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REVIEW: Lyceum Theatre Closes Their 2009 Season with Charming Presentation of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - A LIVE RADIO PLAY
The 2009 season for the Lyceum Theatre draws to a close with IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - A LIVE RADIO PLAY. This is a unique take on the familiar holiday film classic that's been reworked for the stage by Joe Landry; in this case as a radio dramatization. What's interesting to me is that it was quite co...
REVIEW: Parsons Dance with the East Village Opera Company Present a Stunning Production of REMEMBER ME
As soon as you hear the strains of the keyboard riff from The Who's 'Baba O'Reily' blending seamlessly into Mozart's 'Overture for Figaro', you know you're in for something different. With their co-creation, REMEMBER ME, Parsons Dance and the East Village Opera Company have crafted an exhilarating c...
REVIEW: Lively Production of IN THE HEIGHTS Takes the Stage at the Fox Theatre
The Tony award winning musical IN THE HEIGHTS takes the stage at the Fox Theatre for an extended run. The show examines the lives of the various characters that populate the New York neighborhood known as Washington Heights, and features an infectious mix of rap and Latin music styles. It's an exube...
REVIEW: Piwacket Theatre for Children Continue Season with JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
Piwacket Theatre for Children takes a stab at a classic English fairytale with their production of JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. As always, this is a pleasant, tune-filled presentation aimed at little ones, that teaches them a valuable lesson along the way. Founders Scott Sears, Edie Avioli and Charlotte ...
REVIEW: St. Louis Shakespeare Close Their 2009 Season with TREASURE ISLAND at the Missouri History Museum
TREASURE ISLAND, Robert Louis Stevenson's narrative coming-of-age adventure about sea-faring scalawags and buried treasure, is a touchstone for all things pirate. All the standard iconography that we associate with these vicious buccaneers is present in his text including: one-legged seamen who have...
REVIEW: Muddy Waters Theatre Closes Their Season of Albee with a Powerful Production of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
If you've only ever seen the 1966 film adaptation of Edward Albee's masterwork, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, then you really haven't seen it at all. The Hollywood stunt casting of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton derails the movie, and in the process, dilutes Albee's potent social commentary....
REVIEW: Echo Theatre Company Presents an Outstanding World Premiere Production of FUGITIVE SONGS
There are quite a few outstanding theatre congregations in the St. Louis area, and Echo Theatre Company is fast becoming a company to watch with their consistently interesting choices. Their latest production,the World Premiere of the engaging song cycle FUGITIVE SONGS, continues this trend, and pro...
REVIEW: Intimate Production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Opens 2009-2010 Season for Mustard Seed Theatre
Mustard Seed Theatre's production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is being billed as a more intimate staging, eschewing some of the elements of spectacle and scope that can often overwhelm this simple tale. This presentation succeeds by focusing our attention on Joseph Stein's characters, and their joyous ce...
REVIEW: SECRET ORDER Opens the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis's Studio Theatre Season for 2009-2010
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis begin their studio theatre season with a bang with Bob Clyman's SECRET ORDER, presenting a provocative and timely work that illustrates the tenuous relationships forged between government, science, and the major pharmaceutical companies. A recent visit to the FDA w...
REVIEW: NonProphet Theater Company's Production of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW
Reading the director's notes for NonProphet Theater Company's production of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW had me wondering, if indeed, 'many people have never seen the movie, much less the stage show'. I mean, I grew up during the 1960's and 70's, so I was exposed to the cult that is 'Rocky Horror' as soon ...
REVIEW: Chad and Jeremy Perform Delightful Show at the Sheldon Concert Hall
For me, it's the elegant and warm combination of their voices that gives Chad and Jeremy their unique appeal. As evidenced by this spirited concert performance, their vocals are still very much in tact after all this time, and it's a tribute to their gifts that they can even deliver an a capella num...
REVIEW: Black Rep and Washington University Performing Arts Department Team Up for RAGTIME
Terrence McNally's script for the musical version of RAGTIME, taken from E. L. Doctorow's popular novel from the mid 1970's, attempts to squeeze as much information out of the book as possible. It succeeds, where the movie adaptation failed, in capturing the full spectrum of Doctorow's work. The Was...
REVIEW: SLEUTH Continues Repertory Theatre of St. Louis 2009-2010 Season
SLEUTH, being a thriller of sorts, may be best viewed by a novice, where its many intricacies of plot can be better appreciated, although that may be increasingly difficult to accomplish with the recent cable TV airings of the 2007 film remake. However, that attitude would be doing a disservice to S...
REVIEW: UNBEATABLE! Opens at the Playhouse at Westport Plaza
Based on Laurie Frey's own experience dealing with the physical ravages of stage three breast cancer, UNBEATABLE! attempts to put a musical spin on her story, providing viewers with a unique interpretation of Frey's struggle to overcome this deadly disease. The most appreciative audience for this ma...
REVIEW: Piwacket Children's Theatre Opens Season with CINDERBOTTOM
Piwacket Children's Theatre begins their 2009-2010 season with a retelling of the familiar Cinderella story, here called CINDERBOTTOM. Like all of their productions, there's a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor that makes it palatable for both children and adults, and there are a number of cute little cat...
REVIEW: Upstream Theater's US Premiere of Ingmar Villqist's Play HELVER'S NIGHT
With the premiere in the U.S. of Polish writer Ingmar Villqist's powerful play HELVER'S NIGHT artistic director Philip Boehm has once again demonstrated the enduring appeal of Upstream Theater. Boehm consistently provides his audience with challenging and innovative translations of playwrights from ...
REVIEW: Tommy Emmanuel and Rick Price Impress with Show at the Sheldon Concert Hall
Australian born guitar vituoso Tommy Emmanuel showcased his unique talent on the stage of the Sheldon Concert Hall, offering a display of fleet-fingered picking that brought the house down....
REVIEW: St. Louis Shakespeare Continues Season with MACBETH at the Grandel Theatre
Shakespeare's MACBETH is a perfect choice for the beginning of the Fall season, especially when one looks ahead to that most macabre of holidays; Halloween. Shakespeare's play is filled with gruesome murders and bloody mayhem, although a great deal of it does occur offstage. Like many of his tragedi...
REVIEW: New Line Theatre's Production of LOVE KILLS Makes its Regional Premiere
LOVE KILLS, Kyle Jarrow's musical meditation on the relationship between Charlie Starkweather and Caril Fugate, who embarked on a killing spree in Nebraska during the late 1950's, is an intriguing piece that succeeds in confounding expectations. If there's any truth to be gleaned from the facts pres...
REVIEW: Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Opens at the Fox Theatre for Extended Run
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is really a triumph of staging with Harold Prince's direction presenting and coordinating these spectacular set pieces with cinematic precision. The constant movement of actors and curtains and backdrops provides a dazzling display of theatrical technique and technical virtu...
REVIEW: New Jewish Theatre Opens Season with CONVERSATIONS WITH MY FATHER
CONVERSATIONS WITH MY FATHER is kind of a misnomer. The character of Eddie Ross (nee Goldberg) doesn't converse as much as harangue the people around him. But, don't take this as a knock on Herb Gardner's play; it's more of a clarification than anything. This isn't just the ramblings of a bitter old...
REVIEW: Orange Girls Present WONDER OF THE WORLD As They Close Their 2009 Season
As a swansong for their theatre company, WONDER OF THE WORLD acts as a whimsical sendoff; a farcical piece filled with quirky characters and hilarious dialogue. I'll miss the Orange Girls because their choices were consistently engaging and entertaining, and they always featured talented casts in th...
REVIEW: Echo Theatre Company's Regional Premiere of THE SECRETARIES by the Five Lesbian Brothers
THE SECRETARIES is a bizarre play, mixing strange elements and eccentric characters together like something out of a John Waters or David Lynch film. The climax alone features a bevy of women in lingerie covered in blood; an image that evokes the exploitation era of the 1970's. To make it work it re...
REVIEW: Bettye Lavette Performs at the Sheldon Concert Hall Friday Sept 25
If you look up the term 'soul survivor' online, you might just stumble across a biography and picture of Bettye Lavette waiting for you to peruse since her career trajectory could lead to her being aptly labeled as such. Lavette started recording in the early 1960's at age sixteen, but she flew bene...
REVIEW: Stray Dog Theatre's Season Continues with Sondheim and Lapine's INTO THE WOODS
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's whimsical musical, INTO THE WOODS, is an amusing combination of fractured fairy tales from the like of the Brothers Grimm and others. It's an intriguing idea that brings these disparate characters together to interact in ways that are decidedly different from thei...
Videos
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The Light in the Piazza Loretto-Hilton Center (5/30-6/28) |
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God of Carnage New Jewish Theatre (NJT) (6/11-6/28) |
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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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Motown Magic Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (6/19-6/19) |
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Journey Great Southern Bank Arena (6/25-6/25) |
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Liverpool Legends 'The Complete Beatles Experience!' Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center (6/27-6/27) |
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Gateway Dirt Nationals – 3 Day Pass The Dome at America's Center (12/03-12/05) |
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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 (6/17-6/17) |
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