Over and out

Who: Masterworks Broadway
What: Tracie Bennett Sings Judy: Songs from the Broadway Production of End of the Rainbow

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The theatrical subgenre of celebrity impersonation has always been an odd duck. It’s easy to do badly, damned difficult to do well, and gets the impersonator little respect in any case. In fact, duplicating a performer’s on-stage persona in a way that will allow audience members to suspend disbelief and react as they would to the original is quite a challenge, especially when the performer in question is well represented on audio and film/video.

Judging from the praise she has received for her performance as the late Judy Garland in Peter Quilter’s play with music The End of the Rainbow, Tracie Bennett has risen to the challenge. In the New York Times, Ben Brantley praised her “electrifying interpretation”. The Huffington Post’s Mark Kennedy) said she was “so stunning that she manages to raise the dead”. Others have had similar praise for her performance even when they have found the play itself a bit monochromatic.

I haven’t seen the show, but judging from the original cast recording now available on Masterworks Broadway, Ms. Bennett has eerily captured not just the sound of Garland, but more specifically the sound of Garland towards the end of her career, when drugs and drink were taking their toll. To quote the Times again:

“In her terrifyingly manic, Ritalin-fueled “Come Rain or Come Shine” you hear not only the music but the rage that produces it.”

You don’t really hear that in Garland’s recordings from the period, in my view. But then, this isn’t an attempt to duplicate those recordings. It’s a look (albeit fictionalized) at the pain they masked. And on that level I think it works perhaps a little too well. At times, it’s difficult to listen to—not because Ms. Bennett has done her work poorly but rather because she has done it so very well.

The album consists of songs from the Broadway production of the play, fleshed out with new recordings by Bennett and members of the on-stage band of Garland classics not in the stage version, including “Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart”, “San Francisco” and “When The Sun Comes Out” (full track list below). If you’re a Garland fan you’ll probably want to add this to your collection; ditto if you have seen and enjoyed the show. For the rest of us it’s an interesting curiosity. The CD is available from the usual music outlets. You can also purchase the MP3 version at iTunes.

Track list:

1. I Can't Give You Anything But Love/Just In Time (Dorothy Fields, Jule Styne, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jimmy McHugh)
2. I Could Go On Singing (E.Y. Harburg, Harold Arlen)
3. Smile (Charles Chaplin, John Turner, Geoffrey Parsons)
4. Medley: The Bells Are Ringing For Me And My Gal/You Made Me Love You/The Trolley Song (Joseph McCarthy, Ray Goetz, Hugh Martin, George Meyer, Edgar Leslie, Ralph Blane, James V. Monaco)
5. Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart (James Hanley)
6. The Man That Got Away (Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen)
7. Come Rain Or Come Shine (Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen)
8. When You're Smiling (Mark Fisher, Joe Goodwin, Larry Shay)
9. Somewhere Over The Rainbow (E.Y. Harburg, Harold Arlen)
10. San Francisco (Walter Jurmann, Gus Kahn, Bronislaw Kaper)
11. When The Sun Comes Out (Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen)
12. Get Happy/By Myself (Ted Koehler, Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz, Harold Arlen)

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 28, 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.

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R-S Theatrics presents a Bill Cain's 9 Circles, based on Dante's Divine Comedy, at 8 PM Fridays and Saturdays, and 7 PM Sundays, June 1-10. Performances take place at the Black Cat Theatre, 2810 Sutton in Maplewood. For more information, you may email RSTheatrics at yahoo.com or call 314-968-8070. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Ain't Misbehavin'

Stages St. Louispresents the "Fats" Waller musical  Ain't Misbehavin' June 1-July 1. 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 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 Saturdays at 9 PM at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185, email stlouis at byebyeliver.com, or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Carmen

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Bizet's Carmen in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 23. 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!

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte in rotating repertory with three other operas June 3 through 22. 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.

High Fidelity

New Line Theatre presents the rock musical High Fidelity Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, May 31 through June 21. Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. For more information, call 314-534-1111.

The Black Rep presents Insidious, “a torrid dark comedy of down-low terrorism in the age of AIDS,” through June 24. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810 Read the 88.1 KDHX review!.

The Wine Press presents guitarist Mike Krysl and singer Shuana Sconce in an evening of cabaret on Saturday, June 2, from 8 to 11 PM. The Wine Press is at 4436 Olive in the Central West End. For more information, visit stlwinepress.com.

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents Othello nightly except for Tuesdays through June 17. 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 sfstl.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Sweeney Todd
Photo by Ken Howard

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

ACT Inc. presents Travels With My Aunt, based on the novel by Graham Greene, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, June 1 through 3 and 14 through 17. 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 Presenters Dolan present Ken Haller's new cabaret act The TV Show, featuring songs and themes from classic TV programs. Performances take place Friday and Saturday, June 1 and 2, at the Kranzberg Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, visit licketytix.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Circus Flora presents its brand new show, The Wizard: Merlin and the Legends of King Arthur, May 31 through June 24 under the air-conditioned, red-and-white, big top tent in Grand Center next to Powell Hall. For more information, visit circusflora.org.

Chuck's Choices for the weekend of May 25, 2012

As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

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New this week:

The Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble presents Lanford Wilson's Burn This through Saturday at 8 PM. Performances take place at Black Cat Theatre, 2810 Sutton in Maplewood. SATE is a small but ambiltious theatre company that doesn't appear to shy away from the unusual. In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Bob Wilcox describes Burn This as "a strong production of a strong script." For more information, call visit slightlyoff.org.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in rotating repertory with three other operas, May 26 through June 24. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. I've been waiting for many years for Opera Theatre to take a crack at this most operatic of all Sondheim's musical theatre works. Director Ron Daniels has plenty of legit opera experience (unlike the director for A Little Night Music last season), so my expectations are high. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Held over:

Kendall Gladen

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Bizet's Carmen in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 23. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. The production is set in the 1940s, with the look of classic film noir, all the way down to the black and white costume and set designs and an opening cinematic credit sequence. The concept doesn't always work, but it succeeds often enough to be worth seeing.  Besides, ou won't want to miss St. Louis's own Kendall Gladen's smoky performance in the title role and the great work by conductor Carlos Izcaray and the St. Louis Symphony musicians. For more details, check out my review for 88.1 KDHX. All performances are sung in English with projected English text, although the chorus enunciates so clearly it's rarely necessary. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Rounding Third

HotCity Theatre presents Richard Dresser's Rounding Third, “a comedic and scary look at raising kids in a world where winning is everything,” through Saturday. 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. In her review for 88.1 KDHX Andrea Braun has plenty of praise for the acting, direction, and for the script itself.

En blanc et noir

Kendall Gladen

Who: Opera Theatre of St. Louis
What: Carmen
When: May 19-June 23, 2012
Where: The Loretto-Hilton Center

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Carmen as film noir? With a femme fatale heroine, a doomed anti-hero, and a netherworld in which cops (well, OK, the fascist Guardia Civil) and crooks meet, the concept behind Opera Theatre’s production has genuine merit. It’s not without its missteps, but strong performances by (among others) Aleksey Bogdanov as Escamillo, Corinne Winters as Micaëla, and—first and foremost—hometown gal Kendall Gladen as a magnetic Carmen make it work much more often than not.

In his program notes, director Stephen Barlow makes a strong case for turning Bizet’s 1878 opera into a 1940s black and white crime movie, complete with opening and closing titles. “The ominous world view of film noir,” he writes, “sits remarkably well with both Mérimée’s and Bizet’s Carmen, especially given that they all share the exact same theme: the impossibility of escape from a cold implacable fate.” Don José’s self-destructive obsession with Carmen also works in both worlds, as does the drama’s setting in the fringes of society.

In order for José’s fall from grace to work, though, there has to be some grace there in the first place. In the context of the original libretto the army is, at worst, morally neutral, and José’s sense of duty is actually admirable. When the army in question is the fascist Guardia Civil of World War II Spain, however, the equation changes drastically. In this context, that sense of duty and Micaëla’s determination to bring him back to it are, at best, naïve if not actually delusional. I’m also not convinced it makes sense to turn José into a murderer two acts early by having him shoot Zuniga at the end of Act II.

Changing the smugglers’ contraband from unspecified goods to undocumented immigrants (possibly refugees; it’s not that clear from the staging) also complicates the moral landscape. It’s one thing to be a tax dodger; it’s quite another to make a profit off the desperation of your fellow humans.

Still, the general idea is a good one and when this Carmen is firing on all cylinders the results are entertaining as hell. An excellent example is the crowd scene and pre-bullfight procession that open Act IV. There’s a pair of adorable tykes dolled up as a toreador and his lady, a statue of the Virgin, flamenco dancers, and finally an entrance in a vintage touring car and a shower of monochrome confetti by Carmen and Escamillo who sing their love duet to the microphones as part of a photo opportunity. It’s a neat demonstration of gaudy pageantry and mindless hero-worship that contrasts starkly with the upcoming deranged declaration of love from Don José.

All this is buoyed considerably by a mostly fine cast, a superb chorus with elocution so clear the projected English text was often irrelevant, and a first-rate orchestra of St. Louis Symphony musicians under the baton of the much-praised young Venezuelan conductor Carlos Izcaray.

The sine qua non for Carmen is, of course, a convincing performance in the title role—someone who can persuade the audience that she’s so utterly irresistible that she can bend every man she encounters to her will. In St. Louis native Kendall Gladen, we have all that and then some. Despite the handicap of a sinus infection on opening night, Ms. Gladen gave us a smoky-voiced and fiercely seductive Carmen whose dealings with the men around her bring to mind lyrics from the 1924 classic “Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah)”: “To tease ‘em and thrill ‘em / To torture and kill ‘em / Is her delight, they say.” It’s not difficult to envision this Carmen “throwing water on a drowning man.”

Ukrainian baritone Aleksey Bogdanov is an ideal Escamillo—a preening, self-satisfied showoff who, unlike poor Don José, understands exactly what he’s getting into with Carmen. His Act II “Toreador” song has all the swagger and vocal flash you could wish for.

Former Gerdine Young Artist Corinne Winters makes the most of the “good girl” role of Micaëla, especially in her heartfelt Act III aria. As written, the character is painfully stereotypical—the virgin vs. Carmen’s whore—but Ms. Winters gives her a genuine soul.

Speaking of the Gerdine Young Artist program, current members of that program Shirin Eskandani and Jennifer Caraluzzi make a strong impression as Carmen’s friends Mercédès and Fasquita. So does Bradley Smoak (another former program member) as the arrogant Zuniga.

Vocally you couldn’t ask for a better Don José than Adam Diegel. His ringing tenor voice and clear articulation add much to the role. Dramatically, though, I found him less than convincing. His character seemed more petulant than tragic and his spoken dialogue came across as a bit stilted. Some of that’s in the libretto, of course, but even so, there’s more emotional range in Don José than we saw on opening night.

Set and costume designer Paul Edwards has carried out the black and white movie motif perfectly, with discrete touches of color (Carmen’s Act I flower and the neon sign for Pastia’s bar, for example) for dramatic impact. Christopher Akerlind’s shadowy lighting falls right into line, mimicking the shadowy look of those classic films.

The bottom line, then, is that while Opera Theatre’s Carmen is far from perfect, it succeeds often enough to be well worth seeing, especially if you’re a fan of the piece to begin with or just want to welcome a hometown gal back in triumph. The director’s concept may not always work, but it’s an intelligent attempt to put a novel spin on classic in a way that respects the world of the original, and for that I think it deserves our support.

Carmen continues through June 23rd in rotating repertory with three other operas on the main stage of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Invitations to the dance

Who: Pianist Sarina Zhang and The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ward Stare
What: Music of Dvořák, Saint-Saëns, Gershwin, Bernstein, and Ravel
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis
When: May 18, 2012

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Sarina Zhang and friends play the Saint-Saëns Dance Macabre

It was a lively and entertaining evening at Powell Hall last night with a dance-infused program that included three of Dvořák’s popular Slavonic Dances, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Bernstein’s still-amazing Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and an appropriately hallucinatory reading of Ravel’s death knell for the 19th century, La Valse. There was also a performance of the "Bacchanale" from Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila with a highly charged coda.

Pity it was only one night because it drew a large and (as far as I could tell) somewhat younger than usual crowd, at least some of whom apparently weren’t symphony regulars. That’s a good thing; maybe they’ll come back for the 2013 season.

Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances, while popular on classical radio stations and in the record and CD collections of music lovers, aren’t heard all that often in live performances, in my experience. For Friday’s concert Mr. Stare chose a nice trio of them: a lively Serbian kolo (Op. 72, No. 7), a graceful sousedská (Op. 46, No. 4), and a brilliant furiant with an elegiac trio (Op. 46, No. 8). Mr. Stare’s reading was particularly effective at bringing out the lyrical side of these colorful works and reminded me once again of how effectively Dvořák turned these original dance tunes into little symphonic fragments. They’re filled with lovely bits of orchestral detail as well—all brought out nicely by the orchestra players.

There’s not a lot that needs to be said about the colorful “Bacchanale” from Saint-Saëns’s 1876 opera Samson et Dalila, except to note that the composer was a dedicated world traveler who took inspiration from the places he visited. How much of his 1874 trip to Algiers wound up in the lush exoticism of the Act III orgy scene in the Temple of Dagon is hard to say, but it certainly packs a great dramatic punch, especially when the performance is as intense as this one was. From Phil Ross’s polished opening oboe solo to the fierce tympani and horn duel of the finale, this was a winner.

The Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue was, I expect, the big draw for the evening and it didn’t disappoint. Although she’s only fifteen, pianist Sarina Zhang nevertheless had her own unique take on the piece instead of the cookie-cutter approach one might expect from a young prodigy still learning her craft. Her technique was solid—not surprising, given the awards she has already earned as both a pianist and cellist—but so was her grasp of the jazzy inflections that are not fully spelled out. The same was true of Mr. Stare and his players, particularly in the famous opening clarinet and “wah-wah” trumpet solos (Scott Andrews and Tom Drake, respectively).

If your only exposure to the dance music from Bernstein’s West Side Story is via the film or touring productions of the show, you might not be aware of just how brilliantly scored it is. Theatrical pit bands rarely have enough players to do it justice, which may be why the composer created the Symphonic Dances in 1961. It’s a remarkable piece, filled with tricky polyrhythms, dissonance, flashy orchestration (including an expanded percussion battery), and a raft of other touches that remind us of how effectively Bernstein bridged the worlds of concert hall and Broadway theatre.

This is not easy stuff to perform and, in fact, the performance seemed a bit scrappy in places but overall it was really very solid.

The evening concluded with Ravel’s La Valse, a work that began in 1911 as (to quote the composer) “a piece in the style of the earlier Strauss, not Richard” entitled simply Wein (Vienna). Before it could be completed, however, World War I (in which the composer served as a driver) intervened, and by the time La Valse was completed 1919, it had become “an impression of a fantastic whirl of destiny leading to death”. I can’t hear it without envisioning a huge, ornate machine spinning faster and faster until it hurls itself to pieces—as the complex structure of 19th-century Europe did in the so-called “war to end all wars”. Mr. Stare gave us a highly dramatic reading, complete with an appropriately hallucinatory finale.

The last time I saw Mr. Stare conduct a full program with the symphony (December 2nd of last year), I was impressed by the clarity of his communication with the orchestra and the intensity of his focus. This time around I was also struck by his very visceral style on the podium. He got quite an aerobic workout from this program and generated plenty of musical excitement in the process.

The post-season season at Powell Hall continues through June 22nd. Highlights include a James Bond film music program with vocalist Debbie Gravitte and conductor Michael Krazewski on June 2nd, and Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to the Beatles on the 22nd. For details on these and other “one of” events, you may visit stlsymphony.org.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 21, 2012

Updated Tuesday, May 23

[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 Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble presents Lanford Wilson's Burn This Wednesday through Saturdays at 8 PM through May 26. Performances take place at Black Cat Theatre, 2810 Sutton in Maplewood. For more information, call visit slightlyoff.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

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 Saturdaysat 9 PM at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185, email stlouis at byebyeliver.com, or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Chuck Lavazzi

The Cabaret Project presents a cabaret open mic night on Wednesday, May 23rd, from 7 to 10 PM at the Tavern of Fine Arts. “Drop by and enjoy a night of great music from St. Louis cabaret artists, backed up by the inimitable Carol Schmidt on the baby grand.” The master of ceremonies for the evening will be Chuck Lavazzi, senior performing arts critic at 88.1 KDHX. If you're planning to sing, be prepared to do one or two songs and bring music, preferably in your key. We'd also recommend that you have your song memorized. The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt at Waterman in the Central West End. There's free parking in the lot right across the street. For more information, visit tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com or call 314-367-7549.

Carmen

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Bizet's Carmen in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 23. 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!

The Alpha Players of Florissant presents Neil Simon's God's Favorite through May 27 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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Black Rep presents Insidious, “a torrid dark comedy of down-low terrorism in the age of AIDS,” May 23-June 24. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810.

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents Othello nightly except for Tuesdays, May 23 through June 17. 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.

Rounding Third

HotCity Theatre presents Richard Dresser's Rounding Third, “a comedic and scary look at raising kids in a world where winning is everything,” Thursdays through Sundays through May 26. 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!

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in rotating repertory with three other operas, May 26 through June 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.

Chuck's choices for the weekend of May 18, 2012

As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

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New this week:

Carmen, circa 1940

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Bizet's Carmen in rotating repertory with three other operas May 19 through June 23. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. The production is set in the 1940s, which has the potential to be an interesting approach, especially if they company does a "film noir" take on it; the libretto has many of the elements of classic noir as it is, so it shouldn't do any violence to the world of the opera. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Rounding Third

HotCity Theatre presents Richard Dresser's Rounding Third, “a comedic and scary look at raising kids in a world where winning is everything,” Thursdays through Sundays through May 26. 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. In her review for 88.1 KDHX Andrea Braun has plenty of praise for the acting, direction, and for the script itself.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra continues its post-season concerts with a "pops" program featuring the music of Dvorák (three of his lovely Slavonic Dances), Gerswhin (the Rhapsody in Blue with piano soloist Sarina Zhang), Bernstein, Saint-Saëns, and Ravel (La Valse, the waltz to end all waltzes). Ward Stare conducts. The concert starts at 7:30 PM Friday at Powell Hall. Mr. Stare is a young conductor on the rise and deserving of notice while Sarina Zhang (also a major budding talent at the age of 18) has already made a name for herself with prizes in both piano and cello competitions and an appearance on From the Top. For more information, visit stlsymphony.org or call 314-534-1700.

Lola Van Ella

Show Me Burlesque has a series of events this weekend at different venues: The Show Me Burlesque Gala on Thursday at 8 PM at the Coliseum, 2619 Washington; the Show Me Spectacular on Friday at 8 PM at the Sheldon Concert Hall, 3654 Washington, followed by the Red Light District Revue upstairs at the Sheldon Ballroom starting at 11 PM; and Carnivalesque/The Beggar's Carnivale on Saturday at 8 PM at the Casa Loma Ballroom, 3354 Iowa. I'm probably going to miss the whole thing, but it's in my list because I just like the idea of having a lively burlesque scene here in St. Louis. Let's remember, after all, that this is the same town that once tried to ban the musical Hair because it has brief nudity and that presented a "bleeped" Chicago back in the early 1970s at the Muny. For more information, visit showmeburlesque.com.


Held over:

Stray Dog Theatre’s production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America concludes this this Thursday through Sunday at 7:30 PM with Part 2: Perestroika again. These are beautifully written plays and the Stray Dog production has gotten strong notices (see Andrea Braun’s reviews of Part 1 and Part 2 at the KDHX site). I saw part 1 last weekend and was very impressed. Stray Dog's stage doesn't allow for the rapid scene changes the script requires, but the production is otherwise so polished (and the scene change music so interesting) that it hardly matters. Performances take place at Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, call 314-865-1995.

Speaking of cheesy tech....

Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre (the bastard love child of St. Louis Shakespeare) presents Star Trek: Live! Friday and Saturday at 8 and 10:30 PM at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar in University City. The show is presented in cooperation with the St. Louis Science Center's Star Trek: The Experience Exhibit. Visitors to the exhibit receive a “buy one, get one free” admission to any 10:30 performance. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Lilith Daly says the show moves at "maximum warp speed to the planet Ridiculous." If you’ve seen a Monkey show in the past, you know what to expect: deliberately and often hilariously cheesy tech, consciously hokey acting, and an attitude of nose-thumbing irreverence. For more information, visit stlshakespeare.org.

A fine way to treat a Steinway

Who: Michael Feinstein with Sam Kriger and the St. Louis Symphony
What: The Great American Songbook
Where: Powell Symphony Hall
When: May 13, 2012


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"I Won't Send Roses" from Jerry Herman's Broadway at Holiday Bowl (1993)

Michael Feinstein’s appearance with the St. Louis Symphony on Mother’s Day had all the elements of a classic, well-crafted cabaret show. Yes, there was a full orchestra on stage (making it something of a cabaret show on steroids), but Mr. Feinstein connected with the audience as if he were performing at a small club with only his Steinway. There even moments of surprising intimacy—remarkable, given that this was, after all, Powell Hall.

But then Mr. Feinstein is an impressive combination of cabaret artist and musical historian, specializing in what has come to be referred to as the “Great American Songbook” (or, as he jokingly referred to it, “the Rod Stewart Songbook”): the pop and theatre music that dominated American culture from the 1920s into the 1970s. He has this stuff in his blood, singing and playing it as easily as some of us speak. He talks about the songs, their creators, and the performers who introduced them as though they were his friends (a few of them actually were).

The program was pure mainstream songbook, from Berlin’s first hit, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (with a slight lyrical alteration to make it less bellicose) to Kander and Ebb’s “New York, New York”. Probably the least familiar numbers were Gershwin’s droll “By Strauss” (from the 1946 revue The Show is On) and Jerry Herman’s “I Won’t Send Roses” (a classic song of ambivalent love from Mack and Mabel, where it was sung by Robert Preston).

The performance of that latter song, by the way, yielded one of the afternoon’s classic cabaret moments. Mr. Feinstein accompanied himself at the piano and everything was flawlessly “in the moment” until the very end, when a bit of modulation went awry and he ended up singing the final note loudly instead of softly as the song clearly requires. Rather than brazen it out, he did what any good cabaret artist should do under the circumstances: he apologized, went back and re-did the ending perfectly.

That aside, the rest of the program was about as polished as anyone could wish. Mr. Feinstein is, of course, a charming performer and an engaging storyteller, liberally sprinkling the show with tidbits on the songs and their creators. He’s a strong singer, with a ringing head voice and smooth falsetto, equally at home belting out a medley of “Luck be a Lady” and “All I Need is the Girl” or crooning the Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields classic “The Way You Look Tonight” in an arrangement based on the one Jobim did for Sinatra in 1964. He’s also an impressive pianist and got great backing from the symphony musicians under the baton of his music director Sam Kriger.

He’s also a great admirer of the work of George Gershwin (as am I), and even though he didn’t get around to a solid Gershwin set until the end of the second act, it felt like the spirit of the composer was never far away, especially when quotes from the Concerto in F popped up in both a flashy “big band” arrangement of “Brazil” (complete with impressive trombone and trumpet solos) and the bluesy intro to “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” as well. His tribute to Gershwin included the arrangement of “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” used in the 1936 film Swing Time, where it was sung by Fred Astaire. It lost the Oscar that year to “Sweet Leilani”, of all things, but the arrangement was Ira Gershwin’s favorite nevertheless.

Mr. Feinstein concluded the Gershwin segment by asking mothers in the audience to call out the titles of their favorite Gershwin tunes and then improvising a medley based on the requests. I suspect the medley would have ended with “Our Love is Here to Stay” even if nobody had suggested it, though. It was, after all, George Gershwin’s last song and writing the lyric for it pulled Ira out of the depression caused by his brother’s death. You couldn’t ask for a better way to end a tribute to the Gershwins.

Michael Feinstein’s appearance with the symphony was, in short, a very classy and entertaining way to spend the afternoon on Mother’s Day. My mom, who grew up with this music, certainly enjoyed it. Judging from the audience response, she was clearly in the majority.

Post-season activity at Powell Hall continues through June 22nd. Upcoming events include a pops concert featuring Rhapsody in Blue with Sarina Zhang at the keyboard and Ward Stare at the podium on Friday, May 18; a concert by the Youth Orchestra on Sunday, May 20; and Bond and Beyond: 50 Years of 007 on Saturday, June 2. For more information, visit stlsymphony.org.

Complete song list:

Medley: “Luck Be a Lady” (Loesser) / “All I Need is the Girl” (Styne / Sondheim)
“I Concentrate on You” (Porter)
“I Wanna Be Around” (Mercer / Vimmerstedt)
“I Won’t Send Roses” (Herman)
“Brazil” (Barroso)
“The Folks Who Live on the Hill” (Kern / Hammerstein)
“Somewhere” (Bernstein / Sondheim)
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (Berlin)
“Once in a Lifetime” (Bricusse / Newley)
“The Way You Look Tonight” (Kern / Fields)
“I Love a Piano” (Berlin)
Medley: “When I Fall in Love” (Young / Heyman) / “My Foolish Heart” (Young / Washington)
“Fascinatin’ Rhythm” (Gershwin)
“They Can’t Take That Away From Me” (Gershwin)
Gershwin medley: “By Strauss” / “I Got Rhythm” / “Someone to Watch Over Me” / “Our Love is Here to Stay”
“For Once in My Life” (Miller / Murden)
“New York, New York” (Kander / Ebb)

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 14, 2012

Updated Tuesday, May 15

[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 Alton Little Theater presents The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through May 20 at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. For more information, call 618.462.6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

Perestroika

Stray Dog Theatre presents Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Part 2: Perestroika Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 PM.. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, call 314-865-1995. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble presents Lanford Wilson's Burn This Wednesday through Saturdays at 8 PM through May 26. Performances take place at Black Cat Theatre, 2810 Sutton in Maplewood. For more information, call visit slightlyoff.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

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 Saturdaysat 9 PM at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185, email stlouis at byebyeliver.com, or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Bizet's Carmen in rotating repertory with three other operas May 19 through June 23. 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.

Lola Van Ella

Show Me Burlesque presents the Carnivalesque/The Beggar's Carnivale on Sarturday, May 19, at 8 PM at the Casa Loma Ballroom, 3354 Iowa. The event is part of the three-day Show Me Burlesque Festival. For more information, visit showmeburlesque.com.

The Unity Theatre Ensemble presents the musical Everything Must Change: Message in the Music Thursday and Friday at 7:30 PM, Saturday at 3 and 7:30 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM, May 17-20. “Join Unity Theatre Ensemble and explore through music, song, dance and poetry the elements of hatred, intolerance and racism infesting our culture and the need for acceptance and harmony now! Come and be inspired to celebrate what unites all of us rather than divides us.” Performances take place at the Ivory Theater, 7620 Michigan. For more information, call (314) 631-8330.

A select group of performing artists from St. Lou Fringe will be previewing their work at a special Fringe Tease event on Tuesday, May 15, at 7 PM at the FUBAR, 3108 Locust. Patrons may learn more about the Fringe model, and get a taste of some of the shows that will perform in June. “St Lou Fringe connects cutting edge performing arts with accessible, affordable performances for audiences.” The St Lou Fringe Festival is scheduled for June 21-25. For more information, visit stlfringe.com.

The Alpha Players of Florissant presents Neil Simon's God's Favorite May 18-27 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.

Jacob and Jack

New Jewish Theatre presents James Sherman's Jacob and Jack through May 20. The play is “a rip-roaring, door-slamming backstage farce that combines elements of both contemporary and Yiddish theatre.” 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!

The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents the comedy Lend Me a Tenor through May 20. 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.

KTK Productions presents the musical Little Shop of Horrors Friday and Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 2 PM. Performances take place at Southampton Presbyterian Church, 4716 Macklind. For more information, call 314-351-8984.

Gitana Productions presents Muddy River Friday and Saturday at 8 PM at the Cardinal Rigali Center, 20 Archbishop May Drive. Muddy River is “an original dance theatre performance that explores iconic St. Louis racial events and issues.” For more information, visit www.gitana-inc.org or call 314-721-6556.

The New Century

Max and Louie Productions presents Paul Rudnick's The New Century through May 20. “This provocative and outrageous comedy features a collection of hilarious characters dealing with issues within the LGBT community. The celebrated playwright, screen writer and New Yorker contributor, Paul Rudnick, explores themes of inclusion and tolerance in these heartfelt set of vignettes, providing evidence of just where our new century might be heading.” Performances take place at COCA, 524 Trinity in University City. For more information, visit maxandlouie.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Dance St. Louis and The Fox Theatre present the farewell tour of Riverdance May 18 through 20. The Fox Theatre is at 527 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678.

Rounding Third

HotCity Theatre presents Richard Dresser's Rounding Third, “a comedic and scary look at raising kids in a world where winning is everything,” Thursdays through Sundays, May 11-26. 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!

Show Me Burlesque presents the Show Me Burlesque Gala on Thursday, May 17, at 8 PM at the Coliseum, 2619 Washington. The event is part of the three-day Show Me Burlesque Festival. For more information, visit showmeburlesque.com.

Show Me Burlesque presents the Show Me Spectacular on Friday, May 18, at 8 PM at the Sheldon Concert Hall, 3654 Washington, followed by the Red Light District Revue upstairs at the Sheldon Ballroom starting at 11 PM. The event is part of the three-day Show Me Burlesque Festival. For more information, visit showmeburlesque.com.

Star Trek: Live!

Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre presents Star Trek: Live! Friday and Saturday at 8 PM and 10:30 PM at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar in University City. The show is presented in cooperation with the St. Louis Science Center's Star Trek: The Experience Exhibit. Visitors to the exhibit receive a “buy one, get one free” admission to any 10:30 performance. For more information, visit stlshakespeare.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Slaying Dragons presents The Tragedy of Mary Todd Lincoln: Insane or Sane (2012) on Sunday, May 20, at 7 PM at The Center for Spiritual Living, 12875 Fee Fee Road. The free performance “will be followed by a brief question and answer session led by a mental healthcare provider”. For more information, visit www.slayingdragons.org or call 314-596-1219.

A mostly jolly holiday

Rachel Wallace and Case Dillard

What: Mary Poppins
Where: Peabody Opera House, St. Louis
When: May 8-13, 2012

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The staging looks a bit cramped at times, especially in the big ensemble numbers, and the show itself feels a bit too long, but on the whole it truly is a jolly holiday with Mary Poppins, thanks to solid production values and a great cast.

Based on both the classic Disney film and the original novels by P.L. Travers, Mary Poppins has been a huge hit both in London (where it originated in 2004) and on Broadway, where it has been running for over six years now, despite opening to mixed reviews. The current tour, while scaled back in scope from the original (Mary Poppins no longer flies out over the audience, for example, and the flying rigs are very visible), still provides its share of entertainment.

The book by Julian Fellowes sticks fairly close to the film but gives a bit more psychological depth to the Banks family. It felt like it could use some trimming, but that may just be due to the lack of some of the engaging technical flash of the original West End and Broadway productions. George Stiles and Anthony Drewe—who wrote the score of for the amiable musical Honk!—have expanded some of the songs the Sherman brothers wrote for the 1964 film and added several others. Some are merely serviceable but many, including the appealing “Anything Can Happen” and the insightful “Being Mrs. Banks”, add considerably to the show.

This production’s biggest asset, though, is its cast. They’re all exceptionally talented and energetic—an essential combination in a show as demanding as this one. Choreographer Matthew Bourne has given them an impressive array of flashy dances, especially for “Step in Time” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. They pull them off with precision, crowded stage and all.

Case Dillard is Bert, cockney jack-of-all-trades and the story’s narrator. The role requires a solid singer and dancer and Mr. Dillard is both. His Bert is a thoroughly charming fellow, whether strolling through the Technicolor garden of “Jolly Holiday” or dancing up and across the top of the proscenium (with one of those flying rigs) in “Step in Time”.

Rachel Wallace is a completely winning Mary Poppins. I don’t think she’s primarily a dancer, but she certainly holds her own in the absurdly complicated choreography for “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. Besides, she has the lovely “light opera” voice that the role calls for and the equally important killer smile.

The first sentence in Elizabeth Broadhurst’s bio boasts of “over 1,000 performance of Mary Poppins on tour”, so it’s perhaps no surprise that she’s so completely winning as Mrs. Banks. She certainly makes the most of the additional material that fleshes out her character. Michael Dean Morgan has a kind of Monty Pythonesque quirkiness as Mr. Banks and he, too, finds all the added nuances provided by songs like “A Man Has Dreams”.

Q. Smith has a pair of plum roles as the Bird Woman (a touching performance of “Feed the Birds”) and the dreadful Miss Andrew, the Anti-Poppins. They are, to say the least, sharply contrasting characters and she’s great in both, with some real vocal pyrotechnics in “Brimstone and Treacle”.

On opening night, the roles of the Banks children were taken by Marissa Ackerman and Zachary Mackiewicz (they alternate with Cherish Myers and Zach Timson). Both were quite engaging, with none of the hesitancy that you sometimes see in very young performers.

Other fine performances which deserve a tip of the virtual topper include Tregony Shepherd as the acerbic cook Mrs. Brill, Blake Segal as the hapless Robertson Ay, Benn Atkin as the magically animated statue of Neleus, Tonya Thompson as the lively Mrs. Corry, and Ryan Hilliard as both Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman.

Bob Crowley’s colorful pop-up story book sets (adapted from his more elaborate originals) and Jim Halliday’s equally vivid costumes look great and the ensemble of mostly local musicians under music director Daniel Bowling sounded fine. Richard Eyre’s direction keeps everything clear and focused.

As I mentioned earlier, the stage looks rather crowded at times, as if the producers had decided to put more actors up there than could be easily accommodated by the set’s false proscenium. I’m not sure whether this is a design issue or a problem with the wing space at the Peabody, but I was sometimes left with the sense that, to quote my companion, the show was “too big for the space”. There did appear to be some sort of wing-related issue on opening night when one of the scene trucks jammed before reaching stage center and the entire show had to stop for around five minutes until the problem was resolved.

Of course, unless you’re a champion curmudgeon or a theatre critic (insert snarky comment here), I doubt that you’ll find this production’s minor shortcomings to be obstacles to your enjoyment of the evening. If you love the movie or the books, I expect you’ll have a jolly holiday with this Mary. By all means, go and take the kids. Be aware, though, that the show runs over two hours and forty-five minutes with intermission, so a matinee might be best for the younger ones.

“Marry Poppins” runs through Sunday, May 13, at the Peabody Opera House at 14th and Market. For more information, you may visit peabodyoperahouse.com.

Chuck's Choices for the weekend of May 11, 2012

As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

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New this week:

Rachel Wallace and Case Dillard as
Mary Poppins and Bert

Peabody Opera House presents the classic musical Mary Poppins through Sunday. The staging looks a bit cramped at times, especially in the big ensemble numbers, and the show itself feels a bit too long, but on the whole it truly is a jolly holiday with Mary Poppins, thanks to solid production values and a great cast. Check out my complete review for 88.1 KDHX. For more information, visit peabodyoperahouse.com or call 314-622-5420.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra presents Michael Feinstein in concert on Sunday at 2 PM at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. Mr. Feinstein surely needs no introduction. He's a walking encyclopedia of popular music and a smooth cabaret artist. I don't know how well his act will play in the symphony hall, but I expect he's gotten pretty good at adapting it without losing the intimacy. For more information, visit stlsymphony.org.

Held over:

Stray Dog Theatre’s production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America continues this this Thursday through Sunday with Part 1: Millennium Approaches. Next week they’ll conclude the run by presenting Part 2: Perestroika again. These are beautifully written plays and the Stray Dog production has gotten strong notices (see Andrea Braun’s reviews of Part 1 and Part 2 at the KDHX site). I’m attending the final two weekends myself. Performances take place at Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, call 314-865-1995.

The Black Rep presents August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom through Sunday. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. Writing for us at KDHX, Connie Bollinger praised the “convincing, flawless performances” of the principals and the “finessed, punch-to–the-gut impact” of the both the play and the production. For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810.

The Fox Theatre presents the musical Memphis through Sunday. At a time when far too many Broadway musicals are either theme parks or retreads, "Memphis" stands out by offering an intelligent book with a message of hope and decency amid hate and fear, a solid score, and terrific performances. Inspired by the life of 1950s Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips, whose “Red, Hot, and Blue” radio show was one of the first to bring black music to the attention of white audiences, “Memphis” is the story of the struggle to integrate American music and popular culture. It’s a struggle that mirrored the parallel battle playing out in the political arena. You can see my complete review for KDHX here. The Fox Theatre is at 527 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678.

Speaking of cheesy tech....

Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre (the bastard love child of St. Louis Shakespeare) presents Star Trek: Live! Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM through May 19, at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar in University City. The show is presented in cooperation with the St. Louis Science Center's Star Trek: The Experience Exhibit. Visitors to the exhibit receive a “buy one, get one free” admission to any 10:30 performance. If you’ve seen a Monkey show in the past, you know what to expect: deliberately and often hilariously cheesy tech, consciously hokey acting, and an attitude of nose-thumbing irreverence. For more information, visit stlshakespeare.org.

Rach on

Who: Pianist Stephen Hough and The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Oundjian
What: Music of Glinka, Rachmaninoff, and Beethoven
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis
When: May 4-6, 2012

Powell Hall was packed to the last row of the balcony Saturday night for a coruscating Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto with Stephen Hough (who had just performed the First Concerto the night before) earning a Purple Heart at the keyboard and a driving Beethoven 5th with Peter Oundjian at the podium. If that wasn’t the best way to end a St. Louis Symphony season then (to paraphrase the punch line of an old joke) it was way ahead of whatever’s in second place.

I’m at a loss to explain why the house was so much larger this weekend. Was it word of mouth about Mr. Hough’s impressive performances of the Rachmaninoff First and Second concerti last weekend? The presence of the Beethoven Fifth—a tried and true warhorse—on the bill? The simple fact that the last concert, like the first, is always a significant event? I don’t know the answer, but if the symphony could replicate this kind of attendance on a regular basis, all local music lovers would surely rejoice.

In any case, the capacity crowd got what they came for: an exciting evening of music making.

The Rach Third is the K2 of piano concerti. Fiercely difficult, it’s a reminder of what a prodigious pianist Rachmaninoff was. For many years after its 1909 premiere, its only real advocate was the composer himself. Even the virtuoso to whom the piece is dedicated, Josef Hofmann, never attempted to perform it in public. It wasn’t until the great Vladimir Horowitz recorded it in 1930 and began to actively promote it that it started to rise in popularity. Performances are probably more common today, but even so it’s not the sort of thing a pianist takes on lightly.

Stephen Hough, fortunately, has the combination of technique and musical sensitivity required to not only perform this remarkable piece but to make it sing as well. Sure, you need that strength and accuracy for the daunting first movement cadenza and the fireworks of the finale. But without a sense of poetry the lyrical (if not hallucinatory) flights of the second movement might, in the hands of a lesser pianist, fall flat. Despite what looked like minimal visual communication between Mr. Hough and Mr. Oundjian, it all worked beautifully Saturday night. Maybe they use telepathy.

The Third’s final movement is clearly written with an eye for the slam-bang finish, capped with the composer’s characteristic four-note signature (“Rach-man-in-OFF”), and that is certainly what we got Saturday night. The standing ovation was huge and hugely spontaneous, resulting in a lovely little encore: Federico Mompou’s "Jeunes filles au jardin" (“Young girls in the garden”) from his Scenes d’enfants.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 poses its own set of difficulties. It’s so well known and has been performed so often. What does a conductor do to put his own stamp on it and make it sound fresh? Mr. Oundjian seems to have taken a leaf from the book of Roger Norrington and the other “original instrument” folks by respecting (as far as I could tell) Beethoven’s original metronome markings and conducting with a rather light hand.

The result wasn’t so much an interpretation as a realization. I wouldn’t say it was revelatory, but it did make it easier to understand why E.T.A. Hoffmann, enthusiastically reviewing the 1808 premier in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, described it as "one of the most important works of the time." Last night’s was a performance that generated tremendous momentum and excitement, garnering yet another thoroughly deserved standing ovation.

The program opened with joyous reading of the overture to Glinka’s nationalist fantasy opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. It’s one of those pieces that used to crop up often as “filler” on classical LPs in Olden Times, and it still serves that function on classical radio stations. It’s also a standard at “pops” concerts, with a pair of irresistible melodies and a neat little solo tympani part guaranteed to please—as they did Saturday night.

Although this weekend’s performances marked the conclusion of the official symphony season, a number of special event concerts will be popping up at Powell Hall in May and June, including The Music of Led Zepplin on May 11, an appearance by Michael Feinstein on the 13th, and a pops concert featuring Rhapsody in Blue with Sarina Zhang at the keyboard and Ward Stare at the podium on May 18. For details on these and other “one of” events, you may visit stlsymphony.org.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of May 7, 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 Alton Little Theater presents The Adventures of Tom Sawyer May 11-20 at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. For more information, call 618.462.6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

Millennium Approaches

Stray Dog Theatre presents Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM, May 10-12. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, call 314-865-1995. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Stray Dog Theatre presents Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Part 2: Perestroika Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM, May 3-5, and May 17-19. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, call 314-865-1995. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Perestroika

The St. Louis Writers' Group presents a reading of the new play with music, Apollo's Way by Mario Farwell, on Monday, May 7, at 7:30 PM at Big Daddy's, 1000 Sidney in Soulard. There's no admission charge; refreshments and food may be purchased from restaurant. For more information, visit www.stlwritersgroup.com, call 314-865-1296, or send an e-mail to farwemar at aol.com.

The Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble presents Lanford Wilson's Burn This Wednesday through Saturdays at 8 PM, May 9 through 26. Performances take place at Black Cat Theatre, 2810 Sutton in Maplewood. For more information, call visit slightlyoff.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 Saturdaysat 9 PM at Maggie O'Brien's, 2000 Market Street. For more information, you may call 314-827-4185, email stlouis at byebyeliver.com, or visit byebyeliver.com/stlouis.

Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels through May 13. 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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Looking Glass Playhouse presents the musical The Drowsy Chaperone through May 13. Performances take place at 301 West St. Louis Street in Lebanon, Ill. For more information, visit www.lookingglassplayhouse.com.


Dramatic License Productions presents the musical I Do! I Do! Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, April 26 through May 13. Performances take place at Dramatic License Theatre located at the upper level of Chesterfield Mall (near Sears and across from Houlihan's Restaurant. For more information, call 636-220-7012 or visit dramaticlicenseproductions.com Read the 88.1 KDHX review!.

The Opera Theatre of St. Louis Illuminating Opera series presents Sweeney Todd: The Secret's in the Seasoning, a talk featuring Carondelet Bakery co-owner Linda Smith, actress Karen Ziemba (Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd), Opera Theatre Music Director Stephen Lord, and director Ron Daniels. It takes place on Monday, May 7, at 7:30 PM 7:30 PM at the Ethical Society, 9001 Clayton Road. For more information, visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Jacob and Jack

New Jewish Theatre presents James Sherman's Jacob and Jack through May 20. The play is “a rip-roaring, door-slamming backstage farce that combines elements of both contemporary and Yiddish theatre.” 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!

The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents the comedy Lend Me a Tenor May 11 through 20. 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.

KTK Productions presents the musical Little Shop of Horrors Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, May 11-20. Performances take place at Southampton Presbyterian Church, 4716 Macklind. For more information, call 314-351-8984.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

The Black Rep presents August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom through May 13. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Peabody Opera House presents the classic musical Mary Poppins may 8 through 13. For more information, visit peabodyoperahouse.com or call 314-622-5420. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Memphis

The Fox Theatre presents the musical Memphis through May 13. “Inspired by actual events, Memphis is about a white radio DJ who wants to change the world and a black club singer who is ready for her big break.” The Fox Theatre is at 527 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra presents Michael Feinstein in concert on Sunday, May 13, at 2 PM at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. For more information, visit stlsymphony.org.

Gitana Productions presents Muddy River Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, May 11-19, at the Cardinal Rigali Center, 20 Archbishop May Drive. Muddy River is “an original dance theatre performance that explores iconic St. Louis racial events and issues.” For more information, visit www.gitana-inc.org or call 314-721-6556.

Max and Louie Productions presents Paul Rudnick's The New Century May 10 through 20. “This provocative and outrageous comedy features a collection of hilarious characters dealing with issues within the LGBT community. The celebrated playwright, screen writer and New Yorker contributor, Paul Rudnick, explores themes of inclusion and tolerance in these heartfelt set of vignettes, providing evidence of just where our new century might be heading.” Performances take place at COCA, 524 Trinity in University City. For more information, visit maxandlouie.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

HotCity Theatre presents Richard Dresser's Rounding Third, “a comedic and scary look at raising kids in a world where winning is everything,” Thursdays through Sundays, May 11-26. 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.

Star Trek: Live!

Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre presents Star Trek: Live! Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, May 4 through 19, at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar in University City. The show is presented in cooperation with the St. Louis Science Center's Star Trek: The Experience Exhibit. Visitors to the exhibit receive a “buy one, get one free” admission to any 10:30 performance. For more information, visit stlshakespeare.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!