ST. LOUIS THEATER REVIEWS

St. Louis is a baseball town, of that there can be no doubt. We live and die with our beloved Cardinals, ever optimistic that if we don't win this year, we'll give it our best shot the next. So, with our national pastime taking it's annual hiatus for the All-Star game, this is the perfect opportunit...

Simply put, New Line Theatre's current production of EVITA absolutely rocks! Employing a more intimate staging and utilizing stripped down orchestrations acts to reinvigorate the work, personalizing the story and adding a real edge to the music. This is one of the chief reasons I'm always drawn to N...

Whether your political views favor one side or the other in the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine, you're sure to find Blue Rose Stage Collective's debut presentation of MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE to be a provocative and compelling piece of theatre. A superb performance by Magan Wiles d...

The production of WICKED that's currently playing the Fox Theatre delivers an enchanting experience to its audiences that dazzles and delights, filling the stage with jaw-dropping scenery and incredible special effects, as well as a host of wonderful performers. The plot based on Gregory Maguire's n...

TITANIC: THE MUSICAL is just the sort of production that's perfectly suited to the vast expanse the Muny provides. After all, it's a big show, and there's no space quite as mammoth in size and scope as the Muny stage. And, I'm happy to report that their current presentation is a grand and entertaini...

The classic French fairy tale, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, is given the full-blown Disney treatment in this adaptation of their own 1991 animated film. While retaining many of the elements that gave the movie it's own particular charm, this version runs a bit too long and leisurely for my tastes, being pa...

The St. Louis Actors' Studio and That Uppity Theatre Company have combined their efforts to close their season with the premiere of Joan Lipkin's (with collaborator JT Ricroft) original play, THE STATE OF MARRIAGE. The title does double duty here, allowing for commentary on the current state of nupt...

Muddy Waters Theatre is a unique company in that they devote each or their seasons to a single playwright, which in most cases would result in a schedule that strictly hews to the familiar. But, as a rare treat during their current season, which is devoted to Eugene O'Neill, they've decided to stage...

The production of WICKED that's currently playing the Fox Theatre delivers an enchanting experience to its audiences that dazzles and delights, filling the stage with jaw-dropping scenery and incredible special effects, as well as a host of wonderful performers. The plot based on Gregory Maguire's n...

Thornton Wilder's venerable American classic OUR TOWN is an interesting character study, focusing its attention on a small New England town and the changes that occur to various characters as time passes. This was an era when entire families put down roots and never gave a thought to moving, with ch...

THE ME NOBODY KNOWS is a musical plea for understanding by a group of underprivileged children that's set in one of the poorer neighborhoods of New York City. It's an indictment of our current social and economic conditions that this show, written in 1970, explores themes and issues that still reson...

While Alexander Pushkin's original verse novel, EUGENE ONEGIN, had its protagonist at the center of attention, composer Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky and writer Konstantin Shilovsky's operatic adaptation (with an English translation by David Lloyd-Jones) instead focuses on Tatiana, the woman whose heart...

The classic German legend of Faust gets an interesting re-imagining with playwright Mickle Maher's An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening. This is an hour spent in the company of a very regretful Doctor John Faustus, along w...

The first thing that strikes you about Jewel as a performer is her incredible vocal range, and she began her performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall (June 6, 2010) with a sweetly rendered solo version of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'(also covered on her 2009 album 'Lullaby'), that acted as a sort of ...

Last year was the first time I'd taken my son to see Circus Flora, and even though he was excited to go again, he's at the stage where he's a wee bit afraid of the dark. So, when the lights went down at the beginning of this year's show, INGENIOSO, he freaked out a little. But, the charm of the perf...

Mel Brooks is an equal opportunity offender, and I think that's one of the reasons he's able to get away with so much. When it was in the planning stages, it seemed highly improbable that he could turn his 1968 feature THE PRODUCERS into a Broadway musical, much less a runaway hit. But, he and write...

Sometimes when I'm seeing a show about a particular subject I'll look through my library and re-read (or newly purchase) books that pertain to it. When I noticed that the New Jewish Theatre's production of Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor was on the schedule, I decided to bone up. So, I picke...

The was my first time seeing BIG RIVER, and I must confess to some misgivings I harbored concerning William Hauptman's adaptation of Mark Twain's classic tale, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' The original is a work of great American literature, filled with dialogue that's now considered contro...

When the weather cooperates as sweetly it did on opening night (May 28, 2010), there's nothing that can compare to the experience of sitting under the stars in Forest Park and watching an ensemble of top notch performers and technicians take on the task of staging one of William Shakespeare's classi...

If I was going to introduce someone to the world of opera, I might have them take in a performance of THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, because it's a tuneful show filled with farcical plot machinations that are both amusing and satisfying in the manner in which they unfold. There's a reason why Mozart's work...

I love seeing a brand new play, because I can go in with no preconceived notions, and experience something for the very first time. HotCity Theatre's Greenhouse festival has produced another winner in playwright Jami Brandli's fascinating and edgy new work, THE SINKER. This is a tautly mounted produ...

I've professed my fondness for old time radio before, so it should come as no surprise that I decided to take in the Soundstage Productions' presentation of The SOUNDSTAGE RADIO HOUR, which pairs an episode of the popular long time comedy series 'My Friend Irma' (which later graduated to both televi...

I grew up looking forward to Friday nights, because that's when channel 30 would broadcast 'Chiller Theater', providing a burgeoning horror fan like myself with the chance to view all the creepy classics that sprang from the loins of Universal Studios during the 1930's and 40's. I was eleven years o...

CORBiAN Visual Arts and Dance is a unique group of individuals, led by artistic directors Ian Carney and Corbin Popp, who are committed to bringing startling and engaging imagery to the stage. By utilizing illuminated wiring, puppetry, and a troupe well versed in dance and movement, they're able to ...

The saying goes that 'one man's trash is another man's treasure', and that old adage is brought into sharp focus by Yasmina Reza's provocative script for her play ART. But, the play also examines relationships, and how tenuous they can become when fundamental disagreements occur between friends. Rez...