Chuck's Choices for the weekend of June 21st

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

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Photo: Ken Howard

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Smetana's comedy The Kiss in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 28. “Brimming with joyful music, sly romance, and delightful comedy, The Kiss is a bright and buoyant escape. Experience this rarely produced folk masterpiece by the composer of The Bartered Bride in its first American staging in over two decades. Co-produced with Ireland's Wexford Festival Opera, this production of The Kiss premiered to rave reviews there as “the runaway success of the 2010 festival” (Financial Times, London).” This opera isn't performed often, at least on this side of the Atlantic, so it's apperance here is a welcome one Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. All performances are sung in English with projected English text. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

The Muny presents the Muny premiere of Monty Python's Spamalot Monday through Sunday at 8:15 PM, June 17-23, in the outdoor theatre in Forest Park. I was somewhat underwhelmed by the tour of this show when I reviewed it for KDHX in 2006, but Bob Wilcox has seen this production and had good things to say about it, so maybe I didn't see it under the best of circumstances. Or maybe they've trimmed it a bit in the interim. For more information, visit muny.org or call 314-361-1900.

The St. Lou Fringe Festival takes place Thursday through Sunday, June 20-23, at several venues in the Grand Center area including the Kranzberg Arts Center (501 N. Grand), the rock club Fubar (3108 Locust), and ANNONYarts at Satori (3003 Locust.) Performances include traditional theater, dance, music, comedy, circus arts, performance art, cabaret, and burlesque, with acts from St. Louis and around the country. Last year's Fringe offered an impressive array of performing arts events and this one promises to be even larger and more varied. Some of the performances that look especially interesting to me (in no particular order) are:

• Joel Doty's I Am My Own Militia or Mea’s Unique Garage Sale at Fubar
• Daniel MacIvor’s one-act comedy This Is a Play, by R-S Theatrics at Fubar
• Christy Strickland Live, a program of big band and cabaret standards at Satori
• Montana: The Shakespearean Scarface by the NonProphet Theater Company (the folks that brought you Corleone: The Shakespearean Godfather, in which I played the title role) at Satori
• Underneath the Lintel by Pat O'Brien's Vanity Theatrics. "Veteran TV and Film actor Pat O’Brien plays an obsessive compulsive librarian who finds a book 123 years overdue and embarks on a worldwide quest to apprehend the borrower."
• Hey Minnie the Moocher: A Musical Tribute to Cotton Club Swing Jazz Legends by Rajpa Productions at Fubar

For a complete schedule, visit the festival calendar site.

Held over:

New Line Theatre presents the St. Louis premier of the musical Bukowsical Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through June 22. "With book and lyrics by Spencer Green and Gary Stockdale, and music by Stockdale, Bukowsical is a wacky, high-energy – and gleefully adult – musical comedy, an ironic and insightful 21st-century reboot of the classic American musical comedy, exploring the intersection between sex, drugs, booze, and art, all through the life story of the great American novelist and poet Charles Bukowski." I haven't seen this, but the idea is so much in line with the mission of the Church of the SubGenius that it demands attention. "The show is, I think, ephemera," writes Steve Callahan in his review for 88.1 KDHX, "But it’s the sort of ephemera that a company like New Line should be doing. And they do it so very, very well!" Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. For more information, call 314-534-1111.

Photo: Ken Howard

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents the world premiere of Champion in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 30. “Audiences across the country are already anticipating the world premiere of this compelling new opera in jazz. With music by five-time Grammy Award-winning composer Terence Blanchard and libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Michael Cristofer, Champion is inspired by the true story of Emile Griffith. An immigrant from the Virgin Islands, Emile claimed the title of World Welterweight Champion in a fatal 1962 fight which transformed him into a tragic hero and left the two-year old son of his opponent, Benny “The Kid” Paret, without a father.” 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. The combination of composer, librettist, and subject matter make this an easy call. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Photo: John Lamb

St. Louis Actors' Studio presents King Lear through June 23 at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. "The St. Louis Actors Studio has opened a fine production of King Lear, writes Steve Callahan in his review for 88.1 KDHX, "and it's an excellent opportunity for you to make your little temporal tithe." For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.

Photo: Ken Howard

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 29. 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 note in my review for 88.1 KDHX, this may not be a perfect production, but it's pretty darned good and well worth seeing. For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Photo: Ken Howard

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Puccini's Il Tabarro and Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci in rotating repertory with three other operas through June 29. 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 note in my review for 88.1 KDHX, this is "a dramatically powerful and musically impeccable combination of two classics of verismo opera." For more information, you may visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.

Circus Flora presents its new show, A Trip to the Moon through June 23 under the air-conditioned, red-and-white, big top tent in Grand Center next to Powell Hall. "Inspired by Georges Méliès' groundbreaking 1902 film, A Trip to the Moon, Circus Flora's creative team captures the film's imaginative spirit ...A Trip to the Moon borrows this iconic piece of cinematic history and Méliès' artistic instruments to construct the visual styling, costuming and narrative elements." "Circus Flora continues to amaze us," writes Sheila Schultz in her review for 88.1 KDHX. "Unflinching, its artists perform mind-boggling feats of daring." For more inforamtion, visit circusflora.org.

The Black Rep presents the musical The Wiz through June 29. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Sheila Schultz says "I had a blast." For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810.