Sunday is Valentine’s Day, the great validator of lovingly bestowed flowers and candy, as well as hugs and kisses that hopefully go with them.
If you have a special someone, good for you. If not, that opens up other opportunities, doesn’t it?
Whatever your romantic status, follow your heart this weekend. You never quite know where it will take you. Or who might join you on the way.
1. Dancing with the Kansas City Stars Sweetheart Dance
You’ve got to have heart – and nerve – to dance in front of a paying audience when hoofing isn’t your chosen profession. That’s exactly what a group of notable Kansas Citians, including TITLE Boxing Club COO Danny Campbell, will demonstrate when they hit the dance floor to raise scholarship money for economically limited college-prep students attending Cristo Rey Kansas City. Serving as a preview of the 10th annual Dancing with the Kansas City Stars fundraiser on March 5 at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, the Sweetheart Dance will also offer a pro show and a group dance lesson – feel free to bring both left feet!
Friday, 6:30 p.m.; Allegro Ballroom Events Space, 7105 W. 105th St., Overland Park, Kan.; admission: $10.
2. Tie the Knot at the City Market
Weddings are beautiful as an unambiguous expression of love and commitment between two people. It’s what can happen afterward that scares some folks. Get in on the positive vibes while dearests are still the apples of each other’s eyes at the City Market’s annual Tie the Knot multiple marriage event. As many as 12 couples will be wed from 3 to 6 p.m. on Valentine’s Day – that’s a pair of honeybunches getting hitched every 15 minutes. Although seats are reserved for family and friends, just being near so many nuptials can be a thrill. Oh, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy – wait, one more – happy day!
Sunday, 3-6 p.m.; City Market, 20 E. Fifth Street, Kansas City, Mo.
3. Amy Grant with the Kansas City Symphony
It’s easy to give your heart to Amy Grant. Once the young darling of the contemporary Christian music scene, Grant took her sweet-and-simple vocal talent and combined it with an endearing stage presence to fashion a prosperous pop music career. Even today, she seems like a gal you’d be proud to take home to mom and dad – if she weren’t married to country singer Vince Gill. Expect the six-time Grammy winner to hit all the right notes in this Kansas City Symphony pops concert, especially with such Valentine friendly chart-toppers as “Every Heartbeat” and “That’s What Love Is For.”
Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.; Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo.; tickets: $40-$90.
4. ‘13’
An exceptional cast of local teenagers propels Kansas City’s first professional production of the Broadway musical, “13,” presented by Spinning Tree Theatre. The coming-of-age show delivers lots of peppy singing and dancing as it details the challenges of a nearly 13-year-old boy who moves from New York City to a small Midwestern town. Beyond that culture shock, our protagonist must deal with the divorce of his parents, the stress surrounding his upcoming Bar Mitzvah and the inevitable onslaught of the whole adolescent boy/girl thing. Ah, to be a mixed-up kid again. Ow, my heart hurts. The show is rated – what else? – PG-13.
Thursday, 7:30 p.m. (preview); Friday, 8 p.m. (preview); Saturday, 8 p.m. (opening night with reception); Sunday, 2 p.m.; Just Off Broadway Theatre, 3051 Central St., Kansas City, Mo.; tickets: $30, $45.
Still love your hot rod? Or is it time to dump it and get one that’s more your speed? Yeah, it happens. To break things off quickly and find something new – or at least fantasize about it – there’s the 56th annual World of Wheels, featuring “America’s finest hot rods, customs, trucks & motorcycles.” If any further inspiration is needed, from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday you can visit with celebrity guest Catherine Bach, a.k.a. “Daisy Duke” on “The Dukes of Hazzard.” You cad. And on Valentine’s Day weekend, too.
Friday, 3-10 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Kansas City Convention Center, 301 W. 13th St., Kansas City, Mo.; tickets: $18, $6 for ages 6-12, free for ages five and younger.
There’s no way around the heartbreaking fate of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager whose remarkable diary was written in hiding during World War II and survived her death in a Nazi concentration camp. But here’s the thing: We shouldn’t want to get around it. We should want to learn from it and how the human spirit can’t be destroyed even under the direst of circumstances. Helping us get there with artistry and echoes of relevance in a modern world too often gripped by terror is Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank. Even without a ticket to the play, you can participate in an installment of the Rep’s Conversation Series devoted to “Anne Frank” immediately following Sunday’s 2 p.m. performance.
Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Spencer Theatre, 4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, Mo; tickets: $25-$80.
