St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of October 2, 2023

What's on St. Louis theater and cabaret stages this coming week. Please leave a comment if anything was wrong or got left out

Adam Pascal

The Blue Strawberry presents Adam Pascal Friday through Sunday, October 6 through 8, at 7:30 pm.  "Join Adam Pascal, from the original Broadway cast of RENT, for an intimate evening of songs and stories, just him and his guitar." The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle in the Central West End. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com

The Lemp Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre and Jest Mysteries present Zombie Love through November 4. "Calling all Zombies! Tired of being judged for munching on the occasional brain? So what if you're not really "alive" anymore. You can still enjoy socializing with the living and enjoying a hilarious show together. Well, we've got the perfect show for you. Drama! Comedy! Looove! ...And, of course, Zombies! But some zombie has ignored rule number one in the “Zombieing for Dummies” handbook…No biting.  Nina Tina Deena May will never be the same…do you know who’s to blame? And, no, it was not Mike Tyson! " The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place in south city. For more information: www.lempmansion.com

Metro Theater Company presents Maddi’s Fridge by Anne Negri, adapted from the Book by Lois Brandt with illustrations by Vin Vogel.  “What if the only way to help a friend was to break a promise? Sofia and Maddi are best friends. They live in the same neighborhood, go to the same school, and play at the same rock-climbing gym. But when Sofia learns a secret about Maddi’s family, she’s faced with a difficult decision: to keep her promise or tell her parents about Maddi’s empty fridge. With humor and heart, this play is sure to inspire conversations with your young people about honesty, sensitivity, empathy and helping others.”  Best enjoyed by ages 5 – 11, the show’s approximate run time is 50 minutes with no intermission. It's available for school tours through October 22. For more information: www.metroplays.org

The Lion in Winter
Photo: Todd Davis

The Midnight Company presents James Goldman’s comedy/drama The Lion in Winter Thursdays through Saturdays 8pm and Sundays (October 8 and 15 only), October 5 through 21. “Comedic in tone, dramatic in action - THE LION IN WINTER takes place in 1183, in a Castle in Chinon, France, telling the story of the Plantagenet family, who are locked in a free-for-all  of competing ambitions to inherit a crown.  The queen, and wealthiest woman in the world, Eleanor of Aquitaine, has been kept in prison since raising an army against her husband, King Henry II of England.  She’s been let out only for the holidays, and hence the play centers around the inner conflicts of the royal family - including their sons -  the warrior Richard Lionheart, the crafty middle son Geoffrey, and the youngest and Henry’s favorite John - as they battle over the kingdom.  The situation is complicated by Henry’s paramour - Alais, a French princess - and her brother, Philip, the new King of France, itching for his own war against England.” Performances take place at the .ZACK in Grand Center. For more information: midnightcompany.com

Prison Performing Arts Alumni Theatre Company presents A Chilling Night of One-Acts Thursday through Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 2 pm, October 5 through 8. The two one-act plays are Waiting for Hecate by e. k. Doolin and The Privilege of Being Second by David Nonemaker and Eric Satterfield. Performances take place at 3333 Washington in Grand Center. For more information: www.prisonperformingarts.org.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Twisted Melodies October 4 through 22. “This powerful one-man show is based on the life of St. Louis soul music icon Donny Hathaway. Twisted Melodies is an immersive and crushing play about the brilliant singer and composer’s compelling inner struggle. Torn between the muses that inspire him and the mental illness that torments him, Hathaway evaluates his life in a gripping performance by St. Louis native Kelvin Roston, Jr.” Performances take place at the Berges Theatre at COCA in University City. For more information: repstl.org

St. Louis Shakespeare presents Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream through October 7 “’The course of true love never did run smooth...’; especially when it's mixed up with misguided parents, meddling fairies, mis-applied love potions, and a half-man / half-donkey / 100% fool.  Immerse yourself in William Shakespeare's hilarious rom-com of mis-matched lovers and feuding fairies!” Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Community Center in Kirkwood. www.stlshakespeare.org.

The St. Louis Writers' Group presents Round One of its Playwright Slam on Tuesday, October 3, at 6:30 pm. “In rounds one and two each script will be given a five minute read, and scored by a panel of judges based upon audience reaction. the highest scoring plays will go to the final, which is based on  which will be ten minutes of the same script, from which a winner will be chosen.” The Playwright Slam takes place upstairs at Big Daddy’s in Soulard. For more information, visit the St. Louis Writers' Group Facebook page.

Million Dollar Quartet
Photo: Phillip Hamer

Stages St. Louis presents the musical Million Dollar Quartet through October 8. “The music industry stars truly aligned by pure happenstance when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins came together for an impromptu 1956 recording session at Sun Records in Memphis. This legendary session became known as the MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET and is the setting for this wildly entertaining audience favorite. Filled with such classic tunes as “Blue Suede Shoes”, “I Walk the Line”, “Hound Dog”, and “Great Balls of Fire”, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is sure to have you dancing in the aisles!” Performances take place at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center in Kirkwood, MO. For more information: stagesstlouis.org

Stray Dog Theatre presents the musical Saturday Night Fever Thursdays through Saturdays at 8, October 5 through 28, with additional performances 2 pm Sundays, October 15 and 22. “Based on the 1977 film that became a cultural phenomenon, this electrifying show is packed with legendary hits from the Bee Gees, classic disco tracks, and new original songs. Burn, baby, burn!” Performances take place at Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee in Tower Grove East. For more information: www.straydogtheatre.org

Take Two Productions presents the musical Tick, Tick . . . Boom! By Jonathan Larson through October 7.  “Before Rent, there was Tick, Tick... Boom!. This autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning composer of Rent, is the story of a composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theatre. Containing fourteen songs, ten characters, three actors and a band, Tick, Tick... Boom! takes you on the playwright/composer's journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster. His girlfriend wants to get married and move out of the city, his best friend is making big bucks on Madison Avenue and, yet, Jon is still waiting on tables and trying to write the great American musical. Set in 1990, this compelling story of personal discovery is presented as a rock musical filled with instantly appealing melodies and a unique blend of musical theatre styles. Performances take place in Johnson Hall at Third Baptist Church, 620 N. Grand in Grand Center. For more information: www.taketwoproductions.org/tick-tick-boom

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

To get your event listed here, send an email to chuck at kdhx.org Your event information should be in text format (i.e. not part of a graphic), but feel free to include publicity stills.

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.

Symphony Preview: On second thoughts

Written By Chuck Lavazzi

[Preview the music with my Spotify playlist.]

With Powell Symphony Hall closed for the next two years for extensive renovation and expansion, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is presenting its new season in two different venues: the 3100 seat Stifel Theatre (where the season opener was held) and the more intimate 1600 seat Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall at the Touhill Center on the UMSL campus.

Beethoven in 1803
Painted by Christian Horneman

This coming weekend (September 29 and 30), Stéphane Denève and the band make their first season appearance at the Touhill. In keeping with the smaller stage, it’s a program that demands smaller orchestral forces than the two Richard Strauss Big Band Extravaganzas last weekend.

The concert opens with the overture Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) wrote for the 1804 play “Coriolan” by the composer’s friend Heinrich von Collin. Like Shakespeare’s more familiar “Coriolanus,” it’s based on the story of the Roman general Caius Marcius Coriolanus, who led a rebellion against the decaying Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Persuaded at the last to refrain from sacking Rome, he was treacherously killed by his allies.

Reflecting the arc of the play, Beethoven’s overture begins in heroic defiance and ends somber resignation. It’s not a curtain raiser so much as an independent tone poem which, as Brockway and Weinstock write in Men of Music, “crystalizes the essence of the drama as Beethoven felt it.” Although a popular piece, it hasn’t been performed by the SLSO since 2008 and never under Maestro Denève’s baton.

Hold your applause after the overture because the band will proceed directly (attacca) to the next item, “subito con forza” by contemporary Korean composer Unsuk Chin (b. 1961). The reason why the two works are linked will be apparent the moment you hear it, and I am disinclined to spoil that moment for you here. If you must have your spoilers, though, there’s an excellent performance by the Oslo Philharmonic under Klaus Mäkelä (complete with synchronized score) on YouTube. In any case, be prepared for Beethovenian “Easter eggs.”

Up next is Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15. It's officially his Piano Concerto No. 1 because it was the first of his five concerti to be published, but it was actually his second essay in the form, dating from 1797—two years after the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major. It is, as a result, more richly orchestrated, more sophisticated, and a bit less derivative of Mozart and Haydn than the B-flat major concerto. I think Haydn’s influence is most apparent in the allegro scherzando finale, both in the jollity of the music and in the fact that it’s a rondo—a favorite form of the composer. The noble opening theme of the first movement, though, strikes me as pure Beethoven.

The concerto was last heard here in January 2022, with Denève conducting and Shai Wasner at the piano. This time around the soloist will be the American pianist Jonathan Biss (b. 1980), whose recording of the complete Beethoven sonatas is a “must listen” for anyone seriously interested in the instrument to which the composer consigned his most profound thoughts. Biss is also a fine and exceptionally witty writer, as a stroll through his web site will reveal.

The program concludes with the Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120 by Robert Schumann (1810–1856). The composer started the first movement in May of 1841 (only two months after the successful premiere of his Symphony No. 1) and, with time out for holidays and the birth of his daughter Marie, wrote the last note that October. Its four movements are played without pause “as if written in one continuous arc” (Judith Chernaik, Schumann: The Faces and the Masks) and share enough common thematic material so that, to cite the SLSOs program notes, it “approaches the novel cyclical construction proposed by pianist and composer Franz Liszt.”  Chernaik describes it as “wonderfully linked together, full of poetry, haunting in its melodies, sure in its handling of each section of the orchestra…it was another masterpiece, as Schumann must have known.”

Schumann in 1850
en.wikipedia.org

Audiences, alas, failed to appreciate any of this when the symphony was first performed by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under the baton of concertmaster Ferdinand David on December 6th 1841. The response was unenthusiastic and largely the result of events beyond the composer’s control. Audiences heard the work only after the intermission of a long concert, the first half of which consisted of seven (!) works including Schumann’s “Overture, Scherzo and Finale,” Mendelssohn’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra (with Clara Schumann as soloist), a series of works for piano solo (Clara) and duo (Clara and celebrity guest Franz Liszt), and Liszt’s setting for male chorus of the patriotic “Rhineland.”

Not surprisingly, the audience, the musicians, and the critics were a bit worn down by the time Schumann’s symphony was finally played. “They failed completely to appreciate the work’s originality and power,” writes Chernaik. The tepid response made it hard for the composer to find a publisher for the work and he shelved it until 1851 during his tenure as Music Director at Düsseldorf. “I totally reorchestrated the symphony,” he wrote in a letter to the Dutch composer Johannes Verhulst, “and, of course, made it better and more effective than it was before.” It was this revision, first conducted by Schumann himself in 1853, that enjoyed the success the 1841 original failed to achieve. It’s now the one that everyone performs, including the SLSO this weekend.

Ah, but is it in fact “more effective than it was before”? When Schumann’s friend Brahms prepared an edition of the composer’s collected works in 1886, he had on hand an autograph of the original version (courtesy of Clara). Upon comparing them, he decided that he preferred the original. Clara strongly disagreed and the original remained unpublished until 2003. Fortunately, John Axelrod and the Bucharest Symphony courageously issued a recording of both versions on the Orchid label just a few days ago. You can listen to both of them on my Spotify playlist and decide for yourself.

The Essentials: Stéphane Denève conducts the SLSO and piano soloist Jonathan Biss in a program consisting of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Piano Concerto No. 1 along with Unsuk Chin’s “subito con forza” and Schumann’s Symphony No. 4. Performances are Friday at 10:30 am and Saturday at 7:30 pm, September 29 and 30 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the UMSL campus. The Saturday evening performance will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio and Classic 107.3. For more information, visit the SLSO web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Symphony Review: Everyplace old is new again

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concert last Sunday (September 24, 2023) was a special one, and not just because it was the season opener. It was also an immensely satisfying program of familiar concert favorites performed with expert flair by the orchestra and guest violin soloist Hilary Hahn. And it was the first opportunity to hear the orchestra in what was for decades its home base: The Stifel Theatre, née the Kiel Opera House.

The Stifel Theatre from the balcony

Built in 1934 and extensively renovated in 2010, Kiel was the SLSO’s home until the orchestra moved to Powell Hall in 1968. For the next two seasons it will be one of two principal venues for SLSO concerts (the other being the UMSL’s Touhill Performing Arts Center) while Powell Hall undergoes extensive expansion and renovation. I don’t know what the revamped Powell will sound like, but I hope it will be more like the new Stifel than the old Powell.

In his introductory remarks SLSO Music Director Stéphane Denève said that St. Louis is unusual in having two world-class concert halls. Based on what I heard Sunday, I have to agree. The sound of the renovated Stifel Theatre is bright, clean, and somewhat dry: rather like a good prosecco. The wider stage results in a wider soundstage with clearer separation of orchestral sections, and the less reverberant acoustics make it easier to distinguish the sounds of both individual instruments and  the soloist.

And it’s quiet. So quiet that Hahn could be sure that the softest harmonics could be clearly heard. So quiet that Denève could make use of the orchestra’s full dynamic range. So quiet, in short, that even up in the mezzanine, the merest whisper of sound could be clearly heard.

So much for acoustics. As to the music itself, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to open the season. Hahn played Mendelssohn’s first and only concerto with a perfect blend of flash and finesse. She filled the first movement with dramatic virtuosity, sang the second movement Andante sweetly, and (to quote Mr. Gilbert) went “gaily tripping, lightly skipping” through the Puckish Allegro molto vivace finale.

And she was paying attention. Even when she wasn’t playing she was deeply engaged with the music, the SLSO musicians, and Maestro Denève. When I reviewed Hahn’s Tchaikovsky concerto at Bravo! Vail in July, I noted that she and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin were in constant and friendly communication the entire time and that both were quite clearly enjoying themselves. “That sort of thing,”  I wrote, “always spreads to the audience and increases our engagement with the music.”

Judging from the enthusiastic response, Sunday’s audience appreciated the results. Hahn returned for not one but two encores, both by Bach: the lively Gigue from the Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006 and the Sarabande from the Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004. Hahn recorded both partitas in their entirety back in 1997 for Sony.

The rest of the concert covered a wide range of music, from the overture to Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” (1791) to Paul Dukas’ popular “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (1897), along with two symphonic poems by Richard Strauss: “Don Juan” and “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks.” All four works received that combination of wide expressive range and meticulous attention to detail that has become emblematic of Denève’s style.

Stéphane Denève and Hilary Hahn
Photo: Chuck Lavazzi

“Don Juan” got things off to an energetic start as the legendary lover leapt on to the musical stage in a wild, ecstatic theme in the strings and horns. The theme reappears throughout the work, alternating with passages of romance and longing. The most notable of these appears in the long solos for oboe and clarinet in the lyrical central episode, played with great feeling by Principal Oboe Jelena Dirks and Principal Clarinet Scott Andrews.

The horn section was in particularly fine form both here and later in “Till Eulenspiegel.” The famous wide-ranging solo that opens the latter was expertly played by Principal Horn Roger Kaza. Andrew Cuneo’s bassoon section was important in “Till” as well, contributing mightily to the sense of nose-thumbing slapstick in the score. This is genuinely comic music, delivered with a wonderful sense of fun by Denève and the band.

There was much fun to be had as well in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” surely one of the most vivid bits of “tone painting” in the repertoire.  When Disney’s artists turned it into animation in the 1940 film “Fantasia” all they had to do was paint on animation cells what the composer had already painted in notes. Here the bassoon section had a genuine star turn as the sonic embodiment of the enchanted broom which quickly escapes from the control of the hapless apprentice of the title. That sequence when the supposedly smashed broom slowly groans itself back to life in the contrabassoon and bass clarinet? In the hands of, respectively, Ellen Connors and Tzuying Huang it was comedy gold.

The “Magic Flute” overture might have felt a bit out of place amidst all this tomfoolery, especially given the reverential solemnity with which Denève invested those three opening E-flat major chords, but the sheer vivacity of the fugal sections that followed were a reminder that this was, after all the, preface to one of Mozart’s more beloved comedies.

The new season continues at the Touhill Center on Friday at 10:30 am and Saturday at 7:30 pm, September 29 and 30, as Stéphane Denève conducts the orchestra and piano soloist Jonathan Biss in a program consisting of Beethoven’s "Coriolan Overture" and Piano Concerto No. 1 along with Unsuk Chin’s “subito con forza” and Schumann’s Symphony No. 4. The Saturday evening performance will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio and Classic 107.3. For more information, visit the SLSO web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of September 25, 2023

What's on St. Louis theater and cabaret stages this coming week. Please leave a comment if anything was wrong or got left out

The Lemp Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre and Jest Mysteries present Zombie Love through November 4. "Calling all Zombies! Tired of being judged for munching on the occasional brain? So what if you're not really "alive" anymore. You can still enjoy socializing with the living and enjoying a hilarious show together. Well, we've got the perfect show for you. Drama! Comedy! Looove! ...And, of course, Zombies! But some zombie has ignored rule number one in the “Zombieing for Dummies” handbook…No biting.  Nina Tina Deena May will never be the same…do you know who’s to blame? And, no, it was not Mike Tyson! " The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place in south city. For more information: www.lempmansion.com

Metro Theater Company presents Maddi’s Fridge by Anne Negri, adapted from the Book by Lois Brandt with illustrations by Vin Vogel.  “What if the only way to help a friend was to break a promise? Sofia and Maddi are best friends. They live in the same neighborhood, go to the same school, and play at the same rock-climbing gym. But when Sofia learns a secret about Maddi’s family, she’s faced with a difficult decision: to keep her promise or tell her parents about Maddi’s empty fridge. With humor and heart, this play is sure to inspire conversations with your young people about honesty, sensitivity, empathy and helping others.”  Best enjoyed by ages 5 – 11, the show’s approximate run time is 50 minutes with no intermission. It's available for school tours through October 22. For more information: www.metroplays.org

St. Louis Shakespeare presents Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream September 29 through October 7 “’The course of true love never did run smooth...’; especially when it's mixed up with misguided parents, meddling fairies, mis-applied love potions, and a half-man / half-donkey / 100% fool.  Immerse yourself in William Shakespeare's hilarious rom-com of mis-matched lovers and feuding fairies!” Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Community Center in Kirkwood. https://www.stlshakespeare.org/

Million Dollar Quartet
Photo: Phillip Hamer

Stages St. Louis presents the musical Million Dollar Quartet through October 8. “The music industry stars truly aligned by pure happenstance when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins came together for an impromptu 1956 recording session at Sun Records in Memphis. This legendary session became known as the MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET and is the setting for this wildly entertaining audience favorite. Filled with such classic tunes as “Blue Suede Shoes”, “I Walk the Line”, “Hound Dog”, and “Great Balls of Fire”, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is sure to have you dancing in the aisles!” Performances take place at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center in Kirkwood, MO. For more information: stagesstlouis.org

Take Two Productions presents the musical Tick, Tick . . . Boom! By Jonathan Larson September 29 through October 7.  “Before Rent, there was Tick, Tick... Boom!. This autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning composer of Rent, is the story of a composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theatre. Containing fourteen songs, ten characters, three actors and a band, Tick, Tick... Boom! takes you on the playwright/composer's journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster. His girlfriend wants to get married and move out of the city, his best friend is making big bucks on Madison Avenue and, yet, Jon is still waiting on tables and trying to write the great American musical. Set in 1990, this compelling story of personal discovery is presented as a rock musical filled with instantly appealing melodies and a unique blend of musical theatre styles. Performances take place in Johnson Hall at Third Baptist Church, 620 N. Grand in Grand Center. For more information: https://www.taketwoproductions.org/tick-tick-boom

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

To get your event listed here, send an email to chuck at kdhx.org Your event information should be in text format (i.e. not part of a graphic), but feel free to include publicity stills.

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.

Symphony Preview: We open in...Stifel

[Preview the music with my Spotify playlist.]

This weekend (Saturday and Sunday, September 23 and 24), the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, with Music Director Stéphane Denève at the helm, will do something it hasn’t done in over a half-century: perform in the Kiel Opera House. Or as it is now known, the Stifel Theatre.

It’s a matter of necessity rather than nostalgia since Powell Symphony Hall, the orchestra’s home since 1968, is closed for extensive renovation and expansion until 2025. The new season will, as a result, be a wanderjahr for the orchestra with concerts not just at Stifel but also at the Touhill Center on the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus. There will also be chamber concerts at the Sheldon Concert Hall and the Pulitzer Center and a performance of Gabriel Fauré’s transcendent “Requiem” at the Cathedral Basilica on Lindell.

Richard Strauss, age 24

The program for the opening concerts is a varied and festive one, with the beloved Violin Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847), the overture to “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), and three popular examples of the genre known as “program music”. Two are by that master of the genre Richard Strauss (1864–1949) and the third is by France’s Paul Dukas (1865–1935), whose music often doesn’t get the respect it deserves.

Sometimes used dismissively, “program music” refers to any composition either inspired by or intended to depict something nonmusical.  Said inspiration can come from the dramatic, literary, or visual arts, although history, nature, and even architecture figure prominently as well. That covers a lot of territory, as this weekend’s program demonstrates.

The concerts open with Strauss’s “Don Juan.” First performed in 1889, this second in a long series of tone poems takes its inspiration from Paul Heyse’s play “Don Juans Ende” (based on an unfinished verse play by Nicolaus Lenau), which the composer saw in Frankfurt in 1885. As Bryan Gilliam and Charles Youmans write in Grove Online, the work “earned Strauss his international reputation as a symphonic composer” thanks to “its provocative subject matter, dazzling orchestration, sharply etched themes, novel structure, and taut pacing.”

It also nearly killed him. He had just been appointed Kapellmeister to the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in Weimar, had just met his future wife, and was becoming highly regarded as a conductor as well as a composer. “All this feverish activity,” observe Gilliam and Youmans, “left Strauss exhausted, and by the end of the 1891–2 season he had become gravely ill.” Fortunately he spent the following winter recuperating in Greece and Egypt and was back at Weimer, hale and hearty, in 1893.

He was still in fine fettle two years later when he wrote the piece that closes the program, “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks.” Based on the exploits of the popular “trickster” character from German folklore, the work is beloved by audiences and critics alike. It can also strike fear in the hearts of even the best horn players thanks to the wide-ranging solo for that instrument that opens the piece. Roger Kaza nailed it the last time the SLSO played “Till Eulenspiegel” in 2012, so I expect it’s in good hands.

Illustration for "Der Zauberlehrling", 1882
by Ferdinand Barth

Before that, it’s the popular 1897 tone poem "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas. Inspired by "Der Zauberlehrling," a 1797 poem by Goethe, the piece is a vivid portrait of a magician in training whose attempts to transform a broom into a water carrier lead to disaster. It's filled with brilliant orchestral details, from the delicate opening measures for flutes, clarinet, harps, and strings, to the comically animated broom depicted by the bassoons, to the massive orchestral climaxes as the hapless apprentice tries to bring that broom under control.

Those of you who have seen Walt Disney’s 1940 animated classic “Fantasia” may find it hard not to keep picturing Mickey Mouse as the hapless apprentice.

The overture to “The Magic Flute” opens the second half of the evening. Written towards the end of the composer's sadly brief life (Mozart had only a few months to live when it premiered in September of 1791), “The Magic Flute” was intended not for an audience of nobles at court but rather for ordinary folks at a suburban theater where the repertoire ran more towards lighter fare. A singspiel with spoken dialog instead of recitatives and a text in German instead of the fashionable Italian, the work is the fantastic tale of heroic prince Tamino and princess Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night, who must undergo a series of magical trials at the court of Sarastro, High Priest of the Sun, before they can attain enlightenment and be united in marriage. Accompanying Tamino in his quest is the comic bird catcher Papageno.

Mozart was a Master Mason in the "Zur Wohltätigkeit" ("Beneficence") Lodge in Vienna and “The Magic Flute” is stuffed full of Masonic symbolism, including frequent use of the number three. That includes the three chords that open the overture. None of the tunes in the opera show up in the overture, though, so one need not know the secret handshake to appreciate the lively music.

The big event of the evening is the Violin Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847). Mendelssohn, like Mozart, died before age 40 and his Violin Concerto, like Mozart’s opera, was composed near the end of his all too brief life. Like “The Magic Flute,” the concerto was also a great success and remained so ever since.

Portrait of Mendelssohn by
James Warren Childe, 1839
en.wikipedia.org

That said, the concerto was a long time in coming. Although the composer announced his intention to write it in a letter to his friend, the violinist Ferdinand David, in 1838, it wasn't until March of 1845, two years before the composer’s death, that the E minor concerto finally saw the light of day. Mendelssohn was ill at the time, so the Danish composer Niels Gade conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (where Mendelssohn had been Principal Conductor since 1835) with David as the soloist. Which was only fair, as the composer sought David's technical and compositional advice throughout the concerto's six-year gestation period.

This weekend’s soloist is the internationally renowned Hilary Hahn. I saw her most recently at the Bravo! Vail festival in July, where her Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin) was warmly received. She hasn’t appeared with the SLSO since 2003, her planned 2020 visit having been a victim of the radically downsized season made necessary by COVID-19. I look forward to seeing what she does with the Mendelssohn in a live performance, given the enthusiastic critical reception of her 2002 recording for Sony Classical.

The Essentials: Stéphane Denève conducts the SLSO and violin soloist Hilary Hahn in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Dukas’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” the overture to Mozart’s “The Magic Flute, and Richard Strauss’s tone poems “Don Juan” and “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks.” Performances take place Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, September 23 and 24. Details are available at the SLSO web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of September 18, 2023

What's on St. Louis theater and cabaret stages this coming week. Please leave a comment if anything was wrong or got left out

Jeff Harnar and Alex Rybeck

The Blue Strawberry presents a Showcase of St. Louis Cabaret Singers on Monday, September 18, at 7 pm. Presented by Jeff Harnar and Alex Rybeck, the showcase is the culmination of an intensive weekend of high-level training with Jeff and Alex. Join singers Chet Whye Jr., Angie Nicholson, Robert Breig, Nancy Wallingford, Journee Carter and Ryan Scott. The evening is directed by Jeff Harnar with Musical Direction by Alex Rybeck. The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com.

Tim Schall

The Blue Strawberry presents Sunday Standard Time with Tim Schall and Carol Schmidt on Sunday September 24 at 6 pm. “Join Tim Schall (vocals) and Carol Schmidt (piano) in the lounge for a casual, classy Sunday evening of jazz standards, a little sophisticated pop and a dash of classic Broadway. Tim is no stranger to the theater and concert stages of St. Louis, Chicago and New York's Lincoln Center. Carol has a rich history of entertaining St. Louis audiences as musician and singer. Together they will help you wind down your weekend with timeless music and a lot of irreverent dry humor.” The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com.

Clayton Community Theatre presents The Cemetery Club Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through September 24.  “Three Jewish widows meet once a month for tea before going to visit their husbands’ graves. Ida is sweet tempered and ready to begin a new life; Lucille is a feisty embodiment of the girl who just wants to have fun; and Doris is priggish and judgmental, particularly when Sam the butcher enters the scene. He meets the widows while visiting his wife’s grave. This play is genuinely funny while with a serious subject matter. It runs through a range of emotions. There are secrets, some anger, a little bit of betrayal, but a lot of love too.” Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Rd. For more information: www.placeseveryone.org

The Improv Shop presents The One Four Fives: An Improvised Musical on Saturday September 23 at 8 pm. “It's the opening (and err, closing) night of a Broadway-style musical, completely made up on the spot!  Based on audience suggestion, The One Four Fives create a musical that has never been seen before.  Every performance is a unique experience full of drama, comedy, emotions, and of course, songs.” The Improv Shop is at 3960 Chouteau in The Grove. For more information: theimprovshop.com

The Lemp Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre and Jest Mysteries present Zombie Love through November 4. "Calling all Zombies! Tired of being judged for munching on the occasional brain? So what if you're not really "alive" anymore. You can still enjoy socializing with the living and enjoying a hilarious show together. Well, we've got the perfect show for you. Drama! Comedy! Looove! ...And, of course, Zombies! But some zombie has ignored rule number one in the “Zombieing for Dummies” handbook…No biting.  Nina Tina Deena May will never be the same…do you know who’s to blame? And, no, it was not Mike Tyson! " The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place in south city. For more information: www.lempmansion.com

Metro Theater Company presents Maddi’s Fridge by Anne Negri, adapted from the Book by Lois Brandt with illustrations by Vin Vogel.  “What if the only way to help a friend was to break a promise? Sofia and Maddi are best friends. They live in the same neighborhood, go to the same school, and play at the same rock-climbing gym. But when Sofia learns a secret about Maddi’s family, she’s faced with a difficult decision: to keep her promise or tell her parents about Maddi’s empty fridge. With humor and heart, this play is sure to inspire conversations with your young people about honesty, sensitivity, empathy and helping others.”  Best enjoyed by ages 5 – 11, the show’s approximate run time is 50 minutes with no intermission. For more information: www.metroplays.org

Professor Sunshine's Traveling Post-Apocalyptic
Rocn 'n Roll Revival

The Midnight Company presents the premiere of the new cabaret theatre show Professor Sunshine’s Traveling Post-Apocalyptic Rock ’n Roll Revival on Wednesday, September 20 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, September 23 at 8 pm. “The Rock ’n Roll Revival is today’s version of Old West traveling shows, when a ragtag theatrical company would sweep into town, bringing some light and entertainment to crumbling, precarious Gold Rush towns.  And now, once again, there are hard, hard times, troubled days in the dark, desolate lands we inhabit, where one can at least hope to see the Show coming to town, lifting spirits with rock songs and road stories. Professor Sunshine (Joe Hanrahan) presents the sultry chanteuse Cheyenne (Kelly Howe), delivering her signature renditions of all the classic, savage rock 'n roll we can remember, pulling together to continue their never-ending tour to the savage horizon ahead. Guaranteed to deliver you - or at least distract you - from these evil days with a new vision of the salvation music can bring.”  Performances take place at The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. .For more information: midnightcompany.com

Prism Theatre Company presents Wrens by Anne V. McGravie through September 24.  “Wrens by Anne V. McGravie, celebrates the independence and courage of seven young women during World War II serving in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS). Set in 1945 on the eve of victory in Europe, this diverse group of women all struggle with personal feelings about what the end of the war will mean for their futures, and for the freedom and respect they have discovered serving in the Wrens. While wrestling with uncertainty, a sudden crisis forces them to come together to save one of their own. With humor, compassion, and strikingly real characters that touch our hearts, Wrens shines a light on a remarkable group of women who committed themselves to help change the world forever. Content Advisory: This play contains discussions of rape and abortion, and there is one very brief moment of partial nudity.” Performances take place at the black box theatre at the Kranzberg Center in Grand Center. For more information: www.prismtheatrecompany.org

The Lehman Trilogy
Photo: T. Charles Erickson

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents The Lehman Trilogy through September 24. “Experience this epic tale of one family’s passionate pursuit of the American Dream and the piercing cost of greed, excess and unbridled power. In the late 1840s, three young brothers from Bavaria arrived in America with near-empty pockets but full of hope and ambition. Over the course of two centuries, their family business grew to unimaginable heights and ultimately collapsed into bankruptcy” Performances take place on the main stage of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University Campus. For more information: repstl.org

The St. Louis Writers' Group presents a Week 3 of its annual One-Act Play Festival on Tuesday, September 12, at 6:30 pm. The plays are Candle Light Dinner by Jim Danek, A Bit of Skin by David Hawley, A Difference in Cultures by David Hawley, and a new work by Mark Rubinelli The readings take place upstairs at Big Daddy’s in Soulard. For more information, visit the St. Louis Writers' Group Facebook page.

Million Dollar Quartet
Photo: Phillip Hamer

Stages St. Louis presents the musical Million Dollar Quartet through October 8. “The music industry stars truly aligned by pure happenstance when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins came together for an impromptu 1956 recording session at Sun Records in Memphis. This legendary session became known as the MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET and is the setting for this wildly entertaining audience favorite. Filled with such classic tunes as “Blue Suede Shoes”, “I Walk the Line”, “Hound Dog”, and “Great Balls of Fire”, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is sure to have you dancing in the aisles!” Performances take place at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center in Kirkwood, MO. For more information: stagesstlouis.org

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

To get your event listed here, send an email to chuck at kdhx.org Your event information should be in text format (i.e. not part of a graphic), but feel free to include publicity stills.

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.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of September 11, 2023

What's on St. Louis theater and cabaret stages this coming week. Please leave a comment if anything was wrong or got left out

Jeff Harnet

The Blue Strawberry presents A Collective Cy with Jeff Harnar on Friday, September 15 at 7:30 pm. "JEFF HARNAR salutes Emmy, Grammy, Tony winning songwriter CY COLEMAN in his award-winning, critically acclaimed show A COLLECTIVE CY originally performed at Feinstein’s in New York City. Expect to hear familiar standards like “The Best is Yet To Come,” “Witchcraft,” “Hey Look Me Over,” “When in Rome,” as well as surprises from Coleman’s six decade career that included Broadway hits like “Sweet Charity." ALEX RYBECK conducts The Rhythm of Life Quartet and the show is Directed by SARA LOUISE LAZARUS. ” The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com.

Clayton Community Theatre presents The Cemetery Club Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, September 14 through 24.  “Three Jewish widows meet once a month for tea before going to visit their husbands’ graves. Ida is sweet tempered and ready to begin a new life; Lucille is a feisty embodiment of the girl who just wants to have fun; and Doris is priggish and judgmental, particularly when Sam the butcher enters the scene. He meets the widows while visiting his wife’s grave. This play is genuinely funny while with a serious subject matter. It runs through a range of emotions. There are secrets, some anger, a little bit of betrayal, but a lot of love too.” Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Rd. For more information: www.placeseveryone.org

Kineteic Tapestry Physical Theatre Company presents Space: A Celestial Circus Show through September 16. “A cosmic feast for the senses including unicycles, aerial acts, comedy, juggling, and acrobatics set to original music by St Louis composer Abbie Steiling against an incredible backdrop of space images by Frederick Steiling.” Performances take place at the Florissant Performing Arts Center in Florissant, MO. For more information: www.kinetictapestry.org/space

The Lemp Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre and Jest Mysteries present Zombie Love through November 4. "Calling all Zombies! Tired of being judged for munching on the occasional brain? So what if you're not really "alive" anymore. You can still enjoy socializing with the living and enjoying a hilarious show together. Well, we've got the perfect show for you. Drama! Comedy! Looove! ...And, of course, Zombies! But some zombie has ignored rule number one in the “Zombieing for Dummies” handbook…No biting.  Nina Tina Deena May will never be the same…do you know who’s to blame? And, no, it was not Mike Tyson! " The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place in south city. For more information: www.lempmansion.com

Jennell Gilreath Owens

The Midnight Company presents You Made Me Love You: A Tribute to Judy Garland starring Jennelle Gilreath Owens through September 14. The show is written by Joe Hanrahan with a band headed by John and Lea Gerdes.  Performances take place at The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. .For more information: midnightcompany.com

Prism Theatre Company presents Wrens by Anne V. McGravie September 15 through 24.  “Wrens by Anne V. McGravie, celebrates the independence and courage of seven young women during World War II serving in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS). Set in 1945 on the eve of victory in Europe, this diverse group of women all struggle with personal feelings about what the end of the war will mean for their futures, and for the freedom and respect they have discovered serving in the Wrens. While wrestling with uncertainty, a sudden crisis forces them to come together to save one of their own. With humor, compassion, and strikingly real characters that touch our hearts, Wrens shines a light on a remarkable group of women who committed themselves to help change the world forever. Content Advisory: This play contains discussions of rape and abortion, and there is one very brief moment of partial nudity.” Performances take place at the black box theatre at the Kranzberg Center in Grand Center. For more information: www.prismtheatrecompany.org

The Lehman Trilogy
Photo: T. Charles Erickson

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents The Lehman Trilogy through September 24. “Experience this epic tale of one family’s passionate pursuit of the American Dream and the piercing cost of greed, excess and unbridled power. In the late 1840s, three young brothers from Bavaria arrived in America with near-empty pockets but full of hope and ambition. Over the course of two centuries, their family business grew to unimaginable heights and ultimately collapsed into bankruptcy” Performances take place on the main stage of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University Campus. For more information: repstl.org

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s Shakespeare in the Streets presents The Game’s Afoot, a new play inspired by true stories from a century of soccer in St. Louis, Thursday and Friday at 8 pm and Saturday at 6 pm, September 14 – 16. The Game’s Afoot is written by Benjamin Hochman (St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist) and adapted from Shakespeare’s historic saga of Henry V. Join Hal, Falstaff, and St. Louis soccer characters past and present to save the city in an epic battle on and off the pitch. The Game’s Afoot takes place on 22nd Street between Olive and Locust, directly across from City Park.  For more information: stlshakes.org/plan-your-visit

The St. Louis Writers' Group presents a Week 2 of its annual One-Act Play Festival on Tuesday, September 12, at 6:30 pm. The plays are First Love Second Chance by David Hawley, The Dark Shadow by David Hawley, Measure Twice, Cut Once by Peg Flach, Ibid by Dennis Fisher, and Purgatory by Robert Schmidt . The readings take place upstairs at Big Daddy’s in Soulard. For more information, visit the St. Louis Writers' Group Facebook page.

Stages St. Louis presents the musical Million Dollar Quartet through October 8. “The music industry stars truly aligned by pure happenstance when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins came together for an impromptu 1956 recording session at Sun Records in Memphis. This legendary session became known as the MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET and is the setting for this wildly entertaining audience favorite. Filled with such classic tunes as “Blue Suede Shoes”, “I Walk the Line”, “Hound Dog”, and “Great Balls of Fire”, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is sure to have you dancing in the aisles!” Performances take place at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center in Kirkwood, MO. For more information: stagesstlouis.org

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis presents Suddenly Last Summer through September 17. “This fresh retelling of Suddenly Last Summer, first performed in 1957, focuses on the life and death of closeted gay poet Sebastian Venable, who is brutally murdered while on a trip to Italy with his cousin Catharine. After the recent tragedy, Mrs. Venable will stop at nothing to keep her son’s (and her own) secrets safe. Generally accepted as a modern-day horror story, this play has autobiographical roots from Williams’ own family life.” Performances take place at the Berges Theatre at COCA in University City. For more information: twstl.org.

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

To get your event listed here, send an email to chuck at kdhx.org Your event information should be in text format (i.e. not part of a graphic), but feel free to include publicity stills.

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.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of September 4, 2023

What's on St. Louis theater and cabaret stages this coming week. Please leave a comment if anything was wrong or got left out

Ben Nordstrom and
Steve Neale

The Blue Strawberry presents We're Not Cool with Ben Nordstrom and Steve Neale on Thursday and Saturday, September 7 and 9, at 7:30 pm. “Ben and Steve return to Blue Strawberry with their trademark mix of heart and humor sharing songs and stories of fatherhood, marriage and love, a life in the arts, and their meteoric rise into middle age. Songs from Billy Joel to Stephen Sondheim, Ben Rector to Marc Shaiman, Sara Bareilles to Jason Mraz, and more!” The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com.

The Blue Strawberry presents Cocktails With Me and Frank with David Guintoli and Carol Schmidt on Friday, September 8, at 6:30 pm. “David Giuntoli invites you to the Blue Strawberry Lounge, with its "feel of a 1940's supper club (Broadway World)" to celebrate the songs of Frank Sinatra. A cocktail advisory: David likes martinis. Carol Schmidt on piano, along with a special guest or two.” The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com.

Tim Schall

The Blue Strawberry presents Sunday Standard Time with Tim Schall and Carol Schmidt on Sunday September 10 from 6:30 to 9:00pm. “Join Tim Schall (vocals) and Carol Schmidt (piano) in the lounge for a casual, classy Sunday evening of jazz standards, a little sophisticated pop and a dash of classic Broadway. Tim is no stranger to the theater and concert stages of St. Louis, Chicago and New York's Lincoln Center. Carol has a rich history of entertaining St. Louis audiences as musician and singer. Together they will help you wind down your weekend with timeless music and a lot of irreverent dry humor.” The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com.

Kineteic Tapestry Physical Theatre Company presents Space: A Celestial Circus Show, September 8 through 16. “A cosmic feast for the senses including unicycles, aerial acts, comedy, juggling, and acrobatics set to original music by St Louis composer Abbie Steiling against an incredible backdrop of space images by Frederick Steiling.” Performances take place at the Florissant Performing Arts Center in Florissant, MO. For more information: www.kinetictapestry.org/space

The Lemp Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre and Jest Mysteries present Zombie Love through November 4. "Calling all Zombies! Tired of being judged for munching on the occasional brain? So what if you're not really "alive" anymore. You can still enjoy socializing with the living and enjoying a hilarious show together. Well, we've got the perfect show for you. Drama! Comedy! Looove! ...And, of course, Zombies! But some zombie has ignored rule number one in the “Zombieing for Dummies” handbook…No biting.  Nina Tina Deena May will never be the same…do you know who’s to blame? And, no, it was not Mike Tyson! " The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place in south city. For more information: www.lempmansion.com

The Midnight Company presents You Made Me Love You: A Tribute to Judy Garland starring Jennelle Gilreath Owens through September 14. The show is written by Joe Hanrahan with a band headed by John and Lea Gerdes.  Performances take place at The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. .For more information: midnightcompany.com

The Lehman Trilogy

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents The Lehman Trilogy, September 5 – 24. “Experience this epic tale of one family’s passionate pursuit of the American Dream and the piercing cost of greed, excess and unbridled power. In the late 1840s, three young brothers from Bavaria arrived in America with near-empty pockets but full of hope and ambition. Over the course of two centuries, their family business grew to unimaginable heights and ultimately collapsed into bankruptcy” Performances take place on the main stage of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University Campus. For more information: repstl.org

The St. Louis Writers' Group presents a Week 1 of its annual One-Act Play Festival on Tuesday, September 5, at 6:30 pm. The plays are Song of Salomea by Rita Winters, Homily by Guy Selbert, and Last Time, First Time and by Vanessa Roman. The readings take place upstairs at Big Daddy’s in Soulard. For more information, visit the St. Louis Writers' Group Facebook page.

Stages St. Louis presents the musical Million Dollar Quartet September 8 through October 8. “The music industry stars truly aligned by pure happenstance when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins came together for an impromptu 1956 recording session at Sun Records in Memphis. This legendary session became known as the MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET and is the setting for this wildly entertaining audience favorite. Filled with such classic tunes as “Blue Suede Shoes”, “I Walk the Line”, “Hound Dog”, and “Great Balls of Fire”, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is sure to have you dancing in the aisles!” Performances take place at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center in Kirkwood, MO. For more information: stagesstlouis.org

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis presents Suddenly Last Summer September 7 – 17. “This fresh retelling of Suddenly Last Summer, first performed in 1957, focuses on the life and death of closeted gay poet Sebastian Venable, who is brutally murdered while on a trip to Italy with his cousin Catharine. After the recent tragedy, Mrs. Venable will stop at nothing to keep her son’s (and her own) secrets safe. Generally accepted as a modern-day horror story, this play has autobiographical roots from Williams’ own family life.” Performances take place at the Berges Theatre at COCA in University City. For more information: twstl.org.

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

To get your event listed here, send an email to chuck at kdhx.org Your event information should be in text format (i.e. not part of a graphic), but feel free to include publicity stills.

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.