St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of August 20, 2018

New this week: a pair of cabaret shows and a celebration of a decade at Alpha Players.

Share on Google+:

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Addams Family Affair through October 28. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com.

CSZ St. Louis presents The ComedySportz Show on Saturday nights at 7:30 pm. The show is "action-packed, interactive and hilarious comedy played as a sport. Two teams battle it out for points and your laughs! You choose the winners the teams provide the funny!" Performances take place on the second floor of the Sugar Cubed, 917 S Main St. in St Charles, Mo. For more information: www.cszstlouis.com.

Milonga Intima presents Dancing Cabaret, featuring singers Meghan Kirk and Ben Nordstrom, on Wednesday, August 22, at 7 pm. The evening of classic cabaret infused with dance will include performances by Argentine tango dancers under the direction of Andrea Kallaus. Ron McGowan is pianist and music director for the show. Milonga Intima is at 14232 Woods Mill Cove Drive in Chesterfield, MO. For more information email andreakallaus at gmail.com and/or call 314 707-7890.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Dead Like Me through November 3. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com.

Alpha Players presents A Decade of Alpha - A Musical Celebration at 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday, August 24 and 25. "A Decade of Alpha will be a concert of favorite songs from Alpha's past ten season of musicals sung by the original Alpha casts. There will be songs from Beauty and the Beast, Big River, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, South Pacific, The Drowsy Chaperone, Spamalot, Les Miserables, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Oliver, 1776, Into the Woods and You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. It will be a joyful celebration of musical theater with some incredible voices!" Performances take place at The Florissant Civic Center Theater, Parker Rd. at Waterford Dr. in Florissant, MO. For more information: alphaplayers.org, call 314-921-5678.

Paula Stoff Dean

The Monocle presents Paul Stoff Dean in her solo debut cabaret, Its About The Journey, on Saturday, August 25, at 8pm. "It's been several years in the making but Paula Stoff Dean is finally debuting in her first ever solo cabaret. Paula's voice has been described as one that can shake the rafters or break your heart. If you haven't heard her sing, make sure you mark this date on your calendars. She has been in various productions with several different theatre companies in the St Louis area such as Stray Dog Theatre, West End Players, Non Prophet Theatre Company, Dramatic License Productions, and most recently ComedySportz St. Louis." The show is directed by Kay Love with musical direction by Carol A Schmidt. The performance takes place in the Emerald Room at The Monocle on Manchester in The Grove. For more information: themonoclestl.com

St. Louis Shakespeare presents Mike Bartlett's King Charles III through August 26. "The Story: The Queen is dead: After a lifetime of waiting, the prince ascends the throne. A future of power. But how to rule? Mike Bartlett's controversial play explores the people beneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain's most famous family." Performances take place at the Ivory Theatre, 7620 Michigan in the Carondelet neighborhood. For more information, call 314-361-5664 or visit stlshakespeare.org.

The Light in the Piazza
Photo by Michael Young

R-S Theatrics presents the musical The Light in the Piazza Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. through August 26. "Winner of numerous Tony Awards in 2005, this musical tells the story of a young American woman vacationing with her mother in Florence in the 1950s. When the woman falls for a local Italian man, uncomfortable truths come to light about what was past and what may be future." Performances take place at The Marcelle Theatre in Grand Center. For more information: r-stheatrics.com.

Lost in the Stars
Photo by John Lamb

Union Avenue Opera presents Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM through August 25. Lost in the Stars is "a provocative work which addresses the weighty moral issues of racism and injustice, relevant now more than ever in St. Louis. For his final Broadway score, Kurt Weill gave passionate voice to this powerful, uncompromising social indictment of apartheid South Africa. The stirring story is of two aging men - a black country parson and a white British planter - drawn into friendship by a shared grief. The parson's faith is challenged by his son's unintentional murder of the planter's son, while the planter acquires faith through the loss of his son. Sadly, the years have not diminished the timeliness of the theme, which is the tragedy of all people." Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sung in English with projected English text. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble presents Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, through September 1. "SATE celebrates its twelfth year producing theatre in St. Louis with its Season of Entrapment. The 2018 season will explore the definition of entrapment: the state of being caught in or as in a trap. For the third production of its Season of Entrapment, SATE will present No Exit. No Exit, or Huis clos, is Jean-Paul Sartres existentialist play in which three damned souls are brought to the same room in hell by a mysterious Valet. Expecting medieval torture devices to punish them for eternity, they are surprised by the deceptively simple and relatively ugly room. As they are all introduced, none of them will admit the reason for their damnation: Garcin says that he was executed for being a pacifist, while Estelle insists that a mistake has been made. Inez however, demands that they all stop lying to themselves and confess to their crimes. This play is an exploration into the human psyche and the invisible wounds we are capable of inflicting upon others, and ourselves. No Exit is the source of Sartre's famous quotation 'L'enfer, c'est les autres' or 'Hell is other people.'" Performances take place at The Chapel Venue, 6238 Alexander Drive. For more information: slightlyoff.org.

The St. Lou Fringe Festival runs through August 26 at multiple venues in the Grand Center area including the Kranzberg Arts Center, Grandel Theatre and the .ZACK Arts Center. Performances include traditional theater, dance, music, comedy, circus arts, performance art, cabaret, and burlesque, with acts from St. Louis and around the country. "Fringe features an array of original material-meant to celebrate all of the arts. Tech is minimal and time is a factor at our festivals. Shows are often kept brief (Fringes most frequently have shows right around 60 minutes in length) and technical requirements kept simple (minor sets, streamlined cues, nothing elaborate)." For a complete schedule, visit stlouisfringe.com.

The St. Louis Writers' Group presents a reading of Suvivors by CJ Zander on Monday, August 20, at 6:30 pm. It's an evening of short plays and monologs about people who are still here after the deaths of loved ones. The event takes place upstairs at Big Daddy's, 1000 Sidney in Soulard. For more information: www.stlwritersgroup.com.

Looking for auditions and other artistic opportunities? Check out the St. Louis Auditions site.

For information on events beyond this week, check out the searchable database at the Regional Arts Commission's Events Calendar.

Would you like to be on the radio? KDHX, 88.1 FM needs theatre reviewers. If you're 18 years or older, knowledgeable in this area, have practical theatre experience (acting, directing, writing, technical design, etc.), have good oral and written communications skills and would like to become one of our volunteer reviewers, send an email describing your experience and interests to chuck at kdhx.org. Please include a sample review of something you've seen recently.