Ann Lemons Pollack
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Evita
The Rep opens its 52nd season with Evita, a blockbuster of a show that takes full advantage of the extra time the summer gave to crank things up. The second major Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd Webber show, it’s become something of a cult favorite, lacking the built-in audience for the earlier Jesus Christ Superstar or the
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Cathy’s Kitchen
2018 has not been, I freely acknowledge, a great year for restaurant coverage on this blog. First the book – whose manuscript is in but whose galley proofs are still a-borning, apparently – and then the wedding of the first Lemons grandchild are the primary causes of my dereliction. In the tradition of her father,
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Lost in the Stars
I am deeply regretful that I didn’t get to see Lost in the Stars until its closing night. Union Avenue Opera finished its 24th season with the Kurt Will/Maxwell Anderson work from 1949, based on Alan Paton’s well-regarded novel Cry, the Beloved Country. It was, quite simply, splendid. A Zulu Anglican priest’s son has moved
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Meet Me in St. Louis
The Muny closed out its centennial season with Meet Me in St. Louis. It seems unnecessary to add “of course” at the end of that sentence. Unless one is a complete curmudgeon and sneers at any hint of boosterism or being a homer, it was very hard to resist this show. The Muny, clearly not
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The Robber Bridegroom
Talk about blood lines – The Robber Bridegroom book and lyrics are from Alfred Uhry, who gave us Driving Miss Daisy, from a novella by the esteemed Eudora Welty, who in turn apparently kipped it from the Brothers Grimm. Grimm, yes, but grim, not so much. Oh, there’s fightin’ and cussin’ – this takes place
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Red Oak Biscuits
A big don't-miss: And here's the link to the review.
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Gypsy
The Muny’s doing Gypsy this week, a show that’s been around so long that some folks don’t remember just how good it is. The script, based loosely on a memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee, a rather elegant (and relatively restrained) burlesque dancer of great fame, and written by Arthur Laurents, gives actors some serious stuff
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The Realistic Joneses
Jennifer and Bob sit outside on a summer night. It’s quiet and pleasant. Soon, there’s a noise offstage, and then footsteps. It’s their new neighbors, John and Pony, who banged into the garbage can, uh, while they were listening to Jennifer and Bob. But politeness prevails, and it turns out that the new couple has
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Mamma Mia!
The original version of the movie Mamma Mia! looks better than ever now that the followup film continuing the story has been released. (You want irritable? Try The New York Times review of it.) Stages St. Louis currently shows off their version of the stage production on which the movie was based, and the smaller
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La Bute New Theater Festival, Set Two
The second half of St. Louis Actors’ Studio LaBute New Theater Festival finishes up this weekend. As is the tradition, it, like the first section earlier in July, opens with the short play that Neil LaBute offers each year. This year it’s Eric Dean White in The Fourth Reich, and you can read about it here.