ST. LOUIS THEATER REVIEWS

If Die!Mommy!Die lovingly skewers swinging suburbia, then THE DIVINE SISTER is a swift kick to the groin of Catholicism and religion in general. Like his twin son from a different mother, filmmaker John Waters, playwright Charles Busch is adept at crafting overwrought melodramatic tales that are hil...

Before his untimely death in a plane crash in the mid-1980's, playwright Larry Shue had penned two community theatre staples, The Nerd and THE FOREIGNER. While I'm not a big fan of the former, the latter is a fast-paced farce brimming with humor that builds to a hilariously satisfying climax. The cu...

While I've seen BLUE MAN GROUP live and on DVD, they're always tweaking their act so that it's a new experience each time you see them perform. Oh, they're smart enough to keep some of the old gags so that they remain familiar (the camera tour down an audience member's throat, the snarky message boa...

With IMAGINARY JESUS, author Matt Mikalatos has written an interesting look at the way that people of faith envision their savior, and playwright Deanna Jent has taken a stab at a stage adaptation that manages to capture it's whimsical approach. Though, it's not always as sharply focused as it proba...

When you go to see a concert by the Carolina Chocolate Drops you're going to find yourself immersed in authenticity. Just from the songs themselves, that range all the way back to minstrel shows from the 1850's to their own original material, you're going to hear a plethora of music that conjures up...

It's interesting to me when a play can effectively walk the fine line between drama and comedy, and Andrew Hinderaker's play, SUICIDE, INC., does just that. When it's funny, it's crass and hilarious, but when it's not, it's touching and sad. And there's a good hopeful ending that balances things out...

Playwright Ron Hutchinson has written a clever farcical comedy with his play, MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS, based on an actual event that occurred during the tumultuous production of the film Gone with the Wind. It may be true that producer David O. Selznick took extreme measures in order to get a screen...

The Rockettes celebrate 85 years of high kicks with the charming and colorful RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR. It's an evening filled with holiday spirit and it's fit for the entire family. This yuletide extravaganza is currently playing the Peabody Opera House through November 17, 2012....

Playwright Janet Langhart Cohen has crafted an intriguing work with ANNE & EMMETT, which brings together two seemingly disparate people from history, and then proceeds to show how similar their lives were. The Black Rep's current production is nicely conceived and executed, and features four fine pe...

Playwright Bruce Norris has written a real gem with his work CLYBOURNE PARK. This is a wonderfully clever and often hilarious work that looks at racism from two different angles, each represented in acts that take place in the past and in the present, respectively. The current production by the Repe...

Apparently, if you've seen LES MISERABLES in its current incarnation, you're missing 15 minutes (approximately), and a revolving stage that makes the action come alive. Well, I hadn't seen the production in any form-I even missed the Muny's presentation, so this was a fresh experience for me. I can'...

Circus Flora tries something different by offering dinner with a show in their October presentation called: A Celtic Night Circus - TIR NA NOG. It's always a fun time seeing the circus performers do their thing, and combining it with a lovely dinner is a special treat. Although, the story this time ...

Playwright C.P. Taylor's work, GOOD, is a piece of theater guaranteed to make the audience think. That's a good thing. Too often, things are so cut and dry that the viewer isn't really required to ponder what they've just seen, they simply digest it and move along. But, Good stays with you, and make...

Though cut from some of the same cloth as his "Eugene" trilogy, LOST IN YONKERS is a different animal all together from playwright Neil Simon. There are laughs to be found for sure, but the overwhelming sense that pervades this particular work is that of the dramatic. There are similarities as well,...

With there being so much negativity in the world these days, it's nice to see a play, especially a musical, that has such a sweet disposition. DADDY LONG LEGS (book by John Caird with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon) is just such a production, telling a good story with a fine score, and doing so wit...

Upstream Theater consistently brings unique shows to St. Louis. Sometimes they're new and foreign to these shores, and sometimes they're neglected classics. In the case of Eugene O'Neil's THE HAIRY APE, it's the latter, providing us with the opportunity to view a rarely scene play that carries a pow...

When a magician reveals how a particular trick is accomplished it often spoils the moment. Once we know how something is done, there's no longer any "magic" associated with it. Which is what makes Circle of Eleven's presentation of LEO so amazing. We actually see two rooms on stage, one projected, s...

The original cast album of Spring Awakening (music by Duncan Sheik with book and lyrics by Steven Sater) is still in heavy rotation in my iPod, not only because it's a terrifically catchy score, but because of its dramatic power as well. And though some may try to draw comparisons to the touring com...

It's kind of hard to describe the new musical BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON (book by Alex Timbers with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman), but only because it's such a phantasmagorical journey through the life and presidency of Andrew Jackson. Parts of it are downright hilarious, while others are ...

Nick Lowe performed a solo session at the Sheldon Concert Hall this past week and put on a whale of a good show, mining his catalog for a collection of material both old and new. Though perhaps lumped unfairly in with the New Wave acts back in the late 70's and early 80's, Lowe actually practices a ...

With the divorce rate as startling high as it is, it's not uncommon to find plays that deal with this subject matter. However, playwright Donald Margulies examines not only the plight of the couple going through the breakup, but that of their friends as well. With DINNER WITH FRIENDS, Dramatic Licen...

Ken Haller's latest cabaret foray, "THE TV SHOW!" is a sheer delight, reveling in tunes that a lot of us grew up with emanating from the boob tube. It's an interesting approach, and Haller doesn't stick to just singing TV themes, but mixes in commercials, as well as tunes that were written for other...

MY ONE AND ONLY is what I like to call a "retrofit" musical, appropriating tunes from the Gershwin brothers (Ira and George, of course) catalog, while creating a book (Peter Stone and Timothy Mayer) that incorporates familiar elements from 1927, the year it's set in. That being said, it's a slick an...

One of the really cool things that HotCity Theatre does every year is their Greenhouse New Play Festival. It not only gives a voice to new playwrights seeking to have their plays produced, but it also provides something fresh and entertaining for the theatre going public. The winner this time around...

It may seem odd that over the course of 46 seasons the Rep has never produced a work by prolific playwright Neil Simon, and yet it makes sense in a way. Simon has actually been overproduced by community theatres around the country, and the Rep is dedicated to seeking out new works, and putting a spi...