ST. LOUIS THEATER REVIEWS

St. Louis Actors' Studio's LaBute New Theater Festival pulls together two sets of one-acts and a staged reading of high school finalists this month in order 'to bring a fresh vision of theatre to St. Louis.' Blind, open submissions were taken from playwrights near and far, with six new, previously-u...

Run, don't walk, to see the brilliant CANDIDE at the Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis! This is the opening production of their twenty-fifth festival season, and it is, for my money, the most wonderful of the many lovely shows they've done....

Paula Vogel's Indecent is actually about another play, Sholem Asch's 1906 play, God of Vengeance. At curtain, stage manager Lemml (TJ Lancaster) introduces the troupe, which has been waiting, frozen, in chairs along the back wall. The troupe, all who play multiple characters, is comprised of Paul Ce...

It's puppies, puppies everywhere-even in the audience!-as families and young friends are brought into an interactive version of the Stages St. Louis Emerson Family Series production of Disney's 101 Dalmatians, playing now through June 30 at Robert G. Reim Theater....

Fire Shut Up in My Bones has opened at Opera Theatre St. Louis. It is gorgeous! Deeply intimate and honest, the beautifully told story almost overshadows the music by the great jazz trumpeter Terrence Blanchard....

This baroque masterpiece is gorgeous and disturbing....

THE BOY FROM OZ brings a new story to the Midwest, and to the audiences of Stages St. Louis.  From the reaction of the crowd, it is a must see.  It will have you wanting to dance like you were at the Copacabana...and wishing you had worn your feathers and sequins!...

The Opera Theatre of St. Louis continues its 44th festival season of world class opera with a magnificent production of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto. OTSL presented a splendid Rigoletto fourteen years ago, but this production is, I think, even better. It's the best Rigoletto your ever likely to see....

Part awkward teen drama, part eerie sci-fi, Be More Chill with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and book by Joe Tracz, based on the 2004 young adult novel by Ned Vizzini, is one of the coolest, freshest comedic musicals in years. It already classifies as a cult favorite, and even though it's currently...

Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened its 44th festival season. This is St. Louis' prized centerpiece of opera, with a world-wide reputation. It is famous for its superb productions. The company's home is the beautiful and comfortable 763-seat Browning Theatre at Webster University. Gourmet picnic s...

As an audience member at Tasha Gordon-Solmon's dark comedy I Now Pronounce, currently playing at the New Jewish Theatre, you are a guest at the wedding of Nicole and Adam. Or is it Aaron? Or Arthur? Or Anthony? Oh heck, the rabbi can't remember, although he attempts in earnest to list all the things...

Making its St. Louis debut at the Fabulous Fox Theatre right now, a commanding drum beat kicks off a high-energy opening number to welcome the audience of Tony award-winning Come From Away: A New Musical. On its first North American tour with a book, music, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein...

DEAR MR. WILLIAMS centers on the parallel journeys between Batt and his beloved playwright. Sharing Williams passion for The Big Easy, Batt's metamorphosis from adolescent soccer player to an actor lauded by Helen Hayes is a bumpy coming-of-age story filled that is equally parts hilarious, ironic, t...

If you know Tennessee Williams, and I hope you do/will, you know there's a lot to unpack in his work. His characters are tormented and textured, plotlines layered with the riddles and aches of the human heart. There's no mercy when Tennessee Williams shines a flashlight into the darkest corners of a...

The distant sound of Atlantic Ocean waves receive you when you enter the theatre at the Kransberg Arts Center for Salt, Root, and Roe by Tim Price, which is currently making its US premier with Upstream Theater in partnership with Stages Repertory of Houston. When the lights dim, you'll be transport...

After 30 years of tours and a successful run in the West End and on Broadway MISS SAIGON needed a fresh coat of paint. Boy did it sure get one!...

In the intimate comfort of The Marcelle Theatre right now, you'll find two adjoining playing spaces-a grand library up top, and a bright, sunny room below. This is where an interestingly-constructed little love story comes to life. It is where Jennifer Theby Quinn and Terry Barber deliver a solid pe...

An exposed-brick studio apartment in Brooklyn in 2009 is the setting for Time Stands Still, a moving play by Donald Margulies, directed by Doug Finlayson, playing now at The New Jewish Theatre. Romantic partners for 8 ½ years, photojournalist Sarah (Wendy Renee Greenwood) and war correspondent Jame...

A play within a play, The Play that Goes Wrong is the tale of the Cornley University Drama Society which, despite several earlier snags, is opening their 1920s murder mystery, The Murder at Haversham Manor. In the moments just before the show opens, an audience member is recruited to help the tech c...

You don't even have go in a fan to enjoy Beautiful: The Carole King Musical but once you are at The Fabulous Fox and are reminded of all one woman has accomplished in a lifetime of singer/songwriting, you just may go out humming her entire body of work....

Winter Opera has opened a sumptuous production of Norma, Vincenzo Bellini's bel canto masterpiece from 1831....

The Glass Menagerie has been revered by audiences and critics around the world for three-quarters of a century. I suppose that, like all sacred icons, it occasionally should be taken down a peg or two. The very energetically wild folks at Ten Directions have arrived, axes in hand, to have a chop or ...

The New Line Theatre is such a reliable source of great musical theater. Now they have opened a very fine production of what, curiously, has become something of a beloved old standard-La Cage aux Folles....

If you're a Gen-Xer and/or you've ever belted every totally awesome lyric of a Journey song from the confines of your car and/or you've ever chased a bitchin' dream, you won't want to miss Rock of Ages' one-weekend run at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. Plotted around songs by Styx, Poison, Twisted Sister...

Adapted by William Kent Williams from Eleanor Estes' 1945 Newbery Honor-winning novel of the same title, The Hundred Dresses is the second play of Metro Theater Company's 46th season. Suitable for young theatre patrons, families, and for educators as well, this is the story of Wanda Petronski (Sophi...