Chuck's Choices for the weekend of August 22, 2014

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:

Stray Dog Theatre's New Works Laboratory presents Stephen Peirick's Four Sugars Thursdays through Saturday, August 21-23. "Alyse and her gay best friend, Travis, are getting ready to bid adieu to their “fake” marriage of three years and celebrate Alyse having become an official U.S. citizen. Unfortunately, no aspect of their real-life relationships seem to operate as smoothly as their make-shift marriage did. This two-act, contemporary serio-comedy is written by St. Louis Playwright Stephen Peirick, who is the recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from the Regional Arts Commission to help make this fully realized production of Four Sugars a reality. " Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

My take: Stray Dog's New Works Lab deserves your support for giving local playwrights a chance to present their work to an audience in a supportive atmosphere. I've performed in a couple of these shows in the past and can attest to the fact that Stray Dog gives them the same loving care they lavish on their regular shows. Stephen Peirick's name will be familiar to many of you as both an actor and playwright. His comedy Wake Up, Cameron Dobbs had a very successful run at West End Players a couple of years ago.

Photo: Brian Peters

St. Louis Shakespeare presents The Liar by David Ives, adapted from the comedy by Pierre Corneille through August 24. "David Ives (the brilliant mind who penned All In The Timing) offers a fresh, witty and split-your-pants funny translation of Pierre Corneille's 1644 comedy about Dorante, a compulsive liar who masterfully spins an intricate web of lies...now if he could only keep his lies straight!" Performances take at the 560 Music Center in University City. For more information, call 314-361-5664 or visit stlshakespeare.org.

My take: Ives is a funny and creative playwright who has come up with a clever modern reworking of a classic French farce. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Tina Farmer describes this as a "a fast-paced, light-hearted romantic comedy."

Photo: Ron Lindsey

Union Avenue Opera presents Wagner's Siegfried in a condensed and reduced version by English composer Jonathan Dove, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, August 22-30. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sung in German with projected English text. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

My take: Union Avenue opera is topping off a highly successful 20th season with the third entry in its multi-year traversal of Wagner's "Ring" cycle. Even in Dove's reduced versions, this is a highly ambitious undertaking for this highly ambitious company, and probably the only opportunity for local opera fans to see productions of these massive works here in town. The nearest city with a large and well-equipped enough opera house to mount the full productions is the Lyric Opera in Chicago, and they won't be doing one until 2016.

Held Over:

Photo: Peter Wochniak

Stages St. Louis presents the musical Always..Patsy Cline through August 31. "Jacqueline Petroccia and Zoe Vonder Haar star in the return engagement of the show critics called 'exceptional, must see entertainment.' The touching and true story of Country music legend Patsy Cline and her friendship with Texas housewife Louise Seger returns to STAGES this spring. Combining down home country humor, heartache and 27 of Patsy Cline's unforgettable hits such as 'Crazy,' 'Walkin' After Midnight,' and 'Sweet Dreams,' Always... Patsy Cline endures as a piece of genuine Americana." Performances take place at The Playhouse at Westport Plaza. For more information, visit stagesstlouis.org or call 314-821-2407.

My take: Call this a qualified recommendation. If you're a lover of Patsy Cline or country music in general, I think you'll have a great time at this show, which is really more of a celebrity impersonation review than a book musical per se. Jacqueline Petroccia captures Cline's voice and manner so accurately it's eerie and Zoe Vonder Haar is a hoot and a half as Louise Seger, the real-life Houston fan who became a close friends and correspondent of Cline. With over two dozen Patsy Cline hits performed to perfection by Ms. Petroccia and a six-piece band, the show is a real feast for fans. See my KDHX review for more information.