Share on Google+:
New This Week:
 |
| Cardboard Piano Photo by John Lamb |
My take: I'm on the play reading committee as well as the board of WEPG, and was a strong supporter of this play from the beginning. I first saw it at the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2016, where I was very impressed with the writing. In my review, I wrote that Cardboard Piano manages to balance the immediacy of it's "ripped from the headlines" story with a contemplation of deeper issues. As our own domestic political process plays out the conflict between a version of Christianity based on mercy and compassion vs. one based on anger and judgment, the issues in Cardboard Piano feel both immediate and timeless.
 |
| Hamilton |
My take: Yeah, like you need my encouragement to see this massive hit. Reviewing the Chicago production in 2016, I wrote that Hamilton is a flat-out brilliant piece of musical theatre that manages to be both educational and entertaining at the same time. In nations, as in nature, diversity is a source of strength. Hamilton is a reminder of that strength. We are, as JFK wrote in his book of the same name, "a nation of immigrants," so it's encouraging to note that, when we saw Hamilton, spontaneous applause burst out when Jefferson and Hamilton sang "immigrants: we get the job done."
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents a staged reading of the play Nonsense and Beauty on Saturday, April 7, at 7:30 pm as part of the Ignite! New Play Festival. "In 1930, the writer E.M. Forster met and fell in love with a policeman 23 years his junior. Their relationship, very risky for its time, evolved into a 40-year love triangle that was both turbulent and unique. Based on a true story, Nonsense and Beauty captures the wit and wisdom of one of the last century's great writers." The reading takes place in the Studio Theatre of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. For more information: repstl.org.
My take: Want to see how new plays are born? The Rep's Ignite! festival is here for you.
 |
| Norm Lewis |
My take: The New York Times has called Mr. Lewis "one of the most reliably impressive voices on Broadway." Reviewing his performance in the title role in Phantom, the Times noted that his "supple phrasing and power combined to gorgeous effect." Here's your chance to find out what they meant in the excellent acoustics of the Sheldon Concert Hall.
 |
| Ken Haller |
My take: "Haller is a charming and talented performer with a voice as smooth as a brandy Alexander," wrote Robert Mitchell in a KDHX review of this show back in 2011. I couldn't agree more. Ken is an immensely talented gent with impressive credentials in both the theatrical and cabaret worlds and he has been producing top-notch cabaret here in town as well as in Chicago and New York for several years now. This love letter to Sondheim is not to be missed.
Held Over:
 |
| Born Yesterday Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr. |
My take: A boorish bully who knows the price of everything and the value of noting blows into our nation's capital, corrupting everything he touches. No, it's not today's headlines, but rather the 1946 stage hit by Garson Kanin. The Rep's excellent production doesn't make any effort to draw the parallel with the current circus in our nation's capitol because it doesn't need to; the quality of the acting, direction, and tech all speak for themselves and the issues addressed in the script are, sadly, timeless. If I have a complaint, it's that Kanin seems to have had a bit too much faith in the average citizen's ability to avoid being bamboozled. But maybe that makes it that much more important to see this play now.
No comments:
Post a Comment