Local Productions .

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Dirty, Double-Crossin Rat: Kansas City Noir

Randy Mason sits down with Steve Paul to discuss the book Kansas City Noir, a collection of stories from some of the region's most talented writers.

Picture steam rising from a sewer grate on a rain-slicked street. The sound of footsteps come closer and closer behind you as you walk down a dark, downtown Kansas City alley. If this scenario entices you, then you just might enjoy Kansas City Noir, a new anthology of short stories that takes readers on a journey through Kansas City’s seedy underbelly. The book’s editor is Steve Paul from the Kansas City Star who writes in the introduction that this is a city that’s home to its share of serial killers and moral turpitude. He sat down with Randy Mason to share that gritty side of our town.

Display of the book Kansas City Noir

The book includes short stories from some of the region’s best authors including J. Malcolm Garcia, Grace Suh, Daniel Woodrell, Kevin Prufer, Matthew Eck, Philip Stephens, Catherine Browder, John Lutz, Nancy Pickard, Linda Rodriguez, Andrés Rodríguez, Mitch Brian, Nadia Pflaum, and Phong Nguyen.

Steve Paul and contributors Catherine Browder, Nancy Pickard, and Linda Rodriguez will be presenting readings from the book on Saturday, November 3 at 11 a.m. at Mysteryscape which is located at 7309 W. 80th St. in Overland Park.

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Downton Abbey Cast Live Stream

Watch a live panel and discussion with Downton Abbey cast and producer. (Available in the U.S. only)

Downton Abbey Season 3 premieres on MASTERPIECE on PBS on Jan. 6, 2013. In anticipation of that event, PBS and MASTERPIECE are bringing you a live panel and discussion with Downton Abbey cast and producer. (Available in the U.S. only)

The live streamed panel will be moderated by MASTERPIECE executive producer Rebecca Eaton and feature the following:

Hugh Bonneville … Lord Crawley
Jim Carter … Mr. Carson
Rob James-Collier … Thomas Barrow
Joanne Froggatt … Anna Bates
Gareth Neame, executive producer, “Downton Abbey”
Elizabeth McGovern … Lady Cora
Sophie McShera … Daisy Mason

Watch here beginning around 7pm CST on Wednesday, December 12, 2012.

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Dream Job: Lego Master Model Builder

The beginning of May is when the new Legoland Discovery Center is set to open at Crown Center. We take a look at the competition for the full-time position of master model builder.

The beginning of May is when the new Legoland Discovery Center is set to open at Crown Center. The company has been hiring for Kansas City’s latest attraction.

They decided to have applicants compete against each other for the full-time job of master model builder. The winner of this golden ticket will be responsible for building cool models on site, doing the upkeep on the Miniland which will involve scale down lego versions of Kansas city landmarks and working with kids.

Around  200 people squared off in what the company called the Brick Factor Competition, but it’s a Kansas City Missouri school teacher and Renaissance Festival Performer who’s going to get the full=time gig and coveted title of king of lego…or perhaps the more professional title “lego master model builder.”

And the winner is…Jeremiah Boehr. We leave you this week with a look at the highly competitive world of lego model building.

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Drivable Art: Art of the Car Concours at KCAI

The Fifth Annual Art of the Car Concours® will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 26 on the Kansas City Art Institute campus. The show will feature more than 180 vintage, classic and special-interest vehicles, including cars, trucks, racing cars and vintage motorcycles belonging to collectors from eight states. Vehicles from Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina and Oklahoma will be on view.

This event, a benefit for the KCAI scholarship fund, is growing in popularity and stature among vintage and classic collectors. The Concours is unique for its size and scale in having no formal judging and no classes of vehicles. The intention is to provide a wide range of very high-quality, original, vintage vehicles in an eclectic, informal setting, without the pressure of traditional Concours events. This year’s event is presented by the Mercedes-Benz Dealers of Kansas City and Aristocrat Motors.

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Education Report: Should Judges Be Deciding How Much Money to Spend in Classrooms?

Sam Zeff presents this education report about the contentious fight over education funding in Kansas and its direct connection to how the state picks its judges.

You probably don’t realize how much time is spent trying to figure out how to pay for education in Kansas and Missouri.

Did you know for instance, that in Kansas last year, 62 percent of the entire budget went to fund schools and universities? It’s so important that even the courts have got involved setting up one of the most contentious fights in this legislative session.

But should judges be telling lawmakers how much they should be spending in the classroom? As Sam Zeff reports, its an issue you could soon be deciding at the ballot box as the clash over education funding turns into a battle over how the state picks its judges.

Lead funding of KCPT’S reporting of education issues is funded in part by a generous grant from the Kauffman Foundation and additional civic funders.

Chairs, table and flags in an empty courtroom.

Production support provided by:
Majestic Rhinos, LLC
film & digital moving pictures
www.MajesticRhinos.com

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The Enchanted Island with Joyce DiDonato

Watch Kansas City's Joyce DiDonato as Sycorax in “The Enchanted Island.” Watch Friday, May 18, 2012 at 9pm on KCPT and Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 7pm on KCPT2.

This extraordinary new work combines the world’s best singers, the glorious music of the Baroque masters, and a story drawn from Shakespeare. In “The Enchanted Island,” the lovers from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream are shipwrecked on the other-worldly island of The Tempest. Inspired by the musical pastiches and masques of the 18th century, the work showcases arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau and others, and a new libretto by Jeremy Sams. Eminent conductor William Christie leads an all-star cast featuring David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, Danielle de Niese, Luca Pisaroni, Lisette Oropesa and Anthony Roth Costanzo, with special guest star Plácido Domingo.

Watch Friday, May 18, 2012 at 9pm.

Watch Joyce DiDonato in The Enchanted Island on PBS. See more from Great Performances.

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Energizing Education for At-Risk Kids: MINDDRIVE

Producer Cara Myers provides viewers with a look at local non-profit MINDDRIVE, where at-risk teens are not only building innovative electric cars that have received national and international recognition, but are also being inspired to learn and expand their vision of the future.

At first glance, you might not see much of a connection between the building of electric cars and at-risk, high school-aged kids, but MINDDRIVE, a Kansas City, Missouri-based non-profit, is making one. Producer Cara Myers profiles this local non-profit, where at-risk teens are not only building innovative electric vehicles, but they are also being inspired to learn and expand their vision of the future. When we’re so often told about the problems of young people, here’s a positive story for a change.

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Enthusiasm Is The Electricity of Life: Gordon Parks

We share some highlights from the Gordon Parks Centennial Celebration at the Gem Theater including a musical tribute performed by students from Gordon Parks Elementary School.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Gordon Parks who is recognized as one of the most important photographers of the 20th century.

While the Fort Scott, Kansas native is best known for his iconic images in Life magazine, Parks, the youngest of 15 children was also a novelist, co-founder of Essence Magazine and a successful filmmaker.

When he passed away in 2006, he was eulogized as a true Renaissance man who constantly pushed boundaries and broke stereotypes.

Sign which reads Gordon Parks Elementary

Over the weekend here in Kansas City, Gordon Parks Elementary School threw a centennial celebration to honor the trailblazing artist at the historic Gem Theater. And Parks’ daughter, Toni Parks, flew in from London to join the musical salute to her late father.

At the Gem Theater, students from Gordon Parks Elementary performed the prologue of a new musical honoring the life of the school’s gifted namesake. The world premiere will be next June and the school hopes to perform it every year.

While we remember Parks’ photographs, he was an accomplished novelist and poet, and director of countless films, including the 1969 drama The Learning Tree which recounts his own experiences of racial discrimination growing up in rural Kansas.

Gordon Parks sitting on a couch in a tuxedo

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Etch-A-Sketch Art: John Raux

Artist John Raux shares how he turned a classic toy into his canvas of choice.

At one time or another, many of us fondly remember playing with an Etch a Sketch. It’s a classic holiday toy. Before we leave you this week, we want introduce you to John Raux who’s currently artist in residence at BNIM Architects. Raux, who lives in Kansas City’s Hyde Park neighborhood, just spent two weeks capturing life on the New York City Subway using only an Etch-a-Sketch for his canvas.
Artist John Raux holding up Etch-A-Scetch artwork
Artist John Raux shares how he turned a classic toy into his canvas of choice while sketching our very own Nick Haines.

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Ethical Conundrums: Myra Christopher & Medical Science Dilemmas

Nick Haines talks to Myra Christopher from the Center for Practical Bioethics about some of the new ethical questions that arise with new advancements in medicine.

Sometimes medical breakthroughs can also bring up nagging ethical questions such as who has access to the data and how much do we want to know if the news about our future is bad?

These kinds of quandaries weigh on the minds of the staff at the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City, formerly known as the Midwest Bioethics Center. They also tackle aging and end of life issues as well as disparities in health care. Myra Christopher led the organization since its launch in 1984, at least until recently when a rare form of ovarian cancer forced her to step down as the center’s CEO. She joined Nick Haines to discuss some approaches to these issues.

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