Shakespeare comedy, superheroes and sports art all to be at the Alcott Saturday

A Shakespeare comedy and a superheroes and sports art exhibit are planned for Saturday at the Alcott Arts Center, 180 S. 18th, Kansas City, Kansas,

The 11th year of the Alcott Shakespeare performances will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, at the Alcott, said Chris Green, Alcott executive director. The play also will be performed next weekend.

The director of “Two People from Verona” will be Susan Proctor, who has directed two Shakespeare plays previous at Alcott, Green said. The title of the play has been changed from “Two Gentlemen from Verona” in order to be more inclusive, she added.

Formerly performed outdoors in the parking lot, the Shakespeare play this year will be performed inside the Alcott, with air conditioning. The play will be performed using three rooms, two galleries and the main foyer as the theater, with the audience moving from room to room with the actors, she said.

Admission to the play is a $5 suggested donation.

Green said the audience will enjoy the play. There have been lots of laughs from the rehearsals, and the play will include singing, music, musicians walking through, along with the usual mistaken identity theme.

“We’re very excited and we can’t wait to see the show,” Green said.

There is a flight of stairs to the area where the play will be held, and Alcott Arts Center is not ADA-accessible at this time.

Later Saturday, at 6 p.m., an art show featuring superheroes and sports figures is featured at the Alcott.

Artists Darryl Wood, who draws all sorts of superheroes, along with pictures of Kansas City Chiefs players, will be featured with Anthony Oropeza, whose work is all sports, Green said. Woods has created some sports posters of Chiefs players that have schedules on them, she added.

Two young artists also will be featured Saturday, she said. They are Marquis Jamison, who has created a comic book and does cartoon-style art, and Simone Bealer, a freshman at Blue Valley Northwest, who does anime art and some superheroes, Green said.

The Alcott art galleries will open for viewing at 6 p.m., with a reception for artists at 6:30 p.m. The art show and reception are free and open to the public. Refreshments are planned.

Green also said a petition is being circulated to save the Alcott Arts Center from a development that has been proposed in the area. The Alcott is accepting signatures for the petition both in person at the center and also online at http://chng.it/QWMqDVyF.

Green said the Alcott has a lot of support from the community, which has helped save the former elementary school in order to have an arts center.

For more information, visit https://www.alcottartscenter.org/.

No. 3 Johnson County foils KCKCC home volleyball opener

Sophomore Tara Mattingly (1) went high for a kill attempt as teammates Michelle Dvorak (5) and Gracie Golay (2) looked on in KCKCC’s 3-0 loss to No. 3 ranked Johnson County Wednesday. (KCKCC photo by Brandon Burgette)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Playing two of the top three volleyball teams in the nation in a span of three days is an overwhelming task for just about any team – but especially to a team that opened the season with its first 11 matches on the road.

Such was the fate of Kansas City Kansas Community College. Beaten 3-0 at Coffeyville Monday night, No. 3 Johnson County ruined the Blue Devils’ long awaited home opener with a 3-0 win Wednesday night.

The loss left the Blue Devils 6-6 overall with five of the six losses to nationally ranked teams heading into a much needed weeklong layoff. They’ll return to action next Wednesday, entertaining Allen County at 6:30 p.m. and then playing host to the eight-team KCKCC Tournament, a tourney that will be highlighted by a KCKCC-Coffeyville re-match.

Despite a raucous KCKCC home crowd, Johnson County never trailed in posting 25-19 and 25-21 wins in the first two sets. The Blue Devils led briefly in the third set but the Cavaliers pulled away down the stretch after a 14-14 tie.

“We were having an uphill fight the whole time,” KCKCC assistant coach Allyssa Lutgen said. “The first game we had two receive mistakes that helped Johnson County get ahead.”

And back-to-back games against two of the top three teams in the nation did not make the Blue Devils’ task any easier.

“I think we definitely were more fatigued than normal and mentally playing the No. 1 team and then the No. 3 team was certainly a major hurdle,” Lutgen said.

Happy Blue Devils celebrated winning a crucial point. Unfortunately, there were not enough such celebrations as KCKCC dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 3 ranked Johnson County Wednesday. (KCKCC photo by Brandon Burgette)

Fatal shooting reported on Leavenworth Road

A fatal shooting was reported about 2:38 p.m. Friday in the area of 60th and Leavenworth Road, according to police.

The victim was a male in his late 20s, a Kansas City, Kansas, police spokesman stated.

Officers who responded saw the wounded man, in the street. He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries, the spokesman stated.

There is no suspect information at this time.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division is investigating. Anyone with information may call the TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS.