Chuck's Choices for the weekend of March 21, 2014

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

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That Uppity Theatre Company and The Vital Voice present Briefs: A Festival Of Short Lesbian and Gay Plays Thursday through Sunday, March 21-23. " More than a traditional theatrical production, BRIEFS is a community event, bringing together a diverse audience from the LGBT community, straight allies, local businesses, and local artists. Our slogan this year is, “Come for the play, stay for the party!” The space will stay open for at least at hour after every performance so people can visit and have a drink. Additionally, on Sunday, March 23, our final performance matinee will also honor LGBT seniors and their friends and will include a complimentary brunch for LGBT seniors from groups including SAGE, Primetimers and Older Lesbians Advocating for Change (OLAC)." Performances take place at La Perla, 312 North 8th Street, downtown. For more information, visit uppityco.com or call (314) 995-4600.

My take: Based on my experience acting in the first Briefs festival two years ago, this evening of short one-acts is likely to be rather like the weather in St. Louis: if you don't like it, wait ten minutes and it will change. Expect a wide variety of scripts, all professionally produce and acted for a large and supportive audience. As the official description says, this is at least as much a social and celebratory event as it is an evening of theatre.

St. Lou Fringe presents Five-Fifths: Alice In Fringeland on Friday, March 21, at 7:30 PM. "St Lou Fringe presents its newest annual benefit event and showcase of St Louis' finest indie artists, FIVE-FIFTHS. Five-Fifths presents one classic story, broken into five acts, and performed by five different performing groups. This isn't just any night of theater. With a VIP reception, after party, celebrity guests and integrating visual and ambient art, we are taking the experience of theater going to a whole new level. Welcome to Fringeland." The performance takes place a the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlfringe.com

My take: As you might have heard, the St. Louis Theater Circle gave Em Piro and the St. Lou Fringe a special award this past Monday in recognition of the Fringe's unique and important contribution to the local cultural scene. This fund raiser looks to be Classic Fringe (if that's not a contradiction in terms): unconventional, theatrical, and provocative. Enjoy.

HotCity Theatre presents Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp through March 29. “A tempestuous love triangle smolders between two college buddies and the red light woman they share for a night. Sex, lies and decadence will change their lives forever!” Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, visit www.hotcitytheatre.org or call 314-289-4063.

My take: Critics have been impressed by this oddball play. "This is a doomed love story with comedy," writes Andrea Braun at Playbackstl.com, "or maybe a comedy with doomed love, or maybe a tragedy with some jokes...I’d call Red Light Winter another win for the always intriguing HotCity Theatre." Over at Ladue News, Mark Bretz says "Red Light Winter is sometimes graphic, frequently surprising and consistently engaging." HotCity has a good track record of bringing St. Louis new and unconventional shows.

©Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976 through March 30. “When the main employer in Monroe, Wisconsin is acquired by a major manufacturer, a once peaceful small town turns into a battleground as families struggle to retain their independence, identity and livelihoods. While new opportunities develop for some, difficult choices must be made, putting loyalties and relationships to the test. This world premiere play has been commissioned by The Rep and was developed through the Ignite! New Play Festival.” Performances take place in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org.

My take: As I write in my review for KDHX, this play addresses the slow poisoning of our culture by the empty values of the corporation and the marketplace using well-developed and credible characters in a way that's thoughtful, often funny, and consistently engrossing. Attention, as Linda Loman says in Death of a Salesman, must be paid.

The Presenters Dolan present Tim Schall: 1961 on Saturday, March 22, at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. "In 1961 the Beatles debuted at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, Bob Dylan entered the Greenwich Village folk scene, 19 year old Carole King wrote her first #1 hit, Moon River won the Oscar for Best Song and in February of that year Tim Schall was born! Join Tim as he celebrates his birthday in a show dedicated to the music of his natal year." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com.

My take: I saw this show the first time around exactly one month ago. It was a polished, well-paced, and exceptionally entertaining evening back then. Since then Tim and music director Carol Schmidt have been refining the arrangements and have added the multi-talented Michele Isam (with Ms. Schmidt, the other half of the local jazz/pop/rock duo Jasmine from many years ago), so this is clearly one you don't want to miss.

Held Over:

Photo: Jill Ritter Lindberg

New Line Theatre presents the rock musical Rent Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, through March 29. "New Line continues its 23rd season with Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize winning, long-running rock opera Rent. This cheerfully transgressive, 1990s rock/pop riff on the classic story, set in New York City’s East Village, is best described in its creator's own words: 'In these dangerous times, where it seems the world is ripping apart at the seams, we can all learn how to survive from those who stare death squarely in the face every day and we should reach out to each other and bond as a community, rather than hide from the terrors of life at the end of the millennium.'"Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. For more information: newlinetheatre.com.

My take: I've always been a fan of this musical. Jonathan Larson's score is inventive and stylistically eclectic and his lyrics are artful and intelligent. What strikes me about Rent is how much this modern and supposedly revolutionary show reminds me of another one to which those same adjectives were applied back in 1968: Hair, the show that defined the genre of rock musical. Like Hair, Rent takes jabs at the older generation - mine - and thumbs it's nose at the American status quo from the bottom of the economic pyramid. Unlike Hair, though, it's less overtly political, covers a wider emotional spectrum, and may actually be a better piece of theatre. In her review for KDHX, Tina Farmer describes this as "a memorable production filled with stolen chances, borrowed happiness and powerful emotions pulled from a constant state of movement, noise and distraction."