What to gaze upon this weekend?
There’s plenty to see, including rodeo performers and commemorative warbirds in daring action, scads of visual art around the Country Club Plaza and a singularly crazy sock puppet that successfully blows up the norm – funny how it only takes one.
So set your peepers on “watch” and revel in the readily observable. If it gets to be too much, I guess you can close an eye. But not both. C’mon, let’s get with the program.
Ride ‘em, cowboys and cowgirls! Besides professional bull riders and trick riders on horseback, another crowd favorite returns to this year’s American Royal Rodeo – “mutton busting” or kids under age 7 doing their best to stay on top of sprinting sheep. Whoa, something tells me there’s a permission slip involved. Early arriving ticket-holders can also get a Behind the Chutes tour of what typically goes unseen at the rodeo. Whoa, something tells me there’s poop involved. And country music fans can check out post-rodeo parking lot concerts by Travis Marvin (Friday) and Noe Palma (Saturday). Can I get a yee-haw?
Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Hale Arena, American Royal Complex, 1701 American Royal Court, Kansas City, Missouri; tickets: $15-$40.
2. Plaza Art Fair and UNplaza Art Fair
Visual art of virtually every description created by hundreds of artists from around the country is the main attraction at the 85th annual Plaza Art Fair – but the event’s dozens of participating live bands and restaurants have also proven to be great attractions in themselves. Only a few blocks away, you’ll also want to visit the 26th annual UNplaza Art Fair, a smaller but no less worthy affair featuring strictly local artists specializing in perhaps more pragmatic artistic items. See it all!
Friday, 5-10 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Country Club Plaza, vicinity of 47th Street and Broadway, Kansas City, Missouri.; admission: free. UNplaza Art Fair: Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m.; All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut St., Kansas City, Missouri; admission: free.
Who’s watching the watchers? That might be you, if you’re one of the curious visitors to this intriguing photography exhibit devoted to “secretive looking” going back 150 years. From early hidden-camera images to what gets spied on by modern satellites and drones, people (and their governments) want to see what they want to see – for better or for worse. Let’s face it, there’s a little voyeur in all of us. See what I’m saying?
Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St., Kansas City, Missouri; admission: free.
Unruly sock puppet Tyrone is more than a handful for shy Jason, the small-town Texas teenager on the other end of the puppet head, in Robert Askins’ Tony Award-nominated comedy, “Hand to God.” Will Tyrone wind up destroying the Christian puppet club? Or does the responsibility for such a social disaster lie with Jason, who may well be revealing his true self while pretending to be someone else? Call me old school, but I blame the puppet. Parental advisory: This show includes puppet sex. Again, all Tyrone’s fault!
Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m.; Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main St., Kansas City, Missouri; tickets: $30-$50.
5. Warbirds in Flight Air Show
There they go, into the wild blue yonder: World War I and World War II era planes doing flyovers and taking part in mock dogfights and other aerobatics. Presented by the Heart of America Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, the two-day aerial remembrance of brave pilots and their flying machines will also feature terra firma appearances by “Star Wars” Stormtroopers – however ironically, given that they serve the evil Emperor or Darth Vader or whichever galactic dictator happens to be in charge of their enslaving fantasy realm at the moment. Much more seriously, attendees can visit with real-deal WWII vets.
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (air shows at 2 p.m. both days); New Century Air Center, 6 Aero Plaza, New Century, Kansas, just west of 159th Street and old U.S. 56 Highway; tickets: $10 adults, $5 ages 10-17.
6. "Who’s Bad? The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience"
The self-proclaimed king of King of Pop tribute shows promises to deliver it all – the global hits, the great dance moves and the enduring mystique of the late, great Michael Jackson. The detail-driven spectacle is the longest-running MJ tribute act and makes use of two talented impersonators – so it’s twice as bad.
Saturday, 9 p.m.; Voodoo Lounge at Harrah’s Casino, 1 Riverboat Drive, North Kansas City, Missouri; tickets: $19.75-$42.75.
Brian McTavish is a regular arts and culture contributor for KCUR 89.3. Reach him at brianmctavish@gmail.com.
