Sarah Gene Dowling News

Last evening at The Loretto-Hilton Center, the St. Louis theatre community gathered for The St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards Gala. Thirty-Four awards were handed out with three productions winning big: The New Jewish Theatre’s production of INTO THE WOODS and STAGES St. Louis production of CLUE won 5 awards each, and The Black Rep’s production of DEATH OF A SALESMAN won 4 awards. Each of the three were named the best of their category, INTO THE WOODS was named Outstanding Production of a Musical, CLUE was named Outstanding Production of a Comedy, and DEATH OF A SALESMAN was named Outstanding Production of a Drama. 

The 11th annual St. Louis Theater Circle Awards ceremony were held at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University on Monday, March 25th, 2024. Check out the complete list of the 2024 Award Honorees.

The St. Louis Theatre Circle announced their 2024 Nominations on Friday. STAGES St. Louis’ production of CLUE and New Jewish Theatre’s production of INTO THE WOODS lead all productions with 11 nominations each. Twenty-four different companies and 55 unique productions were represented among 165 nominations in 33 categories. Awards will be handed out on Monday, March 25th, 2024, at The Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts on the Webster University campus.  

It's the final week left to vote for the 2023 BroadwayWorld St. Louis Awards! Voting ends on 12/31 at midnight. Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

There's just two weeks left to vote and we have the latest standings as of Monday, December 18th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld St. Louis Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

This past year was a spectacular season for theatre in St. Louis. Forbes magazine recognized St. Louis as having “America’s most exciting emerging arts district.” The article credits the The Kranzberg Foundation for buying and operating spaces where artists can create. Many of the smaller theatre companies in St. Louis rely on The Kranzberg Foundation venues for performance and rehearsal space. In addition to the smaller professional companies, the mid-size and larger companies including The Muny, STAGES St. Louis, and The Black Rep all presented stellar musicals and plays that were produced locally. Blue Strawberry and The St Louis Cabaret project advanced cabaret performing in St. Louis booking amazing shows with Tony nominated Broadway performers Adam Pascal, Beth Leavel, and Robin de Jesús. 

It's December, and the first standings of the month have been announced as of Tuesday, December 5th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld St. Louis Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

Cinderella sings “I wish” as the opening lyric in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s INTO THE WOODS. I wish that every performance of the current production of INTO THE WOODS at The New Jewish Theatre could be seen by a sold-out house, and that they’d be forced to extend the run due to audience demand. It is just that good.

The New Jewish Theatre will celebrate the Jewish musical theatre legend Stephen Sondheim with their production of Into the Woods November 30 through December 17. See photos of the production.

Happy Holidays! The latest wave of standings have been announced as of Monday, November 27th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld St. Louis Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

The latest wave of standings have been announced as of Monday, November 20th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld St. Louis Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

The first wave of standings have been announced as of Monday, November 13th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld St. Louis Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

Tesseract’s THE MAD ONES connects with the audience to tell Sam’s moving coming of age story despite a few problems along the way. Corpuz direction and the cast’s acting performances are the reason this show succeeds. Each of the four actors create likeable and relatable characters that make this show worth seeing.

The New Jewish Theatre will celebrate the Jewish musical theatre legend Stephen Sondheim with their production of Into the Woods November 30 through December 17.

Experience the regional premiere of The Mad Ones, a captivating musical production, at The Marcelle in St. Louis. Follow Samantha Brown as she faces a life-changing decision while reminiscing about her past. Don't miss this highly anticipated show featuring talented performers Melissa Felps, Grace Langford, Sarah Gene Dowling, and Cody Cole.

Jenni Ryan gives a magnificent performance as Steinem. She paints Steinem with human vulnerability. Her characterization elicits audience empathy as she exposes the incertitude Steinem experienced in her early work. Ryan illustrates Steinem finding her voice and ultimately demonstrates Steinem’s maturation to a confident activist who raises issues without fear. It is commendable that Ryan stepped into the role just a week before opening night due to a last-minute casting change and delivered a solid performance.

The New Jewish Theatre will perform Gloria: A Life at the Wool Studio Theatre from June 1 to June 18. Written by acclaimed playwright Emily Mann, with guidance and participation from Gloria Steinem herself, Gloria: A Life explores the iconic feminist's legacy. Check out photos here!

The second show of Stray Dog Theatre’s 2023 season honors the late Stephen Sondheim with an innovative take on his musical Into the Woods. Filled with great songs, this imaginative production gives audiences a thrilling theatrical experience.at did our critic think of INTO THE WOODS at Tower Grove Abbey?

Set in 2027, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis' URINETOWN is an hilariously subversive fable of greed, corruption, love, revolution, and urination, in a time when water is worth its weight in gold and there's no such thing as a free pee. Set in a near-future dystopian Gotham, a severe 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens are forced to use public 'amenities' now, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. In this nightmare world, the punishment for an unauthorized pee is a trip to the dreaded Urinetown. But from the ruins of Democracy and courtesy flushes, there rises an unlikely hero who decides he's held it long enough, and he launches a People's Revolution to lead them all to urinary freedom!

New Line Theatre, “the bad boy of musical theatre,” has announced its 31st season of adult, alternative musical theatre, including the wild musical comedy SOMETHING ROTTEN, running Sept. 22-Oct. 15, 2022; followed by the electrifying concept musical, NINE, based on Federico Fellini's iconic film 8 1/2, running March 2-25, 2023; and the season closes with one of the great Stephen Sondheim's earliest works, the hilarious farce, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, based on the Roman comedies of Plautus, running June 1-24, 2023.