Circle squared

Founding members of the Theater Circle
March, 2013

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The joint will be jumpin' the coming Monday, March 17th, at COCA. There will be bright lights, video cameras, and a red carpet for the celebs. What's the buzz? Is it the Emmys, Oscars, Grammys, or maybe the Hugos? No to all. It's something uniquely St. Louis.

It will, in fact, be the second annual St. Louis Theater Circle Awards. Created in 2012, the St. Louis Theater Circle is a volunteer organization whose voting members are all theatre critics for local media outlets and web sites, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Vital Voice, KMOX, KDHX (yes, that would be me; also Tina Farmer), Ladue News, and ALIVE Magazine (see the complete list at the end of this article).

Our mission is to honor St. Louis professional theatre by saluting local actors, directors, and designers in all areas of theatre. The awards are designed to focus attention on the dozens of area theater companies which showcase the work of the work of those theatre professionals. Other cities around the country, such as Phoenix, San Diego, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., honor their own local theatrical productions with similar awards programs.  For a complete list of all the nominees, check out Judy Newmark's article at the Post-Dispatch web site.

We're doing it not with a big, elaborate and expensive formal gala but with a party to which everyone is invited and for which the admission price is a mere $15 ("Cheap," to quote Alfred E. Neuman). For another $15.95, we'll throw in a pre-ceremony reception by With Love Catering. The menu consists of: Assorted fresh fruits, cheeses, flat breads and roasted nuts; Antipasto kabobs with fresh mozzarella, artichokes, red pepper, olives and basil; Spinach and goat cheese in potato nests; Buffalo chicken won ton cups; Chateau chicken sandwich sliders with apple wood smoked bacon and provolone; and Smoked chicken fajita quesadillas with tequila lime sour cream.

That's a deal even the late Steve Mizerany would have found hard to beat. Because, bottom line, the whole point of this is for us to get together with our fellow theatre professionals and audience members and celebrate the lively and diverse scene here in St. Louis.

About those video cameras: this year the whole shebang is being broadcast and webcast live on HEC-TV Charter channel 989, U-Verse channel 99, and at hectv.org. So while we hope you'll join us in person, you can always settle down with some popcorn and watch us on TV. A previously taped program about the awards, prepared by HEC producer Julie Winkle, will be shown on HEC immediately preceding the festivities.

Local composer and pianist Joe Dreyer (whose latest cabaret show is part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival) will provide musical accompaniment throughout the evening. Professional photographer Jill Ritter Lindberg will photograph it all and Lisa Caplan, founder and president of Touchwood Creative, will again produce the ceremony.

The reception starts at 6:00 PM on Monday, March 17th, at COCA, The Center of Creative Arts, 524 Trinity in University City. You can order tickets for both the ceremony and the reception at the COCA web site.

Members of the St. Louis Theater Circle include Steve Allen, stagedoorstl.com; Andrea Braun, The Vital Voice and Playback; Mark Bretz, Ladue News; Bob Cohn, St. Louis Jewish Light; Tina Farmer, KDHX; Chris Gibson, Broadwayworld.com; Harry Hamm, KMOX; Gerry Kowarsky, Two on the Aisle (HEC-TV); Chuck Lavazzi, KDHX; Eleanor Mullin, local actress and arts supporter, who is the group’s administrator; Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Ann Lemons Pollack, stlouiseats.com; Chris Reilly, ALIVE Magazine; Andrea Torrence, stlouistheatresnob.blogspot.com; Lynn Venhaus, Belleville News-Democrat; and Bob Wilcox, Two on the Aisle (HEC-TV) and Town & Style.

As Mr. Mizerany often said, "come on down!"

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of March 10, 2014

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 ArtsZipper site.

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The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents the thriller Angel Street through March 16. Performances take place in the Guild theatre at Newport and Summit in Webster Groves, MO. For more information: theatreguildwg.org or call 314-962-0876.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents its Bullets in the Bathtub through April 27. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com

The Alpha Players of Florissant present The Cemetery Club through March 16 at The Florissant Civic Center Theater, Parker Rd. at Waterford Dr. in Florissant, MO. For more information: alphaplayers.org or call 314-921-5678.

The Looking Glass Playhouse presents The Diary of Anne Frank March 13-23. Performances take place at 301 West St. Louis Street in Lebanon, Ill. For more information, visit www.lookingglassplayhouse.com.

The Presenters Dolan present Emily Bergl: Until The Real Thing Comes Along, Thursday through Saturday, March 13-15, at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. Most widely known for her roles on television and in film - as Rachel in "The Rage: Carrie 2,"Beth on "Desperate Housewives" and now on "Shameless," as well as for her extensive work on Broadway and Off, Emily Bergl burst onto the cabaret scene just two years ago, garnering raves. She has performed at the Oak Room, the Cafe Carlyle, and the new Feinstein's...In a Cabaret-in-a-New-Key style, Bergl blends Irving Berlin with Blondie, Rodgers and Hammerstein with Tracey Chapman, and Noel Coward with Britney Spears. It works, freshly and wondrously. Her performance is heartbreaking and funny, sometimes in the same beat." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com.

St. Louis Actors' Studio continues its seventh season, themed Sins of the Father, with Kate Chopin's The Awakening, adapted for the stage by Henry I. Schvey, March 13-23. "Set in New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the nineteenth century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early feminism, generating mixed reaction from contemporary readers and criticism." Performances take place in the Des Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum. For more information, call 314-458-2978 or visit stlas.org.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Flaming Saddles through April 27. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com

The Department of Theatre, Dance, and Media Arts at the University of Missouri at St. Louis presents Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15. Performances take place at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the UMSL campus. For more information, visit touhill.org or call 314-516-4949.

Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM. Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre of the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road. For more information, call 314-821-9956 or visit ktg-onstage.org.

HotCity Theatre presents Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp March 14-29. “A tempestuous love triangle smolders between two college buddies and the red light woman they share for a night. Sex, lies and decadence will change their lives forever!” Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, visit www.hotcitytheatre.org or call 314-289-4063.

Photo: Jill Ritter Lindberg

New Line Theatre presents the rock musical Rent Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, through March 29. "New Line continues its 23rd season with Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize winning, long-running rock opera Rent. This cheerfully transgressive, 1990s rock/pop riff on the classic story, set in New York City’s East Village, is best described in its creator's own words: 'In these dangerous times, where it seems the world is ripping apart at the seams, we can all learn how to survive from those who stare death squarely in the face every day and we should reach out to each other and bond as a community, rather than hide from the terrors of life at the end of the millennium.'"Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. For more information: newlinetheatre.com.

Alton Little Theater presents Sex, Please, We're 60 Thursdays through Sundays, March 13-23, at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. For more information, call 618.462.6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

Dramatic License Productions presents the comedy Shirley Valentine through March 16. Performances take place at Dramatic License Theatre located at the upper level of Chesterfield Mall (near Sears and across from Houlihan's Restaurant). For more information, call 636-220-7012 or visit dramaticlicenseproductions.org.

©Photo by Lon Brauer

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976 March 12-30. “When the main employer in Monroe, Wisconsin is acquired by a major manufacturer, a once peaceful small town turns into a battleground as families struggle to retain their independence, identity and livelihoods. While new opportunities develop for some, difficult choices must be made, putting loyalties and relationships to the test. This world premiere play has been commissioned by The Rep and was developed through the Ignite! New Play Festival.” 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.

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.

Joe Green's Blues

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos

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Who: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
What: Verdi: Messa da Requiem
When: Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8, 2014
Where: Powell Symphony Hall

[Learn more about the music with the symphony program notes and my preview article.]

The text of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, with its apocalyptic images of death and redemption, has inspired composers to produce some of their most profound and idiosyncratic work. The Italian operatic master Giuseppe Verdi, while so indifferent to religion that he was effectively an agnostic, was no exception. His 1874 "Messa da Requiem," inspired by the deaths of Rossini and the Italian poet and patriot Alessandro Manzoni, overflows with brilliantly theatrical moments, from the hair-raising Dies Irae to the heartfelt Recordare and epic Libera Me. A good performance should not spare the drama.

The Verdi "Requiem" Friday night by the orchestra, chorus, and soloists under the baton of guest conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos wasn't just good, it was great. It was passionate, theatrical, moving, and incredibly powerful in every possible way.

The opening Requiem began so softly that it was nearly inaudible, which made the forte "Te decet hymnus" that much more powerful. The Dies Irae was appropriately electrifying, as was the Tuba mirum, with the four offstage trumpets placed in pairs house left and right, just behind the dress circle boxes. That made for a potent stereo effect for those of us in the dress circle; in the boxes they got surround.

Angel Blue

The celebration of the Sanctus was glorious, the Lux aeterna shimmered with celestial light, and the final Libera me, with its gripping dramatic arc preceding from terror to eternal peace (after a final glimpse of the "day of wrath"), brought this near-perfect "Requiem" to moving conclusion. The standing ovation was quick and unanimous.

Soloists Angel Blue (soprano) Julia Gertseva (mezzo-soprano), Aquiles Machado (tenor), and Riccardo Zanellato (bass) found every ounce of operatic intent in this music. These were authoritatively sung and, more importantly, brilliantly acted interpretations. The soloists do most of the emotional heavy lifting in the "Requiem," so their work can make or break the production overall. These four definitely made it.

Julia Gertseva

In "Liber scriptus proferetur" ("The written book shall be brought forth"), Ms. Gertseva made effective dramatic use of her score, closing it and singing from memory—essentially using it as a prop for the Book of Judgement described in the text. She has many other compelling moments throughout the evening, as well, especially when singing with Ms. Blue. At times the two sang almost as one, often swaying together in response to the emotion of the music.

For her part, Ms. Blue demonstrated that the "shining and agile upper register, smoky middle register, and beautiful timbre" described in her program bio were more factual reporting than hype. There was an impressive body and depth to her voice throughout its range that served her well, especially in the Libera me.

Mr. Machado's entrance on "Hostias et preces tibi, Domine" ("A sacrifice of praise and prayer, O Lord") was ethereally beautiful while his "Ingemisco tumquam reus" ("I groan, as one who is accursed") ringing and heartfelt. His voice was uniformly clear and focused.

Aquiles Machado

Mr. Zanellato gave us a "Mors stupebit et natura" ("Death shall stun and nature quake") filled with menace and a vivid "Confutatis maledictis," recounting how "the wicked have been confounded, doomed to devouring flames." His voice had a power basses sometimes lack, able to project even that low A at the end of "Mors stupebit."

The orchestra played impeccably, as it so often does. The focus is on the vocal soloists and chorus in the "Requiem," of course, but even so Verdi has provided some nifty little instrumental moments here and there. The plaintive bassoon solo that accompanies the despairing plea for mercy of "Quid sum miser," for example, was touchingly done by Andrew Cuneo. The flute trio (Mark Sparks, Jennifer Nitchman, and Ann Choomack) that accompanies the soprano and mezzo early in the Agnus Dei was a thing of beauty as well. The brass section performed heroically (there's no other word for it) throughout, as did Shannon Wood on tympani and John Kasica on the two massive bass drums.

Amy Kaiser's chorus was, as always, a model of power and precision.

Riccardo Zanellato

Mr. Frühbeck de Burgos conducted all this without a score (and, at one puzzling point, without a baton) and with the assurance of someone who has thoroughly internalized this music and made it his own. He's looking a bit frail these days (health issues in recent years have forced him to cancel some concert appearances) but still cuts a magisterial figure on the podium. His conducting style favored small and precise gestures, but aside from what looked like an inadequately cued choral entrance at one point, there was nothing hesitant or—for that matter—small-scale about this performance. This was a full-blooded, impeccably shaped "Requiem" that reminded me of Solti's 1977 recording with the Chicago Symphony (my personal touchstone for this work).

Next at Powell Hall: Serious stuff takes a holiday at George Daugherty conducts his the orchestra for "Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II" Saturday and Sunday, March 15 and 16. The regular season resumes when David Robertson conducts the orchestra and violin soloist Gil Shaham in Marshall's Bright Kingdoms, Korngold's Violin Concerto, and Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World"on Friday at 10:30 AM and at 8 PM, and Saturday at 8 PM March 21 and 22. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of March 10, 2014

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The Foundry Art Centre presents a free concert by the St. Charles Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, March 15, at 7:30 PM. "The Orchestra is a multi-faceted ensemble that serves the St. Charles area through its free musical concerts, performing classical and modern repertoire, chamber concerts, and a seasonal Pops series. The performance begins at 7:30pm and doors open at 6:30pm with general seating." The Foundry Art Centre is at 520 North Main Center in St. Charles, MO. For more information: foundryartcentre.org.

Metropolitan Orchestra of St. Louis

The Metropolitan Orchestra of St. Louis presents a concert of music by Rossini, Haydn, and Mozart on Sunday, March 16, at 7 PM. The concert will be performed in the newly renovated Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School Theatre, 7539 Manchester Road. For more information: metro-orch.org.

The St. Louis Art Museum presents Metropolitan Opera Live at SLAM: Massenet's Werther on Saturday, March 8, at 11:55 AM. The live digital HD video broadcast from New York takes place in The Farrell Auditorium at the Art Museum in Forest Park. For more information: slam.org.

St. Louis Cathedral Concerts presents the vocal ensemble Stile Antico Saturday, March 15 23, at 8 PM at the cathedral at 4431 Lindell. “Stile Antico is an ensemble of young British singers, now established as one of the most original and exciting new voices in its field. Prizewinners at the 2005 Early Music Network International Young Artists' Competition, the group is much in demand in concert, performing regularly throughout Europe and North America.” For more information: www.cathedralconcerts.org.

George Daugherty

George Daugherty conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II on Saturday at 7 PM and Sunday at 2 PM, March 15 and 16, at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. “Bugs Bunny returns for an irresistible musical romp combining your favorite classic Looney Tunes, plus the concert premiere of three new spectacular 3D animated shorts, including a 1940's Mel Blanc song never animated until now! That's All, Folks!” For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents a classical open stage night on Monday, March 10 from 7:30 – 9 PM. “Come by yourself or bring your quartet. Sight read through a Beethoven quartet or use this as an opportunity to put the finishing touches on that Hindemith Viola Sonata you have been working on. All ages and skill levels are welcome. We have a 6' grand piano and an accompanist.” The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

Cellibasso

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents Cellibasso on Wednesday, March 12, at 7:30 PM. “The name Cellibasso sounds Italian and exotic, and it is a good description of a quartet made of up three cellos and a bass. The harmonious sound of blended cellos, with their wide expressive range, is combined with the depth of the double bass for an irresistible combination. The pieces for the concert span Renaissance, Baroque, and above all, the Romantic period. Some repertoire was written for the Cellibasso instrumentation, and others have been tweaked slightly, while some well-known pieces take on a whole new meaning when rendered by Cellibasso.” The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

Third Baptist Church presents Nicole Keller, the director of music at the Community of Saint John, Hudson, OH in an organ concert on Friday, March 14, at 12:30 PM as part of its free Friday Pipes series. "Join us on Fridays at Third Baptist Church for Friday Pipes, the free organ recital series celebrating the restoration of the church's 72-rank Kilgen/Möller pipe organ. Each week a different performer will be presenting a program of classical, church, and theatre organ music in the beautiful sanctuary of Third Baptist. This season's performers come from across the USA, and even from around the world. Free parking is available in the church lots on Washington Avenue." Third Baptist Church is at 620 N Grand. For more information: www.third-baptist.org.

Union Avenue Opera presents Crescendo on Sunday, March 16, at 2 PM. The recital is the culmination for participants in UAO's Crescendo program, a free, hands-on, performance based training program developed to further the education of young artists in the Saint Louis region. The recital is FREE and open to all ages. The performance takes place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

Chuck's Choices for the weekend of March 7, 2014

As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

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The Presenters Dolan present Connie Fairchild: Down by the River on Saturday, March 8, at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. "As the lead singer of Fairchild, one of the most popular bands ever to call St. Louis home, Connie Fairchild was recognized by the RFT as Best Female Vocalist several times. A few years on, and Connie makes her cabaret debut in a show entitled Down By The River. Connie was mesmerized by the rhythms of the rivers that surrounded her home towns. Growing up in Kentucky on the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, in Louisiana on the Mississippi, and then following the river up to St. Louis, her voice was chiseled from other voices she listened to from these lush environments, such as Irma Thomas and Rosemary Clooney." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com.

My take: Here's yet another example of the diversity of cabaret and a genre and of the local cabaret scene. Judging by Ms. Fairchild's background and the title of this show, we can expect something with more than a little rock flavor to it, which is fine by me. As I wrote in my review of rocker Barb Jungr's show at the Kranzberg back in 2010, there are many mansions in cabaret's house, and there's no reason rock can't be one of them.

The Presenters Dolan present Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts: Swing Into Spring on Friday, March 7, at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. " Music from the masters of musical theatre makes up the heart of the show, with a few Dreyer originals too. The first couple of St. Louis cabaret brings a brand new show to the Gaslight stage." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com.

My take: The Dreyer/Watts team has been a fixture of the St. Louis cabaret scene for a while now, and Joe has solid credentials as an arranger and music director for a number of local artists. "With this first song," wrote KDHX's Laura Kyro in her review of the duo's February 2011 show at the Kranzberg, "they set the tone for the night, which was an obvious affection for each other and a joy in singing songs that were special to them."

Winter Opera St. Louis presents Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor Friday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, March 7 and 9. Performances take place at The Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade College Preparatory School, 425 S. Lindbergh. The opera is sung in Italian with project English supertitles. For more information, visit winteroperastl.org.

My take: It's easy to forget that Opera Theatre of St. Louis is not the only opera company in town. Union Avenue Opera and Winter Opera don't have OTSL's budget, but Winter Opera does have the advantage of an auditorium designed for musical theatre, complete with a respectable orchestra pit, and their shows generally feature fine singers and a decent orchestra. As a bel canto classic, Lucia should be exactly the sort of piece to play to Winter Opera's strengths.

Dramatic License Productions presents the comedy Shirley Valentine through March 16. Performances take place at Dramatic License Theatre located at the upper level of Chesterfield Mall (near Sears and across from Houlihan's Restaurant). For more information, call 636-220-7012 or visit dramaticlicenseproductions.org.

My take: One-actor shows are always a risk, but actress and costume designer Teresa Doggett (a.k.a. "the hardest-working woman in show biz") has done this role before, to considerable acclaim. In her review of the current production for KDHX, Tina Farmer praises Ms. Doggett's "warm, spirited performance" as well as "the capable direction of Lee Anne Mathews." She has good things to say about the technical aspects of the show as well, including the costume design by Ms. Doggett.

Held Over:

Photo: Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Other Desert Cities through March 9. “Things get bumpy when promising young novelist Brooke Wyeth returns home to Palm Springs to get her family's approval of her newest work - a tell-all memoir dredging up long-kept family secrets. Daring her conservative parents to oppose her, Brooke draws a line in the sand, and when it is crossed, the result threatens to undo them all. Politics, lies and regrets collide in this biting, sharp and fiercely funny Pulitzer Prize finalist.” Performances take place on the mainstage 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: This production has gotten very good press so far. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, for example, Tina Farmer says it's "an intense and deeply personal examination of love and family loyalty that twists audience expectations and still manages to deliver a surprisingly satisfying resolution."

Requiem for a heavyweight

Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi
by Giovanni Boldini, 1886

There's only one work on the St. Louis Symphony program this weekend, but it's a big one: the "Messa da Requiem" (Requiem Mass) by that giant of Italian opera, Giuseppe Verdi.

If you haven't heard Verdi's "Requiem" before, you might think a setting of the traditional Latin mass for the dead would be a somber (not to say dreary) business, steeped in religiosity. You'd be completely wrong.

To begin with, Verdi wasn't all that religious. Although raised Roman Catholic, he had little patience with clerical arrogance. “Stay away from priests," he once warned his cousin Angiolo Cararra Verdi. “For some virtuous people," noted Verdi's second wife, Giuseppina Strepponi (quoted in "Verdi: A Biography" by Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, 1993), "a belief in God is necessary. Others, equally perfect, while observing every precept of the highest moral code, are happier believing in nothing.” She saw her husband as an example of the latter.

Besides Verdi was, first and foremost, a man of the theatre. So his "Requiem" is overtly and profoundly theatrical. When conductor and music critic Hans von Bülow, after a quick glance at the score before the work's Milan premiere, described it as Verdi's "latest opera, though in ecclesiastical vestments," he thought he was being snarky and dismissive. He was, in fact, pointing out the work's real strength, even if he was too clueless to notice it.

When, for example, Verdi depicts Judgment Day in the "Dies Irae" section, he uses the full orchestra and chorus complete with an expanded brass section (including four extra trumpets placed strategically around the hall for surround sound) and great whacks on the bass drum with the dynamic marking ffff (which effectively translates as "as loud as possible"). It really does sound like the end of the world. When the mezzo and tenor sing "Quid sum miser, tunc dicturus?" ("What shall I, a poor sinner, say?") they're echoed by a plaintive rising figure on the bassoon. The "Lux aeterna" section, depicting the shining light of salvation, begins with a shimmering melody in the violins.

And so it goes, one completely right dramatic gesture after another, for a bit over eighty minutes. "It is theatrical," write Brockway and Weinstock in "Men of Music," "full-bodied, noisy, sweepingly melodic, more like a sincere and impulsive paean than anything else. Some sections are catchy and even alluring, but only professional Protestants could deplore the high spirits of this Requiem Mass. In judging it, we must enter into the Latin temper, and forget Bach and all such solemn fellows. We can then admit that the 'Manzoni' Requiem is magnificent.

Alessandro Manzoni

Oh, yeah: Manzoni. Alessandro Manzoni was a celebrated poet, author, and (like Verdi) a strong supporter of the political movement known as the Risorgimento, which had as its goal the independence and unification of Italy. He was one of Verdi's two personal heroes (Rossini was the other). "I esteem and admire you," he once wrote to Manzoni, "as much as one can esteem and admire anyone on this earth, both as man and a true honor of our country so continually troubled. You are a saint, Don Alessandro!" When Manzoni died on May 22, 1873, Verdi was determined to memorialize him with a requiem mass, to be performed on the first anniversary of the great man's death.

Verdi began work on the "Requiem" in Paris on June 25, 1873 and finally completed it back home in Italy on April 10, 1874. Rehearsals for the Milan premiere began in May and the piece had its first performance, as scheduled, on May 22, 1874 with Verdi himself conducting.

In Italy, at least, it was a massive hit. The Italian public loved Verdi to begin with, and they were not disappointed with his latest work. Others had sharply differing opinions. Brahms thought it a work of genius. Wagner dismissed it. They loved it in Vienna but were indifferent in London. Personally, I agree with George Bernard Shaw (cited in Philip Huscher's program notes for the Chicago Symphony) who said that none of Verdi's works would prove to be as enduring as the "Requiem."

Manzoni's funeral procession in Milan
Engraving for The Graphic, 1873

Conducting the symphony, chorus, and soloists will be a great man in his own right: Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. “Frühbeck is one of the few remaining conductors of the old school," says symphony cellist Bjorn Ranheim in the program notes. "He commands such power and respect on the podium. When I say ‘old school,' think of Toscanini, the old maestro, all powerful. It's all a sense of how one carries oneself—supreme confidence combined with history, knowing not only the piece like the back of his hand, but knowing how to utilize the symphony orchestra as an instrument." I might add that for those of us who started collecting classical LPs in the 1960s, the Frühbeck de Burgos name is a familiar one from many an LP jacket, especially recordings of the work of de Falla, Albéniz, Rodrigo, and other Spanish masters. This will be my first opportunity to see him conduct live, and I'm looking forward to it.

The essentials: Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Verdi's "Requiem." Vocal soloists are Angel Blue (soprano) Julia Gertseva (mezzo-soprano), Aquiles Machado (tenor), and Riccardo Zanellato (bass). Performances take place on Friday and Saturday at 8 PM, March 7 and 8, at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. For more information: stlsymphony.org. The Saturday performance will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio, 90.7 FM and HD 1 as well as via live Internet stream at the station web site. 

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Signs of renewal

As reported at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch web site yesterday, the St. Louis Symphony has confirmed that Music Director David Robertson has renewed his contract through the 2017-2018 season. That's good (if not surprising) news, and for multiple reasons.

Mr. Robertson has, to begin with, a very sure feel for programming, both at the individual concert and season level. He has consistently assembled subscription seasons that combine the tried and true with the lesser known and the brand new. The Pulitzer Series concerts, meanwhile, have offered exciting and challenging works from the 20th and 21st centuries. And the symphony's various outreach programs have embedded the organization firmly in the local community.

Mr. Robertson has also been successful in getting national and international attention for the orchestra, including Carnegie Hall appearances and tours of California and Europe (including a concert in the BBC Proms series). His tenure has also seen the return of the orchestra's weekly concert broadcasts on St. Louis Public Radio 90.7 FM, HD 1, and via a very high-quality Internet stream.

Mr. Robertson also appears to have an excellent relationship with the orchestra. More than once in my reviews I have commented on how much the musicians seem to like him and on how much joy he seems to take in conducting them. That sort of thing communicates itself to the audience.

And then, finally, there's the remarkable depth of the orchestra's talent pool under Mr. Robertson. I've been attending St. Louis Symphony concerts for over 40 years now and reviewing them for KDHX on an sporadic basis since the station went on the air and on a regular basis since the 2010-2011 season. I've seen music directors come and go during that time, but I don't think orchestra has sounded this good since the Slatkin years.

More than once I've noted this this is an orchestra of virtuosi, and I think we can thank Mr. Robertson for at least some of that. It's truly his orchestra now, and even though he is also chief conductor and artistic director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and has guest appearances all over the world, I hope he continues to see St. Louis as his home base.

They fly through the air with the greatest of ease

Transit Space

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"Diavolo," writes the company's Artistic Director Jacques Heim in his program notes, "is a fusion of many different movement vocabularies such as everyday movement, ballet, contemporary, acrobatics, gymnastics, martial arts, and hip-hop." On stage, that translates into genre-bending theatre pieces that are a mashup of dance, Olympic-class athletics, and circus arts that are sometimes thrilling and always mesmerizing.

The Diavolo difference is readily apparent in a skim through the biographies of the company members. Pretty much everyone has the usual training and professional experience in traditional dance, but many do, indeed, have backgrounds in acrobatics, gymnastics, martial arts, and hip-hop—not to competitive cheerleading and circus arts as well. Diavolo company members are clearly skilled multi-disciplinary athletes as well as artists.

Transit Space

The program Diavolo brought to St. Louis this past weekend consisted of two works: "Transit Space" (2012) and "Trajectorie" (1999). Each ran around 40 minutes and while the two were very different in overall tone, they both touched, to varying degrees, on what Mr. Heim describes as Diavolo's primary themes: "human struggle, fear, danger, survival, chaos, order, deconstruction, destiny, destination, faith, and love." That's a tall order but then, this is an ambitious company.

"Transit Space," writes Mr. Heim, "explores themes of feeling lost, finding a sense of purpose, and coming together." As the piece opens, the company members walk onstage in urban street clothes to the sounds of city traffic. Several are carrying what would be skateboards if they had wheels. The sound changes to hip-hop music with voice-overs speaking of urban loneliness. On the words "I want to move," the dancers carrying the skateboards slap them down and use them as platforms for athletic and break dance moves. Then the dancers move upstage, the lights come up all the way, and we see four convex wood and metal constructs that are basically simplified versions of the ramps used by skateboarders and urban stunt bikers.

The metal ramps are detachable, creating eight separate pieces that (as shown in the video accompanying this review) are rapidly recombined into a number of playing spaces. Dancers leap, slide, tumble, and do just about anything you can think of on them in a dazzling display of athleticism. Throughout it all, actors on the soundtrack give voice to the many moods of urban life. The piece hits an emotional peak when all of the dancers join hands in the center of the stage on the words "as long as I have you, I don't have fear" and the stage goes black. Point made, and very effectively.

Trajectorie

The big set piece for "Trajectorie" is a half moon-shaped, rocking wooden stage with a scrim on the front. As the work opens, a lone female dancer does a lyrical "shadow game" routine with another dancer seen only in silhouette. As more dancers enter the action becomes more animated, and before long the hemispherical stage is rocking and rotating while dancers slide on and off, dash back and forth, and even leap into space, propelled by the stage. Those leaps produced some audible gasps from the audience as the dancers flew through the air and were caught expertly by their teammates.

There was a bit more classical ballet in "Trajectorie" (although not very much) and more moves that were reminiscent of martial arts (tai chi in particular) but otherwise it shared with "Transit Space" an emphasis on virtuoso movement of all kinds. Unlike the newer work, though, "Trajectorie" ends not with a crescendo and climax so much as a slow diminuendo. Towards the end of the piece the other dancers disappear, one by one, behind the rocking centerpiece until, at last, we're back to the solo female dancer of the beginning. Then she, too, slowly disappears behind the construct.

Mr. Heim says that the work "shows the transcendence of the human soul against all odds", but to me there was something of an elegiac feel to those final moments that was more surrender than transcendence. But maybe I'm over-analyzing it. Or, perhaps, there's less difference between transcendence and surrender than I think. Either way, "Trajectorie" is a reminder that art lives, for the most part, in ambiguity.

If what we saw this weekend at the Touhill is any indication, Diavolo is an innovative, hard to classify, and possibly even unique dance company. It is, in short, the kind of thing Dance St. Louis has been bringing us for many years now. May they continue for many more.

The Dance St. Louis season continues with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre at the Fox April 25 and 26 and concludes Memorial Day weekend with the 7th Annual Emerson Spring to Dance® Festival at the Touhill Center. For more information: dancestlouis.org.

Variations on an international theme

Juanjo Mena

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Who: The St. Louis Symphony conducted by Juanjo Mena with pianist Benedetto Lupo
What: Music of Ginastera, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar
When: Friday through Sunday, February 28 – March 2, 2014
Where: Powell Symphony Hall

[Want to know more about the music?  Check out the symphony program notes and my symphony preview blog post.]

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful."  So runs Sammy Cahn's lyric for the 1945 holiday favorite "Let it Snow! Let it Snow!  Let it Snow!" Substitute "music" for "fire" and you have a good summary of this weekend's symphony concerts. 

Making his SLSO debut, Juanjo Mena is on the podium for a virtuoso reading of Alberto Ginastera's "Variaciones concertantes" that showcased many of our fine principal players (including Erik Harris on bass, which is not an instrument that gets a lot of solos normally), a blazing Rachmaninoff "Paganini Variations" with Benedetto Lupo tearing up the keyboard, and lushly romantic performance of Elgar's "Enigma Variations."

As you might gather from the preceding paragraph, the unifying concept this weekend is the durability and variety of the "theme and variations" format.  The form has been a favorite of composers for centuries, from the Renaissance right up to the present day. The three examples on this weekend's program are all by composers who wrote in the 20th century and cover a span of over fifty years, from 1898 to 1953.

The most recent work is the one that opens the concerts, the "Variaciones concertantes," op. 23 by the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera.  Originally composed for chamber ensemble, it's being performed here with an expanded string section (fifty players) that turns it into a work for full orchestra. It takes the conventional theme and variations form and combines it with a concept that emerged mainly in the 20th century, the "concerto for orchestra"—a work in which each section of the ensemble gets an opportunity to take the spotlight. 

That gave a dozen of the orchestra's principal players a chance to demonstrate, as all the symphony's musicians have so often in the past, that this is an ensemble of virtuosi.  Bear with me as I try to give all of them the credit they deserve. 

The main theme was first played softly and with great feeling by Principal Harp Allegra Lilly and Principal Cello Daniel Lee.  An interludio for the strings led to the giocosa ("playful") variation for flute—played with stunning virtuosity by Associate Principal Andrea Kaplan—followed by an equally impressive performance of the variation in modo di Scherzo by Principal Clarinet Scott Andrews.  Next was the drammatica variation for viola, delivered with wonderful intensity by Principal Beth Guterman Chu; the canonica variation, hauntingly rendered by Acting Co-Principal Oboe Barbara Orland and Principal Bassoon Andrew Cuneo; and the brief but striking ritmica variation (actually more of a fanfare) for trumpet and trombone (Principal Trumpet Karin Bliznik, Associate Principal Trumpet Tom Drake, and Principal Trombone Tim Meyers).  That led to what is probably the most difficult variation of the lot, the Moto perpetuo variation for violin, dashed off with deceptive ease by Concertmaster David Halen.

A lovely pastorale variation by Principal Horn Roger Kaza was folllowed by a chorale interlude from the wind section, which was followed in turn by a restatement of the main theme by harp and string bass (a wonderfully delicate performance from Principal Erik Harris).  It all wrapped up with a lively finale in modo di Rondo based on the malambo, a dance form that originated with Argentine gauchos and which crops up in other works by Ginastera—most notably as the finale of his 1941 ballet Estancia.

Mr. Mena conducted all this with an animated, loose-limbed, and rather sinuous grace, almost dancing his way through the final variation.  Here, as in the program as a whole, his tempo and dynamics choices showed a flair for the dramatic that was well suited to the material.

Benedetto Lupo

Next was one of the great virtuoso showpieces of the twentieth century, Rachmaninoff’s flashy "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" from 1934.  The Russian expatriate was one of the previous century’s great virtuoso pianists and the "Rhapsody" served him well as he toured America and Europe.  The piece is a sort of mini-concerto, consisting of 24 variations on (appropriately) the twenty-fourth and last of Niccolò Paganini's "Caprices" for solo violin—a tune that has proved irresistible for composers from Liszt to Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The soloist for the Rachmaninoff was Benedetto Lupo, making his second appearance with the symphony.  When he was competing in the final round of the 1989 Van Cliburn Competition (in which he took the bronze medal), Lupo was described by critic Joseph Horowitz as a performer whose "musicianship, taste, and tenderness make him impossible not to like."  I'd add that he also has a powerful technique that served him well Friday night in Mr. Mena's dynamic and sometimes hair raisingly brisk approach to this piece.  The introduction and final six variations—difficult enough at any tempo—were especially speedy, which made Mr. Lupo's performance all the more impressive.

That's not to say he lacked delicacy and lyricism when it was called for.  The famous 18th variation (often presented alone on "greatest hits" discs and classical radio stations) was as warm and romantic as one would wish.  This was, in short, a totally engrossing performance, delivered with minimum of flash and maximum of musicianship.

The evening concluded with a work that could probably be classed as one of Edward Elgar’s greatest hits, the “Enigma Variations” from 1989-99.  Effectively a musical family album, the fourteen variations are vivid and varied little sound portraits of Elgar, his wife, and his friends.  They're filled with humorous touches (like the portrait of a swimming bulldog in variation 11) and fascinating instrumental details.  My favorite example of the latter is variation 13, dedicated to an unnamed lady friend on a sea voyage, in which the solo clarinet (Associate Principal Diana Haskell) playes a phrase from Mendelssohn's "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage" over an eerie pianissimo roll played on the tympani with wooden side drum sticks (nicely done by Shannon Wood).  Elgar meant the sound to suggest "the distant throb of engines of a liner."

Here, again, Mr. Mena made the most of this score's many moods.  Tempo contrasts were marked—the first variation felt a bit slower than the score's Andante, for example—but not exaggerated, and orchestral details were nicely highlighted. His approach to the famous "Nimrod" variation (often heard as a stand-alone work, like the Rachmaninoff 18th) was particularly passionate—very appropriate for a musical portrait of August Jaegar, a champion of Elgar's music and a close, beloved friend.  The orchestra played with its customary virtuosity.  The performance was, overall, a thing of beauty.

Next week, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is on the podium to conduct the orchestra and chorus in Verdi's "Requiem" with soloists Angel Blue (soprano), Julia Gertseva (mezzo-soprano), Aquiles Machado (tenor), and Riccardo Zanellato (bass).  The concerts are Friday and Saturday, January 24 and 25, at 8 PM. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of March 3, 2014

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 ArtsZipper site.

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The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents the thriller Angel Street March 7-16. Performances take place in the Guild theatre at Newport and Summit in Webster Groves, MO. For more information: theatreguildwg.org or call 314-962-0876.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents its Bullets in the Bathtub through April 27. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com

The Alpha Players of Florissant present The Cemetery Club March 7-16 at The Florissant Civic Center Theater, Parker Rd. at Waterford Dr. in Florissant, MO. For more information: alphaplayers.org or call 314-921-5678.

The Presenters Dolan present Connie Fairchild: Down by the River on Saturday, March 8, at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. " As the lead singer of Fairchild, one of the most popular bands ever to call St. Louis home, Connie Fairchild was recognized by the RFT as Best Female Vocalist several times. A few years on, and Connie makes her cabaret debut in a show entitled Down By The River. Connie was mesmerized by the rhythms of the rivers that surrounded her home towns. Growing up in Kentucky on the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, in Louisiana on the Mississippi, and then following the river up to St. Louis, her voice was chiseled from other voices she listened to from these lush environments, such as Irma Thomas and Rosemary Clooney." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Flaming Saddles through April 27. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com

St. Charles Community College presents The Elephant Man Wednesday through Sunday, March 5-9. Performances take place 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.

The Chapel Players present Stephen Schwartz's Godspell Saturday and Sunday, March 8 and 9, at Chapel Of The Cross Lutheran Church. 11645 Benham Rd. For more information: chapelofthecross.org

The Presenters Dolan present Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts: Swing Into Spring on Friday, March 7, at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. " Music from the masters of musical theatre makes up the heart of the show, with a few Dreyer originals too. The first couple of St. Louis cabaret brings a brand new show to the Gaslight stage." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com.

The Presenters Dolan present Ken Haller: The TV Show on Thursday, March 6, at 8 PM as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. "A St. Louis cabaret favorite, Ken brings back the multi-sold out and audience favorite The TV Show. It's put together around theme songs from TV shows from the 60's through today. Campy and funny in some places, and quite moving in others, it's entertaining and very well done. The fine work that you have come to expect from Ken Haller." The performance takes place at the Gaslight Theater, 358 North Boyle. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com.

Winter Opera St. Louis presents Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor Friday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, March 7 and 9. Performances take place at The Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade College Preparatory School, 425 S. Lindbergh. The opera is sung in Italian with project English supertitles. For more information, visit winteroperastl.org.

Affton CenterStage Theatre Company presents Murder by the Book on Saturday and Sunday, March 8 and 9. Performances take place at Royale Orleans. For more information, call 636-349-6880 or visit www.afftoncenterstage.org.

Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 Thursday [March 13 only] through Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday [March 9 only] at 2 PM, March 7-17. Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre of the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road. For more information, call 314-821-9956 or visit ktg-onstage.org.

St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley presents a free staged readings of Joanna Baillie's tragedy Orra, on Tuesday, March 4 at 7:00 PM in Room H112 in the Humanities Building on the campus at 3400 Pershall Road in Florissant, MO. Bailllie was "an unjustly forgotten woman dramatist of the late 18th/early 19th century" and the reading is part of the celebration of Women's History Month. The show has never before been performed in Saint Louis, and rarely, if ever, staged in over 200 years.

Photo: Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Other Desert Cities through March 9. “Things get bumpy when promising young novelist Brooke Wyeth returns home to Palm Springs to get her family's approval of her newest work - a tell-all memoir dredging up long-kept family secrets. Daring her conservative parents to oppose her, Brooke draws a line in the sand, and when it is crossed, the result threatens to undo them all. Politics, lies and regrets collide in this biting, sharp and fiercely funny Pulitzer Prize finalist.” Performances take place on the mainstage at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Peabody Opera House presents the musical Peter and the Starcatcher Friday through Sunday, March 7-9. “PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is the innovative and imaginative musical play based on the best-selling novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. A company of twelve actors plays more than a hundred unforgettable characters, all on a journey to answer the century-old question: How did Peter Pan become The Boy Who Never Grew Up?” For more information, visit peabodyoperahouse.com or call 314-622-5420.

Photo: Jill Ritter Lindberg

New Line Theatre presents the rock musical Rent Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, March 6-29. "New Line continues its 23rd season with Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize winning, long-running rock opera Rent. This cheerfully transgressive, 1990s rock/pop riff on the classic story, set in New York City’s East Village, is best described in its creator's own words: 'In these dangerous times, where it seems the world is ripping apart at the seams, we can all learn how to survive from those who stare death squarely in the face every day and we should reach out to each other and bond as a community, rather than hide from the terrors of life at the end of the millennium.'"Performances take place at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. For more information: newlinetheatre.com.

Dramatic License Productions presents the comedy Shirley Valentine through March 16. Performances take place at Dramatic License Theatre located at the upper level of Chesterfield Mall (near Sears and across from Houlihan's Restaurant). For more information, call 636-220-7012 or visit dramaticlicenseproductions.org.

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.

Lifting Waits

Who: Marissa Mulder
What: The Songs of Tom Waits
When: February 27 - March 1, 2014
Where: The Gaslight Cabaret Festival

Marissa Mulder's "The Songs of Tom Waits," which had its premiere last March at New York's Metropolitan Room under the more accurately descriptive title "Tom…In His Words," comes to The Gaslight Cabaret Festival dripping with praise. In a profile of Ms. Mulder in the current issue (March/April 2014) of Cabaret Scenes, Stephen Hanks reports that the show "drew rave reviews from almost the entire New York Cabaret press, including Stephen Holden of the New York Times who called it 'Far and away the season's best cabaret show'." Mr. Hanks himself calls it "surprisingly stunning."

It's not hard to see why. Ms. Mulder's remarkable evening of the words and songs of Tom Waits is a startling act of theatrical legerdemain in which the young and ethereally pretty singer magically metamorphoses into the battered, world-weary, ironic narrator who lurks in all of Waits's lyrics. Songs written for the singer/songwriter's gravely, growly, rusty chain link fence of a voice ought to sound wildly inappropriate sung in Ms. Mulder's light, clear mezzo—but they don't. Even when she's singing songs obviously written for a male narrator like "Jersey Girl" or "(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night," Ms. Mulder's understanding of and respect for the lyric makes her performance utterly credible.

Much of that comes from the way Ms. Mulder has thoroughly internalized the meaning of Waits's words—spoken or sung—and made them her own. But no small part of the show's success also comes from her expert use of what is known in the cabaret world as "focus"—clearly communicating the object of each song's lyric to the audience. There's a great example of that in "Downtown Train" in which she clearly and consistently places the object of the narrator's existential longing up and to her right. When she sings "I know your window and I know it’s late / I know your stairs and your doorway / I walk down your street and past your gate / I stand by the light of the four way" you can almost see that window and that deserted midnight street. The song isn't just sung, it's acted. And damned convincingly.

Perhaps the most powerful moment of the show, at least for me, was the poignant anti-war protest song "The Day After Tomorrow." Mr. Hanks tells us she "stunned the audience at the Lincoln Center Rose Theater" when she performed this at the Mabel Mercer Foundation's annual Cabaret Convention last October.  She introduces the song with the songwriter's own words about both the futility and importance of writing protest songs when the nation is clearly hurtling "at 90 miles per hour down a dead-end street" and then delivers it with a stillness that emphasizes the heartbreaking reality faced by soldiers serving in a pointless and unnecessary war. This should be mandatory listening for what Al Franken calls the "chicken hawks" in congress and their media enablers.

Backing up all this, both instrumentally and vocally, are Ms. Mulder's New York compatriots Jon Weber (piano and music director), Mike Rosengarten (guitar), and Ritt Henn (electric stand-up bass). All three have chances to strut their stuff. Mr. Rosengarten had a fierce solo in the chilling, Raymond Chandlereque " A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun," for example, while Mr. Henn impressed me in "Jersey Girl." Mr. Weber's bluesy piano opens and closes the show, and in between his arrangements display many of the songs in a new light. Until I heard it here, for example, I never realized how much "Broken Bicycles" sounds like a gloss on Ivanovici's "Danube Waves"—better known as "The Anniversary Song." I have no idea whether that was intentional on Waits's part or not, but the irony is certainly rich in any case.

That said, there were some aspects of the evening that didn't entirely work for me. Nearly every song was taken at a tempo somewhere down around Larghissimo which, while it helped maintain the world-weary mood, did sometimes become a bit of a drag. Waits's own performances of his songs often have more of a rhythmic pulse, as I recall. The lighting was also nearly uniformly dark, which sometimes obscured Ms. Mulder's features too much.

Still, that's minor stuff, the equivalent of 37 cents in pocket change in a cinder block bar at closing time. Granted, the show's relentless evocation of Waits's bleak, film noir psychological landscape probably isn't for everyone. But if you're a fan of the songwriter's work or someone who (like me) admires his contributions to the canon of American song without ever rising to fanhood, you won't want to miss this show. Even if you're just willing to explore the territory outside the core of the Great American Songbook, I'd say Marissa Mulder's "The Songs of Tom Waits" is worth your attention. It's a solid piece of musical theatre and a worthy addition to the Gaslight Cabaret Festival lineup.

The Gaslight Cabaret Festival continues through April 25 at The Gaslight Theatre, 358 North Boyle in the Central West End. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.com. Note that the Gaslight has no parking lot, so you'll want to arrive early to grab a spot on the street when you attend a show. Fortunately the adjoining West End Grill has a nice assortment of food and drink to occupy you until show time.

Song Llst:
Emotional Weather Report
Better Off Without A Wife
Ol '55
Jersey Girl
Downtown Train
A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun
Rainbow Sleeves
Broken Bicycles
Day After Tomorrow
Alice
I'm Still Here
Encore: Looking For The Heart Of Saturday Night / Ol '55 / Anywhere I Lay My Head

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of March 3, 2014

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McKendree College presents classical pianist Valentina Igoshina on Wednesday, March 5, at 7:30 PM. "The modern-day classical pianist has performed as a soloist on many of the grand concert stages of the world to consistent critical acclaim. The Bryansk, Russia native is a graduate of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. She has won numerous prizes at several international competitions, including first place at the Rubinstein Competition in Poland (1993) and the Sergei Rachmaninov International Piano Competition in Moscow (1997)." The concert takes place in the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts on the college campus in Lebanon, IL. For more information: thehett.com.

The St. Louis Art Museum presents Metropolitan Opera Live at SLAM: Borodin's Prince Igor on Saturday, March 8, at 11:5 AM. The live digital HD video broadcast from New York takes place in The Farrell Auditorium at the Art Museum in Forest Park. For more information: slam.org.

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Verdi's Requiem. Vocal soloists are Angel Blue (soprano) Julia Gertseva (mezzo-soprano), Aquiles Machado (tenor), and Riccardo Zanellato (bass). Performances take place on Friday and Saturday at 8 PM, March 7 and 8, at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. "From musical outbursts of brute force to moments of peaceful tranquility, Verdi's Requiem explores the complex relationship between humanity and God, depicting a wide spectrum of human emotions from anger to mourning to serenity. Celebrated for his operas, Verdi combines the unimaginable sweep and grandeur of opera into his Requiem as a somber and spiritual work certain to stir your soul." For more information: stlsymphony.org.

Jacomo Bairos conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with narrator Peter Seymour in Choose Your Symphonic Adventure on Sunday, March 9, at 3 PM at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. "Be part of this interactive fun-filled journey through the history of classical music where YOU pick the program! Known for his work with Project Trio, Peter Seymour leads the audience through this quest, featuring the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and more. You can't take a wrong turn!" For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents The Arianna String Quartet on Tuesday, March 4, at 7:30 PM. The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

Winter Opera St. Louis presents Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor Friday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, March 7 and 9. Performances take place at The Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade College Preparatory School, 425 S. Lindbergh. The opera is sung in Italian with project English supertitles. For more information, visit winteroperastl.org.