Scott Miller News

The time is now. The setting is a downtown Chicago theater, where Jack Shore, a popular TV personality, is appearing one night only in a tribute to his grandfather, Jacob Shemerinsky, great star of the Yiddish Theater.

Auditions for New Line Theatre's more intimate, more rock and roll take on Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's political potboiler EVITA will be held on two successive Monday nights, May 3 and 10, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington University South Campus, 6501 Clayton Road (formerly CBC High School), just east of Big Bend, in the second floor theatre.

The time is now. The setting is a downtown Chicago theater, where Jack Shore, a popular TV personality, is appearing one night only in a tribute to his grandfather, Jacob Shemerinsky, great star of the Yiddish Theater.

Auditions for New Line Theatre's more intimate, more rock and roll take on Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's political potboiler EVITA will be held on two successive Monday nights, May 3 and 10, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington University South Campus, 6501 Clayton Road (formerly CBC High School), just east of Big Bend, in the second floor theatre.

Andrew Lippa's musical adaptation of Joseph Moncure March's epic poem, THE WILD PARTY, is a brilliant work, especially if you're anything like me, and you like your entertainment on the dark side. It's a decadent jewel gleaming with sinister possibilities, and thus, far removed from the current trend toward sunny shows with predictably happy endings. Though set in 1928, it manages to perfectly capture the current mood of cynicism that seems to have run rampant through our country over the course of the last fifteen years. New Line Theatre's current presentation of THE WILD PARTY is a deliriously engaging experience, easily making it one of the best productions of the year.

Auditions for New Line Theatre's more intimate, more rock and roll take on Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's political potboiler EVITA will be held on two successive Monday nights, May 3 and 10, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington University South Campus, 6501 Clayton Road (formerly CBC High School), just east of Big Bend, in the second floor theatre.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' continues its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's rowdy, raunchy, jazz musical THE WILD PARTY, running April 22-May 15, 2010, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend. Tickets are on sale now, through Metrotix, 314-534-1111.

The Fifth Annual Kevin Kline Awards will take place on Monday, March 22, at 7pm, at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University. 125 productions presented by 40 constituent theatres were judged in 2009, and awards will be given out in 22 categories.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' continues its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's rowdy, raunchy, jazz musical THE WILD PARTY, running April 22-May 15, 2010, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

The Fifth Annual Kevin Kline Awards will take place on Monday, March 22, at 7pm, at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University. 125 productions presented by 40 constituent theatres were judged in 2009, and awards will be given out in 22 categories.

The nominees for the 5th Annual Kevin Kline Awards have been announced. The annual ceremony will be held on Monday, March 22 at 7pm at the Loretto-Hilton Theater.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' now in its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre, offers its second annual musical theatre scholarship, this year in the amount of $1,000, to be awarded to one St. Louis metro area high school senior who plans to study musical theatre in college. The scholarship has been funded by donations from New Line supporters. The deadline for applying is April 1, 2010, and guidelines are on the New Line website at http://www.newlinetheatre.com/scholarship.html. Last year's recipient was Jake Fruend of Webster High School.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' now in its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre, offers its second annual musical theatre scholarship, this year in the amount of $1,000, to be awarded to one St. Louis metro area high school senior who plans to study musical theatre in college.

2009 provided me with the opportunity to review 126 of the more than 200 shows that were available in the St. Louis region, and it began in terrific fashion with New Line Theatre's NIGHT OF THE LIVING SHOW TUNES. This was a wonderful sampling of contemporary show tunes performed by a cast of talented locals, and featuring artistic director Scott Miller's fine accompaniment on piano. In the acoustically perfect confines of the Sheldon Concert Hall, these unique melodies made a glorious noise. And, as I continued on my quest to expose my young son to the world of musical theatre, I ended the year with the Imaginary Theatre Company's splendid presentation of BAH! HUMBUG!. I was lucky enough to catch quite a few gems in between, and I've decided to compile a list of the ten most intriguing and engaging productions I saw in 2009.

Back in the mid-1990s, local singer and actor Deborah Sharn started a talk show about St. Louis theatre on KDHX 88.1 FM, called 'Break a Leg: Theatre in St. Louis and Beyond.'

This Saturday, Nov. 14, the St. Louis International Film Festival will be screening the new documentary 'Almost A Legend - The Life and Lyrics of Fran Landesman,' at the Hi-Pointe Theatre here in St. Louis at 5:00 p.m., with a panel discussion to follow. This film will be part of a 72-minute program of short films, followed by the panel, so the whole event should be over around 6:45...

This Saturday, Nov. 14, the St. Louis International Film Festival will be screening the new documentary 'Almost A Legend - The Life and Lyrics of Fran Landesman,' at the Hi-Pointe Theatre here in St. Louis at 5:00 p.m., with a panel discussion to follow. This film will be part of a 72-minute program of short films, followed by the panel, so the whole event should be over around 6:45...

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' continues its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's rowdy, raunchy, jazz musical THE WILD PARTY, running April 22-May 15, 2010, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' opens its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of Kyle Jarrow's searing new rock musical Love Kills, running October 1-24, 2009, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

Auditions for the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY will be held on two successive Monday nights, October 12 and 19, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington University South Campus (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend, in the second floor theatre. This is NOT on the Washington University main campus. Performers need to come to only one of the dates. The show will run April 22-May 15, 2010. For details about the show, visit New Line's Wild Party webpage at http://www.newlinetheatre.com/wildpartypage.html. s