where Catholic church officials from all corners of the globe are gathered to select a new pope. At first, the proceeding is solemn and serious, as one imagines such an event would be.

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Up to Date
11:00 am
Fri April 27, 2012

Up To Date's Film Critics' 'Three To See'

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By and and Cynthia Haines

Looking for a great independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of April 27-29, 2012? Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.

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