Chuck's Choices for the weekend of March 14, 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 Bad Boys on Friday and Saturday, March 15 and 16, at 8 PM. “This flamboyant show will feature B-52s Fred Schneider and the Gateway Men's Chorus, performing the famed B-52s music such as Love Shack, Monster, Hot Pants Explosion, Dreamland and Planet Claire! The Chorus will get into a singing and dance number with "Let it Go" from the Broadway hit The Full Monty! Hear "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry, "Papa Don't Preach" by Madonna, "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper, "Fever" by Peggy Lee, "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" from Company by Stephen Soundheim and "Can't Help Lovin' That Man Of Mine", with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, is one of the most famous songs from their classic 1927 musical play Show Boat.“ The performance takes place at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Avenue in University City. For more information, visit gmcstl.org.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents a staged reading of Soups, Stews And Casseroles: 1976 by Rebecca Gilman on Saturday, March 16, at 3 PM as part of the Ignite! New Play Festival. “When the main employer in Monroe, Wisconsin is bought out, a whole town learns what it means to have their livelihood, identity and destiny taken from them. The Duerst family is experiencing these tensions first hand, along with a few others of their own. The author of Spinning into Butter and many others, Rebecca Gilman is one of the most highly regarded playwrights in the US today. A Repertory Theatre of St. Louis commission.” The reading takes place at the Sally S. Levy Opera Center, 210 Hazel in Webster Groves. The Ignite! festival provides a fascinating first look at new work. For more information, visit repstl.org.

©Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Venus in Fur through March 24. “Vanda is determined to land the lead in Venus in Fur, a new play based on a classic erotic novel. Her emotionally charged audition for the playwright/director unexpectedly becomes an electrifying and dangerous game of cat and mouse that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, seduction and power, love and sex.” Performances take place in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org. As I note in my review for 88.1 KDHX, the script could do with a bit of trimming but "overall it's a classic example of the 'well-made play' a la Terrence Rattigan or J.B. Priestly." Performances and direction are first-rate.

The Fox Theatre presents the drama War Horse March 13-24. "A heartwarming drama about the unlikely bond between a hoarse and his young master, War Horse also boasts itself with its marvelous horse puppets intricately crafted by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company. No play in Broadway has ever roused audiences’ emotions with such vivid and lifelike imagery and stimulating scenic designs and a story that reminds us that unwavering dedication, bravery and friendship is timeless and universal other than this modern theatrical masterpiece." We saw this in London last fall and were just knocked out by it. How well this will translate to the stage at the Fox (which is several times larger than the one in which we saw it) is open question, but the play itself is very strong. The Fox Theatre is at 527 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: fabulousfox.com.

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Photo credit: Zachary Stefaniak

Dramatic License Productions presents the comedy Boeing, Boeing through March 17. “1960s Paris. American playboy Bernard is engaged to three beautiful flight attendants: a feisty German, a lusty Italian, and a take-charge Texan, each oblivious to the other. When flight schedules collide and an old college chum shows up for an unexpected visit, comedy and turbulence ensue in this "non-stop" comedy.” Performances take place at Dramatic License Theatre located at the upper level of Chesterfield Mall (near Sears and across from Houlihan's Restaurant). In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Missy Heinemann says this production "offers a high-energy, laugh-out-loud evening of theater." For more information, call 636-220-7012 or visit dramaticlicenseproductions.org.

Photo: Jill Ritter Lindberg

New Line Theatre presents the musical Next to Normal Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, February 28 through March 23. "From the composer of High Fidelity comes the most adult, most mature rock musical to hit Broadway in decades, an unrelentingly intense, brutally honest – and often, darkly funny – story about a bipolar woman and the family that grapples with her illness, all set to a hard driving rock and roll score that explodes with raw, searing emotion. Rolling Stone called it 'the best new musical of the season – by a mile.'” I saw the national tour of this show at the Fox in April of 2011 and was very much taken with it. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Laura Kyro praises "the amazing acting and singing by all members of the cast." Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. For more information, call 314-534-1111.