Christina Rios News

New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' closes its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre in June with one of the masterpieces of the art form, the darkly satiric THREEPENNY OPERA (which isn't really an opera), running tonight, May 28-June 20, 2015.

New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' closes its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre in June with one of the masterpieces of the art form, the darkly satiric THREEPENNY OPERA (which isn't really an opera), running May 28-June 20, 2015. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' closes its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre in June with one of the masterpieces of the art form, the darkly satiric THREEPENNY OPERA (which isn't really an opera), running May 28-June 20, 2015.

I always know to expect the unexpected when I attend a production by New Line Theatre. Artistic Director Scott Miller has a gift for choosing shows that are consistently engaging, entertaining, and smartly cast and directed. Whether it's a revival of a classic or something of a more recent vintage, each receives the same special care and attention that makes the old seem new again, and makes you wonder why some of the newer material wasn't more successful during their initial runs. With JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, New Line brings us a St. Louis premier of a musical that has actually achieved a modicum of success (including a filmed staging in 2005), but it's not a choice that you're likely to find anywhere else in this region due to its adult nature and content. New Line is dedicated to taking those kind of risks. And, I'm so glad they are, because I love seeing presentations that push the envelope, especially when they're done so brilliantly. JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA (music by Richard Thomas with book and lyrics by Stewart Lee and Thomas) delivers a unique, funny, tuneful, and completely tasteless parade of humanity that will win you over immediately. Prepare yourself to see opera from an entirely different perspective, in way that manages to stay true to the very tropes that define the genre, while turning them on their head with delicious blasphemy.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," continues its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, running March 5-28, 2015, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road.

New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' continues its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, running tonight, March 5-28, 2015, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. This show contains very adult content and language.

New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' continues its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, running March 5-28, 2015, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. This show contains very adult content and language.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," closes its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre in June with one of the masterpieces of the art form, the darkly satiric THREEPENNY OPERA (which isn't really an opera), running May 28-June 20, 2015.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," announces its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, including the St. Louis premiere of the new musical BONNIE & CLYDE, running Oct. 2-25, 2014; the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, running March 5-28, 2015; and one of the masterpieces of the art form, the darkly satiric THREEPENNY OPERA (which isn't really an opera), running May 28-June 20, 2015.

It's interesting to me when a play can effectively walk the fine line between drama and comedy, and Andrew Hinderaker's play, SUICIDE, INC., does just that. When it's funny, it's crass and hilarious, but when it's not, it's touching and sad. And there's a good hopeful ending that balances things out neatly. R-S Theatrics current staging of this eclectic and intriguing work is a well performed and nicely directed (Christina Rios) production that's deserving of your time and attention.

There's something very funny, yet very sad about the two characters in Rajiv Joseph's bittersweet work GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES. They're both damaged goods in one way or another, and we desperately want them to make a real love connection since they truly seem oddly suited for one another. And yet, there's a poignancy to the fact that won't ever progress past the point where they began at age 8. R-S Theatrics is presenting this unusual play, and it's made even more interesting by the fact that a real life husband and wife play the two characters that keep our attention for about an hour and a half.

SUICIDE,INCORPORATED is a seriocomedy set inside the offices of Legacy Letters, a start-up company that believes that your suicide note will be the most important document you will ever write, assists their clients (mostly men as that is the key demographic) much the same way as a career placement firm would. When Jason, a new hire with a determined hidden agenda to save his clients is assigned to lonely and desperate Norm, past and present collide.

SUICIDE,INCORPORATED is a seriocomedy set inside the offices of Legacy Letters, a start-up company that believes that your suicide note will be the most important document you will ever write, assists their clients (mostly men as that is the key demographic) much the same way as a career placement firm would. When Jason, a new hire with a determined hidden agenda to save his clients is assigned to lonely and desperate Norm, past and present collide.

If your only previous exposure to the story of Cyrano de Bergerac was through the Steve Martin vehicle Roxanne, then you've really only seen a watered down (and considerably lightened) telling of the tale. The movie is a lot of fun, but Edmond Rostand's play, which imparts a great deal of fictional ornamentation to the actual person, is much darker in nature. And while there is a generous amount of humor to be found, most of the action is played with an undercurrent of deadly seriousness, and with the countenance of the true tragedy that it is. St. Louis Shakespeare has mounted a swashbuckling staging that's neatly appointed and well performed by a game and talented cast.

MAN OF LA MANCHA has become a community theatre staple, and as such, gets staged with some degree of regularity. While some of these are uneven affairs at best, the Insight Theatre Company's current production is an exception, combining the talents of a splendid cast with sharp direction and choreography to produce an engaging and compelling evening of entertainment.

It happens every day, or maybe it just seems that way. Breaking up is not only hard to do, it is awful, terrible, painful -- and funny once you pick yourself up off the floor. Christina Rios finds the funny inside the pain, and the pain inside the funny. Her choice of breakup songs includes: everything from Weird Al Yankovic to Paul Simon to Stephen Sondheim.

Piwacket Theatre for Children celebrates their 18th year in existence with the charming debut of their 18th original production SNOW WHITE AND THE 8TH DWARF (playing through January 30, 2010 at the Black Cat Theatre). This particular take on the famous fairy tale attempts to communicate the importance of having confidence in oneself, while also delivering a timely environmental message as well.

Piwacket Children's Theatre begins their 2009-2010 season with a retelling of the familiar Cinderella story, here called CINDERBOTTOM. Like all of their productions, there's a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor that makes it palatable for both children and adults, and there are a number of cute little catchy singalong type tunes interspersed as well.

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's whimsical musical, INTO THE WOODS, is an amusing combination of fractured fairy tales from the like of the Brothers Grimm and others. It's an intriguing idea that brings these disparate characters together to interact in ways that are decidedly different from their original source material. Stray Dog Theatre is mounting a successful production at the Tower Grove Abbey that features a plethora of local talent.