In The Loop: December 2023
Publishing through April 2024 — thank you for your support
Wishing you and yours a happy holiday! 🎁 Check out the “Welcome” section below that lists December concerts and events, then treat yourself to a night or two Downtown during the season. I’ll see you out on the town!
And now, on to the The Loop….
No prizes or praises (for now), just a trivia question to test your Downtown knowledge….
Q. Which band in 1923 was the first Kansas City group to record a phonograph recording of its music? Clue: The band leader was born on Dec. 13, 1893, in Kansas City, Mo.
A. See the answer near the bottom of this issue.
Dec. 5, 1873: Kansas City Public Library founded
A century and a half ago, the city’s board of education established our town’s first public library (although the official date of establishment is December 5, the actual meeting of the board was December 4 in Downtown Kansas City).
“…The Library enhanced the image of Kansas City as a community that was civilized and cultured, which was attractive to East Coast promoters offering financial support to Kansas City's then-fledgling economy,” according to library’s website.
The library’s first “collection” was an encyclopedia set — which remains in the possession of the library to this day. Today’s system of a Central Library and nine branches now boasts more than 1.2 million items in its collection.
Dec. 2, 1916: New Center Theater opens
On the southeast corner of 15th and Troost (now Truman Road and Troost), the 1,400-seat New Center Theatre opened this month in 1916. It started as a facility for live productions and silent films, before “talking” movies took over at the theater around 1929.
Originally leased to movie house proprietor Samuel Zueker of Chicago, the New Center appears to have become a cultural and entertainment attraction for Kansas City’s African-American community at some point in its history.
A 1919 ad in the Kansas City Sun (see below) promoted a production with an “All-Star Negro Cast” and “Colored People Seated Anywhere in the House.”
A 1930 article in the Kansas City American reported that the theater in that year employed an all-Black staff, “from manager down to janitor,” with a total of 48 employees.
Dec. 25, 1920: “Letters to Santa” from Negro Leagues Baseball team owners
After the inaugural season of Negro National League Baseball in 1920, the Kansas City Sun published fictional (and perhaps snarky) letters to Santa Claus from the various team owners from the league, beginning with the home-team Monarchs:
From Negro National League founder and president Rube Foster, owner of the Chicago American Giants:
And from John Connor (not Connors) of the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants:
In an adjacent article, the Sun reported that 700,000 people watched Negro League baseball that year, and that “One hundred thousand White and Negro fans attended the Monarch games at Association Park the past season without the lest bit of friction.”
The newspaper also noted that the Monarchs drew more spectators than the white Kansas City Blues team of the minor league American Association.
Bringing you some of the most interesting properties for sale or lease in and around Downtown Kansas City….
5,000 square-foot Crossroads loft
2004 Grand Blvd, #201
Property presented by: Michelle Van Trump
Brokered by: Van Trump Realty LLC
Price: $1,590,000
See the property online here
Homes and buildings featured in The Loop are not necessarily recommendations or endorsements, but rather illustrations of interesting properties for sale or lease in the vicinity of Downtown. Properties may or may not remain available at time of publishing.
1916
Who are all these people?
Answering the question “Who are all these people and where are they going?”, The Loop brings you a list of some of the biggest events happening Downtown each week. Please give a friendly Downtown-Kansas City welcome to audiences and attendees of….
NOVEMBER
TODAY
Last day, Kansas City Symphony presents Through the Lens at Kauffman Center
Pentatonix at T-Mobile Center
DECEMBER
1st - 5th
Cedric the Entertainer, Dec. 1 at T-Mobile Center
Kansas City Symphony presents Handel's Messiah, Dec. 1-3 at Kauffman Center
Kansas City Ballet presents The Nutcracker, Dec. 1-24 at Kauffman Center
First Friday Weekend, Nov. 30 - Dec. 3 in the Tower East KC neighborhood
First Friday, Dec. 1 in the Crossroads Arts District
First Friday Weekend, Dec. 1-3 in the West Bottoms district
Kansas City Jazz Orchestra presents A Charlie Brown Christmas featuring Lee Langston, Dec. 5 at Kauffman Center
TubaChristmas 2023, Dec. 5 at Crown Center
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Dec. 5-10 at the Music Hall
6th - 12th
Old Dominion, Dec. 8 at T-Mobile Center
Kansas City Symphony presents The Muppet Christmas Carol™ in Concert Film + Live Orchestra, Dec. 8-9 at Kauffman Center
A Magical Cirque Christmas, Dec. 12 at the Music Hall
13th - 19th
Kansas City Symphony presents Christmas Festival, Dec. 14-17 at Kauffman Center
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dec. 16 at at T-Mobile Center
Mizzou v. Seton Hall basketball, Dec. 17 at T-Mobile Center
Spire Chamber Ensemble and Baroque Orchestra present Handel's Messiah Period Performance with Soloists from the Choir, Dec. 18 at Kauffman Center
20th - 26th
K-State v. Wichita State basketball, Dec. 21 at T-Mobile Center
Kansas City Symphony presents The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert
Film + Live Orchestra, Dec. 21-24 at Kauffman Center
The Ugly Sweater Christmas Party, Dec. 23-24 at the Bartle 2100 Hall Lobby
27th - 31st
Kansas v. Wichita State basketball, Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Center
ONGOING
Holidays at Union Station, now through Jan. 1
Crown Center Ice Terrace (2023-2024 Season), now through March 10
For a more exhaustive list of everything happening Downtown, go to the VisitKC events page and use the “regions” function to search for Downtown, Westside/Southwest Blvd, West Bottoms, River Market, Power & Light, Crown Center, Crossroads, 18th & Vine — or anywhere you want to go in the KC Metro
For live Kansas City Jazz performances, visit LiveJazzKC.com
Q. Which band in 1923 was the first Kansas City group to record a phonograph recording of its music? Clue: The band leader was born on Dec. 13, 1893, in Kansas City, Mo.
A. With an assist from Kansas City's Winston Holmes Music Store, the Bennie Moten Orchestra recorded several songs at the Okeh Recording Company in Chicago on Sept. 23, 1923. (Band leader Bennie Moten was born this month in 1893 and grew up on Woodland and Michigan avenues near Kansas City’s music halls.)
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