ST. LOUIS THEATER REVIEWS

I was thirteen when Star Wars came out in May of 1977, and it made quite an impression on this particular teenage boy. I was a little older when The Empire Strikes Back came out, and even more so by the time Return of the Jedi premiered, but they were enjoyable romps as well, although I personally c...

I was just a wee bit too old to have watched Sesame Street when it premiered on public television during the late 1960's, although I was certainly aware of its impact. But, it wasn't until my son was born a few years back that I was fully exposed to its sunny charms. Which is probably why AVENUE Q,...

Performing a one person show would seem to be a rather daunting task to me. After all, if you blank out or skip a part, there's no one around to guide you back to your place. That's what makes Teresa Doggett's work as SHIRLEY VALENTINE in Stray Dog Theatre's Studio Workshop Production so amazing. Wi...

Andrew Lippa's musical adaptation of Joseph Moncure March's epic poem, THE WILD PARTY, is a brilliant work, especially if you're anything like me, and you like your entertainment on the dark side. It's a decadent jewel gleaming with sinister possibilities, and thus, far removed from the current tren...

Some people cannot be convinced of something unless they see it with their own two eyes, and even then they can be skeptical. This is a problem that Orgon, a character from Moliere's classic comedy TARTUFFE faces. Everyone around him, except his Mother, seems to understand that the man that Orgon ha...

It's been a long time since Mark Knopfler graced St. Louis with his presence and the wait was certainly worth it for those lucky enough to capture his performance at the Fox Theatre (April 22, 2010) this past Thursday. Flanked by a large band consistenting of any number of multi-instrumentalists, Kn...

With late morning sunshine streaming through the gorgeously colorful plate glass windows of the Sheldon Concert hall, accomplished singers/actors Ben Nordstrom and Katy Tibbets, along with pianist extraordinaire Neal Richardson, took to the stage to present a wonderful hour of 'Broadway Romance' for...

Though elements of its plot has been pilfered by countless writers and filmmakers over the years, Henrik Ibsen's classic, A DOLL'S HOUSE, still manages to pack a punch today. The tale of a woman in a seemingly idyllic marriage who suddenly finds herself being extorted because of a risky decision she...

If you've read my reviews for the last few years then you know that I really enjoy a good re-imagining of a classic. I like experimentation in theatre, and it's always a thrill to see new life pumped into a time-worn favorite. There are certainly a lot of interesting ideas at work in writer/director...

Upstream Theater's production of Scottish playwright David Greig's OUTLYING ISLANDS is an intriguing evening of theater, thoroughly confounding expectations, and providing plenty of food for thought. As a person who seeks out the unusual and unexpected, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself haun...

It can be difficult and stressful to try and start up a new theatre company. There are just so many things that have to be taken into consideration, and there are always last minute items that pop up at the most inconvenient time. This being said, Bear Stage made their debut at the Jelkyl Theatre in...

Jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut brought his considerable talents to the stage of the Sheldon Concert Hall for a show (April 10, 2010) that featured selections of music more commonly associated with Elvis Presley. And, while this might seem to be an unlikely combination, Chestnut demonstrated his traditi...

Based on the enthusiastic patrons in attendance, it's clear to me that the musical adaptation of the 2001 Reese Witherspoon vehicle, Legally Blonde, has a pretty strong following, and seems to have struck a chord with audiences. I can understand why, since it's a lively and entertaining show filled ...

Cabaret performers are always on the lookout for songs that they can utilize to define themselves as entertainers. It's all about trying to find your own unique niche in an ever crowding field, and Chuck Lavazzi has set about carving out his own piece of the pie by mining the whimsical tunes of yest...

It's only fitting that the original 'King of the Jukebox', songwriter, musician and bandleader Louis Jordan, be honored with his own 'jukebox' musical (featuring a well-crafted book by Clarke Peters). FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE is a delightfully frothy concoction that takes its simple thread of a story and...

History books, at least when I was growing up, devoted only a sidebar to pioneering aviatrix AMELIA EARHART, although today her life has become the subject of many books, movies and television specials that seek to shed light on her mysterious disappearance in 1937 during an attempt to fly around th...

If you're a fan of musical theatre, and you missed out on your chance to see THE FANTASTICKS during its record setting run off-Broadway (it did play for over 40 years, after all), then you owe it to yourself to take in the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis's delightful production on the main stage at t...

Muddy Waters Theatre begin their season of O'Neill with the classic American morality tale, DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS, a play that manages to examine nearly all of the seven deadly sins before reaching its dramatic conclusion. If you've only seen the woefully miscast movie version (I mean, really, Burl ...

The Imaginary Theatre Company opens the spring season with a cute production of A PETER RABBIT TALE. This is a sassy and entertaining re-working of a childhood favorite that adds a pleasant and catchy score to the familiar story. I brought my wife and son along to attend one of two performances that...

If you've never read Fyodor Dostoyevsky's mammoth classic CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, you're probably still familiar with certain themes and characters that populate this piece of Russian literature. The particularly misguided concept of there being extraordinary humans amongst us that feel they have the ...

At our current rate of consumption, is it conceivable that we could ever reach a point where every movie, book, historical figure, or current event available will have been used as the basis for a musical? Probably not. But, with that idea in mind, writers/composers Scott Brown and Anthony King have...

Playwright Paul Zindel's work THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON THE MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS tells a painful and dark story, and offers only a glimmer of hope to its protagonist. Vaguely reminiscent of the work of Tennessee Williams, Zindel's play is peppered with poetic and lyrical snatches of dialog th...

My first introduction to the work of playwright Tracy Letts was covering a local production of Bug. I came away amazed and enthralled with the play, marveling at the way Letts writes dialog, and captivated by a bizarre tale of conspiratorial madness fueled by excessive drug consumption and psychotic...

Jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday had a hard and tragic life, and her addictions have become almost as well known as her musical contributions. YESTERDAYS: AN EVENING WITH BILLIE HOLIDAY illuminates the high and low points of her career, while framing them in guise of her last concert appearance ...

THE PEOPLE'S VIOLIN is an interesting search for identity, as an experimental filmmaker attempts to track down his father's true lineage, and hopes to find himself in the process. It's interesting to note that Charlie Varon's play was originally a one man show, especially since its lead protagonist,...