Chuck's Choices for the weekend of March 6, 2015

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:

Family Musical Theater presents Love Is in the Air, a fund-raising cabaret starring Kay Love and Jeffrey M. Wright, on Saturday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. The performance takes place at the Ivory Theatre, 7622 Michigan. For more information, visit familymusical.org or call 314-571-9579.

My take: Key and Jeff are terrific singers with solid acting credentials—an unbeatable combination for cabaret, in my book. The show also happens to be a fund-raiser for the Kidney Foundation as well as for Family Musical Theatre, which makes it all the more worthwhile.

Otello

Winter Opera St. Louis presents Verdi's Otello, based on the Shakespeare tragedy, Friday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, March 6 and 8. Performances take place at The Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade College Preparatory School, 425 S. Lindbergh. The opera is sung in Italian with project English supertitles. For more information, visit winteroperastl.org.

My take: Within only a few seconds, the pounding, wind-swept chords and offstage thunder that open Verdi's Othello set the stage for what will follow: a story of how violent passion destroys a hero even as the violent storm described by the chorus fails to destroy his warship. The hero is Othello, of course, and in both Shakespeare and Verdi it's violent emotion, abetted by self-doubt, that brings the Lion of Venice down from the heights of triumph to the depths of self-hatred, murder, and suicide. Verdi gave us some of his best work in his Shakespeare operas, and it has been a while (over 16 years) since we have seen opera locally, so Winter Opera's production is welcome. And the Viragh Center is one of the best opera venues in town.

The Presenters Dolan present Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts in Transitions on Saturday, March 7 at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. "Rosemary Watts and Joe Dreyer premier their new show "Transitions" at the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. The first couple of St. Louis cabaret brings a brand new show to the Gaslight stage, and their large and fashionable following." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com.

My take: Joe is a highly-respected music director here in town and his wife Rosemary is a fine singer. Together, they are an irresistable team on stage.

Neal Richardson

The Presenters Dolan present Neal Richardson in Pennies from Heaven on Friday, March 6 at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. "Neal is one of St Louis's authorities on musical theater and the Great American Songbook. He has music directed or accompanied the cabaret shows of Julia Murney, Megan McGinnis, Ben Nordstrom, Tim Schall, Jeffrey Wright, Ken Haller and Katie McGrath, among many others. Neal has taught musical theatre at Webster University for the last 15 years. His credits include The Spitfire Grill, OKLAHOMA!, Pippin, Violet, Nine, Into the Woods, A New Brain, Spring Awakening, Carousel and others. He is also a musical director and arranger for the MUNY. As a nationally noted arranger for Hal Leonard, Neal is responsible for the vocal selections of over 30 Broadway shows as well as arrangements for solo piano, including a collection of Radiohead songs." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com.

My take: I would be lying if I said I could be objective about Neal. He was the music director and co-creator for my show Just a Song at Twilight back in 2010 and over the years since then I have watched him gradually emerge from behind the piano and start taking center stage as a singer in his own right. I'm really looking forward to his first solo show.

Held Over:

Photo: Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Terrence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy through March 8. "When young Ronnie Winslow is expelled from military school for stealing a five-shilling postal order, his father wages an exhaustive fight to clear his son's name. What begins as a private matter quickly becomes a larger question of the rights of the individual against the power of the state. Though the legal battle jeopardizes his health and the reputation of the entire family, Arthur Winslow is determined that right will prevail, no matter what the sacrifice." 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.

My take: Terrence Rattigan's work seems to have fallen into obscurity in the decades since his death in 1977. Which is a pity, as his better-known plays are very well-constructed pieces, filled with subtle touches and well-rounded characters. Appearing in Separate Tables several years ago at Act Inc reminded me of what great dialog and situations he wrote. We saw the show last weekend and I must say that director Steve Woolf and his forces are doing this play up proud. "A splendid cast and keenly sharpened direction," writes Chris Gibson at broadwayworld.com, "combine to provide a very compelling piece of theatre." "The show is thoughtfully directed by Steven Woolf," says Tina Farmer at KDHX, "and features fully engaged, well-developed performances by a strong ensemble."