ST. LOUIS THEATER REVIEWS

If you're looking for a book on contemporary musicals that's as entertaining as it is informative, you can't go wrong with Scott Miller's new book, SEX, DRUGS, ROCK & ROLL, AND MUSICALS. Miller examines the post modern musical with a depth of knowledge that's astounding. His theatre company, New Lin...

The late 1960's were a time of great social upheaval, and race riots broke out in a number of major cities, leading to what has been termed 'white flight', as the Caucasians abandoned the urban areas for the suburbs. The latest production at the Missouri History Museum, PALMER PARK, written by playw...

Muddy Waters Theatre end their season dedicated to playwright Paula Vogel with her award-winning work, HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, and it's easily the most accomplished and straightforward of her plays. It lacks the humor of the others that were presented this season, but it replaces the laughs with som...

Before there was South Park, Team America, Orgazmo, or even The Book of Mormon, Trey Parker completed a film that's become a cult favorite; CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL. This hilarious, low rent production, features all the elements that would crop up in the aforementioned works, combining gore, sophomoric...

The stage continues to mine the movies for product, and sometimes it strikes gold (High Fidelity-although not hugely successful was, for me a better musical than a movie) and sometimes it strikes tin. The hugely acclaimed and multi-awarded BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL falls into the latter category, tak...

I'm a completely unabashed fan of George Romero's 1968 classic film NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. I first saw it a midnight screening and was floored by it's raw cinematic energy and black and white gore. It was one of the first films I owned on video tape during the video revolution, and it was widely ...

There's something very funny, yet very sad about the two characters in Rajiv Joseph's bittersweet work GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES. They're both damaged goods in one way or another, and we desperately want them to make a real love connection since they truly seem oddly suited for one another. And y...

I don't know if playwright Annie Baker ever attended a six week community summer drama class like the one depicted in her wonderful work, CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, but it has the painful ring of truth that makes you think she may have at one time. Whether or not that really occurred though is im...

How would you react as a parent if your ten year old son was smacked in the face with a stick with resulted in a fat lip and a couple of lost teeth? Would you be able to keep you cool? Would you just immediately contact the police or a lawyer and deal with it from that perspective? Well, I'm not sur...

The Missouri History Museum is a perfect venue for Chuck Lavazzi's retooled cabaret show JUST A SONG AT TWILIGHT, since it allows a number of slides to be projected (courtesy of Marjorie Williamson) which give life to Lavazzi's recollections of the golden age of vaudeville. There is also a very pers...

Federico Garcia Lorca's tragic play, BLOOD WEDDING, which Upstream Theater is currently presenting, is given a lyrical translation by Langston Hughes and a stunningly dark adaption by Melia Bensussen. From the opening moments until the final blackout, there's an intensity rarely found in theatrical ...

Pete Townshend and the Who's seminal rock opera classic TOMMY comes to the stage of the Tower Grove Abbey courtesy of Stray Dog Theatre adorned in steam punk fashion and scenic design. It's an exhilarating show powered by solid performances, a tight band, and engaging direction that never lets the p...

Playwright Neil Labute's REASONS TO BE PRETTY is the third in a trilogy of plays focusing on the modern day obsession with the way people look, following Shape of Things and Fat Pig. It's the least gimmicky of the three, relying on more honest sounding dialog delivered by four working class friends ...

HENRY V may well be the only one of Shakespeare's histories where no one is trying to oust the king of England. Instead, it's all about a plan to overthrow France, and thus we encounter one of my pet peeves; the outrageous french accent. St. Louis Shakespeare has mounted a handsome and rugged produc...

A lot the single panel cartoons of Charles Addams appeared in The New Yorker, and a lot them didn't feature the particular characters we know and fondly remember as the Addams Family, they just had an offbeat sense of the bizarre, and often featured completely different characters. Some are even mor...

Just about every artist or creative type struggles with their home situation. It's truly a rare thing when your family actually nurtures your abilities rather than points you toward something more practical, or rather, something you can supposedly make a living doing ( I know mine didn't exactly sup...

MARK NIZER is a juggler extraordinaire, and there's simply no denying that fact once you're able to watch him work his artistry up close and personal. Whether he's doing something relatively simplistic such as your basic three balls gliding through the air, he manages to add a twist, like catching o...

Playwright Claudia Shear (with an assist in conception from James Lapine) has constructed an interesting take on your typical showbiz biography. DIRTY BLONDE combines elements and events taken from the life of Mae West, and plays them off of a romantic coupling. It's an odd combination that works ch...

What is it about movie adaptations and Broadway? They're constantly adapting motion pictures for the stage, and yet, the majority are expensive flops and failures. Is it the fickle nature of the 'Great White Way', or simply cynical critics and theatre patrons who are jaded by these repeat offenders?...

Playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer's END DAYS is a whimsical sort of farce with heart, a humorous work that starts off amusing, but in the end, winds up teaching its characters what it means to be a real family. It's the kind of ensemble piece that the New Jewish Theatre does so well, and their current p...

The basic premise of THE WINNERS, a winner itself of the HotCity Theatre Greenhouse play competition, is really just a twist by playwright David L.Williams on the old idea about money buying (or not buying) happiness. However, there's something genuinely discomforting going on here that disturbs me,...

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis opens their season with a real corker. RED is simply ablaze with what I can only call abstract emotionalism, heating up the stage with intense performances and dialog that crackles with commentaries on art and life in general. This might be a critical cliché at th...

Playwright Deanna Jent's FALLING is an intriguing piece of theatre, drawing on her own real life experiences caring for a teenager with autism, but creating something wholly original in the process. As the parent of a five year old, there's a frightening aspect to watching this tale unfold, thinking...

As we approach the 10th anniversary of 911, Blue Rose Stage Collective and River City Theatre are presenting playwright Anne Nelson's THE GUYS, which looks back at that fateful day in a most unique and diverting manner. If there's one thing this tragic day has taught us, it's to be aware and ever-vi...