Theatre in St. Louis: Best of 2009

Theatre in St. Louis: Best of 2009

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 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 (in chronological order).

Playwright David Harrower's Blackbird could well serve as a cautionary tale for any male contemplating a relationship with an underaged partner. Certainly Ray, who changed his name to Peter, found out the hard way that even though he may have served time for his offense and moved on with his life, his past still managd to catch up with him. Carmine Goodine and Christopher Oden provided compelling and uncomfortable interplay as the tension mounted and secrets were slowly revealed in this stunner of a production by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

I'd been listening to the cast album of Spring Awakening for some time before I actually had the chance to see the show, so my expectations were pretty high when a touring company played the Fox Theatre this past winter. But, the payoff was exquisite, with Duncan Sheik's music and Stephen Sater's book and lyrics getting a dazzling workout by an exceptional cast (and band), under the direction of Michael Mayer and choreographer Bill T. Jones.

Upstream Theater can always be counted on to do something interesting, and artistic director Philip Boehm's translation of Woyzeck transformed the tale into a brooding and surreal masterpiece, buoyed by Boehm's expert direction, and a great cast that included: J. Samuel Davis, Brooke Edwards and Peter Mayer.

Director Scott Miller crafted a hilarious production of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee that had me rolling in the aisle. The cast, consisting of: Nicholas Kelly, Alexis Kinney, Katie Nestor, Deborah Sharn, Mike Dowdy, Aaron Allen, Emily Berry, John Rhine and Brian Claussen were all impeccable, and that was not an easy task given William Finn's catchy, but challenging score.

Stages St. Louis also gave me plenty of reasons to chuckle with an absolutely sparkling version of Bob Martin and Don McKellar's The Drowsy Chaperone. David Schmittou was outstanding as the Man in the Chair, providing a consistently amusing running commentary, while offering up his unique opinions concerning theatrical conventions. Edward Juvier and Christianne Tisdale stole the show as Adolpho and the Drowsy Chaperone, respectively, but the entire cast was equally up to task, with performances by David Elder, Kari Ely and Brian Ogilvie also standing out. Michael Hamilton directed with considerable flair.

HotCity Theatre's Neighborhood 3: Requistion of Doom immersed the audience in a virtual gaming experience that blurred the lines between reality and fantasy in violent and provocative ways. Chuck Harper's direction, and especially his incredibly effective sound design, worked to fully recreate the look and feel of a video game. His work with Greg Fenner, Maggie Conroy, John Pierson and Pamela Reckamp was also inspired.

It would have been easy for Kyle Jarrow to score his tale of killer Charlie Starkweather and Caril Fugate's incarceration, Love Kills, to a more conventional and period accurate 1950's flavored beat, but that would have softened his characters and weakened the emotional impact overall. Jarrow opts instead for a harder edge that suits the material much better, after all, Charlie isn't Danny Zuko, he's a murderer. New Line Theatre brought this dark vision to life under Scott Miller's taut direction, but it was the grounded performance of Alison Helmer, along with Zachary Allen Farmer's quiet intensity as Merle, the sheriff, that really made this piece cook.

Eric Little has done an especially good job as the artistic director of Echo Theatre Company, which operates out of the ArtSpace at Crestwood Court, producing and directing a number of noteworthy shows this season, but the premiere of Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen's song cycle, Fugitive Songs, topped them all. Fugitive Songs captivated me from the opening harmonies of "Reason to Run", and never let go. Justin Ivan Brown, Ben Nordstrom, Katy Tibbets, Lori Barrett-Pagano and Khnemu Menu-Ra delivered lovely, tight vocalizations of tunes that featured particularly complex and engaging harmonic inventions, and they made it appear effortless in the execution.

Muddy Waters Theatre closed a successful season devoted to Edward Albee with a brilliant staging of his masterwork, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Alan Knoll gave a bravura performance, extracting every ounce of anger, sadness, humor and joy possible from the character of George, and he was matched by MeMe Wolff's acid-tongued portrayal of Martha. Paris McCarthy and Joshua Thomas were perfectly cast as their unsuspecting guests. Director Jerry McAdams kept the pace chugging along nicely without suffering any loss of drama in the process. This was a true re-invigoration of a classic.

In my review of The New Jewish Theatre's production of Brooklyn Boy, I mentioned that I always look for three things when I'm deliberating the merits of a particular play: Does it make me laugh? Does it make me cry? Does it make me think? Brooklyn Boy managed to do all three. Bobby Miller's direction brought out the best in a fine cast that included: Jason Cannon, Peter Mayer, Sarah Cannon, R. Travis Estes, Paris McCarthy, Kate Frisina, and Justin Ivan Brown.

Honorable Mention: Barrymore (Avalon Theatre Company), Remember Me (Parsons Dance and the East Village Opera Company), Collected Stories, Wonder of the World (Orange Girls), Conversations with My Father (New Jewish Theatre), Doubt (Dramatic License), Helver's Night (Upstream Theater), Souvenir, Saint Joan, Amadeus (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Return to the Forbidden Planet (New Line Theatre), Black Nativity, In the Continuum, My Secret Language of Wishes (The Black Rep), 42nd Street (Muny), Sylvia, Everything in the Garden (Stray Dog Theatre), Nerve, The Secretaries (Echo Theatre Company), Mary Poppins, In the Heights (Fox Theatre), Die Lustige Witwe (Union Avenue Opera), Little Shop of Horrors (Stages St. Louis), and Cockeyed (HotCity Theatre).

Best children's shows: My Father's Dragon and Bah! Humbug! (Imaginary Theatre Company), Alice in Wonderland (Stages St. Louis), and Cinderbottom (Piwacket Theatre for Children).

Best concerts: Tommy Emmanuel, The Blind Boys of Alabama (Sheldon Concert Hall), Flight of the Conchords (Fox Theatre).

St. Louis continues to thrive culturally, with a blossoming theatre scene that shows no signs of slowing down, despite some concessions here and there to economic realities. 2010 is already showing signs of being just as promising.