James Lindhorst - Page 5

Fans of The Four Season and those that have seen many productions of Jersey Boys are going to enjoy Maggie Burrow’s nostalgic and fresh take. Pablo David Laucerica’s star is on the rise. He’s terrific vocally and has outstanding stage presence. He will soon be making his Broadway debut in the new musical The Queen of Versailles. Cory Jeacoma continues a fantastic legacy with Jersey Boys after previously playing Bob Gaudio in other productions. His novel take on Nick Massi is one-of-a-kind and a favorite performance in this production. He, Laucerica, and Andrew Poston make memorable Muny debuts. Ryan Vasquez is charismatic in his return to the Muny stage as the greasy Tommy DeVito. The four actors’ genuine truthful portrayals enhance Burrow’s realistic storytelling.

Critics are heaping praise upon leading actors Olivia Hernandez and Delphi Borich. Hernandez plays author Jane Austen and Borich plays the Pride and Prejudice protagonist Elizabeth Bennet. Both are getting raves for their acting and singing. Broadway World called their vocals are soaring and graceful. Hernandez and Borich sat down with Broadway world to discuss the first stop on their planned eight city tour. They talked about the process of standing this production up at STAGES St. Louis, their previous experiences, and the people who influenced their love of theater. 

Rachel Bailey stars as Calista in MADAM. She is the eldest and most experienced prostitute in Madam Eliza Haycraft’s brothel. Rachel won a 2024 St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Best Supporting Female Performance in a Musical for her spot-on portrayal of Susan Blackwell in [title of show]. She shared that award, in a tie, with her Madam co-star Kimmie Kidd who won for her supporting role in Tesseract’s production of Anastasia.   Broadway World called Rachel’s standout performance is fearless and boldly daring. Critics said her portrayal is “sexually charged, courageous, revealing, roguish, and risqué.” 

The Muny’s La Cage Aux Folles is enormity in storytelling. Contrasted with the intimacy of last week’s Dear Evan Hansen, Marsha Milgrom Dodge’s La Cage captures the grandeur of what The Muny does best. It is a grand venue that supports epic productions.

Director Michael James Reed and company present A Streetcar Named Desire with grand showmanship, attention grabbing storytelling, and intense performances. The Tennessee Williams Festival is an outstanding chance to see a superb production of his Williams’ masterpiece. It is hard to say a Tennessee William’s play enjoyable or entertaining because his dramas are never uplifting. A Streetcar Named Desire tackles brutality, abuse, alcoholism, toxic masculinity, class conflict, rape, mental anguish, and nervous breakdown. Blanche and Stanley’s dramatic conflict leaves victims in their wake. 

Madam is a fictional story based on a real-life 19th century entrepreneur and real-estate investor. The adult-themed book’s shrewd protagonist, devilish villains, and supporting characters tell a story of the seedier side of old St. Louis.

When La Cage aux Folles opens at The Muny on Friday night, Broadway superstar Norm Lewis will again grace The Muny stage.

Steel Magnolias is an actor's piece. Margery A. Handy’s transformative performance is reason enough to spend two and a half hours revisiting Robert Harling’s play.

Over the next few weekends Equally Represented Arts (ERA), one of the city's leading companies in experimental theater, is presenting an adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Three emerging directors, Miranda Jagels Felix, Spencer Lawton, and Jimmy Bernatowicz, share the directorial efforts.When choosing this type of experimental production, it is important to recognize that storytelling is secondary to the unorthodox approach. There is no doubt the objective is both, but Dollhouse by Three Manufacturers sacrificed narrative for the experiment.  

STAGES St. Louis pre-Broadway production of Austen’s Pride is polished and ready for the road. It glows with originality. Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs’ book seduces with enchanting storytelling. Igor Goldin and Sheela Ramesh’s collaborative direction have drawn radiant performances and resonant vocals from a hugely talented cast. Olivia Hernandez, Delphi Borich, Dan Hoy, and the rest of this cast show up with excellence and deliver at the highest level.  

The Muny production of Dear Evan Hansen is a departure from the huge overblown musical extravaganzas that normally populate The Muny stage. It's a much smaller show but it is profoundly emotional. It creates intimacy that was once thought impossible in this large venue and opens other opportunities for the stories that the Muny can tell.  Like his emotionally charged direction of Fiddler on the Roof last season, Rob Ruggerio’s Muny version of Dear Evan Hansen packs an emotional wallop. Michael Fabisch, Jackie Burns, Maggie Lakis, Rob McClure, Afra Sophia Tully, and the rest of this cast grabs the audience, holds them close, and leaves them with a deeply touching and poignantly warm theatrical experience. 

On August 7, 2025, Stray Dog Theatre will continue its season with the youth opera The Second Hurricane. Composed by Aaron Copland, with a libretto by Edwin Denby, The Second Hurricane premiered in 1937 at The Playhouse in New York City. That original production was directed by a then 21-year-old Orson Welles and starred a young Joseph Cotten. “Audiences are going to want to see this because it is unique and hasn’t been done in St. Louis before,” says Bell. “This is a unique art form that needs to be explored and cherished.” 

The Details is a story of catharsis that stems from confronting one’s beliefs, taking accountability for behavior, and charting a path forward for change. The narrative has promise. Larson has a strong point of view, and he has penned a play with a mostly satisfying conclusion. The character’s burdens and their resulting emotional conflict hold your attention, but there are scenes when it is a struggle to get past the inane dialogue. The chatter is too simply too tidy and formulaic.  

Actor Jackie Burns returns to the Muny Stage next week in the highly anticipated Muny premiere of Dear Evan Hansen. She last played the Muny two season ago as songwriter Cynthia Weil in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. For that role Burns won a St. Louis Theater Circle award for best supporting performer in a musical. This season Burns will be playing Heidi, Evan’s mother, in Dear Evan Hansen. This season Burns will be playing Heidi, Evan’s mother, in Dear Evan Hansen.

Two Jews Walk into a War... is not slapstick or laugh out loud funny. It is more wryly amusing. The humor is abundant. Laughs come from Seth Rozin’s quippy script, Aaron Sparks’ crisp direction and sharp timing, and Gary Glasgow and Chuck Winning’s playful sparring. But Rozin, Sparks, and the actors take the audience beyond the laughs and comedy, leaving them with more.  Two Jews Walk into a War... provokes a quieted introspection about faith, ethics, beliefs, responsibility, and the relationships among the members of a community and religious congregation.

This morning The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ Danny Williams, Kate Bergstrom, Delaney Piggins, and Brian Coats welcomed invited members of the press to share The Rep’s plans for what they are calling their ‘Season of Daring Imagination.’ This year’s season will include five mainstage shows with an additional three shows in the Steve Woolf Studio Series. Bergstrom, the Augustin Family Artistic Director said, “This year we’ve planned relevant, excellent, and extraordinary experiences for our audience.” 

EVITA at The Muny is an auditory and visual feast. Hear Katerina McCrimmon, Paulo Szot, Omar Lopez-Cepero, and the rest of this talented ensemble sing the Webber and Rice score in superb operatic fashion. Be mesmerized by a breathtaking masterclass in production aesthetics and designing for the theatre and enjoy Director Josh Rhode’s splendid new vision of the resilient, ambitious, and revered Eva Peron.  

This year’s LaBute Festival is filled with six strong scripts that are enhanced by Bryan McLaughlin and Avery Harrison’s direction. Both directors help their actors find and create intriguing characters in completely original stories.

Among the most highly anticipated theatrical events in St. Louis this summer is the mainstage production at the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis (TWSTL.) In celebration of their 10th Anniversary Season, TWSTL is staging William’s seminal work A Streetcar Named Desire.  

Romeo and Zooliet is an enchanting theatrical event. The ingenious Jennifer Joan Thompson’s clever script and Michael Curry’s fairy-tale like puppets are brought to fantastical life in the exuberant performances of a well-rehearsed, talented, and vivacious cast. Tom Ridgely’s leadership and collaboration with his design teams has inspired exceptionally amusing storytelling, and the collaboration to stage this on the historic hill in the St. Louis Zoo is genius.