The latest reviews and critic recommendations from St. Louis.
Neil Simon's THE GOOD DOCTOR finds the playwright mining the short stories of Anton Chekhov for material, and this comedy with music, is a decidedly mixed bag, occasionally producing laughs, but not nearly in the abundance we've come to expect.
If you've only ever seen the movie version, or a community theatre production, you owe it to yourself to check out the touring company of the 2008 Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC that's currently playing the Fox Theatre.
An eclectic collection of one act plays by the likes of Susan Glaspell (Trifles), David Mamet (Australia), William Saroyan (Hello Out There), and Harold Pinter (Ashes to Ashes), A WOMAN'S PLACE fulfills the promise of its title by placing women in key roles in each of these unique pieces.
MARRY ME A LITTLE is an interesting little musical that cobbles together cut songs and lesser celebrated numbers composed by Stephen Sondheim.
The second half of the mini-Potok festival continues with an engaging and thoughtful dramatization of his classic novel THE CHOSEN, which I can recall reading (for English class) and enjoying myself many years ago.
Playwright Geoffrey Nauffts has put together a provocative and engaging evening of theatre with his work, NEXT FALL, which thematically concerns itself with issues of homosexuality and faith.
While the chief target of David Mamet's hilariously funny play, NOVEMBER, may not in actuality be former president George W.
There's a moment in playwright Matthew Lombardo's play HIGH when Father Delpapp asks the coarse and tough-demeanored Sister Connelly why she became a nun.
I can distinctly recall catching filmmaker Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2 in a local theatre (an unrated cut) and being wowed by his audacious and imaginative camera work, as well as the copious amounts of gore and humor that gushed forth at breakneck speed.
The story of Oedipus is a tragic one, and perhaps one of the most pitiable and pathetic in all of the Greek canon.
Joan MacLeod's play, ANOTHER HOME INVASION, is a cautionary tale, and while the setting may be Canada, the message is one that will resonate with anyone who has aging parents that are living on their own.
Playwright Aaron Posner has done a wonderful job of adapting Chaim Potok's novel MY NAME IS ASHER LEV for the stage.
Since I started writing theatre reviews a few years back one of the most interesting things that's occurred has been the opportunity to watch performers grow and take risks.
Shakespeare's last great play, THE TEMPEST, has always been a favorite of mine, if only because it lends itself to intriguing stagings and imaginative re-interpretations with it's appealing mix of comedy, romance, and magic.
With their funky and fun production of I LOVE MY WIFE, New Line Theatre begins their 20th season with a trip back to the swinging seventies, when the last dying embers of the sexual revolution were still smoldering in the suburbs.
In the academic world of mathematics 'proofs' are a kind of intellectual currency.
Playwright Terrence McNally's MASTER CLASS is a fascinating peek at the life and legend of famed soprano Maria Callas, capturing the former opera star at a time when her talent was beginning to fade.
The original animated film SHREK was a kind of adult fairytale, though it was obviously aimed squarely at the youth market as well, successfully spawning a franchise with sequels and merchandising galore.
If you only know about HotCity Theatre because of their dedication to producing new and original works by some of the most talented and unknown playwrights around, then you should also know how adept they are at staging revivals of edgy and provocative modern classics.
STATE FAIR was the only musical that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote specifically for Hollywood and two versions were filmed, one in 1945 and the other in 1962.
Playwright Lynn Nottage's CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY, which is set in the 1950's, initially gives us more than enough plot for one play, presenting us with a grief-stricken widower who decides to pack up his two teenage daughters and haul them off to New York.
Tchaikovsky's opera, PIKOVAYA DAMA (THE QUEEN OF SPADES) is based on a story by Pushkin, but the libretto tweaks the story ever so slightly, by having the lead protagonist, Gherman, already in love with the object of his desire before the plot is firmly put into motion.
Playwright John Patrick Shanley explores the 'feminization' of the male of the species with his work PSYCHOPATHIA SEXUALIS (google Krafft-Ebbing for a more detailed explanation of the historical and ground-breaking, but essentially flawed, text that the title is copped from, but bears no resemblance
First Run Theatre dedicates all its efforts toward full stagings of new works by local playwrights, and on this occasion, they're presenting (along with Dusty Bums, and through the kind use of the Marble Stage Theatre space in the Crestwood Artspace) LET THERE BE THISTLES by Joshua Thomas.
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Gunhild Carling at City Winery St. Louis City Winery St. Louis (10/11-10/11) |
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Route 66: The Main Street of America screening w/Q&A – September 10, 7pm The Wildey (9/10-9/10) |
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Mamma Mia! The Fabulous Fox Theatre (3/30-4/04) |
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Rob Zombie & Marilyn Manson Morton Amphitheater (9/10-9/10) |
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Parsons Dance Touhill Performing Arts Center (4/10-4/10) |
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The Book of Mormon (Non-Equity) The Fabulous Fox Theatre (2/02-2/07) |
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ELVIS, PATSY CLINE & LORETTA LYNN: THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE CONCERT Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (9/12-9/12) |
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Mamma Mia! Fox Theatre (3/30-4/04) |
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Joshua's Boots COCA - Catherine B. Berges Theatre (10/21-10/24) |
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Safe Haven | World Premiere Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (6/12-6/26) |
