St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of April 8, 2019

New shows this week include True West at St. Louis Actors' Studio, Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound at Fontbonne, and a farewell fundraiser for Steve Woolf at the Rep.

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The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Bullets in the Bathtub through April 13. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com.

CSZ St. Louis presents The ComedySportz Show on Saturday nights at 7:30 pm. The show is "action-packed, interactive and hilarious comedy played as a sport. Two teams battle it out for points and your laughs! You choose the winners the teams provide the funny!" Performances take place on the second floor of the Sugar Cubed, 917 S Main St. in St Charles, Mo. For more information: www.cszstlouis.com.

Daddy Long Legs
Photo by John Lamb

Insight Theatre Company presents the musical Daddy Long Legs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through April 14. "Based on the classic novel, which inspired the 1955 movie starring Fred Astaire, Daddy Long Legs is a beloved tale in the spirit of Jane Austen, The Brontë Sisters and "Downton Abbey." Daddy Long Legs features music and lyrics by Tony Award-nominated composer/lyricist, Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre), and Tony-winning librettist/director, John Caird (Les Misérables), and is a "rags-to-riches" tale of newfound love." Performances take place at the Marcelle Theatre in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-556-1293 or visit insighttheatrecompany.com.

Dreamgirls
Photo by John Lamb

Stray Dog Theatre presents the musical Dreamgirls Thursdays through Saturdays through April 20. "Journey back to a time in musical history when rhythm and blues weren't everything, they were the only thing. In the swinging 60s, the Dreamettes, led by the powerful Effie White, embark on an R and B music career that leads them across the country. Romantic entanglements, Effies weight, racism, and the arrival of a fresh new sound in the 70s make this show biz musical a thrilling hit." Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

The Performing Arts Department at Washington University presents Florida Thursdays through Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 2 pm, April 11-14. "Rudolph, a married man, is a regional project manager for Tupperware and he's having an affair. Seth gets kidnapped on date night by a couple of hoodlums looking for his roommate. Meanwhile in an RV heading for Florida, Pete, Barbara, Matthew and Bridget are stuck in traffic. These three worlds collide in Lucas Marschke's smart and mysterious road trip comedy! " The performances take place in the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre on the Washington University campus. For more information, call 314-935-6543 or visit pad.artsci.wustl.edu.

St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley presents Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie Thursday through Sunday, April 11-14. Performances take place in the Fisher Theatre on the campus at 3400 Pershall Road. For more information, www.stlcc.edu/fv/ or call 314-644-5522.

The Monroe Actors Stage presents the comedy Is He Dead? by Mark Twain as adapted by David Ives Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 and Sundays at 2:30 pm through April 14. Performances take place in the Historic Capitol Theatre in downtown Waterloo, Illinois. For more information, visit www.masctheatre.org or call 618-939-7469.

The Hawthorne Players present the musical A New Brain through April 14. "By the Tony Award-winning authors of Falsettos, A NEW BRAIN is an energetic, sardonic, often comical musical about a composer during a medical emergency. Gordon collapses into his lunch and awakes in the hospital, surrounded by his maritime-enthusiast lover, his mother, a co-worker, the doctor, and the nurses. Reluctantly, he had been composing a song for a children's television show that features a frog - Mr. Bungee - and the specter of this large green character and the unfinished work haunts him throughout his medical ordeal. What was thought to be a tumor turns out to be something more operable, and Gordon recovers, grateful for a chance to compose the songs he yearns to produce." The performances take place at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre at Parker and Waterford in Florissant, MO. For more information, call 921-5678 or visit hawthorneplayers.info.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Nursery Crimes through May 9. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com.

St. Louis Shakespeare presents Shakespeare's Othello through April 13. "Shakespeare's tragedy is a classic tale of identity, bigotry and deceit." Performances take place at Tower Grove Baptist Church, 4257 Magnolia. For more information: stlshakespeare.org.

Photograph 51 at WEPG
Photo by John Lamb

The West End Players Guild continues its 108th season with the St. Louis premiere of the Photograph 51Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 2 PM, April 12-14. "Anna Ziegler's Photograph 51 is a moving portrait of Rosalind Franklin, one of the great female scientists of the twentieth century, and her fervid drive to map the contours of the DNA molecule. A chorus of physicists relives the chase, revealing the largely-unsung achievements of this trail-blazing, fiercely independent woman - largely-unsung because the men usually credited with cracking the DNA code, James Watson and Francis Crick, did so by "borrowing" Franklin's most important discovery." 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.

Popcorn Falls

The Midnight Company presents the comedy Popcorn Falls Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm through April 13. "The small town of Popcorn Falls is bankrupt. Its only tourist attraction, the Falls, has dried up, and it's about to be taken over by an unfeeling corporation who will turn the whole place into a sewage plant. There's only one chance to save the town - a dusty old grant that will give Popcorn Falls the money it needs if it will produce a play. (Which the town's future landlords demand be produced in one week.) The problem? There's no theatre in Popcorn Falls, there's never been a play seen there, and just a couple of its very eccentric citizens have ever been involved with anything resembling a play. It's up to Popcorn Falls' intrepid mayor and its Head Custodian ("Executive Custodian") to rally the town and lead its people in a heroic effort to prove that art can save the world. (Or at least a town.)" Performances take place at the Kranzberg Center, 501 N. Grand in Grand Center. For more information: midnightcompany.com

Fontbonne University Theatre presents Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 2 pm, April 10, 11, 13, and 14. "It's a typical night at the theatre for critics Moon and Birdboot until they're pulled into an onstage murder mystery. Filled with plot twists, this comedy will keep you guessing until the final moment." Performances take place at the Fontbonne Fine Arts Theatre, 6800 Wydown Blvd. For more information, metrotix.com.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents A Standing Ovation for Steve, a fund-raising event honoring outgoing Artistic Director Steve Woolf, on Wednesday, April 10, at 6:30 pm. "Celebrate Steve Woolf's 32 years of leadership at The Rep as he retires at the end of our 2018-2019 season. The Rep's legacy of artistic excellence and financial stability is due in large part to Steve's leadership over the course of the past three decades. We hope you will join us to honor one of St. Louis' most iconic directors and personalities!" The event takes place at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. For more information: repstl.org.

Time Stands Still
Photo by Philip Hammer

New Jewish Theater presents Time Stands Still Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 2 and 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm through April 14. "Time Stands Still revolves around Sarah, a photojournalist who has returned from covering the Iraq war after being injured by a roadside bomb, and her reporter boyfriend James who is swamped by guilt after having left Sarah alone in Iraq. The two are trying to find happiness in a world that seems to have gone crazy. Theirs is a partnership based on telling the toughest stories, and together, making a difference. But when their own story takes a sudden turn, the adventurous couple confronts the prospect of a more conventional life. Can they stay together amidst unspoken betrayals and conflicting ideals? Playwright Margulies answers these questions, while leaving unanswered qualms regarding the way America deals with war and tragedy coverage." Performances take place in the Marvin and Harlene Wool Studio Theater at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. For more information: www.newjewishtheatre.org or call 314-442-3283.

St. Louis Actors' Studio presents Sam Shepard's True West Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm, April 12-28. " This American classic explores alternatives that might spring from the demented terrain of the California landscape. Sons of a desert-dwelling alcoholic and a suburban wanderer clash over a film script. Austin, the achiever, is working on a script he has sold to producer Sal Kimmer when Lee, a demented petty thief, drops in. He pitches his own idea for a movie to Kimmer, who then wants Austin to junk his bleak, modern love story and write Lee's trashy Western tale." Performances take place at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. For more information call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville presents Voices from the Front - Three One-Act Plays by Cassandra Medley, opening on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30 pm and running through April 14. "SIUE welcomes award-winning playwright Cassandra Medley to campus for the presentation of her connected one-act plays: Daughter and Son. In Daughter, a mother tries to reckon with injuries suffered by her daughter while serving in the U.S. military in Iraq. In Son, on the occasion of his sister's wedding, a man struggles with haunting flashbacks to the war and the bomb he dropped on a wedding party. In addition, Ms. Medley has been commissioned to create a third, original play that will premiere at this SIUE production." Performances take place in the Metcalf Theater on the campus in Edwardsville, IL. For more information, call 618-650-2774 or visit siue.edu

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.

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.