Chuck's Choices for the weekend of September 27, 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:

Three-Legged Productions presents: Blair and Bob: Breakin' Bad - An Unstable, Risque Cabaret on Thursday, September 26th, and Friday, September 27th at 8 PM the cabaret space at Meyer's Grove, 4510 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, Mo, 63110. St. Louis Cabaret favorite Anna Blair teams up with theater veteran Robert A. Mitchell (in his final St. Louis performance) to bring together an evening of ribald and provocative hilarity, blurring the lines of traditional cabaret with a mix of genres from musical theater, classic rock and contemporary Top 40 to bawdy drinking songs, lurid French chansons and parodies so blue that they're nearly black. This is most definitely an R-rated show, so DISCLAIMER: FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY. Music Direction is by the inimitable Carol Schmidt, with additional guitar support by Ryan Foizey. For more info BlairAndBobBreakingBad.BrownPaperTickets.com. Or call (314) 327-3381.

My take: I've worked with Bob and Anna in theatre and cabaret shows locally, so I can personally vouch for their talent and comic sensibilities. Music director Carol Schmidt and I go way back as well. She's the music director for The Cabaret Project's monthly open mic night (which I host) and was the MD for my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville at the History Museum back in 2011. She's one of the best in the business, and that's saying something. She tells me the show is looking very strong and very funny. You'll want to make reservations right away, though, since the space at Meyer's Grove is not that large and with this much talent on display, tickets might go fast.

Photo: John Lamb

The West End Players Guild opens their 103rd season with the St. Louis premiere of Lee Blessing's Lonesome Hollow by Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, September 27-October 6. There will also be a show on Thursday, October 3, at 8 PM. “In an America of the 'soonish' future, society has taken a stand against sex offenders, consigning them permanently to a series of privately-run gulags. This provocative and chilling parable of vengeance and community standards charts a disturbing trip down a slippery moral slope.” 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.

My take: OK, I'm on the board and play reading committee at West End, so I'm not a disinterested party here. That said, I was massively impressed by the script when I read it last year. It's funny, it's creepy, and it raises very provocative questions about the how the punishment a society metes out to its undesirables reflects on its larger values. Theatre that enlightens and entertains is alwasy worth supporting.

Sex + STL presents Cameryn Moore in her one-woman play Phone Whore Friday at 7:30 and 9:30 PM and Saturday at 7:30 PM, September 27 and 28. “A slice-of-life comedy/drama, Phone Whore won the award for Best Female Solo show at the 2010 San Francisco Fringe Festival. The play invites audiences in for an unflinching look at taboo, fantasy, and the place of "deviant" desires in society today. Playwright and performer Cameryn Moore draws extensively on her work experiences at a no-taboo service to flesh out both the absurdities and difficult truths that pervade the world of phone sex.“ Performances take place at the 2720 Cherokee Performing Arts Center. For more information: sexstl.com/phonewhore/

My take: OK, I have no idea whether this is any good or not. I'm putting it on the list just because the entire concept just screams Church of the SubGenius. And because I like the idea that there's an organization called Sex Positive St. Louis dedicated to providing "a safe environment for sexuality questions or concerns, no matter your gender, race, age or orientation."  

Held Over:

Photo: Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents the Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret through October 6. “In this multi award-winning musical, a young, naïve American writer arrives in 1930s Berlin and is swept away by the decadent pleasures of the sexy, seedy world that is the Cabaret. At the center of it all is the beguiling Sally Bowles, who takes the stage every night. Inside the Kit Kat Klub life is beautiful, but outside the world is about to change.” Performances take place at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org.


My take: After multiple revivals and substantial script and score revisions, does this dramatic portrait of a nation on the eve of destruction still have the power to shock and move an audience? Judging by the standing ovation that greeted Cabaret when we saw it, I'd say the answer is "yes, in spades." There were occasional missteps and the amplified voices were not always as clear as they might have been, but those are minor flaws in an otherwise fine production distinguished by smart direction and solid acting; see my capsule review for more details.

Photo: Peter Wochniak

Stages St. Louis presents My Fair Lady September 6 through October 6. Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road in Kirkwood. For more information, visit stagesstlouis.org or call 314-821-2407.

My take: I have always loved this show, a feeling that only increased after I had the pleasure of playing Alfred P. Doolittle in Stray Dog Theatre's production a few years ago. Unlike some musical adaptations of classic plays, My Fair Lady retains the spirit and a fair amount of dialog from its original (Shaw's Pygmalion). The combination of Lerner and Loewe's score and Shaw's bit is unbeatable. "You should see this absolutely fabulous My Fair Lady if you have the chance," writes Andrea Braun in her review for 88.1 KDHX. "I don’t see how it could have been done any better, and overall, it is just a “loverly” production of an American musical theatre treasure.

Photo: John Lamb

Insight Theatre Company presents Thornton Wilder's Our Town through September 29. Performances take place in the Heagney Theatre, 530 East Lockwood on the campus of Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves. For more information, call 314-556-1293 or visit insighttheatrecompany.com.

My take: The type of small town life depicted in Wilder's play (the action place between 1901 and 1913) was already passing from the scene when it premiered in 1938. By rights it should be a museum piece by now. But the writing touches so effectively on the universal human experiences of birth, life, and death that it never seems dated. "This is a very, very important play in the history of American theatre," writes Steve Callahan in his review for 88.1 KDHX, "and its stylistic influence has been enormous. I commend Insight for bringing it to us again, and I encourage all of you to see it."