James Lindhorst - Page 2

John Tartaglia promises that this new production will be refreshed and unlike any other production of Shrek that audiences may have seen before. He told Broadway World, “I’ve learned a lot directing nine other shows at The Muny. The theater has grown, and the technology and capabilities have changed. It is a much different theater than it was when I directed Shrek the first time.”

In her first season as the new artistic director at Opera Theatre of St. Louis (OTSL), Patricia Racette has programmed a festival season that holds something for everyone. Three of the four Operas being presented are written in English. Two, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance and The Light in the Piazza, are from the canon of the American Musical Theatre. The other two, A Streetcar Named Desire and Romeo and Juliet, are well known dramas. If you’ve never seen an Opera, this is the season to take in a show at OTSL.

St. Louis is at the center of one of the most hotly contested races at this year’s Tony Awards. The producing teams of Ragtime and CATS: The Jellicle Ball have ties to St. Louis, and both are nominated for Best Revival of a Musical. Stages St. Louis founder Jack Lane is a co-producer of Ragtime. Mike Bosner, a John Borroughs High School alum and former associate producer at The Muny is the lead producer on CATS: The Jellicle Ball.

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis has announced their mainstage production for their 11th annual festival. The St. Louis Premiere of Brandon Jacobs-Jenkin’s Pulitzer and Tony Award winning play Appropriate will headline the festival dubbed as “The Tennessee Effect.”

In ceremonies held Sunday at the Missouri History Museum, artist, theater creator, and social activist Joan Lipkin was presented with the Margo Jones Medal.

This production of Fiddler on the Roof is a triumph! It is fresh, exciting, engaging, entertaining, and unlike any other seen. Caleb Long and Colin Healy have created a transformative piece of theater. It has a slight contemporary sound while staying true to the source material. Long inspires affecting performances from his actors and musicians.

Stages St. Louis has announced full casting for their season opening production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The ensemble, comprised entirely of actors who call St. Louis home, includes multiple St. Louis Theater Circle Award winners.

Director Kathryn Bentley has built an infectious production of Colin McLaughlin and Ryan Marquez’s new groove heavy musical. She inspired and evoked vibrant performances from a high-octane cast who enthrall the audience with lively storytelling. Bentley delivers Eleventh Hour Radio’s ‘save the world’ message by entertaining instead of preachy bludgeoning. Eleventh Hour Radio is a head nodding, toe-tapping, irresistible bop. It is simply a fun time

Rebekah Scallet has once again brought St. Louis audiences a newer work to the NJT Wool Studio Stage with resounding success. Her production of Prayer for the French Republic is a gripping story with cataclysmic force. The Salomon and Benhamou Families face paralyzing fear steeped in the long history of Jewish persecution expertly captured by a gifted powerhouse acting ensemble. This deeply gripping and devastating production leaves the audience filled with empathetic catharsis.

World renowned opera singer and Tony Award winner Paulo Szot will be spending a lot of time in St. Louis this summer. Szot will make his Opera Theatre of St. Louis (OTSL) debut in The Light in the Piazza and reprise his Tony winning role as Emile de Beque in South Pacific at The Muny.

The surreal script can best be described as oddly bizarre. Dead Man’s Cellphone is a fantasy that explores human obsession with digital technology and the effects it has on our relationships. But it goes beyond the plot device to connect the protagonist to a dead man’s family. It examines how we sanctify the departed when we may have little or no information about them. Those who enjoy abstract and experimental theater will the love Dead Man’s Cellphone. Others, while they may not like Ruhl’s play, should appreciate the exceptional work by the talented director, cast, and crew.

When the Olivier Awards were handed out this evening in London, Stages St. Louis Founder and former Executive Producer, Jack Lane was keeping a keen eye on the results from his home in St. Louis.

Chorus of Fools swung for the fences taking on Romeo & Juliet. While they didn’t hit a home run, it was certainly a quality at bat. Director Eric Satterfield staged an emotionally satisfying production led by the outstanding performances of Zach Pierson, Tia René Williams, Celeste Genevieve Gardner, and Rowan Van Horn.

The Orange Girls and St. Louis Actors’ Studio’s The Half-Life of Marie Curie is a beautiful work. The production brings together all the design elements of a play into an artistic expression of friendship and feminism through intelligent story telling. It is flawlessly directed, convincingly acted, and meticulously executed. Its originality, integrity, honesty, and impact would make any Nobel prize winning scientist proud.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern may be dead, but the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival is very much alive. Those lucky enough to have secured a ticket to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead won’t be disappointed by this chaotically lively production of what Director Tom Ridgley calls “Tom Stoppard’s masterpiece.” The frenetically vibrant three act, two-and-one-half hour play, moves expediently courtesy of Ridley’s brisk direction and Jeff Cummings, Mitchell Henry-Eagles, and Ryan Omar Stack’s hyperbolic performances.

Fresh off their 13-wins at last night’s St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis announces their upcoming season celebrating their Diamond Anniversary at The Rep. This season, 60-years in the making, include five mainstage performances, three productions in the Steve Woolf Studio Series, and launches their new Diamond Concert Series.

New Jewish Theatre’s 14 wins and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ 13 wins sweep the St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards. In ceremonies on Monday night, New Jewish Theatre’s production of Cabaret won the most awards, including Outstanding Production of a musical. The Rep’s productions of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size and The Cottage were named Outstanding Production of a Drama and Outstanding Production of a Comedy.

Robbin, From the Hood has ambitious intent. Playwright Marlow Wyatt has crafted several potentially compelling scenarios about those living in impoverished and marginalized communities and how the conditions effect their population. But in its current iteration, Robbin, From the Hood loses its dramatic impact from its attempt to dramatize too much.

Flyin’ West is a family drama set against the backdrop of the migration West. The Jon Royal directed production succeeds because of the naturalistic acting of Handy, Pryor, Lockett, and Yancy. The women create realistic, believable relationships among the women they portray. The chemistry in Royal’s casting and the performances he elicited makes the familial connections feel genuine and the outside threat they face feel real.

Stages St. Louis is about to be thrust onto the international theatre scene with the U.K. premiere of The Karate Kid - The Musical. The critically acclaimed world premiere played to sold-out houses during its 5-week run that was originally produced at Stages St. Louis in 2022.