St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of February 16, 2015

[Looking for auditions and other artistic opportunities? Check out the St. Louis Auditions site.]

For information on events beyond this week, check out the searchable database at the Regional Arts Commission's events web site.

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KTK Productions presents the comic thriller Any Number Can Die through February 22. "A hilarious take off on the mystery plays of the Twenties complete with sliding panels, robed figures, wills being read at midnight, etc. The idioms, costumes, hairdos, and make up of the period add to the thrills and laughter. Four ingenious murders take place in an island mansion as a pair of elderly detectives set to work on their first case. The ever popular storm, the unexpected guests, the cryptic poem, and the missing fortune all add to the intricate and inventive mystery off which the laughs bounce." Performances take place at Southampton Presbyterian Church, 4716 Macklind. For more information: kurtainkall.org or call 314-351-8984.

Webster University's Conservatory of Theatre Arts presents Charles Mee's Big Love Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, February 18 - March 1. "A runaway bride, one of 50 sisters escaping marriage contracts, takes refuge in a sumptuous Italian villa. Undoing her wedding dress, discarding everything underneath, she is a woman released, jumping into a bathtub, to be cleansed, unchained at last. [...] The woman named Lydia and her 49 sisters have sailed away from Greece. No sooner has the boat docked than a helicopter lands, bearing the jilted grooms, all brothers. Wearing military fatigues, as if armed for the marriage wars, they have come to claim their rightful possessions." Performances take place in the Emerson Studio Theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. Fore more information, events.webster.edu or call 314-968-7128.

Blues for Mr. Charlie
Photo: Whitney Curtis

The Performing Arts Department at Washington University presents Blues for Mr. Charlie, directed by Ron Himes, February 20 - March 1. "In this searing drama by James Baldwin, sex and racism explode in a small Southern town when a bigoted store owner kills a young black man and dumps his body on the side of the road. " The performances take place in the Edison Theater in the Mallinckrodt Student Center on the Washington University campus. For more information, call 314-935-6543 or visit pad.artsci.wustl.edu.

Gateway Opera presents The Boor by Dominick Argento, based on the Chekov comedy, Friday and Saturday, February 20 and 21, at 7:30 p.m. " In this hilarious contemporary opera, a youthful widow receives an unwanted social call from a neighbor who was owed money by her late husband. Their polite conversation quickly turns into a standoff, and before the man knows what has happened, the widow has challenged him to a duel! But will she aim for the heart?" Performances take place at the Kranzberg Center 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: 1-800-838-3006 or gatewayopera.org.

Carol Schmidt

The Cabaret Project and 88.1 KDHX present the cabaret open mic night on Wednesday, February 18, from 7 to 10 PM at the Tavern of Fine Arts. “Drop by and enjoy a night of great music from St. Louis cabaret artists, backed up by the inimitable Carol Schmidt on the baby grand.” The master of ceremonies for the evening will be Chuck Lavazzi, senior performing arts critic at 88.1 KDHX. If you're planning to sing, be prepared to do one or two songs and bring music, preferably in your key. At least one of your two songs should be a medium-or up-tempo number. We'd also recommend that you have your song memorized. The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt at Waterman in the Central West End. There's free parking in the lot right across the street. For more information, visit tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com or call 314-367-7549.

The Florissant Fine Arts Council presents Della's Diner on Sunday, February 22, at 4 PM at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre at Parker Road at Waterford Drive in Florissant, MO. "Join us for this Off-Broadway song and dance jukebox type musical comedy with original country blues, gospel and rockabilly tunes." For more information: florissantfinearts.com/wp1/

God of Carnage
Photo: John Lamb

Stray Dog Theatre presents Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through February 21. "A comedy of manners ... without the manners. Two married couples meet to sort out a playground fight between their sons. At first, niceties are observed but as the evening progresses and the rum flows, the gloves come off and the night becomes a side-splitting free-for-all." Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Alexandra Ballet presents Adolphe Adam's Giselle Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., February 21 and 22. "The talented dancers of Alexandra Ballet will present this masterpiece of the Romantic Era at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. This poignant story is about an innocent peasant girl who grants protection and mercy to the man who betrays her. Music by Adolphe Adam and restaging by internationally-renowned choreographer Marek Cholewa. Performing the feature role of Giselle will be Alexandra Ballet Alumna Georgia Reed." The performance takes place at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the University of Missouri St. Louis campus. For more information: touhill.org.

Alfresco Productions presents the two-actor comedy Greater Tuna Friday through Sunday, February 20-22. Performances take place at the Alfresco Art Center, 2401 Delmar in Granite City, IL. For more information: (618) 560-1947 or www.alfrescoproductions.org.

Strut and Fret Stage presents Kilroy Was Here, a world première play written and directed by Jim Sala, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Februay 19-28. "It's 1943 and war rages abroad. At a boarding house in a provincial Illinois town, a precocious young boy entertains an eclectic bevy of roomers with his improvised radio station, his repertoire of celebrity impersonations, and his laudable dream of fomenting world peace. As the boy transforms into a man and the lofty idealism of his youth calcifies into strident dogmatism, he finds himself yearning for the relative simplicity of his childhood; for a halcyon age that was paradoxically both tranquil and acutely tumultuous." Performances take place at Yemanja Brasil Restaurante, 2900 Missouri Avenue in Benton Park. For more information: 314.361.1885, 314.276.7321, or email jommyslaw at gmail.com.

Mr. Marmalade
Photo: John Lamb

The West End Players Guild continues their 104th season with the comedy Mr. Marmalade Thursday Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 2 PM, February 19-22. "Growing up isn't easy these days. Little Lucy is spending her childhood doing all the things little girls like to do - playing house, having tea parties and playing with friends both real and imaginary. But even as a tot, Lucy seems to have learned most of what she knows about life from reality TV and her childhood is chock-full of very odd, very adult stuff - the oddest of which may be Mr. Marmalade. He's the imaginary friend who rarely has time for Lucy because he's way too busy dealing with the demands of his day planner, anger management issues and some very adult naughty habits." There will also be a show on Thursday, February February 19, at 8 PM. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 North Union at Enright in the Central West End. For more information, visit www.westendplayers.org.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Murder in Mayberry. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com.

Brass Rail Players present Dan Goggins' musical comedy Nunsense II: The Second Coming through February 22. The performances take place at The Turkey Hill Grange, 1375 Illinois Rte. 15 in Belleville, IL. For more information, visit brassrailplayers.org.

Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble presents Or by Liz Duffy Adams Wednesdays through Sundays at 8 p.m., February 18-27. "Or, takes place (mostly) during one night in the life of Aphra Behn: poet, spy, and soon to be first professional female playwright. Aphra is desperate to get out of the spy trade. She has a shot at a production at one of only two London companies, if she can only finish her play by morning despite interruptions from sudden new love, actress Nell Gwynne, complicated royal love, King Charles II, and very dodgy ex-love, double-agent William Scot-who may be in on a plot to murder the king in the morning. Can Aphra save Charles' life, win William a pardon, resist Nell's charms, and launch her career, all in one night? " Performances take place at The Chapel Venue, 6238 Alexander Drive. For more information: slightlyoff.org.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Phantom of the Grand Ole Opery through April 26. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com

St. Louis University Theatre presents Niel Simon's comedy Rumors February 20 - March 1. "The Deputy Mayor of New York and his wife are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. Guests arrive to find their unconscious host bleeding and his wife missing. Hoping to avoid a scandal, his lawyer concocts a story to hide what is assumed to be the truth. But as the rest of the guests arrive, the story grows awry with everyone complicit in a hilarious cover-up that no one even really understands. Neil Simon at his farcical best!" Performances take place in Xavier Hall, 3373 West Pine Mall. For more information, call (314) 977-2998 or visit www.slu.edu/theatre.

St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley presents John Guare's comedy Six Degrees of Separation through February 21. Performances take place in the Fisher Theatre on the campus at 3400 Pershall Road. For more information, call 314-644-5522.

The Black Rep presents Stick Fly through February 22. "This is the new, knockout comedy-drama featuring steamy romance, sexual sparks and generational conflicts. A wealthy African-American family gather in Martha's Vineyard for a few, super-charged days, and the results are gasp-worthy revelations. Directed by Lorna Littleway, director of The Piano Lesson." Performances take place at the Emerson Performance Center at Harris-Stowe State University in midtown. For more information: theblackrep.org Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The University of Missouri at St. Louis presents Shakespeare's The Tempest Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m., February 19-22. One of Shakespeare's last romances, The Tempest combines magical storms, shipwrecks and monsters, enslaved spirits, and the power of love, to tell the story of a father's quest for redemption." Performances take place at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus. For more information, touhill.org or call 314-516-4949.

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville presents Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks February 21 - March 1. The performances take place in the Metcalf Theatre on the campus in Edwardsville, IL. For more information, www.siue.edu/artsandsciences/theater/ or call 618-650-2774.

COCA presents Walking the Tightrope Saturday and Sunday, February 21 and 22. “Winner of three Drama Critics Circle Awards and honored with more than a dozen nominations for acting, music, video design and more, this magnificent production is an experience adults and children can enjoy together. Written by Mike Kenny, one of England's leading writers for young audiences, and produced in Los Angeles by 24th Street Theatre, Walking the Tightrope is a creative and moving story of a grandfather and granddaughter who must redefine their relationship after Grandma leaves to "join the circus." Featuring a cast of talented actors, a sophisticated set and original music, Walking the Tightrope will not be easily forgotten.” COCA is at 524 Trinity in University City. For more information, call (314) 725-6555 or visit www.cocastl.org.

White to Gray
Photo: John Lamb

Mustard Seed Theatre presents White to Gray through February 22. "Mustard Seed Theatre is proud to offer the world premiere of local playwright Rob Maesaka’s White to Gray-the story of a young couple, one white and one Japanese-American, en route to the mainland from Hawaii on a cruise ship when bombs drop on Pearl Harbor. Amidst fear and uncertainty and caught in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, loyalties are tested and love comes under suspicion." Performances take place at the Fontbonne Fine Arts Theatre, 6800 Wydown Blvd. For more information, call (314) 719-8060 or visit the web site at www.mustardseedtheatre.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

St. Louis Actors' Studio presents Edward Albee's dark comedy Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? through March 1 at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. "George, a professor at a small college, and his wife, Martha, have just returned home, drunk from a Saturday night party. Martha announces, amidst general profanity, that she has invited a young couple-an opportunistic new professor at the college and his shatteringly naïve new bride-to stop by for a nightcap. When they arrive the charade begins. The drinks flow and suddenly inhibitions melt. It becomes clear that Martha is determined to seduce the young professor, and George couldn't care less. But underneath the edgy banter, which is crossfired between both couples, lurks an undercurrent of tragedy and despair. George and Martha's inhuman bitterness toward one another is provoked by the enormous personal sadness that they have pledged to keep to themselves: a secret that has seemingly been the foundation for their relationship. In the end, the mystery in which the distressed George and Martha have taken refuge is exposed, once and for all revealing the degrading mess they have made of their lives." For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Terrence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy through March 8. "When young Ronnie Winslow is expelled from military school for stealing a five-shilling postal order, his father wages an exhaustive fight to clear his son's name. What begins as a private matter quickly becomes a larger question of the rights of the individual against the power of the state. Though the legal battle jeopardizes his health and the reputation of the entire family, Arthur Winslow is determined that right will prevail, no matter what the sacrifice." Performances take place on the mainstage at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org.

Would you like to be on the radio? KDHX, 88.1 FM needs theatre reviewers. If you're 18 years or older, knowledgeable in this area, have practical theatre experience (acting, directing, writing, technical design, etc.), have good oral and written communications skills and would like to become one of our volunteer reviewers, send an email describing your experience and interests to chuck at kdhx.org. Please include a sample review of something you've seen recently.