Chuck's Choices for the weekend of January 10, 2014

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:

James Joseph O'Neil as Elliot and
Rachael Jenison as Grace
©Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Michael Hollinger's Opus through February 2. "With only four days to rehearse for their most important performance ever, a world-class string quartet takes a chance by hiring a gifted but inexperienced young woman. Onstage the Lazara Quartet is pitch perfect but behind the scenes they're coming unstrung as the four artists battle the sweat, tears and pain that go into making extraordinary music seem effortless. This fascinating play is a passionate look at the delicate and complex relationships between artists' lives and their art." 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: I'm on the board of West End Players Guild, the group that did the St. Louis premiere of this play last April. I was a big backer of Opus in the WEPG play reading committee and remain a fan of this funny, literate, dramatic, and informed look at the often less than beautiful reality behind the performance of so much beautiful music. It's easy to be transported by (say) a late Beethoven quartet and lose sight of the fact that the performers are doing their jobs as well as creating art. Opus explores what happens when the worlds of commerce and art collide.

Mariposa Artists presents Shades of Blue—Lina Koutrakos, on Saturday, January 11th, at 8 PM. "Mixing pop, standards, originals and more with Rick Jensen at the piano and on arrangements, Lina Koutrakos's bluesy-hued voice lends itself to stories, melodies and feelings in Shades Of Blue." The performance takes place at the Kranzberg Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/530853.

My take: As someone who attended the St. Louis Cabaret Conference for (if I recall correctly) all of the years when Ms. Koutrakos was on the faculty, I'm clearly not a disinterested party here. That said, it was impossible not to be impressed by the depth of her emotional connection with the music she performs as well as her understanding of how to make that connection click with an audience. Her music director, Rick Jensen, is a powerful performer and songwriter as well as a gifted arranger. Although New York based, he has helped shape the cabaret shows on several local singers.

First Run Theatre presents Whatever Remains, a new Sherlock Holmes mystery by Jason Slavik, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, January 10-19. Performances take place at First Run Theatre at De Smet Jesuit High School Theatre, 233 N. New Ballas Rd. For more information, call (314) 352-5114 or visit www.firstruntheatre.com.

My take: I admit it; I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan (a Sherlockian, as we call ourselves) and have been for a long time. You'll even find some Sherlockian papers that I've written over the years at my old personal home page (now mostly abandoned). I don't know whether I'm gong to be able to see this or not (the next two weekends are pretty heavily booked for me), but I look forward to at least finding out what it's about. For those of you curious about the title, it comes from something Holmes says in "The Sign of Four": "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" He repeats that point in "The Beryl Coronet," "The Bruce-Partington Plans," and "The Blanched Solider" (and says something very similar in "Silver Blaze") so it's a safe bet he meant it. The dictum even inspired one of my own Sherlockian essays.  What does Jason Slavik mean by it? We'll just have to see, won't we?