The Top 10 Productions in St. Louis Theatre for 2023

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. 

Paring down the list of the top locally produced shows in 2023 was exceedingly difficult due to the number of quality productions in St. Louis this year. In full disclosure, this list is based on the 70-plus local productions I’ve seen. It does not include everything that was staged and excludes national touring productions.  

#1 CLUE at STAGES St. Louis – Again this year the top spot goes to STAGES St. Louis for their critically acclaimed production of CLUE. Setting box office records for STAGES, Clue became the most sought-after theatre ticket of the year. Magnificent performances, mind blowing stagecraft, outstanding reviews, and tsunami-like word-of-mouth created sold-out houses at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center. Broadway World called CLUE “astonishing, brilliant, comical and killer fun!”  

#2 BEAUTIFUL: THE Carole King MUSICAL at The Muny – The concept for BEAUTIFUL was born at The Muny when Broadway producers Paul Blake and Mike Bosner were working there. The two of them created the idea for a musical based on the life and career of songwriter Carole King. Nine years after opening on Broadway, the Muny brought St. Louis a first-rate production with a stellar cast featuring Sara Shepard as King, the incomparable Jackie Burns, and Tony nominee Jerrod Spector reprising his Broadway role. The Muny’s production was a nostalgic delight and was the best of the 105th Muny season.  

#3 JUST ONE LOOK by The Midnight Company – In early 2023, Broadway World called JUST ONE LOOK the most anticipated theatrical event of the upcoming season. Linda Ronstadt was again charting when her song “Long, Long Time” was featured in the HBO (now Max) series “The Last of Us.”  Midnight Company’s Joe Hanrahan had already developed a theatrically based cabaret show featuring the music of Ronstadt, starring Kelly Howe. The show, initially planned for three performances, sold out immediately, and Midnight Company had found lighting in a bottle. The audiences fell in love with Howe’s powerful vocals and reminisced about Ronstadt’s glory days as a major rock artist. Now, with 13 sold-out performances under its belt, JUST ONE LOOK will continue with performances into 2024, all carried on the back of Howe’s dazzling vocal performance. If audience demand is any indication, JUST ONE LOOK may be the most successful production created by one of the small theatre companies in St. Louis.  

#4 Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at The Muny – John Tartaglia may have directed one of the biggest musical epics of all time. Collaborating with his technical teams, Tartaglia created a show on the grandest of scale, filling the Muny stage with opulent sets, extravagant costumes, and a cast of nearly one hundred. The showstopping number “Be Our Guest” was splashy and elaborate and Tartaglia pulled out all the stops, including some impressive pyrotechnics that had old and young saying ooh and ahh. Broadway World said, “The vast Muny stage has given John Tartaglia the opportunity to create a once-in-a-lifetime production of Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST,” and he did just that.   

#5 INTO THE WOODS at New Jewish Theatre and Stray Dog Theatre – Following the death of Steven Sondheim, St. Louis audiences had the opportunity to see two first rate, but very different productions of INTO THE WOODS. It is impossible to choose one as better than the other. Both productions were masterfully staged, well-acted, beautifully sung, and well directed. The production at New Jewish Theatre was a dark and brooding, immersive in-the-round staging that St. Louis audiences rarely get to experience. The technical theatre team at New Jewish Theater created a story telling palette that was magical. Stray Dog’s production had more of a fanciful fairytale feel that was less dark but of equal quality. Kudos to Sarah Gene Dowling for her work on both productions. At Stray Dog, Dowling constructed whimsical wigs for the production that were among the most memorable costume pieces of the 2023 season. In the New Jewish Theatre production, she acted, delivering a wonderful performance as The Witch.   

#6 DEATH OF A SALESMAN at The Black Rep – Director Jacqueline Thompson helmed an emotional narrative eliciting exceptional performances from Ron Himes (Willy), Velma Austin (Linda), Chauncy Thomas (Biff), and Christian Kitchen (Happy). Thompson paced the show perfectly without hurrying her actors or diminishing the story. The Black Rep’s production of the classic masterpiece was superb storytelling that packed an emotional wallop.  

#7 MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at STAGES St. Louis – Again, this year, STAGES St. Louis places a second impressive production on the top 10 list. MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET had the KPAC rockin’ with the music of Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The musical tells the story of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and features some of the best rock ‘n roll songs of all time. Everything about this visually stunning production was perfect thanks to stellar performances, exquisite musicianship, crisp direction, and syncopated lighting design. Beef Gratz’s robust sound design created a concert-like atmosphere that blew the roof off the theatre. MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET was rollicking musical fun! 

#8 WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME by Max and Louie Productions – Max and Louie productions brought Heidi Schreck’s Tony nominated play to St. Louis audiences early in 2023. Michelle Hand was mesmerizing as Heidi telling the story of a teenager who participated in VFW essay scholarship contests and how her maturation changed her view of the U.S. Constitution and what it means to the women of America. While Hand delivered a blue-ribbon performance, the real star of this production was the mind-altering set design from Dunsai Dai, Andy Cross, and Machela Brock. Thier meticulous set construction shifted the audience's perspective throughout the show leaving one with the impression that the stage was sloped with the left side higher than the right. It was among the best designed sets of the 2023 season.  

#9 ABSENT FRIENDS and THE BIRTHDAY PARTY at Albion Theatre, St. Louis – Albion Theatre produces plays by British and Irish playwrights. Since their inception last year, Albion has produced four well directed and well-acted plays. Two productions this season, ABSENT FRIENDS by Alan Ayckbourn and THE BIRTHDAY PARTY by Harold Pinter, featured exceptional performances driven by the strong directorial efforts of Robert Ashton and Suki Peters. Albion Theatre is bringing St. Louis audiences plays they don’t often get the chance to see. Their masterful storytelling creates enjoyable evenings in the theater.  

#10 THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING SECOND at Prison Performing Arts – There are those times when you go to the theatre with low expectation and your socks are knocked off. Eric Satterfield and David Nonemaker’s one-act play is an intense psychological family drama filled with lies, deceit, secrets, and emotional turmoil. The cast was led by the amazing Alexander Huber in a performance that stunned the audience. Of note, Huber turned in a trifecta of great performances this season in this production of PRIVILEGE, in LESBIAN VAMPIRES OF SODOM at Stray Dog, and in BARRYMORE at St. Louis Actors’ Studio. The gut-wrenching THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING SECOND was the biggest surprise of the 2023 theatre season.  

There are a handful of honorable mentions that were also highlights of this past season. The St. Louis Actors’ Studio production of BARRYMORE just narrowly missed the top 10. It was a difficult choice to leave it off the list due to the outstanding performance of John Contini. Ryan Lawson-Maeske turned in a brilliant comedic performance in Moonstone Theatre Company’s production of THE NERD. He single handedly made that show worth seeing. The Black Rep’s production of SKELETON CREW was phenomenal and led by another fantastic performance by Velma Austin. The St. Louis Rep’s production of THE LEHMAN TRILOGY was extraordinary storytelling thanks to the authentic performances of Firdous Bamji, Joshua David Robinson, and Scott Wentworth. First Run Theatre’s production of Eric Berg’s sentimental new play WAYWARD was touching and featured tender performances from Lexy Wichter, Jade Cash, and Amie Bossi. Finally, Jacob Juntunen’s new play, SEE YOU IN A MINUTE, tugged on heartstrings that are still too raw from losses suffered during the covid pandemic.  

St. Louis is indeed an emerging arts market that is producing exceptional work. See a play or a musical and support your local producers, actors, and technicians who are creating memorable audience experiences.  

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