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New This Week:
Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble presents The Aphra Behn Emerging Artists Showcase Friday through Sunday at 8 pm March 15-17. " Now in its third year, this year's festival will consist of three plays written and directed by promising female artists. The festival is named after Aphra Behn, the British playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, Aphra Behn broke cultural barriers and served as a literary role model for later generations of women authors." Performances take place at The Centene Center for the Arts and Education, 3547 Olive in Grand Center. For more information: brownpapertickets.com
My take: What could be more appropriate for Women's History Month than the Aphra Behn Showcase? SATE has an impressive track record of producing new and innovative theatre in St. Louis.
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| Beautiful, the Carole King Musical |
My take: As I wrote in my review of the 2016 tour, Beautiful, The Carole King Musical is a bright, fast-paced jukebox of a show loosely based on the early years of Carole King's songwriting career, culminating with her emergence as a singer in her own right with her best selling Tapestry LP and subsequent Carnegie Hall concert in 1971. You won't get much in the way of insight into King's life or her songwriting process here, but with so many polished production numbers and a nostalgic score of '50s and '60s hits, that hardly matters. The show is pure fun, and the bits of pop music trivia in Douglas McGrath's book only add to the appeal.
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| Jason Robert Brown |
My take: Great musical theatre composers are not necessarily great or even good performers in their own right. Stephen Sondheim comes to mind as an example. Mr. Brown is one of those rare examples of a composer who is also a dynamic and appealing performer. The Grandel is where cabaret started in St. Louis many years ago with the Grandel Cabaret Series, and the newly remodeled theater space is just about ideal for this most intimate of musical theatre genres. Plus, there's a well-stocked bar and respectable food menu out in the lobby.
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| Nonsense and Beauty Photo: Jerry Naunheim, Jr. |
My take: As I write in my review of the show, Nonsense and Beauty is a fundamentally sound work that could use with some fine tuning, largely around the character of Buckingham, but it's a worthy addition to the Rep's studio season nevertheless. The cast could hardly be better and Seth Gordon's direction is spot on.
The Gateway Men's Chorus presents Seasons of Love on Friday and Saturday, March 15 and 16, at 8 p.m. "Our spring concert is the perfect time to take you through a year of infatuation, passion, happiness, betrayal, heartbreak, and hope: the unpredictability of love. You will be utterly absorbed listening to GMC's specially chosen collection of ballads, blues, and Broadway, as well as the concert's namesake "Seasons of Love" from Rent." The concert takes place at Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. For more information: gmcstl.org.
My take: The Gateway Men's Chorus has been a local cultural treasure for three decades now, and deserves our support. And with hatred seemingly pressing in on us from all sides these days, we can certainly use a celebration of love right now, don't you think?
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| Well Photo by Ann Aurbach |
My take: Based on the reviews, I should have included this one earlier, but better late than never. "A fine 95 minutes of intellectual exercise," says Ann Lemmons Pollack. "Unexpectedly charming and heartfelt," writes Lynn Venhaus, "the experimental but relatable “Well” breaks the fourth wall just enough to easily win over the audience." At STLToday, Calvin Wilson describes it as "exuberantly imaginative and smartly funny." And this weekend is your last chance to see it.
Held Over:
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| Avenue Q Photo by John Flack |
My take: A smart, hip, and very funny parody of Sesame Street, Avenue Q is also an entertaining (if R-rated) story of college-educated twentysomethings--both flesh and foam rubber--coming to grips with the economic, political and sexual facts of life. The show is good, not-so-clean fun and always worth seeing. This production is "outrageously funny" (Calvin Wilson, STLToday). "A blend of national and local talent brings zest, exquisite precision and rampant enthusiasm to this delightful version of the Tony Award-winning musical melange of puppeteered optimism at its finest," writes Mark Bretz at Ladue News.
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| La Cage aux Folles Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg |
My take: I have always been a great admirer of this show. Although it's over thirty years old now, La Cage feels relevant all over again in a time when obsessive culture warriors are denouncing loving long-term relationships like that of Georges and the flamboyant Albin as an existential threat to family life when, in fact, they are an affirmation of it. Jerry Herman's score is one of his strongest, with a French pop-music flavor reminiscent of Jacques Brel or Edith Piaf. Songs like "The Best of Times", "With Anne on My Arm", and "La Cage Aux Folles" are both irresistible and unforgettable. And the book by Tony–award winning playwright Harvey Fierstein is both witty and wise. The current New Line production apparently benefits from what Lynn Venhaus calls a "tour-de-force performance from Zachary Allen Farmer as the drag diva Zaza/Albin." Mark Bretz agrees, calling Mr. Farmer's work "triumphant."
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