Ann Lemons Pollack
-
Flashback: The Branding Iron
Full of courthouse regulars in the daytime and families at night, The Branding Iron was a Clayton standard. I wrote about it for St. Louis Magazine.
-
Disney’s The Little Mermaid
It’s all swimming, all dancing this week at the Muny. When it comes to musical theatre, selling the sizzle is just as important as selling the steak. Or, in this case, perhaps the salmon. The Muny is giving us Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and that’s the sort of fishy joke that abounds in the production.
-
Vicia
Vicia is the hot restaurant of the moment. It’s the brainchild of Michael and Tara Gallina, he a St. Louisan and both alumni of the prestigious Blue Hill Farm in New York. In the French tradition, he’s a chef and she runs the front of the house. This is not French food, it’s modern American,
-
The Sweet Smell of Success
The musical version of The Sweet Smell of Success opened big on Broadway. The story of the powerful New York gossip columnist syndicated all over the country had music from Marvin Hamlisch and a book by John Guare. It starred John Lithgow as the columnist JJ Hunsecker, with Lithgow winning a Tony for his work.
-
Monsters
St. Louis has far more theatre than many people realize, and we – happily – have the audiences to support it, for the most part. (Financial support, I realize, is a whole different question.) Regular theatre-goers can get to the point of counting how many times they’ve seen a certain play, whether it’s their favorite
-
Title and Deed
As I write this, it’s Bloomsday, the tribute to James Joyce and his novel Ulysses. In that lineage, but closer to the style of his younger friend Samuel Beckett is the work of contemporary playwright Will Eno. Eno’s work Title and Deed is on the boards currently, brought to us by The Midnight Company. Eno’s
-
Brunch: The Tavern Kitchen & Bar
How great to have a menu that isn't the Same Old Thing. That's what faces the bruncher at The Tavern Kitchen & Bar, although there are a few choices for the very conservative eater. But how much fun is that? I wrote about it here on the St. Louis Magazine blog Dining.
-
Titus
Hooray. Titus, also known as La Clemenza di Tito, is show about a ruler who is wise, kind and concerned about the people for whom he is responsible. How refreshing is that? Oh, sure, conflict is at the heart of all theatre. And Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ fourth and final production of the year
-
Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent
This documentary on the fine chef Jeremiah Tower may not be for everyone. Tower is a brilliant, but ultimately unknowable, man, but he's put out some fabulous food in his career. I had a chance to see the film, and here's what I thought about it. It's currently playing at Plaza Frontenac.
-
The Trial
The Trial gives us an interesting combination. Franz Kafka, a writer whose work was so singular that his name has been turned into an adjective meaning deeply bizarre, and Phillip Glass, the contemporary composer, whose name, for many people, brings to mind discordant “modern” music, are the two factors. The result is happily far from