Midwest Trust Center at JCCC

This place has everything you would want in a performing arts venue. Great sound and lighting. Comfortable sightlines. A calendar booked solid with world class acts.It's just smaller and in a community college.Who would have thought?

Always been super impressed with everything I've seen here. This is the performing arts venue at Johnson County Community College- it was previously called The Carlsen Center. Definitely check out their calendar online- they book in some big names. Plus, there are lots of free concerts throughout the year. Always clean, good signage, and super helpful welcoming staff.

This past weekend I attended my first concert at Midwest Trust Center @ Johnson County CC. The Center has two theaters - Yardley Hall which seats 1250 and Polsky Theater which seats 400; I attended The Small Glories concert at the Polsky. The theater is spacious for only having a 400 seat capacity, with good tiered aisle elevation, great acoustics and comfortable cushioned seating. They book some very unique events so I'm clueless as why it has taken me so long to attend a show here, but I already have highlighted some upcoming events, so hopefully my return is soon. Free and safe parking is also a plus. Chalk one up for the suburbs!

I've been here for a few live concerts and the acoustics have been great. The staff is super friendly it's very easy to get in and to get seated. They do a great job of getting big name acts to perform at a smaller venue. I would recommend checking this venue out for a live concert.

Nice facility and perfect for special events. We saw a children's program and thoroughly enjoyed the event as well.

This review is for Yardley Hall, though as Rob M mentions, the Carlsen Center also consists of other theaters. Design: think super modern, sleek, and pristine. No drinks or food are allowed inside and I can get behind this, when you've a concert hall so clean, that you feel you could conduct surgery in. Of course this also lends to a bit of a sterile feel, and I do prefer my old, glorious theaters, BUT...The sound!! STELLAR!! Amongst the best sound I've heard in KC area venues. If you come for a concert here, you will hear every single note that you're supposed to hear. It's crystal clear and absolutely state of the art. So, 5 stars for the sound experience. The lighting could have used some help, as they didn't dim the theater lights until well after the first band started playing. Just a pet peeve of mine and it seems really amateur to do such a thing. Another weird glitch had the theater black out suddenly at some point after the first band finished. Not sure if this is a stage management thing or what.

We came here for the OK GO concert this last weekend. I wasn't expecting too much since I haven't been to one of their concerts. Boy, I was in for a treat! The venue was perfect and there was a merchandise table outside. Once we got inside, the stage was all decked out with all sorts of instruments from trash cans to pipes. Plus, there were big blowers that blew confetti around us. I just loved the large screen where you could watch the videos too. Overall, you can't go wrong with this place since these people care to put on a good show.

The Carlsen Center is a number of different stages, but Yardley Hall is the focus, and where most people will normally attend a performance at JCCC. The venue itself is spartan in design, but full of modern convenience and comfort. If JCCC can figure out its ongoing parking situation, this place will be perfect. With the Nerman and Cafe Tempo nearby, it's an ecosystem of art and performance, even in ol' Johnson County :-)

The Carlsen Center consists of multiple theaters, but the shining star of these is Yardley Hall which is the biggest of the venues. Live performances are the order of the day here and some of them are simply spectacular. In this venue, I have seen Lyle Lovett, Hot Tuna, Peter Frampton, Dr. John with The Blind Boys of Alabama (The Bilnd Boys stole the show), Jazz Winterlude Performances (this year Deborah Brown stole the show) and many other performances. Yeah, they have some duds like Debby Boone (so incredibly skippable), but they do a great job of bringing in some really incredible acts.The acoustics here are wonderful and there's really not a bad seat in the house. If you can't get student tickets, you'll pay a pretty penny for most performances. The one nagging thing that bugs me about this place kind of demonstrates me at my worst nitpickiness, but the mauve walls are just atrocious, especially since they don't go with the red curtains and seats. Please, I beg of you, JCCC, hire a painting crew to do something, anything, with the walls. Otherwise, I love the facility.

The Carlsen Center at Johnson County Community College is the major performing arts venue in Johnson County (suburban Kansas City). The Center consists of Yardley Hall, an acoustically fine concert hall, and the Polsky Theater. The Center also includes the Bodker Black Box Theater and a Recital Hall. Yardley Hall is the site of one of the Kansas City Symphony's classical music subscription series (on Sunday afternoons). The Carlsen Center also has a subscription performing arts series of its own. In addition, there are free series of classical music recitals and jazz performances at noon on certain Mondays and Tuesdays during the academic year. Performance and series information is available on the Center's website. The Carlsen Center is part of the JCCC campus, located at the intersection of College Blvd. and Quivira Rd. in Overland Park.