St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of March 21, 2022

Now including both on-line and live events during the pandemic. Your event information should be in text format (i.e. not part of a graphic), but feel free to include publicity stills. To get your event listed here, send an email to calendar [at] stageleft.org.

Bob Wetzel and the band

The Blue Strawberry presents Mama Cass - The Gertrude Stein of Laurel Canyon with Broadway star Bob Wetzel on Saturday at 7:30 March 26. “Bob Wetzel’s Mama Cass show features some of most beautiful music of the 60s and 70s, all with fresh arrangements. Having done tons of research, Bob has created a show that tells the story of Mama Cass and the Laurel Canyon sound. Cass was at the center of it all. She was the networker, the one who brought them all together. It was to her house on Lookout Mountain that neighbors Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, Gram Parsons, David Crosby and many others come to share ideas and make music.  It was an epoch-making moment in musical time, fully captured and fully realized in Bob's new show."  Carol Schmidt is pianist and music director for the show, which also features Steve Schenkel on guitar and Rick Vice on bass. The Blue Strawberry is at 364 N. Boyle. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com.

ERA Theatre presents the radio play SHE by Nancy Bell with music by Joe Taylor and Lyrics by Nancy Bell via on-demand streaming  "SHE controls the radio station of the fascist regime in power. SHE's also the star of the broadcast. Her recording studio abounds with music and oysters. But in the nearby government camps full of misfits and would-be revolutionaries, only torture and starvation is thick on the ground. Tonight, however, SHE's realm feels different. The bombs sound closer. Time moves faster. But SHE will finish her radio show, and it will be her finest. If executing every number in the broadcast means some people need to die, so be it; it is a small sacrifice. The citizens need her and she will not let them down." SHE is available on most major platforms including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, YouTube, and BandCamp. For more information: www.eratheatre.org

My Fair Lady
Photo: Joan Marcus

The Fabulous Fox presents the Lincoln Center revival of My Fair Lady running through April 3. ‘From Lincoln Center Theater that brought you The King & I and South Pacific, comes “a sumptuous new production of the most perfect musical of all time” (Entertainment Weekly), Lerner & Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY.  Boasting such classic songs as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “The Rain in Spain,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” and “On the Street Where You Live,” MY FAIR LADY tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a “proper lady.”  But who is really being transformed?’  The Fabulous Fox is on North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: www.fabulousfox.com

The Lemp Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre and Jest Mysteries present Bullets in the Bathtub J through May 7. "Mob bosses, flappers, bootleggers and crooked cops will abound as event attendees are transported back in time to Trixie's speakeasy right in the heart of the roaring 20's. There will be plenty of rowdy characters at this fun, interactive event but none so dangerous as Harry "Bullets" Hyde. He’s the boss of the bosses and he is not too keen on "The Familys" taking over his territory. Parts will be passed out at the door and guests can participate as much or as little as they would like too. Some might be famous gangsters of the past, others may dodge the cops as they bootleg over state lines and a few might even be fun, flirty flappers. When a group like this gets together, it’s almost inevitable that somebody ends up "sleeping with the fishes." The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place in south city. For more information: www.lempmansion.com

Proof
Photo by Phillip Hamer

Moonstone Theatre Company presents David Auburn’s Proof Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 PM, through April 10.  “The play begins on the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, who has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness-or genius-will she inherit?” Performances take place at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center studio theatre in Kirkwood. For more information: https://moonstonetheatrecompany.com

New Jewish Theatre presents Neil Simon’s Laughter on the 23rd Floor Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 4 and 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm through April 10. “Laughter on the 23rd Floor is inspired by the Simon’s youthful experience as a staff writer on Sid Caesars’s Your Show of Shows. This ensemble comedy features all the comic dramas as the harried writing staff frantically scramble to top each other’s gags while competing for the attention of star madman, Max Prince.” Performances take place at the SFC Performing Arts Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive. For more information: jccstl.com/arts-ideas/new-jewish-theatre

Head Over Heels
Photo: Jill Ritter Photography

New Line Theatre presents the musical Head Over Heels through March 26. “Head Over Heels is the bold, sexy new musical comedy from the visionaries that rocked Broadway with American Idiot, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Avenue Q and Spring Awakening. Conceived by Jeff Whitty, with an original book by Whitty, adapted by James Magruder, originally directed by Michael Mayer, based on a novel from 1580 (not kidding!) and set to the music of the iconic 1980s all-girl rock band The Go-Go's, this subversive, high-octane, laugh-out-loud love story includes hit songs like, “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.” The wild story follows the escapades of a royal family who set out on a journey to save their beloved kingdom from extinction -- only to discover the key to their realm’s survival lies within each of their own hearts. . . though not always in the way they expect. . . and in their willingness to let go of rigid tradition and change with the times.” Performances take place at the Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive. For more information: newlinetheatre.com

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents The 39 Steps through April 10. “Hitchcock meets hilarity in this madcap comedic thriller. Richard Hannay is an everyday bloke looking for a little more excitement in his life. But he gets more than he bargains for when he is unwittingly plunged into the world of spies, agents and espionage. Now it’s up to him, with the help of a mysterious woman, to thwart the plot of the dubious organization known as “The 39 Steps.” Don’t miss the tour de force performances as four actors take on over 150 roles in a plot packed with intrigue, international danger, old-fashioned romance, high-spirited comedy and a death-defying finale!” Performances take place on the Emerson Main Stage at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. For more information: www.repstl.org.

R-S Theatrics presents While the Ghostlight Burns, a virtual discussion series featuring R-S Artistic Director Sarah Lynne Holt in conversation with St. Louis theatre artists, Mondays at 7 pm.  Conversations will be archived at the R-S Theatrics YouTube channel. For more information: r-stheatrics.com/while-the-ghostlight-burns.html

The St. Louis Black Repertory Company presents Behind the Sheet by Charly Evon Simpson through April 3. "Behind the Sheet follows several Black women who suffered invasive experimental surgeries while enslaved on a plantation in Alabama during the 1840s. Although the story is fictionalized, it is deeply rooted in history and the early career of Dr. J. Marion Sims, considered the founder of modern gynecology." Performances take place at the Catherine B. Berges Theatre at Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in University City. For more information: www.theblackrep.org.

Madama Butterfly
Photo Riq Dilly

Winter Opera presents Puccini’s Madama Butterfly Sunday at 2 pm, March 27. “An enduring tale of unrequited love, this heartbreaking story will tug at the heart strings of the romantic as beautiful, innocent Madame Butterfly awaits the return of her American husband.” Performances take place at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, 201 E. Monroe in Kirkwood, MO. For more information: https://www.winteroperastl.org

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