Here are fifteen great things to do in KC this weekend, November 30-December 3, including: Dirty Dancing in concert, The Nutcracker, and Grupo Frontera.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, but now audiences get to experience the most famous reindeer of all—Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This live musical will be performed at the Coterie Theatre this holiday season, inspiring everyone to be true to themselves and find strength in their perceived flaws.
Various dates from November 7–December 31. Times vary. Coterie Theatre.
A Christmas Carol
One of the holiday season’s most beloved plays, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has been performed by The Kansas City Repertory Theatre for more than 40 years. Experience this holiday tradition focused on redemption and goodwill through Ebenezer Scrooge’s ghostly encounters with Christmas Past, Present, and Future.
Various dates from November 21–December 24. Times vary. Spencer Theatre.
KC Winter Wonderland
This family-friendly event, brought to you by KC Pumpkin Patch and KC Wine Co in Olathe, features a holiday light display that guests can stroll through while enjoying the sights and sounds of the season. There are plenty of fun photo opportunities on the walk, along with pictures with Santa available. Drinks and festival foods will also be available for purchase, and a portion of ticket sales will benefit the Veterans Community Project which helps veterans with housing and walk-in support services.
Weekends November 24–December 17. 5:30–9 pm. KC Pumpkin Patch.
Enchant
Enchant boasts the largest Christmas light display in the country and it is coming to Kansas City this holiday season. Featuring an all-new light maze, a village of tiny storefronts featuring artisan vendors, an ice skating trail, photo opps with Santa, a play place for children, along with special themed nights, Enchant is sure to have something for people of all ages.
November 24—December 31. Times Vary. Legends Field.
Fortune Feimster
Comedian, writer and actor Fortune Feimster made her TV debut on Last Comic Standing over a decade ago and had her big break starring as Colette on The Mindy Project. Since then, Feimster has secured recurring roles on uber-popular reality series like Chelsea Lately and RuPaul’s Drag Race, as well as comedy specials and tours. Feimster makes a stop in KC for this year’s Live Laugh Love! Tour.
November 30. 7 pm. The Midland.
Snotty Nose Rez Kids
Originally from Kitamaat Village, British Columbia, Snotty Nose Rez Kids are a First Nations hip-hop duo comprised of Haisla rappers Darren “Young D” Metz and Quinton “Yung Trybez” Nyce. They are coming to KC in support of their new album Life After, joined by special guests Travis Thompson & Paris Williams on their Hot Planet Tour.
November 30. 9:30 pm. Encore at Uptown Theater.
Dirty Dancing in Concert
Revist why “nobody puts Baby in a corner” in this new spin on the ’80s classic. In this live film-to-concert experience of Dirty Dancing, the digitally remastered film will be shown on a full-sized cinema screen while a live band and singers perform the film’s iconic soundtrack. Attendees can stay after the movie is over to continue singing along and dancing to the live band’s renditions of favorite songs from the film.
December 1. 8 pm. Music Hall Kansas City.
The Phil Collins Experience
Experience the legendary performances of Phil Collins in The Phil Collins Experience, performed by Kansas City magazine’s 2020 Best Male Vocalist, Terry Adams Jr. Adams is a British-born drummer who has mastered the drums left-handed—just like Collins—for a truly authentic concert experience. The Phil Collins Experience is a multimedia production featuring a full band with backup singers and a horns section to take audiences back in time to experience Phil Collins in his Genesis and solo-career prime.
December 1. 8 pm. Uptown Theater.
The Marshall Tucker Band
Largely credited to helping the Southern rock genre in the seventies, South Carolina natives The Marshall Tucker Band are best known for hits like “Can’t You See” and “Heard It In A Love Song,” which incorporates blues, country and jazz into their rock sound.
December 1. 8:30 pm. Ameristar Casino and Hotel.
Handel’s Messiah
With over 150 musicians and voices performing, this Baroque-era oratorio creates a triumphant two-hour musical spectacle. Messiah, a once-elaborate opera production originally composed for Easter, is now a cherished Christmas classic and regarded as a choral masterpiece—including the iconic “Hallelujah Chorus,” sure to inspire some holiday spirit.
December 1 & 2, 7 pm; December 3, 2 pm. Helzberg Hall.
The Amen Corner
The second show in the new season at KC Melting Pot Theatre, a professional theater company based in KC, is James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner. KCMPT’s new season explores what author and activist W.E.B. Du Bois called the “problem of the color line” with social relations in America. “Our season will examine the ways in which race, gender, sexuality and class shape how we understand equality and our capacity to affirm those unalienable rights during such a fragile socio-historic moment in time,” says Linda Williams, general manager. Baldwin’s first work written for the stage in 1954 tells the story of a Black female pastor in Harlem who must grapple with the social, cultural and gender limitations of pastoring a church when she is confronted by the secular life that she left behind.
December 1–3 and 6–9. 7:30 pm. Just Off Broadway Theatre.
The Nativity
Larger-than-life puppets, vocalists and live music culminate in the beloved The Nativity series live performance, now in its 24th year. This year, they are celebrating “Generations,” to honor the generations of families who’ve watched the show as well as the generations of artists who’ve provided their talents to bring the show to life for decades.
December 1–3. Times vary. Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral.
The Nutcracker
Clara and the Nutcracker prince are once again taking center stage at the Kauffman Center in The Nutcracker. In this classic wintertime favorite, watch snowflakes, sugar plum fairies and toy soldiers come to life this holiday season in this heartwarming ballet choreographed by Devon Carney, with Tchaikovsky’s legendary score played by the Kansas City Symphony.
December 1–24. Times vary. Kauffman Center.
Representatives for Those at Peace
This staged reading is the culminating work of the inaugural Four Directions Playwright Residency for Native and Indigenous Playwrights. Each partnering organization worked in collaboration to create a week-long residency for Indigenous playwright Madeline Easley over a one-year timeframe. Each week of development took place in a different part of the country in order to provide varying focuses for the play, Representatives for Those at Peace. The final culminating workshop and reading takes place this weekend.
December 2. 5 pm. Copaken Stage.
Grupo Frontera
Six-member Texas-based Mexican cumbia group Grupo Frontera was playing and recording locally in border towns in Texas only last year, but their collaboration with global superstar Bad Bunny earlier this summer landed them on the coveted Coachella stage, and the song landed them their first top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The band’s success is considered by many to be integral in the recent mainstream popularity of the regional Mexican genre.
December 3. 7 pm. The Midland Theatre.
