Lynn Venhaus

Total Post: 1138

Lynn (Zipfel) Venhaus has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metro region publications since 1978. She writes features and news for Belleville News-Democrat and contributes to St. Louis magazine and other publications.  She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, currently reviews films for Webster-Kirkwood Times and KTRS Radio, covers entertainment for PopLifeSTL.com and co-hosts podcast PopLifeSTL.com…Presents.  She is a member of Critics Choice Association, where she serves on the women's and marketing committees; Alliance of Women Film Journalists; and on the board of the St. Louis Film Critics Association. She is a founding and board member of the St. Louis Theater Circle. She is retired from teaching journalism/media as an adjunct college instructor.

Lush Look, Songs of Longing and a Timeless Love Triangle in ‘Cyrano’

Lush Look, Songs of Longing and a Timeless Love Triangle in ‘Cyrano’

By Lynn Venhaus
A soaring symphony of romanticism, “Cyrano” is one of the most daring and best-looking films from last year.

Too self-conscious to woo Roxanne (Haley Bennett) himself, wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac (Peter Dinklage) helps young Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) win her heart through love letters. The ruse will tangle their lives in unintended ways.

Sadly, its wider release wasn’t set until this February, although eligible for awards and played earlier elsewhere. The arthouse film just seemed to be one of the prestige awards-bait movies that got lost in the shuffle, so to speak. It is, however, nominated for three BAFTA awards, including Best Picture, and one Oscar nomination.

At once peculiar and precious, this film adaptation of Edmund Rostand’s 1897 play benefits from a breathtaking lush look. With his background in fine art, director Joe Wright has framed everything like a painting from the Renaissance – and moved the setting to Sicily.

The intricately detailed baroque production design is a wondrous sight to behold, outstanding craft work from Sarah Greenwood, and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey has beautifully lit the interiors with flickering candles while drenching the Mediterranean exteriors with sun.

Frequent Wright collaborator Jacqueline Durran, a two-time Oscar winner for “Anna Karenina” and “Little Women,” designed the costumes for Roxanne while Massimo Cantini Parrini did the rest, and they both share an Oscar nomination for the work. (She could have easily scored another one for “Spencer” this year).

Not only is this sumptuous film a feast for the eyes but also the ears, with an intimate musical score by twin brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the indie-rock group The National, with lyrics by fellow bandmate Matt Berninger and his wife Carin Besser. They had all collaborated on Erica Schmidt’s 2018 stage musical. A new song, “Somebody Desperate,” plays over the end credits.

The bittersweet songs are gracefully delivered, tinged with an aching tenderness, as if singers are revealing their intensely personal monologues.

The pitch-perfect cast is fully immersed in the 17th century story, which has been presented in countless forms over the years – as radio, television, opera, theater, dance, and film. While it has received modern treatments, this version is steeped in the original’s classicism, which suits the performers well.

The love triangle resonates emotionally because of the actors’ strengths. Bennett is luminous and Harrison earnest as the lovestruck pair. With his sad eyes, Dinklage’s melancholy demeanor deepens the title character’s pain about unrequited love.

Cyrano is convinced that his appearance makes him unworthy of his friend Roxanne’s affections and once she falls for Christian, he helps foster the romance through his words, writing dazzling love letters she assumes are penned by her suitor.

Dinklage, undaunted by all the acclaimed actors who’ve played the role before, demonstrates both the wordplay and swordplay with ease. The character loses nothing in the switch from the presumed hideous bulbous nose to a dwarf, conveying his perceived inferiority.

As the hopelessly romantic and endlessly disappointed poet, he’s just as heartbreaking as Oscar winner Jose Ferrer was in the 72-year-old film — and one can imagine on stage in his most famous role.

Both Bennett and Dinklage reprise their roles from Schmidt’s musical, initially staged at the Goodspeed in Connecticut, then moved to off-Broadway with Jasmine Cephas-Jones replacing Bennett in 2019.

Schmidt has adapted it here for the film, still cut-to-the-essentials. (Fun fact: Bennett is the significant other of the director).

One of the best young actors working today, Harrison’s soulfulness hits the right notes. He projects Christian’s love as noble and true, which is even more heart-wrenching after he is spitefully sent off to war.

Scorned by Roxanne, De Guiche, the reprehensible duke played with such arrogant cruelty by Ben Mendelsohn, pushes Christian into wartime service, and Cyrano accompanies him as a cadet.

Wright has often demonstrated a flair for long tracking shots – for example, the five-minute Dunkirk scene in “Atonement” that was better than Christopher Nolan’s entire 2017 film, and on display here.

But he runs hot and cold – as reminded in the woefully misguided “The Woman in the Window” on Netflix last year. Yet, his films always have a delectable visual appeal.

Because of the stripped-down script, Wright seems to rush the ending to what had been a thoughtful rumination on longing and desire. Still, some minor characters come and go with little relevance.

Nevertheless, Wright maintains the overarching theme of pride. More haunting than hopeful, this “Cyrano” is an ambitious work of art that may be flawed script-wise, but its stunning look and strong performances keep it timeless.

“Cyrano” is a 2021 romantic drama musical directed by Joe Wright and stars Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Ben Mendelsohn. It’s rated PG-13 for some strong violence, thematic and suggestive material, and brief language, and the run time is 2 hours 4 minutes..It opened in theaters on Feb. 25. Lynn’s Grade: B+

‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is Far From a Clean Cut

‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is Far From a Clean Cut

By Alex McPherson

Crass and packed with enough blood to fill a swimming pool, director David Blue Garcia’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” leaves behind a bitter aftertaste, despite moments of hyper-violent enjoyment.

Taking place nearly 50 years after Tobe Hooper’s 1974 masterpiece — as well as retconning the seven other “TCM” films released since then — the latest entry finds a group of Gen-Z entrepreneurs venturing out into the remote area of Harlow, Texas, and having a grand ol’ time.

Dante (Jacob Latimore), Ruth (Nell Hudson), and Melody (Sarah Yarkin) want to gentrify Harlow and turn the ghost town into a hipster haven, or something like that. Melody brings along her depressed sister, Lila (Elsie Fisher), who recently survived a school shooting. 

As the naive younglings encounter various slimy locals, Dante and Melody find a woman inhabiting a former orphanage (Alice Krige), who refuses to leave. Being the cutthroat capitalists they are, they evict her, creating an unfortunate domino effect. Guess who else happens to be living there, in hiding from the authorities? Couldn’t be Leatherface (Mark Burnham), could it? The porky cannibal who’s since become something of a Texas celebrity?

Attempting to replicate the grungy, unforgettable thrills of Hooper’s effort, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” lacks the craft and inventiveness needed to carve a name for itself. Rather, Garcia’s film is woefully miscalculated, bringing in a huge swathe of cultural talking points only to toss them aside, providing only sporadically engaging genre thrills.

Topics of post-traumatic stress, liberal guilt, cancel culture, gun control, and more are treated with very little subtlety: they’re designed to provoke rather than enlighten or add any meaningful subtext, like Hooper’s vision attempted. The film’s 83-minute runtime limits how much time any particular theme can develop, so the overall impression is woefully tone-deaf and disgustingly offensive, especially in regard to gun violence. 

Indeed, it’s difficult to ignore just how profoundly mean-spirited the film is, painting its young protagonists as semi-antagonists from the get-go, reducing them to basic characterizations aggressively foregrounding their “wokeness” without any real soul. The actors try their best with the material, especially Yarkin and Fisher, but there’s only so much they can do with people making one bone-headed decision after another, playing into horror movie tropes that viewers have likely seen time and time again. 

To their credit, Garcia and screenwriter Chris Thomas Devlin try to give Lila some development — it’s just pretty damn insensitive how the film uses her trauma as a set-up for her own acts of violence against the iconic face-wearer. Without spoiling too much, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” exploits America’s gun violence epidemic to gross, confused ends.

Similarly, the film’s most promising thread — bringing back Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré), the sole survivor of the 1974 bloodbath — is largely neglected until the conclusion. Even then it resembles a pale imitation of what director David Gordon Green achieved with Laurie Strode in his far superior horror sequel, 2018’s “Halloween.”

Fortunately, being a slasher film, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” doesn’t require anyone to latch onto emotionally, so long as they die in entertaining fashion. And on those merits, it delivers the goods. Although Leatherface’s scare factor is neutered this time around due to the film’s reliance on formulaic jump scares, Garcia stages some blackly comic set-pieces that leave a satisfyingly queasy impact.

One sequence involves a busload of social media influencers being graphically slain while livestreaming the whole ordeal on their smartphones after threatening to “cancel” Leatherface. It goes on for a ridiculously long time, and fits the tone well as a sick, apathetic joke.

Additionally, Ricardo Diaz’s cinematography contains several aesthetically pleasing compositions, albeit abandoning the documentary-esque stylings of Hooper’s film that helped give it such an uncomfortable atmosphere. Colin Stetson’s score features growling rhythms that add some welcome suspense when the scenarios themselves remain generic.

If viewers go into “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” with the absolutely lowest of expectations, there’s enough flashes of sadistic slasher glee to briefly divert. For everyone else, however, there’s little here that stands out, and far better cinematic offerings to grab from the toolshed.

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is a 2022 film directed by David Blue Garcia and starring Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher and Mark Burnham. Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, and language, the runtime is 1 hour, 21 minutes. Streaming on Netflix beginning Feb. 18. Alex’s Grade: C-

STL Theater Circle to Present Special Awards to Michael Hamilton, Jack Lane and the Kranzbergs

STL Theater Circle to Present Special Awards to Michael Hamilton, Jack Lane and the Kranzbergs

Awards to Be Given at March 28, 2022 Virtual Event Streaming on HEC Media

ST. LOUIS, February 23, 2022 – Special lifetime achievement awards to Michael Hamilton and Jack Lane, co-founders of Stages St. Louis, will be given by the St. Louis Theater Circle at its March 28 virtual event, which will be streamed by HEC Media. Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, who received a special award from the Theater Circle at the 2020 virtual streaming ceremony, will make an acceptance speech for that award, as will Lane for this year’s special award, for the 2022 ceremony.

After a hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the St. Louis Theater Circle Awards are returning in 2022 in a ‘virtual’ ceremony. That event will be streamed at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 28, 2022 on HEC Media’s Facebook page, YouTube channel, and web site (www.hecmedia.org).

Nominees in more than 30 categories will vie for honors covering comedies, dramas, musicals and operas produced by local professional theater and opera companies in the combined calendar years of 2020 and 2021.

Hamilton, who served as artistic director for Stages since its founding in 1987, retired at the end of the company’s 2021 season. He directed both of Stages’ productions in 2021, “Always…Patsy Cline” and “Jersey Boys.” Hamilton has been nominated for both productions for Outstanding Director of a Musical.  Stages St. Louis has been nominated for a total of 16 awards, 11 for “Jersey Boys” and five for “Always…Patsy Cline.”

Lane, who serves as executive producer of Stages and co-founded the company with Hamilton in 1987, was instrumental in the development and eventual opening of the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, which held its first productions by local companies in 2021.

Because the pandemic brought about the cancellation of so many productions by virtually all local professional theater companies, approximately 75 productions have been considered for nominations for the combined years of 2020 and 2021. This compares to roughly 110 to 120 productions normally considered in one year alone.

The eighth annual award ceremony, which was to have been held ‘live’ at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University, was cancelled in February 2020 due to the escalating number of cases of COVID-19. Instead, that event was held virtually in a highly polished presentation produced by HEC Media and streamed on HEC’s Faceook page, YouTube channel and web site.  There was no ceremony of any type by the Theater Circle in 2021.

HEC’s 2020 production of the St. Louis Theater Circle Awards was one of the first major productions of any awards ceremony in the United States after the coronavirus pandemic shut down nearly all theatrical activities in mid-March 2020. The ceremony had one of the largest viewership figures for any virtual streaming event of HEC at that time.

For this ninth annual ceremony, members of the St. Louis Theater Circle considered nominees from shows produced in the first three months of 2020 and the last eight months of 2021 combined. In addition, a few shows produced between April 2020 and May 2021 were included. The total number of shows considered from the years 2020 and 2021 combined amounted to about 75 shows.

The mission of the St. Louis Theater Circle is simple: To honor outstanding achievement in St. Louis professional theater. Other cities around the country, such as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., pay tribute to their own local theatrical productions with similar awards programs.

Members of the St. Louis Theater Circle include Steve Allen (stagedoorstl.com); Mark Bretz (Ladue News); Bob Cohn (St. Louis Jewish Light); Tina Farmer (KDHX); Michelle Kenyon (snoopstheatrethoughts.com); Gerry Kowarsky (Two on the Aisle, HEC-TV); Chuck Lavazzi (KDHX); Rob Levy (Broadwayworld.com); Judith Newmark (judyacttwo.com); Ann Lemons Pollack (stlouiseats.typepad.com); Lynn Venhaus (PopLifeSTL.com); Bob Wilcox (Two on the Aisle, HEC-TV); and Calvin Wilson (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Eleanor Mullin, local performer and arts supporter, is group administrator.

For more information, contact stltheatercircle@sbcglobal.net or like the St. Louis Theater Circle on Facebook.

Superb Performances Dredge Up Uncomfortable Truths in Stray Dog’s Savvy ‘Good People’

Superb Performances Dredge Up Uncomfortable Truths in Stray Dog’s Savvy ‘Good People’

By Lynn Venhaus

Our turfs and our tribes. It’s what defines us.

Well, we like to think that, but maybe it’s our choices that shape us. David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Good People,” a brilliant examination of class, good fortune, and the struggles of those left behind, is getting a stimulating treatment at Stray Dog Theatre.

Talk about a conversation starter! With a superb cast led by the incomparable Lavonne Byers, the gritty “Good People” bluntly spells out the wide divide between the haves and have-nots, and not just financially, but in word, thoughts, and deeds.

Margie Walsh is a Southie, for she lives in South Boston’s Lower End, a primarily working-class Irish American neighborhood where the playwright grew up. So, he wrote with deep understanding and connection.

Byers conveys Margie’s toughness and anxiety, with an undercurrent of desperation that she tries not to show. Her weapon is sarcasm. Hardened by a hardscrabble life, she has fought, clawed, and scratched in a dog-eat-dog world. Stubborn and proud, sometimes she has made life more difficult for herself because she will not rely on anyone, but she is loyal to a fault.

After high school, she became a caretaker. It’s a lifetime ago, and that’s when her dreams died, if she had any. As the single working mother of a developmentally disabled adult daughter, she plugs away at minimum-wage jobs. After being late too many times waiting for her daughter’s sitter to show up, she is fired from working as a cashier at the dollar store.

Friends and neighbors gather at the church hall for Bingo in hopes of winning the jackpot and to socialize. Stephanie Merritt is amusing as ballsy Jean, mouthy but well-meaning; Liz Mischel is defensive as the indifferent landlady Dottie, who is also Joyce’s unreliable sitter; and Stephen Henley projects a sweetness as the decent, practical Stevie, her compassionate ex-manager.

The Southie accent is a difficult one, so the dialect work is to be commended, because it’s evident that the ensemble worked on getting it right.

Stephen Peirick and Lavonne Byers. Photo by John Lamb.

About to be evicted, Margie is hanging by a thread. She is not “lace curtain Irish.” Jean knows she needs a break and mentions that she ran into Margie’s old high school flame, Mike, now a doctor. Why doesn’t she ask him for a job, or his help in finding one?

“Mikey” is now a fertility specialist, and he lives with his elegant African American wife Kate and their daughter in Chestnut Hill, an affluent village six miles from downtown Boston. He doesn’t have any office openings. Caught off-guard by the visit 30 years after he last saw her, he prefers not to be reminded of his rough-and-tumble upbringing. She forces an invitation to his wife’s party. Maybe someone else can help with employment.

It’s cancelled, their daughter is sick, but Margie thinks he is blowing her off, and shows up anyway at the door, and Kate mistakes her for the caterer.

Stephen Peirick is Mike, now “Michael,” and Laurell Stevenson is Kate, who live comfortably, although see a couples’ therapist. Their nouveau riche lifestyle is worlds apart from his humble formative years in South Boston. Humble, he’s not.

There is more to the story, but it’s best the audience discover the developments on their own. Just know that pleasant social graces disappear when a confrontation gets ugly. Initial warmth gives way to a chilling coldness.

Under Gary F. Bell’s savvy direction, the trio nimbly escalates emotions that lead to a cruel climax. Peirick, not often playing a jerk, indicates “Michael” is increasingly uncomfortable to be confronted with his past with Margie’s presence.

With her customary confidence, Byers shows how Margie, while agitating, has more integrity in her pinkie finger than the arrogant Michael does. Although Kate is civil at first, and a liberal, she lives in a bubble. And who is ‘self-made’ here, anyway?

Bell heightens the tension while emphasizing “the sides,” and the actors maintain the on-edge feeling throughout the second act, especially in their body language.

At first unassuming but then richly textured, “Good People” is an outstanding production that accentuates that character matters. Your opinion may shift about who is ‘good people.’

Margie, with a hard “g,” clings to her dignity, hoping for a fresh new start, but realizing the dead end is likely where she will stay. She is at once hard to figure out but also completely recognizable.

Scenic designer Josh Smith’s economical set takes a back seat to the human drama unfolding, although there are certain props that are meaningful, such as googly-eyed bright pink bunnies that Dottie makes as her side hustle, and a very expensive vase in Dillon’s upscale home.

Justin Been’s sound design and Tyler Duenow’s lighting design are first-rate.

Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007 for “Rabbit Hole,” draws his characters well, especially women, for Frances McDormand won a Tony for Lead Actress as Margie in “Good People” in 2011 and Cynthia Nixon won as Becca in “Rabbit Hole.”

In the 11 years since the play was produced on Broadway, the gulf seems wider, and the play, which was excellently produced at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in January 2013, seems more pertinent than ever about struggles in hard times.

This is a cast that meets the challenge, and Stray Dog meets the moment in a tautly constructed drama of uncomfortable truths.

Lavonne Byers, Laurell Stephenson, Stephen Peirick. Photo by John Lamb

Stray Dog Theatre is presenting “Good People” Feb. 10-26 at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and an additional 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Feb. 20, in the Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. 63104. For tickets or more information, visit. www.straydogtheatre.org

Special guidelines are in place for the health and safety of guests, actors and staff: Masks are required of all guests, regardless of vaccination status. They still encourage physical distancing throughout the theater. They recommend, but do not require, that all guests be vaccinated.

Take Ten with Rory Phelan: Coming to St. Louis as ‘Early George’ Michael

Take Ten with Rory Phelan: Coming to St. Louis as ‘Early George’ Michael

Rory Phelan will be portraying “early George” in the Life & Music of George Michael which comes to River City Casino & Hotel on Tuesday, March 1. 

Right Angle Entertainment, Maple Tree Entertainment and Quatro Entertainment have announced a brand new theatrical-style concert that chronicles the amazing journey George Michael had with music and his fans will play River City Hotel and Casino at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, 2022.

The Life and Music of George Michael captures the performance and sound with concert style staging and lighting while telling his story through early music hits from Wham! and his illustrious solo career. 

Tickets and show information can be found at www.TheLifeandMusicofGM.com.

Tickets are $20.50, $30.50, $35.50, $40.50 and can be purchased at http://www.thelifeandmusicofgm.com or one hour before show time at the River City Casino box office. You must be 21 and older to attend.

“This show is going to honor George Michael’s career and be a celebration for his fans,” says producer Ralph Schmidtke. “Over the years, George’s popularity has continued to grow and The Life and Music of George Michael will give fans a glimpse of his life and hear all the songs they have come to love.”

The Life and Music of George Michael captures the performance and sound of one of the biggest international stars of our time. The show will have fans on their feet dancing and singing along to blockbuster hits including “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” “Freedom,” “Faith,” “Careless Whisper,” “Father Figure,” and many more. 

Michael sold over 115 million albums spanning four decades and rose to fame as a member of Wham! in the early 80’s. He went solo in 1987 with “Faith,” one of the biggest albums of all time. The album had four number one hits including “Faith,” “Monkey,” “Father Figure,” and “One More Try.” He won two Grammy Awards, three Brit awards, three American Music Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards.
The producers of The Life and Music of George Michael will also be donating $1 per ticket sold to Gods Love We Deliver to help serve the community and those living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses.

For more information including on sale dates, a tour schedule and tickets visit www.TheLifeandMusicofGM.com.

Photo by Timothy Norris

Here is our Take Ten with Rory Phelan

1. What is special about your latest project?
Working on this show has just been incredible. George Michael is one of my biggest idols. Getting the opportunity to bring his music to life every night is just amazing.

2. Why did you choose your profession/pursue the arts? 
I have always loved making people smile and laugh since I was a child. However it wasn’t until I was about 19 that I thought of making a career out of this. Growing up I always wanted to be an athlete.

3. How would your friends describe you? 
I think my friends would describe me as fun, enthusiastic and caring. 

4. How do you like to spend your spare time? 
I love spending my time with my friends and family, travelling and eating food.

5. What is your current obsession? 
My current obsession is the US version of “The Office.” I hadn’t seen the show before coming to America and I love it!

6. What would people be surprised to find out about you? 
That I had never done any singing or acting before I was 19.

7. Can you share one of your most defining moments in life? 
I think it has to be when I went on for the role of Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever. This was my first ever professional job and I covered and got to play my dream role of Tony. A moment I will never forget. 

8. Who do you admire most? 
I admire so many people. George was definitely someone I admired. Not only because of his music. But also because of how kind he was as a person, supporting so many communities and people. 

9. What is at the top of your bucket list? 
To continue working in the United States. I always dreamed as a child of getting the opportunity to work over here. I plan on trying to work over here much more in the future!

10. How were you affected by the current pandemic years, and anything you would like to share about what got you through the pre-vaccine part, with shutdowns, and any lesson learned during the isolation periods? 
The pandemic was a terrible time for everyone. It devastated so many industries especially the arts. Both myself and friends lost lots of work and future job opportunities due to the many shutdowns. I tried to use the time to focus on the important things in life. My friends and my family. And most importantly how to be kind to others. I think the pandemic has taught all of us how far kindness and generosity can truly go.

11. What is your favorite thing to do in your hometown? 
My favourite thing to do back home is to go for a coffee and food with my friends! And also go for a walk with my little Pomeranian, his name is Kiko.

12. What’s next for Rory? 
Who knows! The arts are starting to open up and more opportunities and fun jobs are starting to arise. I’m excited to see what the rest of 2022 has to offer. 

Photo by Timothy Norris

More on Rory

Name: Rory Phelan
Age: (optional) 29
Birthplace: London
Current location: New York
Family: Mum, Dad and my older sister
Education: D&B School of Performing Arts
Day job: Actor
First job: Saturday Night Fever
First role: Joey/ Understudy Tony Manero
Favorite jobs/roles/plays or work in your medium? Playing Eddie in Mamma Mia on the West End. Being in Heathers the Musical! (Original UK Tour)
Dream job/role/play: Tony Manero, Elder McKinley (Book of Mormon)
Favorite quote/words to live by: “If it’s not fine, it will be funny”
A song that makes you happy: Penny Lane – The Beatles

PopLifeSTL Teams Up with Arts For Life for Bon Jovi Concert Tickets Raffle

PopLifeSTL Teams Up with Arts For Life for Bon Jovi Concert Tickets Raffle

Are you ready to rock?

Want to see a Hall of Fame band in a Blaze of Glory?

Arts For Life & PopLifeSTL.com are giving away 2 pairs of mezzanine tickets for the Bon Jovi Spring Tour stopping at the Enterprise Center on April 21!

You can purchase $5.00 raffle tickets at the link below, with drawing on March 18.

Take a chance and you’re halfway there!

Proceeds benefit Arts For Life. For more information, visit www.artsforlife.org.

Visit here to purchase a $5 raffle ticket to enter the drawing for 2 sets of 2 tickets each for the Bon Jovi concert on April 21. Drawing March 18 on PopLifeSTL.com Presents podcast.https://arts-for-life-2.square.site/

Winner will be announced during the March 18 PopLifeSTL.com Presents…Podcast with Lynn Venhaus and Carl “The Intern” Middleman.

Young Lovers Burn Bright in Post-Modern ‘Romeo and Juliet’

Young Lovers Burn Bright in Post-Modern ‘Romeo and Juliet’

By Lynn Venhaus

Behold the youthful energy that lights the fire of William Shakespeare’s classic big love. Erik Peterson and Evie Bennett burn bright as the besotted star-crossed lovers at the heart of St. Louis Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

The dynamic pair immediately signal that this is not your mother’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the one they were forced to read in high school English accompanied by Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film. None of those stuffy 16th century trappings here.

This post-modern adaptation of the seminal romantic tragedy takes place in Verona, Italy, where the Capulets and the Montagues are two wealthy and powerful feuding families. This is not a hybrid version, for the entire cast is in contemporary garb, suitably outfitted by costume designers Amanda Handle and Tracy Newcomb.

This reinvigorated production, at the Robert G. Reim Theatre in the Kirkwood Community Center, is stripped down, with a barebones set designed by Cris Edwards and an essential characters’ only cast, with one actor filling another minor role and the Montagues combined into one parent.

An exuberant Peterson, boyishly handsome like the 1996 Leonardo di Caprio in Baz Luhrman’s bold movie interpretation, bounds on stage and quickly engages as the impulsive, idealistic, smart, and sensitive Romeo.

He is joined by his swaggering posse of peers, also ready to rock – and rumble. Quinn Spivey excels as lively loyal friend Mercutio while Emma McDonough is an assured, convincing cousin Benvolio.

They crash the Capulet’s ball, where Romeo is struck by a lightning bolt, seeing the beautiful Juliet, and he is soon in pursuit of the fair maiden. Bennett projects the innocence necessary, and shows some gumption, guiding her destiny and with an inner strength that will appear when she’s arguing with her mother.

Infatuated with each other, the couple’s epic serenade commences, and the actors bring the yearning, swooning and thunderstruck emotions out in their lovesick characters. Outside interference will ruin their happily-ever-after plans – and the inevitable comes soon enough, so they must shift emotions with their one heartbeat.

Director Blake Anthony Edwards’ work on the leads’ character development is admirable, and the kids’ blaze with glory, for the most part. He keeps the action moving, managing the time well.

Nic Tayborn started out strong as the noble Count Paris, Juliet’s rich admirer favored by her parents, but as the plot becomes more complicated, then politely goes through the motions.

He’s fine participating in the fight scenes, which are expertly choreographed by Dennis Saldana. The combat is authentically staged.

While a female Benvolio worked well, the gender switch with Tybalt came across as less successful, with Jade Collins playing Juliet’s loyal but hot-headed first cousin. The change in pronouns is made in the dialogue.

The escalation of the Mercutio-Tybalt conflict is such an integral part of this story that it is crucial to portray them as fiery enemies. (Think how important the rivalry between Riff and Bernardo is in “West Side Story.”)

The experienced Donna Parrone brings an earthy, feisty energy to the Nurse role, resonating as Juliet’s confidante and providing a pinch of bawdy humor. She transmits her grief well as her heart breaks over the unfolding tragedy.

As the trusted Friar Laurence who advises Romeo, Nick Freed conveys a genuine gravitas and sincerity.

However, the parents are merely perfunctory in line delivery. Granted, the parents must be the buzz kill in this story, not understanding their children and their long, seemingly senseless, rivalry causing irreparable harm.

But compared to the electric current palpable from the young lovers, they seem devoid of personality. Hillary Gokenbach has more to say as haughty Lady Capulet, given that she and Juliet differ in opinions, than a gentler Lady Montague (Rhianna Anesa). And Lord Montague has been cut out of this version, well, actually the dialogue is merged into his wife’s.

Robert Stevenson as the forceful Capulet isn’t convincing either, as a domineering husband and father who must deal with grief. Emotions should build so that their devastating loss of their only child pulls at our heartstrings.

I think Arthur Laurents was right to cut out the parents in “West Side Story,” for they do not add much – unless they would give their harsh lines some context.

Rounding out the cast are Matthew Kauzlarich as a dutiful(and put-upon) Peter, servant to the nurse, and Don McClendon, imposing as Prince Escalus, who oversees the town.

Good work is evident from sound designer Tori Meyer and sound operator Kevin Doerr. The music that punctuates the performance, especially the end song of “Sorrow” by The National, is a noteworthy addition.

John “JT” Taylor’s lighting design enhances the shifts in mood and tone.

“Romeo and Juliet” is estimated to go back to 1595 and has been interpreted in many ways since then – in music, art, dance, literature, theater, and film. There is even an animated movie with gnomes – “Gnomeo and Juliet” in 2012, and Taylor Swift refers to the archetypes in her song, “Love Story.”

To keep this story fresh and meaningful after 500 years is a challenge, but Peterson and Bennett win over the audience, with several other key high notes standing out.

St. Louis Shakespeare hasn’t been back on the boards since before the pandemic’s first wave, so applause for getting back into the swing, and for the enthusiasm about presenting this production.

“Romeo and Juliet” is being presented Feb. 10 – 20 at the Reim Auditorium at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 S. Geyer Road, in Kirkwood, Mo. Evening performances are 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. For more information, www. Stlshakespeare.org Tickets available at brownpapertickets.com or at the theatre box office, which opens 1 hour prior to showtime. Call 314-361-5664 or email boxoffice@stlshakespeare.org if you have any questions.

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Bullets Fly But Nonsensical ‘Pursuit’ Never Lifts Off

Bullets Fly But Nonsensical ‘Pursuit’ Never Lifts Off

By Lynn Venhaus
A ridiculous bargain-bin action movie that could have been written by chimps, “Pursuit” is comparable to a later going-through-the-motions episode of “Starsky and Hutch,” only devoid of any personality.

The plot goes something like this: Detective Mike Breslin (Jake Manley) crosses paths with Rick Calloway (Emile Hirsch), a ruthless hacker who’s trying to save his kidnapped wife from a drug cartel. When Calloway escapes from police custody, Breslin joins forces with a no-nonsense cop to reclaim his prisoner.

We have an assortment of assembly-line lawmen – crooked and clean, a shaggy undercover detective that could be Kato Kaelin’s twin brother, a female police captain who brings coffee to her team in the field and frets about the psychological toll being a cop takes, a lady sheriff that’s tough by day and fun at night, evil rich old white guys, pretty young wives either kidnapped or murdered, cartoonish henchmen, hulking ‘yes’ men, and a hacker “who knows many things,” one thug says to another. Lots o’ thugs of various layers of grime get whacked.

Like everyone else whose livelihood’s been interrupted by a global pandemic, actors need to work. And apparently, there is a market for low-grade movies as long as bullets fly and wads of cash are scattered in video-game-type action. Only, the actors must be real people, not avatars.

This lowbrow movie looks like a first effort from a college student who got his friends together for a class project. As one who sees a number of student films per year, this is not to besmirch those efforts, because many are sincere. This enterprise, however, is not. Everything about this film looks cheap.

With name recognition and previous hits, John Cusack, the lovable unconventional hero of “Say Anything,” “Being John Malkovich” and “High Fidelity,” headlines a cast that features two former heartthrobs from the earlier polyester era – William Katt, best known as Carrie’s prom date and “The Greatest American Hero” on TV, and Andrew Stevens, who also produced this burning heap o’ trash, a modern hyphenate.

Stevens, a “Star of Tomorrow” designee, was a familiar face in movies and TV in the 1970s and 1980s, including “Dallas” and “Hollywood Wives.” Later, he directed his mother, Stella Stevens, in four films and made four films with Shannon Tweed. He’s produced more than 180 movies.

Katt attempts to be sincere as an Arkansas State Trooper – named Taye Biggs! — who thinks something rotten is afoot and Stevens is Frank Diego, the evil local kingpin calling the shots in a drug cartel.

But Cusack’s Calloway has got people too, surrounding him, feeding him incoherent lines that don’t advance the plot, which seems to be an afterthought. Do we ever find out what he does? He’s barely in this name-above-the-title exercise.

One would hope Cusack’s not yet past his prime, for he was outstanding as Brian Wilson in “Love and Mercy” in 2014 but has sadly been reduced to D-list projects in recent years, not counting his cameo in “Hot Tub Time Machine.”

Filmed in Little Rock, with cheap shots of a big city masquerading as New York City, where our undercover detective Mike Breslin (Jake Manley, the Kato Kaelin lookalike) works, we have mostly deadly confrontations with bullets zooming in slow-motion. It’s as if a camera guy was mesmerized by pulling that off, so they rely on it as their money shot.

Most of the acting is laughable, especially what-the-what? Emile Hirsch as a tatted-up hacker with scary eyes. His wife’s been kidnapped and his son, played by his real-life child Valor, is staying with grandpa (that would be Cusack, as Jack Calloway).

In the movie’s first scene, Hirsch is staring quizzically at a computer screen and punching keys, and not much is elevated after that. What time period are we in, exactly, because the technology looks really old, especially for someone known as a ‘hacker.’ “He knows things!” (One of the horrendously bad actors playing a drug dealer says in a hushed but menacing tone. Thank you, Bonzo, for that pithy line).

We don’t find out much about Rick Calloway, or why his dad thinks he’s expendable, or what is it that he knows. He’s running around, shooting up places, being pursued, getting arrested, making a deal, and then – of course – that goes horribly awry.

The film’s saving grace is actress Elizabeth Faith Ludlow, who plays Zoe Carter, a small-town sheriff, with some gumption. She’s acted in such high-profile series as the recent “Peacemaker” as Keeya and “The Walking Dead” as Arat. Here, she appears to be the smartest person in the movie.

The connections to characters seem lost in this scattershot exercise. Maybe it’s better we are left in the dark, because not much makes sense. And you certainly don’t need to spend brain cells trying to figure out the basics.

Director Brian Skiba apparently works a lot in the B-movie genre, with such films as “Deadly Excursion,” “Left for Dead,” “Anatomy of Deception” and “Slaughter Creek” among his oeuvre. His biggest hit was the Ryan Phillippe-led “The 2nd” in 2020. He also has helmed multiple Christmas movies, like “Merry Ex Mas,” “Defending Santa” and “Beverly Hills Christmas.”

Someone is obviously paying him to stitch these movies together – and write them! Skiba co-wrote “Pursuit” with two other people. Yes, three screenwriters are listed on this by-the-numbers effort, and they are not named Cheeta, J. Fred Muggs or Lancelot Link.

Dawn Bursteen, executive producer whose past credits include “Last Shoot Out” and “Catch the Bullet,” doesn’t push the envelope. Neither does first-time feature writer Ben Fiore, previously known for such short films as “Appointment with Death” and “The Interrogation.”

“Pursuit” serves little purpose other than to provide work for people in the entertainment industry. But it’s depressing to see such likable performers as Cusack, Hirsch and Katt reduced to such ludicrous roles.

You need to halt before “Pursuit” catches fire. Of all the junky releases that are passed off in winter, this may be the worst one yet this year. And it’s not even worth watching for unintended laughs.

“Pursuit” is a 2022 action film directed by Brian Skiba and starring Emile Hirsch, John Cusack, Jake Manley, William Katt, Andrew Stevens and Elizabeth Faith Ludlow. Its runtime is 1 hour, 35 minutes. In theaters, on demand and digital on Feb. 18. Lynn’s Grade: D-.


Two Acts Tie for Teen Talent Competition Crown at The Fox

Two Acts Tie for Teen Talent Competition Crown at The Fox

Aubory Bugg homeschool student from Granite City and Trifecta homeschool students from Ferguson tied for the 1st Place $8,000 prize.

On February 11, the fourteen finalists of the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition competed live on stage at the Fabulous Fox. Students vied for $50,000 in college scholarships, cash awards and special prizes. A full list of prizes and winners along with official event information can be found on the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation’s  website. This year’s competition winners were revealed at the conclusion of the event.

$8,000 First place prize underwritten by Ameren Corporation Charitable Trust

Aubory Bugg. ProPhotoSTL.

Aubory Bugg, Vocalist & Guitarist
Homeschool
Performing “Dancing in the Streets” by Stephen Day

Trifecta, Partner Acrobatics

Dennis Bailey, Eliot Bailey, and Ethan Ryan

Homeschool

Performing to “Three for the Win” by Dr. Jeffery Carter


$6,000 Second place prize underwritten by John Russell

Noah Van Ess, Vocalist
Lindbergh High School

Performing “Let It Sing” from the musical Violet by Jeanine Tesori & Brian Crawley

$4,000 Third place prize underwritten by Sally Johnston
Tony Pittman, Contemporary Dancer
Fort Zumwalt East High School

Tony Pittman. ProPhotoSTL

Performing to “Earthquake” by Andries de Haan

The $1,000 cash Audience Choice Award went to dancer Hannah Stebe from Fort Zumwalt High School.

Hannah Stebe. ProPhotoSTL.

The panel of judges are performing arts professionals with careers spanning film, the recording industry, television and Broadway. They judged the acts on interpretation, stage presence, technical ability and originality. The professionally produced show was written and directed by Tony Parise (Broadway actor, dancer, director and choreographer). Acts were also advised by musical director Stephen Neale, and choreographer Yvonne Meyer Hare (Professional Dance Center).

The Finals were filmed by Nine PBS for a special St. Louis Teen Talent Competition program scheduled to air on Monday, April 11 at 7 pm. 

This special presentation will give a wider audience the opportunity to see St. Louis’ talented teens perform. The Competition will also be available to stream online at ninepbs.org/teentalent later this spring.

The 13th Annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition will take place on April 8, 2023. Pre-registration for the competition is now open. Additional information about this event and other programs can be found at the Foundation’s website.

Noah Van Ess. ProPhotoSTL

Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation fosters, promotes, and encourages young people in the

St. Louis region to discover and participate in the joy and wonder of live performances.

In addition to the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition, the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation also produces a variety of other performing arts programs that focus on youth including Kids’ Night at the Fabulous Fox, Broadway Master Classes, Educational Encores, Audition Workshops,
and is a producing partner of the St. Louis High School Musical Theatre Awards.

Metro Theater Company’s Joyous ‘Last Stop on Market Street’ Celebrates Community and Nanas

Metro Theater Company’s Joyous ‘Last Stop on Market Street’ Celebrates Community and Nanas

By Lynn Venhaus

A sunny, soulful song-and-dance showcase, “Last Stop on Market Street” includes a sweet slice-of-life lesson to engage audiences of all ages.

Metro Theater Company is presenting this vivacious 75-minute musical without intermission at the Grandel Theatre from Feb. 6-27 and is offering a video streaming option, too.

Written by Matt de la Pena with illustrations by Christian Robinson in 2015, the Newberry Medal-winning picture book is considered a modern classic and its theme of inclusivity and community is timeless.

It strikes a chord about finding the good in unexpected places through a child spending time with his out-of-town grandmother. He’s dropped off for the weekend and hasn’t ever spent that much time away from his parents – he’s counting the hours he must be there. Their relationship is rocky at first, and he is a reluctant guest, but eventually grows in love and understanding.

The child, CJ, is spoiled and a bit sheltered, and while bonding with his older and wiser grandmother “Nana,” he learns about the bigger, and very different, world around him. She introduces him to neighbors and new experiences.

Always plugged into his phone and tablet, he learns how fun adventures can be without reliance on screens. She, in turn, learns more about technology. In a relatable way, they appreciate age differences – and bridge the digital divide.

That intergenerational bond, if we’re lucky to experience it, lasts a lifetime – and the legacy beyond that, which this presentation shows so well.

Riding the bus. Photo by Jennifer A. Lin.

It’s always a good thing when we can be reminded of our grandmother’s love and guidance, and how they helped shape our paths. My “Mims” was a special person that I reference almost daily, what an impact this little dynamo made on my life from her 50s until age 80.

With her indomitable spirit, director Jacqueline Thompson has highlighted the colorful book’s emphasis on kindness, compassion, and gratitude.

In her director’s notes, Thompson dedicated the show to “all the Nanas of the world, — our truth tellers, safe spaces, warmth, roots to our foundation and light.” Amen to that. And thank you to Mildred Thompson.

The book was adapted for the stage by Cheryl L. West and co-produced by the Chicago Children’s Theater and the Children’s Theatre Company in 2018.

In bringing this celebration of community to the local region, Metro has enlisted five-star talent to create an outstanding production that unifies young and old, and easily gets folks into the rhythm and out of their seats.

In the neighborhood setting, brightly imagined by scenic designers extraordinaire Margery and Peter Spack, a sense of community is palpable. The Spacks are known for their original creations that evoke whimsy and wonder, and their work here could fit into a PBS set for the Children’s Television Workshop.

Get ready to be energized by the beat, with a Motown-infused score from rhythm-and-blues legend Lamont Dozier and his son Paris Ray Dozier, who have incorporated hip hop, soul, rap and gospel into the catchy music and lyrics.

Music director Phil Woodmore and choreographer Christopher Page-Sanders have captured the Doziers’ vibrancy.

The tight ensemble is like a vitamin shot, with Robert Crenshaw, Daniel McRath, Valentina Silva, Denise Thimes, Cameron Tyler, and Tyler White lifting their voices in heartfelt harmony, and making you smile because of their joie de vivre as they groove to the beats.

Denise Thimes as Nana. Photo by Jennifer A. Lin

Denise Thimes is well-suited to play the inspirational Nana, and her relationship with Daniel McRath, playing CJ, is believable – stern but warm.

Thimes is a local jazz legend and has sung on the world’s greatest stages and with world-class artists. She’s in a league of her own.

Listening to the group sing is enjoyable, but their sublime solo efforts are when we get the full experience of their remarkable vocal chops. Wow.

McRath has an exceptional voice. He’s a graduate of Opera Theatre of St. Louis’s Artist-in-Training program and was in “Aida” at The Muny.

Part of the ensemble, Robert Crenshaw’s voice is also superb, and last seen in “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope” and “Spell #7,” both at The Black Rep.

Valentina Silva, who is seen in multiple roles, including M. Butterfly, is a versatile performer and recent BFA graduate in musical theater from Webster University. Cameron Tyler, a recent musical theater graduate of Missouri Baptist University, is the sympathetic Jojo, a homeless youth, that opens CJ’s eyes to the plight of others.

Tyler White is a veteran artist who has appeared on multiple stages and easily transitions to different roles, like a bus driver and homeless woman, with authenticity.

With creativity and dedication, the artists and technicians have ensured the details pop to keep youngsters occupied.

The lighting and sound design work is notable, from Jayson M. Lawshee and Jackie “Jackpot” Sharp respectively. Costume designer Felia Davenport crafted each characters’ outfits with personality in mind.

For those who love St. Louis, this charming and delightful production is a special treat from the Metro Theater Company, now in its 49th year, reminding us now, more than ever, small acts of kindness are never wasted. And city living is endlessly educational.

The play is recommended for children ages 5 and up. A short on-stage Q&A with the cast follows the performance.

Valentina Silva, Daniel McRath, Denise Thimes. Photo by Jennifer A. Lin

“Last Stop on Market Street” is live on stage through Feb. 27 at The Grandel Theater, 3610 Grandel Square in Grand Center Arts District, across the street from Powell Hall. Tickets are available at MetroTix at (314) 534-1111 until 4 hours prior to the performance, then at The Grandel box office an hour before the performance.

Seven live performances are left: Feb. 18, 7 p.m.; Feb. 19, 4 p.m.; Feb. 20, 2 and 5 p.m.; Feb. 26, 1 and 4 p.m.; and Feb. 27, 2 p.m.

A video stream of the production is available. For more information: www.metroplays.org/marketstreet

Pandemic Protocols: Please be sure to bring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for every member of your party who is medically eligible for the vaccine. You will not be able to enter the building without proof of vaccination. Mask wearing is required at all times inside the Grandel. For more details, please take a moment to look over the COVID safety procedures on the website. Thank you for doing your part to keep our audiences of all ages safe and healthy!

Daniel McRath as C.J. Jennifer A. Lin Photo.

Photos by Jennifer A. Lin.