A performing arts blog and occasional podcast of CD reviews, news and interviews from the world of stage, screen, cabaret, classical music, and related places.
"When I did Inherit the Wind, I learned about teaching school. I also found out what a fundamentalist was."
"I never danced a step in my life so naturally. My first motion picture was a musical, and Bob Fosse was the choreographer. I didn't exactly dance for Fosse, I just did the best that I could to do what he taught us to do."
"Piper [Laurie] insisted she had to be out of breath when we played this one scene, so she ran around the block. Thank God she wasn't doing a crucifixion scene; we would have had to nail her to the wall." - Dick York
Lovers of the art of cabaret will find a lot to like in Grand Center this week as The Cabaret Project of St. Louis presents its second annual St. Louis Cabaret Festival. Held in conjunction with the St. Louis Cabaret Conference, a five-day professional training seminar for cabaret singers from St. Louis and around the country, the festival features four nights of widely varied performances by local and national artists. Both the conference and festival are spearheaded by St. Louis cabaret entrepreneur Tim Schall.
Thursday, August 1st, at 8 PM brings a double bill of two powerhouse performers: Marilyn Maye and Jason Graae. A cabaret legend who appeared a record number of 76 times on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Maye has been packing them in at Carnegie Hall, New York’s 54 Below, Feinstein’s, Birdland, and in clubs and concert venues throughout the country. Reviewing her appearance here in 2007, I praised her "immediate and honest communication with the audience." "Maye’s boundless energy and obvious delight in her material," I wrote, "in combination with her cheerful, off-the-cuff repartee, establish an immediate bond with those of us on the other side of the spotlight."
Graae, meanwhile, is a stunningly talented singer/actor with enough energy to illuminate an entire city. Reviewing his appearance here with Liz Callaway back in 2005, I wrote that "Graae’s comic timing is brilliant and his imagination protean." His range is wide, easily shifting from comedy to pathos, and he even plays the oboe. For his appearance here, Graae will be performing Perfect Hermany. It's his tribute to Broadway master Jerry Herman, whose hits include Hello Dolly, La Cage Aux Folles, and Mame.
The Marilyn May/Jason Graae double bill starts at 8 PM on Thursday at the Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington.
Friday, August 2nd, at 8 PM it's an evening with singer/songwriter John Bucchino at The Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Blvd. A prolific composer for stage and screen, Bucchino has had his songs recorded by artists as diverse as as Art Garfunkel, Judy Collins, Liza Minnelli, Barbara Cook, Kristen Chenoweth, and Michael Feinstein. His theater and film scores include include Broadway’s A Catered Affair (winner of the Drama League Award for Best Musical, with a book by Harvey Fierstein), the Dreamworks animated film Joseph, King of Dreams, and lyrics for the children’s musical Simeon’s Gift (with a book by Julie Andrews).
The St. Louis Cabaret Festival concludes on Sunday, August 4th, at 7 PM with the St. Louis Cabaret Conference Showcase at The Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Blvd. After five days of working on their craft, each one of the Conference’s 30 singers (including yours truly) takes the stage in a solo turn for this culminating event. The evening is directed by Marilyn Maye, Jason Graae, and Tim Schall with musical direction by Billy Stritch, John Bucchino, John Randall.
For more information, visit thecabaretproject.org. Tickets for all events are available via MetroTix. You can also hear an interview with Jason Graae on the Break a Leg podcast at 88.1 KDHX as well as a conversation with festival producer Tim Schall, Marilyn Maye, and Billy Stritch on St. Louis Public Radio.
The St. Louis Cabaret Conference and Festival are just two reasons why St. Louis is now regarded as a serious cabaret city. Come one down to Grand Center this week and find out why.
"I don't like to cry in public, unless I'm getting paid for it."
"Of course it's difficult to turn anything down when Mike Nichols calls you personally."
"Here's the thing: I did one episode of Deep Space Nine, and I loved everybody that I worked with. People couldn't have been kinder... But I had a really, really difficult time with the prosthetics." - Andrea Martin
[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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O'Fallon TheatreWorks presents Aladdin Jr. at the O'Fallon Municipal Centre auditorium August 2-11. The O'Fallon Municipal Centre is located at 100 North Main Street in O'Fallon, MO. For more information, visit www.ofallon.mo.us or call 636-379-5606.
Act Two Theatre presents the comedy Boeing Boeing May August 2-11. Performances take place in the St. Peters Cultural Arts Centre at 1 St Peters Centre Blvd, St. Peters, MO 63376. For more information: act2theater.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 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.
The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Dead Like Me August 2 through November 16. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com
The Muny presents Disney's Marry Poppins at 8:15 PM nightly through August 3 in the outdoor theatre in Forest Park. "For the first time in The Muny’s 95-year history, a character will fly over the Muny audience. Mary Poppins’ magical effect is being created by ZFX, one of the premier flying-effect companies in the nation. Jenny Powers will star in the title role, with Rob McClure co-starring as Bert. Joining them will be Erin Dilly as Winifred Banks and Stephen Buntrock as George Banks. Rounding out the cast will be Elizabeth Teeter as Jane Banks, Aidan Gemme as Michael Banks, James Anthony as Admiral Boom, Zoe Vonder Haar as Mrs. Brill, Anthony Christian Daniel as Robertson Ay, Laura Ackermann as the Bird Woman, and Rebecca Finnegan as Queen Victoria." For more information, visit muny.org or call 314-361-1900.
The Cabaret Project presents An Evening With John Bucchino Friday, August 2, 8 PM as part of The St. Louis Cabaret Festival. "Bucchino’s artfully crafted songs have long been revered in the pop and cabaret worlds. Such respected singers as Art Garfunkel, Judy Collins, Liza Minnelli, Barbara Cook, Kristen Chenoweth, Michael Feinstein, among other luminaries, have recorded his work. For his St. Louis debut, Bucchino will take the stage to interpret his music and lyrics in the way that can only be done by the writer who created them." The performance takes place at The Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Blvd. For more information: thecabaretproject.org.
Photo: Peter Wochniak
Stages St. Louis presents Legally Blonde, the Musical through August 18. Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road in Kirkwood. "Sorority sister Elle thinks she has her future all tied up with a nice, little pink ribbon, until her boyfriend suddenly dumps her for someone more “serious.” But don’t break out the tissues just yet! This is one girl who doesn’t take “no” for an answer as she sets out to prove that being true to yourself and going after “what you want” never goes out of style." For more information, visit stagesstlouis.org or call 314-821-2407.
Photo: John Lamb
Stray Dog Theatre presents the musical Little Shop of Horrors Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through August 3. There will be a matinee on the closing Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. "Seymour, a nerdy floral shop employee, becomes an overnight sensation when he raises an exotic plant that has a mysterious craving for human blood. Based on a 1960’s low-budget sci-fi film, this gleefully gruesome rock musical has zany characters and songs sure to delight audiences of all ages." Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!
Marilyn Maye
The Cabaret Project presents a double bill of performances: Marilyn Maye and Jason Graae: Perfect Hermany, the Songs of Jerry Herman on Thursday, August 1, at 8 PM as part of The St. Louis Cabaret Festival. "Marilyn Maye brings her powerhouse showmanship and brilliant interpretative powers back to St. Louis for the first time in four years. Maye’s work is enshrined in the Smithsonian and she appeared a record 76 times on The Tonight Show at the request of Johnny Carson. She is currently enjoying a historic career renaissance with standing ovations at Carnegie Hall, sold out runs at New York’s 54 Below, Feinstein’s, Birdland, and performances in clubs and concert venues throughout the country. Performing his solo show on the same evening is Broadway alum Jason Graae, about whom the New York Post says “Graae steals so many shows he should be arrested”. Jason’s comic genius and great vocals light up The Sheldon with the St. Louis premiere Perfect Hermany – his salute to his friend and mentor Jerry Herman, the legendary composer of Hello Dolly, La Cage Au Folles and Mame." The performance takes place at The Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington. For more information: thecabaretproject.org.
Jason Graae
Over Due Theatre presents Peter Pan Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM through August 4. Performances take place at the Olivette Community Center, 9723 Grandview Drive, in Olivette, MO. For more information, call 314-210-2959 or visit overduetheatrecompany.com.
Encore! Theater Group presents John Logan's two-character drama Red, about 20th Century abstract painter Mark Rothko. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8, August 2, 3, 16 and 17 at the Warehouse at All Trades Supply located at 10 Kirkham Industrial Drive, Webster Groves. “Mark Rothko is at the height of his powers. His work, long rejected by critics, is suddenly hailed as some of the most important of this century. He is the new king of art in New York, and his coronation will be the flashiest commission in the history of painting: $35,000 for a series of epic murals at the Four Seasons restaurant. But...canvases this large cannot be lifted by a single man, not even a titan. So he hires an assistant (Ken). This young artist and his fiery ideas force Rothko, the surest thing in the world of modern art, to question everything. John Logan's 90-minute intellectual thrill-ride serves as a puzzling reminder of how difficult and dangerous the climb towards an artistic vision can be, and how worthwhile. “ The cast includes 88.1 KDHX theatre critic Steve Callahan as Mark Rothko. For more information: email encoretheatergroup at gmail.com or call (314) 329-8998
The Cabaret Project presents The St. Louis Cabaret Conference Showcase on Sunday, August 4, at 7 PM as part of The St. Louis Cabaret Festival. The showcase features performances by all 33 singers at the conference, which is a five-day professional workshop for cabaret artists from around the country. The performance takes place at The Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Blvd. For more information: thecabaretproject.org.
The Hawthorne Players present the musical The Secret Garden August 2-11. The performances take place at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre at Parker and Waterford in Florissant, MO. For more information, call 921-5678 or visit hawthorneplayers.com.
Hard Road Theatre presents the Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein through August 4 at the Highland Elementary Auditorium, 1800 Lindenthal Avenue in Highland, IL. For more information, visit hardroad.org or call 618-654-7748.
Would you like to be on the radio? KDHX, 88.1 FM needs theatre reviewers. If you're 18 years or older, knowledgeable in this area, have practical theatre experience (acting, directing, writing, technical design, etc.), have good oral and written communications skills and would like to become one of our volunteer reviewers, send an email describing your experience and interests to chuck at kdhx.org. Please include a sample review of something you've seen recently.
"I do understand that onstage there are times when you think, 'I could not be more alive than I am at this moment. I can't do most things in life. This is what I'm for.'"
"I wanted to be the conduit for somebody else's experiences, filtered through me, and passed on to other people. Which is the job description, really."
"It is intensely frustrating. The longer you live, the more interesting life gets, and yet many of the parts involve carrying trays and putting lamb chops down in front of the leading man." - Juliet Stevenson
"Live stage is being made as you go along. You feel the energy. There's nothing like a live audience."
"The theater was my first training ground. It taught me discipline, dedication and appreciation of hard work...The stage sharpened my creative instrument and encouraged me to go deeper and try new things.
"If we plant the right seeds, tomorrow will be better. If you put out good things, then you'll get good things back. That's part of our responsibility as entertainers." - Ben Vereen
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
Carol Schmidt
The St. Louis Cabaret Conference presents the High School Cabaret Conference Showcase on Sunday, July 28, at 7 PM. The showcase features six singers from the conference with Carol Schmidt at the piano. The performance takes place at The Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Blvd. Tickets are $10, available at the door with cash or check.
My take: As I noted in my interview for OnSTL last week, the cabaret scene in St. Louis is as hopping as it is largely unknown by the general public. The St. Louis Cabaret Conference has been producing top-notch talent for years now. The high school version is relatively new, but the degree of talent displayed by the kids in the program is really pretty amazing. It doesn't hurt that Tim Schall and Carol Schmidt are both very effective teachers and talented performers in their own right. The Bistro has a respectable menu, by the way, so you might want to show up early and grab a bite and a libation.
Blood Brothers
Photo: John Lamb
St. Louis Actors' Studio presents the Neil LaBute New Theater Festival Part 2 through July 28 at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. Part 2 features performances of The Possible by LaBute along with Kink by Joshua Thomas, Blood Brothers by Rachel Fenton, Present Tense by Nancy Bell and Peter Grandbois, and Cut by Daniel Damiano. For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.
My take: I'm not an unabashed admirer of LaBute, but there's no question that an evening of new plays by local playwrights is always welcome. "The first part of the festival," writes Tina Farmer in her review for 88.1 KDHX, "set the tone with assertive, contemporary shows that bristled with tension and energy. The company's production of the second series of new short plays fully demonstrates that commitment to previously untested material and ideas as well as emerging playwrights."
Held Over
Photo: John Lamb
Stray Dog Theatre presents the musical Little Shop of Horrors Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, July 18-August 3. There will be a matinee on the closing Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. "Seymour, a nerdy floral shop employee, becomes an overnight sensation when he raises an exotic plant that has a mysterious craving for human blood. Based on a 1960’s low-budget sci-fi film, this gleefully gruesome rock musical has zany characters and songs sure to delight audiences of all ages." Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.
My take: I've done a number of shows with Stray Dog over the years and have been consistently impressed with the quality of their work and how well they treat their performers and tech folks. You might not think that matters that much from the audience standpoint, but as someone who works both sides of the footlights, I can tell you can a cast that's loving their work will always communicate that to the audience, intentionally or otherwise. Besides, this show—with its spot-on parodies of 50s and 60s sounds and hilariously dark humor—is always worth seeing. "As usual," writes Tina Farmer in her review for 88.1 KDHX, "the company does not disappoint with this production, adding a touch of earnest to the inside jokes and dark humor inherent in the original script."
Photo: Stewart Goldstein
The Black Rep presents the musical The Wiz through July 28. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. Joining the cast for this extended production are J. Samuel Davis as The Wiz, Leslie Johnson as the Tinman, and Alicia Reeve as the Scarecrow. For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810.
My take: This 1970s soul version of The Wizard of Oz crackles with energy, and a good production is always fun. This particular production of The Wiz was originally scheduled to close on June 30. Ticket sales were so brisk, though, that the Black Rep elected to go an hiatus for two weeks, re-cast the roles whose actors had conflicts for July, and re-open this weekend. "I had a blast," wrote Sheila Schultz in her review of the original production for 88.1 KDHX. "I head home humming 'Ease on Down the Road'. Still humming."
"I don't think that we necessarily lie. I mean, we make our living by pretending that we're someone else. I don't tell tall tales. I always tell the truth."
"To be a character who feels a deep emotion, one must go into the memory's vault and mix in a sad memory from one's own life."
"It's a marvelous life, a gregarious life that we've had. We're very lucky in that way. Unlike writers or painters, we don't sit down in front of a blank canvas and say, 'How do I start? Where do I start?'" - Albert Finney
Earlier today I was listening to one of my favorites podcasts—The Antique Phonograph Music Program from WFMU in New Jersey. Host Michael Cumella and guest Michael Devecka were talking about the cost of a state of the art sound system circa 1925—specifically the RCA Victor-Victrola Credenza series (pictured). It was the company’s top of the line back then and sold for $275.00. In contemporary money that’s $3660.56. Could you get a state of the art music system for that kind of dough today?
A little Googling suggests that the answer is "probably not." You can get a very good surround sound system for well under $4000, no question. But state of the art? Expect to shell out a good two grand just on a top of the line receiver (like the Marantz SR7008). Add in a good BluRay player (the cheapest item; even the high end ones will only set you back a few hundred) and a really spectacular surround speaker system like the Axiom Epic series ($3600 and up) and your total bill will easily be two or three times what it would have been in 1925.
Now I'll grant you that state of the art sounds a hell of a lot better now than it did in 1925. But there's still no getting around the fact that, even after adjusting for inflation, being an audiophile burns a lot more dead presidents now than it once did. And not everything about contemporary sound reproduction technology is necessarily better.
That may seem nuts, but hear me out. Nearly 100 years after it was manufactured, that Victor-Victrola machine is still working and the discs that go with it can still be played. Will today's best in class systems still be working in 2100? The laser in the BluRay player certainly isn't going to last 100 years, for one thing. And even if the systems are still working, will there be anything around that they can play? Digital media, after all, are pretty fragile. A scratch in a record just makes a bit of noise. A scratch in a DVD kills it completely. Analog media degrade with wear. Digital media just shoot craps.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that most audio and video material is controlled by a small handful of corporations that have adopted what Vance Packard (in his sadly visionary 1960 classic The Waste Makers) dubbed "planned obsolescence" as their business model. Every few years, they come up with an innovation (or something they sell as an innovation) that makes your previous purchases obsolete. LPs replaced by tape. Tape replaced by CD. CD replaced by MP3 (a step back in sound quality, but that's another rant). On the video front film gave way to videotape, which gave way to DVD, which is giving way to BluRay, with will give way to 3-D BluRay, which will give way to who knows what (but you can bet Sony is working on it).
And with each iteration, some material doesn't make the cut for the next transition. A legion of great LP-era recordings that never made it to digital format; ditto the pre-LP era. With each new bright, shiny object, we lose a bit of our collective cultural memory.
Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the fact that even a mid-range sound system today beats the pants off what was available back when I was in college in the 1960s, and the range of music available is huge. But I also think that, to quote Joni Mitchell, "Don't it always seem to go / That you don't know what you've got / Till it's gone?"
"You need your human memory now," wrote singer/songwriter Buddy Bohn in the now-forgotten 1971 classic "Piccalilli Lady" (another digital conversion Left Behind), "But only 'til the show begins / Then when the curtain opens / And your memory forgets itself / There's nothing left to turn your head / To find out what had been there." Is it time to ask whether the cost of admission to that show might have been too much?
"When you are in a bad production there are two things you can do. You can do your best or you can leave. I chose to do the third thing which was sulk."
"I usually play toffs and soldiers, with a sideline in mass murderers."
"Most good art is left wing. It's a moot point whether there is any good right-wing art."
"I'm lucky enough to work with, I think, the greatest writer there's ever been, Shakespeare. Whose collected works would always be under my pillow if I was only ever allowed one book to keep, and who never bores me." - Samuel West, British actor and director
Unless you've been hiding out in a cave for the last 25 years, you probably know about 88.1 KDHX, the station where I've been the senior (oh, that word...) performing arts critic since it went on the air. Even if you're not a regular listener, you undoubtedly saw the "for KDHX" billboards that dotted the landscape for a while as part of the station's capital campaign for its new home in the Larry J. Weir Center for Independent Media (named after the station's late operations manager).
For that matter, you've probably seen the center itself, clearly under construction on Washington right next to The Bistro, across from the Fox. What you might not know, though, is what the completion of the gut rehab of that big grey building will mean to the local arts and music community.
The Weir Center isn't just going to be the new home of KDHX's analog broadcast operations. It will also enable the station to put up a second HD channel with completely independent programming as well as enhanced audio and video production facilities—which means even more exposure for the local music scene. The real boon to the local arts community and audiences alike, though, will be what's on the first floor—a coffee shop and a 125-seat live performance space.
Named The Stage at KDHX, the new space will, in the station's words, "be a space for us to create innovative programming, just as we've done on-air for the past quarter-century. We'll host concerts to showcase amazing musical talent in ways that you won't be able to find anywhere else." In a community that's starved for small performance spaces, The Stage at KDHX will provide a welcome new venue for local musicians, small theatre groups, comics, cabaret singers, and other performing artists.
The building will also become the new home of a Grand Center landmark of sorts: the marquee sign from the old Sun Theater. The Sun building itself is too far gone to save, but the Sun will continue to shine (literally; it's got neon!) at the Weir Center.
To find out more about The Stage at KDHX, check out their Kickstarter page and enjoy the video that goes along with this post. In less than two minutes, it neatly illustrates the meaning of KDHX's motto: independent music plays here. And after all, who doesn't like to play?
[This article was originally published at my OnSTL.com blog.]
"Before I do a play I say that I hope it's going to be for as short a time as possible but, once you do it, it is a paradoxical pleasure. One evening out of two there are five minutes of a miracle and for those five minutes you want to do it again and again. It's like a drug."
"I like to take these unusual characters and then make them as normal as possible, because we all know that the tragedy and the abnormal always hides itself behind the normal."
"Acting is a way of living out one's insanity." - Isabelle Huppert
For the next several months here in St. Louis—indeed, in every city with a major or minor league baseball team—there's one song that will be close to a second national anthem. It's "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," of course. Everybody knows the lyrics (or they think they do); but not very many know the song's history.
I say everybody thinks they know the lyrics because the only part of the song that's heard these days—whether in ball parks or in concert halls—is the refrain. The chorus, in other words. But like nearly every song of it's vintage (it was written in 1908) "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" has two verses that go with the chorus.
Well—four verses, actually. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The lyrics of "Take Me out to the Ball Game" were scribbled down by vaudeville performer, songwriter, and film/radio actor Jack Norworth after seeing a sign advertising a ball game at the polo ground. He handed that scrap of paper (now enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame) to songwriter Albert Von Tilzer (composer of "(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time," "Oh By Jingo!," and many other lesser hits) who wrote the simple (and therefore easily sung) tune. And the rest, as they say, is history. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was immediately popular with vaudeville performers and audiences alike, who loved to sing along to the chorus.
The song was Norworth's biggest hit, eclipsing even his second most famous number, "Shine On, Harvest Moon." He wrote that one with vaudeville legend Nora Bayes, to whom he was married and with whom he was performing at the time. They would later divorce and Bayes would marry a total of five times before her death at the age of 50.
Albert Von Tilzer's brother Harry was also a hit songwriter with a local connection; in 1903 he wrote the music for "Under the Anheuser Bush."
But I digress.
Part of the song's success lies in the fact that, like many vaudeville hits, it's actually a story song. The story is in those two verses known only to song geeks like yours truly, and it goes like this:
1st Verse:
Katie Casey was baseball mad,
Had the fever and had it bad.
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou
Katie blew.
On a Saturday her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go
To see a show, but Miss Kate said "No,
I'll tell you what you can do:"
[Chorus]
2nd Verse:
Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names.
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along,
Good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:
[Chorus]
Yep, that's right. The singer in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a woman and the song is really about how she drags her boyfriend to the diamond for a game. I think it puts an amusing (ahem) spin on the song when you realize that.
Here's something else amusing: Norworth and Von Tilzer said that when they wrote "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" neither of them had ever seen a baseball game. Norworth, in fact, wouldn't see a major league game until 1940.
"But wait," I hear you cry, "you said there were four verses. What about the other two?"
Just testing your attention span, pilgrim. For reasons known only to him, Norworth wrote a second version of the song in 1927. The name of the protagonist changes and there's a topical reference to Coney Island (which might be the whole point, come to think of it) but it's otherwise essentially the same song. Here are the changed verses (the chorus is the same; Norworth knew when he had a good thing going):
1st Verse:
Nelly Kelly loved baseball games,
Knew the players, knew all their names.
You could see her there ev'ry day,
Shout "Hurray"
When they'd play.
Her boyfriend by the name of Joe
Said, "To Coney Isle, dear, let's go",
Then Nelly started to fret and pout,
And to him, I heard her shout:
2nd Verse:
Nelly Kelly was sure some fan,
She would root just like any man,
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along,
Good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Nelly Kelly knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:
You can find out more about our unofficial national anthem at the Library of Congress site. Meanwhile, let's get that hot dog vendor over here....
[This article was originally published at Chuck's OnSTL.com blog.]
"I always thought that it was every performer's dream. That's the epitome of being an artist, being able to express song, dance and acting in a live theatre setting and really connecting with an audience on that level."
"Where every moment is about truth and I think it's a great challenge every night. That's what really drove me to wanting to do theatre, and it's great." - Deborah Cox, Canadian singer/songwriter and star of Disney's Aida on Broadway.
[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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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.
The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Clueless through July 27. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com
The Muny presents Disney's Marry Poppins at 8:15 PM nightly July 25 through August 3 in the outdoor theatre in Forest Park. For more information, visit muny.org or call 314-361-1900.
Clayton Community Theatre presents The Enchanted Island Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM through July 28. Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre. For more information, call 314-721-9228 or visit placeseveryone.org.
The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Field of Schemes through July 27. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com
St. Charles Community College presents the musical A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum July 23-28. Performances take place in the Donald D. Shook Fine Arts Building on the campus at 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive in Cottleville, MO. For more information, call 636-922-8050 or visit stchas.edu.
The St. Louis Cabaret Conference presents the High School Cabaret Conference Showcase on Sunday, July 28, at 7 PM. The showcase features six singers from the conference with Carol Schmidt at the piano. The performance takes place at The Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Blvd. Tickets are available at the door with cash or check.
Maryland Heights Community Theatre presents the musical Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Thursday through Sunday, July 25-28, at the Maryland Heights Centre, 2344 McKelvey Road. For more information, call 314-738-2599.
Photo: Peter Wochniak
Stages St. Louis presents Legally Blonde, the Musical through August 18. Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road in Kirkwood. "Sorority sister Elle thinks she has her future all tied up with a nice, little pink ribbon, until her boyfriend suddenly dumps her for someone more “serious.” But don’t break out the tissues just yet! This is one girl who doesn’t take “no” for an answer as she sets out to prove that being true to yourself and going after “what you want” never goes out of style." For more information, visit stagesstlouis.org or call 314-821-2407.
Photo: John Lamb
Stray Dog Theatre presents the musical Little Shop of Horrors Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through August 3. There will be a matinee on the closing Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. "Seymour, a nerdy floral shop employee, becomes an overnight sensation when he raises an exotic plant that has a mysterious craving for human blood. Based on a 1960’s low-budget sci-fi film, this gleefully gruesome rock musical has zany characters and songs sure to delight audiences of all ages." Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.
Alton Little Theater presents their Summer Showcase Youth Musical The Music Man through July 28 at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. For more information, call 618.462.6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.
The Possible
St. Louis Actors' Studio presents the Neil LaBute New Theater Festival Part 2 through July 28 at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. Part 2 features performances of The Possible by LaBute along with Kink by Joshua Thomas, Blood Brothers by Rachel Fenton, Present Tense by Nancy Bell and Peter Grandbois, and Cut by Daniel Damiano. For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.
Family Musical Theater presents Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! through July 28 at the Ivory Theatre, 7622 Michigan. For more information, visit familymusical.org or call 314-571-9579.
Talichia Noah performs Out of Character!, an evening of musical theatre songs, on Friday and Saturday, July 16 and 27 at 8 PM. Performances take place at the South Hampton Presbyterian Church black box theater, 4716 Macklind. For more information: 314-968-8070
Over Due Theatre presents Peter Pan Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, July 26-August 4. Performances take place at the Olivette Community Center, 9723 Grandview Drive, in Olivette, MO. For more information, call 314-210-2959 or visit overduetheatrecompany.com.
St. Louis Shakespeare presents Timon of Athens through July 27. Performances take place in the Thomas Hunter Theatre at DeSmet Jesuit High School, 233 N New Ballas Road. For more information, call 314-361-5664 or visit stlshakespeare.org.
Photo: Stewart Goldstein
The Black Rep presents the musical The Wiz through July 28. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. Joining the cast for this extended production are J. Samuel Davis as The Wiz, Leslie Johnson as the Tinman, and Alicia Reeve as the Scarecrow. For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!
Hard Road Theatre presents the Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein July 26-August 4 at the Highland Elementary Auditorium, 1800 Lindenthal Avenue in Highland, IL. For more information, visit hardroad.org or call 618-654-7748.
Would you like to be on the radio? KDHX, 88.1 FM needs theatre reviewers. If you're 18 years or older, knowledgeable in this area, have practical theatre experience (acting, directing, writing, technical design, etc.), have good oral and written communications skills and would like to become one of our volunteer reviewers, send an email describing your experience and interests to chuck at kdhx.org. Please include a sample review of something you've seen recently.
Who:The Gateway Festival Orchestra What: A Tribute to Maestro William Schatzkamer When: Tonight at 7:30 Where: Brookings Quadrangle on the Washington University campus Why: What's more summery than an outdoor concert, especially it's the fifty-piece Gatewaty Festival Orchestra? Bring a blanket or lawn chair, buy a Ted Drewes Frozen Custard or two (they're available at the concert) and settle down for an evening of easy-on-the-ear (but still certifiably great) classics, including Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 ("New World"), Smetana's The Moldau from Ma Vlast, Richard Strauss's The Duel for flute and bassoon (with soloists Janet Scott and Peggy Bumb), Carl Komzak's Polka for Two Piccolos (with soloists Janet Scott and Carolyn Hoyer), and music from Bernstein's West Side Story.
Admission and parking (which is plentiful) are both free.
Schatzkamer, who died last year, was the conductor of the Gateway Festival Orchestra until 2002. He was also on the faculty of Washington University and the original music director of the University City Symphony.
"You could say Shakespeare is so extraordinary precisely because he was so ordinary. He had all the usual anxieties and understandings of what it is to have children, lose children, get married, struggle to make a living and so on."
"Everything that we have gone through, are going through, and will go through is there in Shakespeare. It is all of human life."
"Many actors have protested about mobile phones going off in theatres, but the real menace now is people texting during a show. It may only disturb a few people around them, but for me, as an actor, when I spot them answering their emails, I am outraged." - Simon Callow (English actor, musician, writer and director)
"'Death of a Salesman' is a brilliant taxonomy of the spiritual atrophy of mid-twentieth-century white America."
"I was the first critic ever to win a Tony - for co-authoring 'Elaine Stritch at Liberty.' Criticism is a life without risk; the critic is risking his opinion, the maker is risking his life. It's a humbling thought but important for the critic to keep it in mind - a thought he can only know if he's made something himself."
"Theatre people, who are an adaptive species, know that to remain sane in the process of production where everyone and his uncle has an opinion about how to fix a show, you must pick the people whose knowledge and taste you trust and stick only to these few. The Tweetocracy is no place to look." - John Lahr (senior drama critic at The New Yorker and, yes, son of actor Bert Lahr)
If you live in Clayton, U. City, Kirkwood, Shrewsbury near south county, or the central part of St. Louis city, you might have noticed something up at 107.3 on your FM radio that hasn't been heard on FM analog radio in St. Louis for nearly three years: classical music, 24/7. You might also have noticed that the voices of the announcers are familiar, along with their programming approach. Yes, dear friends, the classical voice of KFUO (a.k.a. Classic 99) is back. Except that it's now the Radio Arts Foundation (RAF), it's at 107.3 rather than 99.1, and its operating at a power level usually associated with college rock stations—hence the limited coverage area.
But still: "Bach is back," as they proudly announce at the RAF web site—along with Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, and a raft of lesser-known composers. And if you can't get decent reception of the analog FM signal (at my place in Soulard it's too hissy to be listenable)—well, now might be a good time to consider getting an HD (digital broadcast) radio. RAF is carried on the HD 2 channel of 96.3 KHTS, with superior sound and a bigger coverage area. I've been listening with the Insignia portable HD radio I have plugged into the aux input jack of my car's sound system as I tool around town and reception has been quite good. Ditto for the Insignia unit that I have plugged into my Bose Wave Radio at home.
The story of how KFUOs classical voice was silenced after over 60 years of broadcasts is still a sore point with many local music lovers (including yours truly). "For over 60 years," says the RAF web site, "the sounds of classical music wafted through the airwaves of St. Louis, courtesy of Classic 99 FM. But on July 6th, 2010 as the last notes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 lingered and disappeared, classical music was effectively silenced and listeners throughout the St. Louis area lost a beloved friend." What they diplomatically don't mention is that this happened because the owners of KFUO—the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod—sold the station to Gateway Creative Broadcasting. And so KFUO became KLJY, broadcasting "contemporary Christian" music—a genre that, ironically, excludes the five or six centuries worth of Christian music that was part of KFUOs programming.
rafstl.org
"But I digress," as Tom Lehrer says.
The bottom line is that a fair number of analog FM listeners in St. Louis can now experience the pleasure of the old KFUO style of programming again. And HD radio owners can get both it and the 24/7 classical stream provided by KWMU on its HD 3 channel. The KWMU stream isn't locally produced—it's provided by Public Radio International—but it's still pretty cool to have two high-quality classical streams available. Both the RAF and PRI streams are also available on the Internet, of course, as well as on iPhone. For the RAF app, search your app store for "RAFSTL". For KWMU, search for "St. Louis Public Radio".
Classic 99, by the way, never went away entirely. After the analog broadcasts ended, it continued as an Internet station, run by Ron Klemm, Dick Wobbe, and John Clayton (all formerly of KFUO). You can still find it today at classic99.com and on the KFUO iPhone app.
There's music in the air. And it's a sweet sound.
[This article originally appeared at OnSTL.com, where I'm regular contributor.]
As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.
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Photo: John Lamb
Stray Dog Theatre presents the musical Little Shop of Horrors Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, July 18-August 3. There will be a matinee on the closing Saturday at 2 PM in addition to the evening show. "Seymour, a nerdy floral shop employee, becomes an overnight sensation when he raises an exotic plant that has a mysterious craving for human blood. Based on a 1960’s low-budget sci-fi film, this gleefully gruesome rock musical has zany characters and songs sure to delight audiences of all ages."
My take: I've done a number of shows with Stray Dog over the years and have been consistently impressed with the quality of their work and how well they treat their performers and tech folks. You might not think that matters that much from the audience standpoint, but as someone who works both sides of the footlights, I can tell you can a cast that's loving their work will always communicate that to the audience, intentionally or otherwise. Besides, this show—with it's spot-on parodies of 50s and 60s sounds and hilariously dark humor—is always worth seeing. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.
The Possible
St. Louis Actors' Studio presents the Neil LaBute New Theater Festival Part 1 through July 14 at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. Part 2 features performances of The Possible by LaBute along with Kink by Joshua Thomas, Blood Brothers by Rachel Fenton, Present Tense by Nancy Bell and Peter Grandbois, and Cut by Daniel Damiano.
My take: I'm not a huge LaBute fan myself, but in Tina Farmer, her review of Part one of the festival for 88.1 KDHX, described it as "five well-written, well-performed new works that pack a punch. Each piece features contemporary persons in contemporary settings exploring the fine art of living, and the selection committee is to be commended on their choices." Will part 2 follow suit? Check it out and discover for yourself. For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.
Held over:
(c) 2013 Ron Lindsey
Union Avenue Opera presents Puccini's Madama Butterfly Friday and Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, July 12-20. 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. My take: Union Avenue is a small local opera company that has successfully produced both classics like this one as well as newer works—most notably the Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally collaboration Dead Man Walking in 2011—that stretch the company's artistic and physical limits. This one didn't stretch them at all; it's a very solid, compelling production of an operatic classic. How good is it? Well, I really liked it and I'm all that fond of this particular opera. You can see my review at 88.1 KDHX for details, but the bottom line is Union Avenue's Madama Butterfly is so good that it made me forget why I don't much like Madama Butterfly. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.
Photo: Stewart Goldstein
The Black Rep presents the musical The Wiz through July 28. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. Joining the cast for this extended production are J. Samuel Davis as The Wiz, Leslie Johnson as the Tinman, and Alicia Reeve as the Scarecrow.
My take: This 1970s soul version of The Wizard of Oz crackles with energy, and a good production is always fun. This particular production of The Wiz was originally scheduled to close on June 30. Ticket sales were so brisk, though, that the Black Rep elected to go an hiatus for two weeks, re-cast the roles whose actors had conflicts for July, and re-open this weekend. "I had a blast," wrote Sheila Schultz in her review of the original production for 88.1 KDHX. "I head home humming 'Ease on Down the Road'. Still humming." For more information, visit theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3810.
