Article Contents Showtimes

The newest feature of the Kansas City Museum has a schedule full of insightful, historical entertainment ready for Kansas City summer afternoons. Corinthian Hall’s former planetarium was recently converted to house an intimate, 50-seat theater, which now hosts daily screenings of historic films and documentaries, as well as lectures and other history-themed programming.

Each of the films at the new StoryTarium explores a different aspect of Kansas City history, from “Bad Blood,” on the Kansas-Missouri border war of the 1850s, to “The Royal Years,” which begins with the expansion of suburbia in the 1950s. “The Pony Express” focuses on the famous horseback courier service of the 19th century, which was based out of St. Joseph, Missouri, and its impact on the closing of the frontier. Two films illustrate the lives of men who had extraordinary impacts on Kansas City, R.A. Long and J.C. Nichols.

Kansas City’s cultural side is well represented at the StoryTarium, with a pair of films called “Uniquely Kansas City” parts one and two. Part 1 explores Kansas City’s architectural past, highlighting Kansas City’s parks, boulevards, fountains, and monuments. Part 2 looks back on once-great KC venues such as the Gillis and Coates opera houses and the Western Gallery of Art. Painters such as George Caleb Bingham and John Douglas Patrick, and Kansas City’s contributions to ragtime music are also highlighted in Part 2.

“Over Here! The Story of Kansas City & World War II” reveals Kansas City’s contributions to the worldwide struggle against the Axis Powers. Kansas Citians contributed throughout the war, doing everything from constructing aircraft and training troops to growing vegetables in backyard gardens. “Stories Under the Stone” searches the area around Kansas City for notable and beautiful garden cemeteries, including Mt. Washington cemetery.


There are three shows daily, Tuesday – Sunday, and nine titles currently playing:

• Ours to Give: The Long Legacy of an American Family
• Stories Under the Stone
• Bad Blood
• Community Builder: The Life and Legacy of J.C. Nichols
• The Pony Express
• Over Here! The Story of Kansas City and World War II
• The Royal Years
• Uniquely Kansas City Part 1: The Art of the City
• Uniquely Kansas City Part 2: A Great Town Rises
• Union Station Massacre

Show times are 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday, and 12:30, 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday.