Bold, Brilliant ‘Admissions’ Burns White-Hot at The Rep’s Studio

Bold, Brilliant ‘Admissions’ Burns White-Hot at The Rep’s Studio

By Lynn Venhaus
Managing Editor
“Admissions” doesn’t just confront the elephant in the room, it awakens a stampede.
With brilliant scorched-earth dialogue and willingness to bluntly address uncomfortable truths and contradictions among liberal white Americans, playwright Josh Harmon has opened a space for polite society to reflect on today’s standards and practices.
For the past several years, we’ve started conversations on racial matters. And this play takes one aspect, and all five characters speak their minds in a refreshingly candid way.
So, what am I tiptoeing around? “Admissions” examines whiteness: privilege, power, anxiety, guilt and anger.

Before any fellow Caucasians groan like it’s a bitter pill to swallow, I can assure you the good-sport audiences have taken it in stride and laughed heartily at the frank talk and yes, the hypocrisy, recognizing the things we don’t say, or dare say in whispers, and how we knee-jerk react.
Because of the play’s framework, we’re allowed to feel everyone’s indignation and hear their point of view.
Sherri, as the head of admissions at a tony prep boarding school in New Hampshire, has increased diversity from 6 to 18 percent, an achievement worthy of a celebration by her equally progressive husband. But when her only son, a good student-athlete named Charlie Luther Mason, is denied admittance to Yale while his best friend, a bi-racial student-athlete named Perry, gets in on what they perceive to be “the race checkbox,” well, fireworks ensue.
It’s obvious why this new work, which opened in March at the Lincoln Center, won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics awards for Best Play. Harmon is known for “Bad Jews,” which the New Jewish Theatre produced several years ago.
The Rep’s intimate Studio Theatre has had multiple sold-out performances, for this has struck a nerve, and done so with biting wit and stinging humor.
Steve Woolf’s direction is steam-heat hot. He keeps the pace brisk, and the interaction of the cast is smooth.
The well-prepared cast effortlessly serves and volleys back and forth that it’s like watching a Grand Slam tennis match – the finesse of their delivery is like world-class athletes rising to the occasion.
TUESDAY, OCT. 23, 2018 – This is the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ production of “Admissions” at the Loretto-Hilton Center. ©Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.Henny Russell is rather smug as the high-minded and well-intentioned Sherri Rosen-Mason, who deals with race at work and at home. Her best friend Ginnie Peters (Kate Udall), is married to a bi-racial English professor and is Perry’s mother. Suddenly, fissures erupt in their friendship, and Udall is quick to switch emotions, calling out her friend’s hurtful words.
R. Ward Duffy, appearing in his 10th show at The Rep, and Russell’s real-life husband, is sharp as Bill Mason, who admonishes his son as a spoiled brat and worries about how they got off track and how to work their way back to seeing things clearly.
In a breakthrough role, Thom Niemann triumphs as the privileged young man trying to figure out his place in the world and being “woke” in contemporary America. His agitated, exasperated 17-minute monologue skewering political correctness is one of the year’s best scenes – and got a huge ovation.
In a comical supporting role, Barbara Kingsley is funny as Roberta, a school employee in the development office who is trying to do what Sherri tells her to make their school catalog photos more diverse.
The cast percolates with conviction and relatability.
The office and two-story home scenic design by Bill Clarke is a marvel – one of the largest I’ve seen in that space, and an efficient way to tell this comedy-drama. Lighting designer Nathan W. Scheuer has lit it perfectly while Rusty Wandall’s sound and Lou Bird’s costumes add to the atmosphere.
Even with the best of intentions, we may be part of the problem instead of the solution we think we are striving for, and “Admissions” allows us to see the opportunity to reflect on what’s happening now.
We don’t live in a void. Bold, daring and razor-sharp, “Admissions” helps us see we need to have more conversations, and it’s imperative we keep up the dialogue, at this very divisive time.
“Admissions” played The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ Studio Theatre Oct. 26 – Nov. 11.
TUESDAY, OCT. 23, 2018 – This is the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ production of “Admissions” at the Loretto-Hilton Center. ©Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr. 
 
 

The Black Rep Replaces ‘Marie and Rosetta’ with ‘Milk Like Sugar’

Due to casting conflicts, The Black Rep’s production of “Marie and Rosetta”  by George Brant will be rescheduled to kick-off the 2019-2020 Season, Sept. 3-25, 2019. Replacing the previously scheduled 2019 spring production will be “Milk Like Sugar,” Feb. 13- March 3, 2019. 
“We are ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with some extraordinary artists for our production of ‘Marie and Rosetta,” said Black Rep Producing Director Ron Himes. “Because of the cast, we felt compelled to alter the season schedule. While ‘Milk Like Sugar’ was slated to be produced as part of our 2019-2020 season, we’re thrilled to move it to this season’s electrifying line-up instead.”

About MILK LIKE SUGAR
It is Annie Desmond’s 16th birthday and her friends have decided to help her celebrate in style, complete with a brand-new tattoo. Before her special night is over, however, Annie and her friends enter into a life–altering pact. When Annie tries to make good on her promise to her friends, she is forced to take a good look at the world that surrounds her. She befriends Malik, who promises a bright future, and Keera, whose evangelical leanings inspire Annie in a way her young parents have not been able to do. In the end, Annie’s choices propel her onto an irreversible path in this story that combines wit, poetry and hope.
About MARIE AND ROSETTA
Bringing fierce guitar playing and swing to gospel music that would become a rhythmic precursor to rock and roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a pioneer of mid-20th-century music with a huge influence on Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, and Ray Charles. Set in the showroom of a funeral home in Mississippi 1946, this musical celebration of two extraordinary Black Women chronicles the unlikely first rehearsal between Rosetta and the prim young, Marie Knight, to see if the potential protégée could summon the stuff to allow for a professional partnership that might topple the male stranglehold suppressing Rosetta’s career. They would embark on a tour to establish them as one of the great duos in musical history.
Season ticket-holders will have the same seats for ‘Milk Like Sugar’ as they would have had for ‘Marie and Rosetta.’ Single tickets for “Milk Like Sugar’ will go on sale Jan. 3, 2019.

Stages St. Louis to break ground on new Performing Arts Center in Kirkwood

Stages St. Louis to break ground on new Performing Arts Center in Kirkwood

Stages St. Louis has announced the groundbreaking of its new home, the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, located in Downtown Kirkwood, Mo. A groundbreaking ceremony will be hosted by the City of Kirkwood for the new Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 4 p.m. The center will be located at the corner of South Taylor Avenue and Monroe Avenue in downtown Kirkwood.
Stages St. Louis enthusiastically awaits opening its 2020 Season as the first tenant to occupy the new Performing Arts Center. Additional tenants of the facility include the Kirkwood Theatre Guild and the Kirkwood Youth Theatre program (run by the City of Kirkwood). Of the move, STAGES’ Executive Producer Jack Lane states:
“The move to the new Kirkwood Performing Arts Center will help secure a bright and exciting future for STAGES, our incredibly loyal patrons and audience members, and the City of Kirkwood. We look forward to becoming an integral member of the vibrant Downtown Kirkwood community while continuing to serve as an artistic leader for the St. Louis region and beyond.”

The new facility, projected to open in late spring of 2020, will house a 525-seat state of the art mainstage theatre. In addition to an increase in number of seats, the Performing Arts Center will offer mezzanine level seating, a 2,000 square foot event space, upper and lower lobbies connected by a grand staircase, and a 3,000 square foot black box theatre/event space.
“The increase in theatre size is something that we are really looking forward to” Lane said. “Stages productions tend to sell out often and quickly, so more seats for us does not just mean an increase in our annual ticket revenue. It means that more people will have the opportunity to experience the magic of a Stages production.”
Hoping to create a new home for theatre in downtown Kirkwood, Staes will continue cultivating the performing arts talent pool both in the St. Louis region and nationally. Additionally, Stages is eager to drive people to the many businesses and restaurants that will be the neighbors of the facility and become a vital part of the Downtown Kirkwood community.
Initial discussions with project partners and citizens, along with planning for the construction of the $25 million Performing Arts Center have been in progress for approximately two years and construction is expected to begin immediately. Renderings will be available at the groundbreaking for viewing by the public and media.

Go See a Play! What’s Happening Nov. 1- 7

Go See a Play! What’s Happening Nov. 1- 7

By Lynn Venhaus
Managing Editor
On dark and stormy nights, head to the theater for light and love, or if you prefer this time of year, to get spooked afternoons and evenings.
The Bard gets spooky in “Macbeth,” and Rebel and Misfits presents its third Immersive Theatre Project, “Macbeth: Come Like Shadows.”
Did the devil make them do it? The Faustival continues with Theatre Nuevo’s “whither I should fly?” and SATE’s “Doctor Faustus, or the Modern Prometheus.”
The Rep launches another season of provocative theater in the Studio, with “Admissions.”
The classic drama “A Raisin in the Sun” is staged by the Hawthorne Players in Florissant.

Both Alton Little Theater and O’Fallon Theatre Works present “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” while The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves is going for classic comedy in “Arsenic and Old Lace.”
Times, they are a-changing for women in “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” now surprising audiences at The Rep. And in the real-life drama, “Silent Sky” at Insight.
Timeless musicals “Annie” and “La Cage Aux Folles” are in St. Peters and Olivette.
Go See a Play!
“Annie”
Act Two Theatre
Nov. 2-4, 9-11
Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.
St. Peters City Hall
Purchase tickets at: https://anniethemusical.brownpapertickets.com
More info at: https://www.acttwotheatre.com/2018-season/annie-the-musical/
What It’s About: With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago at an Orphanage that is run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. When she escapes into NYC, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations and even befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt! She finds a new family in billionaire, Oliver Warbucks, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.
Director: Phil Gill, with music direction by Gene Ditch
Cast: Annie- Lauren Dunn; Miss Hannigan- Dana Wachtel; Daddy Warbucks- Scott Theis; Grace Farrell- Heather Matthews; Rooster- Christian Lewis; Lily- Carly Rae Stevenson; Molly- Ruthie Kamp; Duffy- Maille Hanson; Pepper- Ariana Kroegen; Tessie- Sophia Call’ Kate- Emma Kottmann; July- Anna Wright; Berta Healey- Melinda Call.
Ensemble- Kim Klick, Danielle Sherman, Nick Elieff, Ray Martin, Travis McIntyre, Laura Deveney, Sophie Kluba, Megan Wiegert, Alison Willard Dueker, Jack Ryan Patee, Santino Bono
TUESDAY, OCT. 23, 2018 – This is the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ production of “Admissions” at the Loretto-Hilton Center. ©Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.“Admissions”
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Oct. 26 – Nov. 11
Studio Theatrewww.repstl.org
What It’s About: Prep school admissions director Sherri Rosen-Mason lives according to staunchly progressive values. But when her teenage son claims those same values have denied him opportunities as a white student, it creates an explosive conflict that exposes their family’s hypocrisies and privileges. This biting play’s acidic humor goes straight for the throat.
Director: Steven Woolf
Cast: Henny Russell, R. Ward Duffy, Thom Niemann, Barbara Kingsley, Kate Udall
Of Note: Play by Joshua Harmon is one hour, 40 minutes, and is performed with no intermission.
Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
“Arsenic and Old Lace”
Theatre Guild of Webster Groves
Nov. 2 – 4, Nov. 8-11
Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.
Special Thursday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m.
www.theatreguildwg.org
314-962-0876
What It’s About: Mortimer Brewster is living a happy life: he has a steady job at a prominent New York newspaper, he’s just become engaged, and he gets to visit his sweet spinster aunts to announce the engagement. Mortimer always knew that his family had a bit of a mad gene, but his world is turned upside down when he realizes that his dear aunts have been poisoning lonely old men for years! When Mortimer’s maniacal brother, Jonathan. (who strangely now resembles Boris Karloff) returns on the night that the aunts were planning to bury the newest victim, Mortimer must rally to help his aunts and protect his fiancé, all while trying to keep his own sanity as well.
Director: Larry Zerega
Cast: Judy Moebeck, Linda Spall, Tom Moore, Robert Jones, Ron Baker, Tori Stukins, Jeff Loeffler, Jeff Lovell, Ian Miller, William Beller, Scott Ewers, Tony Jaskiewicz and Gene Raucher.
Of Note: Tickets are available at the door (cash or check). Sorry, we do not take advanced reservations. The Guild is a very old building, historic in fact, but because of this we are not wheelchair or handicap accessible. The Guild has a total of 31 steps.
Photo of Jeff Lovell, Judy Moebeck, Linda Spall
”“Doctor Faustus, or The Modern Prometheus”
SATE
Nov. 7 – Nov. 17
Wed – Sat., 8 p.m.
The Chapel
6238 Alexander Drivewww.slightlyoff.org
314-827-5760
What It’s About: Written by John Wolbers, it is a modern day retelling of the age-old bargain for limitless control over one’s own fate. The brilliant Doctor Faustus grows weary of those in charge abusing their power; so, with the noblest of intentions, sells her soul to save the world. Thus begins an epic journey of seduction and love, justice and mercy, despair and hope, and ultimately damnation and redemption. Along the way Faustus must choose between good, evil and the compromise known as humanity.
Director: Ellie Schwetye
Cast: Ashley Bauman, Erik Kuhn, Kareem Deanes, Joe Hanrahan, Lex Ronan, Nicole Angeli, Mike Pierce and Taleesha Caturah
Of Note: Wolbers retains much of Christopher Marlowe’s original poetry, but reframes the story to examine: How does one effect change in an increasingly complex world? What is the value of a soul in today’s modern age? And what holds us back from transcending our baser instincts to become our best selves?
Tina Johnson, Caralyn Koszlowski in ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2″ at The Rep. Photo by Peter Wochniak, ProPhotoSTL.com “A Doll’s House, Part II”
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Oct. 11 – Nov. 4
Browning Mainstage, Loretto-Hilton Center
130 Edgar Roadwww.repstl.org
314-968-4925
What It’s About: Lucas Hnath’s audacious sequel was written more than 135 years after Henrik Ibsen’s original. The familial drama remains a foundational piece of theater, with a still-controversial ending in which a married woman chooses to walk out on her family. But in 2017, Hnath took the themes and characters of that familiar classic and flipped them on their heads, imagining what would happen if protagonist Nora Helmer returned home 15 years after her dramatic exit.
Director: Timothy Near
Starring: Caralyn Kozlowski, Andrea Abello, Michael James Reed, Tina Johnson
Photo by Peter Wochniak
“Into the Breeches”
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis
Oct. 28 – Nov. 24.
The Grandel Theatrewww.sfst.org
What It’s About: Building on its beloved summer productions in Forest Park, and the acclaimed Shakespeare in the Streets program, the Festival now presents its very first season of contemporary American plays by writers in dialogue with Shakespeare, headlined by the regional premiere of “Into the Breeches!” — a hilarious and heartwarming look at the WWII home front and a group of ladies left behind who band together to keep the local theater going with their very own production of Henry V.
Director: Nancy Bell
Starring: Kari Ely, Ben Nordstrom, Gary Wayne Barker, Michelle Hand, Katy Keating, Mary McNulty, Laura Resinger and Jacqueline Thompson
Of Note: Student tickets to all performances are free with an ID but it is recommended they be reserved in advance. A limited number of “Pay What You Can Nights” are scheduled for the “Breeches!” performances on Nov. 7 and 14, and should also be reserved in advance. Military discounts are available as well.
“La Cage Aux Folles”
Over Due Theatre Company
Nov. 2 – 4, Nov. 9 – 11
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Olivette Community Center
For more information or ticket orders, email: [email protected] or call (314) 292-9368.
What It’s About: Georges is the owner of the La Cage Aux Folles nightclub, which features a drag show starring his partner and the love of his life, Albin. After twenty years of un-wedded bliss, Georges and his partner Albin face the hardest challenge of their relationship, yet: meeting their son, Jean-Michel’s fiance’s parents. Albin has always raised Jean-Michel, Georges’ biological son, as his own. But when Jean-Michel falls in love and becomes engaged to the daughter of an ultra-conservative, anti-gay politician, Georges feels compelled to try to present a more “traditional” family to Jean-Michel’s potential in-laws. When Albin tries and fails to take on a masculine persona in the role of Uncle Al, he gets more creative in order to find a way to be part of the “meet the parents” experience.
Director:
Cast: Georges: Steven James Cook; Albin: Wayne Alan Mackenberg; Jean-Michel: Shane Rudolph; Jacob Benjamin: Sevilla; Eduoard Dindon: Mark Strahm; Marie Dindon: Carin Thyssen; Anne Dindon: Miranda Dereak; Francis: Bradley Fritz; Chantal: Grayson Jostes; Hanna: Laurie Blanner; Bitelle: Lashae Coleman; Babbette: Steven James Cook; Phaedra: Nick Perrin; Mercedes: Maggie Canizales; Jacqueline: Bekah Harbison; Angelique: Christy Schiller; M. Renaud: Daniel Horst; MM Renaud: Christy Schiller and Tabarro: Don Meyer.
Of Note: Based on Jean Poiret’s 1973 French play of the same name, the multi-Tony award-winning “La Cage Aux Folles” is a musical filled with delightful spectacle and great heart.
“Macbeth: Come Like Shadows”
Rebel and Misfits Productions
Immersive Theatre Project
Oct. 24 – Nov. 10
Wednesday through Saturday
www.rebelandmisfitsproductions.com
What It’s About: Dive into a shocking world and discover the heart and dark underbelly of a story that you have undoubtedly come in contact with before, but never allowed full access to the dripping heat and intimacy pulled along by its characters. This is one of Shakespeare’s boldest and most passionate plays deeply imagined.
Who are the inhabitants?  Why do their souls choose the courses they embark upon?  What is behind the door? Immerse yourself in a world of direct interaction, walk into this complexly-woven tale, wade into its unlocked depths.
Co-Directors: Kelly Hummert, Sean Patrick Higgins with Jordan Woods assisting.
Starring: Sean Patrick Higgins, Jeffrey Cummings, Spencer Sickmann, Reginald Pierre, Paul Cereghino, Shane Signorino, Kelly Hummert, Aarya Locker, Phil Leveling, Patrice Foster, Joel Antony, Hailey Medrano, Tieliere Cheatem, Cynthia Pohlson, Ali Linderer, Kevin Corpuz and Jordan Woods
Of Note: We invite you to meet these characters as you never have before. Drink with them.  Dance with them.  Share your secrets with them. They will, in turn, weave you into the fabric of the action. Come and experience this high-octane, dangerous, and sexy world, where nothing is ever quite what it seems.
Pick Up Location: 1615 South Broadway, St Louis, MO 63104 (parking lot near DB’s), buses will transport the audience to and from the location.
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
Alton Little Theatre
Oct. 26 – Nov. 4
www.altonlittletheater.org
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, O’Fallon Theatre Works“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
O’Fallon Theatre Works
Nov. 2 -4, 9-11
O’Fallon Municipal Centre (City Hall), 100 N. Main St.
636-474-2732
https://www.ofallon.mo.us/parks&rec/ofallontheatreworks
What It’s About: Hard-hitting, thought provoking drama, based on the novel by Ken Kesey, is a chilling, cautionary tale of a charming rogue, Randle Patrick McMurphy, who contrives to serve a short sentence in an airy mental institution rather than prison. This, he learns, was a mistake. He clashes with the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, a fierce martinet. He quickly takes over the yard and accomplishes what the medical profession was unable to do for 12 years, prompt a presumably deaf and dumb Native American patient to speak. Leading the other patients out of their introversion, McMurphy stages a revolt so that they can watch the World Series on television and arranges a rollicking midnight party. The party is too horrid for Nurse Ratched, who forces a final “correction” on McMurphy, a frontal lobotomy. The play won a Tony® Award for “Outstanding Revival of a Play” in 2001. Adult content. Parental discretion is advised.
Cast: Randall P McMurphy-Todd Micali; Nurse Ratched-Kathy Haake Rush; Chief Bromden-James McKinzie; Dale Harding-Terrance Peterson; Billy Bibbit-Andrew Woodard; Charles Cheswick-Joe Groeblinghoff; Scanlon-Ken Brostow; Martini-Harry Menner; Nurse Flynn-Ellie Lanham; Nurse Cheever-Katherine Lee; Candy Starr-Katy Gilda Fry; Sandy-Christine Reid Latimer and Rickey-Arturo Latimer.
Rub a Dub George-Gary Hessler
Dr. Spivey-David Rush
Aide Turkey-Brian Jones
Aide Warren-Tony Maldonado
Aide Williams-Vic Porcellli
Ensemble-Jackson Fugate, Eliza Schnelle,
 

“A Raisin in the Sun”
Hawthorne Players
Nov. 2 – 11
Friday, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 11 at 2 p.m.www.hawthorneplayers.com
314-921-5678
What It’s About: Lorraine Hansberry’s acclaimed play follows the Youngers, an African-American family living together in 1950s Chicago. The family receives a $10,000 insurance check from the death of the father, but each member wants that money to fund a different dream. Tensions increase as each one tries to find a way to escape the lower-class neighborhood—bringing up questions of identity, class, value, race and love—and outside forces work against them.
Director: Nancy Crouse
Cast: Ruth Younger – Jazmine Wade; Walter Lee Younger – Erick Lindsey; Beneatha Younger – Ashley Santana; Lena Younger – Kimmie Kidd; Travis Younger – Joshua Bruton; Joseph Asagai – Moses Weathers; George Murchison – Brennon Keys; Mrs. Johnson – Rhonda Cropp; Bobo – Archie Coleman; Karl Lindner – John Mefford; and Moving Men – Mike Renez, Kevin Bruton.
 
“Silent Sky”
Insight Theatre Company
Oct. 19 – Nov. 4
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Kranzberg Arts Center, 510 N. Grand
314 – 556-1293
www.insighttheatrecompany.com
What It’s About: When Henrietta Leavitt begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculates projects in “girl hours” and has no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love.
Of Note: The true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries, when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them. Social progress, like scientific progress, can be hard to see when one is trapped among earthly complications; Henrietta Leavitt and her female peers believe in both, and their dedication changed the way we understand both the heavens and Earth.”
 
“whither should I fly”
Theatre Nuevo
Part of Faustival
Oct. 25 – Nov. 11, 8 p.m.
Centene Center for the Arts
3457 Olive St.
www.theatrenuevo.com
What It’s About: A devised exploration of prescriptive women’s behavior through witchcraft and multilevel marketing, written by Amanda Wales and Gabe Taylor.
Director: Gabe Taylor
Starring: Thalia Cruz, Miranda Jagels Felix, Alicen Moser, Tori Thomas, Amanda Wales and Marcy Wiegert.
 
 
 
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