As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.
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New This Week:
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Jeremy Webb in Buyer and Cellar
©Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr. |
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents
Buyer and Cellar through March 29. "Inspired by Barbra Streisand's coffee table book, My Passion for Design, this uproarious fictional account of celebrity eccentricity takes us into Babs' basement, where she houses her unique collections in a small street of shops. An underemployed actor becomes the caretaker, interacting with Barbra in moments both hilarious and surprisingly tender. A runaway hit in New York, this one-man show takes us into the ultimate fantasy of a star-struck dreamer as he fills the oddest of odd jobs." Performances take place in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit
repstl.org.
My take: One-man shows can be risky propositions, but this one is apparently a success. "If you are a Streisand fan (and who among us isn’t?),"
writes Bob Cohn at St. Louis Jewish Light, "'Buyer & Cellar' is a double treat. Not only is the play itself highly amusing and satisfying, it also contains enough Streisand trivia to satisfy an entire season of questions on 'Jeopardy.'" "Jonathan Tolins is a very clever writer,"
says Bob Wilcox at KDHX. "Jeremy Webb is a very smart actor. Put them together, with some inventive guidance from director Wendy Dann, and you get a quite enjoyable ninety minutes or so in the Studio Theatre at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis."
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| Anna Blair |
The Presenters Dolan present
Anna Blair in
Inside Story - Celebrating the Songs of Fran Landesman on Saturday, March 21, at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. "Anna got the chance to work with Fran Landesman several years ago at the Gaslight Theater, when Jim Dolan brought Fran back to Gaslight Square for several shows. He asked Anna to sing some of Fran's standards. They connected, and Anna became a devotee of Fran's songs. Prior to Fran's death, Anna was able to visit and study with her, and her then-composer Simon Wallace, in London. This show is the fruit of that collaboration." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information:
gaslightcabaretfestival.com.
My take: I saw this show the first time Anna did it back and 2009 and was very impressed. At the time, Andrea Braun reviewed it for KDHX and
had this to say about Anna's performance: "She has a supple, melodic voice, and she looks like she was born to wear a red dress (and proves that redheads needn't avoid that color) and lean against a baby grand. She is sultry, playful, sad, straight-forward, and she provides the audience with an altogether lovely evening." Anna was still relatively new to cabaret back then and has only gotten stronger over the years. Fran Landesman might not have always been the most profound lyricist, but her work was always intelligent, and Anna brings real heart to her performances of Fran's songs.
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Robert McNichols, Jr. as Paul Robeson
Photo: Stewart Goldstein |
The Black Rep presents
Paul Robeson through March 29. "In Phillip Hayes Dean's biographical two-man play, the legendary actor, singer and political activist Paul Robeson sings songs and tells stories of his multi-faceted career, from triumphs in Show Boat and The Emperor Jones, to his fight for racial equality to accusations of Communist involvement." Performances take place at the Emerson Performance Center at Harris-Stowe State University in midtown. For more information:
theblackrep.org.
My take: Paul Robeson's story is an important one, and not just because he was one of the great bass-baritones of the early 20th century. His courage in the face of virulent racism and deranged red baiting is an inspiration to us all. "Seeing a performance of playwright Phillip Hayes Dean’s fascinating, one-man drama, Paul Robeson,"
writes Mark Bretz at Ladue News, "is an exhilarating and educational experience." Over at stltoday.com, Judy Newmark
has words of praise for the show's star, Robert McNichols, Jr.: "An opera singer himself, McNichols performs the song with feeling and intention, and gives an equally meaningful treatment to a trio of gospel numbers that Robeson sang in his stage debut. McNichols is also a fine actor, a big plus for a show that’s not a musical."
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| Meghan Kirk |
The Presenters Dolan present
Meghan Kirk in
The Story Goes On on Friday, March 20, at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. "Meghan reprises her wildly popular and sold-out splash. What a talent! Recently moved back to St. Louis after appearing many times at the Gardenia in LA." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information:
gaslightcabaretfestival.com.
My take: Conflicts have prevented me from seeing Meghan's solo shows until now (yes, I'll be there on Friday), but her work at the Cabaret Project's open mic nights (which I host) has always been exemplary. I'm looking forward to this one.
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents a staged reading of
This Thing of Ours by Caridad Svich on Saturday, March 21, at 3 p.m. as part of the
Ignite! New Play Festival. "When an act of violence strikes an American city, how do we react? It's happened before. We say we will put our lives back together, but years will go by. We will grow apart, come together and some of us will wonder how to keep going, as we turn to myths and seek lessons there. This Thing of Ours is the latest play by Caridad Svich, winner of the Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement and author of the loving adaptation of Love in the Time of Cholera, read in the 2012 Ignite! series." The reading takes place at Sally S. Levy Opera Center, 210 Hazel Avenue, on the Webster University Campus. For more information:
repstl.org
My take: The Rep's
Ignite! festival offers a fascinating glimpse at new works while they're a-borning. Some, like
Soups, Stews, and Casseroles 1976, have gone on to full productions and proven worthy of attention. Will this be the start of something big? The only way to know is to attend. It's a fascinating experience and a great opportunity to let the playwright know what you think.
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Women Under the Influence
L-R: Carol Schmidt, Michele Isam,
Debbie Schuster, Katie McGrath |
The Tavern of Fine Arts presents
Women Under the Influence on Saturday, March 21, at 8 PM. "Women Under the Influence includes St. Louis cabaret singers Katie McGrath and Debbie Schuster, and features the former Jasmine duo Michele Isam and Carol Schmidt. With a soulful, strong and sultry style, their uplifting harmonies bring new interpretations of their girl-group musical influences, from LaBelle to Adele. Join them for songs of passion, romance, betrayal, survival and joy. A donation of $15 is suggested. All collected donations will go directly to Stray Rescue. The Tavern will also contribute a percentage of all food and drink sales to Stray Rescue." The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information:
tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.
My take: I will confess to knowing all the the members of Women Under the Influence for a number of years now (especially Carol Schmidt, who is the music director for the monthly open mic night I mentioned earlier). Their first show back in 2012 took a classic '60s R & B song list and, by artfully arranging the songs, turned the show into a narrative that moved from the first crush, through true love, down into betrayal and back up into independence. It’s could have the story of one woman or of late 20th century women in general. It might even be a little of both. WUI created a space for ambiguity there, and ambiguity is where art lives. They have added songs to their list and rearranged things a bit since then, so it will be interesting to see what the new show look like.
Held Over:
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Afflicted: Daughters of Salem
Photo: Victoria Lafferty |
Metro Theatre Company and the
Missouri History Museum present
Afflicted: Daughters of Salem by Laurie Brooks through March 22. "Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, Mary Warren, and Betty Paris meet deep in the dark woods of Puritan New England at night. Denied all outlets for imagination and all hope for the future, the girls unite in a secret society - Allies are found, promises made and broken, power taken. When the girls force the slave Tituba to tell their fortunes, they ignite a crucible of events that burns out of control, leading straight to the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Through their secrets, gossip and accusations these girls become some of the most notorious teens in history." Performances take place in the Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. For more information:
mohistory.org.
My take: Metro can usually be relied upon to redefine the concept of "children's theatre" in ways that will engage and adult audience as well. In
her review for KDHX, Tina Farmer says this new take on the Salem witchcraft trials is "an enjoyable well-researched fiction that successfully reminds audiences there are two sides to every story, even history."
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Jerry Springer the Opera
Photo: Jill Ritter Lindberg |
New Line Theatre presents the St. Louis premiere of the musical
Jerry Springer the Opera Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, through March 28. "The New Line season continues with one of New Line's wildest and most ambitious projects, JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, the smash-hit, multi-award winning musical that ran to unprecedented rave reviews and standing ovations at the National Theatre in London, after a sold-out run in London's West End. The Sunday Times called it “a shocking, irresistibly funny masterpiece.” With music by Richard Thomas, and book and lyrics by Thomas and Stewart Lee, this is an audacious, fearless piece of theatre that brilliantly and hilariously dissects the cultural forces that have kept Jerry Springer on the air all these years, the lives of quiet desperation that explode into public view in Springer's weirdly nonjudgmental, national confessional." Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. . For more information, visit
newlinetheatre.com or call 314-534-1111.
My take: Come on, how can you not want to see a show with a title like this? The second act, after all, is a "very special" episode of the Jerry Springer Show broadcast live from Hell. And, yes, it really is an opera—or at least a musical in which there is no spoken dialog. "I recognize a quality production with strong direction and spot-on performances," says Tina Farmer
in her KDHX review, "and I applaud the company for the bold and daring theater they produce."
