Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Show stoppers

Copyright: Ken Howard, 2011
Who: Opera Theatre of St. Louis
What: The Daughter of the Regiment
Where: The Loretto-Hilton Center
When: May 28 through June 26, 2011

Donizetti’s 1840 romantic opéra-comique romp The Daughter of the Regiment has always been popular with audiences and performers alike, but it’s unusual to see two first-rate professional productions within a year of each other. Union Avenue Opera gave us a delightful Daughter (in the original French) last July, and now we have an equally entertaining English version from Opera Theatre. For those of us who admire this cheerful bit of musical fluff, it has been a pleasant coincidence.

The circumstances that led Donizetti to write a French romantic comedy were, ironically, less than joyous. His wife Virginia died in 1837 and the broken-hearted composer fled Italy for Paris where, as historian Herbert Weinstock notes, “he began a new life”. Originally written as a quick replacement for a delayed opera by another composer, Daughter was initially greeted with indifference by the Parisian public and hostility by Berlioz (then music critic for the Journal des débats). Audiences quickly came around, however, and over the years the title role has become a favorite of high-flying sopranos from Jenny Lind to Joan Sutherland.

The titular daughter, Marie, is a war orphan adopted as a baby by the rather tender-hearted French soldiers of the 21st Regiment. Now a beauty with the voice of an angel and a colorful military vocabulary, she loves and is loved by Tonio, who saved her from toppling off an Alp. Their love is opposed initially by her guardian, Sergeant Sulpice, and the other soldiers (who mistake Tonio for a spy) and then by the snobbish Marquise de Birkenfeld, who is determined to marry Marie off to the son of the pompous Duchess of Crackentorp and who also, in a classic comic opera revelation, turns out to be Marie’s long-lost mother. All ends happily, of course, with plenty of rousing ensembles and solo vocal fireworks along the way.

Although a former Gerdine Young Artist and therefore still in the early stages of her career, soprano Ashley Emerson, as Marie, has an understanding of comic acting (both physical and vocal) and a light, nimble voice that would do credit to a more experienced singer. Petite and energetic, her Marie is perhaps the very embodiment of the adjective “feisty”. She is sometimes overpowered by her male co-stars, but her performance is so completely right that I, at least, am willing to cut her a lot of slack in the volume department. Besides, coloratura and comedy are difficult enough individually; in combination they can be a major challenge.

As Tonio, tenor René Barbera is not, perhaps, the strongest actor on the stage, but there’s no doubt that he’s one of the strongest singers. His voice is clear, powerful, and, as far as I can tell, pretty much seamless throughout the wide range called for in the role. Besides, this is a part that is mostly about singing beautifully and accurately hitting those high Cs in the bravura air “Pour mon âme” – a song reckoned to be one of the most difficult in the repertoire. Mr. Barbera’s performance on opening night brought on a spontaneous ovation and cries of “bravo” that were well deserved.

Baritone Dale Travis completes the strong leading trio in the buffo role of Sulpice. A big actor with an equally large voice, his mere presence on the stage with the diminutive Ms. Emerson can’t help but provoke a smile in the best “Mutt and Jeff” tradition, and his gruff-but-lovable performance is just perfect.

Mezzo Dorothy Byrne is the self-consciously upper-crust Marquise. It’s normally a contralto role and didn’t seem to be the best fit for her voice, but she certainly made the most of her one and only solo. As the Marquise’s snooty servant Hortensius, bass-baritone Jason Eck is appropriately fussy and the two work well together on stage.

Given that director Seán Curran is also a choreographer, you might expect more than the usual amount of scripted movement and dance, and you’d be right. There is even a small corps de ballet which is so neatly integrated with the singing cast that the overall effect is more like a Broadway musical in which everyone sings and dances to some degree. The women of the corps have a particularly funny bit with Ms. Emerson at the opening of the second act as Marie tries (and hilariously fails) to execute classic choreography (think Swan Lake or Les Sylphides with Carol Burnett’s Princess Winifred thrown in).

In his director’s notes, in fact, Mr. Curran acknowledges that his chief source of inspiration for this production is Broadway stage – especially “tomboy” shows such as Annie Get Your Gun, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and Once Upon a Mattress. There is, as a result, a fair amount of knockabout farce to supplement all the dancing. Personally, I found much of it a bit too broad – with comedy, less is usually more, in my view – but the music and libretto easily support it and the opening night audience seemed to enjoy it immensely.

This production of Daughter of the Regiment incorporates another element of the Broadway stage, at least as it existed in the early 20th century: the show-stopping star turn. The role of the Duchess of Crackentorp is normally a spoken part, which has often, in recent years, been taken by retired or semi-retired singers with high name recognition. Casting noted soprano Sylvia McNair in the role falls right in with that tradition. Giving her an interpolated song and accompanying it with a fair amount of extra gag lines, however, is straight out of 1920s Broadway.

The added song – “A Word On My Ear” by the great British comic songwriters Flanders and Swann – is a hilarious send-up of tin-eared (but LOUD) singers in the Jonathan and Darlene Edwards vein. As with much of the rest of the evening’s comic business, I found it a bit overplayed, but the audience loved it and seemed perfectly content to let the entire show come to a halt while Ms. McNair did her bit.

Down in the pit, St. Louis native John McDaniel – a gent with an impressive Broadway and cabaret resume of his own – leads a polished performance of the score, played with the usual professionalism by musicians from the St. Louis Symphony. Chorus Master R. Robert Ainsley and English Diction Specialist Erie Mills have done their usual fine job of keeping everything crisp and comprehensible.

Set and costume designer James Schuette has given the whole production a bright, comic book look, complete with a whimsical fleur-de-lis–inspired false proscenium and imitation footlights in the shape of drums. Christopher Akerlind’s lighting nicely compliments it all and does a find job of signaling the applause points.

This is, in short, a solid production of a lively and tuneful score by one of the masters of bel canto. If you love comic opera and like your humor broad, you can hardly go wrong with this Daughter of the Regiment. It is, as they say, “family friendly”, and as an introduction to opera for those who might otherwise find the genre intimidating it’s hard to beat.

Performances of Daughter of the Regiment continue at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus through June 26th. For more information, visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 30, 2011

Updated Saturday, June 4

[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 ArtsZipper site.

I'm now adding my own purely personal comments to events about which I think I have anything worthwhile to say. Because that's what bloggers do.  If I have left your show out, please leave a comment with all the details.

Marble Stage Theatre presents 30 in 60, an evening of 30 shows in 60 minutes, with the audience choosing the order in which they are performed. Some shows may not be appropriate for all ages. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 2 PM, June 2 through 5 at Marble Stage Theater, 426 Crestwood Mall Art Space. For more information, call 314-437-0846 or visit www.marblestage.org.

Bare: A Pop Opera
New Line Theatre presents the St. Louis premiere of the rock musical Bare: A Pop Opera Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, June 2 through 25. Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. For more information, call 314-534-1111.

The Pub Theater Company presents Bye Bye Liver: The St. Louis Drinking Play, a comedic romp through the joys and pitfalls of The Gateway to the West's favorite pastime. Performances take place on “select Saturdays” at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street, and on the first and third Friday of each month at The Fox Hole at The Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester in The Grove. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185 or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Stages St. Louis presents the Broadway musical A Chorus Line June 3 through July 3. 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 Daughter of the
Regiment
Copyright: Ken Howard, 2011
Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Donizetti's comedy The Daughter Of The Regiment in rotating repertory with three other operas May 28 through June 26. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Don Giovanni
Copyright: Ken Howard, 2011
Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Mozart's Don Giovanni in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 25. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Faultlines
Gitana Productions presents the drama Faultlines by St. Louis author Lee Patton Chiles Fridays and Saturdays 8:00 PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM through June 5. Performances take place at Cardinal Rigali Center, 20 Archbishop May Drive. For more information, visit gitana-inc.org or call 314-721-6556. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

New Jewish Theatre presents Mark Harelik's drama The Immigrant June 1 through 19. Performances take place at the Marvin and Harlene Wool Studio Theatre at the JCCA, 2 Millstone Campus Drive. For more information, call 314-442-3283 or visit www.newjewishtheatre.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

St. Louis Actors' Studio presents the world premiere of Neil Labute's Just Desserts, an evening of four one-acts plays and two monologues created in collaboration with the playwright and St. Louis Actors' Studio. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, June 3 through 19, at The Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. For more information, visit stlas.org or call 1-800-982-2787.

ACT Inc. presents Norman Krasna's romantic comedy Kind Sir Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, June 3 through 5 and 17 through 19. Performances take place at the Fontbonne Fine Arts Theatre and the campus at 6800 Wydown. For more information, call 314-725-9108 or visit actinc.biz.

The Improv Trick hosts weekly Long Form Improv performances every Tuesday at 7:30 PM at Lemmons Restaurant, 5800 Gravois. Long form improv features 15 to 20 minute sketches based entirely on audience suggestions, with audience participation strongly encouraged. For more information, visit theimprovtrick.com.

Mass Appeal
Dramatic License Productions presents the drama Mass Appeal Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM through June 12. For more information, call 636-220-7012 or visit dramaticlicenseproductions.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Black Rep presents The Montford Point Marine through June 26. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, call 314-534-3810 or visit theblackrep.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Debussy's drama Pelléas and Mélisande in rotating repertory with three other operas June 5 through 24. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

The Taming on the Shrew
Photo by David Levy
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents The Taming Of The Shrew nightly except for Tuesdays through June 19. Performances take place in Shakespeare Glen next to the Art Museum in Forest Park. Curtain time is 8 PM, with the Green Show starting at 6:30 PM. For more information, visit shakespearefestivalstlouis.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Circus Flora
Circus Flora presents its 25th anniversary production Vagabond Adventures June 2-26. The show “is set on the Floating Palace, an actual circus venue that traveled up and down the Mississippi River before the Civil War.” Shows take place under the air-conditioned big top in Grand Center, next to Powell Hall. For more information, visit circusflora.org or call 314-289-4040.  Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Department of Theater and Dance presents Xfest: 4 Days of Experimental Theater with guest artists Theater 310b, Red Metal Mailbox, and Flying Carpet Theatre. Performances take place June 1 through 4 on the campus in Edwardsville, IL. For more information, call 618-650-2774.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Persecution and Assassination

Andrew Gangestad as the Commendatore
and Elliot Madore as Don Giovanni
Copyright: Ken Howard, 2011
Who: Opera Theatre of St. Louis
What: Don Giovanni
Where: Loretto-Hilton Center
When: May 21 through June 25, 2011

Opera Theatre’s Don Giovanni is oddly schizoid. Conductor Jane Glover and the singers are doing solid Mozart/Da Ponte but stage directors James Robinson and Michael Shell appear to be doing Marat/Sade, repeatedly undercutting the music and text with contradictory or just plain distracting stage business. You know it's going to be a bumpy night when the opera opens with Leporello pretending to urinate on a wall.

This is hardly a problem unique to Opera Theatre. I opened the Sunday New York Times the day after OTSL’s opening night to find an article by Charles Isherwood critiquing Robert Lepage’s Ring cycle at the Met in ways that closely mirrored my thoughts on what I had seen and heard the night before. When he writes that “the first responsibility of the director should be serving the musical drama,” and describes a production that “seems to be perpetually in competition for our attention with the opera itself,” he could just as easily be commenting on Mozart in St. Louis as on Wagner in New York.

The central problem with this Don Giovanni can, I think, be found in the brief directors’ note in the program. They characters who are seduced and/or abused by the Don “are not happy people to begin with.” They’re “self-deceiving, insomniac, and conflicted, and none of them seems to know how to escape from a tortured orbit around Giovanni.” Their Don may be a sociopath but instead of leaving a trail of innocent victims he’s dogged by broken enablers.

Nor is he the heedless libertine the libretto suggests. This Don Giovanni is “aware of his own vulnerability, his fleeting youth. Fear has set in.” For those who don’t read program notes, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Shell underline the point by having elderly ghosts confront Giovanni throughout the opera. In the end it’s the ghostly geezers who drag him to Hell, not the libretto’s chorus of demons.

The production, in short, injects a note of contemporary psychobabble that is at odds with both the music and libretto and serves neither of them well.

Still, to quote Mr. Isherwood again, a “pre-eminent truth about opera-going is that the quality of the music-making will always remain the matter of paramount importance…a great night at the opera relies infinitely more on the singers and the players in the pit than on any conceptual innovations from the production’s director.” The fine work by Ms. Glover, the St. Louis Symphony musicians, and the strong singers on stage is, ultimately, what rescues this production from the doldrums to which the stage direction seems determined to consign it. I’d like to think they were the motivation for the standing ovation the show received on opening night. They certainly deserved it.

Baritone Elliot Madore is a compelling and powerful Don Giovanni. He has clearly been directed to chew the scenery – almost literally so, in the final banquet scene – but he does it well. Baritone Levi Hernandez makes an impressive OTSL debut as the Don’s wily and put-upon servant Leporello, and his crystal-clear diction is a real plus in the patter songs.

As Don Ottavio, David Portillo was a great favorite of the opening night crowd, and with good reason. His “Il mio tesoro” allowed him to show off a fine, clear tenor to great advantage. Soprano Maria Kanyova, who gave us top-notch performances in Marriage of Figaro last year and Nixon in China back in 2004, is in fine form again as the grieving Donna Anna. It’s a beautifully sung performance – and even better if you close your eyes and ignore the ludicrous costumes and unflattering hairstyle with which she has been saddled.

Mezzo Kathryn Leemhuis, whom I described as a “lively and provocative Flora” in 2007’s La Traviata, brings a fine sense of comedy and vitality to the role of the peasant Zerlina. Bass Bradley Smoak, who was such a hit as the comically inebriated Antonio in last season’s Marriage of Figaro, once again demonstrates his humor chops as Zerlina’s befuddled (and, as it happens, intoxicated) bridegroom Masetto.

As the chronically indecisive Donna Elivra, soprano Kishani Jayasinghe falls a bit short of the vocal power and clarity of her fellow cast members, but her acting is convincing and in the end she won me over. Bass Andrew Gangestad cuts an imposing figure as the Commendatore, both in life and death.

Chistopher Akerlind is credited as the lighting designer but, as my fellow critic Gerry Kowarsky noted during intermission, he might more accurately be described as the “darkness designer”, given how dim the stage is. I understand that this is part of The Concept, but it does make it difficult to see what the actors are doing often enough to be distracting.

Equally distracting are Bruno Schwengel’s sets and costumes. The former feature fake three-dimensional scenes on painted flats with plenty of forced perspective – presumably to underscore the falseness of the Don’s world. The latter seem to place the action of the opera in both the 18th and 21st centuries simultaneously, which only further muddles the character relationships. Still, it’s all executed with great skill. It’s the overall concept that’s the problem.

That’s not to say that all of Mr. Robinson and Mr. Shell’s ideas were bad. Using on-stage musicians for the first act “battle of the bands” sequence is a nice touch, for example, and the Don’s final descent into Hell was appropriately dramatic. Playing some scenes “in one” in front of midnight blue curtain to cover lengthy scene changes was also a good choice – or would have been if those changes hadn’t been so protracted and so noisy.

I won’t say this Don Giovanni isn’t worth seeing because it’s certainly worth hearing, and if you love this opera you’ll find considerable musical pleasure in this production. I just wish directors would have a bit more faith in their material and their audiences. Honestly, we don’t need to be distracted by non-stop stage business. We understand that a Mozart opera has different ground rules than a Rogers and Hammerstein musical. Just trust us, OK?

Opera Theatre’s Don Giovanni continues at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus through June 25th. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 23, 2011

[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 ArtsZipper site.

I'm now adding my own purely personal comments to events about which I think I have anything worthwhile to say. Because that's what bloggers do.  If I have left your show out, please leave a comment with all the details.

The Alpha Players of Florissant present Arsenic and Old Lace May 20 through 29 at The Florissant Civic Center Theater, Parker Rd. at Waterford Dr. in Florissant, MO. For more information, visit alphaplayers.org or call 314-921-5678.

The Pub Theater Company presents Bye Bye Liver: The St. Louis Drinking Play, a comedic romp through the joys and pitfalls of The Gateway to the West's favorite pastime. Performances take place on “select Saturdays” at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street, and on the first and third Friday of each month at The Fox Hole at The Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester in The Grove. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185 or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Marble Stage Theatre presents The Curious Case of Chicken Little Saturdays at noon through May 28, at Marble Stage Theater, 426 Crestwood Mall Art Space. For more information, call 314-437-0846 or visit www.marblestage.org.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Donizetti's comedy The Daughter Of The Regiment in rotating repertory with three other operas May 28 through June 26. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Don Giovanni
Copyright: Ken Howard, 2011
Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Mozart's Don Giovanni in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 25. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Faultlines
Gitana Productions presents the drama Faultlines by St. Louis author Lee Patton Chiles Fridays and Saturdays 8:00 PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM through June 5. Performances take place at Cardinal Rigali Center, 20 Archbishop May Drive. For more information, visit gitana-inc.org or call 314-721-6556.

The Fox Theatre presents the musical Jersey Boys through May 29. The Fox is at 527 North Grand. For more information, call 314-534-1111 or visit fabulousfox.com Read the 88.1 KDHX review!.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents John Adams: An American Musical Master, featuring Amy Kaiser, Director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, along with OTSL Artistic Director James Robinson, and conductor Michael Christie from the OTSL production of The Death of Klinghoffer. It's part of their Spotlight on Opera, a series of four insightful dialogues exploring the ideas in each season's opera, and it takes place on Monday, May 16, at 7:30 PM at the Ethical Society, 9001 Clayton Road. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Mass Appeal
Dramatic License Productions presents the drama Mass Appeal Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, May 26 through June 12. For more information, call 636-220-7012 or visit dramaticlicenseproductions.org.

The Black Rep presents The Montford Point Marine, May 25 through June 26. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, call 314-534-3810 or visit theblackrep.org.

The Black Rep presents a discussion with the playwright, designers and cast of The Montford Point Marine as part of the Subway Noonday Series on Thursday, May 26, from noon to 2 PM at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. The program includes lunch courtesy of the Subway in University City. For more information, call 314-534-3810.

The Unity Theatre Ensemble presents the musical Motown Revue Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 3 PM through May 29. Performances take place at the Ivory Theater, 7620 Michigan. For more information, call (314) 631-8330.

The Tin Ceiling presents Seven/24 X, their tenth annual evening of seven new plays written, rehearsed and performed within 24 hours, on Saturday, May 28, at 8 PM. The performance takes place at The Chapel, 6238 Alexander Drive. For more information, call 314-723-0873.

The NonProphet Theater Company presents Sketch Comedy Sunday, featuring The Militant Propaganda Bingo Machine, Sunday, May 29, at 8 PM at Lemmons Restaurant, 5800 Gravois. For more information, visit npcto.org.

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents The Taming Of The Shrew nightly except for Tuesdays, May 25 through June 19. Performances take place in Shakespeare Glen next to the Art Museum in Forest Park. Curtain time is 8 PM, with the Green Show starting at 6:30 PM. For more information, visit shakespearefestivalstlouis.org.

St. Louis City Opera presents Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone on Sunday, May 29, at 5 PM. The performance takes place at he Chapel: Sanctuary for the Arts, 6238 Alexander Drive. “In a world where technology facilitates communication and thus becomes essential to life, Menotti explores what happens when our ability to build relationships with those who are physically far away interferes with our ability to build relationships with those standing in front of us.” For more information, call 530.604.1431 or email stlcityopera at gmail.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents "A Work that Fires the Heart:" Exploring Darkness and Light in The Death of Klinghoffer, a free interfaith symposium inspired by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis's production of the John Adams opera, on Thursday, May 26, at 7:00 PM. Led by Gerald Early, Director of the Center for Humanities at Washington University, the panelists include interfaith leaders Batya Abramson-Goldstein, Dr. David Greenhaw, and Dr. Ghazala Hayat, as well as Opera Theatre General Director Timothy O'Leary. The event takes place at the Ethical Society, 9001 Clayton Road. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Monday, May 16, 2011

They're the Top

For those of us of a certain age, the Columbia Masterworks brand name will always hold a certain fascination. Back when recorded music was available only on black plastic with a hole in the middle, the Columbia Masterworks label was the sign of quality for the collector of theatre music. The label offered original cast albums not only of current shows but also, as the label matured, Broadway classics like Porgy and Bess and The Merry Widow recorded in the studio with all-star casts.

The many upheavals in the music business put some strains on the Masterworks line. In the conversion from analog to digital, many great recording winked out of existence, maintaining a precarious existence only on tapes dubbed from the original LPs. Some of us wondered whether or not the vast memory banks of the Masterworks collection might suffer a permanent lobotomy and be lost forever.

Ironically, the same digital revolution that doomed so many of those great recordings has, in its latest turning, led to their revival. The popularity of digital downloads – a format that the big music corporations fought tooth and nail before finally succumbing to the inevitable and embracing it – has made it possible for material with slim profit margins to emerge (blinking, metaphorically, at the light) from the No Commercial Potential dungeon.

I’ve finally found a few moments to take a dip in the torrent of reissues that Sony (the current owner of the old Columbia catalog, among others) is now releasing under the Masterworks Broadway label, and I’m happy to say the results are largely delightful. I’ll be commenting on them in a series of posts here. I’m going to start, appropriately, with the release that takes us back to the earliest days of recorded sound: Originals - Musical Comedy 1909-1935.

I’m not sure what the target demographic might be for this collection, but whatever it is, I’m right in the middle of it. My vaudeville cabaret show, Just a Song at Twilight, includes some of the tunes featured in this collection and these gems from early years of the last century have been an integral part of my musical DNA since childhood. Hearing them now is rather like encountering and old friend after a long absence.

Originally released in 1968 on RCA, Originals offers a Who’s Who of the vaudeville and early Broadway era: Blanche Ring (“Rings on My Fingers”, introduced in 1909 in The Yankee Girl), Al Jolson (“That Haunting Melody” a little oddity from Vera Violetta), Fanny Brice (her hit “Second Hand Rose” from 1921), Eddie Cantor (“Hungry Women” from Whoopee) and the redoubtable Sophie Tucker (her signature tune “Some of These Days”), among others. The great torch singer Helen Morgan is represented by that weepy classic “Why Was I Born? (from Sweet Adeline) and Eleanor Powell by the cheerful “What a Wonderful World” (not to be confused with the much later Sam Cooke hit) from At Home Abroad.

Nora Bayes is here as well, but for a change she’s playing second banana to co-star Jack Norworth (the second of her five husbands) in “Turn Off Your Light, Mr. Moon-Man” (1911, from Little Miss Fix-It), a kind of response to their first hit “Shine On Harvest Moon” from 1908.

It’s all wonderful, but for me the greatest discoveries were American and British vaudeville star Elsie Janis’s “Fo' De Lawd's Sake, Play a Waltz” (from The Slim Princess) and an odd medley of the title number and “The Rangers' Song” from Rio Rita sung in florid period style by J. Harold Murray.

The Janis number is an amusing catalog song in which she rattles off all the contemporary hits that compel her to get up and dance and from which she needs a waltz for a bit of relief. If you can correctly identify all of them, you are a fellow dyed-in-the-wool vintage Broadway fan – which means you’re likely to be equally pleased by the glimpse at a bygone era offered by the Rio Rita medley. Like most of the shows represented in this collection, Rio Rita (which made stars of the comedy team of Wheeler and Woolsey) has vanished from the stage (although the 1929 film version might still be available out there somewhere). For the fan of musical theatre archeology, hearing selections from them in loving digital restorations is the closest you can get to time travel.

Originals - Musical Comedy 1909-1935 was released in January 2011 as a digital download from iTunes and other major music providers and as an Arkivmusic.com disc-on-demand with cover art. Here’s a complete track list, along with links to more information about each one. Jump into the Wayback Machine and check it out.

I've Got Rings On My Fingers (from 'The Midnight Sons') Blanche Ring
Turn Off Your Light, Mr. Moon-Man (from 'Little Miss Fix-It') Jack Norworth, Nora Bayes
That Haunting Melody (from 'Vera Violetta') Al Jolson
Fo' De Lawd's Sake, Play a Waltz (from 'The Slim Princess') Elsie Janis
Alice Blue Gown (from 'Irene') Edith Day
Second Hand Rose (from Ziegfeld Follies of 1921') Fanny Brice
Mr. Gallagher And Mr. Shean (from Ziegfeld Follies of 1922') Al Shean, Ed Gallagher
Manda (from 'Chocolate Dandies') Noble Sissle
Like He Loves Me (from 'Oh, Please!') Beatrice Lillie
Rio Rita and The Rangers' Song (from 'Rio Rita') J. Harold Murray
Sometimes I'm Happy (from 'Hit the Deck') Louise Groody, Charles King
Hungry Women (from 'Whoopee') Eddie Cantor
Why Was I Born? (from 'Sweet Adeline') Helen Morgan
You're The Top (from 'Anything Goes') Cole Porter
You And The Night And The Music (from 'Revenge With Music') Libby Holman
What A Wonderful World (from 'At Home Abroad') Eleanor Powell

Sunday, May 15, 2011

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 16, 2011

Updated Friday, May 20, 2011

[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 ArtsZipper site.

I'm now adding my own purely personal comments to events about which I think I have anything worthwhile to say. Because that's what bloggers do.  If I have left your show out, please leave a comment with all the details.

KTK Productions presents the musical KTK Productions presents the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM through May 22. Performances take place at Southampton Presbyterian Church, 4716 Macklind. For more information, visit kurtainkall.org or call 314-351-8984. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Abominable Dr. Phibes
- in 3-D!
The St. Louis Shakespeare Company's Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre presents The Abominable Dr. Phibes . . . In 3-D! Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM through May 21 at the Regional Arts Commission in University City. For more information, visit stlshakespeare.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Alpha Players of Florissant present Arsenic and Old Lace May 20 through 29 at The Florissant Civic Center Theater, Parker Rd. at Waterford Dr. in Florissant, MO. For more information, visit alphaplayers.org or call 314-921-5678.

The Pub Theater Company presents Bye Bye Liver: The St. Louis Drinking Play, a comedic romp through the joys and pitfalls of The Gateway to the West's favorite pastime. Performances take place on “select Saturdays” at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street, and on the first and third Friday of each month at The Fox Hole at The Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester in The Grove. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185 or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Tim Schall
Tim Schall presents Songbook Sundays: Classic Cole on Sunday, May 22, at 7 PM. Pianist and music director Joe Dreyer joins Tim for an evening celebrating of the sass and sophistication of the songs of Cole Porter. The performance takes place at the Kranzberg Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. Fore more information, visit brownpapertickets.com/158916

Marble Stage Theatre presents The Curious Case of Chicken Little Saturdays at noon through May 28, at Marble Stage Theater, 426 Crestwood Mall Art Space. For more information, call 314-437-0846 or visit www.marblestage.org.

Alton Little Theater presents the musical comedy murder mystery Curtains May 13 through 22 at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. For more information, call 618-462-6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

Dark Matters
Stray Dog Theatre presents Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's thriller Dark Matters Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through May 21. There will be a matinee on the closing Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, call 314-865-1995. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Act II Community Theatre presents the thriller Dial “M” for Murder Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, through May 22. Performances take place at The St. Peters Community and Arts Center, 1035 St. Peters-Howell Road in St. Peters, MO. For more information, call 636-219-0150 or email info at act2theater.com.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Mozart's Don Giovanni in rotating repertory with three other operas May 21 through June 25. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Faultlines
Gitana Productions presents the drama Faultlines by St. Louis author Lee Patton Chiles Fridays and Saturdays 8:00 PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM May 20 through June 5. Performances take place at Cardinal Rigali Center, 20 Archbishop May Drive. For more information, visit gitana-inc.org or call 314-721-6556.

The Fox Theatre presents the musical Jersey Boys through May 29. The Fox is at 527 North Grand. For more information, call 314-534-1111 or visit fabulousfox.com Read the 88.1 KDHX review!.

The Lady With All the Answers
Max and Louie Productions presents David Rambo's The Lady With All The Answers, based on the life and letters of advice columnist Ann Landers through May 22. Performances take place at COCA, 524 Trinity in University City. For more information, visit maxandlouie.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Unity Theatre Ensemble presents the musical Motown Revue Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 3 PM, May 19 through 29. Performances take place at the Ivory Theater, 7620 Michigan. For more information, call (314) 631-8330.

RS Theatrics, an offshoot of Soundstage Productions , presents a fully staged reading of Andrew Hinderaker's new play Suicide, Incorporated Fridays through Sundays at 8 PM, through May 22, in their art space at 214 Crestwood Court. For more information email RSTheatrics at yahoo.com or call 314-968-8070. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Principia College presents the first collegiate performance of A Tale of Two Cities: The Musical on Thursday and Friday at 7:30 PM and Saturday at 2 and 7:30 PM, May 19 - 21. “A Tale of Two Cities is based on Charles Dickens' masterpiece and transports the audience to the grim and glorious world of 18th century Europe. It's a tale of loyalty, treachery, forgiveness and ultimate sacrifice during the bloody French Revolution.” For more information, visit www.principia.edu/tickets.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The Write Wing

Attention St. Louis playwrights!  The St. Louis Writers' Group has got a deal for you.  Here's the press release I got from them yesterday.  For those of you not familiar with the venue, Big Daddy's is a bar and grill down in my neighborhood.  The readings are held in their upstairs bar which is cozy and less noisy than the downstairs - which, in any case, is not that crowded on Mondays as the frat kids from St. Louis University are probably still sobering up from the weekend.
=========================================
PRESS RELEASE
May/10/2011
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Mario Farwell
(314) 865-1296
farwemar@aol.com
St.Louis Writers' Group

 
St. Louis Writers' Group is seeking short one-act plays
ten to twenty minutes in length for our June 6 short play festival.  Writers may submit plays via email farwemar at aol.com.  The plays should be in a MS Word or Adobe Acrobat  format.  The event will take place...

TIME:   Monday, June 6, at 6:30pm

PLACE:  Big Daddy's, 1000 Sidney, St. Louis, MO.  Big Daddy's is located at the corner of 10th Street and Sidney in Soulard.  You can find a map of the location on our website

The St. Louis Writers' Group is dedicated to the development of area playwrights, screenwriters and writers of musical theater through reading, discussions and workshops.  For more information about this reading or organization or for information about submitting a work for a reading, checkout our web site, www.stlwritersgroup.com, Phone  314-865-1296, or send an e-mail to farwemar at aol.com
 

Sunday, May 08, 2011

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 9, 2011

Updated Friday, May 13, 2011

[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 ArtsZipper site.

I'm now adding my own purely personal comments to events about which I think I have anything worthwhile to say. Because that's what bloggers do.  If I have left your show out, please leave a comment with all the details.

KTK Productions presents the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, May 13 through 22. Performances take place at Southampton Presbyterian Church, 4716 Macklind. For more information, visit kurtainkall.org or call 314-351-8984.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes
- in 3-D!
The St. Louis Shakespeare Company's Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre presents The Abominable Dr. Phibes . . . In 3-D! Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, May 13 through 21, at the Regional Arts Commission in University City. For more information, visit stlshakespeare.org.

The Pub Theater Company presents Bye Bye Liver: The St. Louis Drinking Play, a comedic romp through the joys and pitfalls of The Gateway to the West's favorite pastime. Performances take place on “select Saturdays” at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street, and on the first and third Friday of each month at The Fox Hole at The Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester in The Grove. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185 or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Carmen and the Bull
Union Avenue Opera presents the children's opera Carmen and the Bull on Saturday, May 14, at 2 PM. “Using the music from the opera Carmen, and loosely based on the beloved story Ferdinand the Bull, Union Avenue Opera's education team delights young and old audiences alike with a new depiction of a timeless theme: Be True To Yourself.” The performance takes place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. For more information, call 314-361-2881.

The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents the comedy Crimes of the Heart through May 15. Performances take place in the Guild theatre at Newport and Summit in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, visit theaterguildwg.org or call 314-962-0876.

Marble Stage Theatre presents The Curious Case of Chicken Little Saturdays at noon through May 28, at Marble Stage Theater, 426 Crestwood Mall Art Space. For more information, call 314-437-0846 or visit www.marblestage.org.

Alton Little Theater presents the musical comedy murder mystery Curtains May 13 through 22 at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. For more information, call 618-462-6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

Dark Matters
Stray Dog Theatre presents Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's thriller Dark Matters Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through May 21. There will be a matinee on the closing Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, call 314-865-1995.

Act II Community Theatre presents the thriller Dial “M” for Murder Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, May 13 through 22. Performances take place at The St. Peters Community and Arts Center, 1035 St. Peters-Howell Road in St. Peters, MO. For more information, call 636-219-0150 or email info at act2theater.com.

Christy Simmons
Topper Productions presents Christy Simmons in her cabaret show He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not at 8 PM on Friday, May 13, in the intimate Riverside Gallery at 13 W. Moody Avenue in Webster Groves (next to Llwellen's Pub). Joining Christy will be music director and pianist Joe Dreyer, Dave Troncoso (bass) and Clancy Newell (drums). For more information, visit topperproductionsllc.com or call (314) 965-2526.  I've shared the cabaret stage with Christy in the past and can attest to the fact that she'll knock your socks (and possibly other items) off.

HotCity Theatre presents Intelligent Life, “a quirky comedy that deals seriously with issues of faith”, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 3 and 8 PM and Sundays at 7 PM, through May 15. Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-289-4060 or visit hotcitytheatre.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!



The Fox Theatre presents the musical Jersey Boys May 11 through 29. The Fox is at 527 North Grand. For more information, call 314-534-1111 or visit fabulousfox.com.

The Lady With All the Answers
Max and Louie Productions presents David Rambo's The Lady With All The Answers, based on the life and letters of advice columnist Ann Landers, May 12 through 22. Performances take place at COCA, 524 Trinity in University City. For more information, visit maxandlouie.com.

Black Cat Theatre's Piwacket Theatre for Children presents the Piwacket Puppet Jamboree Thursday, May 12, at 10:30 AM. Performances take place at Black Cat Theatre, 2810 Sutton in Maplewood. For more information, call (314) 781-8300 or visit www.blackcattheatre.org.

RS Theatrics, an offshoot of Soundstage Productions , presents a fully staged reading of Andrew Hinderaker's new play Suicide, Incorporated Fridays through Sundays at 8 PM, May 13 through 22, in their art space at 214 Crestwood Court. For more information email RSTheatrics at yahoo.com or call 314-968-8070.

Friday, May 06, 2011

Rites of Spring

Who: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Chorus, and Children’s Chorus
What: Christopher Rouse’s Symphony No. 3 and Orff’s Carmina Burana
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis
When: May 5 through 8, 2011

If you harbor any lingering doubts as to the St. Louis Symphony’s status as a top-drawer orchestra, you should hie yourself to Powell Hall this weekend. The sheer virtuosity on display in every minute of the world premiere performance of Christopher Rouse’s manic Symphony No. 3 – accurately described as a “wild ride” in David Robertson’s brief introduction – will surely win you over, even if the piece itself does not. The Carmina Burana that followed it was pretty hot stuff as well.

Inspired by (and strongly resembling, right down to some of the orchestration) Prokofiev’s machine-age Symphony No. 2 (which was itself inspired by Beethoven’s final piano sonata), Rouse’s Third is a fiercely challenging work that demands remarkable stamina and skill from every member of the orchestra. In that last respect it reminded me as much of Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra as it did of the Prokofiev work. An aggressive mix of wild cacophony and surprising lyricism, the piece was clearly not received with enthusiasm by everyone, but my wife and I both found it bracing. Tempi in places were insanely fast, reminiscent of some of Frank Zappa’s more cheerfully deranged efforts. I was impressed that everyone could simply keep together, much less play with such precision.

Mr. Robertson said that he hoped the audience would enjoy hearing the symphony as much as the orchestra enjoyed playing it. Many of us clearly did, judging by the standing ovation that the performance received.

It was back to the familiar after intermission with what British critic Richard Osborne once described as “the best known new composition to emerge from Nazi Germany”, Carl Orff’s 1936 Carmina Burana. The first (and least sexually explicit) of Orff’s Trionfi trilogy of choral theatre works, the composition derives its title from an 1847 collection of secular poetry by anonymous authors from the 12th and 13th centuries that turned up in 1803 in the Benedictine monastery in Beuren, Germany. As befits their “vulgar” status, the poems celebrate not the theoretical joys of heaven but rather the practical ones of earth: spring, sex, food, sex, drink, gambling, and sex. They also recognize something that we moderns have lost track of, to our detriment: the heavy influence of blind chance on our lives. The setting of “Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi” (“Fortune, Empress of the World”), which opens and closes the work, reminds us that the wheel of fortune is always turning and that none of us should get too cocky, as the universe has a tendency to dope-slap the excessively smug.

Orff envisioned this material as the basis for a choral cantata with some mimed action and “magic tableaux”, and while it’s usually performed strictly as a concert piece these days (we haven’t had a staged performance here in over a decade), the composer’s theatrical intentions are evident in every note. Mr. Robertson’s reading honored those intentions without ever sacrificing musical beauty, and included a few wonderfully dramatic touches. It lacked the marked contrasts of both tempo and dynamics that characterized Peter Oundjian’s fine performance in 2008 or David Amado’s somewhat controversial one in 2003, but I found myself smitten nevertheless. One hopes New Yorkers will feel the same way when Mr. Robertson conducts what’s being billed as “a definitive performance” of the work with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and a “mass choir of New York City students” as part of the Carmina Burana Project in February of 2012.

The balance between orchestra and chorus was not always ideal, at least from where we sat in the dress circle, especially when the former was playing at full volume. It’s a problem I’ve noticed before at Powell, and may simply be an unavoidable by-product of the hall’s acoustics. Performances, in any case, were beyond reproach. There was also fine work from the Children’s Chorus, brought in from the wings to stand in front of the stage for their brief appearance in the “Court of Love” section.

Cyndia Sieden
All three vocal soloists had plenty of legit opera credentials, so it’s no surprise that they acted their various roles as effectively as they sang them. Baritone David Adam Moore has the most to do, portraying everything from a pining lover (“Dies, nox et omnia” – a killer aria that switches rapidly between falsetto and chest voice) to tormented libertine (“Estuans interius”). His Abbot of “Cucaniensis” (which I’ve seen translated as Cuckoominster or Cockaigne, among other things) was spot on as well. Soprano Cyndia Sieden was utterly charming in “Stetit puella”, and she nailed the daunting glissando that opens “Dulcissime” with ease and delicacy.

Richard Troxell
The tenor has only one song – the chilling “Olim lacus coleuram”, in which a swan laments being roasted for dinner – but Richard Troxell made the most of it, singing from memory and with great dramatic effect. The number lies absurdly high, forcing the singer almost entirely into falsetto, but Mr. Troxell sounded completely comfortable. Mr. Robertson had him enter through the orchestra during the orchestral introduction – one of those nice dramatic touches referred to above.

This concluding concert of the 2010–2011 season will be presented again Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, May 7 and 8. It’s a splendid night of vivid, colorful, music making and a fine way to welcome the season. As they sing in the “Primo Vere” (“Early Spring”) section of Carmina Burana:

Rerum tanta novitas in solemni vere
et veris auctoritas iubet nos guadere

“Nature's great renewal in solemn Springtime
and Spring's spectacle bids us to rejoice.”

For more information, including details of the 2011 – 2012 season, you can call 314-534-1700, visit slso.org, or follow @slso on Twitter.

Sunday, May 01, 2011

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 2, 2011

Updated Thursday, May 5, 2011

[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 ArtsZipper site.

I'm now adding my own purely personal comments to events about which I think I have anything worthwhile to say. Because that's what bloggers do.  If I have left your show out, please leave a comment with all the details.

O'Fallon TheatreWorks presents The Adventures of Dan Daredevil at the O'Fallon Municipal Centre auditorium through May 8. Curtain is 8:00 PM Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00 PM on Sundays. The O'Fallon Municipal Centre is located at 100 North Main Street in O'Fallon, MO. For more information, call 636-379-5606.

Agnes of God
The Avalon Theatre Company presents the drama Agnes of God Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2 PM through May 8, in ArtSpace at Crestwood Court, 119 Crestwood Plaza. For more information, call 314-351-6482. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Awake and Sing
New Jewish Theatre presents Clifford Odets's Awake and Sing through May 8. Performances take place at the Marvin and Harlene Wool Studio Theatre at the JCCA, 2 Millstone Campus Drive. For more information, call 314-442-3283 or visit www.newjewishtheatre.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Black Pearl Sings!
The Black Rep presents Black Pearl Sings! through May 5. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. The play stars St. Louis jazz and blues singer Denise Thimes.  For more information, call 314-534-3810 or visit theblackrep.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Presenters Dolan present Ralph Kalish as Branch Rickey, a one-act play directed by Milton Zoth Friday and Saturday, may 6 and 7, at 8 PM at The Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle in the Central West End. For more information, call 314-725-4200 stn. 10 or visit presentersdolan.com.

The Pub Theater Company presents Bye Bye Liver: The St. Louis Drinking Play, a comedic romp through the joys and pitfalls of The Gateway to the West's favorite pastime. Performances take place on “select Saturdays” at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street, and on the first and third Friday of each month at The Fox Hole at The Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester in The Grove. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185 or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents the comedy Crimes of the Heart May 6 through 15. Performances take place in the Guild theatre at Newport and Summit in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, visit theaterguildwg.org or call 314-962-0876.

Marble Stage Theatre presents The Curious Case of Chicken Little Saturdays at noon, May 7 through 28, at Marble Stage Theater, 426 Crestwood Mall Art Space. For more information, call 314-437-0846 or visit www.marblestage.org.

Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents the comedy murder mystery musical Curtains through May 7. Performances take place at the Robert G. Reim Theatre of the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road. For more information, call 314-821-9956. The cast includes 88.1 KDHX theatre critic Laura Kyro.

Dark Matters
Stray Dog Theatre presents Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's thriller Dark Matters Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, March 5 through 21. There will be a matinee on the closing Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, call 314-865-1995.

Dead Man's Cell Phone
The St. Louis University Theatre Department presents the comedy/drama Dead Man's Cell Phone through May 8. Performances take place in Xavier Hall, 3373 West Pine Mall. For more information, call (314) 977-2998.

HotCity Theatre presents Intelligent Life, “a quirky comedy that deals seriously with issues of faith”, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 3 and 8 PM and Sundays at 7 PM, through May 15. Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-289-4060 or visit hotcitytheatre.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!



Curtain's Up Theatre presents the musical Once Upon A Mattress Thursday and Friday at 7:30 PM, Saturday at 2 and 7:30 PM and Sunday at 2 PM, May 5 through 8. Performances take place in the Dunham Hall Theater on the SIU-Edwardsville campus. For more information, visit curtainsuptheater.com.

The West County YMCA Y-Rep Teens present an evening of Student-Written One Acts May 5 through 7. The West County YMCA is at 16464 Burkhardt Place in Chesterfield, MO. For more information, call 636.532.6515 ext. 227.

Crestwood Court presents a Summer Showcase of St. Louis talent on Saturday, May 7. Performers include comedy juggler Dale Jones, comedy magician Jeff Lefton (of Abra-Kid-Abra), singers from the Windsor Theatre Group, and the Arch Rivals Comedy Improv Troupe, all emceed by Howie Hirshfield. The evening begins with a fashion show of apparel and accessories from Pashmina Saint Louis IX. Light hors d'oeuvres willl be served. Doors open at 6:30 PM and the show begins at 7 in the Community Room at Crestwood Court (#32). Reservations are advised and can be made by calling 314-832-2114.