St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of August 15, 2016

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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 Calendar.

Bat Boy

Stray Dog Theatre presents Bat Boy: the Musical Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, through August 20. “This offbeat comedy/horror musical is a big-hearted satire about prejudice. As ripped from a bizarre tabloid headline and set in a tiny West Virginia town, a strange, deformed boy is found alone in a cave. Once the “bat boy” is brought to light, dark - and hilarious - secrets emerge, shaking the community to its core. A clever, playful pop/rock score highlights the show's delirious take on American eccentricities._For MATURE AUDIENCES: In an effort to keep the selection of shows engaging and dynamic, this production may not be appropriate for all ages." Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents CSI: Bissell through October 30. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com

Union Avenue Opera presents Douglas J. Cuomo's opera Doubt, based on the play by John Patrick Shanley, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, August 19 - 27. "Father Flynn enjoys a secure appointment and popularity in the community until Sister James suspects him of carrying on an improper relationship with the school's first African-American student. Sister Aloysius, the school's authoritarian principal, sets out to remove Flynn. Gender politics, race relations and the role of the church, questions about personal responsibility, doubt, right and wrong are all brought to bear here. So much in Doubt is about what is left unsaid and continually running beneath the surface." The production stars famed soprano Christine Brewer as Sister James, a role she created at the opera's 2013 premiere. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sung in English with projected English text. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

The Drowsy Chaperone
Photo: Peter Wochniak

Stages St. Louis presents the musical satire The Drowsy Chaperone through August 21. "With its laugh-a-minute script and one show-stopping song and dance number after another, it's easy to see why THE DROWSY CHAPERONE won the most Tony Awards of any musical on Broadway in 2006, including Best Book and Score. It all begins when a die-hard musical theatre fan decides to play his favorite cast album in his small brownstone apartment - a 1928 smash hit musical called "The Drowsy Chaperone." The show magically bursts to life before him as audiences are instantly transported to an earlier time and place and immersed in the glamorous and hilarious tale of a celebrity bride and her uproarious wedding day, complete with gangsters, mistaken identities, an off-course aviatrix, and an uplifting ride to the rafters. " 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.

The Gesher Music Festival presents The Great (Jewish) American Songbook on Sunday, August 21, at 3 p.m. in the Wool Theatre at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. "Rodgers and Hammerstein, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Leonard Bernstein -- these are just a few of the many composers and lyricists most famous for their contributions to the Great American Songbook. Join us for a celebration of this classic American music, so much of which was created by Jewish artists! From Broadway and the cabarets to classical chamber music, this program is filled with known and beloved tunes as well as lesser-known yet incredible American musical gems." For more information: www.geshermusicfestival.org.

Inherit the Wind
Photo: Robbie Love

Insight Theatre Company presents the drama Inherit the Wind through August 28. "Bert Cates a 1920's schoolteacher is put on trial for violating the Butler Act, a state law that prohibits public school teachers from teaching evolution instead creationism. Rachel Brown who is Cates girlfriend is also the daughter of Reverend Brown is torn between the opposing beliefs held by Cates and her father and her love for both of them." 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.

Mustard Seed Theatre presents Kindertransport, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., August 19 - September 4. “During 1938-39, almost ten thousand children, mostly Jewish, were sent from families at risk in Nazi occupied Germany to safety in Britain. Samuel's play explores the lives of mothers and daughters torn apart and brought together by this “Kindertransport.” ” 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.

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis and the Pulitzer Arts Foundation present Love's Labor, opening Friday, August 19, at 7:30 p.m. and running through Sunday, August 21. "Shakespeare Festival St. Louis partners with the Pulitzer to create a combined visual and performing arts event drawing inspiration from the exhibitions on view to explore themes of domesticity and “the everyday.” Entitled Love's Labor, the interactive performance for four actors and one violinist unfolds throughout the Pulitzer's galleries, following the story of a contemporary relationship and questioning what makes and breaks a home. Love's Labor is conceived, written, and directed by Shakespeare Festival Associate Artistic Director Bruce Longworth. The performances are free to attend, but tickets are required." The performances take place at The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington in Grand Center. For more information: pulitzerarts.org.

The Emerald Room Cabaret at The Monocle resents Amy Armstrong in Mama's Big Ones, a musical tribute to Mama Cass Elliot of The Mamas and the Papas, Friday at 8 p.m., August 19. "Amy is the complete package - an exceptionally fine singer and dead-on comedienne, the total pro who is fresh and compelling and funny every night. Now she is bringing us her Mama Cass show, developed and honed on her tour of Mexican resort clubs this winter. Mama's Big Ones (the title of Cass's first solo album) takes us through her life and work. Though far from all, a big part of Cass's professional life was The Mamas and The Papas, whose California Dreamin' defined a sound for a generation. The performances take place in The Emerald Room at The Monocle Bar, 4510 Manchester in The Grove neighborhood. For more information: www.buzzonstage.com/st-louis.

Mary Shelley Monster Show

Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble presents Mary Shelley Monster Show by Nick Otten Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., August 17 - 20. "SATE will remount its original play, Mary Shelley Monster Show, by Nick Otten. Mary Shelley: the impulsive teen in a runaway love triangle, the precocious novelist, the daughter of revolutionaries, the lover and wife of philosopher-poet. Mary Shelley: the grieving mother, the martyr-widow, the hack writer. Mary Shelley: the monster and monster's mother. Was Mary Shelley's most famous novel, “Frankenstein” really an autobiography? Is she the creator or the creature? " Performances take place at The Chapel Venue, 6238 Alexander Drive. For more information: slightlyoff.org.

The St. Lou Fringe Festival opens on Friday, August 19, and runs through August 27 at several venues in the Grand Center area including the Kranzberg Arts Center (501 N. Grand) and TheStage at KDHX. Performances include traditional theater, dance, music, comedy, circus arts, performance art, cabaret, and burlesque, with acts from St. Louis and around the country. "This year's festival will coincide with Grand Center's new arts event Music at The Intersection and will include both new and familiar programming. 2016 will see the premiere of microtheater (short performances for an audience of no more than 9 patrons in an intimate, immersive setting), spin rooms (post show talk backs an workshops), Voices Unleashed (A number of festival slots are reserved for producers who are underrepresented in mainstream theatrical settings based on ethnicity, gender identity, language, dialect, age, physical ability, BMI, or other barrier), and an incubator program (a specialized collaborative showcase setting with more support for emergent artists). Past favorite programs like Fringe Family and the Artica sculpture garden will again enliven Strauss Park." For a complete schedule, visit stlfringe.comstlfringe.com.

Tell Me On a Sunday
Photo: Jill Ritter Lindberg

New Line Theatre presents Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Tell Me on a Sunday Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through August 27. "This pop-rock song cycle follows a young English woman newly arrived in New York, brimming with optimism, and her journey through America and the perils of ill-advised romance. As she seeks out success and love, she weaves her way through the maze of New York and Hollywood social life, and through her own anxieties, frustrations, and heartaches, and she begins to wonder whether there are better choices to be made." Performances take place at the Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive, three blocks east of Grand, in Grand Center. For more information, visit newlinetheatre.com or call 314-534-1111.

Next Generation Theatre Company presents the musical West Side Story Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 and 7 p.m., August 19-27. "Pulled directly from the pages of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the musical takes place on New York's West Side in the mid-1950s amidst widespread racial and social tension. The show begins as a war is building between two rival gangs fighting over the same piece of turf: born and bred New York boys, The Jets, and Puerto Rican immigrants The Sharks. In the midst of the battlefield are two young romantics, good-boy Tony, a Jet ready to leave the gang life behind, and wide-eyed Maria, the sister of Sharks leader, Bernardo. When Tony and Maria unexpectedly meet and fall for one another, tension between the rival groups only escalates, leading to a bloody and senseless rumble that costs both sides young lives. In spite of the violence, the true story at the core of the show is two lovers trying to find a way to be together-and whether either can survive when hate and ignorance are unwilling to yield." Performances take place at the Florissant Civic Center Theater at Parker and Waterford in Florissant, MO. For more information: florissantmo.thundertix.com

Kelsey Bearman

The Emerald Room Cabaret presents singer Kelsey Bearman in Whatever I Want to Be on Saturday, August 20, at 8 p.m. "Kelsey offers her fresh, fun take on this wonderfully crazy journey we call “life,” as she playfully explores life's paradoxes, from falling in love to breaking up, from facing fears to embracing life's mysteries. The show includes classic golden-age favorites by Rodgers and Hammerstein as well as selections by contemporary musical theatre composers such as Heisler and Goldrich and Michael John LaChiusa. Engaging and hysterically edgy, “Whatever I Want It To Be” embraces life and the opportunity to make each moment whatever we want it to be." The performance takes place in The Emerald Room at The Monocle Bar, 4510 Manchester in The Grove neighborhood. For more information: themonoclestl.com.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Zombie Love through October 28. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com.

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.