Theater/Film Reviews
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City of Gold
"City of Gold" is not a film about the explorer Francisco de Coronado. It's about another explorer, one who finds other kinds of treasure in unexpected places. His name is Jonathan Gold, and he writes about food, mainly restaurants, for the Los Angeles Times. Gold is the first food writer to win a Pulitzer Prize.
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Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing
What becomes a legend most? "Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing", now at the Repertory Theatre, pays tribute to the legendary pitcher who made his major league baseball debut at the age of 42 in 1948. Before that, of course, he was tearing up the Negro league teams and playing in Cuba, Mexico and
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Old Wicked Songs
It's Vienna and it's 1986. Both the place and the time are relevant to "Old Wicked Songs", New Jewish Theatre's current production. In a comfortable studio at a university, we meet Professor Mashkan, Jerry Vogel. A large grand piano is the centerpiece of the room, which is lined with bookcases. There's a knock at the
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Molly’s Hammer
"Molly's Hammer" opened this past weekend at the Rep Studio. Like "Georama", also seen on that stage earlier this season, it's a product of the Rep's Ignite! New Play Festival. And like two other plays at the Rep this season, those on the Mainstage, it's essentially a political play. That's a good thing, on the
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American Idiot
Every generation seems to have to go through spasms of rejecting society. That rejection creates not only societal tension, it also creates art. That brings us to New Line Theatre's St. Louis debut of American Idiot. Based on the Green Day album of the same name, it's a rock opera, three young men (always men…have
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Beautiful – The Carole King Musical
Is Top 40 music still inescapable any more? Even after I stopped listening to the stations that carried it, it seemed to be everywhere, mall shops, supermarkets, pouring out of cars at stoplights. Maybe it was easier then because lyrics were easier to hear. No matter the reason, it's something to think about as one
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Gidion’s Knot
Do not go see "Gidion's Knot" at St. Louis Actors' Theater if you're looking for lighthearted entertainment. It's a play that slowly, carefully, grabs the audience by the throat and drags them onstage in an act of vicarious shock. Oh, we don't actually see any blood or violence. This is several days after the fact,
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The Dispute
Going to see "The Dispute" is an experience in itself before the audience takes their seats. It's the initial production from a new theatre collective called YoungLiars, pretty much pure experimental theatre. The piece, adapted by the group's producing directors Maggie Conroy and Chuck Harper, began with what the program describes as "a semi-literal Google
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Disgraced
"Disgraced" is not quite ripped from the headlines, a la "Law and Order". But it surely is timely piece of work, given this political year. And unlike "All the Way", which opened the Rep season and which looked at the past and how it influences the present, "Disgraced" is about the present and how it