Scott Miller News

The nominees for the 5th Annual Kevin Kline Awards have been announced. The annual ceremony will be held on Monday, March 22 at 7pm at the Loretto-Hilton Theater.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' now in its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre, offers its second annual musical theatre scholarship, this year in the amount of $1,000, to be awarded to one St. Louis metro area high school senior who plans to study musical theatre in college. The scholarship has been funded by donations from New Line supporters. The deadline for applying is April 1, 2010, and guidelines are on the New Line website at http://www.newlinetheatre.com/scholarship.html. Last year's recipient was Jake Fruend of Webster High School.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' now in its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre, offers its second annual musical theatre scholarship, this year in the amount of $1,000, to be awarded to one St. Louis metro area high school senior who plans to study musical theatre in college.

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 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.

Back in the mid-1990s, local singer and actor Deborah Sharn started a talk show about St. Louis theatre on KDHX 88.1 FM, called 'Break a Leg: Theatre in St. Louis and Beyond.'

This Saturday, Nov. 14, the St. Louis International Film Festival will be screening the new documentary 'Almost A Legend - The Life and Lyrics of Fran Landesman,' at the Hi-Pointe Theatre here in St. Louis at 5:00 p.m., with a panel discussion to follow. This film will be part of a 72-minute program of short films, followed by the panel, so the whole event should be over around 6:45...

This Saturday, Nov. 14, the St. Louis International Film Festival will be screening the new documentary 'Almost A Legend - The Life and Lyrics of Fran Landesman,' at the Hi-Pointe Theatre here in St. Louis at 5:00 p.m., with a panel discussion to follow. This film will be part of a 72-minute program of short films, followed by the panel, so the whole event should be over around 6:45...

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' continues its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's rowdy, raunchy, jazz musical THE WILD PARTY, running April 22-May 15, 2010, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' opens its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of Kyle Jarrow's searing new rock musical Love Kills, running October 1-24, 2009, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

Auditions for the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY will be held on two successive Monday nights, October 12 and 19, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington University South Campus (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend, in the second floor theatre. This is NOT on the Washington University main campus. Performers need to come to only one of the dates. The show will run April 22-May 15, 2010. For details about the show, visit New Line's Wild Party webpage at http://www.newlinetheatre.com/wildpartypage.html. s

Auditions for the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY will be held on two successive Monday nights, October 12 and 19, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington University South Campus (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend, in the second floor theatre. This is NOT on the Washington University main campus. Performers need to come to only one of the dates. The show will run April 22-May 15, 2010. For details about the show, visit New Line's Wild Party webpage at http://www.newlinetheatre.com/wildpartypage.html. s

LOVE KILLS, Kyle Jarrow's musical meditation on the relationship between Charlie Starkweather and Caril Fugate, who embarked on a killing spree in Nebraska during the late 1950's, is an intriguing piece that succeeds in confounding expectations. If there's any truth to be gleaned from the facts presented in this dramatization, then New Line Theatre's compelling production will provide you with the opportunity to judge for yourself.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' opens its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of Kyle Jarrow's searing new rock musical LOVE KILLS, running October 1-24, 2009, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend. (This is not on the main Wash.U. campus.)

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' opens its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of Kyle Jarrow's searing new rock musical Love Kills, running October 1-24, 2009, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' opens its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of Kyle Jarrow's searing new rock musical LOVE KILLS, running October 1-24, 2009, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' opens its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of Kyle Jarrow's searing new rock musical Love Kills, running October 1-24, 2009, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

Auditions for the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY will be held on two successive Monday nights, October 12 and 19, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington University South Campus (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend, in the second floor theatre. This is NOT on the Washington University main campus. Performers need to come to only one of the dates. The show will run April 22-May 15, 2010. For details about the show, visit New Line's Wild Party webpage at http://www.newlinetheatre.com/wildpartypage.html. s

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' closed its 18th season of alternative musical theatre this month and is proud to report the most financially and critically successful season in its entire history, with more than 6,000 people seeing New Line's performances. Despite the difficult economic times, St. Louis audiences filled New Line's intimate theatre night after night, and more than ever before, all three shows in the season enjoyed many repeat customers who came back to the see the same show multiple times. Excerpts from this season's many rave reviews can be found on the company's website at www.newlinetheatre.com/review.html.

New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' opens its nineteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the world premiere of Kyle Jarrow's searing new rock musical Love Kills, running October 1-24, 2009, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

The new documentary, 'Hair: Let the Sun Shine In,' after screenings at the Webster University Film Series in April, will air on July 27 at 8:00 p.m. on the Sundance Channel. Award-winning filmmaker Pola Rappaport?s documentary excavates the origins of this culturally transformative theatre work, including interviews with co-creator James Rado and original cast members, as well as abundant and rare archival footage. The result is a delectable deconstruction of a musical that defined an era, a generation and its politics. New Line Theatre's artistic director Scott Miller, author of the book 'Let the Sun Shine In: The Genius of Hair,' is also featured in the film. New Line Theatre produced HAIR last fall to enormous critical acclaim.