Sunday, April 21, 2019

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of April 22, 2019

Variety is the spice of theatre this week, running the gamut from a new adaptation of Capek's R.U.R. at SIU to Miss Saigon at the Fox.

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville presents Are U R?, based on the play R.U.R. by Karel Cepak, opening on Wednesday, April 24 at 7:30 pm and running through April 28. "From Metropolis to The Matrix, from Brave New World to Westworld, humans are obsessed with the possibility of intelligent machines and the all the questions that they inspire - What is the mind? What is consciousness? And what will it look like when smart technology turns against its creators? Inspired by the classic 1920 Czech play, this SIUE original adaptation is an irreverent and provocative mash-up of humor and horror, philosophy and science/fiction, pop culture and faith that explores the nature of artificial intelligence and human consciousness. " Performances take place in the Metcalf Theater on the campus in Edwardsville, IL. For more information, call 618-650-2774 or visit www.siue.edu.

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.

Deenie Nast is Back
Ten Directions and presents Audrey Crabtree in her one-woman show Deenie Nast Is Back on Friday, April 26, at 8 pm. "Oscar-winner, Emmy-winner, 2-time Tony winner, 6-time Kevin Klein Award Nominee and international performance superstar Deenie Nast delivers a no holds barred, song-filled tribute to her lonely fans. Nast heads to St Louis with a hilarious and heartbreaking exploration of relationships, loneliness, and true connections. Nast is back with a vengeance, singing the hits from her past, revealing very personal stories, and re-enforcing her legendary status to modern audiences. Songs, physical comedy, audience interaction and general 'Nast-iness" will ensue!" Performances take place in the Emerald Room at The Monocle in the Grove. For more information: www.deenienast.com.

The University of Missouri at St. Louis presents From Jimmy, to America: An Ode to James Baldwin Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2 pm, April 27 and 28. "Through the words of James Baldwin, this production explores race, identity, and America. In collaboration with Nu-World Contemporary Danse Theatre, actors and dancers explore our racial identity through the works, words, and musicality of James Baldwin." Performances take place at Touhill Performing Arts Center on the UMSL campus. For more information: www.touhill.org

The University Theatre at Saint Louis University presents the 2012 retelling of the Stephen Schwartz musical Godspell Thursday through Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 2 pm, April 25-28. " The musical, based on the gospel of St. Matthew, will feature new arrangements and contemporary references as it takes us on a rousing journey through the parables of Jesus and is directed by Stephanie Tennill." Performances take place at The Grandel, 3610 Grandel Square. For more information: metrotix.com or 314.534-1111. Tickets are also available at the door.

St. Charles Community College presents the drama The Laramie Project Wednesday through Sunday, April 24-28. “This gripping play concerns Americans' reaction to the murder of Matthew Shepard. In October of 1998, Shepard was kidnapped, severely beaten, and left to die in Laramie, Wyoming. Kaufman and others went to Laramie and conducted more than 200 interviews about the event, from which they wrote this play." Performances take place in the SCC Center Stage Theater in the Donald D. Shook Fine Arts Building on the campus at 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive in Cottleville, MO. For more information, call 636-922-8050 or visit stchas.edu.

R-S Theatrics and Three Blind Pigs presents Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream Friday and Saturday at 7 pm and Sunday at 5 pm, April 26-28. "Come experience lovers' spats, clueless actors, and a fairy queen in one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies. Shake38 may be gone, but Blind Pigs' partnership with R-S Theatrics lives on." Performances take place at the William Kerr Foundation, 21 O'Fallon Street in North St. Louis. For more information: r-stheatrics.com

Miss Saigon
The Fabulous Fox Theatre presents the musical Miss Saigon opening on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:30 pm and running through May 5. "Experience the acclaimed new production of the legendary musical Miss Saigon, from the creators of Les Misérables. This is the story of a young Vietnamese woman named Kim who is orphaned by war and forced to work in a bar run by a notorious character known as the Engineer. There she meets and falls in love with an American G.I. named Chris, but they are torn apart by the fall of Saigon. For 3 years, Kim goes on an epic journey of survival to find her way back to Chris, who has no idea he's fathered a son. Featuring stunning spectacle and a sensational cast of 42 performing the soaring score, including Broadway hits like “The Heat is On in Saigon,” “The Movie in My Mind,” “Last Night of the World” and “American Dream,” this is a theatrical event you will never forget." The Fabulous Fox Theatre in on N. Grand in Grand Center. For more information: fabulousfox.com.

Clinton County Showcase presents the musical Monty Python's Spamalot Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, February 8 - 17. "Spamalot! Lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot retells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and features a bevy of beautiful show girls, not to mention cows, killer rabbits, and French people. Did we mention the bevy of beautiful show girls?" Performances take place at the Avon Theater, 525 North 2nd Street Breese IL. For more information, visit ccshowcase.com.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Muurder in Maaaybury! April 19 - July 27. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Nursery Crimes through May 9. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com.

Upstream Theater presents the St. Louis premiere of Salt, Root and Roe opening on Friday, April 26, at 8 pm and running through May 12. "Tim Price's Salt, Root and Roe is a poetic masterwork about the nature of change, the comfort of home, and the eternal bond of love, set against the mythical backdrop of the Pembrokeshire coast in western Wales. The play centers on identical twins Iola and Anest, who are very devoted to each other. Ageing fast, and with the time they have together more fragile by the day, they arrive at a desperate decision. Word of this reaches Anest's daughter Menna, who rushes to her long-abandoned childhood home where her own ideas of love and compromise are tested to the limit. In spite of its somber themes, the play is light, textured and at times very funny-and in the words of one reviewer “like a pebble picked from a Pembrokeshire beach… something to take home and reflect over, something that evokes a smell of the sea...”Another US premiere from Upstream Theater, in co-production with Stages Repertory Theatre of Houston." Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, including show times: upstreamtheater.org.

The Black Mirror Theatre presents Brien Friel's Translations opening on Thursday, April 25, at 7:30 pm and running through May 4. "Translations is an intimate look into a world at odds with itself. It could have been set in one of any number of eras and lands - anywhere in which an alien force imposes it's culture on a conquered people through the suppression of all that which gave and gives that culture cohesion, especially its language. One need look no farther than America, where indigenous peoples still struggle to maintain and transmit their values, beliefs, their souls thru their native tongues." Performances take place at the .ZACK, 3224 Locust in Grand Center. For more information: blackmirrortheatre.com

Act Two Theatre presents Tuesdays with Morrie opening on Wednesday, April 24, at 7:30 pm and running through May 5. "The autobiographical story of Mitch Albom, an accomplished journalist driven solely by his career, and Morrie Schwartz, his former college professor. Sixteen years after graduation, Mitch happens to catch Morrie's appearance on a television news program and learns that his old professor is battling Lou Gehrig's Disease. Mitch is reunited with Morrie, and what starts as a simple visit turns into a weekly pilgrimage and a last class in the meaning of life." Performances take place in the St. Peters Cultural Arts Centre at 1 St Peters Centre Blvd, St. Peters, MO 63376. For more information: act2theater.com.

True West
Photo by Patrick Huber
St. Louis Actors' Studio presents Sam Shepard's True West Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm, through April 28. " This American classic explores alternatives that might spring from the demented terrain of the California landscape. Sons of a desert-dwelling alcoholic and a suburban wanderer clash over a film script. Austin, the achiever, is working on a script he has sold to producer Sal Kimmer when Lee, a demented petty thief, drops in. He pitches his own idea for a movie to Kimmer, who then wants Austin to junk his bleak, modern love story and write Lee's trashy Western tale." Performances take place at the Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle. For more information call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.

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.

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