Chuck's Choices for the week of August 13, 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:

The Cabaret Project presents a cabaret open mic night on Wednesday, August 15, from 7 to 10 PM at the Tavern of Fine Arts. “Drop by and enjoy a night of great music from St. Louis cabaret artists, backed up by the inimitable Carol Schmidt on the baby grand.” I'm the MC for this monthly event, which is shaping up to be the place to tune in to new and established cabaret talent in town. If you're planning to sing, be prepared to do one or two songs and bring music, preferably in your key. We'd also recommend that you have your song memorized. The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt at Waterman in the Central West End. There's free parking in the lot right across the street. For more information, visit tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com or call 314-367-7549.

The Fox Theatre presents the Disney musical The Lion King August 15 through September 2. Yes, I know: it's a Disney musical. But Julie Taymor's re-imagined version of the original animated film is still a remarkable piece of work; let't not hold the show's immense popularity against it. Great art can still be popular, as Shakespeare (among others) proved. The Fox Theatre is at 527 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, fabulousfox.com or call 314-534-1678.

Union Avenue Opera presents Wagner's Das Rheingold in a condensed and reduced version by English composer Jonathan Dove, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, August 17-25. Union Avenue has a history of pushing the boundaries of what can be done with their modest budget and less than ideal performance space in the Union Avenue Christian Church. Wagner's Ring operas, in their original form, would simply not be possible with those constraints, which is why they're doing shorter, smaller-cast versions originally prepared for touring opera companies in Britain. Can a two-hour, one act version of Das Rheingold still work? I'll be there on opening night and will report the results on the KDHX web site. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sung in German with projected English text. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

Held over:

Stray Dog Theatre presents The Great American Trailer Park Musical Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, August 2 through 18, with two new shows on Friday and Saturday, August 24 and 25.. There will be a matinee this Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. I have three perfectly good reasons to recommend this show. First, I've worked with Stray Dog often enough in the past to know that they do entertaining trash just as well as more high-falutin' stuff. Second, how can you pass up a chance to see some of our classiest actresses get truly crude? Third, in his review for 88.1 KDHX, Robert Mitchell says "if you're looking for laugh-out loud absurdity punctuated by catchy country-tinged tunes and schmaltzy, heartfelt rock ballads, then by all means, head to Stray Dog's current production." Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.