Theater/Film Reviews
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Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika
The story woven in Angels in America finishes in Part Two: Perestroika. Part Two is definitely far more understandable if you’ve seen Part One. You can read about it here. Pryor Walter is still ill, but, as Monty Python sang, not dead yet – I suspect that sort of humor might appeal to Pryor –
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A Model for Matisse
In a small town in the hills above the Mediterranean in 1943, the artist Henri Matisse moved to the villa La Reve. Reve translates as “dream”, and it was his way of moving further away from the difficulties of war. He had refused to leave France when war broke out – his son was an
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Man of la Mancha
It’s a sign of the times that one of the biggest laughs on opening night of Stages St. LOuis’ Man of la Mancha was the line, “Facts are the enemy of truth”. The show, a mainstay since its arrival on Broadway, takes a lot of work to seem fresh after appearing so often in both
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Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope
Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope opened in 1971, and in some ways is a near-perfect reminder of what life was like. Now The Black Rep has given us a chance to look at the revue again and admire what it does. Yes, the giddy clothes, the heightened political awareness, the rapidly evolving music scene,
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Angels in America, Part One: The Millennium Approaches
Angels in America came to Broadway in 1993. This year, Hana Sharif, the new artistic director of the Rep, has chosen it to introduce herself to St. Louis. Tony Kushner’s Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play is one with with a strong emotional weight to it over the years. But how has it aged? Is
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Shakespeare in Love
It’s all hands on deck for Insight Theatre Company’s production of Shakespeare in Love. The cast of 24 includes many faces familiar to regular theater-goers; I suspect this may have something to do with the actors’ eagerness to try their hand at the adaptation of the 1998 award-winning film of the same name. Their efforts
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Antigone: Requiem per Patriarchus
Do you know what a gnu looks like? It’s one of several animals described as “looking like it was made by a committee”. SATE/ERA’s Antigone: Requiem per Patriarchus escapes that problem, despite being a production of the classic that’s gone through several layers of the creation process. It began as a playwriting project at the
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Guys and Dolls
If ever there were an example of how a show, particularly a musical, is a jigsaw puzzle, it’s Stray Dog Theatre’s Guys and Dolls. The delicious score by Frank Loesser is a perfect example of American musical comedy, and Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows’ book, inspired by Damon Runyon, is full of funny. It’s great
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Matilda
This may have been the best Muny season in the 25 years I’ve been going regularly. Admittedly, I missed Cinderella and Footloose this year, but overall it’s been a delight, starting with a bang with Guys and Dolls and wrapping up their 101st season with Matilda, a remarkable evening’s experience. It beggars journalistic tradition, perhaps,
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Assisted Living: The Musical
Assisted Living: The Musical, now at the Playhouse At Westport Plaza, is more fun than you might expect. Yes, some of the jokes are tasteless, a few of those qualifying as what I (retired RN) call “nurse humor”. Many more are downright bawdy, but somehow it’s no chore to go with the flow that Rick