ST. LOUIS THEATER REVIEWS

Stray Dog Theatre has brought one of the longest running comedies in Off Broadway history to the Tower Grove Abbey. Hilarious, camp fun from start to finish, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom is both a hilarious frolic and an example of how art can serve as a defiant act. Thanks to tight pacing and excepti...

The Muny’s production of BEAUTIFUL is a nostalgic delight. They have taken one of the best jukebox musicals, adapted to The Muny stage and elevated it with a large cast of exceptional performers who deliver the songbooks of two prolific and competitive songwriting teams of the 1960’s, Carole Kin...

There are those rare instances when a director perfectly casts and directs a play. The actor in every role inhabits the playwright’s characters and delivers performances that transcend an exceptional script to further elevate the material. That is exactly what Robert Ashton has done with Albion Th...

Salgado, his company, and STAGES St. Louis delivers a touching story of fateful, forbidden and unrequited love with originality and panache. While Salgado’s choices are modernistic, it is his focus on the characters and their love story, told through Elton John and Time Rice’s score that allows ...

New Line Theatre’s production of A FUNNY THING HAPPENS ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM succeeds due to Scott Miller’s directorial vision and the comedic timing of Miller’s strong cast. There are plenty of laughs in the First Act, but the second act builds to a crescendo of complete hilarity. Miller’...

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 m...

WELCOME TO ARROYO’S is the current production by The Tesseract Theatre Company that closed on May 7th.  Brittanie Gunn directs a funny and mostly effective production of Diaz’s uneven play. There are plenty of genuine laughs, more resulting from the energy, physical acting choices and rapping a...

Told in nonlinear time, the play is all about Doug and Kayleen's reconnections and missed opportunities. Over these years, the effects of alcoholism, bad relationships and family dysfunction complicate their relationship, testing the unspoken connection they share. Separated by time and distance, ea...

Originally produced in the 1970s, EUBIE re-introduced audiences to Blake’s iconic career and  his music with a 23-song musical review. The Black Rep's production has taken century old music giving it a current sound with choreography that is both traditional and contemporary. The vocally talented...

Midnight Company’s Joe Hanrahan performs all nine roles in the play that is narrated by detective Chuck Desantis as he tries to solve the mystery of what happened to Leonard. Along the way the audience is introduced to Leonard’s Aunt Ellen, his cousin Phoebe, one of his bullies, Tyler, and to ab...

Michelle Hand is mesmerizing as Heidi, driving nearly all of the play’s dialogue. Her indelible presence is captivating. She enters, introduces herself as Heidi and tells the audience about her mother’s vision to help her pay for college by winning VFW sponsored debates about what the constituti...

Unfortunately, there are a lot of things broke with this production. The scripted part of the show is banal. There are too few laughs. The two songs written, one for each act, are forgettable. In fact, the only memorable thing about the production value of BROKE was the bright kelly green blazer and...

While the source material is subpar, director Bekah Harbison uses simple staging with minimal set pieces to focus the audience on the relationships between the characters. Through her collaboration with her actors, she extracts committed and emotional performances out of each member of the cast. Her...

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...

Director Geovonday Jones vision and collaboration with his actors and technical crew deliver a superb production of SKELETON CREW. In addition to the exceptionally directed performances by the actors, Jones empowers his technical teams and allows their creativity to raise the production value to the...

Brimming with Hitchcockian noir and soaked in blood and intrigue, The Rep’s Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express excels in every possible way. Great performances, a smart use of projections, gorgeous costumes and a must-see set design come together for a vivid interpretation of Christi...

Albion’s extraordinary production of Pinter’s work is grounded in Suki Peter’s sharp direction, brisk pacing and her collaboration with her actors. The performances she elicits from each of the cast members are balanced perfection. Her use of the space within Brad Slavik’s smartly appointed ...

Meeting at the intersection of improvisation and musical comedy is THE ONE FOUR FIVES, a comedy troupe that performs at The Improv Shop in St. Louis. THE ONE FOUR FIVES are made up of four women and three men who create two entirely original musicals at each performance. This performance of the fer...

New Line Theatre has again put together an overall performance that is entertaining and enjoyable. This production of NINE succeeds because of the quality performances of every member of the cast and their ability to deliver strong vocals....

JUST ONE LOOK is just one night of exceptional music. It’s a rock ‘n roll cabaret performance that is uniquely driven by a theatrical narrative and it works on every level....

Executed with poignancy, The Rep’s production of Confederates, guided by Dominique Morisseau’s vison and executed by director Elizabeth Carter comes to life through the work of an incredible cast....

What did our critic think of DISNEY'S MARY POPPINS at Historic Owen Theatre?...

Ugly and combatative, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a well-acted drama that lingers with audiences long after the final curtain. This fearless Stray Dog production pulls no punches in bringing marital dysfunction to audiences numbered by its emotional resonance. Impolite conversation has neve...

THE LIGHT, the current offering at The Black Rep, is Loy A. Webb’s two-character play that takes on the painful topic of sexual assault and the victim’s devastation. Newly engaged couple Genesis and Rashad are celebrating when Genesis speaks a painful truth and Rashad deflects to protect the agg...

Although Side by Side by Sondheim provides audiences with a dose of light musical entertainment, those familiar with the composer’s prolific output may not be satisfied. This is because when these songs are taken out of the context of their full productions, some of the magic wanes....