Opera Theatre of St. Louis has concluded a successful and altogether satisfying 48th festival season. But it would be a shame to look forward to the next season without first taking note of a cast change for five of the six performances of this year’s premiere of the performing edition of “Harvey Milk” (music by Stewart Wallace and libretto by Michael Korie).
When the original tenor in the role of Dan White had to withdraw after the premiere, Cesar Andres Parreño provided a two-of-one performance. Not only did he nail the role of White, the real-life nemesis/assassin of civil rights hero Harvey Milk, Parreño also made his principal role debut at Opera Theatre.
This was a busy season for Parreño. His principal role debut occurred on the heels of his performance of the supporting role of Remendado in the company’s production of Bizet’s Carmen his debut role for Opera Theatre. And that after being accepted into Opera Theatre’s Gerdine Young Artist Program, which is committed to discovering, nurturing and launching emerging young artists such as Parreño. Like other young artists in the program, he was offered opportunities to be featured in featured in supporting roles, cover all roles in mainstage productions and perform as featured soloists in the annual Center Stage concert.
Parreño hails Manabí, Ecuador and started his voice studies with Beatriz Parra at Colegio de Artes Maria Callas. He was named a Kovner Fellow in Darrell Babidge’s studio at The Juilliard School, where he was the first Ecuadorian ever to attend. In 2016, Parreño performed as a soloist with the University of Cuenca’s Orchestra and with Guayaquil’s Symphonic Orchestra. Since then, his performances have included his debut role as Lysander in Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” in Chautauqua, New York, his soloist debut with the Juilliard Orchestra in Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” and his Peter Jay Sharp Theater opera debut as Momo in Luigi Rossi’s “L’Orfeo.”
Parreño definitely had credible potential to step into the role of Dan White in “Harvey Milk.” Kudos to Opera Theatre for nurturing young talent of his caliber. Anything can happen in live theater – and regularly does – and it is gratifying to know that the show will go on. There’s no way to compare Parreño’s performance with his predecessor’s, but after experiencing his performance, there’s no reason to. Parreño was that good, not only with his beautiful, classic Irish tenor moments, but for his ability to humanize what could otherwise have been a one-dimensional “bad guy.” He may not physically resemble the real-life Smith (a sandy-haired WASP), but that doesn’t – and shouldn’t – matter.
Parreño’s performance can, however, be compared to those of his fellow singers: baritone Thomas Glass (making his own Opera Theatre debut) as Harvey Milk and tenor Jonathan Johnson as Scott Smith, Milk’s lover. During a performance filled with memorable and moving arias by all three men, the best was certainly the deeply affecting love duet between Glass and Smith. It set a high standard for love duets in the future.
This talented triumvirate were the epitome of the best ensembles – excellent voices, engaging characterizations and spot-on dramatic timing. In other words, Parreño, with his bright tenor, was in very good company.
With its 48th festival season now completed, all the reviews having been published and hoping COVID cancellations are a thing of the past, it’s good to know that young talent is being nurtured, fostered and encouraged through programs like Opera Theatre’s Gerdine Young Artist Program. And that, live theater being live theater, that young talent may unexpectedly get the chance to step into a principal or supporting role. As W. H. Auden once observed, “Drama began as the act of a whole community. Ideally, there would be no speculators. In practice, every member of the audience should feel like an understudy.”
In Fly North Theatrical’s hard-hitting “Assassins,” as the vainglorious actor John Wilkes Booth, a mesmerizing Jordan Wolk reminds us of those words, which were written by Arthur Miller in “Death of a Salesman” in 1949. With that, he connects these two commentaries on the American Dream.
This show, bending time and space, plunges us into a nightmare that we vividly recall but one, as the company makes clear, is no longer in the far-distant past.
Such is the unnerving grip of Stephen Sondheim’s 1990 musical, with book by John Weidman, based on a concept by Charles Gilbert Jr., as it delves into the twisted minds and violent motives of infamous criminals – four murderers and five would-be killers of U.S. presidents.
Weidman’s loose narrative features these footnotes in American history meeting, interacting, and inspiring each other in set pieces. He acknowledges the strange brew of celebrity culture colliding with deranged misfits, and Far North presents it with a raw, painful intimacy in the .Zack space.
This is Fly North’s first foray into presenting a classic landmark after offering original works in St Louis since 2017 (“The Gringo,” “Madam,” “Forgottonia.”)
The collaborative duo, music director and founder Colin Healy and director Bradley Rohlf, are at the helm, leading a creative team and cast that zealously dives into the deep end, uncompromising on the musical’s dark and disturbing nature. Its perspective is fresh, voices virtuoso and focus laser-like with minimal staging.
Lighting Designer Tony Anselmo’s work is outstanding, establishing an eerie mood through shadows and light. Costume designer Eileen Engel outfitted each character with period appropriate outfits, Healy created the sound design to add historical texture and Rohlf handled the projection design to enhance the visuals. Brian McKinley is the assistant director.
The .Zack has had some sound/microphone issues since it opened, and continues, in various degrees with an array of productions, but usually it affects musicals more than straight plays. In “Assassins,” some of the more intricate vocals are difficult to discern, but the singers project and enunciate with a lot of effort to overcome those moments, but it still happens. There is always this feeling, when you attend a show there, of “let’s hope the sound is OK.”
Thirty-two years after its off-Broadway premiere, this bold, ambitious, and revolutionary musical continues to haunt in a different way. It is one of those seminal works of the American theater, although at the time considered one of Sondheim’s least accessible. Interpretations change through the years, uniquely tapping into current political climates and realities.
The ensemble includes the mentally unstable killers of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy, and would-be murderers of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford (two!) and Ronald Reagan.
Basically, mostly losers who wanted desperately to be winners, these are the little guys tired of being oppressed by the rich and powerful, railing against injustice. Or they’re just extremists on the fringe, American psychos craving attention.
In the jaundiced group number, “There’s Another National Anthem,” Sondheim wrote “For those who never win” — The ensemble sings: “No one listens.” and “Where’s my prize?”
As the Proprietor entices the group to fame and glory, sweet-voiced Eileen Engel sells the devastating “Everybody’s Got the Right” like a QVC barker — but no doubt would administer death penalty lethal injections or place a hangman’s noose with a big smile.
The seeds are planted for disaffected and alienated souls, and their insatiable need to be someone. The song, also used in the finale, is almost sinister in context by the end of the 100-minute one-act.
“Look at me!” “Attention must be paid!” (see also @prescon2022, which prepares future leaders, because #EverybodysGotTheRight to be president).
Healy and Rohlf were forced to delay their plans for this musical several times because of the coronavirus pandemic. But perhaps it couldn’t be a timelier presentation.
With razor-sharp cynicism, the clever, whip-smart creative team has produced a fully immersed take, transforming the .Zack into Prescon 2022 – you must get there early (half-hour before) to take part in “Tinfoil Hat Origami,” “Q, no A, with Marjorie Taylor Greene,” “White Collar Crime and How to Get Away With It” and “Tips and Tricks For a Perfect Rose Garden,” sponsored by Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
The run started during the Independence Day holiday weekend, at an unsettling time when political divisions are at a fever-pitch with nasty midterm campaigns heating up a summer of primaries, hearings, and mass shootings.
Of course, the musical was ahead of its time when the original off-Broadway production premiered at the Playwrights Horizons, and while still controversial, the acclaimed 2004 Roundabout revival on Broadway won five Tony Awards and a stripped down version was mounted off-Broadway by John Doyle in late 2021.
Rohlf’s re-imagining of the original carnival framing, a fairground shooting gallery, is a bull’s eye with the convention panel and recreation of vignettes, as narrated by The Balladeer, a riveting Stephen Henley, projecting melancholy and despair in a measured tone. He is the play’s soul.
As in other productions, The Balladeer performer transitions to play a conflicted Lee Harvey Oswald, and Henley imbues JFK’s assassin with a soul-crushing sadness. He is goaded into the deed by Booth, cunning in his persuasion while Oswald wrestles with his demons.
Sensitive to the issues of gun violence, Fly North uses mostly toy guns, but gunfire is used for the Kennedy assassination.
And it is jarring, and powerful, most effective in that one use, and leads up to the evocative and moving “November 22, 1963,” and “Something Just Broke,” which features Americans’ personal accounts from that day of infamy. The impact reverberated for years, as historians tell us, and anyone alive that day can recount in universal details about hearing the news and what it meant.
Such is the indelible Dealey Plaza in Dallas. And the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C., Bayfront Park in Miami, and parades, motorcades, and wherever death changed the course of history.
“Assassins” is not just the JFK-Oswald Special, nor is it all about Booth, but Lincoln’s assassin is a major catalyst. As written by Weidman, the Confederate sympathizer is embodied more dimensionally in Wolk’s fiery orations, starting with “The Ballad of Booth.”
On the evening of April 14, 1865, Booth entered the Ford Theatre’s presidential box, where Lincoln was watching the comedy “Our American Cousin,” in the third act, and shot him in the back of the head with a .44-caliber derringer. Lincoln died the next morning. Booth escaped with another conspirator, David Herold, and they fled to a barn in Virginia, where they were finally cornered. Herold gave himself up, but Booth refused to surrender and was fatally shot by a police officer. He died on April 26, at age 26.
The show features other characters we may not know much about beyond their names. The bizarre cases of two women, who both attempted to shoot President Gerald Ford within three weeks of each other in California in 1975, are played for laughs — only they are not in on the joke.. While dark, the ineptness and the looney-tunes perception of Charles Manson follower Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme and accountant-turned-hothead Sara Jane Moore is further enhanced by the manic performances of Avery Lux and Kimmie Kidd-Booker.
Lux portrays the brainwashed cultist believing Manson is the son of God and savior of the world as a woman not tethered to any reality while Kidd-Booker depicts easily agitated Moore as a loose cannon. Weidman has used creative liberties here in teaming up the unstable women.
Fromme was first, and the Manson Family mainstay, on Sept. 5, 1975, in Sacramento’s Capitol Park, was hoping to talk to President Ford about the redwoods. Armed with a Colt semi-automatic pistol that had four rounds, she aimed at Ford but there was no bullet in the magazine chamber and was immediately apprehended by Secret Service. She was 26 and received life imprisonment, paroled in 2009 after serving 34 years.
Moore, 45, had 113 rounds of ammunition when she fired a single bullet at President Ford, who was about 40 feet away, and uninjured, while she was in a crowd across the street from the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Moore later admitted to radical political views and expressed regret. She served 32 years of a life sentence and was released on parole in 2007, at age 77.
As one of the three would-be assassins not killed, Jaymeson Hintz portrays John Hinckley Jr. as a pathetic mentally ill young man who had an unhealthy obsession with actress Jodie Foster, then a student at Yale. At age 25, in Washington D.C., he shot President Reagan . on March 30, 1981. With a .22 caliber revolver, he also wounded police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy. Press Secretary James Brady was left permanently disabled in the shooting.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent over three decades in psychiatric care. He is now released.
His duet with Fromme, “Unworthy of Your Love,” is one of Sondheim’s most heart-breaking ballads.
As the meeker but fixated marksman, Hintz holds his own on stage with the showier roles. He nails Hinckley’s schizoid personality disorder, among other diagnoses. Hintz also has some fun acting as bumbling President Ford.
This musical is not constructed to be a documentary, so the historical figures are shaped by their known backstory but in a more snapshot-type way than a History Channel recap.
Attorney Charles J. Guiteau is portrayed by Bradley Rolen as a delusional gasbag whose increasingly grandiose ramblings are dismissed as nonsense. He considered himself a “Stalwart,” the “Old Guard” faction of the Republican party, supporting Chester A. Arthur, then vice president. He purchased a gun he “thought would look good in a museum,” and followed President James A. Garfield several times, losing his nerve until destiny happened at a train station.
On the morning of July 2, 1881, as the 20th leader of our country departed for New Jersey, Guiteau shot him twice with a revolver. Garfield had only been president for three months when he died Sept. 19, from complications attributed to his doctors, and Guiteau was executed by hanging the next June. He was 40.
“The Ballad of Guiteau” and the chilling “The Gun Song” are part of his repertoire – “pull the trigger, change the world.”
After his second inauguration, the 25th president, William McKinley, another Ohioan, embarked on a six-week tour of the nation. Stopping in Buffalo, New York, to greet people at the Pan-American Exposition Hall’s Temple of Music on Sept. 6, 1901, disgruntled factory worker Leon Czolgosz concealed a handgun in a handkerchief.
The young laborer had become disillusioned by the country’s economic and social turmoil, later involved with a radical socialist group and influenced by anarchist Emma Goldman. Speaking with a Polish accent, Eli Borwick channels that anger and frustration in his powder-keg reactions.
When Czolgosz made it to the front of the line, he shot McKinley twice in the abdomen at close range. The president died a week later. Caught in the act, Czolgosz was quickly tried, convicted, and executed in an electric chair seven weeks later. He was 28.
Borwick’s bombast suits the character, particularly in his songs “The Gun Song” and “The Ballad of Czolgosz.”
As troubled Italian immigrant Guiseppe Zangara, Ryan Townsend conveys the bricklayer’s severe abdominal pain, which in his autopsy was attributed to adhesions on his gallbladder, but he had never received relief in life, even after an appendectomy.
Zangara attempted to kill president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt during a night speech in Miami, 17 days before his inauguration, on Feb. 15, 1933. He shot a .32 caliber pistol five times but missed Roosevelt, striking four others.
Without remorse, when taken to the Dade County Courthouse, he said: “I kill kings and presidents first and next all capitalists.”
He was charged with their attempted murders, but when a victim, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, died 19 days later from peritonitis, Zangara was upgraded to a first-degree murder charge and sentenced to death. He was electrocuted in the Florida State Prison’s electric chair, nicknamed “Old Sparky,” at age 32.
Townsend uses a thick accent that sometimes makes it hard to understand his rants. He’s part of “How I Saved Roosevelt” and group numbers, displaying a strong voice.
One of the more amusing portrayals is Sarah Lantsberger as Sam Byck, who really thought he would be a hero if he hijacked a plane and flew it into the White House in hopes of killing the much-despised Nixon. On Feb. 22, 1974, he put his plan into motion – trying to hijack a plane flying out of the Baltimore/Washington International Airport, but during the bungled incident, he killed a policeman and a pilot. He was then shot by another policeman and turned the gun on himself, death by suicide.
In two scenes, Byck is shown taping his diatribes, one to Leonard Bernstein (?!) – which can get very meta, connecting Sondheim’s contributions to “West Side Story”, and another to Nixon. Lantsberger commits to earnestly delivering his grievances. She also portrays Emma Goldman in scenes with Borwick..
Of note are Trey Marlette as a Secret Service agent and Layla Mason as Billy, Sara Jane Moore’s son that she brings along to the crime scene.
The vocals are exceptional, and the 11-piece band smoothly covers the complexities of Sondheim’s score that mixes tones and genres. Ryan Hinman, keyboards, Nicki Evans keyboards, Adam Lugo guitar, Teddy Luecke bass, Des Jones percussion, Lucille Mankovich reeds, Linda Branham Rice reeds, John Gerdes horn, Ron Foster trumpet, Joe Akers trumpet, and Adam Levin trombone, led by conductor Healy, are superb.
The ever-inventive Sondheim, whose brilliance encompassed writing lyrics of irony, emotional pain, humanity’s foibles and hunger for connection, has penned some of his most perturbing ones on our inalienable rights here. And now, after his passing in November, his words resonate from beyond the grave. “Made me wonder who we are” — “Something Just Broke.”
With the political chaos of the past decade and continued death threats against our political leaders and public servants, we have yet to fully comprehend the “Twilight Zone”-like reality that is life in 2022. After all, seditionists and malcontents tried to thwart democracy and nearly hung the vice president last year.
And after this show opened, a 22-year-old loner — who legally obtained five guns despite the ‘red flag laws,’ ripped a community apart from a rooftop as it was celebrating our 246th Independence Day.
This cogent “Assassins” certainly gives one pause about the current state of the union — If it doesn’t raise the hair on your arms, you are not paying attention.
After all, “Attention must be paid”!
Stephen Henley as The Balladeer, using his cellphone to pull up information on the assassins. Photo by John Gramlich.
Fly North Theatricals presents “Assassins” from July 1 through July 23, with a special July 4 show at 4 p.m. for $17.76. Other performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. July 7-9, July 14-16 and July 21-23, with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. July 3, 10, and 17 at the .Zack building, It runs 100 minutes and is presented in one act without an intermission. The show contains strong language, use of a racial slur as well as the use of prop firearms in the house in proximity to audience members. For more details, refer to the content warnings – which contains spoilers. For tickets, visit www.MetroTix.com and for more information, visit the website, www.flynorththeatricals.com
When the titular character floats in using her umbrella, carried by the East wind to 17 Cherry Tree Lane in London, it’s a welcome jolt of joy — signaling that a merry time is ahead in this stage musical version of “Mary Poppins.”
And this vibrant, candy colored Muny production of the beloved magical nanny tale is as whimsical as you remember.
Director John Tartaglia makes it sparkly and this cast of 75 brings the magic that he is striving for in his sixth show, hoping to see smiles on a summer night.
The nostalgia factor is high, recalling the sublime Oscar-winning performance of Julie Andrews in the iconic 1964 Disney movie, which is based on P.L. Travers’ series of children’s books, eight of them starting in 1934.
Disney’s crowning live-action achievement was the highest-grossing film of 1964 and garnered 13 Oscar nominations, winning five: (actress, editing, original music score, visual effects, and song for “Chim Chim Cher-ee”). During Walt’s lifetime, it was the only one of his films to earn a Best Picture nomination.
With Travers’ permission, master producer Cameron Mackintosh turned the tale into an acclaimed stage musical in London in 2004, which opened on Broadway in 2006, and continued for more than six years. It closed on March 3, 2013, after 2,619 – the 24th longest-running show in Broadway history.
The show is a mix of the movie and the books. The sentimentality is part of its appeal, and this ensemble blends both freshness and fondness for the traditional qualities to please a new generation.
Jeanna de Waal is an ideal Mary, moving with ease, popping in and out with her grace and regal bearing. She is a good sport for her spectacular flying segments, with seamless effects work by ZFX.
For a little extra insight into the mystical nanny, she projects an air of mystery, indicating there’s more than meets the eye. She also sings like a dream, smoothly cavorting in the newer song “Practically Perfect” and a reworked setting for “A Spoonful of Sugar.”
In fact, this is a cast of glorious voices.
The charismatic and charming Corbin Bleu uses his considerable song and dance skills as the lovable happy-go-lucky Bert. It’s a triumphant return to the Muny following his sensational turn as Don Lockwood in “Singin’ in the Rain” in 2018. He had dazzled critics and audiences alike, winning the St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Photo by Phillip Hamer
Bleu, who first came to prominence as Chad in the “High School Musical” movies, works well with De Waal and the ensemble — and has a few cool moves I won’t spoil.
That score by Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman is unforgettable – and in fact, some Muny patrons sang along. But the musical is not a replica of the film, for “I Love to Laugh” has been omitted, as has “Sister Suffragette,” “Stay Awake” and “Fidelity Fiduciary Bank.”
With a few exceptions, the new songs by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe do not seem to be as catchy as the Sherman brothers’ collaborations. Even at a 2 hour and 35 minute-run time, “Anything Can Happen,” delivered in two parts, seems to drag on and on. A little editing of some numbers would have made for a tighter experience.
“The Life I Lead” has been replaced by “Precision and Order,” sung by the stern banker, George Banks. In Julian Fellowes’ book, George is revealed to have had a strict childhood, and the parents are more dysfunctional, with Winifred Banks a former actress who can’t seem to fit in to the elite society, and the two children, Jane and Michael, are naughtier.
The real-life husband-and-wife duo of Nehal Joshi and Erin Davie are splendid in vocals and their character development. Their new songs include “A Man Has Dreams” and “Being Mrs. Banks.” I do wish Mrs. Banks was still a suffragette, as Glynis Johns was so robustly in the film.
The kids are brattier – as played by Laila Fantroy and Gabe Cytron, so they are not likable, especially when acting entitled and wreaking havoc in the kitchen, but their growth results in more compassionate youngsters. Whew!
A new character, Robertson Ay, is a screwball addition, and Barrett Riggins, so deliciously wicked in “Camelot,” shines as the bumbling oh-so-not-helpful houseboy.
Chipper Jade Jones has the versatile three-peat of Katie Nanna, Mrs. Corry and Miss Smythe.
Photo by Phillip Hamer
Debby Lennon, two-time St. Louis Theater Circle Award winner, is a hoot as the “Holy Terror!” – aka George’s cruel childhood nanny Miss Andrew – who arrives to get everyone back in ship-shape after the breezy frolics with Mary. She is overbearing in “Brimstone and Treacle Parts 1 and 2.”
A masterful Darlesia Cearcy brings the house down as the Birdwoman at the park, with a superbly executed rendition and reprise of “Feed the Birds.”
Other high points include the jaunty stroll through the park “Jolly Holiday,” the robust showstopper “Step in Time,” a bubbly “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” at Mrs. Corry’s sweet shop and a wondrous “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” with the ensemble placed through the audience with red kites.
First seen in 2013 when the show was led by Muny fan favorites Jenny Powers and Rob McClure, this version is as enchanting, with Tartaglia’s penchant for puppetry giving an added ‘oomph.’
He has created another Muny moment with puppeteers swarming the stage with flocks of birds, produced by puppet designer Eric Wright of Puppet Kitchen International Inc. It’s a marvelous sight.
Tartaglia, such a bouncy personality as evident through his Muny performances (The Genie in “Aladdin,” The Cat in the Hat in “Seussical,” Hysterium in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum — St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical in 2017), has brought a sunny outlook to his productions here.
The director of “Matilda” 2019, Annie” 2018, “The Wizard of Oz” 2016, “Disney’s Tarzan” in 2014 and “Shrek” 2013 is again inspired by the tasks at hand, no doubt influencing his creative choices.
Photo by Phillip Hamer
A crackerjack production team has delivered an attractive look and encouraged high spirits throughout, even with performers dealing with oppressive summer heat. Music Director Brad Haak and Choreographer Patrick O’Neill focused on peppy musical and dance numbers for fluid movement (with a high percentage of youngsters in the audience).
The sights — Paige Hathaway’s production design, Robin L. McGee’s costume design, Kelley Jordan’s wig design and Alex Basco Koch’s video designs are true to the 1910 time of Edwardian London, but with pizzazz.
It’s also nice to see such local treasures as Zoe Vonder Haar (as Mrs. Brill), Whit Reichert (as Admiral Boom/Bank Chairman), Jerry Vogel (as Park Keeper, Von Hussle, ensemble), Rich Pisarkiewicz (Policeman/ensemble), and Lynn Humphrey (Miss Lark/ensemble) back together on the Muny stage.
Does “Mary Poppins” have the same appeal to today’s youths like the movie did for my generation? Not sure if it is a home run as much for them as it is for adults. Nevertheless, the audience left humming a happy tune.
Photo by Phillip Hamer
The Muny presents the musical “Mary Poppins” July 5-13 at 8:15 pm. on the outdoor stage in Forest Park. For more information, visit www.muny.org.
By Lynn Venhaus The beguiling “Thor: Love and Thunder” is a sweet love story wrapped in a darker cosmic adventure and draped in Norse god mythology.
This flashy blend of heroics, heart and humor is sometimes too goofy to be taken seriously, but overall is an inspired take from director Taika Waititi, and that is reason enough to spring extra for the IMAX viewing.
But first and foremost, the enormously appealing Chris Hemsworth is back as the crown prince of Asgard being playful, very physical – and emotional. In the Summer of the Chris’, he might be having the best one (His comrades Chris Evans and Chris Pratt, although, are not being left in the dust).
Hemsworth has now played Thor in four stand-alone installments and in four Avengers films, and has made the role his signature. When we last saw the superhero in “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019, he was having an existential crisis, and Hemworth’s comedic skills were used well.
In this chapter, Thor, interrupted in his retirement, enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) to combat the galactic killer Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who intends to make the gods extinct. To Thor’s surprise, Jane wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor, and they must join forces to stop Gorr’s vengeance and save the multi-universe.
Picking up where “Avengers: Endgame” left off three years ago, Thor gets back in shape, going from “Dad bod to god bod” — and is shown meddling in the Guardians of the Galaxy’s quests, and hanging out in Asgard as this retired guy content to let the world pass him by. Naturally, duty calls, and so does his ex, astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster, now battling cancer and wielding the enchanted hammer.
Hemsworth and Natalie Portman have a delightful chemistry together, and their scenes of tussling and reconnecting are sincere and sentimental. They make you believe in them – and care.
And as The Mighty Thor, Portman shows off her physicality. She’s able to meet the demands of the role with ebullience and grace.
Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) as Mighty Thor
Thor, the god of thunder, was turned into comic book gold by writer Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber and artist Jack Kirby in 1962, making his debut in Marvel’s “The Silver Age of Comic Books,” and #82 “Journey into Mystery.”
Now, 60 years later, the brawny do-gooder is an indispensable part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe treatments. The Kenneth Branagh-directed one started his story in 2011, followed by “The Dark World” sequel in 2013, then Waititi took over in “Thor: Ragnarok” in 2017 and now “Love and Thunder.”
Hemsworth plays up Thor’s strong, beefy, and boastful qualities, and always seems to let the audience in on the joke.
Multi-hyphenate Waititi, who won an Oscar for best original screenplay for “JoJo Rabbit” in 2020, is known as a writer for his cheeky and brazen humor, and injects a liveliness into his second Thor film, for which he wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.
As a director, the New Zealander takes on quirky projects – see “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” for a surprisingly fun adventure – and as an actor, he’s stood out in a wide range of wacky characters. He might be best known for creating “What We Do in the Shadows,” now a wildly successful television series adaptation.
Waititi moves through a jumble of genres with ease. This installment of “Thor” actually straddles darkness and light rather deftly, but it is certainly a jolt to plunge into the creepy ink-black world of Gorr’s cruelty as he terrorizes kidnapped children.
So, while “Love and Thunder” is geared to be a family film, it has elements of horror, and can scare the young ones. They really push that PG-13 rating.
A gaunt and nearly unrecognizable Christian Bale is quite good as the sinister villain, bringing an interesting edge to the role. It’s a welcome return, for the Oscar-winning actor had planned not to do any more superhero movies after he finished playing the Caped Crusader in “The Dark Knight Rises” in 2012, relented, and he makes his mark giving Gorr more dimension as a grief-stricken father.
The quality of the performances, with both Bale, Portman and even Russell Crowe being silly as Zeus, is indicative of their willingness to take risks and not rest on their golden Academy Awards statuettes.
The cast is up to the challenges, both in harrowing danger and in the “Team Thor” camaraderie – especially with Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie presiding over Asgard as the ruler, and Waititi voicing the giant hunk of stones Korg.
The zippy action-packed visual effects extravaganza is set to a very loud pulse-pounding classic rock score. After two hours and five minutes, it intriguingly leaves us wanting more with two surprising scenes during the end credits.
“Love and Thunder” whets our appetites for the future projects – what a fun reveal some recognizable people are – but satisfies as a rip-roaring, energetic, and entertaining stand-alone with a compelling story and fine performances.
But — those screaming goats are a bit much.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” is a 2022 action, adventure, fantasy film directed by Taika Waititi and stars Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson and Russell Crowe. It is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material, and partial nudity, and runs 2 hours, 5 minutes. Opens in theaters on July 8. Lynn’s Grade: B+
City Museum’s July 4th Fest celebrates the Independence Day holiday from July 1 through July 10 with amazing activities including Circus Harmony acts, music, great fair-style food and patriotic craft-making fun.
The City Museum rooftop will come alive daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.with 10 days of Circus Harmony’s fantastical acts, music by the incomparable DJ Rico Steez and more. Grillmasters will be fixing sliders, hotdogs, and cheeseburgers. Ice cream, wine slushies, and other summer drink refreshers also will be available.
Artists will help guests make flags, paper fans and souvenir key chains throughout the days.
On July 4, City Museum will have extended hours from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., with the rooftop closing at 5:30 p.m. for the CIty Nights: Electric Sky event.
CITY NIGHTS: ELECTRIC SKY
On the night of July 4, City Museum will host its annual rooftop fireworks watch party — City Nights: Electric Sky, from 7 -11 p.m. The Rooftop offers a stunning 360-degree view of fireworks all across the St. Louis skyline. The 21+ event is $50 per person and only 350 tickets are available.
Tickets for City Nights: Electric Sky include admission to the indoor floors of the museum all day long and one complimentary beer from 4 Hands Brewery during the City Nights: Electric Sky event. Specialty cocktails, beer, barbecue and festival fare are available for purchase. Tickets also include exclusive access to the Rooftop attractions, including the Ferris wheel, slides, climbers and the school bus lounge—perfect for chilling out on the edge. City Nights: Electric Sky guests are encouraged to BYOCC (bring your own camp chair) for seating,
For more information and advance tickets, visit www.citymuseum.org. City Museum is located at 750 N 16th St., St. Louis, MO 63103. On social media: @citymuseum.
OK Boomer, this is not your generation’s “Camelot.” And this modern fresh spin on the fabled Arthurian legend is exhilarating.
For fans of the 1960 original – which has been revised multiple times through the years – rest assured that the lush romantic score, with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, is elegantly executed and unforgettable.
Music Director Abdul Hamid Royal, who did outstanding work last year on “Smokey Joe’s Café,” makes sure the new orchestrations by Steve Orich are luxurious.
You’ll recognize the principal characters and knights’ tale of chivalry from the previous eight productions staged at the Muny, the last one in 2009. While respecting the legacy, this revamp is inspired, finding shining moments in unexpected ways.
Lilting voices, innovative movements, enchanting performances, adventurous looks, and British folklore told with conviction are lasting impressions. Therefore, embracing the changes is a risk worth taking.
The bold, muscular re-imagining by director Matt Kunkel, and leaner book adaptation by David Lee frame King Arthur’s visionary quest as a performance tale.
The rise and fall of Arthur’s kingdom are told by a troupe of revelers, not unlike the traveling minstrels in a 16th century William Shakespeare comedy.
It is their stylized retelling, not presented as a Merlin flashback. Lee has cut Arthur’s magician mentor Merlin, only referenced in his dialogue, the song “Follow Me,” and King Pellinore is gone too.
The unnecessary sorceress Morgan Le Fey and her clunky number “The Persuasion” has been removed before, notably from the 1967 film adaptation and the 1980 Broadway revival, so that’s no surprise.
Lee, an Emmy-winning writer of ‘Cheers,” “Frasier” and “Wings,” has strengthened the relationships between King Arthur, Guenevere, and Lancelot. And injected wit where it needed it.
The prose’s power is conveyed in expertly crafted scenes of torment, loyalty, devotion, longing, and love between the principals. Kunkel keeps the pace lively, and the staging dynamic, especially between the trio, creating intimacy and distance by varying different configurations on the tiered set.
Of course, it must be daunting to fill shoes once worn by Richard Burton, who won a Tony as King Arthur, superstar Julie Andrews, who owned the ‘60s as the queen of musicals, and dashing Robert Goulet, whose career skyrocketed after his stunning debut. But lyrically, the Broadway veterans who are now this principal trio are well-suited for the challenge.
As engaging as he was as John Adams in “1776” in 2019 and Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in “Young Frankenstein” in 2016, Robert Petkoff strikes the right tone – from uncertain to courageous – for Arthur’s growth. He’s impressively powerful in ending Act I. His voice is strong and clear, and you feel his passion for his Knights of the Round Table mission.
In the first years of their marriage, Petkoff depicts a playful, mutual respectful relationship with his queen, Guenevere, and Sheeren Pimentel, showcasing an exquisite soprano, plays the grand lady as an outspoken equal. They’re lively together in “What Do the Simple Folk Do?” and their initial meeting is charming.
How can you not be swept away by Arthur’s description of his paradisal home, “Camelot”?
His vision is to uphold honor and justice, but not pillage for power. And he convinces others to join his noble cause, with “Might for Right” a rallying cry.
After Guenevere and Lancelot are helpless to ignore their growing feelings for each other, Pimentel soars in “Before I Gaze at You Again” and “I Loved You Once in Silence.”
You might not feel the lightning bolt attraction between Pimentel and Brandon S. Chu, but their vocal virtuosity helps propel the story. Chu doesn’t have the typical stature of a swaggering, very self-confident Lancelot, but the delivery of the signature song, “If Ever I Would Leave You” – is a definite “Wow.” His crystal tenor is piercing.
Chu, rocking the blue leather, is fierce in battle, and his physicality is a plus in the frenzied action sequences. Pimentel demonstrates her mettle, too, as Guenevere fights off the first wave of captors.
Fight choreographer Erik Gratton has effectively staged smooth action scenes without any fussiness. He was assisted by fight captain Jacob Guzman, and the precise movements are robust.
The cinematic leather-and-lace look is another important aspect, and Tristan Raines’ costume design has elements of Game of Thrones, Mad Max, boy band outfits, and dancewear combined for a vivid tableau. He has dispensed with tights and armor — and given serious thought to more summer-friendly garb.
That aids character movement considerably, for the revelers and courtiers can re-enact battles and seamlessly ramp up the palace and political intrigue.
The vitality bursts through, for the energy of this diverse and inclusive cast is noteworthy. And let’s not forget that fun is a part of the show, too.
One of the merriest high points is “The Lusty Month of May” ensemble number, bursting with bright colors and a magical transformation, showcasing the creative minds of Raines, costuming his sixth show at The Muny, and choreographer Beth Crandall, who has teamed with director Kunkel on last year’s “The Sound of Music” and “Matilda” in 2019. Their collaboration is a fruitful one.
But alas, the empire is not built for endurance. Something wicked this way comes in the second act, when Arthur’s conniving illegitimate son, Mordred, arrives, played with diabolical glee by Barrett Riggins. He’s a recognizable toad with mischievous intent to incite, leading the cast in a spirited “The Seven Deadly Virtues.” He divides the court through innuendo and misinformation, a cancer on Arthur’s reign.
The splintered knights grow angrier in the emphatic “Fie on Goodness,” a rebuke of Arthur’s principled ideals. With the Round Table broken and relationships in tatters, a forlorn Arthur ultimately forgives. He is given hope through the eyes of a child, believed to be Sir Tom of Warwick, captivatingly played by a charming Riley Carter Adams, and her wide-eyed enthusiasm is contagious.
Do not expect any kind of accent to be discernable here, in case you are waiting for it.
The ancient mythology setting is visually reworked with a striking scenic design by Ann Beyersdorfer – an earthier palette instead of regal trappings.
The neo-medieval realism is further enhanced through atmospheric video work by Kaylee Loera, best used to show the joust action between Lancelot and Sirs Dinadin (Evan Ruggiero) and Lionel (Daryl Tofa), and Ser Sagramore (Sarah Quinn Taylor).
The lighting design by Shelby Loera, who returns after making history last summer as the first female to be in charge of lighting a show at the Muny, is stunning. The sound is perfect as well, with John Shivers and David Patridge excelling in this show.
The opting for grit over opulence is jarring to traditionalists, who want their “Camelot” to be the sentimental journey they remember. Change is challenging, to be fair. I’ve often thought the old book was too lumbering and dense. All those soliloquys! So I was fine with the slicker adaptation.
Boomers are intrinsically linked to the JFK mythology, as he was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, and in an interview in December in “Life” Magazine, his widow, Jackie, said the original cast recording of “Camelot” was a favorite of her husband’s, and he liked to listen to it before bedtime.
The show was then on a national tour, and a grief-stricken nation clung to the imagery of an especially hopeful time tragically cut short. His presidency has been referred to as “The Camelot Era,” and the lyric “One brief shining moment” used to define that fleeting period.
Expectations always run high, as musicals are very personal to people. What is someone’s favorite, such as “Cats,” can be annoying to another, and so on — we could go down a very long list.
I have fond memories of seeing Richard Harris play King Arthur on the Muny stage and with Robert Goulet, who filled that role on a national tour at the Fox. But those are long ago in the rearview mirror.
The planned revival, set for Broadway later this year, is to feature a book by Aaron Sorkin and direction by Bartlett Sher, so it will be interesting what the wunderkinds reimagine. Previews are expected in November, with opening Dec. 8. (Sorkin and Sher teamed up for the “To Kill a Mockingbird” reboot in 2019, which was one of the best productions I’ve ever seen, so I’m ready to see how they view this classic).
Fantasy gives more leeway to storytellers, after all. “Camelot” itself is based on the 1958 book, “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White, but this production also references Thomas Mallory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur” from the 15th century and Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King” in the 19th century.
In Tennyson’s 12 narrative poems, published between 1859 and 1885, he retells the legend, the Knights of the Round Table, Guenevere and her betrayal.
The based-on folklore setting is typically around the 12th century, during the Middle Ages. Arthur’s realm is said to have taken place in the fifth century, after he defeated the Saxons.
The facts surrounding the Arthurian Legend – long revered for its golden age of peace and prosperity — have been disputed for years. But the inaccurate historical context hasn’t halted the mythology furthered by literary conventions. (Who remembers Disney’s 1963 animated film “The Sword in the Stone” during childhood?).
In this post “Hamilton” world, artists will keep pushing the envelope, and what audiences push back on will be varied. I thought on a gorgeous summer evening (Thursday, June 23), Forest Park could not be a more congenial spot to continue the Muny’s happily-ever-aftering here.
As the Muny moves forward in this second century, it is ever mindful of an obligation to art, entertainment, artists, and audience. That’s a tough balancing act sometimes, but I’m confident in the way they are leading into the future with dedicated purpose. And that music was sure persuasive under the stars.
The Muny presents “Camelot’ each evening from June 22 to June 28 at 8:15 p.m. on its stage in Forest Park. For more information, visit www.muny.org. For tickets, contact the Muny box office or visit Metrotix.
Kirkwood Theatre Guild’s “Shrek the Musical” won 10 Best Performance Awards from Arts For Life on June 12, earning honors as Best Large Ensemble musical, director, music director, choreography, actor, actress, featured actor, supporting actor, comedic actor, and lighting design. They had received 12 nominations.
The Gateway Center for Performing Arts, which is a professional training center based in Webster Groves, won 10 awards in the youth production categories – five for “Annie” and five for “Cabaret. They had earned 25 nominations, the most of any group.
Others receiving recognition included the Goshen Theatre Project, based in Collinsville, Ill., which won four for “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” and Take Two Productions won three for “Fun Home,” including Best Small Ensemble Musical. Spotlight Productions and Hawthorne Players won one each.
The annual awards returned to a live ceremony after a virtual one in 2020 and a cancellation in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. About 365 people attended the scaled-down presentation at the Frontenac Hilton’s Clayton Ballroom.
Arts For Life, founded in 1999, has been recognizing excellence in community theater with an awards program for 20 years
The annual youth scholarship award winners were announced. Jacob Moore of Dardenne Prairie and Theo Kronemer of Richmond Heights will receive $500 each to pursue a career in the arts. Moore, a graduate of St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon, Mo., plans to attend Missouri State University and major in musical theater. Kronemer, a graduate of Clayton High School, plans to attend Carnegie-Mellon University and major in theater production and design.
BPA winners were announced in 30 categories from nominations from the shortened 2020 and 2021 theater seasons.
Charlie Wehde was honored with the Best Youth Musical Performance Award for his portrayal of Jack in “Into the Woods” at DaySpring Academy.
In their acceptance speeches, winners emphasized that productions are put on by teams, and often recognized their theater “family” and “community.” Most made it a point to say how grateful they were to return to working on shows after being dark for so many months during the public health crisis that has dominated the past three years.
Cherol Thibault, president of Kirkwood Theatre Guild, and Adam Grun, the director
Adam Grun, who directed “Shrek the Musical” at Kirkwood Theatre Guild, spoke of the long journey with multiple delays and setbacks. Originally set to be performed in May 2020, it was cast and forced to shut down. He was brought in three weeks before rehearsals began for the reboot. The show went on in September 2021, opening KTG’s 89th season.
“We had three weeks to get everything going. It was the fastest I had ever analyzed a script. Not everyone from the original cast came back. We had all but one lead come back. So that was a big help. Most of the people had multiple roles, so they had to change like eight times during the show. It was a great cast. And I was lucky that Tom Murray (original director) had cast such a great group of people,” he said.
Stephen Peirick, who accepted the Best Small Ensemble Musical Award, said: “’Fun Home’ winning the BPA for Small Ensemble Production was truly the icing on the cake to a fantastic experience, that could not have happened without the dedication, talents, time, and energy of the Take Two Productions Board, our talented cast, our amazing music director and band, as well as our outstanding behind the scenes crew. Time spent with this group was reward enough, yet we’re appreciative of the opportunity to have our show recognized and, in return, be able to recognize all those who made this experience possible.’
Paul Pagano, executive director of Gateway Center for Performing Arts, said: “We are so grateful to everyone who was a part of the BPAs yesterday and for the opportunity to showcase and celebrate so much talent in the St. Louis community. There were so many incredible theatre companies and artists represented, and we are proud to be counted as storytellers among them!”
Mary McCreight, president of the AFL Board of Directors, commented about participating groups’ dedication.
“The Arts For Life Best Performance Awards shined on June 12 with love of musical theater among the community. Young and old performed and celebrated with each other after a three-year break,” she said. “It was magical and assured a future for Arts For Life.”
Musical numbers from eight nominated musicals “Annie,” “Cabaret,” “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” “Fun Home,” “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” “Nunsense,” “Shrek,” and “Young Frankenstein” were performed.
Veteran performers and BPA winners Gerry and Kay Love were the co-hosts, and Kimmie Kidd-Booker, another BPA winner and AFL board member, joined the Loves for the opening number “Show People” from “Curtains.”
Arts For Life is a local not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to the healing power of the arts through its work with youth, the underserved, and the community, with its goal of “Making a Dramatic Difference.”
AFL is dedicated to promoting public awareness of local community theatre, encouraging excellence in the arts, and acknowledging the incredible people who are a part of it in the St. Louis metropolitan and metro-east Illinois region.
Nominations were announced Jan. 22 at the annual Trivia Night, which was a virtual event. They are listed on the website at www.artsforlife.org.
Prior to the pandemic, 15 theater groups and 10 youth-only groups participated in the BPAs As the region’s mitigations efforts were ongoing the past two years, only four youth-only groups and nine community theater organizations produced BPA-eligible musicals 2021.
Groups participating in this year’s BPAs include Christ Memorial Productions, Dayspring Arts and Education, Gateway Center for Performing Arts, Goshen Theatre Project, Hawthorne Players, Kirkwood Theatre Guild, KTK Productions, Looking Glass Playhouse, Monroe Actors Stage Company, O’Fallon Theatre Works, OverDue Theatre, and Spotlight Productions.
For more information, visit the website at www.artsforlife.org
Here is the list of winners:
Best Large Ensemble Musical – “Shrek the Musical,” Kirkwood Theatre Guild
Best Small Ensemble Musical – “Fun Home,” Take Two Productions
Best Youth Production – “Cabaret,” Gateway Center for Performing Arts
Best Director – Adam Grun, “Shrek the Musical,” KTG
Best Youth Director – Paul Pagano, “Cabaret,” Gateway Center for Performing Arts
Paul Pagano, Gateway Center for the Performing Arts
Best Music Director – Sean Bippen, “Shrek the Musical,” KTG
Best Youth Music Director – Lori Barrett-Pagano, “Cabaret,” GCPA
Best Choreography – Kim Klick, “Shrek the Musical,” KTG
Best Youth Choreography – Stephanie Fox, “Cabaret,” GCPA
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Christopher Strawhun, Shrek in “Shrek the Musical,” KTG
Best Actress in a Leading Role – Dawn Schmid, Fiona in “Shrek the Musical,” KTG
Best Youth Actor in a Leading Role – Andrew Maroney, Emcee in “Cabaret,” GCPA
Best Youth Actress in a Leading Role – Sarah Moll, Grace, “Annie,” GCPA
Best Actor in a Featured Role – John Emery, Lord Farquaad in “Shrek the Musical,” KTG
Best Actress in a Featured Role – Zoe Maya Miller, Medium Alison in “Fun Home,” Take Two
Best Actor in a Comedic Role – Chris Moore, Donkey in “Shrek the Musical,” KTG
Best Actress in a Comedic Role – Sophie Kluba, Betty Jane in “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” Hawthorne Players
Chris Moore, Donkey in “Shrek the Musical”
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Jack Nichols, Pinocchio in “Shrek the Musical,” KTG
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Natalie Cochran, Cogsworth in “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Goshen Theatre Project
Best Youth Actor in a Supporting Role – Dan Wolfe, Rooster in “Annie,” GCPA
Best Youth Actress in a Supporting Role – Evelyn Vordtriede, Lily St. Regis, “Annie,” GCPA
Best Actor/Actress in a Cameo or Non-Singing Role: Jayson Heil, Narrator, “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” GTP
Best Juvenile Performance – Kya Wonders, Carpet, “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” GTP
Best Set Design – Stephen Peirick, Josh Smith, “Fun Home,” Take Two Productions
Terry Pattison, Best Costume Design, Goshen Theatre Project
Best Youth Set Design – Laura Skroska, “Annie,” GCPA
Best Lighting Design – Stephanie Draper, “Shrek the Musical,” KTG
Best Youth Lighting Design – Ryan Luedloff, “Matilda,” Spotlight Productions
Best Costume Design – Terry Pattison, “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” GTP
Best Youth Costume Design – Tracey A. Newcomb, “Annie,” GCPA
22nd Annual Whitaker St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase
Dates: Screenings held July 15-17 and 22-24, 2022
Tickets: Individual tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs
Locations: All film screenings take place at Washington University’s Brown Hall, Forsyth & Skinker boulevards; the legal-issues master class is held at the offices of Capes Sokol law firm, 8182 Maryland Ave., 15th Floor; the closing-night party is held at Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room, 6404 Delmar Blvd.
Passes: 5-film passes are available for $60, $50 for CSL members; all-access passes are available for $135, $105 for CSL members
The Whitaker St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, an annual presentation of the nonprofit Cinema St. Louis (CSL), serves as the area’s primary venue for films made by local artists. The Showcase screens works that were shot in the St. Louis region or were written, directed, or produced by St. Louis-area residents or by filmmakers with strong local ties who are now working elsewhere.
The Showcase’s 14 film programs range from narrative and documentary features to multi-film compilations of fiction, experimental, and documentary shorts. Feature programs include Q&As with filmmakers. In addition to the film programs, this year’s event includes four free master classes focused on key aspects of filmmaking.
All film programs screen exclusively at Washington University’s Brown Hall. Three of the master classes are presented as livestreams at specific times/dates during the Showcase, with the legal-issues master class offered both in person at the offices of Capes Sokol and as a livestream.
The July 24 closing-night awards presentation will take place in the Duck Room at Blueberry Hill from 7-11 PM, with awards announcements at 9 PM. Announced during the event will be nearly two dozen Showcase jury awards — including a $500 prize to the overall Best Showcase Film. Cinema St. Louis staff will also announce the films that will move on to the 31st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival in November.
Catherine Neville
The 63 films and four master classes in this year’s Showcase include the following:
All Gone Wrong: Josh Guffey’s electrifying crime drama, which stars Tony Todd (“Candyman”), premiered at the 2021 St. Louis International Film Festival.
Animated and ExperimentalShorts: Nearly a dozen animated and experimental works are presented in a colorful shorts program.
Doc Shorts: An illuminating and thoughtful documentary-short program features a wide range of stories and subjects.
Master Classes: A series of four free master classes — featuring filmmakers and industry professionals — focus on key aspects of filmmaking: Missouri Stories Lab, Editing, Development and Legal Issues.
Narrative Shorts: Five eclectic narrative-short programs include comedies, dramas, supernatural films, and thrillers.
A New Home: Showcase alum Joe Puleo (“America’s Last Little Italy”) returns with this examination of the ’90s Bosnian war, genocide, and subsequent mass diaspora settling in St. Louis.
Night Life: Seth Ferranti spent several years filming and editing this riveting documentary about the outreach of the Rev. Ken McKoy, whose Night Life ministry patrols the city’s North Side on a mission to address issues of mental health, gun violence, and drug abuse.
Poetry in Motion: St. Louis Poets Take the Mic: Dana Christian directed this insightful documentary on the local poetry scene.
Un-resolved: Multi-hyphenate Bruce J. Cunningham directed, wrote, edited, produced, and co-starred in this epic tale of revenge and violence.
Winemaking in Missouri: Catherine Neville (“tasteMakers” on Nine Network) co-directed this juicy and informative overview of the history of wine production in the Show-Me State.
“Un-resolved”
The Whitaker Foundation again serves as the Showcase’s title sponsor. The foundation’s twofold mission is to encourage the preservation and use of parks and to enrich lives through the arts. The Chellappa-Vedavalli Foundation is underwriting both the Showcase’s master classes and the $500 prize for the Best Showcase Film.
The event’s other sponsors include Capes Sokol, EditMentor and EditStock,Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Film Office, NOW Talent Management, Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis Public Radio, TalentPlus, and Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.
Playwright Ken Ludwig uses the written word like music in a symphony as his love letter to his parents, and actors Ryan Lawson-Maeske and Molly Burris make the heart-tugging “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” sing.
Now playing from June 9 to June 26 at the New Jewish Theatre, this dramatic comedy is an unexpected pleasure from its look back at an era of “The Greatest Generation” to its intimate love story that reinforces the power of human connection, no matter how many miles between.
With the help of the expressive performers who make the written words leap off the stationery, director Sharon Hunter has moved the pair around just enough in the confined space to keep focus on the two lonely souls forging a deep, long-lasting bond through war-time correspondence.
The challenge for Lawson-Maeske and Burris is to engage without making reading letters static, and they showcase their substantial skills for creating sincere portraits of two different personalities reaching out.
Lawson-Maeske, a two-time St. Louis Theater Circle awards nominee, for “Tribes” in 2018 and “Photograph 51” in 2020, is endearing as reserved U.S. Army Captain Jack Ludwig, stationed at a military hospital in Oregon, who writes a formal letter to Louise Rabiner, an aspiring dancer and actress in New York City, because his father suggested it. The dads know each other.
Ryan Lawson-Maeske. Photo by Jon Gitchoff
From her first response, it’s clear that Louise is a live wire, with a flair for the dramatic, and is without a filter in her missives. Webster Conservatory graduate Molly Burris seamlessly projects the Brooklyn-born chorus girl’s curiosity, grit, and sunny nature.
The outgoing Louise coaxes the more introverted doctor to share more about himself, and gradually he opens up. Thus begins a long-distance friendship that eventually turns into love over the course of several years, — 1942-1945, to be exact.
As the war escalates, so do Jack’s duties and thus, his presence in increasingly dangerous situations, as he is sent to the European front before they’ve had a chance to meet. His optimism has dissipated as he treats injured soldiers, and while Louise’s spunkiness keeps his spirits up through her caring, cheerful words, this is a love story set against the front lines of war.
As young people in their 20s, the two find common ground as pen pals, sharing their innermost thoughts and feelings. One of the warmest, most humorous exchanges is Louise’s adventures meeting Jack’s parents, his sister Betty, and his mother’s many sisters in his hometown of Coatesville, Pa.
Louise’s accounts of her audition successes and disappointments are vivid, and Jack’s frustration at not being granted a leave so they can finally meet to fulfill their plans for dinner and a show – and dancing – is palpable. Those plans keep being delayed, even by virtue of the story that we know has a happy ending, building suspense and tension as time passes (or runs out).
Before personal ads, email, texts and dating apps, people often met through acquaintances. Letters were the most common way to communicate across the miles – and have been explored eloquently in many pop culture hallmarks, like Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary, the James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan romantic comedy “The Shop Around the Corner” (remade into “You’ve Got Mail” with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in 1998) and the true-story based “84 Charing Cross Road” starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft in 1987.
Quaint by today’s standards, “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” is a sentimental journey that evokes warm memories of family members who developed similar relationships. My parents first met at a local teen hangout, then wrote letters when my dad was on a naval ship in the Pacific Ocean during the Korean War and married upon his return.
Jack and Louise are relatable, therefore we maintain interest – but that’s largely in part because sparks fly between Lawson-Maeske and Burris as they are in their rooms, no small feat. You can feel the anticipation of receiving a letter, the exhilaration after the mail arrives, and how worried Louise is when she doesn’t hear from Jack while he’s treating the wounded at other locations.
Dunsi Dai’s scenic design creates a character-driven tableau through their living quarters – conveying that he’s fastidious and she’s flamboyant. He effectively contrasts Jack’s austere military barracks with Louise’s colorful, cramped boarding house room. Vintage posters of plays and movies further enhance the old-timey ‘40s feel. To move our eyes upward, Dai has hung some of their outfits.
Molly Burris. Photo by Jon Gitchoff
The technical elements are topnotch, with Amanda Were’ sound design setting the mood with retro Big Band music and creating harrowing war action through battlefield action. Daniel LaRose’s lighting design is warm and welcoming, and Michele Friedman Siler’s period costume design successfully captures the character’s personal style.
The play’s lyrical qualities are no coincidence. Ludwig, who studied music at Harvard with Leonard Bernstein, has written the smash-hit farce “Lend Me a Tenor,” nine-time Tony Award winner in 1989 and its revival in 2010, as well as the book for the Gershwin musical “Crazy for You” in 1992 and the hilarious comedy “Moon Over Buffalo” in 1995. All are set in showbiz in another decade, so he is comfortable in the World War II setting. Ludwig is a two-time Olivier Award winner, by the way.
By drawing from hundreds of letters between his mother and father, Ludwig has found the poetry in basic connection, which is timeless and also couldn’t be timelier. The well-constructed play premiered in December 2019 – you know, the Before Times – right before the world turned upside-down. If ever a contemporary work of art tapped into ordinary people having simple yet profound daily experiences to remind us of what connects us all, it is this show.
“Dear Jack, Dear Louise” delivers a joyous show, with just two people reading letters to create an honest, heartfelt moment. Expect that tears will come – get that tissue ready.
New Jewish Theatre presents Ken Ludwig’s “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” from June 9 through June 26, with performances on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m., at the Wool Studio Theatre at the JCCA’s Performing Arts Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive. For more information, call the box office at 314-442-3283 or visit newjewishtheatre.org
In this Twilight Zone reality we seem to live in now in the 21st century, the subversive “Urinetown” the musical has never seemed timelier. Or funnier. Or scarier.
What once was merely laugh-out-loud outrageous 20 years ago has morphed into a gasp-filled hit-nail-on-head satire where sleazebag politicians are even slimier, greedy corporate bastards are more cruel, ecological disaster seems more imminent and cries of revolution are not far-fetched but absolutely necessary.
This wicked musical comedy composed by Fairview Heights, Ill., native Mark Hollmann, with co-lyricist and book writer Greg Kotis, appears to grow more relevant as the gap continues to widen between the haves and have nots.
Resurrecting one of its past triumphs, from 2007, for the cross-your-fingers 30th season, New Line Theatre’s savvy choice allows a confident, polished ensemble to have fun romping through the ripe-for-parody American legal system, ridiculous bureaucracy, corrupt municipal politics, and foolish mismanagement of natural resources.
The time is 2027 and the focus is urination. Yes, that indispensable body function. But, because we’re in a near dystopian future, there is no such thing as a free pee – and we can’t squander flushes and there is a limited water supply.
If you gotta go, it will cost you. A severe 20-year drought has resulted in the government banning private toilets. Citizens must use public amenities that are regulated by a single evil company that profits from charging a fee to conduct one of humanity’s basic needs.
So, what happens if you disobey? You are punished by a trip to Urinetown, never to return. Egads!
A rabble-rouser emerges – Bobby Strong, and he launches a People’s Revolution for the right to pee. Let’s hear it for urinary freedom! As he does with every role, energetic Kevin Corpuz is passionate in his hero’s journey.
This cast has the vocal chops to entertain in lively fashion, and with nimble comic timing, hits the sweet spot between exaggerated naivete and cheeky irreverence. Jennelle Gilreath, effectively using a Betty Boop-Shirley Temple voice, is the child-like street urchin Little Sally.
Bobby leads the poor rebels – performed by local live wires Grace Langford as pregnant Little Becky Two Shoes, Ian McCreary as Tiny Tom, Chris Moore ss Billy Boy Bill, Christopher Strawhun as Robbie the Stockfish and Jessica Winningham as Soupy Sue.
They are part of a first-rate ensemble in such crisply staged musical numbers as “It’s a Privilege to Pee,” “Snuff That Girl,” “Run Freedom Run,” and “We’re Not Sorry.”
Not only do Hollmann and Kotis take on capitalism, social injustice and climate crisis, but also cleverly twist the great American musical art form itself, with resemblance to Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s “The Threepenny Opera” and the populist champ “Les Miserables.”
With silly characters modeled after old-timely melodramas, Kent Coffel is Officer Lockstock, Marshall Jennings is Officer Barrel, and Sarah Gene Dowling is tough urinal warden Penelope Pennywise, all having fun with their goofy over-the-top roles.
Kent Coffel, Marshall Jennings as Officers Lockstock and Barrel. Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg
Bobby’s downtrodden parents, Joseph and Josephine Strong, are played by solid veterans Mara Bollini and Zachary Allen Farmer, also doubling as rebels, while fellow New Line regulars Todd Schaefer is the dastardly profiteer Caldwell P. Cladwell and Melissa Felps his darling daughter, Hope, who falls in love with Bobby. Both Schaefer and Felps play it straight, although they are winking to the audience the whole time as the heads of Urine Good Company, aka UGC.
Corpuz and Felps soar in “Follow Your Heart” while Bobby’s “Look to the Sky” and Hope’s finale “I See a River” showcase their skills.
Playing a caricature of an oily grifter and elected official Senator Fipp is Colin Dowd, doing his best Matt Gaetz impersonation, and Clayton Humburg is weaselly as Cladwell’s assistant Mr. McQueen. The “Rich” folk have fun with “Don’t Be the Bunny,”
Co-directors Scott Miller and Chris Kernan’s fresh take goes darker, which suits the capricious winds of an ever-evolving global pandemic that we have lived through for 27 months. Not to mention clinging to a democracy with fascist and authoritarian threats very much present. And hello, global warming.
Kernan’s choreography is a highlight, and music director Tim Clark keeps the tempo brisk. He conducts a tight band of Kelly Austermann on reeds, Tom Hanson on trombone, Clancy Newell on percussion and John Gerdes on bass while he plays keyboard.
The upside-down world we’re in is enhanced by Todd Schaefer’s grimy set, Sarah Porter’s astute costume design, Ryan Day’s sound design Kimi Short’s props, and Kenneth Zinkl’s lighting design.
After an off-Broadway run, “Urinetown” opened on Broadway in 2001 and was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning for best book, best music score and best direction. The fact that it’s stature has grown over the years is a reflection of our current time – and while that is rather frightening, this show continues to say something worth saying through its devilish use of heightened reality.
It’s holding up a mirror, even though it’s presented in a funhouse way, and that is indeed admirable.
In that spirit, leave your paranoia behind and get ready to laugh at the zingers launched with glee. New Line Theatre’s “Urinetown” is worth a sojourn as time keeps on slipping into the future.
New Line Theatre presents “Urinetown” June 2-25, with performances Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Marcelle Theatre. For tickets or more information, visit ww.newlinetheatre.com
