España

Who: Dance St. Louis
What: Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater
When: January 27 and 28, 2012
Where: The Touhill Performing Arts Center

Boléro

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The first Dance St. Louis program of the year was a stunner. The artistry and athleticism of the Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater lit up the Touhill this weekend with an exhilarating and colorful evening of Spanish Regional, Classical, and Flamenco music and dance.

Think of it as a Spanish Riverdance but farther from Las Vegas and closer to its roots.

Currently in residence at Northeastern Illinois University at Chicago, Ensemble Español describes its mission as “the preservation, presentation and promotion of the classical, folkloric, flamenco, and contemporary traditions of Spain.” That mission was accomplished in spectacular fashion this weekend with a full program (two and one-half hours with intermission) that captured the variety, vigor, and (especially) the sensuality of Spanish dance. Spontaneous applause was common, along with standing ovations.

The night began with the exuberant and flashy “El Baile de Luis Alonso” by the full company, followed by “El Albaicín” (music by Albéniz, from Book 3 of Iberia), a seductive duet by guest artists Palome Gómez and Christian Lozano. Seduction then took a dark turn in the tragically charged “Amor Eterno (Petenera)”, in which live flamenco musicians joined company Associate Artistic Director Irma Suárez Ruíz and First Dancer Jorge Pérez in a pas de deux that, according to the program notes, “is rarely performed due to the superstitions that surround La Petenera. Is she love or is she death?” Either way, it was riveting.

Two remarkable solos were next. First, Mr. Lozano returned, along with the live musicians, for an astonishing display of flamenco technique that was frequently interrupted by applause. It was the kind of performance that made me wonder if flamenco shouldn’t be considered as an Olympic-level sport as well as an art form. Then Ms. Gómez took the stage for the elegant “Ruinas”, dedicated to company founder Dame Libby Komaiko. The first half of the program concluded with the entire company displaying a variety of dance styles in “Ecos de España”, inspired by the “Black Period” paintings of Goya (several of which were projected on the a screen upstage to set the scene) and accompanied by the final two sections of Rimski-Korsakov’s Capriccio Español.

Various styles of flamenco (mostly with live musicians) informed the the second half of the program, beginning with the full company in “Alegrias y Jaleos”, followed by “Anhelo del Alma” (“Longing of the Soul”), with Claudia Pizarro, Crystal Ruiz, and Olivia Serrano performing their own choreography — a neat combination of staccato taps and sinuous grace. Each of the three brought her own unique personality to the dance — a marked contrast from the kind of uniformity you usually encounter in classical ballet troupes.

Next, the men of the company were featured in the bravado of “Una Obra de Arte” (“A Work of Art”), followed by a return of Mr. Lozano and Ms. Gómez in their own creation, the elegiac “Zorongo Gitano”.

The evening concluded with what has apparently become a signature piece for the company, a dazzling realization of Ravel’s Boléro accompanied by projected images of drawings and paintings by Picasso.

It begins with small, fluid arm and shoulder movement from the women of the company, decked out in bright red low-backed dresses and seated on the floor, facing away from the audience. The movement passes from one dancer to the next in a kind of choreographic canon. As the music progresses, they rise and are joined by other company members as the piece slowly builds to its well-known conclusion. By the end, the stage has become a riot of color and movement, with flashing toreador capes to accent Ravel’s one and only key change.

It was simply jaw-dropping. I have complained before about how willing local audiences are to leap to their feet, but this time it was completely appropriate. Thanks to Dance St. Louis for bringing this remarkable, tremendously talented company to our city. Let’s hope this will be only the first of many visits.

Dance St. Louis’s season continues with the national tour of the recent revival of West Side Story at the Fox February 14 through 16. Their next presentation at the Touhill is the Joffrey Ballet on March 9 and 10. For more information, you may visit dancestlouis.org.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of January 30, 2012

[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.

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Marble Stage Fairy Tale Theatre presents Beauty and the Beast Saturdays at noon, February 4 through 25, at Marble Stage Theater, 426 Crestwood Mall Art Space. For more information, call 314-437-0846 or visit www.marblestage.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” (and the occasional Friday) at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street. For more information, you may call 800-650-6449 or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Black Cat Theatre's Piwacket Theatre for Children presents Goldilocks and the Three Bears on Friday and Saturday, February 3 and 4, at Black Cat Theatre, 2810 Sutton in Maplewood. For more information, call (314) 781-8300 or visit www.blackcattheatre.org.

The University of Missouri at St. Louis presents Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage through February 4. Performances take place in the E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Theater at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the UMSL campus. For more information, visit touhill.org or call 314-516-4949

Lindenwood University presents Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 2 PM, February 2 through 5, in the Emerson Black Box Theater. The Scheidegger Center is on the Lindenwood campus in St Charles MO. For more information, visit lindenwood.edu/center.

Mustard Seed Theatre presents Athol Fugard's Playland February 2 through 12 at the Fontbonne Fine Arts Theatre, 6800 Wydown Blvd. For more information, call (314) 719-8060 or visit the web site at www.mustardseedtheatre.com.

Hard Road Theatre presents the musical I Love You Because, based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, through February 3 in “an intimate, bistro-type setting” at Highland High School's Kennel at 12760 Troxler Avenue in Highland, IL. For more information, visit www.hardroad.org or call 618-654-7748.

Alton Little Theater presents the comedy The Last Mass At St. Casimir's by Tom Dudzick through February 5 at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. For more information, call 618.462.6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

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.

Oleanna

HotCity Theatre presents David Mamet's Oleanna Thursdays through Sundays through February 4. "Did he or didn't he? As if straight from the Herman Cain scandal, Oleanna is a seething investigation into the ever-present mechanisms of power, harassment, and abuse." Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, visit www.hotcitytheatre.org or call 314-289-4063. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

On Golden Pond

The Black Rep presents On Golden Pond, a "wry, gentle comedy of a family dealing with the problems of aging through the ageless power of love", through February 5. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, call 314-534-3810. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Fox Theatre presents the musical Rock of Ages Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 and 2 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM, February 3 through 5. The Tony-nominated musical is “ a hilarious, feel-good love story told through the hit songs of iconic rockers Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Whitesnake, and many more”. The Fox Theatre is at 517 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents the drama A Steady Rain, "a harrowing story of guilt, fear and corruption", through February 5. Performances take place in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Urnietown

Stray Dog Theatre presents the musical satire Urinetown Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, February 2 through 18. 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.

Way to Heaven

New Jewish Theatre presents Way to Heaven by Juan Mayorga, translated by David Johnston, through February 12. The play “is inspired by the true story of the elaborate deception that took place at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where the Nazis constructed a fake village to fool international inspectors and quell extermination rumors“. 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!

Once on this island

Who: Winter Opera
What: Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos
When: January 27 and 29, 2012
Where: The Women’s Center

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Winter Opera’s ambitious production of Strauss’s seriocomic Ariadne auf Naxos was impressive, given the size of the cast and intellectual complexity of the piece.

The combination of mythological drama and bel canto–style comedy might have been a bit of a stretch for the fledgling company, but ultimately the problems were more with the material itself and the venue than with the performance.

Ariadne auf Naxos is an odd duck by any standard. It was originally written as a one-act postlude to a German translation by Strauss’s frequent collaborator Hugo von Hofmannsthal of Moliere’s comedy “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme” in 1912. The difficulty and expense of mounting a play and an opera on the same bill eventually forced Strauss and Hofmannsthal to produce a rewrite that allowed the opera to stand on its own. It was first performed in 1916 and has been in circulation ever since.

The comic Prologue sets up the situation: the “richest man in Vienna” has engaged both a production of the tragic opera “Ariadne auf Naxos” and a commedia dell’arte troupe as after-dinner entertainment for his guests. To save time, he decrees that both shows must take place simultaneously. The performers can work out the details. The resulting conflicts between the opera company’s Composer, Music Master, Prima Donna, and Tenor on one side and Zerbinetta and her group of buffoons on the other generate plenty of laughs, most of them at the expense of the self-important composer and his egotistical leading lady.

After intermission, we see the hybrid opera within an opera set up in the Prologue. Abandoned on Naxos, Ariadne (with the help of three nymphs) yearns for death, but her lamentations are repeatedly interrupted by Zerbinetta and company, who are determined to cheer her up. Drama eventually wins out, however, when Bacchus arrives, declares his love, and joins Ariadne in a long, rapturous love duet.

The opera within an opera has been a bit of a problem from the beginning. At least one early British critic, for example, found the scene with Bacchus to be tedious. My view is that getting the audience to take Ariadne seriously is a tough sell, considering how effective Strauss and Hofmannsthal have been at making fun of the pretensions of operatic tragedy. Strauss’s music shifts the mood appropriately, but you still need fully committed and compelling performances by Ariadne and Bacchus to pull off that big a change in tone.

Winter Opera had a pair of strong voices in soprano Meredith Hoffman-Thompson and tenor Scott Six, but neither of them were particularly convincing in that final scene. Ms. Hoffman-Thompson’s stock theatrical gestures, which worked so well when Ariadne was a foil for Zerbinetta and company, felt out of place, and Mr. Six seemed not to be acting at all. They made beautiful music, but I don’t think that’s enough to compensate for the problem Strauss and Hofmannsthal created.

Comedy was king in this Ariadne. Soprano Mary Thorne wowed the crowd with her coloratura fireworks and was convincingly seductive in her scenes with the terribly serious young Composer, a “pants” role sung with appropriate intensity by mezzo Sarah Heltzel. As Zerbinetta’s four clowns, John-Andrew Fernandez, Charles Martinez, Zach Rabin, and Jon Garrett impressed with their fine quartet singing and physical comedy. Director Marie Allyn King’s decision to make them into the four Marx Brothers, complete with choreography lifted from Duck Soup, was an inspired one.

Baritone Eric McCluskey was all wisdom, authority, and precise diction as the Music Master. His scenes with Philip Touchette’s pompous Major-Domo (a spoken role) set the comic tone for the “Prologue” nicely. The voices of Megan Higgins, Sara Gottman, and Rachel L. Smith blended beautifully as Ariadne’s long-suffering nymphs.

The costumes by Teresa Doggett (a.k.a. The Hardest-Working Woman in Show Biz) were unfailingly appropriate, and I loved the Marx Brothers outfits. Rebecca Hatelid is credited with the English supertitles, which are easily visible above the stage. The translation struck me as a bit clumsy, but it did the job.

Conductor Timothy Semanik’s small orchestra (20 players vs. the 30 or more Strauss calls for) had a surprisingly big sound, some opening night intonation issues aside. There were certainly balance issues with the singers, but fewer than I would have expected given then physical limitations of the venue.

Speaking of which: Ariadne was staged in the opulent second-floor ballroom of The St. Louis Woman’s Club, a converted 1895 mansion at 4600 Lindell in the Central West End. Given that the opera takes place in the ballroom of a mansion, that added a bit of extra-musical resonance, especially when you consider that there was an optional dinner preceding the show downstairs. The downside was that the orchestra had to be placed on the ballroom floor in front of the stage, with the audience behind them on freestanding chairs. There were no risers, so sightlines are a problem for all but the first few rows.

It was not, in short, an ideal arrangement. It’s a testament to Winter Opera’s skill and dedication that their Ariadne was, despite these limitations, both artistically satisfying and highly entertaining for most of its length.

Now in its fifth season and with a new home at the Skip Viragh Center for the Arts on the campus of Chaminade Preparatory School, Winter Opera stands poised to be an important player in the growing opera scene locally. If this production was any indication, we can expect great things from them.

Winter Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos was presented on Friday and Sunday, January 27 and 29. Their season concludes with “La Boheme” at the Viragh Center on March 2 and 4. For more information, you may visit winteroperastl.org.

Personal bests

[Above: Arnaldo Cohen plays Rachmaninoff]

Who: Pianist Arnaldo Cohen and The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christopher Warren-Green
What: Music of Sibelius, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis
When: January 27–29, 2012

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The word “substitute” often has pejorative undertones, but this weekend at Powell Hall defies them. Pianist Arnaldo Cohen and conductor Christopher Warren-Green may have been substitutes for Louis Lortie and Vassily Sinaisky, respectively, but their work Friday morning was beyond reproach, providing a highly caffeinated mix of Sibelius, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky to go with the free donuts at the 10:30 AM Coffee Concert.

In his program notes, Paul Schiavo reminds us that the notion of “self-expression, and especially the expression of personal feelings, as one of music’s primary purposes” is largely a product of the Romantic era. Certainly that’s true of Sibelius’s turbulent En Saga, which opened the program.

Sibelius wrote that the piece was “the expression of a state of mind” related to “a number of painful experiences”, a statement clearly borne out by the restless string and dramatic wind passages. Mr. Warren-Green’s conducting was disciplined without sacrificing one iota of passion. The orchestra played up to its usual standard, with great solo work from Acting Principal violist Kathleen Mattis and Associate Principal clarinetist Diana Haskell (who has a CD on sale at the boutique, FYI).

Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is not openly autobiographical, but it did occupy the composer’s thoughts for nearly half of his life. Consider: he started sketching it in 1830, revised it at least four times, first performed it in 1855 (with Hector Berlioz, no less, on the podium), revised it in 1856, and then saw it virtually banned in Vienna until 1869 because of a snarky review by the overly influential critic Eduard Hanslick. Besides, the flash of the piano part (rendered with fluid grace by Mr. Cohen) and the (then) innovative use of recurring thematic material are pure Liszt. Mr. Warren-Green conducted with great assurance here as well.

It was Hanslick who dubbed this the “Triangle Concerto” because of the liberal use of that humble member of the percussion battery in a duet with the piano in the second half of the piece. He meant it as an insult, but in fact it’s a charming sonic accent. Liszt knew what he was about. “In the face of the most wise proscription of the learned critics,” he wrote, “I shall, however, continue to employ instruments of percussion, and think I shall yet win for them some effects little known.”

Tchaikovsky was taking his share of knocks from critics when he began work on his Symphony No. 4, a situation exacerbated by his anxiety over the possible discovery of his homosexuality and a brief and disastrous marriage to a former student. He poured all of his hope and despair into the work — so much so that some critics originally dismissed it as too programmatic and not enough like a real symphony. His friend and fellow composer Sergei Taneyev even complained that “in every movement there are phrases which sound like ballet music” — as if this were, somehow, unsymphonic.

Personally, I’ve always regarded the Fourth as one of Tchaikovsky’s most compact and dramatically impressive symphonies. A good performance never fails to deliver the passion, and Friday’s was first class all the way. Tempi were very well chosen and the cumulative power of the work was stunning; Mr. Warren-Green should have been conducting with a lighting rod, given the amount of electricity he generated. The musicians played with their customary polish, with the pizzicato strings in the third movement being particularly impressive.

Next at Powell Hall: Friday and Saturday at 8, February 3 and 4, Concertmaster David Halen is the soloist for Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski on the podium. Also on the program will be the overture to Weber’s Oberon and Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 (“The Great”). For more information you may call 314-534-1700, visit stlsymphony.org, like the Saint Louis Symphony Facebook page, or follow @slso on Twitter.

Love and death

Who: Violinist Christian Tetzlaff and The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by David Robertson
What: Music of Wagner, Sibelius, and John Adams
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis
When: January 21 and 22, 2012

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“Love and Death”. It’s not only a classic Woody Allen movie, it’s also the theme of John Adams’s massive choral cantata Harmonium, the closing work in a varied program that opened with the reverent Prelude to Act I of Wagner’s Parsifal and an electrifying performance of Sibelius’s one and only violin concerto.

The violin was Jean Sibelius’s first musical love. He began playing as a child and showed great promise as a performer, despite an elbow fracture that impeded his bowing technique. Even after it became clear that his real talent was for composition, he continued to play in chamber ensembles and even teach the instrument. It’s no surprise, then, that his Violin Concerto — originally presented in 1903 and then again in a substantially revised form in 1905 — is both thoroughly idiomatic and incredibly demanding. The long solo passages in the first movement and virtuoso fireworks in the finale will test the mettle of the best performers.

Soloist Christian Tetzlaff seemed thoroughly at east with this difficult material. He performed with a score, but appeared to refer to it only rarely, having clearly internalized the music. Even the ambulance obbligato during the first movement failed to shake his concentration. I did get the sense that he was less than completely comfortable with David Robertson’s breakneck pace in the finale, but overall he and the maestro were completely in synch. This was a reading that married technical facility with musical sensibility, with impressive results. The audience responded with a (mostly) standing ovation, and was rewarded with a beautiful encore: the third movement (Largo) from Bach’s Violin Sonata in C Major, BWV 1005.

The contrast between the intimacy of Bach’s solo violin music and cinematic expansion of John Adams’s Harmonium looks pretty stark on the surface. Scored for a large, post-Romantic orchestra that includes piano, celesta, synthesizer, and an expanded percussion section along with a full chorus, Harmonium would appear to be separated from the Bach sonata by more than just chronology. Take a step back, though, and it becomes apparent that there are similarities. Adams has, for example, very different notions of melody and harmony, but the way in which he organizes his music follows a logical pattern that Bach might have recognized.

In a note on the genesis of Harmonium on the web site of his publisher, G. Schirmer, Adams writes that the piece “began with a simple, totally formed mental image: that of a single tone emerging out of a vast, empty space and, by means of a gentle unfolding, evolving into a rich, pulsating fabric of sound.” He goes on to note that “[s]ome time passed before I was able to get beyond this initial image. I had an intuition of what the work would feel like, but I could not locate the poetic voice to give it shape. When I finally did settle on a text for the piece I was frankly rather surprised by the oddity of my choice.”

That’s putting it mildly. The first of the three texts set in Harmonium is a John Donne poem with the surprisingly modern title “Negative Love”. Its meaning is elusive. “Every time I read it,” Adams writes, “it seemed to mean something different.” His response was to embrace that ambiguity and build a setting that starts with a wordless tone cluster for the women’s voices and eventually builds to an ecstatic outpouring for full orchestra and chorus before falling back to serenity on the final couplet. A more explicit interpretation is up to the listener, which only seems appropriate.

The second half of Harmonium is a setting of two poems by Emily Dickinson: “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and the uncharacteristically unbuttoned “Wild Nights”. The former moves at an unhurried (but not funereal) pace that reflects the calm resignation of the poem. The music fades to a delicate passage for what sounded like Tibetan bells and then slowly and inexorably builds to the delirious ecstasy of the “Wild Nights” text before subsiding to a gentle rocking that suggests (as it says in the text) that the poet’s heart is “in port” and is now “rowing in Eden”.

It’s lovely stuff, really. Bracketing musings on death with two different visions of love works nicely from a dramatic standpoint, and there’s enough musical variety to make me reconsider some of my reservations about John Adams’s expressive range.

The composer notes that a successful performance of this work “should give the feeling of travelling — sometimes soaring, sometimes barely crawling, but nonetheless always moving forward over vast stretches of imaginary terrain.” Without a doubt, Saturday’s performance did all of that. Mr. Robertson and chorus director Amy Kaiser have done a splendid job realizing this fascinating and complex piece. I have always thought Adams’s music sounds challenging to sing, so I think the chorus deserves a particular pat on the back for this one

The performance of the Parsifal prelude that opened the concert was a fine piece of work as well. Wagner liked to refer to Parsifal as "A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage" rather than an opera, and the mood of the Act I prelude is appropriately peaceful. This is spiritual love — specifically for the Holy Grail. The orchestra’s performance captured the ethereal beauty of the music nicely.

Next at Powell Hall: Christopher Warren-Green conducts Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, Sibelius’s En Saga, and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Arnaldo Cohen. Performances are Friday at 10:30 AM (a Coffee Concert with free Krispy Kreme doughnuts), Saturday at 8 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM, January 27–29. For more information you may call 314-534-1700, visit stlsymphony.org, like the Saint Louis Symphony Facebook page, or follow @slso on Twitter.

A hard rain's a-gonna fall

(L to R): Michael James Reed as Joey and Joey Collins as Denny.
©Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

Who: The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
What: A Steady Rain
When: January 21 through February 5, 2012
Where: The Studio Theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center

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The Rep’s production of Keith Huff’s drama A Steady Rain is a classic example of a less than satisfying script turned into compelling theatre by outstanding acting and direction.

In this two-man play told almost entirely in monologues and flashbacks, Michael James Reed (as Joey, a Chicago cop recovering from alcoholism) and Joey Collins (as his partner Denny, well along the road to perdition) are utterly believable and riveting. And a good thing, too, since Denny’s character is so repellent from the very beginning that his eventual destruction lacks the tragic impact it might otherwise have.

When we first meet them, in set designer Robert Mark Morgan’s realistically squalid police interview room, Joey and Denny appear almost cartoonish. Denny’s relentless bravado and (apparently) comic bigotry contrast with Joey’s calmer and more reasoned outlook. It quickly becomes obvious, however, that Denny has has more in common with the suspects he arrests than with the public he is supposed to “defend and protect”. He’s obsessively violent, morally corrupt, and wedded to a toxic “tough guy” image of masculinity. He thinks entirely in stereotypes and it warps his judgment.

He’s also terminally self-centered. Denny is the center of his own universe, the sole judge of who is right or wrong, who should live or die. Other human beings, including his own family, are merely extensions of his will. When a vengeful pimp shoots out the windows in Denny’s house and flying glass cuts his youngest son, Denny rages that it’s his blood that was spilled.

Joey has his problems as well. A recovering alcoholic pulled out of the bottle by Denny and his wife, Joey finds himself increasingly at odds with Denny’s contempt for police procedure and use of his badge to extract money from prostitutes and drug dealers (which Denny defends as “free enterprise”). And while Joey may be Denny’s life-long friend, he’s also Denny’s enabler, acting as a willing punching bag for his partner’s verbal and physical assaults. Fortunately Joey, unlike his partner, is capable of compassion for others, and this is what ultimately makes him redeemable. It also makes him a more interesting and complex character.

These guys are, in short, every mismatched “buddy movie” duo taken to the logical and destructive extreme. They’re a disaster waiting to happen.

The event that triggers that disaster is based on a real-life incident in which Milwaukee beat cops returned one of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims to his custody and then failed to follow up on the incident. Mr. Huff’s fictionalized version is more streamlined, but the result is similar: Joey and Denny are suspended and the latter’s descent to destruction goes into high gear.

The slow-motion train wreck of Denny’s life could be (and very nearly is) tedious, as one self-inflicted wound after another piles up — so many, in fact, that it all starts to feel like overkill. What saves it, in my view, is Mr. Collins’s focused performance. He is always completely in the moment. His concentration is absolute.

The same is true of Michael James Reed’s Joey. He has the advantage of playing the more sympathetic character, of course, but that also means he must never be anything less that totally credible. It’s only a two-man play, after all, so if Joey hits any false notes the entire business is at risk. Mr. Reed is spot-on at every moment. When he finds redemption by learning to care for the family Joey has abandoned, it’s the one truly cathartic moment in an otherwise doggedly bleak story.

Director (and Rep Artistic Director) Steven Woolf makes smart use of Mr. Morgan’s claustrophobic set and provides enough motivated movement to prevent what is essentially a series of monologues from becoming dramatically static. Peter Sargent’s lighting design neatly delineate playing areas. In combination with Rusty Wandall’s sound (which includes the titular rain) it nicely suggests contrasting moods as well. Mr. Morgan’s set includes drab venetian blinds that, during scenes set in the city streets, open to reveal a garish neon Chicago skyline. It’s a darned nice touch.

So, can I recommend A Steady Rain? Tough call. At around one hour and forty-five minutes with no intermission, it becomes a bit of a slog towards the end. Denny’s character is too obnoxious and the pile of calamities is too high. It’s ultimately the theatrical equivalent of a natural disaster. Still, it’s a perfectly acted and produced one, and that, all by itself, might make it worthwhile for you. And the script, flaws and all, is nevertheless thought provoking and provides much fodder for post-show discussion.

A Steady Rain continues at the Rep Studio Theatre through February 5th. For more information, you may visit repstl.org, friend them on Facebook, follow @repstl on Twitter, or call 314-968-4925.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of January 23, 2012

Revised Thursday, January 26, 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.

Share on Google+

Winter Opera St. Louis presents Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos on Friday, January 27, at 8 PM and Sunday, January 29, at 3 PM. Performances take place at the Saint Louis Woman's Club, 4600 Lindell. The opera will be sung in German with projected English text. For more information, visit winteroperastl.org or call 314-865-0038.

[Insert Name Here] Theatre Project presents the musical Avenue Q through January 28. Performances take place at 4337 Manchester in the Grove neighborhood. For more information, visit inhtheatre.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Missouri History Museum presents the Metro Theatre Company production of Doug Cooney's Battledrum Tuesdays through Sundays through January 29. The play “offers young people a compelling point of entry into the complexities of the war that divided our nation” and is recommended for grades 4 and up. Performances take place in the Lee Auditorium at the History Museum at Lindell and De Baliviere in Forest Park. For more information, visit mohistory.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Clayton Community Theatre presents Agatha Christie's Black Coffee through January 29. Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre. For more information, call 314-721-9228 or visit placeseveryone.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The West County YMCA presents Box of Wonder on Sunday, January 29th. The West County YMCA is at 16464 Burkhardt Place. For more information, call (636) 532-6515 Ext. 227.

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” (and the occasional Friday) at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street. For more information, you may call 800-650-6449 or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents the drama Doubt Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 2 PM through January 29. Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre of the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road. For more information, call 314-821-9956 or visit ktg-onstage.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Dance St. Louis presents the Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater Friday at 8 PM and Saturday at 2 and 8 PM. “The program showcases three great strands of traditional Spanish dance: folkloric dances from Spain's many disparate regions, classical works that blend ballet into dances of the theater and the royal courts, and flamenco”. The performances take place at the Touhill Performing Arts center on the campus of The University of Missouri at St. Louis. For more information, you may visit dancestlouis.org or call 314-534-6622.

The University of Missouri at St. Louis presents Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage January 27 through February 4. Performances take place in the E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Theater at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the UMSL campus. For more information, visit touhill.org or call 314-516-4949

Hard Road Theatre presents the musical I Love You Because, based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, January 27 through February 3 in “an intimate, bistro-type setting” at Highland High School's Kennel at 12760 Troxler Avenue in Highland, IL. For more information, visit www.hardroad.org or call 618-654-7748.

Alton Little Theater presents the comedy The Last Mass At St. Casimir's by Tom Dudzick January 27 through February 5 at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. For more information, call 618.462.6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

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.

Oleanna

HotCity Theatre presents David Mamet's Oleanna Thursdays through Sundays through February 4. "Did he or didn't he? As if straight from the Herman Cain scandal, Oleanna is a seething investigation into the ever-present mechanisms of power, harassment, and abuse." Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, visit www.hotcitytheatre.org or call 314-289-4063. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

On Golden Pond

The Black Rep presents On Golden Pond, a "wry, gentle comedy of a family dealing with the problems of aging through the ageless power of love", through February 5. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, call 314-534-3810. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents the drama A Steady Rain, "a harrowing story of guilt, fear and corruption", January 18 through February 5. Performances take place in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Sunday in the Park
With George

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George Tuesdays through Sundays through January 29. Performances take place on the main stage at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org. The Rep has done well by Sondheim in the past and this pretty darn near perfect production is right in line with that tradition. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

New Jewish Theatre presents Way to Heaven by Juan Mayorga, translated by David Johnston January 26 through February 12. The play “is inspired by the true story of the elaborate deception that took place at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where the Nazis constructed a fake village to fool international inspectors and quell extermination rumors“. 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.

In sunshine or in shadow

Christine Brewer

Who: Soprano Christine Brewer and The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Robertson
What: Music of Dvořák, George Crumb, and Richard Strauss
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis
When: January 13 and 14, 2012

Darkness was audible at the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra this weekend with a slightly rocky but satisfying Dvořák Seventh Symphony and a uniformly elegiac Four Last Songs with Christine Brewer. George Crumb's whimsical Haunted Landscape was a contrasting kaleidoscopic light show.

As an accompaniment to the few brief days of seasonal weather this winter, the program could not have been more appropriate.

Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 has always been a favorite of mine, for reasons that are difficult to articulate. I can’t hear it without thinking of a long journey down a dark mountain river. Flashes of light illuminate the trip, but we don’t see the sun until the work’s final moments, when the tonality changes from D minor to D major.

Maintaining a strong rhythmic pulse and a sense of momentum, then, have always been the hallmarks of a great Dvořák 7th for me, especially in the first movement. Mr. Robertson didn’t appear to be going in that direction with his somewhat magisterial approach to the opening of the first movement (this was an allegro maestoso with the emphasis on the maestoso), but by the time we got the to development his approach had built up enough dramatic tension that I was largely won over. The beautifully wrought Poco adagio second movement (with some exceptionally fine playing by the woodwinds) and driving Scherzo completed the process, nicely paving the way for a crackling dynamo of a final movement. When that D-major sun finally rose, all I needed was a set of shades.

That said, the orchestral playing was a bit ragged in spots during the Dvořák — rather surprising given the ensemble’s usual polish. My guess (and it’s only that) is that it got less rehearsal time because of the complexity of the 1984 George Crumb work that had its local premiere Friday night.

Based on the title, you might think A Haunted Landscape would be another exercise in musical shadow. Not a bit of it. As the composer explains on his web site, the title “reflects my feeling that certain places on the planet Earth are imbued with an aura of mystery.” “Places,” he notes, “can inspire feelings of reverence or of brooding menace (like the deserted battlefields of ancient wars).”

To reflect those varied moods, Mr. Crumb assembled a score that is not so much music in the conventional sense as it is a sound collage that uses music as an element. The orchestral forces are huge, consisting not only the usual strings and a full complement of winds but of a massive percussion battery as well. One of the delights of Haunted Landscape, in fact, is watching the skill with which the percussionists handle a wide variety of exotic items such as Cambodian angklungs, Japanese Kabuki blocks, the Brazilian cuica, the Appalachian hammered dulcimer, and a piano struck, plucked, and generally manhandled in the style of John Cage or Conlon Nancarrow.

Haunted Landscape, in other words, is a kind of musical theme park. There’s a little bit of everything here: Ivesian string chorales set against orchestral cacophony, moments of breathtaking stillness alternating with aggressive outbursts of brass and percussion, and a stunning array of unusual and even unearthly sounds from all those percussion instruments, some of them so subtle (e.g. stroking cymbals with string instrument bows) that they barely break what Johann Friedrich Herbart called the “limen of consciousness”.

I don’t know whether I’d want to own this piece, but it was certainly fun to hear it, especially when performed with such precision — an impressive feat, considering that this was the work’s St. Louis premiere. I can’t imagine how many hours of rehearsal were necessary to make this complex music funhouse work, but they certainly paid off on opening night.

I suspect that the rehearsals for Strauss’s Four Last Songs, on the other hand, were like a reunion of old friends. It has been less than five years since soprano soloist Christine Brewer and Mr. Robertson performed these moving contemplations on mortality that were the composer’s final utterances before his death in 1949. Both the conductor and orchestra clearly have a great deal of affection for Ms. Brewer, a hometown gal who has made it big in the opera and concert world, and she clearly feels the same way about them. Her demeanor was more that of a featured ensemble player than a soloist, listening attentively to the orchestra and, in particular, to Concertmaster David Halen’s meltingly beautiful violin solo during the third song, “Beim Schlafengehen” (“Going to Sleep”).

In a post on the symphony blog last week, Eddie Silva quoted a friend of his to the effect that Four Last Songs “is one of the few works that often sounds better on recording, because it calls for such vocal subtlety that few singers can perform it appropriately in a concert hall”. I agree, but for a different reason. Despite the delicacy of much of the scoring there’s no escaping the fact that all four of these songs, like most of Strauss’s other works, call for a large orchestra. I think it’s a challenge, even for a Wagner and Strauss specialist of Ms. Brewer’s caliber, to be heard clearly over that many players while remaining true to the elegiac tone of the music. And, in fact, from our seats in the dress circle boxes she was often overwhelmed by the orchestra. You can compensate for that in the studio or in a live broadcast.

Balance issues aside, though, Ms. Brewer’s voice was as lovely as ever. From a purely theatrical perspective, I would have preferred to see more differentiation among the narrative voices in the songs. Granted, they all deal with death, but they do it in very different ways. The audience as a whole clearly had no such reservations, however, awarding all concerned with a standing ovation and earning the process a charming encore: Strauss’s “Morgen!” (“Tomorrow!”). Composed to a text by John Henry Mackay when Strauss was a young man of 30, it was a perfect choice, nicely balancing the somber resignation of all that had gone before.

Next at Powell Hall: violinist Christian Tetzlaff joins Maestro Robertson and the orchestra for Sibelius’s Violin Concerto on Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, January 21 and 22. Also on the program is the Prelude to Act I of Wagner’s Parsifal and John Adams’s Harmonium with the Symphony Chorus. For more information you may call 314-534-1700, visit stlsymphony.org, like the Saint Louis Symphony Facebook page, or follow @slso on Twitter.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of January 16, 2012

[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.

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[Insert Name Here] Theatre Project presents the musical Avenue Q January 19 through 28. Performances take place at 4337 Manchester in the Grove neighborhood. For more information, visit inhtheatre.com.

The Missouri History Museum presents the Metro Theatre Company production of Doug Cooney's Battledrum Tuesdays through Sundays through January 29. The play “offers young people a compelling point of entry into the complexities of the war that divided our nation” and is recommended for grades 4 and up. Performances take place in the Lee Auditorium at the History Museum at Lindell and De Baliviere in Forest Park. For more information, visit mohistory.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Clayton Community Theatre presents Agatha Christie's Black Coffee January 20 through 29. Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre. For more information, call 314-721-9228 or visit placeseveryone.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” (and the occasional Friday) at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street. For more information, you may call 800-650-6449 or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

The West County YMCA Y-Rep Teens present The Commedia Princess And The Pea Friday through Sunday, January 20 through 22. The West County YMCA is at 16464 Burkhardt Place in Chesterfield, MO. For more information, call 636.532.6515 ext. 227.

Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents the drama Doubt Thursday [January 26 only] at 8 PM, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, and Sundays at 2 PM, January 20 through 29. Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre of the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road. For more information, call 314-821-9956 or visit ktg-onstage.org.

First Run Theatre presents An Evening of Mysteries Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM through January 22. The program consists of two one-act plays by Richard LaViolette: “Divine's Grace” and “The Kerpash Affair”. Performances take place at DeSmet Jesuit High Schoo, 233 N New Ballas Road. For more information, call 314-352-5114 or visit www.firstruntheatre.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

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.

Oleanna

HotCity Theatre presents David Mamet's Oleanna Thursdays through Sundays, January 20 through February 4. "Did he or didn't he? As if straight from the Herman Cain scandal, Oleanna is a seething investigation into the ever-present mechanisms of power, harassment, and abuse." Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, visit www.hotcitytheatre.org or call 314-289-4063.

On Golden Pond

The Black Rep presents On Golden Pond, a "wry, gentle comedy of a family dealing with the problems of aging through the ageless power of love", through February 5. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, call 314-534-3810. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Fox Theatre presents the musical Rain - a Tribute to the Beatles Friday at 8 PM and Saturday at 2 and 8 PM, January 20 and 21. Rain “performs the full range of The Beatles' discography live onstage, including the most complex and challenging songs that The Beatles themselves recorded in the studio but never performed for an audience”. The Fox Theatre is at 517 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678.

Peabody Opera House presents Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music January 19 through 22. For more information, visit peabodyoperahouse.com or call 314-622-5420.

The St. Louis Family Theatre Series presents the musical Skippyjon Jones, based on the book by Judy Schachner about “a little kitten with big ears and even bigger dreams”, Friday at 7:30 PM and Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM, January 20 through 22. Performances take place at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre at Parker and Waterford in Florissant, MO. For more information, call 314-921-5678 or visit www.florissantmo.com.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents the drama A Steady Rain, "a harrowing story of guilt, fear and corruption", January 18 through February 5. Performances take place in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org.

Sunday in the Park
With George

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George Tuesdays through Sundays through January 29. Performances take place on the main stage at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org. The Rep has done well by Sondheim in the past and this pretty darn near perfect production is right in line with that tradition. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Bird cage trumps clown car.

What: La Cage Aux Folles
Where: The Fox Theatre, St. Louis
When: January 3 through 15, 2011

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Tuesday night, January 3, a few thousand Iowa Republicans watched passengers in the GOP clown car argue over who hated gays and lesbians the most. Around the same time, a few thousand St. Louis theatregoers watched a splendid performance of one of the most gay friendly Broadway musicals in living memory, “La Cage Aux Folles”.

It was an evening of industrial-strength irony. Sure, the Iowans got the publicity, but we got the entertainment. Besides, all of the comedy we saw was intentional.

Ingeniously adapted by Tony–award winning playwright Harvey Fierstein from the 1973 Jean Poiret stage farce and 1978 film of the same name, “La Cage’s” plot revolves around the middle-aged gay couple Georges and Albin. Georges owns the nightclub "La Cage Aux Folles" and Albin is his star in the drag show that is the club's main attraction. Their happy 20-year relationship is disrupted when Georges's son Jean-Michel, whom they've raised since the boy's mother ran off shortly after his birth, announces that he's getting married.

The problem? It seems that the father of his fiancée Anne is the homophobic Edourad Dindon, a character whose radical right-wing version of Catholicism, autocratic politics, and sexual obsession are eerily reminiscent of the clown who came in second in Iowa. Jean-Michel’s misguided attempts to make his family look “normal” generate comical complications, all of which are resolved in the inevitable happy ending. Dindon gets his comeuppance, Jean-Michel and Anne are married, and Georges and Albin reaffirm their commitment to each other.

Jerry Herman’s score is one of his strongest, with a French pop-music flavor reminiscent of Jacques Brel or Edith Piaf. Songs like “The Best of Times”, “With Anne on My Arm”, and “La Cage Aux Folles” are both irresistible and unforgettable. My personal favorite remains “Song of the Sand”, which I can never hear without getting embarrassingly misty-eyed.

This tour is based on the 2010 Broadway revival that copped multiple Tony awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. It’s not hard to see why. Matthew Wright’s dazzling array of costumes (especially for the lavishly cross-dressed Cagelles), Lynne Page’s flashy (and, from the look of it, very technically challenging) choreography, and Terry Johnson’s direction all combine to create a seductively entertaining package.

Mr. Johnson’s innovations include moving the orchestra up to boxes on either side of the set’s false proscenium and using the orchestra pit space for cabaret seating that turns the theatre audience into La Cage patrons. Audience participation is actively encouraged — a real benefit in spaces like the Fox, which is five times the size of New York’s Longacre Theater, where the revival was originally staged. There’s even a PG-rated warm-up monologue with the obligatory local jokes by “Lilly Whiteass”, one of the more imposing of the Cagelles.

The cast for this tour is well-nigh flawless. Yes, George Hamilton’s Georges is bland and his line delivery has the offhand quality of a first run-through, but Christopher Sieber’s Albin is nothing short of masterful — vulnerable in “A Little More Mascara” and tough as nails in the famous Act I closer, “I Am What I Am”. In appearance and movement, he’s a bit reminiscent of Harvey Fierstein in his “Torch Song Trilogy” days, which adds a nice bit of resonance to the evening.

Jeigh Madjus gets all the requisite campy comic mileage from the role of Jacob, the family butler who really wants to be a maid. Billy Harrigan Tighe imparts a bit more depth to the role of Jean-Michel than his light line load might imply and has an impressive song and dance turn with Allison Blair McDowell’s utterly charming Anne in “With Anne on My Arm.”

Bruce Winant and Cathy Newman display great comic versatility as both the Dindons and the Renauts, owners of the neighboring café. Ms. Newman, in particular, garnered applause for her demonstration of the “John Wayne walk” in “Masculinity”, the number in which everyone attempts, with little success, to get Albin to butch up.

And then there are “Les Cagelles”, the six cross-dressing chorus members (“Look under our frocks: Girdles and jocks”) at the titular nightclub. They're elegant, energetic, and, judging from their work in the many elaborate dance numbers, possessed of superhuman flexibility and stamina. The Cagelles are, in many ways, the real stars of the show. They certainly have some of the most memorable moments. They are, for the record, Matt Anctil, Logan Keslar, Donald C. Shorter Jr. Mark Roland, Terry Lavell, and Dale Hensley. The opening night audience gave them a well-deserved standing ovation.

I suppose I should stop gushing, but the fact is that the only real drawback to this production isn’t the show but rather the venue. Designed for a much smaller house, this “La Cage” places its false proscenium inside the regular false proscenium used by most Broadway tours, so sight lines deteriorate rapidly once you get on either side of house center. The Fox is simply too huge a house for this set — something you’ll want to bear in mind when you order your tickets.

And you should definitely order them. This is as fine a production of this endlessly entertaining show as you can find. Although it’s nearly thirty years old now, it feels relevant all over again in a time when obsessive culture warriors are denouncing loving long-term relationships like that of Georges and Albin as an existential threat to family life when, in fact, they are an affirmation of it. Everyone needs to see “La Cage” now, if only for that lesson.
“La Cage Aux Folles” runs through January 15 at the Fox in Grand Center. For more information, you may visit fabulousfox.com or call 314-534-1678.

Chuck Lavazzi also reviews for 88.1 KDHX and KDHX.org in St. Louis

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of January 9, 2012

[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.

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The Missouri History Museum presents the Metro Theatre Company production of Doug Cooney's Battledrum Tuesdays through Sundays, January 10 through 29. The play “offers young people a compelling point of entry into the complexities of the war that divided our nation” and is recommended for grades 4 and up. Performances take place in the Lee Auditorium at the History Museum at Lindell and De Baliviere in Forest Park. For more information, visit mohistory.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.

La Cage Aux Folles

The Fox Theatre presents the musical La Cage Aux Folles Tuesdays through Sundays through January 15. The production stars George Hamilton and Christopher Sieber. The Fox Theatre is at 517 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678. It's true that Hamilton is not known as a singer, but neither was Gene Barry, who created the role of Georges on Broadway. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Florissant Fine Arts Council presents Deer Camp: The Musical on Saturday, January 14, at 8 PM at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre at Parker Road at Waterford Drive in Florissant, MO. For more information, call 314-921-5678.

First Run Theatre presents An Evening of Mysteries Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, January 13 though 22. The program consists of two one-act plays by Richard LaViolette: “Divine's Grace” and “The Kerpash Affair”. Performances take place at DeSmet Jesuit High Schoo, 233 N New Ballas Road. For more information, call 314-352-5114 or visit www.firstruntheatre.com.

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.

The Black Rep presents the drama On Golden Pond through February 5. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, call 314-534-3810. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

 

Rehearsal video from The Seafarer

The West End Players Guild continues their 101st season with Conor McPherson's drama The Seafarer Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, through Janury 15. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 North Union at Enright in the Central West End. For more information, For more information call 314-367-0025 or visit www.westendplayers.org. The play is directed by 88.1 KHDX theatre critic Steve Callahan. Yours truly had a hand in creating the stacked decks for the poker game and will be coaching a couple of the actors on the art of the false shuffle. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents the comedy See How They Run through January 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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Sunday in the Park
With George

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George Tuesdays through Sundays, January 4 through 29. Performances take place on the main stage at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org. The Rep has done well by Sondheim in the past, so I'm looking forward to this one. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Circus Harmony presents Tessitura Saturdays at 2 and 7 PM and Sundays at 2 PM through January 15. “Circus Harmony's 2012 full-length show is an acrobatic adventure featuring over 30 flying children accompanied by the sensational Circus Harmony Band”. Performances take place in the third floor circus ring at City Museum, downtown. For more information, visit circusday.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

On Saturday, January 14, at noon The Black Rep Touring Company presents Wanted: A Few Good Men, conceived by Black Rep Founder and Producing Director Ron Himes. The performance takes place at Dickerson Memorial Community Church, 957 Breckenridge Road. “From Obama to JFK, Dr. Martin Luther King to Malcom X, Frederick Douglas to Marvin Gaye, the production explores some of the great men - politicians, religious leaders and artists - who have impacted the African American experience and our society in general.” For more information, you may call The Black Rep Box Office at (314) 534-3810.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of January 2, 2012

[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.

Share on Google+

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.

La Cage Aux Folles

The Fox Theatre presents the musical La Cage Aux Folles Tuesdays through Sundays, January 3 through 15. The production stars George Hamilton and Christopher Sieber. The Fox Theatre is at 517 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678. It's true that Hamilton is not known as a singer, but neither was Gene Barry, who created the role of Georges on Broadway. 

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.

The Black Rep presents the drama On Golden Pond January 4 through February 5. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, call 314-534-3810.

The Seafarer

The West End Players Guild continues their 101st season with Conor McPherson's drama The Seafarer Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, January 6 through15. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 North Union at Enright in the Central West End. For more information, call 314-367-0025 or visit www.westendplayers.org. The play is directed by 88.1 KHDX theatre critic Steve Callahan.  Yours truly had a hand in creating the stacked decks for the poker game and will be coaching a couple of the actors on the art of the false shuffle.

The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents the comedy See How They Run January 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.

Soundstage Productions presents Steel Magnolias Friday through Sunday, January 6 through 8. Performances take place at Crestwood Plaza ArtSpace, #220 Crestwood Plaza on Watson Road in Crestwood, MO. For more information, send email to soundstange at msn.com.

Sunday in the Park with George

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George Tuesdays through Sundays, January 4 through 29. Performances take place on the main stage at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org.  The Rep has done well by Sondheim in the past, so I'm looking forward to this one.

Circus Harmony presents Tessitura Saturdays at 2 and 7 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, January 7 through 15. “Circus Harmony's 2012 full-length show is an acrobatic adventure featuring over 30 flying children accompanied by the sensational Circus Harmony Band”. Performances take place in the third floor circus ring at City Museum, downtown. For more information, visit circusday.org.