Ann Lemons Pollack

  • And Then There Were None

     The next round of St. Louis thater has a lot of intellectually and emotionally challenging work, it would appear. That's good stuff, sure. But sometimes folks just wanna have fun. Stray Dog Theatre's opening play for its 12th season is Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", giving the opportunity for just that. The three-act

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  • Truffles and a Side Excursion to the Butchery

    I had dinner at Truffles recently, preceeded by wandering next door to the Butchery, their new enterprise – which is way more than meat. Here's how it went in a link to St. Louis Magazine's piece.

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  • Just a Bite: The Scottish Arms

     The (still-)United Kingdom would probably win if there were a contest for amusing names for various foods. Yes, funny stuff elsewhere, Italy's priest-strangler pasta and Portuguese nuns' signs pastries, for instance. But you have to love a culture that can disduss spotted dick with a straight face. Thus Alastair Nisbet's offering of baby forfar bridies

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  • All in the Timing

     What to compare "All in the Timing" to? It's off-putting, perhaps, to liken it to scat singing or Bach. After all, this is from the author of the fascinating and puzzling "Venus in Fur", done at the Rep in 2013. David Ives' work returns to town at St. Louis Actors' Studio in the form of

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  • Granite City Food and Brewery

     Not all brunches need to be meals of debauchery. Sometimes all you need is a little room to spread out, the comfort food that doesn't awake the brain too jarringly and some time. Granite City Food and Brewery is NOT referring to the city on the Illinois side of the river. It's the nickname of

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  • Brasserie By Niche

    It's the right time of the year to be thinking about boeuf bourguignon and steak frites, that's for sure. Dig in at Brasserie By Niche. Here's the link to a review from St. Louis Magazine's blog. And here's some dessert:

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  • The Normal Heart

     How is it that some creative works seem dated but others remain as fresh and impressive as when they were first born? Is it solely because of universal themes and the constancy of human emotions? Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart" has opened at HotCity Theater, around 30 years after it premiered in New York City.

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  • One Man, Two Guvnors

     And now for something completely different. "One Man, Two Guvnors" is the first play of the Rep's current season. Although it's not the same sort of zaniness as Monty Python, it's certainly a deeply British piece of work that leaves audiences almost out of breath from laughing. And this from a work that came out

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  • Fiddler on the Roof

     "Fiddler On The Roof" is a warhorse. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, it's been done by schools and amateur groups for decades. And yet…and yet…theater finds itself returning to it time after time. And audiences do, too. We've been reminded this year that that period of time was a fertile one on Broadway, with

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  • The Great American Trailer Park Musical

     "The Great American Trailer Park Musical" will never be done at Opera Theatre. Of course not. With a name like that, though, one ought to be entitled to a good romp. And that's what Dramatic License Productions is delivering to audiences. It's not without flaws, but it's bawdily funny without being totally tasteless, and, more

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