Chuck's Choices for the weekend of July 10, 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:

Holiday Inn

The Muny presents Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn nightly at 8:15 PM, July 6-12, in the outdoor theatre in Forest Park. "Happy holidays - all of them! Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn comes to joyous and extravagant life on the Muny stage. A Muny premiere, this will be only the second production in the world of this new musical based upon the beloved 1942 film. With thrilling dance numbers and lively comedy, this wonderful new show features Irving Berlin classics like "Easter Parade," "Steppin' Out With My Baby," "Shakin' The Blues Away," "Be Careful, It's My Heart," and more!" For more information, visit muny.org or call 314-361-1900.

My take: Other commitments are keeping me from seeing this show, or else I would have been there on opening night myself. Originally produced for Connecticut's Goodspeed Opera House, this stage adaptation of the classic 1942 film musical is jam-packed with Irving Berlin hits. "The charming, nostalgic musical," writes Tina Farmer at KDHX, "recalls the post war optimism of the late 1940s and 1950s, and is a fond toast to the resiliency of the American spirit." At Broadwayworld.com, Chris Gibson describes this as "a terrific show filled with eye-popping choreography, big splashy numbers, and enough romantic entanglements to please any fan of the original film."

Held Over:

The Fantasticks

Insight Theatre Company presents the classic musical The Fantasticks July 2-18. "This long running show is a funny and romantic musical about a boy, a girl, two fathers, and a wall. The narrator, El Gallo, asks the audience to use their imaginations and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. The young lovers do come to realize that, just as El Gallo had said, 'Without a hurt, the heart is hollow.'" 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.

My take: I haven't seen this production yet, but the play itself is one of the great musicals of the past century, with a memorable score and a funny and literate book. Based on Rostand's The Romancers, the show has a very Gallic outlook on life and love that makes it unusual in American musical theatre and always worth seeing. "If you are among the few who have never seen a production of The Fantasticks," writes Bob Wilcox at KDHX, "the current one at Insight Theatre Company offers you a splendid introduction to this ever-charming musical."