Chuck's Choices for the weekend of January 4, 2013

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:

©Photo by Lon Brauer

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Good People January 2 through 27. “You can't keep a good woman down - unless that woman is from Southie, the gritty, blue-collar Boston neighborhood that Margie Walsh has always called home. Down on her luck and facing eviction, Margie turns to Mikey, an old fling who made good and secured himself a new life in the ritzy suburbs. But is he strong enough to face his humble beginnings and give Margie a hand? Laughter is never far from heartache in this poignant look at the "haves" and "have-nots".” Performances take place at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org.

Held over:

The Fox Theatre presents the Broadway musical Wicked through January 6. I haven't seen this particular tour, but in my review of the 2005 tour I noted that composer/lyricist Stephen Schwarts and book author Winnie Holtzman have done a remarkable job of simplifying and reducing the story of Gregory McGuire's original novel while still remaining true to the original characters and their relationships. The score is one of Schwartz's best, and that's saying something. In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Robert MItchell writes that Wicked "is actually better than the hype! Now, I get why it won all those Tonys, and makes stars out of its leads." The Fox Theatre is at 527 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678.