The Dead Ladies Show: KC Debut!

Seating begins 6pm ~ Showtime 7pm-9pm ~ $10 ADV/$15 DOS ~ All Ages*

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Sail in for the very first edition of The Dead Ladies Show KANSAS CITY! After a thrilling seven years in New York City, we’re adding a new show in the heart of the Midwest, and to celebrate the first ever DLS KC, we’re doing an all-local show, highlighting three Dead Ladies from Missouri and Kansas!

We’ll learn about a dancer whose name is synonymous with Golden Age glamor; a Black entrepreneur and doyenne of the biscuit world; and a groundbreaking Wyandot lawyer who dedicated her life to protecting her people’s final resting place.

THE LADIES

ANNIE FISHER (1867–1938) was a Black caterer and entrepreneur, known as Columbia, Missouri’s Beaten Biscuit Queen. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, hers was a household name, catering elite parties in mid-Missouri and St. Louis, and shipping biscuits to the coasts. Beyond the kitchen, she was a real estate mogul and divorcee who paid her husband to leave her and who still put her daughter through college with her own earnings. Her portfolio grew to at least 18 properties and she held 57 acres in her name by the time of her death, but her mansions were demolished in the 1960s and…2011.

GINGER ROGERS (1911–1995) was a dancer, singer, fashion-icon, and Academy Award-winning actress who appeared in 73 films—perhaps most famously opposite Fred Astaire, though the pair made only nine movies together. Both on and off-screen, the Independence, Missouri native embodied the idea that a woman could be more than one thing. Rogers was a devout follower of Christian Science (not to be confused with the Church of Scientology) with undeniable sex appeal, and a flair for both comedic and dramatic acting. A darling of Hollywood’s Golden Age, she much preferred more rural settings, and spent her later years at her ranch in Medford, Oregon.

LYDA CONLEY (c. 1869–1946) would have been cool even if she had only been the first woman to be admitted to the Kansas Bar Association. But that’s not all, folks—she was also the first Native American woman to argue a federal case before the United States Supreme Court. A committed activist, she is widely remembered for her long and often contentious campaign to prevent development of the tribal cemetery where her ancestors were buried.

THE PRESENTERS

Jessica Vaughn Martin is a writer, food journalist, and gastronomic enthusiast. Her writing centers around foodways, forgotten histories, and other mostly Midwestern motifs.

Emily Farris is an author, writer, karaoke regular, and sequin enthusiast who grew up in Independence, Missouri but would rather tell you about the decade she spent in New York.

Molly O. Kemper is a writer and translator newly based in Kansas City. You can read her humor writing online at The Belladonna, Weekly Humorist, Robot Butt, and more. She has also been the longtime co-host of The Dead Ladies Show NYC.

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The Dead Ladies Show began in Berlin and has since gone international, celebrating remarkable women of the past through live storytelling. Each show features three presenters who dig into the lives of bold, brilliant, and sometimes scandalous women who deserve to be remembered, and toasted. Think history class with better lighting and a fully-stocked bar.

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A NOTE ABOUT SEATING:
All seating is first come, first served. Please plan to arrive early for the best tables.

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