Richard Crandle News

Stages St. Louis opens their 29th season with an all out party, with their audience-pleasing presentation of SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE, which celebrates the musical collaborations of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Now, if you want to know their backstory, then read their autobiography, 'Hound Dog', but if you just want to have a blast of an evening, then sit back and enjoy this imaginative musical tribute to 39 of their songs, keeping in mind that's just the tip of the iceberg for these Brill Building wonders who had 70 charted hits over the course of their writing partnership. Stages really pulls out all the stops to make sure that each number is unique in its own way, and when they aren't seriously rocking the house, they are either scorching hot, or just plain hilarious. You won't want to miss this rollicking revue!

STAGES St. Louis has announced casting for its exhilarating 29th season: Smokey Joe's Cafe, Anything Goes, and The Full Monty. This season's exceptional talent voyages through songs and stories of diverse relationships, the bonds of friendship, and strength found in community. STAGES also announces the cast for its Theatre for Young Audiences production, the purrrrr-fect family classic, Disney's The Aristocats. All season and single tickets are on sale now.

BWW Exclusive: After 7 years on the road, the National Tour of the Tony® Award-winning hit broadway musical HAIRSPRAY played its final show in Riverside, CA over the weekend of April 24-25, 2010. In a video exclusively produced for BroadwayWorld, cast member Kyle Kleiboeker (Fender) gives us an inside look backstage for a behind-the-scenes peek at how this cast prepares for the show. Kleiboeker previously produced a popular online video series when he was a cast member of the national touring company of THE WEDDING SINGER.

The 1960's were certainly a turbulent turning point in American history, a decade of social upheaval that has shaped the nation so significantly, that it's hard to fathom that it was just a little under 50 years ago when such openly disagreeable behavior was the norm. While some may argue that tensions between races still exist, the fact that a modern audience can look back at these past events with a knowing sensibility (and be able to laugh about it all, to boot) is an encouraging, wonderful thing. HAIRSPRAY, the high-energy, laugh-a-minute musical now back on stage at The Orange County Performing Arts Center (thru April 11) shines a light on race relations during the early part of this volatile decade with a wonderfully delicious storyline, sprinkled with campy fun, an infectious score and a sensational cast that is beaming with joy.