The St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 20, 2013

[Looking for auditions and other artistic opportunities? Check out the St. Louis Auditions site.]

For information on events beyond this week, check out the searchable database at the Regional Arts Commission's ArtsZipper site.

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The Pub Theater Company presents Bye Bye Liver: The St. Louis Drinking Play, a comedic romp through the joys and pitfalls of The Gateway to the West's favorite pastime. Performances take place on Saturdays at 9 PM at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185, email stlouis at byebyeliver.com, or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Clueless through July 27. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Field of Schemes through July 27. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com

Upstream Theater presents An Iliad May 24-June 9. Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. "The inimitable Jerry Vogel returns to Upstream to play the poet who has come to enchant us, move us, and dare us to recognize ourselves as we peer into the bronze-tinged reflection of an ancient war...Featuring live music by longtime Upstream collaborator Farshid Soltanshahi." For more information, including show times: upstreamtheater.org.

Photo: John Lamb

Max and Louie Productions presents Jeffrey Hatcher's Mrs. Mannerly May 23 through June 2. "This irreverent, yet poignant comedy is inspired by the hilarious memories of a childhood etiquette class, wherein playwright Jeffrey Hatcher conjures up the world of a 10 yr. old studying manners. Set in 1967, Mrs. Mannerly is a demanding teacher, and no student in her thirty-six years of etiquette classes has ever achieved a perfect score. But, when he discovers her secret past, Young Jeffrey is determined to be the first to achieve this feat. This unique comic tale reveals truths about the face we present and the real selves that lie inside." Performances take place at COCA, 524 Trinity in University City. For more information, visit maxandlouie.com.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance in rotating repertory with three other operas May 25-June 29. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

The Sheldon Concert Hall presents The Poor Puppets of Paris, an evening of French songs with Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris with special guests Bob Kramer's Marionettes, on Tuesday, May 21, at 7:30 PM. The show features songs by Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Josephine Baker as well as music of Michel Legrand. The Sheldon Concert Hall is at 3648 Washington. For more information: sheldonconcerthall.org.

The Fox Theatre presents the musical Rock of Ages Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 and 2 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM, May 24-26. The Tony-nominated musical is “a hilarious, feel-good love story told through the hit songs of iconic rockers Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Whitesnake, and many more”. The Fox Theatre is at 517 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678

Photo: John Lamb

New Jewish Theater presents Shlemiel the First through June 9. "A joyous klezmer musical based on the tale by Isaac Bashevis Singer, follows the naive beadle Shlemiel from Chelm, a village of fools, on a pilgrimage to spread the wisdom of the local sages. His simple-minded folly turns an already absurd world hilariously upside down, and the play’s small cast, complete with a live klezmer band and a topsy-turvy set, amasses large measures of adoration from audiences nationwide." Performances take place in the Marvin and Harlene Wool Studio Theater at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. For more information: www.newjewishtheatre.org or call 314-442-3283.

Dance St. Louis presents the Spring to Dance Festival 2013, featuring 30 dance companies, Thursday through Saturday, May 23-25, at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Performances take place each night at 6 PM in the Terrace Lobby, at 7 PM in the Lee Theatre, and at 7:30 PM in the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall. For more information: dancestlouis.org.

St. Louis Actors' Studio presents Alan Bennett's trio of monlogues Talking Heads through May 26 at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents Twelfth Night nightly except for Tuesdays, May 22 through June 16. Performances take place in Shakespeare Glen next to the Art Museum in Forest Park. Curtain time is 8 PM. For more information, visit sfstl.com.

The Alpha Players of Florissant present the comedy Whodunnit through May 26 at The Florissant Civic Center Theater, Parker Rd. at Waterford Dr. in Florissant, MO. For more information, call 314-921-5678.

Tesseract Theatre Company presents You Won't See Me by company playwright in residence Caitlin McCommis Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 4 PM, May 22-26. “Joe Hanrahan portrays Mal Evans, Beatles road manager and friend in this new play that chronicles Evans' amazing life with the band and his tragic end.” Performances take place at the Regional Arts Commission on Delmar, across from the Pageant. Admission is free. For more information: tesseracttheatre.org.

Would you like to be on the radio? KDHX, 88.1 FM needs theatre reviewers. If you're 18 years or older, knowledgeable in this area, have practical theatre experience (acting, directing, writing, technical design, etc.), have good oral and written communications skills and would like to become one of our volunteer reviewers, send an email describing your experience and interests to chuck at kdhx.org. Please include a sample review of something you've seen recently.

Theatre quote of the day for Sunday, May 19, 2013

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"People have pointed out evidences of personal feeling in my notices as if they were accusing me of a misdemeanor, not knowing that criticism written without personal feeling is not worth reading. It is the capacity for making good or bad art a personal matter that makes a man a critic." - George Bernard Shaw

I might add, as both a performer and critic, that one also needs to capacity to distinguish between one's personal preferences and artistic merit.  There plays, musical works, and performances that I might like while recognizing that they don't have a lot of artistic merit and others that I might recognize as Great Art even if they're not to my taste.

Theatre quote of the day for Saturday, May 18, 2013

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Two quotes this time, but I think you'll have to agree that they go together.

“If I wasn’t an actor, I think I’d have gone mad. You have to have extra voltage, some extra temperament to reach certain heights. Art is a little bit larger than life - it’s an exhalation of life and I think I you probably need a little touch of madness” — Sir Laurence Olivier

"Show me a great actor and I'll show you a lousy husband. Show me a great actress, and you've seen the devil." - W. C. Fields

TPTBT (The Place to Be Tonight): Saturday, May 18

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Who: The Gateway Men's Chorus
What: Cabaret Risque II
Where: The Rialto Ballroom at The Centene Center, 3547 Olive Street
When: Tonight at 7 PM
Why: "Every singer from last year’s unforgettable Cabaret Risqué is back with an all-new line-up of songs about love that lasts a lifetime… or just one night. Join Robert Breig, Alice Kinsella, Kay Love, Katie McGrath, Tim Schall, Deborah Sharn and Jeffrey M. Wright, and your hosts, Al Fischer and Ken Haller as they bring you songs that are both naughty and nice and that may just make you want to fall in love all over again!"  Having worked with every one of these artists in the past, I can guarantee that they'll have an entertaining collection of songs ready for you at this gala fund-raiser for the Gateway Men's Chorus.  There will also be an auction of appropriate collectibles and other surprises. For more information: gmcstl.org.

TPTBT (The Place to Be Tonight): Friday, May 17

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Who: St. Louis Actors' Studio
What: Talking Heads by Alan Bennett
Where: The Gaslight Theatre, 356 North Boyle
When: Tonight at 8 PM through May 26
Why: The work of the great British playwright and original Beyond the Fringe member Alan Bennett is always worth a look, and these three monologues star a trio of well-known local actors. You can even join the cast for High Tea after the matinee shows.

Theatre quote of the day for Friday, May 17, 2013

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“If the Met’s screaming Wagnerites standing on chairs in the 1890s are in fact unthinkable today, it is partly because we mistrust high feeling. Our children avidly specialize in vicarious forms of electronic interpersonal diversion. Our laptops and televisions ensnare us in a surrogate world that shuns all but facile passions; only Jon Stewart and Bill Maher share moments of moral outrage disguised as comedy.” - Joseph Horowitz, Moral Fire: Musical Portraits from America’s Fin-de-Siecle

Mr. Horowitz is, of course, using the word "moral" differently from the radical right, for whom the only acts with moral valence are sexual.  We seem determined to recreate the social and economic world of the 1890s these days while ignoring the intellectual climate that went with and somewhat ameliorated it.  It's as if we were determined to pick the best of the past century or so, throw it out, and concentrate on the worst.

Chuck's Choices for the weekend of May 17, 2013

As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

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New this week:

The Gateway Men's Chorus presents Cabaret Risque on Saturday, May 18, at 7 PM. Featured performers are Robert Breig, Alice Kinsella, Kay Love, Katie McGrath, Tim Schall, Deborah Sharn, and Jeffrey M. Wright. Ken Haller is master of ceremonies for the event, with music direction by Al Fischer. This second edition of this annual cabaret event by Gateway Men's Chorus should be fun, given the list of guest artists. The show takes place at the Rialto Ballroom, 3547 Olive in Grand Center. For more information: gmcstl.org.

The Presenters Dolan present a cabaret fundraiser for St. Louis Actors' Studio with Nancy Kranzberg and the Second Half on Thursday, May 16. The concert begins at 7:30, preceded by wine and hors d'oeuvres By Chef John and Entre at 6:00. The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. Nancy and Ken Kranzberg are famous for thie financial support of the local arts scene and 88.1 KDHX listeners will recognize Nancy as the host of a weekly arts interview show, but her work as a cabaret performer is less well-known. For more information: licketytix.com.

Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre presents Stupefy! The 90 Minute Harry Potter Thursday at 7:30 PM and Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and 10:30 PM. “The 7:30pm performance is 'family friendly.' The late show is recommended for audiences 16 and over. Audience members should feel free to dress in their Hogwarts attire, if desired.” "Good comedic acting shines in this production," says Tina Farmer In her review for 88.1 KDHX, "and the ensemble cast is engaging, skillfully drawing in all of the audience with a variety of interactions." Performances take place at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar. For more information: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/343442

Mariposa Artists presents 2010 MAC Award Nominee Michelle Collier in A Tribute to the Hollywood Blondes on Thursday at 8 PM. “After a successful run at the Metropolitan Room and Don't Tell Mama in New York City, Mariposa Artists proudly presents Michelle Collier in “A Tribute To The Hollywood Blondes” featuring songs performed by the Golden Bombshell Legends of the Silver Screen, including: Ginger Rogers, Betty Grable, Betty Hutton, Jane Powell, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Jones and more! Join this bubbly entertainer as she takes you on a journey through film history, including musical selections played by Carol Schmidt on piano and Ric Vice on bass.” The performance takes place at Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington. For more information: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/344806. Doors open starting at 6:00 PM; dinner reservations are available at (314) 534-3663.

Held over:

HotCity Theatre presents the St. Louis premiere of Maple and Vine through Saturday. “Disgusted with today's SCANDALOUS society where vulgarity and obscenity are actually rewarded? Overwhelmed by computers, smart phones, tablets and the such? Well, forsake Reality TV and your electronic devices for the dry martinis and Tupperware parties of the 1950's, when the simpler life was much more wholesome. Or ... was it?” I saw the world premiere of this at the Humana Festival two years ago and was very impressed with it. Although HotCity is promoting this as a kind of egdy comedy, it's really a thought-provoking (and ultimately disturbing) comedy/drama that raises important questions about the nature of freedom and personal identity and how much of both you might be willing to give up for a good night's sleep. The current HotCity production isn't perfect, but on the whole it does well by the script, which is the important thing. Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, visit www.hotcitytheatre.org or call 314-289-4063.

The Black Rep presents the world premiere of Smash/Hit! through Sunday. “An Iraqi War vet fights to leave the battlefield behind, and make his way in the treacherous world of Hip Hop.” Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. "What makes the play work so well," writes Tina Farmer in her review for 88.1 KDHX, "is the combination of the actors' performances and the well-written, tightly connected script. The language used and situations presented speak directly to a contemporary audience". For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810.

Theatre quote of the day for Thursday, May 16, 2013

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“Gus is the Cat at the Theatre Door.
His name, as I ought to have told you before,
Is really Asparagus. That's such a fuss
To pronounce, that we usually call him just Gus.
His coat's very shabby, he's thin as a rake,
And he suffers from palsy that makes his paw shake.
Yet he was, in his youth, quite the smartest of Cats —
But no longer a terror to mice or to rats.
For he isn't the Cat that he was in his prime;
Though his name was quite famous, he says, in his time.
And whenever he joins his friends at their club
(which takes place at the back of the neighbouring pub)
He loves to regale them, if someone else pays,
With anecdotes drawn from his palmiest days.
For he once was a Star of the highest degree”
― T.S. Eliot, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

More and more these days, I find myself thinking of Gus and identifying with his nostalgia. I have a more realistic appraisal of my illustrious performing arts past, of course, but Eliot hits on something universal here: our tendency to selectively edit our past and hold on to the parts that are, in retrospect, the most pleasant. I think most humans would go quite mad if they didn't do that, really. The important thing is to be aware that you're doing it.

TPTBT (The Place to Be Tonight): Thursday, May 16

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Who: Michelle Collier with Carol Schmidt (piano), Ric Vice (bass) and Clancy Newell (drums)
What: A Tribute to the Hollywood Blondes
Where: The Bistro at Grand Center
When: 8 PM (door open for dinner at 6 PM)
Why: "After a successful run at the Metropolitan Room and Don't Tell Mama in New York City, Mariposa Artists proudly presents Michelle Collier in A Tribute to the Hollywood Blondes, featuring songs performed by the Golden Bombshell Legends of the Silver Screen, including: Ginger Rogers, Betty Grable, Betty Hutton, Jane Powell, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Jones and more! Join this bubbly entertainer as she takes you on a journey through film history." Ms. Collier, a St. Louis native, is a 2010 MAC Award Nominee for Best Female Debut.  Note that dinner is not included in the ticket price. If you want to make a dinner reservation, call the Bistro at (314) 534-3663. For more information, visit the brownpapertickets.com event page.

TPTBT (The Place to Be Tonight): Wednesday, May 15

Michelle Collier

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Who: The Cabaret Project and 88.1 KDHX
What: Cabaret Open Mic Night First Birthday Party
Where: The Tavern of Fine Arts
When: 7-10 PM

Carol Schmidt

Why:  A year ago Cabaret Project Poobah Tim Schall, pianist and music director Carol Schmidt and I decided that the Tavern of Fine Arts was the ideal place for a regular open mic night that would give local singers a chance to try out new material or polish existing songs.  We hoped it would offer cabaret veterans a chance to expand their range of material as well as bring give new singers a chance to get some experience in front of an audience in a welcoming environment.  One year later it has all exceeded our wildest expectations.  Join us, along our special guest, MAC Award-winning singer Michelle Collier (who brings her show A Tribute to the Hollywood Blondes to the Bistro on Thursday), for an evening of fun, songs, surprises, and free birthday cake.

And, yes, I will probably do some Tom Leher songs.

Theatre quote of the day for Wednesday, May 15, 2013

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"The Director's Role: You are the obstetrician. You are not the parent of this child we call the play. You are present at its birth for clinical reasons, like a doctor or midwife. Your job most of the time is simply to do no harm. When something does go wrong, however, your awareness that something is awry--and your clinical intervention to correct it--can determine whether the child will thrive or suffer, live or die.” ― Frank Hauser (1922-2007), British director, writer, and translator.  From Notes on Directing: 130 Lessons in Leadership from the Director's Chair, co-authored with Russel Reich.

"Your job most of the time is simply to do no harm."  I wish more directors—especially opera directors and directors of Shakespeare—would take this approach.  We'd get much better productions.

Theatre quote of the day for Tuesday, May 14, 2013

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"The Renaissance teaches us that the book of knowledge is not to be learned by rote but is to be written anew in the ecstasy of living each moment for the moment’s sake. Success in life is to maintain this ecstasy, to burn always with this hard gem-like flame. Failure is to form habits. To burn with a gem-like flame is to capture the awareness of each moment; and for that moment only. To form habits is to be absent from those moments. How may we always be present for them?—to garner not the fruits of experience but experience itself?" - Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

And yet, our entire education system is built on the notion that we have to bang habits into children until they have learned them and stop asking a lot of questions.  Producing easily quantifiable results is what prepares you for life as a cog in the corporate machine.  Memorize facts, repeat them in the right order on standardized tests, and get a grade; that's education.  Learning to think independently and logically, constantly question received wisdom, and test it against reality; that's dangerous liberal subversion of traditional values.

Electric shocks

Who: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Chorus, and Children’s Chorus conducted by David Robertson with soloists Susanna Phillips, soprano; Kelley O'Connor, mezzo-soprano; Joseph Kaiser, tenor; Keith Boyer, tenor; Mark Freiman, bass; and Corey McKern, baritone
What: Music of Bruckner, Berg, and Beethoven
Where: Powell Symphony Hall
When: May 9-12, 2013

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For the second week in a row, Maestro David Robertson has taken a well-known piece in the standard repertoire, plugged it into a high-voltage socket, and produced a performance that crackles with electricity.

Susanna Phillips

Last week it was Schubert’s 1822 “Unfinished” symphony. This week it was a work composed around the same time—Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, a.k.a. the “Choral” symphony. Working without a score and conducting a chorus that was singing from memory, Mr. Robertson gave us a 9th that demanded attention from the first notes and didn’t let go until the final rousing chords. Like my personal favorite Beethoven 9th (the one with Roger Norrington and the London Classical Players), this was a performance that generated a tremendous amount of excitement. Yes, there were bits of ragged playing here and there, but only a few and not nearly enough to take away from the truly stunning impact of what Mr. Robertson, chorus director Amy Kaiser, and their forces accomplished here. The little burst of spontaneous applause that followed the first movement Thursday night (graciously acknowledged by Mr. Robertson) was an indication of how caught up the audience was.

Kelley O'Connor

Like many young vocal performers, the soloists for the Beethoven all had solid opera credentials; pure recitalists seem rather rare these days. From my point of view, that’s all to the good. Soprano Susanna Phillips, mezzo Kelley O'Connor, tenor Joseph Kaiser, and baritone Corey McKern all acted the text of the final movement as well as they sang it, and they sang it wonderfully. They were also more easily heard (at least from our seats in the Dress Circle) than vocal soloists sometimes are at Powell due, I expect, to their placement above and behind the orchestra rather than in front of it as is usually the case. My experience has been that the farther front soloists are, the harder they are to hear upstairs.

Joseph Kaiser

Those theatrical skills were put to good use in the first half of the program as well, which consisted of a brief Bruckner motet, Christus Factus Est, followed without pause by the grim and violent final act of Berg’s opera Wozzeck.

Although separated by only a little over thirty years, the Bruckner (from 1884) and Berg (composed between 1917 and 1922) are from radically different worlds. The Latin text for the former is about the exaltation of Christ while the German text for the latter, adapted by the composer from Georg Büchner’s unfinished tragedy from 1836-37, is about the debasement of the hapless titular army private. Bruckner’s glorious a cappella music—sung with tremendous power and beauty by the members of the Symphony Chorus—portrays Christ dying for humanity’s sins. Berg’s unsettling twelve-tone score employs a massive post-Wagnerian orchestra to accompany Wozzeck’s murder of his mistress Marie and his own accidental death (or maybe it’s suicide) while trying to cover up the crime.

Corey McKern

The contrast between these two works could not be greater, but oddly enough they seemed to work as a dramatic whole.

The Wozzeck excerpt, in particular, was remarkably compelling, given that this was a semi-staged concert presentation of a work that is, to say the least, overtly theatrical. The various locations—Marie’s bedroom, a lake, and a rowdy tavern—were suggested with lighting, and the limited action took place on a small platform between the chorus and orchestra. The brief appearances by the Lieutenant (tenor Keith Boyer) and the Doctor (bass Mark Freiman) were pushed down to the aisle between the lip of the stage and the first row of seats, as was the final grim scene in which a group of children (members of the Children’s Chorus) tell Marie’s uncomprehending child that his mother is dead. It was all a bit awkward and should have made suspension of disbelief difficult, but Berg’s brilliantly evocative music made it effortless. It helped that Mr. McKern’s Wozzeck, Ms. Phillips’s Marie, and Ms. O’Connor’s Margret (Marie’s friend, who calls Wozzeck out for the blood on his hands) were so completely credible.

Mr. Robertson’s interpretation was wonderfully knowing and dramatic, and the members of the orchestra played with their usual consummate skill. That’s all the more impressive when you take into account that Berg’s score is not easy to navigate and not often heard locally. I don’t think the opera has ever been staged here, and the Symphony’s last concert performance was over forty years ago.

I’ve always felt a bit ambivalent about Wozzeck—attracted by the music, repelled by the story—but Thursday’s performance has got me thinking that one of our local opera companies might want to take a look at it. It might be a bit risky for Opera Theatre, but it might be right up Union Avenue’s alley.

These concerts concluded the regular season, but post-season action continues next week with The Music of Whitney Houston on Friday, May 17; a free Youth Orchestra Concert on Saturday, May 18; and a Tribute to Richard Hayman on Sunday, May 19. Every audience member at that last one gets a free harmonica to play along with the orchestra and harmonica player Mike Runyan.

Concerts in June include the 1812 Overture and Bolero on June 8 and a League of American Orchestras Conference Concert on June 18 featuring Sibelius’s Symphony No. 7 and John Adams’s "Doctor Atomic" Symphony. For ticket information: stlsymphony.org.

Finally, this postscript: this weekend’s concerts marked not only the end of the current season, but also the retirement of two highly respected Symphony musicians: harpist Frances Tietov and bass clarinet James Meyer. Mr. Robertson took a few moments at the beginning of the concert to honor both retirees, who received a warm round of applause from the audience.

Theatre quote of the day for May 13, 2013

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I will accept anything in the theatre . . . provided it amuses or moves me. But if it does neither, I want to go home. - Noel Coward

We might have fewer failed "high concept" productions (especially of operas) if directors would just keep that simple rule in mind.