Hey folks, Ben here. I'm the student arts reporter here at KSMU, and I'll be taking over Arts News for the next month or so. Excited to be here! Let's get into it:
Some festival-type events:
Saturday, April 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Springfield Botanical gardens, 2400 S. Scenic, Springfield Sister Cities will host the Cherry Blossom Kite and Piñata festival. Kites will be available for purchase, and piñatas will be available for bludgeoning. There will also be Japanese and Mexican performances going on all afternoon. Admission is free. More information at the Sister Cities website.
On Monday, April 8, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Ozark High School will host their Showcase of the Arts. Organized by Ozark High School senior Ayla Hulbert, it encompasses the music, visual arts, culinary arts, woodworking and every other fine or practical art that the school has a class for. It’s a come and go event, but the choir will perform at 6:30 and again at 7:30, the jazz band will perform at 6 and 7:50, the theater program will perform at 7:10 and 8:10, and the culinary arts program will do a showcase at 6 and 7. Learn more at Ozark schools website.
The West Plains “Party in the Path” festival begins Friday, April 5. It will run through Monday, April 8, when the town will be in the path of totality for the upcoming solar eclipse. The event will include, among other things, an Ozark Mountain Daredevils concert, performances from numerous local musicians and a Meet the Artists for the “Sky High: Eclipse and More” exhibit hosted by the West Plains Council on the Arts. More information at the Explore West Plains website.
Also this weekend is the three-day Gillioz Jazz Festival. Friday night, April 5, from to 6 to 9, the Gillioz lobby will become the “Jazz Café,” displaying Smithsonian artwork featuring Jazz legends. Saturday, April 6, the Jazz Café will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., hosting performances from five local jazz trios. Then Saturday night, award-winning sax player, band leader and composer Branford Marsalis will perform in the Gillioz theatre proper with the Missouri Jazz Orchestra. On Sunday, April 7, at 2 p.m. the festival will culminate in a showing of The Wizard of Oz, a film with, quote, “significant jazz influences.” Admission is free for everything, but tickets for the Marsalis concert cost $49. More information at the Gillioz website.
Some First Friday Art Walk Highlights:
The Annual Juried Student Exhibition showcases artwork from MSU undergrad and graduate students, juried by KC-based Steve Snell. It will be open at the Carolla Arts Exhibition Center from 6 to 9 Friday night, April 5, which is special since it usually closes at 6.
Also open from 6 to 9 is Homeland: Photographs from the Anthropocene at Brick City. Curated by Gwen Walstrand, it’s a show exploring contemporary approaches to ideas about place and landscape.
Fresh Gallery’s Annual Juried Art Show opens Friday night, April 5. There’s going to be a wine and cheese reception from 6 to 9, with the awards ceremony starting at 7, so expect many of the artists in the show to be present.
Interior design firm/retail store/art gallery, Obelisk Home, has two opening receptions from 6 to 10. There’s the opening of Ozarks from watercolor artist T.D. Scott, as well as the start of Obelisk Home’s 18th Annual Birdhouse auction for Habitat for Humanity.
In the ‘backstage alley’ behind the Hotel Vandivort, Sculpture Walk Springfield will project Maurico Sanhueza’s Sushi 2.0. It’s a digital projection piece with a real maximalist bent to it. BookMarx will present work by Petyr “Peewee” Cruikshanks, whose whimisical, colorful paintings, sculptures and poems pull inspiration from dreams. The interior of the Hotel Vandivort will present work by Kurt Caddy, who does a Rothko-type work with a kind of spiritual bent. And the second floor of the Holland Building will display work by Janelle Patterson, whose painting tends to explore natural subjects.
There’s a lot more than that going on, so for a full list and more information, visit the First Friday Art Walk website.
Some music news:
Missouri State Opera will present Ruddigore in the C Minor Recital Hall Friday night, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 7, at 1:30 p.m. The Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera is music directed by Dr. Chris Thompson and directed by guest director Dawn Harris. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children and students. Tickets and information here.
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra will present “Unfinished Business” Saturday night, April 6, at 7:30 at Juanita K. Hammons Hall. Opening with Schubert’s unfinished symphony, the concert will also feature two bass trombone solos from Metropolitan Opera Orchestra player Denson Paul Pollard as well as the Springfield Youth Symphony performing Ive’s Postlude in F. Tickets start at $48, including fees. More information at the Springfield Symphony website.
Queen City Chorale will present the final concert of their second season on Sunday night, April 6, at 7 at Christ Episcopal Church. They’ll perform Bach’s cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, as well as sacred works by Victoria, Howells, Jennefelt and others. Admission is free, with donations accepted. More information at the Queen City Chorale website.
Joplin’s arts org Connect2Culture will host a Tribute to Elvis Presley on April 13 at the Beshore Performance Hall in the Harry M. Cornell Arts Complex. It will feature the trio, Hot Club of Cowtown, as well as actor and singer/songwriter, Tyler Hilton, who is known for, among other things, playing Elvis in Walk the Line. Tickets start at $35. More information at connect2culture.org.
Also, The Mother’s Brewing Company Barrel House will host a square dance on April 13 from 8 to 10. It’s open to all experience levels and will feature live string music from Luke and Cal. Admission is $10.
Some theatre news:
The Missouri State University Theatre department will present A Killer Party next weekend. It runs Thursday, April 11, through Sunday, April 14, at Coger Theatre. There will be an evening performance at 7:30 every day of the run, with matinees at 2:30 on the April 13 and 14. The musical, which features lyrics by MSU alum Nathan Tysen, is a comedic whodunit centering around the murder of a theatre company’s tyrannical artistic director. The show was actually conceived back in 2020 as a remotely performed streaming series. Tickets are $24 for adults and $22 for students and seniors. Tickets and information here.
Also opening next weekend is Springfield Little Theatre’s production of Mary Poppins, Jr. The show opens at the Landers Theatre April 11 and closes on the 21. Tickets start at $22. More information at Springfield Little Theatre dot org.
The Branson Regional Arts Council’s Staccato Show Choir will present Legally Blonde: The Musical Jr. next weekend at the Historic Owen Theatre. Based on the Broadway musical based on the film based on the book, it follows Elle Woods as she attends Harvard Law to prove looks and intelligence aren’t mutually exclusive. Performances are at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with 2’ p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $20 for adults and $12 for youth. More information at the Branson Regional Arts Council website.
In addition to those local productions, next weekend there will be a touring show at Juanita K Hammons Hall. Come From Away is an NYT critics pick Broadway Musical based on the true story of the 7,000 airline passengers who were stranded in a tiny town in Newfoundland when US airspace closed in September 2001. The show runs April 12 and 13, with performances at 7:30 both nights and a 2’ p.m. matinee on Saturday the 13. Tickets start at $57, including fees. More info at The Hammons Hall website.