ST. LOUIS THEATER REVIEWS

Controversial playwright/filmmaker Neil Labute has a unique talent for crafting works that deliver a solid sucker punch to the gut. I can appreciate that approach, and since I'm always on the lookout for something out of the ordinary, I made it a point to check out the St. Louis Actors' Studio produ...

After experiencing some initial success in the world of cabaret last year, Jeffrey Wright has returned to the Kranzberg Arts Center for a weekend of sold out performances. With the encouragement of mentors Lina Koutrakos and Rick Jensen, Wright has fashioned a show centered around the theme of 'The ...

It's easy to understand the appeal of a jukebox musical like MAMMA MIA!, especially when you consider just how tuneful the score is, overflowing with a couple dozen of ABBA's greatest hits. And, on a cold evening in February, it's setting in sunny Greece is a warm and welcome alternative to the weat...

Playwright Wendy Kesselman has referred to her current adaptation of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK as the definitive version, and considering the fact that newly available passages of Anne's diary were incorporated into the text, it's certainly more eye opening in a lot of respects. Kesselman gives us a m...

I'm encouraged by the recent trend of malls offering up empty retail space to the artistic community. If there's one thing that theatre groups often lack it's a decent performance space, and these type of ventures, like the ArtSpace at Crestwood Court, provide them with an opportunity to bring their...

Marsha Norman's clever book for the musical version of THE COLOR PURPLE greatly compresses the action of the novel, while also managing to tone down some of its more violent aspects. In combination with a rousing music score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, which runs the gamut from...

Anna-Deveare Smith's play, FIRES IN THE MIRROR, attempts to capture a specific, largely forgotten moment in our history, suspending it in time for a little over an hour, so that it can be properly reflected upon and digested. Though, like life itself, things tend to get a bit untidy in spots, the pl...

Piwacket Theatre for Children celebrates their 18th year in existence with the charming debut of their 18th original production SNOW WHITE AND THE 8TH DWARF (playing through January 30, 2010 at the Black Cat Theatre). This particular take on the famous fairy tale attempts to communicate the importan...

Michael Hofmann's witty translation of Peter Suskind's play THE DOUBLE BASS is an intriguing work, filled with wildly funny moments, and Upstream Theater's current presentation, which is playing at the Kranzberg Arts Center through February 14, is a must-see production, powered by Philip Boehm's tho...

Eliane Elias is a superbly talented performer, having started on piano at age six in her native Brazil (Sao Paulo). She's grown up with the sounds of Bossa Nova wafting through the air and airwaves, and has become a proponent of this movement that's continued to entertain audiences for over 50 years...

SCRAPARTSMUSIC is a unique performance group that utilizes found objects to create amazing percussion instruments that are also works of art. Gregory Kozak, the inventor of this musical collective (along with co-creator Justine Murdy), who hails from Vancouver, British Columbia, brought the troupe t...

[title of show] is an interesting new musical that chronicles the very creation of the show itself, and then documents the rocky road it takes on its journey to Broadway. The musical was initially conceived as a writer's exercise by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell, who used a 3 ½ week deadline for a fes...

In director Chris Anthony's notes in the program she discusses the question of relevance where Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET is concerned. She correctly points out that 'Shakespeare wrote a story about two families that are fighting and two teenagers that are in love. If you have ever fought or fal...

Jamie Adkins is a unique talent, and his extraordinary abilities were on display at the Edison Theatre (January 16, 2010), on the campus of Washington University, in his one man show CIRCUS INCOGNITUS. This unusual, but very engaging production combines many familiar elements from the world of the c...

More than the passage of time has turned country singer/musician Ricky Skaggs into one of the elder statesmen of bluegrass. The die was cast from the minute he stepped onto a stage at age five to pick his mandolin with the legendary Bill Monroe. And, while his long locks may have almost completely f...

Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's GREASE is one of my favorite shows, and I've seen several different versions of it over the last few years. Having seen the movie when I was a teenager, I'd always preferred productions that included songs from the film. But, ever since I saw New Line Theatre's raw, ori...

The first thing I was reminded of while watching John Kolvenbach's funny and intriguing play, LOVE SONG, was David Lynch's surreal cult film, ERASERHEAD, if only for the obvious comparisons that pop up between their respective protagonists. Henry, in ERASERHEAD, is a lonely daydreamer with an overac...

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis opens 2010 with a brilliant adaptation of director Alfred Hitchcock's classic of the silver screen, THE 39 STEPS. Patrick Barlow's script based on Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon's original conception (as well as John Buchan's novel and Hitchcock's amazing film) utili...

A sleek and sexy production of Kander and Ebb's brilliant musical, CHICAGO, is currently playing the Fox Theatre for a brief run (January 1-3, 2010). If you've only ever seen the film version, then you should do yourself a favor and check out the more minimalistic staging carried over from the 1996 ...

For my last undertaking of 2009, my family and I attended the Imaginary Theatre Company's presentation of a modern re-telling of Charles Dickens' classic tale, A Christmas Carol, called BAH! HUMBUG!. A terrific cast really enlivens Jack Herrick's tuneful score and clever script, providing a wonderfu...

I originally saw Paul Blake and David Ives' adaptation of the 1954 movie WHITE CHRISTMAS back in 2006 at the Muny. There have been some minor changes made to it since then, but it still follows the basic plot of the movie fairly closely. In fact, most of the changes center on the inclusion of additi...

Piwacket Theatre for Children's second Christmas-themed offering of the season concerns a MISCHIEVOUS ELF, and conveys a positive message about maintaining hope in the face of adversity to its young audience. This tale of holiday merriment is filled with song and dance, and it's sure to please your ...

Though only one of the stories that's adapted for AN O.HENRY CHRISTMAS, 'The Gift of the Magi', is truly Christmas-themed, this musical adaptation of writer William Sidney Porter, who's certainly more recognizable under his pen name, O. Henry, delivers enough positive messages about faith, hope and ...

On a cool and stormy evening (December 12, 2009), Mother Nature may have provided the lightning, but the Blind Boys of Alabama delivered the thunder, captivating the crowd at the Sheldon Concert Hall with an inspirational performance. For 70 years (since 1939) this group has entertained and excited ...

There are a multitude of options available to anyone looking to take in a holiday-themed show this time of year. If you're so inclined, I heartily recommend the Black Rep's joyous production of Langston Hughes' BLACK NATIVITY. This is an uplifting and affirming celebration that features a terrific a...