ST. LOUIS THEATER REVIEWS

To open their 18th season, the Union Avenue Opera has chosen an English text version (John Gay) of Handel's take on the mythological, with ACIS AND GALATEA (seen April 29, 2012). This is definitely a tale of two acts, with the first being devoted to their love for one another, this semi-divine sea n...

While it may look through its world through "rose colored glasses", MEMPHIS celebrates a time when race music was beginning to catch on with a white, mostly teenaged audience. It's a crackling, amusing, and fast-paced show (book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, music and lyrics by David Bryan) that takes...

Dedicated to bringing the world to St. Louis, Upstream Theater takes a to Poland this time for an engrossing and compelling tale based on the memoirs of Kazimierz Moczarski (adapted by artistic director Philip Boehm). It's a fascinating story based on his own experience in Warsaw, originally involve...

Revisiting a popular play in the ten work "Pittsburgh Cycle" from August Wilson, the Black Rep has put forth a superior effort. MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM is especially interesting to me as a musician since the focus is really on the interplay that goes on between Ma Rainey's band as they banter about...

KILLER JOE is a killer show! I only regret not being able to see this show until I'd returned from my vacation, effectively eliminating my chance to laud the show properly in order to drive an audience to it. My sincerest apologies, because I'm a fan of playwright Tracy Letts, and, not having seen t...

The Black Rep presented Le Freak C'est Chic as part of their Sunday concert series this past weekend (April 1, 2012), and it's an interesting mix of dance, music, and incredible vocalizations that was thoroughly entertaining and as sexy as advertised. The show gave St. Louis an opportunity to see so...

CAVALIA is nearly impossible to describe as a show, at least in terms of giving you a true perspective on all the things that are happening at once on stage, and yet, I can say it's an elegant, athletic, visual and audio delight that combines a number of elements in achieving its success. First off,...

It's amazing to me that Broadway keeps looking to Hollywood for its hits, especially since there are so many great original musicals and plays still being written today. And yet, every now and then a movie is reworked so much that it's almost unrecognizable from the movie, and it works. BRING IT ON ...

Anyone who reads my reviews regularly knows that I'm a fan of Shakespearean re-imaginings. Sure, I like my Shakespeare played straight as well, but sometimes when one of his plays is tinkered with in just the right fashion it comes to life in new and unexpectedly exciting ways. Such is the case with...

With NO CHILD, playwright Nilaja Sun brings to light the troubling failure of the "No Child Left Behind" program. It's a fascinating look at one teacher/artist's attempt to reach a group of student who describe themselves as the worst in the school. Conceived as a one woman play, the work gives an a...

The Rep's Imaginary Theatre Company presented a version of PUSS IN BOOTS that more in line with Charles Perrault's original fairy tale, than with the Dreamworks, sword-wielding brand we've become accustomed to. Playwright/composer Brian Hohlfeld's take is decidedly more true to its source, although ...

Playwright Jeffrey Sweet has constructed an entertaining and though-provoking work with THE VALUE OF NAMES. This brief (75 minutes) look at two men and the different paths their lives have taken since one named names during the Senator McCarthy red hunt trials of the 1950's. Filled with a surprising...

When we think in terms of terrorism, we usually picture suicide bombings, and planes flying into the sides of buildings, but we rarely ponder the idea of socioeconomic terrorism. That's why the Rep's final Studio Theatre production is so compelling and brilliant; that possibility is brought to light...

BUG is a play that gets under your skin, burrowing into your psyche and feasting on your anxieties. It may make you restless to watch it, and you may find yourself absentmindedly scratching at imaginary itches. It's a small tale filled with big ideas, and a must-see for conspiracy theory enthusiasts...

Over the years I've seen a number of productions of THE GLASS MENAGERIE by Tennessee Williams, and they've varied in degrees of appeal greatly. There's even another production from another local company scheduled later this month. There's a reason; it's a classic. This play, based on the author's sh...

CRY-BABY is a smash, a musical and cultural send up of drape and square mores, while at the same time, a parody of the typical "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back" scenarios that we've all been exposed to in more traditional shows. At times, it's like watching a throwdown between Lit...

AMERICAN IDIOT is an absolute blast, a musical filled with energy and exuberance, both evidenced in the music and in the performances. There will surely come a time when it's considered a period piece, since it does take place in the recent past, focusing on the last Bush presidency and the wars on ...

It's nice when a local playwright gets the opportunity to stage their work, and Stephen Peirick's comedy, WAKE UP, CAMERON DOBBS, is certainly a worthy first effort. There are a lot of good lines that were lost to the Sunday matinee crowd I saw it with, so we can ignore them and get straight on to t...

Theatre companies are always on the lookout for performance space. There are just not enough venues to house all the groups that have sprung up in the last few years. Even veteran companies have to sometimes choose unusual settings for their productions. Such is the case with BRIEFS, A FESTIVAL OF S...

It seems like productions of prolific playwright and filmmaker Neil Labute's works have been presented everywhere the past couple of years, and another is currently being presented by R-S Theatrics, formerly known as Soundstage Productions, in their current home in the Crestwood Mall ArtSpace. AUTOB...

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is one of the few Shakespearean plays that's considered totally original, not owing its story to any other source other than the Bard's imagination. It's a delightful romantic comedy with fun, supernatural elements, and unlike his many tragedies and histories, nobody dies. ...

Playwright and raconteur (what else would you call a man orphaned by his prostitute mother, who grew into a thief, before finding his niche as a controversial and often banned writer?) Jean Genet's THE MAIDS (translated by Martin Crimp) is a peculiar and provocative one act whose images stay with yo...

There have been any number of renowned re-imaginings of Shakespeare. But, easily one of the finest to have been conceived is the musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, WEST SIDE STORY. One thing that makes it so special is the way that Leonard Bernstein's dramatic orchestral score meshes so perfect...

Dramatic License Productions presented a lovely Valentine cabaret this past weekend (February 10-12) in their space at Artopolis in Chesterfield Mall. Classics from a number of generations on the subject of love and it's foibles mixed gracefully in a sweetly simple production that showcased four tal...

In a season already packed with hits, the Rep smacks a home run with David Mamet's profanely brilliant play, RACE. Managing to expound not only about race, but also on how the justice system works in some cases, Mamet produces a wonderfully provocative work that seems designed to have tongues waggin...