Chuck's Choices for the weekend of June 29, 2012

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:

Ain't Misbehavin'

Stages St. Louis presents the "Fats" Waller musical Ain't Misbehavin' through Sunday. Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road in Kirkwood. This lively tour of songs made popular by Thomas "Fats" Waller has always been a favorite of mine and the Stages production is apparently a good one. In her review for KDHX, Sheila Schultz says the show "overflows with rhythm and vigor." For more information, visit stagesstlouis.org or call 314-821-2407.

Un Ballo in Maschera

Union Avenue Opera presents Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, June 29-July 7. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sung in Italian with projected English text. I won't get to see this until next weekend, but I'm singling it out because Union Avenue is almost always a company worth watching and because performances of thie work are relatively rare. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

Chicago

The Muny presents the first Muny production of the Broadway musical Chicago  through Sunday at 8:15 PM in the outdoor theatre in Forest Park. The last time the Muny put Chicago on stage was when they paid the original Broadway cast to bring the show here in the early 1970s, only to censor the words they thought were offensive, thereby making St. Louis a laughing stock and providing a hilarious story for those of us who witnessed the debacle. Apparently they have learned their lesson. In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Bob Mitchell says director and choreographer Denis Jones "does a superb job of transferring Chicago to the huge Muny stage, always keeping this bright and bubbly, while not glossing over the very human feelings of the characters." For more information, visit muny.org or call 314-361-1900.

Stray Dog Theatre presents a staged reading of the new play Dispersion by Joël Henning Doty Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. OK, I'm being a bit self-serving here since I'm in the cast, but mine is the smallest part and the rest of the actors are really quite good. You'll recognize two of them from Stray Dog's remarkable Angels in America. Besides, new works by local authors are always something to be encouraged and you can't beat the price (free). For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

Held over:

OnSite Productions presents Bowling Epiphany - The Revival! by Carter Lewis through Saturday. Performances take place at Epiphany Lanes, 3164 Ivanhoe Avenue. OnSite's mission—unique in St. Louis as far as I know—is to present site-specific theatre pieces. This set of one-acts with bowling themes is a classic example of their unusal approach to theatre. In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Robert Mitchell describes the show as "fast, funny, fluffy fun, perfect for a summer's night spent in a bowling alley!" For more information, visit onsitetheatre.org or call 314-686-0062.