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New This Week:
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| Blood Reigns |
My take: This absurdly ambitious undertaking collapses Shakespeare's Henry VI Parts 1, 2, and 3—plays which, uncut, would run about as long as Wagner's Götterdämmerung—into around three and one-half hours, including two intermissions. That, all by itself, would make it worth recommending. As KDHX's Tina Farmer notes, however, this adaptation also "brings Shakespeare's history to life with clarity and emotional undertones that color the performances." "The ensemble cast is uniformly strong," she continues, "articulating difficult dialogue and exposition with purpose and intent, and demonstrating well developed, fully internalized characters. This did not prevent the occasional scenery chewing, awkward phrasing or long pauses, but the performances were organically generated and effectively connected to the storytelling." That's good enough for me. And besides, director Chris Limber (who sis the adaptation along with Michael B. Perkins and sound designer/composer Robin Wetherall) can generally be counted upon for intelligence and good taste.
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| Photo: John Lamb |
My take: This remarkable festival of one-acts continues to get stronger every year. From it's rough-and-tumble beginnings threee years ago, Briefs has blossomed quickly quickly into a major theatrical event. If I were in town, I'd be there.
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| T. Oliver Reed |
My take: Harlem in its heyday played host to major black artists, musical and otherwise. This is a fascinating period of American musical history that deserves more attention that it has gotten. Reviewing this show at the Metropolitan Room last October, the New York Times dubbed it "sensational." Marilyn Lester at Theater PIzzaz! agreed. "“Drop Me Off In Harlem,” she writes, "has evolved since its debut a few years ago, and like, Reid, just keeps getting better and better." Looks like a winner to me.
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents a staged reading of The Full Catastrophe by Michael Weller, based on the novel by David Carkeet, on Wednesday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Ignite! New Play Festival. "Jeremy Cook, once a celebrated linguist, is suddenly out of work and out of sorts. In desperation, he takes a job as a live-in marriage counselor for Roy Pillow, a shadowy, wannabe-scientist billionaire. Confused by his mission and at a crossroads in his personal life, Jeremy finds himself confronting the ghosts of his failed relationships past, and the mortal danger of repeating his big mistake over again. Michael Weller is the author of the American classic Moonchildren and the Broadway-bound musical adaptation of Doctor Zhivago." The reading takes place at Sally S. Levy Opera Center, 210 Hazel Avenue, on the Webster University Campus. For more information: repstl.org.
My take: As I noted last week, The Rep's Ignite! festival offers a fascinating glimpse at new works while they're a-borning. Some, like Soups, Stews, and Casseroles 1976, have gone on to full productions and proven worthy of attention. Will this be the start of something big? The only way to know is to attend. It's a fascinating experience and a great opportunity to let the playwright know what you think.
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| Kinky Boots Photo: Matthew Murphy |
My take: A show with music by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein obviously has two very strong things going for it from the start, and this tour apparently makes the most of its material. "A pure delight from beginning to end," writes Amy Burger at KDHX, "on the surface, Kinky Boots is a story about shoes; but at it's heart, it's a really a story about having the freedom to wear whatever shoes you want and always feeling comfortable in them."
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents a staged reading of Molly's Hammer by Tanny Ryan, based on the book Hammer of Justice by Liane Ellison Norman, on Saturday, March 28, at 3 p.m. as part of the Ignite! New Play Festival. "In 1980, Molly Rush took a stand. The Pittsburgh housewife and mother of six walked into a G.E. plant and took a hammer to a nuclear warhead to protest the buildup of America's nuclear arsenal. Molly's Hammer is the story of the Plowshares Eight, Molly, and her husband's wish to stop his wife from sacrificing herself to save the world." The reading takes place at Sally S. Levy Opera Center, 210 Hazel Avenue, on the Webster University Campus. For more information: repstl.org.
My take: As I said, the Ignite! festival is always worth a look. This play has the added punch of dealing with an important subject.
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| Sally Eaton and the PR2 Photo: Whitney Curtis |
My take: I am reminded of "The Darfsteller," a famous Hugo Award-winning short story by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (author of the science fiction classic A Canticle for Leibowitz) in which human actors have been completely replaced by robots. AI (artificial intelligence) hasn't gotten anywhere near that sophisticated yet, but even so it might not be long before we're forced to face the question of when a machine stops being a machine and begins to turn into something else. Elizabeth Birkenmeier is a smart writer. I appeared in her Winning Juliet (which she co-authored with Chris Limber) two years ago and was impressed by the quality of her work.
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| Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike ©Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr. |
My take: This starts out as a broad, noisy parody of Chekov but finishes as something much more deep and satifying. "Playwright Christopher Durang," writes Tina Farmer at KDHX, "won a Tony Award for this insightfully hilarious look at aging and modern life through a lens tinted with Chekhov and Greek tragedy. The actors in The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis' production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike bring these characters to life convincingly, emphasizing their quirks, vanities and flaws in a production layered with humor and pathos, second questions and, perhaps, second chances." I couldn't agree more. Director Michael Evan Haney can be proud of this one.
Held Over:
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| Jeremy Webb in Buyer and Cellar ©Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr. |
My take: One-man shows can be risky propositions, but this one is apparently a success. "If you are a Streisand fan (and who among us isn’t?)," writes Bob Cohn at St. Louis Jewish Light, "'Buyer & Cellar' is a double treat. Not only is the play itself highly amusing and satisfying, it also contains enough Streisand trivia to satisfy an entire season of questions on 'Jeopardy.'" "Jonathan Tolins is a very clever writer," says Bob Wilcox at KDHX. "Jeremy Webb is a very smart actor. Put them together, with some inventive guidance from director Wendy Dann, and you get a quite enjoyable ninety minutes or so in the Studio Theatre at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis."
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| Jerry Springer the Opera Photo: Jill Ritter Lindberg |
My take: Come on, how can you not want to see a show with a title like this? The second act, after all, is a "very special" episode of the Jerry Springer Show broadcast live from Hell. And, yes, it really is an opera—or at least a musical in which there is no spoken dialog. "I recognize a quality production with strong direction and spot-on performances," says Tina Farmer in her KDHX review, "and I applaud the company for the bold and daring theater they produce."
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| Robert McNichols, Jr. as Paul Robeson Photo: Stewart Goldstein |
My take: Paul Robeson's story is an important one, and not just because he was one of the great bass-baritones of the early 20th century. His courage in the face of virulent racism and deranged red baiting is an inspiration to us all. "Seeing a performance of playwright Phillip Hayes Dean’s fascinating, one-man drama, Paul Robeson," writes Mark Bretz at Ladue News, "is an exhilarating and educational experience." Over at stltoday.com, Judy Newmark has words of praise for the show's star, Robert McNichols, Jr.: "An opera singer himself, McNichols performs the song with feeling and intention, and gives an equally meaningful treatment to a trio of gospel numbers that Robeson sang in his stage debut. McNichols is also a fine actor, a big plus for a show that’s not a musical."
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