Ann Lemons Pollack
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Love, Linda
Is it a love story or a cabaret act? Love, Linda is a combination of the two. Max & Louie Productions’ current offering brings us an interesting variation on what’s often referred to as the “And then I wrote…” genre. Linda Lee (her maiden name) Porter, a now-divorced Louisville belle, was married to Cole Porter.
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Canfield Drive
The Black Rep is premiering, not just a St. Louis premiere, but a world premiere, of Canfield Drive. For the rest of the world, the name may not evoke instant memories, but for St. Louisans, it can’t help but do so. Canfield Drive is where Michael Brown was shot in August of 2014. The play
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Alabama Story
Is Alabama Story just another play about racism? Hardly. History is basically story-telling – and then, as a retired history teacher said to me recently, “connecting the dots to see the bigger picture”. The closer the story is, whether it’s in terms of time or geography or sociology, the more relevant it is. Surely it’s
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How Much Did That Beer Cost?
St. Louisans never seemed to begrudge Gussie Busch his luxuries. There was seemingly even a quiet pride in them, especially when they involved taking good care of the baseball team. Then the Belzilians came and we all think differently now. Here's a story where some of their profits are going. Has anyone you know been
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Brunch: The Olivette Diner
Something for everyone. That's pretty much the story at the Olivette Diner. Located in a been-there-forever strip mall on the south side of Olive – I believe my first visit to a Pier One was at the western end of it – it seems to be working on timelessness. And they're doing a good job
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The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told
Not all holiday plays are meant to be…um, family-friendly. The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told would work for some families, certainly, but not for those with smaller, curious children or who are offended by nudity or sexuality or even sexual orientation. Written by Paul Rudnick, who Ben Brantley, reviewing this play for The New York
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Tribes
Tribes, the current offering from St. Louis Actors’ Studio, is definitely not a comedy. It’s a drama with some very funny lines, the sort of unsettling combination that makes audiences sit up and pay close attention. It’s engrossing enough that the night I was there, at the end of the first act, the audience was
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A Christmas Story
I admit I always think about A Christmas Story with a bit deeper nostalgia than some people. I, too, grew up in a small Midwestern town, but it’s not that commonality making me smile. I was, I believe, the only little girl in town with a Red Ryder carbine action air rifle – or, as
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An Act of God
To paraphrase Judy Blume, are you there, St. Louis? It’s Me, God. God’s decided to return to St. Louis, not that He ever left, but it seems He’s doing some revisions of the Ten Commandments. To make Himself manifest to us, He explains, He’s appearing as an actor named Alan Knoll. And that’s just the
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Shotspeare
Shotspeare is way not just for Shakespeare buffs. In fact, I’m sure that some Deeply Serious Shakespeare-ophiles will be Deeply Offended by it. But rowdy, indeed bawdy humor was common in Elizabethan times. Shotspeare fits right into that. The small venue that’s the Playhouse at Westport is pretty much perfect for a show that involves