GOODHART WAY — Last Friday, March 22, the Brookside Shopping District renamed Brookside Plaza as Leon Goodhart Way from 63rd Street south to Meyer Blvd. Goodheart, who died June 9 at age 82, was born in Poland, survived the Holocaust and immigrated to Kansas City in 1949. He started working at the Country Club Shoe Store in Brookside with his great uncle, Jake Hyman, and continued working there the rest of his working life. As his obituary stated, “It’s fair to say that Leon was an icon in the Brookside business community and the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area in general. Literally fitting generations of kids in shoes, there were many parents that wouldn’t consider having anyone else touch their children’s feet. He owned other properties in Brookside as well and enjoyed “strolling through” the area, even after he retired.
SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD — In December Overland Park native Alex Bigus had his play produced by The Barn Players. He recently returned to the area for a while and is now starring in the Leawood Stage Company’s Broadway musical review “Songs for a New World.” The production will take place Friday and Saturday, April 5 and 6, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 7, at 2 p.m. It will feature performances by Bigus as well as Rene Blinn, T.J. Chaffin, Brad Clay Lauren Frazier, Courtney Koval, Andrew Lang and Ali Watson.
Seating is limited and advance tickets are strongly recommended for all three performances! Tickets are available at the Parks & Rec desk in Leawood City Hall. For more information and to purchase tickets, contact April Bishop, City of Leawood cultural art coordinator, at 913-339-6700 x157.
CELEBRATING BENNY GOODMAN — On Jan. 16, 1938, Benny Goodman took his swing orchestra to Carnegie Hall. The rest — as they say — is history. Commemorating the 75th anniversary of one of the greatest jazz concerts in history, the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and guest artist Ken Peplowski will “Sing, Sing, Sing” the night away at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4, at Muriel Kauffman Theatre. For tickets call 816-994-7222 or www.kauffmancenter.org. This is a fundraiser for the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary season.
A GOOD READ — I recently took a spring break trip and had a chance to read a book for pleasure for a change. I learned about “Brooklyn Love,” by Yael Levy and published by Crimson Romance on Jewniverse, an initiative of MyJewishLearning.com. It’s an Orthodox love story that follows three Orthodox girls in Brooklyn who fall for the wrong guys, defying parental and communal expectations. For Rachel, a hip artist, it’s love at first sight with a poor rabbinical student; Hindy fancies herself a Talmud scholar’s wife, but her heart is set on a coworker; and Leah wants to be a doctor even though her mom worries it will diminish her shidduch potential. Some of the online comments noted that the book wasn’t absolutely accurate, but it’s a novel for goodness sake. I enjoyed the book a lot. As you read it, you’ll see the relevance to the Yiddish proverb, “man plans, and God laughs,” which Levy puts at the end of her acknowledgements. It’s available in book form and e-book on amazon and at other book sellers.