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| August: Osage County Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr. |
My take: This might just be the ultimate dysfunctional family comedy/drama, both because of its operatic length (three hours, with intermission) and because Letts tosses in just about every trope imaginable. I'm not a big fan of the script, but Steve Callahan, writing for KDHX, has a lot of praise for the production. "The Wash U student cast," he writes, "is led by Peggy Billo, a brilliant Equity 'ringer' who gives a truly bravura performance as Violet. Helen Fox is most impressive as Barbara, her mother's chief antagonist and others in the cast do excellent work. Director Andrea Urice has done masterful work with this enormously demanding script."
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| Chicago |
My take: "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen; you are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, and treachery - all those things we all hold near and dear to our hearts. Thank you." Those are the first lines spoken in Chicago, and they're a microcosm of both the story line and the attitude of the show. If you didn't know it was over forty years old, you might be justified in thinking Chicago had been written yesterday. The story of murderess Roxie Hart—whose bogus change of heart makes her on overnight sensation with the celebrity-obsessed press and public—is as current as the latest bogus Facebook meme. And it provides an opportunity for satirical pot-shots at judges, lawyers, celebrity hounds and, of course, the celebrities themselves. When I first saw this show, I thought it was deeply cynical. Now it just feels realistic.
That Uppity Theatre Company presents Playhouse Emissions: Climate Change Theatre on Sunday, March 4, at 11 am. 'There is overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real, human-caused and will have catastrophic effects. Yet, it is still a struggle to educate and motivate the public to take action. This free special Arts Festival Platform will reprise several of the vignettes and performances seen at the Ethical Society last fall, produced by That Uppity Theatre Company Producing Artistic Director Joan Lipkin (Ethical Society Ethical Humanist of the Year Awardee) and Pamela Reckamp. As shared by some of the leading actors in St. Louis including John Flack, Don McClendon, Elizabeth McCormick, Pamela Reckamp and Donna Weinsting, the plays were selected from over 25 cultures, including perspectives from low-lying nations threatened by sea-level change and countries facing severe heatwaves, floods or droughts. The Platform will also include performances from Ashley Tate and the Ashleyliane Dance Company." The event takes place at the Ethical Society, 9001 Clayton Road.
My take: Speaking of realism, here's theatre dedicated to raising awareness about a very real threat to human civilization (not that we don't already have plenty). That Uppity Theatre Company remains our preeminent local theatre company with a conscience.
Held Over:
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| Menopause the Musical |
My take: This popular ensemble show has been around for a while now, having premiered in 2001 in Orlando, Florida, in a 76-seat theatre that once housed a perfume shop. It's last visit at the Westport Playhouse was ten years ago, and it seems to have lost none of it's comic shine. "Who will enjoy this," asks Ann Lemmons Pollack in a review of the show last year, "beyond women of what they call un age certain? People of both genders around them unless they have no sense of humor. That includes family, friends and co-workers. One of life's cruel jokes is that the menopause hits many households about the same time adolescence does. Here's something to tide us over." Since this is effectively a remounting of that same production, I think I'm on safe ground putting it on the hit list, as I did last January.
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