Kansas City Photobook: Union Station

I had a vague notion to go to Union Station.  I’d never been there before.  When I was active in the theatre scene in Kansas City, I’d driven by it hundreds of times.  There was a four month rehearsal process for A CLOCKWORK ORANGE alone, not to mention THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, which were both performed nearby at the Just Off Broadway Theatre, between Union Station and Westport.

There’s a Pirates exhibit going on at Union Station.  There’s Science City.  The planetarium was closed that day.  There’s a cinema with an 80-foot tall screen.  I figured I’d go see the Actors Theatre’s performance of Eugene O’Neill’s A LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT.  If nothing else.  I’ve never worked with the Actors Theatre before, but it’s hard to pass up Eugene O’Neill.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t give you a review of the play.  Or tell you about any of the exhibits.  The only thing you could say I did at Union Station was have a latte from Parisi and some truffles from The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, both of which I would give five stars.  Otherwise, I just walked around and took photos.

Walking around taking photos might not sound that interesting, but I’d swear if there was one part of Kansas City you wouldn’t mind getting lost in, it’s Union Station and the surrounding areas.  On one side is the Crossroads, Kansas City’s Art district.  On another side is Crown Center, an expansive shopping arena where you can buy cool WIZARD OF OZ lunchboxes and eat at the Crayola Cafe.  On another side is the impressive and thought-provoking Liberty Memorial and National World War I Museum.  All within walking distance.

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Union Station seems like the perfect setting for some Hitchcock or Capra film starring Jimmy Stewart.  Whether Jimmy Stewart is in the midst of some embroiled plot where all the innocent people milling about him are unaware of the situation or he’s on his way to Capitol Hill to stand up against a cold and calloused congress for the rights of the working man, there’s Union Station.  There’s always Union Station.  In fact, the film would probably be called UNION STATION and involve the interlocking stories of serval unrelated people, eclipsing even GRAND HOTEL.  In other words, it’s cinematic in scope.

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