Patty and her sister Vicky and I went to Starlight Theatre for the Doobie Brothers’ concert last night. Kansas City is one of many cities on the legendary band’s 50th Anniversary Tour.
We had not been to Starlight in a few years, and the moment we got in the place I was sorry it had been so long.
Starlight, in Swope Park, is one of Kansas City’s premier attractions. It’s one of those places that makes me feel good about being a Kansas Citian. It projects a big-time, yet relaxed atmosphere. To me, it beats Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums. Arrowhead hardly smacks of relaxation, while Kauffman has been way too relaxed since 2015.
Starlight, on the other hand, is always warm and inviting and seems to envelope one and create an atmosphere of contentment and security.
Moreover, it’s got landmarks. Consider its stage-flanking, oxidized copper towers. Where Churchill Downs has its Twin Spires — the most recognized landmark in Kentucky — Starlight has its own twin spires.
Soon after we arrived last night (about 45 minutes before the scheduled showtime of 7:30), I excitedly began taking photos with my phone. I didn’t realize until I reviewed them this morning that most weren’t very substantive. But that’s how just being there after a long absence got my blood rushing.
The most amazing and gratifying thing to me about Starlight is how its proprietor — the nonprofit Starlight Theatre Association, in partnership with the KC Parks and Recreation Department — has kept the theater abreast of changing times. Upgrades have been almost continuous since the 1980s.
Here’s what Starlight looked like in June 1950 when it opened with the musical The Desert Song.
The theater was an immediate success initially, but by the late 1960s, it was losing money, and by the mid-1980s it was at a critical point. Crowds for Broadway-type shows had diminished; revenue was way down; and the place simply was not very appealing.
At that point, the Park Board, led by the indomitable Anita Gorman, called on the late Chiefs’ president Jack Steadman, to lead a fund-raising effort, which was successful. In addition, executive producer Bob Rohlf, who had been hired in 1980 as marketing director, helped breathe new life into the operation after being elevated to executive producer.
The 1990s also brought big improvements. As the Starlight website says: “To stay competitive with theater companies around the country, Starlight’s outdoor stage would need to be able to host national touring productions. Recognizing this need, the capital campaign was expanded to include the construction of a new covered stage house.”
The campaign was successful, thanks partly to a gift of more than $1 million from Jeannette and Jerome Cohen.
The $10 million stage made its debut in the summer of 2000. The stage is 10 stories tall and covers 12,000 square feet. It is climate controlled and fully enclosed on the top and sides. While audience members occasionally have to endure bad weather, the performers do not. The show goes on “rain or shine,” with the exception of delays or cancellations because of extremely bad weather.
One of the biggest improvements in recent years was the 2018 addition, at a cost of $600,000, of four “mega-fans” in the seating bowl. The 35-foot-tall fans, which look like wind turbines pointing at the sky, create a breeze of about 4 mph throughout the seating bowl.
From the financial standpoint, here are the critical numbers regarding Starlight: The theater cost $1.75 million to build in the late 1940s; it now has an estimated value of about $80 million, according to the Starlight website.
**
Here’s a look at the Starlight bowl (with two of its mega fans) before last night’s show. And, yes, those are rain clouds moving in from the west, but fortunately it did not rain.
As I said, the Doobie Brothers were good. They played all their big hits and a bunch of others, and Michael McDonald, who was with the band from 1975 to 1981, was on stage, playing keyboards and singing during the entire concert. As you would expect from a 69-year-old singer, his voice doesn’t have the same range and vibrancy as it did in the 1970s and 1980s, but it was good enough.
One of the highlights of the night, from the concert standpoint, was watching Patty and Vicky — who grew up in the ’70s — bop to the song “China Grove.” Here they were before the show started.
Suffice it to say, the three of us were pretty close to heaven last night, mainly because Starlight is a heavenly place.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
There was a better concert at The Uptown Theatre last night — Squeeze.
Every time I drive by Valentine and Broadway and see the marquee with the words “Doors 7,” I wonder if Jim Morrison came back to life and The Doors are going to be playing at The Uptown.
Finally, you embrace some decent music. Having played at Starlight for the Katrina benefit, I can tell you that what you don’t see is how outstanding things are back stage for the bands or cast. This is an exceptional venue to play from an artist’s perspective
I thought I saw a promo on the Starlight LED screens that said something like, “Edwardsville musician back for encore.”
Your piece on Starlight Theatre reminds me of the time as a young teen of attending a show with my parents. During intermission, there was a buzz in the crowd and word spread that former Pres. Truman was in attendance. I saw where the commotion was occurring and informed by parents that I was going over to see what was going on. I guess even in those days my political DNA had already kicked in. I walked over to the end of the aisle where the president was, reached out my hand and said, “Mr. President, I want to shake your hand.” And he did!
Another great Truman story, Tom. That probably agitated your political genes.
My first time at Starlight was in the early ’60s. Comedian Dick Shawn (Mad, Mad. . . World) was starring in Destry Rides Again. A thunderstorm halted the show in the third act, but a drenched Shawn stayed on stage throughout with a live mic, told jokes and entertained us for an additional half hour. Terrific experience and made me a Shawn fan the rest of my life.
Several years back, I was at a Doobies/Chicago concert, and during the Doobies part there was an elderly woman standing up, dancing to one of their songs. I thought to myself, “I seem to recall old people don’t like the Doobie Brothers.” Then I realized she was my age. It’s hell to get old. :(
A lot of “old” people were rockin’ and boppin’ Tuesday night.
Years ago the Direct Marketing group of MBA students at UMKC took on the project of revising Starlight’s marketing efforts. An undated focus on well-targeted groups of people resuscitated flagging attendance and helped with community support.
Nice job, Jim. Last (and only?) visit was in ’73 or ’74 to see my wife’s good friend Patty Scrivener in ‘Man of La Mancha.’ She and the Starlight both memorable.
Growing up in KC, I went to Starlight with my parents. I think it was Showboat that seats down front were open, only two, so they held us on their laps. It was my intro to theater. I also remember a performance when it rained. The women in their rayon dresses were crowded into the restroom with their dresses plastered against their bodies.
Nice memory, Sally….Patty recalls her mother and other “ladies” wearing girdles, stockings gloves and hats in 90-plus-degree heat at Starlight. On the comfort front, things have changed much for the better…(Love the image of the dresses plastered against the skin.)