Our St. Louis Critics
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Review: THE CHER SHOW at The Stifel Theatre
THE CHER SHOW is an eye-popping traipse down memory lane but suffers from drive-by storytelling. While far from perfect as a full-fledged Broadway musical, there are plenty of wildly entertaining moments that make this show more enjoyable than it should be. It is the casting, strong vocal performan...
Review: DARK MATTERS at Union Avenue Christian Church
Garner, Peters, and Richie’s performances all elevate a passable script that doesn’t quite reach the level of a disquieting and chilling story. Pierce’s directorial choice makes the production worth recommending, however go with the expectations that the aliens never materialize to create a c...
Review: SATE Presents THE 8TH ANNUAL APHRA BEHN FESTIVAL at The Chapel
The entertaining 8th Annual Aphra Bren Festival successfully gave fresh female, transgender, and non-binary voices the medium to have their works professionally produced and be heard. Four playwrights presented new works as part of the Festival. Anne Valentino’s play THE THE stood out amount the p...
Review: THE WHALE at The Gaslight Theatre
This is an excellent production of a story that is difficult to watch. The direction is sharp, the acting is flawless, and the technical theatre quality is first rate. The artists at St. Louis Actors’ studio have milked every bit of emotion they can wring from a strong script with, what was for me...
Review: Karen Mason's Lovely Tribute to Kander and Ebb is All That (Jazz)
Mason’s entrancing show is a love letter to the legendary songwriting team. Her warm memories of Kander and Ebb left the audience feeling as if they were also acquainted with the celebrated composer and lyricist. ...
Review: AUGUST OSAGE COUNTY at Loretto-Hilton Center
The Rep’s August Osage County is a rough and tumble roller-coaster ride of anxiety, anger, and alienation that reflects on familial dysfunction with hostility and viciousness....
Review: JACEY'S JAZZ JOINT at The Blue Strawberry Showroom And Lounge
Fresh off her win for Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical at Monday evening’s St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards, Eileen Engel took the stage in JACEY’S JAZZ JOINT. For the next 70-miutes, Engel treated her audience to jazzy renditions of some of the most loved American standards. Her set inclu...
Review: The New Jewish Theatre's Production of ALL MY SONS is Explosive, Gripping, and Tragic
The New Jewish Theatre picked up where they left off last season with a superior effort resulting in stellar storytelling. This well-acted production of ALL MY SONS is intense and riveting drama. Jayson Heil, Greg Johnston, and Amy Loui are outstanding as the members of the Keller family. Their si...
Review: MOVIE MUSIC at The Blue Strawberry Showroom And Lounge
MOVIE MUSIC is an entertaining and sometimes emotional walk down memory lane by three skilled theatrical professionals who know a bit about storytelling. Midnight Company’s Joe Hanrahan has created a formula with his theatrical cabaret productions that continues to fill seats at The Blue Strawber...
Review: WEDDING BAND at The Catherine B. Berges Theatre At COCA
Jones collaborates with his cast and crew to mount an artful production of Alice Childress’ important story. He captures the grievous nature of oppressive racism and the fears of mixed-race couples in doomed relationships. This outstanding production of Wedding Band is being presented by The Black...
Review: NEW WORKS COLLECTIVE - 2024 at Opera Theatre Of Saint Louis
This was a dream of an evening of opera! It vastly exceeded expectations....
Review: MOLLY SWEENEY at The Kranzberg Black Box Theatre
Albion delivers another first-rate production with MOLLY SWEENEY. Ashton, the artistic director, and his staff carefully select quality theatrical assets to increase the probability of sensational storytelling. Albion’s production of MOLLY SWEENEY is just that, outstanding storytelling through ...
Review: DREAMING OF LEAR at Upstream Theater
DREAMING OF LEAR is a brilliant, memorable piece of leading-edge experimental theater. Its director, Lucy Cashion, has, I think, the most refreshing brain in the St. Louis theater world. It’s been a decade since she appeared on my horizon, and in that time she’s led a number of exciting produc...
Review: SPECTRUM 2024 - A FESTIVAL OF SHORT PLAYS at The Chapel
Of the Playwrights included in the Festival, Marilyn Zerlak’s two scripts were the best of the lot. FARE TO MIDDLIN’ is a tongue-in-cheek look at what judgment day may look like for folks who think that they may have been just good enough to receive their heavenly reward. Neither of the deceas...
Review: NAUGHTY MARIETTA at Kirkwood Performing Arts Center
Winter Opera continues it’s seventeenth season with another iconic operetta—Victor Herbert’s Naughty Marietta. This lovely old show premiered in 1910. It was produced by the first Oscar Hammerstein (the grandfather of you-know-who). In 1935 a movie version was made—with Jeanette MacDonal...
Review: COMPANY at Fox Theatre, St. Louis
Company is a fun romp about looking for love in all the wrong places. Filled with great performances and delightful musical numbers, it is a relentless roller coaster ride of emotions whose themes of romance, sex, marriage, and divorce remain just a s relevant today as whenit debuted in 1970. our cr...
Review: Marilyn Maye Returned to St. Louis for a Nostalgic Evening of Standards from the Great American Songbook
Marilyn Maye kept the capacity room leaning into her every note as she allowed her audience to reminisce with medleys of standards from the great American songbook. For two hours she sang, mugged, and tossed funny zingers that kept the audience laughing. Maye is a hard-working chanteuse, and her au...
Review: AN EVENING OF ONE ACTS at West End Players Guild
All 7 of the plays were tightly directed to create engaging and interesting storytelling using limited set pieces on a nearly empty stage. The transition between each show occurred quickly and seamlessly, and at no point was the audience left waiting for an extended set change. There is no doubt t...
Review: FLY at Hotchner Theatre on the Washington University Campus
Edwards script if filled with humor but it does not shy away from taking on the current realities of unfairness, inequality, and discrimination in the United States today. His script is layered and complex. The text is foreboding with an admonitory tone, and Edwards realism reaches his audience bec...
Review: MEN ARE FROM MARS WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS LIVE! at The Playhouse At West Port Plaza
Amadeo Fusco is a skilled actor and comedian who has kept decades old material funny and fresh with newer topics that are relevant to today’s relationships, Whether you are single, dating, married, or have been married, Fusco’s humor, wit, and magnetic charm will provide a lot of laughs. If you�...
Review: THE SOUND INSIDE at Robert G. Reim Theatre
Moonstone’s THE SOUND INSIDE is a well-constructed piece of theatre but has a story that simply did not resonate. Rapp’s story left me flat. Walking away from the theatre, and reflecting on the overall production, I wanted to like THE SOUND INSIDE more than I did.
Despite the criticism of t...
Review: MOBY DICK at Loretto-Hilton Center
The Rep’s Moby Dick isn’t just a cleverly staged reinvention of a stodgy classic, it’s an emotionally driven theatrical voyage that challenges, engrosses and captivates audiences. This is breathtaking and jaw dropping theater....
Review: COPENHAGEN at The Gaslight Studio
The script is rich with scientific banter, repetitive and very talky. The running time with intermission exceeds 2-½ hours but the show flies by thanks to Salomon’s brisk direction and the tremendous performances of the three actors. Do not dissuade yourself from seeing this production based on t...
Review: HAIRSPRAY at Stifel Theatre
What did our critic think of HAIRSPRAY at Stifel Theatre?The current national tour of HAIRSRAY is visiting The Stifel Theatre in St. Louis with two performances on February 8th and 9th. This production is led by St. Louisan Caroline Eiseman with an effervescent performance as the optimistic Tracy ...
Review: THE MOUSETRAP That Roars
Well-acted, suspenseful, and filled with vibrant costumes, The Mousetrap once again proves that it’s hard to beat a classic.id our critic think of THE MOUSETRAP at Tower Groves Abbey?...
Videos
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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Stages St. Louis at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (5/29-6/28) |
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The Light in the Piazza Loretto-Hilton Center (5/30-6/28) |
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God of Carnage New Jewish Theatre (NJT) (6/11-6/28) |
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The Wasp by Morgan Lloyd Malcom Albion Theatre (6/12-6/28) |
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AMY SPEACE & BETH BOMBARA: WOMEN OF AMERICANA Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (KPAC) (8/15-8/15) |
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Rockin Chair Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (KPAC) (7/18-7/18) |
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USAF Band of Mid-America “Freedom 250” Concert Faust Park (7/07-7/07) |
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Jake’s Leg - June 27, 7:30pm The Wildey (6/27-6/27) |
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Beth Duffy Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (KPAC) (6/30-6/30) |
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Rockin Chair #2 Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (KPAC) (7/19-7/19) |
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