Chuck's Choices for the weekend of May 22, 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:

Sean Green and Mikayla Sherfy
in An Initial Condition

Tesseract Theatre Company presents An Initial Condition by Taylor Gruenloh through May 24. "A determination to create a miracle turns into a journey of the unknown when Chance, a young mathematician, is brought on to help map out cancer in a young girl's body. His determination to solve the problem inside Sarah's body takes Chance to places that are unimaginable." Performances take place at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar. For more information: tesseracttheatre.org.

My take: Tesseract is one of those companies that is not shy about presenting new and provocative material. As Tina Farmer writes in her review for KDHX, "their mission to produce new plays that probe current topics in imaginative works is something the company has adhered to consistently and with success." She notes that this production "may need a few additional revisions to improve the pacing, but continues a string of shows from the company that are challenging, entertaining and deeply provocative."

Held Over:

My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding
Photo: Eric Woolsey

New Jewish Theater presents the musical My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding May 7-31. "The surprise hit of both the Toronto Fringe Festival and New York Musical Theater Festival, My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding is the sweet, tuneful and true story of the journey of the playwright's mother as she discovered her true self. Despite its specific title, MMLJWW is a universal story about parents and children, falling in love, and finding out who you are. It has heart and soul and in today's political climate, it couldn't be more timely - plus, it's a TRUE STORY!" Performances take place in the Marvin and Harlene Wool Studio Theater at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. For more information: www.newjewishtheatre.org or call 314-442-3283.

My take: As I wrote in my review for KDHX, David Hein and Irene Sankoff's unapologetically autobiographical musical is a pleasant and pleasing little show. It's so light that a stiff breeze would blow it away, but its heart is in the right place, which counts for a great deal. Ed Coffield has assembled a great cast and directed them well. Sets and costumes are bright and colorful and the on-stage band is solid. When I saw it on its opening weekend it was sold out, so you might want to order tickets sooner rather than later.