Chuck's Choices for the weekend of July 19, 2013

As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

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Photo: John Lamb

Stray Dog Theatre presents the musical Little Shop of Horrors Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, July 18-August 3. There will be a matinee on the closing Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. "Seymour, a nerdy floral shop employee, becomes an overnight sensation when he raises an exotic plant that has a mysterious craving for human blood. Based on a 1960’s low-budget sci-fi film, this gleefully gruesome rock musical has zany characters and songs sure to delight audiences of all ages."  

My take: I've done a number of shows with Stray Dog over the years and have been consistently impressed with the quality of their work and how well they treat their performers and tech folks. You might not think that matters that much from the audience standpoint, but as someone who works both sides of the footlights, I can tell you can a cast that's loving their work will always communicate that to the audience, intentionally or otherwise. Besides, this show—with it's spot-on parodies of 50s and 60s sounds and hilariously dark humor—is always worth seeing. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

The Possible

St. Louis Actors' Studio presents the Neil LaBute New Theater Festival Part 1 through July 14 at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. Part 2 features performances of The Possible by LaBute along with Kink by Joshua Thomas, Blood Brothers by Rachel Fenton, Present Tense by Nancy Bell and Peter Grandbois, and Cut by Daniel Damiano.  

My take: I'm not a huge LaBute fan myself, but in Tina Farmer, her review of Part one of the festival for 88.1 KDHX, described it as "five well-written, well-performed new works that pack a punch. Each piece features contemporary persons in contemporary settings exploring the fine art of living, and the selection committee is to be commended on their choices." Will part 2 follow suit? Check it out and discover for yourself. For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.

Held over:

(c) 2013 Ron Lindsey

Union Avenue Opera presents Puccini's Madama Butterfly Friday and Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, July 12-20. 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.  
 My take: Union Avenue is a small local opera company that has successfully produced both classics like this one as well as newer works—most notably the Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally collaboration Dead Man Walking in 2011—that stretch the company's artistic and physical limits. This one didn't stretch them at all; it's a very solid, compelling production of an operatic classic. How good is it? Well, I really liked it and I'm all that fond of this particular opera. You can see my review at 88.1 KDHX for details, but the bottom line is Union Avenue's Madama Butterfly is so good that it made me forget why I don't much like Madama Butterfly. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

Photo: Stewart Goldstein

The Black Rep presents the musical The Wiz through July 28. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. Joining the cast for this extended production are J. Samuel Davis as The Wiz, Leslie Johnson as the Tinman, and Alicia Reeve as the Scarecrow.   

My take: This 1970s soul version of The Wizard of Oz crackles with energy, and a good production is always fun. This particular production of The Wiz was originally scheduled to close on June 30. Ticket sales were so brisk, though, that the Black Rep elected to go an hiatus for two weeks, re-cast the roles whose actors had conflicts for July, and re-open this weekend. "I had a blast," wrote Sheila Schultz in her review of the original production for 88.1 KDHX. "I head home humming 'Ease on Down the Road'. Still humming." For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810.