Theater/Film Reviews
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A Kid Like Jake
"A Kid Like Jake" starts out like a New York magazine story: Manhattan parents obsessing about how to get their toddler into just the right private, expensive, exclusive school. Sure, we all want the best for our kids – but admission essays for parents? Come on. How many of us can identify with that? Just
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Chancers
If it's an Irish comedy, somehow it's perfectly logical that it's a dark comedy. That's "Chancers", Max & Louie Productions newest offering, now running at the Kranzberg Arts Center. This is the American premiere of the play by Robert Massey, which recently finished its Dublin run. Chance, and chancers, refer to the lottery,
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The Diary of Anne Frank
The morning after I saw "The Diary of Anne Frank" at the New Jewish Theatre, I heard someone on NPR talking about the idealism that blossoms in young adults and how they have this far-sighted view of what's possible. There she was in my mind again. The 70-year-old story combines optimism and horror as adolescent
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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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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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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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Human Terrain
It seems like many of the most powerful works about crises come out of the middle of them, rather than being written or sung or painted with the benefit of hindsight. Certainly no single work of art can capture more than a millisecond of the situation, especially one as complex and long-lasting as the Middle