Chuck's Choices for the weekend of April 5, 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:

Photo by Tom Gannam

Stray Dog Theatre presents the Jule Style/Stephen Sondheim musical Gypsy, based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, April 4-20. There will be a matinee on the closing Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. There's a reason this is a classic. Well, three reasons, actually: Jule Styne (music), Stephen Sondheim (lyrics), and Arthur Laurents (book). Four if you count Gypsy Rose Lee herself, whose best-selling memoir was the basis for it all. This production features two of our most reliable musical theatre performers: Deborah Sharn (as Mama Rose) and Ken Haller (as her long-suffering boyfriend Herbie). For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

Photo by John Lamb

The West End Players Guild continues their 102nd season with the St. Louis premiere of Michael Hollinger's Opus by Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, April 5-14. There will also be a show on Thursday, April 11, at 8 PM. “Four chairs, five people. That's one way to describe the story of Michael Hollinger's Opus-only this game of musical chairs is played not at a children's party, but at the highest levels of musical art.” One-half hour before most performances patrons will be treated to a set by one of three talented local chamber music groups. On opening night, Friday, April 5, the Cahokia String Quartet will play. A Fifth Above Woodwind Quintet will play on Saturday, April 6. The Quartet Brioso will play before four performances, including the evening shows Thursday-Saturday, April 11-13, and the Sunday matinee on April 14. Patrons are encouraged to arrive early and enjoy the pre-show music. Yes, I'm on the board of this organization, but this is a show I wouldn't miss in any case for its glimpse at the not-so-beautiful reality behind beautiful music. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 North Union at Enright in the Central West End. For more information, call 314-367-0025 or visit www.westendplayers.org.

Held over:

Photo by Stewart Goldstein

The Black Rep presents The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez through April 13. “Just after the Civil War in Virginia during Passover, a wounded Confederate Officer returns to a ruined plantation to find only two former slaves to care for him. With a new and different social order, the three men must wrestle with the ties that bind them together and the secrets they share. A test of humanity and their Jewish faith.” Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Tina Farmer describes this as "compelling, engrossing drama that examines a little considered, but incredibly important, period in U.S. history." For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810.