Our St. Louis Critics
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BWW Reviews: Upstream Theater's Mesmerizing Production of BLOOD WEDDING
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 ...
BWW Reviews: Stray Dog Theatre's Thrilling Production of TOMMY
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...
BWW Reviews: NonProphet Theatre Company's Brilliant Production of REASONS TO BE PRETTY
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 ...
BWW Reviews: St. Louis Shakespeare Presents Uneven Production of HENRY V
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...
BWW Reviews: Creepy and Kooky Production of THE ADDAMS FAMILY at the Fox Theatre
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...
BWW Reviews: New Line Theatre's Superb Production of PASSING STRANGE
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...
BWW Reviews: MARK NIZER Juggler Extraordinaire at Wash U
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...
BWW Reviews: Dramatic License Productions Presents Unique Romantic Comedy with DIRTY BLONDE
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...
BWW Reviews: Flashy and Fun VICTOR/VICTORIA Closes Stages St. Louis' 25th Season
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?...
BWW Reviews: New Jewish Theatre Opens Season with Funny and Touching END DAYS
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...
BWW Reviews: HotCity Theatre's Disturbing Production of THE WINNERS
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,...
BWW Reviews: The Rep's Stunningly Good Production of RED
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...
BWW Reviews: Mustard Seed Theatre Premieres Dramatic New Play - FALLING
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...
BWW Reviews: Blue Rose Stage Collective and River CIty Theatre's Excellent Production of THE GUYS
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...
BWW Reviews: The Union Avenue Opera's Searing and Powerful Production of DEAD MAN WALKING
The first thing that might strike you about the very concept of this show, DEAD MAN WALKING is: why an opera? It's already been made into a movie that treated the foreboding subject matter with respect. Well, songs typically allow for emotional content to be spilled forth in musical theatre, and the...
BWW Reviews: The Midnight Company's Witty and Insightful Production of MISTAKES WERE MADE
MISTAKES WERE MADE is a very funny play, full of in-jokes for those in the know of theatre and the Hollywood scene for sure, but also for those who are aware of the history of the French revolution. Although essentially the ravings of one man, the part of his secretary keeps him in check and adds a ...
BWW CD Reviews: HIROMI KANDA'S 2 Albums of Standards and Originals
HIROMI KANDA is a unique talent, casting her lot among the bevy of performers proffering up classic standard recordings, while contributing her own original lyrics to some tunes as well with her newest collection Days of Yesterday (2011), and with 2010's Hiromi in Love. Both feature lush orchestrati...
BWW Book Reviews: Jeffrey Spivaks Fascinating BUZZ -the life and art of Busby Berkeley
Before receiving this detailed biography, Jeffrey Spivak's BUZZ, my knowledge of Busby Berkeley was limited to some articles I'd read in a few fan magazines as well as an old trade paperback from 1973 (The Busby Berkeley Book). Spivak's book not only fills in the gaps, but it brings a lot of previou...
BWW Reviews: St. Louis Shakespeare Mounts HIlarious and Thought-Provoking RESTORATION
Playwright Edward Bond parodies, skewers, and otherwise upends the restoration comedies so familiar to theatre-goers with his work RESTORATION. It's a wickedly funny piece that attempts to make some sense of how and why the division of wealth was so unbalanced (sound familiar, it should be since we'...
BWW Reviews: Muny Closes 2011 Season with Spirited Production of BYE BYE BIRDIE
Audiences will probably be more familiar with the 1963 film version of BYE BYE BIRDIE from its innumerable screenings on television, with Dick Van Dyke, Ann Margaret, Janet Leigh, Maureen Stapleton and Paul Lynde all making vivid impressions under George Sidney's direction. But, seeing it live reall...
BWW Reviews: Max & Louie Productions Powerful and Disturbing Presentation of THRILL ME: THE LEOPOLD AND LOEB STORY
The story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb has been written about and filmed on a few separate occasions, most notably with Alfred Hitchcock's version of Patrick Hamilton's play, Rope (shot in single film reel length takes as an added novelty), and with Meyer Levin's more fictionalized account Com...
BWW Reviews: NonProphet Theater Co. Provides Raunchy Adult Fun with DEBBIE DOES DALLAS-THE MUSICAL
Debbie Does Dallas was a ground-breaking bit of sordid celluloid that ushered in an era of amateur pornography, where a pimply ass was not something to be ashamed of, but something to be celebrated, sort of. And it was a time when you could watch this kind of stuff at home without the fear of anyone...
Videos
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God of Carnage New Jewish Theatre (NJT) (6/11-6/28) |
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The Light in the Piazza Loretto-Hilton Center (5/30-6/28) |
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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Stages St. Louis at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (5/29-6/28) |
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The Wasp by Morgan Lloyd Malcom Albion Theatre (6/12-6/28) |
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Wicked Fox Theatre (5/12-5/30) |
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USAF Band of Mid-America “Freedom 250” Concert Old Post Office Plaza (7/02-7/02) |
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UMSL Music Presents: Afriky Lolo 20th Anniversary Showcase 'Sundiata' Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center (7/17-7/17) |
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Ludo The Pageant (10/24-10/24) |
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16th Annual Missouri Chamber Music Festival June 10-21 at The Sheldon Sheldon Concert Hall (6/10-6/10) |
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Kauffman Stadium Kauffman Stadium (7/15-7/15) |
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