Chuck's Choices for the weekend of June 29, 2012

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

Share on Google+:

New this week:

Ain't Misbehavin'

Stages St. Louis presents the "Fats" Waller musical Ain't Misbehavin' through Sunday. Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road in Kirkwood. This lively tour of songs made popular by Thomas "Fats" Waller has always been a favorite of mine and the Stages production is apparently a good one. In her review for KDHX, Sheila Schultz says the show "overflows with rhythm and vigor." For more information, visit stagesstlouis.org or call 314-821-2407.

Un Ballo in Maschera

Union Avenue Opera presents Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, June 29-July 7. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sung in Italian with projected English text. I won't get to see this until next weekend, but I'm singling it out because Union Avenue is almost always a company worth watching and because performances of thie work are relatively rare. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

Chicago

The Muny presents the first Muny production of the Broadway musical Chicago  through Sunday at 8:15 PM in the outdoor theatre in Forest Park. The last time the Muny put Chicago on stage was when they paid the original Broadway cast to bring the show here in the early 1970s, only to censor the words they thought were offensive, thereby making St. Louis a laughing stock and providing a hilarious story for those of us who witnessed the debacle. Apparently they have learned their lesson. In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Bob Mitchell says director and choreographer Denis Jones "does a superb job of transferring Chicago to the huge Muny stage, always keeping this bright and bubbly, while not glossing over the very human feelings of the characters." For more information, visit muny.org or call 314-361-1900.

Stray Dog Theatre presents a staged reading of the new play Dispersion by Joël Henning Doty Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. OK, I'm being a bit self-serving here since I'm in the cast, but mine is the smallest part and the rest of the actors are really quite good. You'll recognize two of them from Stray Dog's remarkable Angels in America. Besides, new works by local authors are always something to be encouraged and you can't beat the price (free). For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

Held over:

OnSite Productions presents Bowling Epiphany - The Revival! by Carter Lewis through Saturday. Performances take place at Epiphany Lanes, 3164 Ivanhoe Avenue. OnSite's mission—unique in St. Louis as far as I know—is to present site-specific theatre pieces. This set of one-acts with bowling themes is a classic example of their unusal approach to theatre. In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Robert Mitchell describes the show as "fast, funny, fluffy fun, perfect for a summer's night spent in a bowling alley!" For more information, visit onsitetheatre.org or call 314-686-0062.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of June 25, 2012

Updated Wednesday, June 27

[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.

Share on Google+

Ain't Misbehavin'

Stages St. Louis presents the "Fats" Waller musical Ain't Misbehavin' through 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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Riverside Shakespeare Theatre Company presents Shakespeare's As You Like It, directed by Dr. Judy E. Yordon, in Frontier Park in St. Charles through July 1. Performances are at 8 PM with a closing matinee at 2 PM. The opening act by Monkey Tales Theatre, a local non-profit children's theater company, begins one half-hour before each show. For more information, you may visit riversidetheatreco.org or send email to riversideshakespeare at gmail.com.

Un Ballo in Maschera

Union Avenue Opera presents Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, June 29-July 7. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sung in Italian with projected English text. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

OnSite Productions presents Bowling Epiphany - The Revival! by Carter Lewis through June 30. Performances take place at Epiphany Lanes, 3164 Ivanhoe Avenue. For more information, visit onsitetheatre.org or call 314-686-0062. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

First Run Theatre presents Neville Mur's Brooklyn Bagatelle Fridays through Sundays through July 1. Performances take place in the Thomas Hunter Theatre at DeSmet Jesuit High School, 233 N New Ballas Road.. For more information email info at firstruntheatre.com, or visit www.firstruntheatre.com. 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.

Chicago

The Muny presents the first Muny production of the Broadway musical Chicago Monday through Sunday at 8:15 PM, June 25-July 1, in the outdoor theatre in Forest Park. For more information, visit muny.org or call 314-361-1900. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents Cinderella Thursday through Sunday, June 28-July 1. Performances take place in the Guild theatre at Newport and Summit in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, visit theaterguildwg.org or call 314-962-0876.

Marble Stage Fairy Tale Theatre presents Cinderella Investigated Saturdays at noon through June 30 at Southampton Presbyterian Church, 4716 Lackland. For more information, call 314-437-0846 or visit www.marblestage.org.

Stray Dog Theatre presents a staged reading of the new play Dispersion by Joël Henning Doty Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM, June 28-30. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. The cast includes 88.1 KDHX's own Chuck Lavazzi. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

The Hawthorne Players present Hawthorne Goes Classical (Lightly) on Saturday, June 30, at 8 PM. “This benefit concert, directed by Paul Morris, will feature the 50-piece Hawthorne Orchestra and sixteen vocalists in a program of light classical music, including works by Gilbert and Sullivan, Puccini, Verdi, Tchaikovsky and Ralph Vaughan Williams.” The performance takes place at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre at Parker and Waterford in Florissant, MO. For more information, call 921-5678 or visit hawthorneplayers.com.

The Jungle Book

Stages St. Louis presents the musical The Jungle Book through 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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

St. Lou Fringe Report: The Amazing Barry

Who: The Amazing Barry
What: Almost Reality
When: June 21-24, 2012
Where: The Kranzberg Center black box at the St. Lou Fringe Festival

As some of you may know, I got my start in show biz in my teen years as a magician. I performed with a local variety troupe, joined the Society of American Magicians, and even got a trophy at an SAM convention for my comedy card act. Most of that has fallen by the wayside over the years, but I have never lost my fascination with stage magic in general and sleight of hand in particular.

I point all this out so you’ll understand that when I say that The Amazing Barry is not only an entertaining performer but a solid technician as well, y’all know I’m not just setting off flash paper.

The Amazing Barry is an informal comedy magician in the Harry Anderson mode. His entire act fits into a small brief case which doubles as a table and relies heavily on card tricks, spiked with classics like the razor–blade swallowing effect made famous by Houdini—an illusion which continues to creep me out, even though I know it’s not as dangerous as it looks.

There are also a couple of stunts. One of them—inserting himself into a giant balloon and then doing a card trick—is apparently an Amazing Barry trademark. The other—walking on broken glass in bare feet—is an old carnival standby, but still as effective as hell. Sometimes you just can’t beat the classics.

The Amazing Barry’s “Almost Reality” is an all-ages show, which means you can bring the kids and know a fine time will be had by all. If you sit in the front two rows you might end up as an on-stage volunteer and get a kiss (Hershey’s variety) from Barry as a reward.

For more information on the St. Lou Fringe Festival, including a complete performance schedule, visit stlfringe.com.

St. Lou Fringe Report: St. Louis Osuwa Taiko

Who: St. Louis Osuwa Taiko
What: Osuwa taiko drumming
When: June 21-24, 2012
Where: Nash Motor Company at the St. Lou Fringe Festival

The origins of the Japanese taiko tradition can be found in outdoor and large-space ceremonies as well as on the battlefield, where the massive drums were used to motivate troops. That means taiko is nothing if not loud, so when the energetic young performers of St. Louis Osuwa cut loose in the relatively intimate performance space at the Nash Motor Company, it’s enough to make your sinuses vibrate.

The troupe isn’t just about volume, of course. Their performance is a lively mix of drumming, chant, and choreographed movement. Add in the colorful costumes and you have a show with a strong visual appeal to go along with the auditory and visceral impact of those drums.

Most important of all, though, is obvious joy St. Louis Osuwa Taiko’s members take in the entire process. You might come out of the Nash with a bit of temporary high frequency hearing loss, but if you don’t also come out with a smile on your face you’re a bigger curmudgeon than I am. You might even want to consider buying one of their CDs.

You’ll definitely want to see St. Louis Osuwa Taiko at the Fringe, but take my advice: stop by your local drug store and pick up a pair of earplugs. Your eardrums will thank you for it.

For more information on the St. Lou Fringe Festival, including a complete performance schedule, visit stlfringe.com.

St. Lou Fringe Report: The Artist's Art

Who: Ω Productions
What: The Artist’s Art
Where: The St. Lou Fringe Festival
When: Friday, June 22, 10 PM; Saturday, June 23, 7 PM; Sunday, June 24, 2:30 PM

The Artist’s Art is really two experiences in one. For the first twenty minutes, you’re invited to create some art of your own. You can draw on the paper tablecloths covering the tales in the Kranzberg Center’s cabaret space, you can make something with modeling clay in the construction area in the center of the room, or you can use the water-soluble paint provided to paint a picture on one of the easels on the stage.

In the second half of the show, three fine actors (unnamed, I’m sorry to say; there was no program) perform a one-act play that asks some provocative questions about art and our relationship to it, using the works the audience has just created as props. The play is pretty smart stuff, playing with the balance between artist and audience with snappy dialog. It also plays literal head games: when the characters swap hats, they also partly swap identities. A classic bit of physical comedy with a painting leads to the punch line and a blackout. Entertaining stuff, and just long enough to make some points without belaboring them.

If you’re curious as to what medium I chose to work in, the answer is: modeling clay. I’m including a picture of my magnum opus here. It’s supposed to be Fred Astaire.

Well, I never said I was an artist.

The Artist’s Art is being presented in the Kranzberg Center’s cabaret space as part of the St. Lou Fringe Festival. For a complete schedule, you may visit stlfringe.com

St. Lou Fringe Report: Osgood Rex

Who: Project Wonder Meant
What: Osgood Rex
Where: The St. Lou Fringe Festival
When: Saturday, June 23, 8:30 PM; Sunday, June 24, 2:30 PM

Joshua Cook’s comedy Osgood Rex takes the classic tale of Oedipus Rex—or at least its outline—and drops it into the two-dimensional world of a classic black and white cartoon.

Osgood the Scrappy Squirrel is the king of Toonland until the rights to draw him are stolen from his creator, Eckhart Unger, and hack writers dull his comic edge. From Osgood’s point of view, the gods have abandoned him. With the help of his girl friend Mitzi Minx, the embittered former star Eggs the Cat, and the inebriated prophecies of Tipsy Toucan, he sets out to find out why—or get erased in the process.

The dialog neatly punctures the high-falutin’ English of translated ancient Greek while taking satirical pot shots at both theatrical and cartoon conventions. There are even mock-1920s musical numbers (hey, this is a cartoon, after all), including a "Minnie the Moocher" pastiche for the Chorus's big lamentation scene, to appropriately scratchy record-sounding ukulele accompaniment. There’s no composer credited, so I’m going to assume those neat little touches came from music director Kristin McGuire.

The performance I saw on the first day of the Festival was a bit scrappy in spots and the unison mock Greek chorus wasn’t as unison as it could have been, but that’s minor stuff. This was an entertaining production of a clever and inventive script by a strong cast. I especially liked Nicole Angeli’s liberated Mitzi Minx, Alan C. David’s Dean Martin-ish Tipsy Toucan, Christine Johnson’s Osgood (he’s a cartoon character, so naturally he has to have a high voice), and Chad Little’s sympathetic Eckhart, but they’re all fine actors.

Project Wonder Meant’s Osgood Rex is being presented in the Kranzberg Center’s black box theatre as part of the St. Lou Fringe Festival. For a complete schedule, you may visit stlfringe.com

Chuck's choices for the weekend of June 22, 2012

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

Share on Google+:

New this week:

OnSite Productions presents Bowling Epiphany - The Revival! by Carter Lewis through June 30. Performances take place at Epiphany Lanes, 3164 Ivanhoe Avenue. OnSite's mission—unique in St. Louis as far as I know—is to present site-specific theatre pieces. This set of one-acts with bowling themes is a classic example of their unusal approach to theatre. In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Robert Mitchell describes the show as "fast, funny, fluffy fun, perfect for a summer's night spent in a bowling alley!" For more information, visit onsitetheatre.org or call 314-686-0062.

"The Fringe is Near!"

The St. Lou Fringe Festival takes place Thursday through Sunday, June 21-24, at several venues in the Grand Center area including the Kranzberg Arts Center, the rock club Fubar, and the Nash Motor Building. Performances include traditional theater, dance, music, comedy, circus arts, performance art, magic and burlesque, with acts from St. Louis and around the country. I'll be one of a group of critics covering the festival and I have to say the variety of performers and groups is pretty impressive. All of us critical types will be naming our favorites at the Monday, June 25th, wrap-up party at Plush on Locust a block west of Compton; come on over and sit in. Fringeland opens at 3 PM on Thursday at Friday and at 10 AM on Saturday and Sunday; performances start an hour after opening and continue until around 11 PM, followed by after parties.  For a complete schedule, visit stlfringe.com.

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, you 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.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 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. As I noted in my review for 88.1 KDHX, I don't think director Michael Shell has completely solved the problems posed for modern audiences by Da Ponte's casually misogynistic libretto, but at least he tries, and the cast, chorus, and orchestra are just splendid.  For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644

New Line Theatre presents the rock musical High Fidelity Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through June 21. Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Robert Mitchell says "if rockin’ music with a good story is your idea of great entertainment, plan on seeing New Line’s High Fidelity." I'd add that you could hardly ask for a better cast than this one. For more information, call 314-534-1111.

Sweeney prepares Judge Turpin
for a close shave

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. 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 and set designer Riccardo Hernandez have made of couple of missteps (see my review for 88.1 KDHX for details) but on the whole this is the Sweeney Todd many of us have been waiting for. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Nino and Yo-Yo

Circus Flora presents its brand new show, The Wizard: Merlin and the Legends of King Arthur, through June 24 under the air-conditioned, red-and-white, big top tent in Grand Center next to Powell Hall. Sadly, I'm going to miss Circus Flora this year but it past seasons (and Connie Bollinger's review for 88.1 KDHX) are any indication, there will be fun for all. For more information, visit circusflora.org.

Take me to the world

Who: Insight Theatre Company
What: And the World Goes Round
When: June 15-24, 2012
Where: The Heagney Theatre at Nerinx Hall

Given the consistently high quality of their work, it’s somewhat surprising that the songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb hasn’t had more hit shows. Most people will recognize Cabaret, Chicago, the film New York, New York, and (maybe) Kiss of the Spider Woman, but after that you start getting into musical theatre geek territory with titles like The Happy Time and Woman of the Year.

And The World Goes Round, originally staged in 1991 and then revised and expanded a year later, collects thirty of the team’s best songs in a neat revue format. Insight Theatre Company is currently presenting a somewhat abridged version of the show. Nearly a third of the songs have been dropped, apparently due to the loss of a cast member late in the rehearsal period. The resulting production has a somewhat unfinished feel with abrupt transitions where numbers have been removed. Even so, the songs that remain get wonderfully polished performances from Katy Tibbets, Stephanie Long, Johanna Elkana Hale, Martin Fox, Charlie Ingram, and Peter Merideth, with assistance from choreographer Emily Fisher.

The format of And the World Goes Round will be familiar to anyone who has seen similar revues such as Side by Side by Sondheim: a bare stage with minimal props and set, no spoken dialog to speak of, and lots of music. Songs are assembled in related sets that give the evening a feeling of dramatic continuity. The unavoidable edits in this production kill some of that continuity, but it still holds together remarkably well.

The revue format gives every cast member multiple opportunities to shine, and they all do. Some of my favorite moments were Ms. Tibbets’s mastery of the changing moods of “Colored Lights” (from The Rink), Ms. Long’s bubbly “Arthur in the Afternoon” (from The Act), Mr. Ingram’s hilarious “Sara Lee” (also from The Act and a favorite of local cabaret artists), Ms. Hale’s jubilant “Ring Them Bells” (originally written for Liza Minnelli), Mr. Merideth’s charming “Marry Me” (from The Rink), and Mr. Fox’s evocation of Joel Grey in Cabaret. This is, in short, a very fine cast of talented young singing actors.

Director Edward Coffield keeps the show moving at a brisk pace. His staging decisions nicely illuminate character and underline the emotional core of each song without, for the most part, drawing undue attention to themselves. Using projected images to add political subtexts to a few songs is an inventive idea, and if it sometimes draws too much focus from the singers (most notably in “There Goes the Ballgame”, with its rapid montage of political losers), it can still pack a real punch. The best example of the latter is “Money Money”, with its video collage of Wall Street hustlers and “99%” protesters. Turning the protagonist of “Mr. Cellophane” into an emotionally damaged homeless man is also an effective touch, giving the song a shockingly relevant subtext.

And the World Goes Round is not necessarily a dancer’s show, but Ms. Fisher’s choreography is nevertheless a big plus. One hallmark of a good choreographer is the ability to make the actors look good regardless of their dancing ability. Ms. Fisher’s “Fosse lite” moves are a nice fit for this cast, even though not all of them are necessarily dancers, and they’re always appropriate to the emotional truth of each song.

Musical director Stephen Neale’s on-stage combo sounds tight and maintains a good balance with the cast’s amplified vocals. Communication with the actors is surprisingly good despite the fact that the band is placed far upstage, making visual contact difficult. Seth Jackson’s minimal sets and dramatic lighting are very effective in delineating playing areas and setting mood.

The bottom line on And the World Goes Round is that it’s well worth seeing, despite the edits, especially if you’re a Kander and Ebb fan. The show runs slightly over 90 minutes with intermission and runs through June 24th at the Heagney Theatre on the campus of Nerinx Hall high school at Big Bend and Lockwood in Webster Groves. For more information, you may visit insighttheatrecompany.com or call 314-556-1293.

One final note: If you have not been to the Heagney before, be aware that while parking is in on the north side of the building that houses the theatre, you’ll need to walk around the building to the east side to get in. There are no directions posted at the parking lot, so that’s not immediately obvious.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of June 18, 2012

Updated Monday, June 18

[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.

Share on Google+

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Wednesday through Sunday, June 20-24, in the Dunham Hall theater on the campus in Edwardsville, IL. For more information, call 618-650-2774.

Ain't Misbehavin'

Stages St. Louis presents the "Fats" Waller musical Ain't Misbehavin' through 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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Alice in Wonderland

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents the St. Louis premiere of Alice in Wonderland, with music by Unsuk Chin and libretto to David Henry Hwang, 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!

And the World Goes Round

Insight Theatre Company presents the Kander and Ebb musical revue And the World Goes Round through June 24. Performances take place in the Heagney Theatre, 530 East Lockwood on the campus of Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves. For more information, call 314-556-1293 or visit insighttheatrecompany.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Looking Glass Playhouse presents the musical Annie June 21-24. Performances take place at 301 West St. Louis Street in Lebanon, Ill. For more information, visit www.lookingglassplayhouse.com.

Riverside Shakespeare Theatre Company presents Shakespeare's As You Like It, directed by Dr. Judy E. Yordon, in Frontier Park in St. Charles from June 21 through July 1. Performances are at 8 PM with a closing matinee at 2 PM. The opening act by Monkey Tales Theatre, a local non-profit children's theater company, begins one half-hour before each show. For more information, you may visit riversidetheatreco.org or send email to riversideshakespeare at gmail.com.

OnSite Productions presents Bowling Epiphany - The Revival! by Carter Lewis through June 30. Performances take place at Epiphany Lanes, 3164 Ivanhoe Avenue. For more information, visit onsitetheatre.org or call 314-686-0062. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

First Run Theatre presents Neville Mur's Brooklyn Bagatelle Fridays through Sundays, June 22-July 1. Performances take place in the Thomas Hunter Theatre at DeSmet Jesuit High School, 233 N New Ballas Road.. For more information email info at firstruntheatre.com, or visit www.firstruntheatre.com.

The Pub Theater Company presents Bye Bye Liver: The St. Louis Drinking Play, a comedic romp through the joys and pitfalls of The Gateway to the West's favorite pastime. Performances take place on 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.

Carol Schmidt

The Cabaret Project presents a cabaret open mic night on Wednesday, June 20, 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!

Marble Stage Fairy Tale Theatre presents Cinderella Investigated Saturdays at noon through June 30 at Southampton Presbyterian Church, 4716 Lackland. For more information, call 314-437-0846 or visit www.marblestage.org.

Cosi fan Tutte

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte in rotating repertory with three other operas 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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

ACT Inc. presents the comedy The Damask Cheek by John Van Druten and Lloyd Morris Friday and Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 2 PM,. 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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Washington Avenue Players Project presents John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea: An Apache Dance Thursday at 8:30 PM, Friday at 7 PM, Saturday at 5 PM and Sunday at 8:30 PM, June 21-24. Performances take place at the Nash Building, 3000 Locust. The show is part of the St. Lou Fringe Festival. For more information, you may visit thewapp.com or stlfringe.com.

The Monroe Actors Stage Company presents the comedy Dearly Beloved through June 24 in the Historic Capitol Theatre in downtown Waterloo, Illinois. For more information, visit www.masctheatre.org or call 618 939 7469.

Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble presents Hamletmachine Thursday through Sunday, June 21-24. Performances take place at Black Cat Theatre, 2810 Sutton in Maplewood. For more information, call visit slightlyoff.org.

High Fidelity

New Line Theatre presents the rock musical High Fidelity Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through June 21. Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. For more information, call 314-534-1111. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Hard Road Theatre presents the musical Into the Woods Junior Thursday through Sunday, June 21-24, at the Highland Elementary Auditorium, 1800 Lindenthal Avenue in Highland, IL. For more information, visit hardroad.org or call 618-654-7748.

Insidious

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!.

Stages St. Louis presents the musical The Jungle Book June 20-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.

Shooting Star Productions presents The Music Man Friday through Sunday, June 22-24 Performances take place at incarnate Word Academy, 2788 Normandy Drive. For more information, visit shootingstarproductions.org.

HotCity Theatre presents a staged reading of Larry Kramer's drama The Normal Heart Wednesday through Friday, June 20-22. Performances take place at the Fox Hole at The Atomic Cowboy. For more information, visit www.hotcitytheatre.org or call 314-289-4063.

The Third Time

West End Players Guild presents three plays by St. Louis playwright Stephen Peirick: The Right Stuff, The Goodbye Party, and The Third Time. The performances are part of the St. Lou Fringe Festival. Performances take place Thursday at 7 PM, Friday at 4 PM, Saturday at 8:30 PM, and Sunday at 4 PM in the cabaret space at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand. For more information, visit westendplayers.org or stlfringe.com.

The Brass Rail Players present the comedy Rumors Performances take place Thursday through Sunday, June 21-24, at the Lindenwood University Premier Center For The Arts In Belleville, Il. For more information, visit brassrailplayers.org.

The St. Lou Fringe Festival takes place Thursday through Sunday, June 21-24, at several venues in the Grand Center area including the Kranzberg Arts Center, the rock club Fubar, and the Nash Motor Building. Performances include traditional theater, dance, music, comedy, circus arts, performance art, magic and burlesque, with acts from St. Louis and around the country. For a complete schedule, visit stlfringe.com.

Sweeney Todd

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!

The Muny presents the first Muny production of the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie Monday through Sunday at 8:15 PM, June 18-24, in the outdoor theatre in Forest Park. For more information, visit muny.org or call 314-361-1900.

Nino and Yo-Yo

Circus Flora presents its brand new show, The Wizard: Merlin and the Legends of King Arthur through June 24 under the air-conditioned, red-and-white, big top tent in Grand Center next to Powell Hall. For more inforamtion, visit circusflora.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The People, yes.

Peter Henderson

Who: Members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
What: The Pulitzer Contemporary Music Festival
When: June 14, 2012
Where: The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts

If you had any doubts that the St. Louis Symphony was an orchestra of virtuosi, the opening concert of the Pulitzer Contemporary Music Festival at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts Thursday night would surely have dispelled them. Orchestra members Eva Kozma (violin), Morris Jacob (viola), and Bjorn Ranheim (cello and "Voice of God"), along with violinist Peter Otto (a former orchestra member now living in Cleveland), gave us an utterly compelling performance of George Crumb's Black Angels: Thirteen Images from the Dark Land (the "Pavana Lachrymae" section was especially moving), followed by a dazzling reading by pianist Peter Henderson of Frederic Rzewski's The People United Will Never Be Defeated!. Yes, the piece is over-written and bit self-indulgent at times, but dang, what a performance!

The two works have more in common than just the remarkable demands they make on performers. They were written within just a few years of each other (Black Angels in 1971, The People in 1975) and both have extra-musical political references—Crumb’s to the Vietnam War and Rzewski’s to the Chilean Resistance that adopted the original Sergio Ortega tune as their anthem. As David Robertson pointed out in his pre-concert remarks, both also transcend and transform those connotations.

Black Angels is the more radical and probably the more famous of the two. Written for amplified string quartet, the work requires the players not only to use their instruments in unusual ways (at one point he has the violins and viola literally turn their instruments upside down to produce the unearthly sound of the "Pavana Lachrymae") but to play other instruments as well, including hand-held percussion and glasses filled with water in the manner of the 18th-century glass harmonica. He also has them whistle, whisper, shout, and chant.

All that requires musicians who are also comfortable with the overt theatricality of Crumb’s work, which this quartet clearly was. I think it must be difficult to do some of the unusual things Crumb requires (such as counting loudly to five in various languages) and still stay focused on the music, but they did it. This was an entertaining and moving performance of a challenging piece.

The People United Will Never Be Defeated! is challenging stuff as well, and not just for the soloist, who is called upon to whistle and shout as well as play nearly an hour of music that demands every ounce of technique a pianist can muster. It’s a tough nut for the audience, as well, since Rzewski’s variations are often so ingenious that the tune disappears completely, making it easy to lose your way if you’re not intimately familiar with the piece. There’s also, to my ears, not quite enough variety in some of the variations to avoid a feeling that the work is becoming repetitious.

Still, it’s fun stuff on the whole, and it’s an interesting challenge to spot the various composers to whom Rzewski pays homage. As Mr. Robertson pointed out, The People is a compendium of just about every piano technique developed during the 20th century, making it a kind of amped-up version of the “Piano Puzzler” with which Bruce Adolph has been regaling us for the past decade on PRI’s Performance Today. I’m pretty sure I heard Ravel, Ives, Gershwin, Prokofiev, and (yes) Crumb in there somewhere.

The soloist for the Rzewski, Peter Henderson, is the ensemble keyboardist for the Symphony. His performance was stunning—technically proficient and musically aware. I was especially impressed by his work in the optional improvisation that precedes the final restatement of the theme. It was fiery, impassioned, and (honestly) more inventive than some of the composer’s variations.

The Pulitzer Contemporary Music Festival concluded Sunday, June 17th. The Symphony’s post-season activity is not over yet, though. Their Beatles tribute, Classical Mystery Tour, takes place on June 22nd. You may call 314-534-1700 for ticket information or visit stlsymphony.org.

Wonderland through the looking glass

Copyright Ken Howard, 2012

Who: Opera Theatre of St. Louis
What: Alice in Wonderland
When: June 13-June 23, 2012
Where: The Loretto-Hilton Center

Congratulations are in order for the orchestra, chorus, and the wonderful cast of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis's Alice in Wonderland, and especially for soprano Ashley Emerson as Alice. They do exceptional work with difficult and, ultimately, not very persuasive material. The opera pushes the performers and the company’s technical capabilities to their limits, but does so for no valid dramatic purpose. This is flash for the sake of flash, and it gets tiring rather quickly.

The problem, in my view, is that librettist David Henry Hwang and composer Unsuk Chin have extended, augmented, and generally beaten to death Lewis Carroll’s whimsical and witty creations. They have added irrelevant contemporary cultural references and have bookended the whole thing with a prelude and postscript that seem to have been dropped in from a German Expressionist cabaret. Your mileage may vary, but I found it rather heavy going.

That’s not to say that Mr. Hwang and Ms. Chin haven’t put a lot of brains and talent into this Alice. Mr. Hwang’s impressive credentials speak for themselves, of course, and his expansions of Carroll’s text are often brilliant, particularly in the Mad Tea Party sequence. But they’re mostly in a radically different and aggressively contemporary style that has little to do with the original. They also tend to outstay their welcome. Yes, having the Dormouse turn his story of the three sisters in the treacle well into a rap number is funny for about thirty seconds, but after that it becomes tiresome.

Ms. Chin’s impressively eclectic score is a treasure trove of nearly every musical meme of the last half century. It’s clearly the work of an immensely bright and gifted composer, but it’s often too clever by half, employing elaborate musical and percussive effects that detract from the text rather than amplify it. This is most obvious in her settings of Carroll’s verses, every one of which goes to great lengths to break the meter of the original, thereby draining much of the comic effect. Like the March Hare, she’s murdering the time.

All that said, Alice is very nearly redeemed by the impressive performances of its huge cast. Ashley Emerson, who was such a delight in Daughter of the Regiment last season, simply could not be better as Alice. Her diminutive stature is perfect for the part and her voice, while sometimes lacking the power needed to pierce Ms. Chin’s orchestration, has the flexibility and range the role requires. Ms. Chin seems to be fond of pushing her singers to the upper and lower limits of their voices, and towards the end Alice is required to hit some notes only dogs can hear.

Bass-baritone Aubrey Allicock is a wonderfully deranged Mad Hatter, but he’s equally effective in the Hatter’s very non-canonical lament for lost time. Tenor Matthew DiBattista shines as the rapping Dormouse and countertenor David Trudgen is a fine Rabbit and March Hare. Mezzo Jenni Bank has a nice turn as the hip-hop Duchess and soprano Ashley Logan is an appropriately abusive Cook.

Soprano Tracy Dahl, a familiar figure on the Opera Theatre stage, has a lovely turn as the Cheshire Cat, while soprano Julie Makerov exudes homicidal glee as the Queen of Hearts. Choreographer Seán Curran makes a rare on-stage appearance in two pantomime roles: the Caterpillar (accompanied only by James Meyer’s bass clarinet) and the Mock Turtle.

He’s great fun in both, although the Caterpillar’s sequence is another example of a joke that goes on too long, and having the unspoken dialog projected on the screens used for the projected English text might be a problem for those with visual impairments. If you’re going to do a scene in pantomime, it shouldn’t require subtitles.

There are many other fine performances in this cast—so many, in fact, that I can’t list them all here. I will say that there doesn’t appear to be a weak link in the lot, which is pretty remarkable given that there are 35 named roles altogether.

If his enthusiastic program notes are any indication, director James Robinson loves this Alice at much as I don’t, so it comes as no surprise that his blocking, pacing, and stage pictures are all exemplary. There are places where the action is likely to be baffling to anyone who is not familiar with the original novel (the business with Bill the Frog-Footman, for example), but that has more to do with the adaptation itself.

Fanciful sets by Allen Moyer and Tenniel-inspired costumes by James Schuette add to the strong visual appeal of the show, as do Ashley Ryan’s wigs and makeup. Lighting designer Christophe Akerlind and video designer Greg Emetaz also bring Wonderland’s magic to life.

Conductor Michael Christie and members of the St. Louis Symphony do a marvelous job with what sounds like a very challenging score, as does Robert Ainsley’s chorus.

For me, the bottom line on Alice in Wonderland is that all the truly spectacular work by the performers and designers is not ultimately enough to compensate for what I see as a fundamentally wrong-headed attempt to “improve” Carroll’s creation. There’s a fine line between the respectful adaptation and the complete deconstruction and re-write. This Alice crosses that line. I didn’t care for the results, but of course, your mileage may vary, and the production itself is certainly beyond reproach.

Alice in Wonderland continues through June 23rd at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org.

A Townie’s Guide for Out of Town Media

[This is a little guide to St. Louis treasures I put together for the out of town media flying in for the Opera Theatre season and the Music Critic's Association of North America meeting. Even if you're a St. Louis native, you might find some of this useful.]

So, you’ve arrived in St. Louis for a whirlwind musical weekend at Opera Theatre. You’ll be spending most of your time in the Loretto-Hilton center, granted, but what about the rest of it? Allow me to draw your attention to places to eat, drink, and be merry that are unique to St. Louis. Some of them have made the guidebooks while others are hidden gems. They’re my personal favorites (which means they’re mostly located within the city limits), and if you give them a try I think they might be yours as well.

For your convenience, I have included driving times in minutes from Opera Theatre (OT), downtown (DT), and the airport (AP).

Eat and Drink

Franco

Looking for a bistro to go with your Bizet? Franco (eatatfranco.com) in the Soulard Market Apartments building at 8th and Carroll (OT: 16, DT: 8, AP: 22) promises—and delivers—a “new take on classic French” with a seasonal menu that relies heavily on locally sourced meat, cheese, fish, and produce. Their location right across the street from the Soulard Farmers Market (www.soulardmarket.com) guarantees ready access to fresh ingredients, and the results are obvious from the first taste. The current menu includes grilled Missouri rainbow trout, roasted pork shoulder with white beans and roasted red peppers, and the classic bistro steak with shallot bleu cheese butter, bacon braised Brussels sprouts, and pommes frites. The pommes frites, by the way, are available as a separate small plate with black pepper, sea salt, and mayonnaise. They’re deservedly popular. Entrees are priced at $19 to $29.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Franco, though, is its noise control system. Even when the place is full, you can still have a conversation without having to shout. Credit a clever system of ornamental wood baffles hanging from the high ceiling. I wish other eateries would follow their example.

Speaking of the Soulard Farmers Market, you couldn’t ask for a better place to pick up some fresh produce for a quick snack or as a supplement to one of Ces and Judy’s catered picnic dinners. I’ve been shopping there for years and can strongly recommend the fresh fruits and vegetables offered by Merkle Produce (stalls 79B and 80) and the amazing local goat cheeses from Baetje Farms (stall 18). In the market’s central aisle, check out the spices, coffee, tea, meats, and cheeses at the impeccably clean and fragrant Soulard Spice Shop, and the world-class cinnamon rolls at the Soulard Bakery. The market is open from 7 AM to 5 PM Wednesday through Friday. It gets pretty crowded on Saturday mornings when all the stalls are open for business, which is why I always go on Friday afternoon.

While you’re there, take few minutes to walk around the Soulard neighborhood (soulard.org) that gives the market its name. It’s the oldest residential neighborhood in town and boasts impressive architectural styles including Second Empire with its characteristic Mansard roof.

The bar at Square One

How about a visit to a brewpub to accompany Sweeney Todd? St. Louis has seen an explosion in brewpubs in recent years. The best of them offer a variety of moderately priced and delectable food along with a wide variety of beers, ales, porters, and stouts produced on the premises. Here are a couple of my favorites.

• Square One Brewery and Distillery (www.squareonebrewery.com) is a family-owned business at 1727 Park Avenue (OT: 17, DT: 6, AP: 24) in the historic Lafayette Square neighborhood. The menu offers a wide assortment of sandwiches and entrees, including a game burger of the week (with toppings) for $10.95, a local charcuterie plate for $12.95, and a grilled polenta entrée with smoked tomato, avocado, and blended cheeses for $11.95. The bar offers a selection of their own beers and ales along with other brands, and includes a British cask ale system that serves your brew at cellar temperature. Spirits distilled on the premises include their remarkable JJ Neukomm Missouri cherry–wood smoked malt whiskey, which is not to be missed.
• The Schlafly Tap Room (schlafly.com/breweries/taproom) at 2100 Locust (OT: 20, DT: 5, AP: 25), which opened in 1991, was the first of the local brewpubs. Schlafly beer has since become a common offering at local bars, restaurants, and grocery stores. The Tap Room is housed in a restored wood and brick building that’s on the National Historic Register; itoffers a menu of classic pub grub, including soups, salads, sandwiches, and full dinners. Prices are moderate (the most expensive entrée is under $18). The bar offers the full range of Schlafly beers and includes a cask ale system.

The original Pi

How about a little pizza to go with Cosi fan Tutte? As you might expect in a city with a long Italian-American heritage, St. Louis is chockablock with pizza places. For the best deep-dish in town, check out Pi (www.restaurantpi.com) either at the original location at 6144 Delmar or its newer branches at 409 North Euclid in the very cool Central West End or 10935 Manchester Road in Kirkwood. It was Pi’s cornmeal crust pizza that so wowed President Obama when he visited St. Louis in 2008, and judging by the ongoing success of the eco-friendly business, St. Louisians agree. The menu is very vegetarian friendly without short-changing us carnivores.

If, on the other hand, you’d like to try classic thin-crust “St. Louis style” pizza, let me call your attention to Joanie’s (joaniespizzeria.com) at 2101 Menard (OT: 18, DT: 7, AP: 23) in Soulard or, for a really undiscovered local gem, Kevin’s Place (no web site, but his phone is 314-353-1400) at 2111 Cherokee (same travel times as Joanie’s). The latter is about as small as a small business gets. Kevin answers the phone, Kevin makes your pizza, and if you opt for delivery, Kevin will bring it to your door. The pizza crust is a both crispy and chewy and the toppings are generous. Take my advice and ask for mozzarella instead of provel, though. Yes, the latter is a “born in St. Louis” cheese, but its charm has always escaped me.

Just looking for drinks and dessert? You can’t go wrong with two local institutions: Cyrano’s (www.cyranos.com) at 603 East Lockwood within walking distance of Opera Theatre or Baileys Chocolate Bar (baileyschocolatebar.com) at 1915 Park Avenue (OT: 17, DT: 6, AP: 24) in Lafayette Square. Cyrano’s also offers a full dinner menu while Bailey’s has a wider variety of drinks and chocolate in every conceivable form and offers a very funky patio that’s ideal for these summer nights.

Be Merry

Citygarden at night

Downtown St. Louis offers a pair of unique attractions that rival anything in Alice in Wonderland. Citygarden (www.citygardenstl.org) is located in downtown St. Louis, between 8th Street to the east and 10th Street to the west, and Chestnut Street to the north and Market Street to the south (OT: 20, DT: 0, AP: 22). It’s a remarkable combination of interactive outdoor art gallery and garden that invites you to stroll and discover. There’s even a restaurant, Joe's Chili Bowl at the Terrace View, that offers unobstructed views of the garden.

A few blocks north and west at 701 North 15th Street (times same as Citygarden) is City Museum (www.citymuseum.org), the sui generis brainchild of the late sculptor and entrepreneur Bob Cassily who, in 1983, looked up on the vacant 250,000-square-floot International Shoe Building at the western edge of downtown St. Louis and saw an all-ages urban playground. Today City Museum draws around 600,000 visitors a year. The space includes an aquarium, a shoelace factory, a fire truck, two airplanes, a Ferris wheel, a six-story giant slide, a third-floor circus ring where Circus Harmony often performs, and a gargantuan jungle gym/architectural sculpture known as MonstroCity. Kids love the place, of course, but there’s plenty for adults to do here as well. Food and drink concessions at the museum include Samwiches in the City, the Baby Elephant Café, the Baleout Bar, the Cabin Inn (in a real cabin), and weather permitting, Grill Master Tony’s Outdoor BBQ and the Rooftop Cantina.

Yes, it’s a lot, and you probably won’t have time for most of it, but keep the information handy. I picked places that have been here for a while and will likely still be around next season. If you have any comments or questions, please email me at chuck at kdhx.org or just comment on this blog entry.

And enjoy the opera. I think you’ll agree that it’s a good season this year.

[About the author: Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic at 88.1 KDHX and a St. Louis native. His reviews can be seen at kdhx.org/play/chuck-lavazzi and his KDHX blog posts at kdhx.org/blog/author/clavazzi. Chuck also contributes to the Operatic St. Louis blog (operaticstlouis.blogspot.com/) and maintains his own blog at stageleft-stlouis.blogspot.com.]

Chuck's Choices for the weekend of June 15, 2012

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

Share on Google+:

New this week:

The Gateway Men's Chorus presents ExtraABBAganza, a tribute to the music of ABBA, on Friday and Saturday, June 15 and 16, at 8 PM. Al Fischer is pianist and music director for the evening. The performance takes place at the Edison Theatre on the Washington University campus. Personally, I can take ABBA's music or leave it along, but the guys of the GMC can always be counted on for an exuberant and theatrical evening, and Al Fischer is one our most sought-after music directors. For more information, visit gatewaymenschorus.org.

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents Othello nightly except for Tuesday. 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. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Andrea Braun notes that thisis "the first production I’ve seen where I believed that Othello’s actions weren’t both precipitous and preposterous, and I think we have Longworth’s pacing and Justin Blanchard’s (Iago) and Billy Eugene Jones’ (Othello) performances to thank for that." For more information, visit sfstl.com.

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 14 through 17. Performances take place at the Fontbonne Fine Arts Theatre and the campus at 6800 Wydown. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Connie Bollinger says she has "never seen anything quite like this wonderful adaption of the Graham Greene novel." For more information, call 314-725-9108 or visit actinc.biz.

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, you 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.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 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. As I noted in my review for 88.1 KDHX, I don't think director Michael Shell has completely solved the problems posed for modern audiences by Da Ponte's casually misogynistic libretto, but at least he tries, and the cast, chorus, and orchestra are just splendid.  For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644

New Line Theatre presents the rock musical High Fidelity Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through June 21. Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Robert Mitchell says "if rockin’ music with a good story is your idea of great entertainment, plan on seeing New Line’s High Fidelity." I'd add that you could hardly ask for a better cast than this one. For more information, call 314-534-1111.

Sweeney prepares Judge Turpin
for a close shave

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. 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 and set designer Riccardo Hernandez have made of couple of missteps (see my review for 88.1 KDHX for details) but on the whole this is the Sweeney Todd many of us have been waiting for. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Nino and Yo-Yo

Circus Flora presents its brand new show, The Wizard: Merlin and the Legends of King Arthur, through June 24 under the air-conditioned, red-and-white, big top tent in Grand Center next to Powell Hall. Sadly, I'm going to miss Circus Flora this year but it past seasons (and Connie Bollinger's review for 88.1 KDHX) are any indication, there will be fun for all. For more information, visit circusflora.org.