Month: April 2018

One-act play festival returns to KCKCC

by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC

It is that time of year again – the Original Student One-Act Play Festival at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

“This year, we have an interesting mix of two very different one acts,” said Gary Mosby, interim theater coordinator at KCKCC. “First, we have a spin-off on the iconic sit-com TV show, ‘Friends.’ Then we have a look into the Black Lives Matter Movement. These plays are written and directed by our very own students. It is a great opportunity for them to experience what developing a play complete to production is like. In addition, there will be improvisational performances and interactive games played by our improv class.”

The One Act Festival is at 7:30 p.m. April 19 to 21 in the KCKCC Performing Arts Center, 7250 State Ave. There is also a matinee performance at 2:30 p.m. April 22. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for non-KCKCC students and senior citizens. KCKCC staff, faculty and students with valid ID are free.

The festival is completely produced by students and mentored by faculty.

The 2018 Original Student One Act Play Festival includes:

• “Friends” spin-off “We’ll Be There (For You),” written by Stephanie (Kathy). The play follows the lives of the kids from the famous show – Ben, Emma, Jack, Ericka, Claire and Lorenzo. With their own narrations along the way, the friends tell about their lives while showing off their quirky sides. New and familiar things arise, all with the special “Friends” qualities everyone knows and loves. Follow the friends on the ups and downs of their friendship and discovering that they will always be there for each other, just as the theme song to the original TV show stated.

• “Slow Jamz” by Gary Enrique Bradley-Lopez. A young man was killed by the police for stealing a candy bar and the town turns to protest. Two young men, Jamz and Slow, end up at the protest, which causes a stir with the police. The two men hide at a barbershop with two barbers, Rodney and Foul Dawg. There, they have in depth conversations and debates on the hardship of life. The protest ends up outside, things get out of hand and life is lost. Be aware, the “N” word is heavily used and discussed in this play.

For more information or to reserve tickets, call 913-288-7305, or email [email protected].

Vancouver visits KCK to take on Sporting KC on Friday

Four points clear atop the Western Conference standings, Sporting Kansas City (4-1-2, 14 points) will put a six-game unbeaten run on the line when the Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3-3-1, 10 points) visit Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, at 8 p.m. Friday.

Tickets for the match are available via SeatGeek.com, and the first 10,000 fans through the stadium gates will receive a Tim Melia bobblehead.

FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO will provide three hours of live coverage on Friday beginning at 7:30 p.m. Local radio broadcasts will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM (Spanish), while the Sporting KC Uphoria app will deliver live updates. Friday also serves as Sporting KC College Night, featuring ticket and scarf packages for students at local colleges and universities.

Manager Peter Vermes’ men face a quick turnaround this week after drawing Seattle Sounders FC 2-2 on Sunday afternoon.

Ilie gave the hosts a 34th-minute lead with his second successful penalty kick of the season, but Seattle soared ahead with goals in either half from Will Bruin and Cristian Roldan. Sporting KC landed the final punch, however, as Graham Zusi equalized with 12 minutes left to deny the Sounders their first victory of 2018. Sunday marked the third time this year that Sporting KC has earned a win or draw from a losing position, having done so just four times in all of 2017.

Friday’s match pits two of the top three teams in the Western Conference, with leaders Sporting KC four points ahead of both Vancouver and the LA Galaxy.

Vermes’ side hasn’t lost since its season-opening setback to New York City FC and has taken four points from its previous two matches despite the absence of influential midfielder Felipe Gutierrez, the MLS Player of the Month for March who still leads the league with five goals. Gutierrez is listed as questionable against Vancouver as he continues to recover from a hip injury.

Vancouver has lost two straight matches – including a 2-0 home defeat to expansion club LAFC last Friday – but head coach Carl Robinson’s team will be encouraged by its recent run of results against Sporting KC.

The sides last met on Sept. 30, 2017, at Children’s Mercy Park when Vancouver used a 53rd-minute Erik Hurtado goal to snap Sporting KC’s club-record 24-game home unbeaten streak in the MLS regular season. The result came four months after the Whitecaps prevailed 2-0 at BC Place.

A potential Children’s Mercy Park reunion with Kei Kamara was dashed when the former Sporting KC forward suffered a groin injury the day before his team’s loss to LAFC.

Kamara’s first season with Vancouver has started brightly with three goals and two assists, but the visitors will have to cope without him as he is set to miss a second straight game. Fellow striker and newcomer Anthony Blondell was also sidelined last week with a concussion, but could return to the fold in Kansas City.

Sporting KC holds a 6-3-3 all-time regular season record versus Vancouver, including a 4-1-1 mark at Children’s Mercy Park.

Yet the Whitecaps are no strangers to success away from home, leading MLS with 19 regular season road wins since the start of 2015. The hosts will also be wary of the danger presented by winger Brek Shea – the MLS veteran is tied for the team lead with three goals – as well as 17-year-old wunderkind Alphonso Davies, who has not only tallied a goal and two assists but ranks among the MLS leaders in duels won and dribbles completed.

The Sporting KC record books are likely to be rewritten Friday night by club captain Matt Besler.

The defender is one shy of tying current assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin for most regular season starts in team history at 228. The Kansas City-born center back is also 55 minutes shy of passing Zavagnin for most regular season minutes played at the club, a number that presently stands at 20,515.

– Story from Sporting KC