Chuck's Choices for the weekend of January 25, 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:

Circus Harmony presents Capriccio, A Vaudevillian Adventure, Saturday at 2 and 7 PM and Sunday at 2 PM,. “Capriccio features children from all corners of St. Louis. For this first time ever, this Circus Harmony production will include singing along with unicycling, juggling, wire walking and other feats of skill and daring.” "Performances are professional, precision, and some of the performers leave audience members gasping in disbelief," writes Connie Bollinger in her review for 88.1 KDHX. .Performances take place at City Museum, 701 N. 15th Street. For more information: circusharmony.brownpapertickets.com or call 314-436-7676.

St. Louis Actors Studio presents Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? January 18 through February 3 at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. “The tale of a married, middle-aged architect whose life crumbles when he falls in love with a goat, the play focuses on the limits of an ostensibly liberal society. Through showing this family in crisis, Albee challenges audience members to question their own morality in the face of other social taboos including infidelity, homosexuality, pedophilia, incest and, of course, bestiality.The play also features many language games and grammatical arguments in the middle of catastrophes and existential disputes between the characters.” In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Steve Callahan describes this as "a stunningly beautiful piece of theatre." For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org



Dance St. Louis presents the Royal Winnipeg Ballet production of Moulin Rouge-The Ballet Friday at 8 PM and Saturday at 2 and 8 PM, January 25 and 26. “Fin de siècle Paris throbs with love, ambition, and desire when an original new story told entirely through dance brings the oldest continuously running ballet company in North America to St. Louis for the first time. Set to classical music by Debussy, Offenbach and more, Moulin Rouge® - The Ballet was created in 2009 for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's 70th anniversary by their own Jorden Morris and has been a sold-out sensation on tour in Canada and the U.S. In a city where pomp runs hand in hand with poverty, where the heady elixir of freedom breeds reckless passion, struggling artist Matthew and cancan dancer Nathalie tempt fate as they seek love and destiny at the infamous cabaret - The Moulin Rouge®.” The performances take place at the Touhill Performing Arts center on the campus of The University of Missouri at St. Louis. For more information, you may visit dancestlouis.org or call 314-534-6622.

Held over:

The Alton Little Theater presents the comedy Almost, Maine through Sunday at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. This is a charming set of romantically comic one acts with a strong dose of a kind of magical realism. We did the local premier of this a few years back at West End Players Guild and the show has been cropping up here and there ever since. I haven't seen the ALT production, but I can attest to the fact that the play itself is first-class stuff. For more information, call 618.462.6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

Upstream Theater presents Café Chanson, a “ballet in song” created and directed by Broadway star and native St. Louisan Ken Page, Thursday through Sunday,. The official description says the show “includes World War II period songs from some of France's most renowned singers and songwriters” although the actual song list includes material from the late 1920s to the early 1970s. Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. I'm a great fan of the classic French pop songs so, as I note in my review for 88.1 KDHX, I mostly enjoyed this production despite some significant flaws. For more information, including show times: upstreamtheater.org.

Metro Theatre Company and the The Edison Theatre at Washington University present the St. Louis premiere of Jackie and Me by Steven Dietz, adapted from the book by Dan Gutman, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 2 PM. “An exciting play that illuminates Jackie Robinson's courage and dignity in the face of cruel racial prejudice, Jackie and Me will have you on the edge of your seat as we all root for the man who changed the face of the game.” Each performance will be immediately followed by a discussion exploring questions raised by the story. The play is recommended for adults and young people 10 and over. I'm not going to get to see this one, but I'm recommending it because Metro has such a good track record and becuase Robinson's story a reminder of both how far we have come in race relations and how far we still have to go. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Andrea Braun describes this as "a fine show for kids, and that’s exactly what it aims to be." For more information, call the Edison Theatre Box Office at (314) 935-6543.

Photo: Stewart Goldstein

The Black Rep presents August Wilson's The Piano Lesson through February 3. “Depression-era Pittsburgh. A family strives to hold on to its history. The masterful Pulitzer Prize winner from one of American's greatest playwrights.” In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Robert Ashton describes this production as "lively, funny and challenging." Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810.