Ann Lemons Pollack
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The State of Marriage
Political theater, and especially political theater with a strong social message, can turn into a polemic faster than Lou Brock stealing a base, and then it tends to become heavy and, frankly, boring. So it's a tribute to Joan Lipkin and the cast of "The State of Marriage," that they mostly avoid the deadly pothole.
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IMAX Hubble
The giant IMAX movie screen at the St. Louis Science Center is perfect for the mind-boggling expanses of outer space, which makes its new feature, "Hubble," a glorious experience. The 45-minute film opens today, and while the tense experiences of repair work cut into the time I would prefer be devoted to astronomical glories, it's
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Please Give
People feel guilty for many reasons, some legitimate and some not. They have many methods for assuaging this guilt. Catherine Keener, as Kate in "Please Give," tosses food and money at panhandling or homeless New Yorkers. She's obsessed by these street people, and by her re-sale shop, and she has little time for her 15-year-old
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House
"House," known as "Hausu" in Japanese, is the least horror-strewn Japanese horror film I've ever seen. Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1977 film, now being released here and there around the country, was Obayashi's first effort, and like many first-time directors, he gives us everything he knows. There are many attractive, imaginative sequences, some that are very strange,
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OSS 117: Lost in Rio
As a spoof of the James Bond genre of movies, "OSS 117: Lost in Rio," a French version by writer-director Michel Haznavicius, is often quite funny, nearly as often extremely imaginative. It loses points for a surprising amount of insulting so-called humor about Jews, but Jean Dujardin is effective as Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath.
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An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This, His Final Evening
Joe Hanrahan has a special place in the St. Louis theater world. As the founder, artistic director and half the company of the Midnight Company, he performs the roles he wants where and when he wants to do them. Thankfully, while Hanrahan often works in mysterious ways, he always offers something interesting and thought-provoking. Sometimes
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Brunch: Wei Hong
For those who haven’t been to Wei Hong Seafood in a while, there’s a surprise in store. The old Art Deco movie theater on Olive Boulevard has lost its terraced floors and most of the related stairs, the dining room now on a single level with a faux-wood floor. (Wheelchair access is still slightly tricky,
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A Little Night Music
The St. Louis Symphony rarely has sounded better, turning "A Little Night Music" into a large and luscious musical performance, and a June night never was more perfect for anything that came to mind. There were some superb vocal moments from the stage, and the super-titles made the wonderful and clever, but convoluted lyrics of
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The Me Nobody Knows
"Hair," on stage has had almost as many adapters, stylists and camp-followers as hair on head. "The Me Nobody Knows" was one of them, coming to New York a couple of years later. Based on some poems and essays written by New York school children, enhanced by music from composer Gary William Friedman and lyrics
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Circus Flora
The circus is a family affair, and Circus Flora, our town's exciting circus, showed it off brilliantly both inside and outside the ring as it opened a June-long run last night at its tent next door to Powell Hall in Grand Center. The show, "Ingenioso," takes some of the Don Quixote tales and wraps them