Best Charitable Event
Kansas Citians are charitable folks, but it doesn’t hurt to have a good time thrown in as you give away your money. The best charitable event, for the fifth year in a row, is Jazzoo, including 3,600 guests, 400 Zoo-impassioned volunteers, 275 sponsors and 100 restaurant and beverage partners who reverberated loudly for the Gold on June 3rd. The Dream Gala, sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, raised money and hope with its black-tie formal event as well as clasped the Silver for the first time. The Fur Ball from Wayside Waifs was a great time, too, taking the Bronze prize and gazillions of dollars from more than 750 strangely dressed pet lovers.
Best Casino
Casinos are about more than gambling. There’s food, headliner entertainment, hotels, movies and much more. You can find all that at the Ameristar Casino, our readers’ choice for the Gold award. Put your money on the Argosy Casino for the Silver, its Mediterranean interior, stain-glassed ceilings, Moraccan tiles all taking you away from Kansas City for fun and frolic. With four restaurants, hotel with indoor pool and a friendly reputation, Harrah’s North Kansas City Casino ante ups for the Bronze.
Best Day Trip
Any day could be a good day for a day trip. Our Kansas City readers, when they want to travel for a bit and get home the same day, once again choose Weston, Mo., as their favorite Gold expedition. In the 1840s, this town was bigger than KC and much of it now is placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lawrence, Kan., once again is the Silver place to go, and its museums, Dole Institute, restaurants and shopping easily can consume a day. The distance to our Bronze winner is minimal, but Parkville, Mo., easily can provide a day’s entertainment, eating and shopping all in the beautiful hills with the melodic train whistles reminding you where you are.
Best Jazz or Blues Club
The rest of our Gold prize winner’s name is “and Jazz Club” so it’s a good thing Jardine’s Restaurant won it, switching with our winner from last year. Its headliners include Ida McBeth, Mike Metheny, Marilyn Maye and so many more, as well as some great dinners cooked in the world’s smallest kitchen we’re sure. The Silver wings its way to the Phoenix Piano Bar & Grill, where such groups as the venerable Scamps or Everett Devan Trio, the Max Groove Band, Tim Whitmer and Dave Stephens’ Martini Bash make new fans nightly. We’ve not forgotten the Bronze, which goes to The Blue Room in the 18th and Vine area, whose décor, smoke-free environment, and largely local entertainers fit the bill.
Best Family Outing Venue
KC is called a great place for families, but is it so? Apparently yes said our readers, as they voted the Kansas City Zoo the Gold in this new category, no doubt for its improved facilities, exciting animals and family-friendly amenities. The Silver went to a relative newcomer still, T-Bones Baseball at Community-America Ballpark where you can get up close to the players, watch crazy stunts and enjoy the ambiance of baseball as it used to be. Third place (oh, don’t we wish!) flies to Royals Baseball at the “K” for the Bronze, indicating our belief that they still know how to put on a good show in a great stadium. We’re all a little schocked to see our minor league team beat our major league team in this category and hope for the Royals sake they can avoid a showdown with the T-Bones.
Best Museum or Art Gallery
The much esteemed Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art takes the Gold honors yet again, despite its renovations and architectural controversy. The new garage makes life easier for patrons as they continue to enjoy the vast collections from every country and culture of the world, as well as outstanding temporary exhibits. Speaking of the latter, certainly the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art deserves at least its Silver for its innovative and thought-provoking displays of the newest and the best in the modern world. The Bronze settles on the Blue Gallery on 19th Street, again perhaps because of its commitment that “the vital, transformative power of the visual arts remain accessible to all, regardless of financial circumstance or academic background.”
Best Performing Arts Venue
In 1950, an unfinished Starlight Theatre, hosted its first event, “Thrills of a Century.” They’re still doing it, not only completed but improved, for the Gold prize again, more than 375 shows later. The Lyric Theatre, holder of the Silver this year, began life as a “castle” built by the Nobles of the Ararat Temple for themselves and Kansas City. Today, re-beautified, it is the home of the Lyric Opera. Nearby, and part of Municipal Auditorium, sits the gorgeous Music Hall, no doubt enjoying its Bronze award, where thousands have attended hundreds of professional performances as well as graduations since its completion in 1937.
Best Sports Venue
This probably has more to do with FANaticism than with venue, but hurrah for Arrowhead Stadium as it conquers the Gold for yet another year. Eighty thousand Chiefs fans just cannot be wrong, although we have to say many of them are not women who patiently wait for “the facilities,” which we understand recently have been renovated and expanded. Keeping the Silver again this year is Kauffman Stadium, true-blue forever. A newbie to this category for the Bronze: T-Bones Baseball at Community-America Ballpark where you can even picnic in (well, near) the outfield.
Best Happy Hour
Thank you, Kansas lawmakers. The best places to get happy are all in Missouri, all in the Plaza and all good deals. Schmoozing for the Gold is McCormick & Schmick’s, where you can actually nosh your way through “dinner” for a couple bucks or so. Go early, though, if you want to grab a seat. The Silver belongs to the Kona Grill, with its special margaritas and the “sake bomber,” and half-priced appetizers, island pizzas and sushi rolls. George Brett’s opens for Happy Hour at 3:30 with discounted drinks, starters, snacks and pizza—yum—early enough to win the Bronze.
Best Community Theater
Starlight Theatre sings, dances and acts its way to the Gold this year for the first time. Its solid lineup in 2004-05, as well as its improved amenities, worked together to please its thousands of patrons. Missouri Repertory Theatre, offering everything from The Pirates of Penzance to A Young Lady from Rwanda to Lily Tomlin, seizes the Silver. And the American Heartland Theatre kicks up the Bronze for its entertaining musicals and plays in Crown Center.
Best Entertainment Venue
Starlight Theatre again this year entertains us for the big Gold prize. Old favorites like Singin’ in the Rain, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hello, Dolly! and Footloose attracted varied and enthusiastic crowds. The Ameristar Casino shines for the Silver, with people like Loretta Lynn, the Temptations, Tony Bennett and Bob Newhart providing great diversion for evenings. The Bronze shifts to art deco-ed, “wall-muraled” Music Hall, where 2,400 patrons can sit closely together singing with Dora the Explorer or emoting throughout Les Miserables.
