Sunday, September 14, 2014

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of September 15, 2014

[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 events web site.

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St. Louis Actors' Studio presents the All in the Timing, an evening of one-act comedies by David Ives, September 19-October 5 at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.

Photo: Peter Wochniak
Stages St. Louis presents the musical Always..Patsy Cline September 18-October 12. "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. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Monroe Actors Stage Company presents the classic musical Annie Get Your Gun through September 21 in the Historic Capitol Theatre in downtown Waterloo, Illinois. " Annie Oakley is the best shot around, but when shooting ace Frank Butler's ego won't accept Annie's talent, it's up to Annie to prove to him that love trumps talent." For more information, visit www.masctheatre.org or call 618-939-7469.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents A Big Easy Murder through October 26. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com

Carol Schmidt
The Cabaret Project and 88.1 KDHX present the monthly Cabaret Open Stage Night on Wednesday, September 17, from 7 to 10 PM at the Tavern of Fine Arts. The master of ceremonies is 88.1 KDHX senior performing arts critic Chuck Lavazzi and the music director is Carol Schmidt. Bring your favorite seasonal songs and be prepared for the big sing-along! If you're planning to sing, be prepared to do one or two songs and bring music, preferably in your key. It's also recommend that you have your song memorized. The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt at Waterman in the Central West End. There's free parking in the lot right across the street. For more information, visit The Cabaret Project or call 314-367-7549.

Insight Theatre Company presents Arthur Miller's classic drama Death of a Salesman through September 21. "A true American classic, this drama follows the last day in the life of salesman Willy Loman. Through memories, dreams and explosive arguments, playwright Arthur Miller delves into the contradictions between denial and reality, between success and failure. This poignant family story of a broken man, his supportive wife and the two sons who try to please him received the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. It has been revived on Broadway four times, most recently in 2012." Performances take place in the Heagney Theatre, 530 East Lockwood on the campus of Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves. For more information, call 314-556-1293 or visit insighttheatrecompany.com.

The Performing Arts Department at Washington University presents Ekphasia, or "The Shadow Girl" by Cary Simowitz on Friday, Septermber 19, at 7:00 p.m. as part of The A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival. "Owen's thoughts split the sky like cerebral lightning bolts. His accelerated intelligence dissects behavior and calculates the equation of the world around him. Trapped by the voice within, Owen recalibrates in order to decipher the one thing his brain doesn't understand...his heart. It's a love story like no other." The performance takes place in the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre in the Mallinckrodt Student Center on the Washington University campus. For more information, call 314-935-6543 or visit pad.artsci.wustl.edu.

Photo: Peter Wochniak
Stages St. Louis presents the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof through October 5. "Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and one of the most touching creations in the history of Broadway, featuring such heartfelt and beloved songs as 'Sunrise, Sunset,' 'If I Were A Rich Man,' and 'Matchmaker, Matchmaker'.” Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road in Kirkwood. For more information, visit stagesstlouis.org or call 314-821-2407.

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents Good in Everything by Nancy Bell, based on Shakespeare's As You Like it, as its Shakespeare in the Streets 2014 production nightly at 8 PM, Thursday through Saturday, September 18-20. The production will feature the combined talents of professional actors performing alongside local residents and students. Performances take place Central Avenue between Forsyth Blvd. and Maryland Avenue. For more information: sfstl.com

The Great American Trailer Park Musical
Photo: Zachary Stefaniak
Dramatic License Productions presents The Great American Trailer Park Musical through September 21. "Directed by St. Louis theatre veteran actor and director, Alan Knoll with musical direction by Stephen Eros and choreography by Zachary Stefaniak, the adults-only musical is the story of a wayward stripper, Pippi, pursued by her marker-sniffing, highly combustible boyfriend. Pippi hides out in the north Florida trailer park Armadillo Acres, home to an agoraphobic housewife, her toll-collector husband and three gossiping girlfriends who also narrate the wacky story. A four-piece, on-stage band accompanies the cast of seven." Performances take place at Dramatic License Theatre located at the upper level of Chesterfield Mall (near Sears and across from Houlihan's Restaurant). For more information, call 636-220-7012 or visit dramaticlicenseproductions.org.

The Performing Arts Department at Washington University presents Kairos by Kristen O'Neal on Saturday, Septermber 20, at 2:00 p.m. as part of The A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival. "On a train platform, in a liminal world, the past collides with the present, and the future disembarks to find itself altered. A soldier, two lovers, a homeless man and an needling mother, confront versions of their lives and themselves from bygone days." The performance takes place in the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre in the Mallinckrodt Student Center on the Washington University campus. For more information, call 314-935-6543 or visit pad.artsci.wustl.edu.

Christ Memorial Productions presents the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I Friday sand Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, through September 21. Performances take place at Christ Memorial Lutheran Church, 5252 South Lindbergh. For more information, visit CMPShows.org or call 314-631-0304.

Alton Little Theater presents the comedy Leading Ladies Thursdays through Sundays, through September 21, at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. "Two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing “Scenes from Shakespeare” on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady in York, PA is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren't nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady's vivacious niece, Meg, who's engaged to the local minister. Meg knows that there's a wide world out there, but it's not until she meets “Maxine and Stephanie” that she finally gets a taste of it." For more information, call 618.462.6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

Clinton County Showcase presents the drama The Miracle Worker through September 27. "Immortalized onstage and screen by Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, this classic tells the story of Annie Sullivan and her student, blind and mute Helen Keller. The Miracle Worker dramatizes the volatile relationship between the lonely teacher and her charge. Trapped in a secret, silent world, unable to communicate, Helen is violent, spoiled, almost sub-human and treated by her family as such. Only Annie realizes that there is a mind and spirit waiting to be rescued from the dark, tortured silence. With scenes of intense physical and emotional dynamism, Annie's success with Helen finally comes with the utterance of a single, glorious word: “water”." Performances take place at the Avon Theater, 525 North 2nd Street Breese IL. For more information, visit ccshowcase.com.

The Normal Heart
HotCity Theatre presents The Normal Heart through September 27. “Debuting in 1985, Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart was perceived as “too urgent to ignore.” The AIDS epidemic was by then full-blown and hysteria was rampant. The intensity of the play helped usher in a new gay activism that could arguably be attributed to the evolution of gay rights in the decades to follow. An acclaimed revival in 2011 and the upcoming HBO version (produced by Ryan Murphy and starring Julia Roberts) have given this (now) modern classic a place in one of the important plays of our times.” 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.

One Man, Two Guvnors
©Photo by Lon Brauer
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents the comedy One Man, Two Guvnors through October 5. “Francis Henshall needs a job. Recently sacked from his skiffle band, he's hungry and has a bad case of fish and chips on the brain. To make ends meet, he becomes a servant to two different masters. Frazzled Francis tries his best to balance duties and keep his bosses from meeting, but what he doesn't know about them, and what they don't know about each other, quickly become uproarious and riotous cases of mistaken identities and slapstick antics in this laugh-out-loud award-winning comedy.” Performances take place on the mainstage at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org.

The Black Rep presents the musical Purlie, based on the Ossie Davis play Purlie Victorious, through September 21. "Purlie is the story of Purlie Victorious Judson, a preacher who returns to his homeland to revive an old church and help empower the African Americans who are under the thumb of bigoted Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee." Performances take place at the Edison Theater on the Washington University Campus. For more information: theblackrep.org

The Performing Arts Department at Washington University presents Telegraph by Will Jacobs on Saturday, Septermber 20, at 7:00 p.m. as part of The A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival. " A peculiar telegraph operator, Mr. Rivers, looks for lost love in the lyricism of electrical impulse. His search is disrupted by the arrival of the very determined Mrs. Emily Stone, who brings light to the darkened corners of his Pennsylvania home. Together, they grapple with love and laughter within the abstractions of language and the rhythms of dots and dashes. Winner of the 2014 A.E Hotchner Playwriting Competition. Telegraph will be produced by the Performing Arts Department in April 2015." The performance takes place in the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre in the Mallinckrodt Student Center on the Washington University campus. For more information, call 314-935-6543 or visit pad.artsci.wustl.edu.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Zombie Love! (No Biting) through November 2. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com.

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.

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