By Lynn Venhaus This trashy excuse for a crime-thriller wants us to believe it is set in St. Louis, but there is a total absence of any markers that could identify our fair city. One character does arrange a meeting in Forest Park, but they mention a “K-Town”?
OK, the cars did have Missouri license plates, so kudos for that. Otherwise, it’s a generic framing of a seedy “inner-city” area that has seen better days. There isn’t even a ubiquitous shot of the Gateway Arch just to pretend where we are. Instead, we get depictions of mean streets and government housing.
The tourism bureau won’t be getting a boost from visitors because this unrelenting grim and cliché-driven film is unappealing and not worth 91 minutes of your time. It was filmed in Norfolk, Va., and the dim and harsh lighting does the atmosphere no favors – even if it is going for true grit to emphasize our city’s chaotic crime numbers.
Social worker Parker Jode (Shea Wigham), assigned to the care of Ashley (Taegan Burns), the daughter of single mother Dahlia (Olivia Munn), intervenes when the dad, Mike (Zach Avery) returns from prison. Because dad is involved in drug dealing and a robbery, he is putting his family in danger.
As for the St. Louis location, Italian-born director Michele Civetta is quoted as saying: “Setting the film in a locale like St. Louis was a metaphor for the crossroads of America today. A gilded age town that has fallen on harder times, outgrown its original destiny as the Gateway city to the west, now a playground for drug trafficking and interstate contraband resulting in gang violence. The city conjures the ethos of a lawless environment presided over by a dysfunctional corrupt government administration that has really forgotten the everyday person.”
OK, then. Let the outrage ensue.
Three men are credited with this macho tough-guy screenplay: Alex Felix Bendaña and Andrew Levitas, and the director, Michele Civetta.
The director aspires to be a throwback to those hard-boiled B-movies from the 1970s, like John Cassavetes’ “Killing of a Chinese Bookie” and John Huston’s “Fat City” – the lead character is even a failed boxer! — but he does not achieve any sort of emotional truth with such stereotypical characters.
Civetta’s experience includes many commercials and music videos and was nominated for an Emmy for his NBC commercial “Halloween Today” in 2016. His last film was “Agony” released in 2020, and this film wrapped up right before the pandemic lockdown happened.
Civetta is trying to make a statement about how children are affected by the bad behavior of their parents, and that their actions have consequences, which of course is noble because there are so many young victims, and the human toll is enormous. While it’s obvious here, a better vehicle might have elevated the cause.
The protagonist is a social worker whose job is checking on the welfare of kids in less-than-ideal home lives. Shea Wigham, a character actor who is familiar to audiences after being in a long list of movies and TV shows for the past 20 years, rises to the occasion as a world-weary flawed guy who is driven by his checkered past, including growing up in foster homes. You’ve seen him as a detective in “Joker” and this summer in “F9.”
Parker is an anti-hero who champions his own sense of justice while spending lonely nights drinking too much at a dive bar. This guy has a lot of issues but the script only scratches at the surface.
He cares too much about keeping the kids safe that he meets on the job, and is drawn into a dangerous web when he’s checking on Ashley, the daughter of night casino worker Dahlia. Her husband, Mike, is in prison, and comes back in their lives when he’s paroled. He is as mean as a junkyard dog, signaling trouble ahead.
He rejoins his group of drug-dealing thugs, led by Frank Grillo as “Duke,” in yet another swaggering tough-guy role and wearing a ludicrous pimp hat. Antagonizing a Mexican drug cartel, they botch a robbery – and the heat is on, from both the cops and the nefarious cartel goons.
As villain Mike, Zach Avery has nowhere to go, for his character is one-note and has zero redeeming qualities.
Olivia Munn doesn’t embarrass herself in the concerned mom role trapped in an abusive relationship, and a bright spot is young actress Taegan Burns as daughter Ashley.
Dear old dad puts a stash in his daughter’s backpack – in effect making her a drug mule, which starts a chain of mayhem. Parker takes the women to his estranged father’s house to hide.
Two-time Oscar nominee Bruce Dern plays the elder Jode, Marcus, a Vietnam veteran and former jazz musician, as a grizzled survivor. He knows he messed up but isn’t all that apologetic about putting his son in the foster care system as a youth. It’s a showy part, with the requisite whisky-fueled late-night talk between father and son before the criminals come calling.
As the plot becomes more contrived, full of bad ideas, one hopes for some character redemption, but there is no deliverance from evil. These are all hardened people – and perhaps we could have understood motivations, but it wasn’t going to happen with this being so heavy-handed. The final scene, meant to be somber yet hopeful, is almost laughable.
A Charles Dickens quote condemning bad parenting begins the film and statistics about foster children ends it.
Dark and depressing, this movie has little to recommend it. Not even a shot of the Arch gleaming in sunlight could have saved it.
Shea Wigham and Taryn Manning
“The Gateway” is a 2021 crime thriller directed by Michele Civetta and starring Shea Wigham, Olivia Munn, Zach Avery, Bruce Dern, Frank Grillo, Taryn Manning, Mark Boone Junior and Taegan Burns. Rated: R for strong violence, pervasive language, drug use, some sexual content and nudity and its run time is 1 hour and 31 minutes. In theaters, digital and Video on Demand on Sept. 3; on DVD/Blu-Ray Sept. 7. Lynn’s Grade: D
New Line Theatre is proud to present a Very Special Event to open the company’s 30th Anniversary Season, with just two New Line actors, Chris Kernan and Jeffrey M. Wright, along with artistic director Scott Miller on keyboard, in one of the most intimate evenings of musical theatre in the company’s 30 year history, telling a story all about stories, and the effect we have on other lives, usually without realizing it.
Neil Bartram and Brian Hill’s THE STORY OF MY LIFE follows the friendship of Alvin and Thomas, two lifelong friends from a small town who are reunited after Alvin’s mysterious death. Thomas struggles to write Alvin’s eulogy, so Alvin shows up to help the two of them take an amazing journey back through the story of their friendship, as Alvin searches through the manuscripts and stories in Thomas’ mind. And though Thomas is trying to write about his best friend, he ends up finding his own story in the process and coming to terms with the past.
The show opened on Broadway in 2009, after productions in Toronto and the Goodspeed Opera House, and it was nominated for four 2009 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical. Since its Broadway run, the show has had regional productions throughout the U.S., and in South Korea, Belgium, Austria, and Denmark.
New Line’s THE STORY OF MY LIFE will be directed by Scott Miller, with scenic design by Rob Lippert and lighting design by Kenneth Zinkl.
All patrons will be required to wear masks in the lobby and theatre. The stage area will be safely distanced from the audience. In addition, the Kranzberg Arts Foundation now requires all patrons 12 years or older to show proof of their full COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test upon entry for all ticketed events at all KAF indoor performance venues, including the Marcelle Theater.
THE STORY OF MY LIFE runs Sept. 30-Oct. 23, 2021, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, all at 8:00 p.m., at the Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive, three blocks east of Grand, in the Grand Center Arts District. Sept. 30 is a preview.
Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students/seniors on Thursdays; and $30 for adults and $25 for students/seniors on Fridays and Saturdays. To charge tickets by phone, call MetroTix at 314-534-1111 or visit the Fox Theatre box office or the MetroTix website.
DISCOUNTS: HIGH SCHOOL DISCOUNT: Any high school student with a valid school ID can get a $10 ticket for any performance, with the code word, posted only on New Line’s Facebook page. COLLEGE FREE SEATS: Ten free seats for every performance, open to any college student with a valid student ID. EDUCATORS DISCOUNT: New Line offers all currently employed educators half price tickets on any Thursday night, with work ID or other proof of employment. MILITARY DISCOUNT: New Line offers all active duty military personnel half price tickets on any Thursday night, with ID or other proof of active duty status. All offers not valid in connection with other discounts or offers, available only at the door, and subject to availability.
HEAD OVER HEELS Marcelle Theater Mar. 3-26, 2022 Click Here for Tickets! Head Over Heels may be the weirdest mashup Broadway has ever seen, a crazy, joyful celebration of the full variety of human experience, a bold, sexy new comedy from the stage visionaries that rocked Broadway with American Idiot, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Avenue Q, and Spring Awakening. This wild, subversive love story follows a royal family on a journey to save their kingdom from extinction, only to discover the key to their survival lies in their own willingness to change with the times. New Line opened this show in 2020 to rave reviews, but it was shut down halfway through the run due to the pandemic. So we’ll be back to finish what we started.
URINETOWN Marcelle Theater,3310 Samuel Shepherd Drive, St. Louis, 63103 June 2-25, 2022 Click Here for Tickets! Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis’ Urinetown is an outrageous musical fable of greed, corruption, love, revolution, and urination, set in a time when water is worth its weight in gold and there’s no such thing as a free pee. In this near-future dystopian Gotham, a severe 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. Citizens are forced to use public “amenities” now, regulated by a single malevolent corporation that profits from one of humanity’s most basic needs. But from the ruins of Democracy and courtesy flushes, an unlikely hero floats to the top, who decides he’s held it long enough, and he launches a People’s Revolution to lead them all to urinary freedom! New Line produced the show in 2007 to rave reviews.
The Muny announced Friday afternoon the cancellation of the three remaining performances of Chicago, the theatre’s fifth and final production of its 103rd season, due to positive COVID-19 breakthrough cases within the cast. There will be no performances Friday through Sunday, Sept. 3, 4 and 5, 2021.
“While deeply unfortunate, the decision to cancel the remainder of this season is unquestionably necessary. The safety of our Muny family, both onstage and off, has been a top priority since day one,” said Muny President and CEO Denny Reagan. “Out of 35 nights of Muny magic scheduled for 2021, we were able to spend 31 of them together. We cannot thank St. Louis enough for helping us usher live theatre back into Forest Park. This season has been nothing short of a homecoming for many.”
“The heartbreak of this moment is real,” said Muny Artistic Director and Executive Producer Mike Isaacson. “This was a remarkable production of Chicago, and I am so grateful for its three nights of glory. I feel the same about our entire 103rd season. It was extraordinary, and I honor everyone for their artistry, humanity and commitment.”
“We’ve remained in constant communication with health professionals and officials throughout this pandemic, and are remarkably grateful for their guidance in getting us to this point,” said Muny Managing Director Kwofe Coleman. “While this is a disappointing end to our 103rd season, we remain proud and grateful that this community, including our crews and staff, worked together to make it possible for an unforgettable return to live theatre in Forest Park. We’ll see you next summer.”
Season ticket holders for the 2021 season will be contacted with detailed information regarding remaining balance options. Single ticket holders who purchased their tickets through MetroTix will receive an email and automatic refund from MetroTix. The Muny Box Office in Forest Park will be closed Sept. 3 – 6. Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 7, Muny Box Office hours will be Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Single ticket holders who bought their tickets in person at the Muny Box Office in Forest Park m ay call or return to the box office to receive a refund. Refunds for the canceled performances are available Sept. 7 through Sept. 30, 2021.
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Director Andreas Koefoed’s new film, “The Lost Leonardo,” thrills, chills, and raises salient points about the essence of art itself.
This documentary chronicles the tumultuous happenings surrounding an infamous portrait of Jesus titled the “Salvator Mundi,” which some people believe was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. An idiosyncratic art buyer named Alexander Parish purchases the painting at a sketchy New Orleans auction in 2005 and shows it to a prominent historian and restorer named Dianne Modestini.
She ends up restoring a large portion of the piece, but determines — based on a barely perceptible stylistic choice — that it’s a work by Da Vinci or, at the very least, a student of his. Thus begins a globe-trotting mess of a story, where disagreements about authenticity abound, reputations are tarnished, and influential figures use the Salvator Mundi to further their dogged pursuit of money and power.
As the tale unfolds, “The Lost Leonardo” crawls under your skin, becoming ever-troubling as we get an inside glimpse into the shadier corners of the art world. Presented in a clear, carefully researched fashion that’s cut together like a bleak investigative thriller, Koefoed successfully renders initially dry subject matter into something altogether fascinating. He lets the material’s head-spinning happenings fuel the pacing, yet allows key players to retain their human complexities.
Featuring interviews with historians, critics, dealers, curators, reporters, and CIA agents, “The Lost Leonardo” does a praiseworthy job at presenting varying perspectives in easily digestible fashion. As outsiders, we can never be fully sure of some of the interviewees’ intentions — do they honestly believe that they’ve stumbled upon a hidden masterpiece, or are they just continuing a narrative to satisfy themselves and their bank accounts? Doubt and suspicion permeate the film, leading to several provocative moments when their words are juxtaposed against each other. Koefoed, however, doesn’t fully take one side or the other amid the chaos.
The cast of characters aren’t all the most transfixing of personalities, but there’s still enough to ensure plenty of surprises through to the disquieting conclusion. Memorable presences include Modestini, passionate about preserving art and displaying it for the public to see, and critic Jerry Saltz, who cuts through the increasingly convoluted plot to provide bursts of incisive, irreverent commentary that underline the ridiculousness of the situation.
When you strip away the faux decorum and pretenses of professionalism, after all, the whole shebang reveals itself to be centered around ego and perceptions of superiority. As the painting is repeatedly bought and sold by various parties, what constitutes the actual “truth” of its origins gets distorted. Power-hungry forces get their hands on the Salvator Mundi and bestow it worth that draws international attention.
“The Lost Leonardo” weaves a cautionary tale of how true appreciation of art can become morphed by greed, casting aside its inherent craftsmanship in favor of purely monetary value. What begins rather modestly evolves into an ambitious, wholly relevant story that paints a picture of the lengths some will go to maintain falsehoods for personal gain. Indeed, “The Lost Leonardo” urges viewers to look more critically at artwork of all kinds and to recognize the potentially corrupt machinations behind closed doors — supporting those who maintain their integrity and bravery in the face of tangible risks.
Although the mystery loses some steam in its middle section involving discussion of the “free port” system and a legal battle with a Russian oligarch, “The Lost Leonardo” builds a haunting crescendo by the end credits. Koefoed’s film eschews simplicity in showcasing a real-life adventure that features patterns of behavior prevalent throughout human history. It remains one of the most enlightening films of 2021 so far, and a doc that both art connoisseurs and novices alike should give a look.
“The Lost Leonardo” is a 2021 documentary that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June. Directed by Andreas Koefoed, the movie runs 1 hour and 36 minutes. It is rated PG-13 for nude art images. Alex’s Grade: A-
The best produced show of the Muny’s 103rd season, “Chicago” capped off the welcome return to tradition in Forest Park this summer with a sultry and sleek music-and-dance showcase.
Everything about the production was on point – from the crisp staging by director Denis Jones and his snappy choreography to the jazzy brass beats from the swinging orchestra conducted by music director Charlie Alterman.
And this production blazes with star power. You will remember the names of the lead trio: Sarah Bowden (Roxie Hart), J. Harrison Ghee (Velma Kelly) and James T. Lane (Billy Flynn).
With snazzy music by John Kander and barbed lyrics by Fred Ebb, patterned after old-timey vaudeville numbers, and a saucy original book by Ebb and Bob Fosse, the story is a sardonic take on fame and the justice system set during the freewheeling Jazz Age.
It is based on a 1926 play by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals she covered for a newspaper in Chicago. This current script adaptation is by David Thompson, who worked with Kander and Ebb on the musicals “The Scottsboro Boys” and “Steel Pier.”
Jones’ clever concept was to set the show as an entertaining spectacle at a speakeasy, with café tables around a perimeter so it’s watched by not only the Muny audience but also by performers on stage. He did a similar staging, but not an exact replica, for the 2012 Muny version. That point of view works brilliantly.
Scenic designer Tim Mackabee gave it a striking look while the lighting design by Rob Denton added to the stylized atmosphere and the stellar video design by Shawn Duan complemented the experience perfectly.
Drenched in cynicism, “Chicago” satirizes corruption and is a show-bizzy spin on tawdry headline-grabbing trial that marked the Prohibition Era — but are also timely today. Merry murderers Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly attempt to seize the spotlight and become celebrities.
Perhaps when the musical debuted in 1975, it was ahead of its time, for contemporary audiences didn’t find it relatable. The week after the Broadway show closed after 936 performances in the summer of 1977, it transferred to the Muny. Starring Jerry Orbach and Ann Reinking, it was not well-received (I was there).
The mostly unsympathetic characters take part in a three-ring circus that’s part illusion and part rhapsody in sleaze. Its relevance has only grown over the years, especially in the digital age of social media.
A rebirth after a robust 1996 Tony Award-winning revival received universal acclaim and broke records as the longest-running musical revival and the longest running American musical in history, second only to “The Phantom of the Opera” on the all-inclusive list (it surpassed “Cats” on Nov. 23, 2014, with its 7,486th performance).
Because the 24-hour news cycle has helped fuel an obsessive celebrity culture and the emergence of reality television has made stars out of unsavory housewives, wealthy influencers like the Kardashians and self-absorbed narcissists, now society has caught up with “Chicago’s” place in pop culture history.
It took me awhile to warm up to the musical, but after watching a few high-profile celebrity trials, you see the parallels. And those songs from the team that gave us the insightful “Cabaret” get better every time you hear them.
Sarah Bowden as Roxie Hart. Photo by Phillip Hamer.
A movie adaptation in 2002 garnered an Academy Award for Best Picture, earning six total, including Best Supporting Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma, which also helped its acceptance. It was the first musical since “Oliver!” in 1968 to win the top award.
Cut to Artistic Director and Executive Producer Mike Isaacson’s first season at The Muny in 2012, and “Chicago” was second in the line-up following Fox Theatricals’ Tony winner “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” He said it had been the most requested show on the annual survey for several years.
It’s back, for just the third time, 10 years later, with Jones, now a two-time Tony Award nominee for choreography on “Tootsie” in 2019 and “Holiday Inn” in 2017, raising the bar once again.
He has put his stamp on of two of the Muny’s best shows during the past decade, “42nd Street” in 2016 (Jones, St. Louis Theater Circle Award) and “A Chorus Line” in 2017, and now with another fresh outlook on “Chicago.”
Jones is familiar with the Broadway revival, for he was a swing performer and later dance captain, during four separate runs for him (performing in total for about four and a half years). He worked with Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, Joel Grey and James Naughton, who began their roles in 1996. So, he had specific ideas on what to keep and what to change.
His associate choreographer, Barry Busby, deserves a shout-out too, for the dance numbers are seamless. They put the roar back in The Roaring Twenties, and the vibrancy shows in Bowden-led “Roxie” and “Me and My Baby,” and Billy’s flashy “Razzle Dazzle.”
“Chicago” will always be Fosse’s magnus opus, for his signature moves, those distinctive deliberate dance steps – and jazz hands! But this isn’t a copycat at all. (Fosse may have lost the Tonys for choreographer and director pf “Chicago” to “A Chorus Line” in 1976, but he holds the all-time record, with eight, for choreography).
The athletic dancers excel at the high-octane numbers. Six performers carry out “Cell Block Tango” with the attitudes you expect – Liz (Madison Johnson), Annie (Taeler Cyrus), June (Veronica Fiaoni), Hunyak (Lizz Picini), Velma (Ghee), and Mona (Carleigh Bettiol), more commonly known as “Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-Uh, Cicero, and Lipschitz.”
Bowden plays Hart with verve, oozing phony wholesomeness in the public eye and a ruthless craving for attention when not. She was here once, in “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway,” and is an energetic firecracker on stage.
The magnetic Ghee sashays and struts as tough-as-nails Kelly, resentful of Hart being the shiny new sensation. He got our attention as Lola in “Kinky Boots” in 2019 and is a dynamic force every time he appears. Wearing satiny outfits and displaying a silky voice, he sets the tone with a seductive “All That Jazz” and an indignant “I Know a Girl,” and shows off his dexterity in “I Can’t Do It Alone.”
J Harrison Ghee, Sarah Bowden. Photo by Phillip Hamer.
Bowden is fire to Ghee’s ice, a combustible fun mix for the “My Own Best Friend” that closes Act 1 and the “Nowadays”/ “Hot Honey Rag” finale with those omnipresent canes and hats Fosse was so fond of using.
James T. Lane embodies the slick ambulance chaser lawyer Billy Flynn with a demanding and greedy nature – and delivers a dandy disingenuous “All I Care About” – accompanied by a marvelous fan dance that received its own ovation. Lane was last seen as Sebastian in 2017’s “Little Mermaid” here.
One of this show’s standout numbers is the “We Both Reached for the Gun” press conference rag with Billy pulling Roxie’s strings like a ventriloquist and the ensemble doing fast footwork.
It’s good to see veteran performers Emily Skinner and Adam Heller, who were both in The Rep’s magnificent “Follies” in 2016, and St. Louis Theater Circle nominees for previous Muny work, back on the outdoor stage. As Matron “Mama” Morton, Skinner belts out a terrific “When You’re Good to Mama” and teams with Ghee on one of my favorites, “Class.”
Heller, last seen as Ben Franklin in “1776,” plays Roxy’s cuckolded husband Amos Hart as a more naïve sad sack, not realizing how he is being manipulated. He strikes the right tone for an affecting ‘Mr. Cellophane.”
With her sweet soprano, Ali Ewoldt poses as the powerful radio personality Mary Sunshine and sings the ironic “Little Bit of Good.”
Regular Michael James Reed capably portrays five different roles in the ensemble: stage manager, Sgt. Fogarty, doctor, Aaron and the Judge.
The technical elements were also superior, with costume designer Emily Rebholz’s striking work with vintage fashions and for limber dance outfits, accompanied by strong wig design by Tommy Kurzman.
The shortened season is coming to an end, and what the Muny achieved this summer is remarkable, putting five shows together in eight weeks. This is also the time for a fond farewell to Denny Reagan, who is retiring after spending 53 years at the Muny, the last 30 as President and CEO.
A trip to the Muny isn’t complete until you greet Denny, or see him greeting patrons, at his ‘spot.’ We look forward to working with his top-shelf successor, Kwofe Coleman, starting in January.
Cell Block Tango. Photo by Phillip Hamer.
This collaborative production was a grand, great, swell time where all the elements came together in blissful harmony.
Attendance for the opening night performance was 6,435. The show runs an estimated 2 hours and 30 minutes.
“Chicago” is the final show of the shortened 103rd five-show season, through Sunday, Sept. 5. Performances are at 8:15 p.m. each evening on the outdoor stage in Forest Park. Emerson was the 103rd season sponsor.
For more information, visit muny.org.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the box office, online at muny.org or by phone by calling (314) 361-1900 ext. 1550.
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After not being on a stage since November 2019, Chauncy Thomas has made quite a comeback this summer – starring in two productions at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival in Bloomington, Ill., and as the Gentleman Caller Jim in “The Glass Menagerie” and the one-act “You Lied to Me About Centralia,” which was part of this year’s Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, all outdoors.
As he leaves to return to home in New York City, he will have left St. Louis better than when he arrived, to paraphrase his favorite quote.
Chauncy, a native of Peoria, Ill., landed in St. Louis when he attended Washington University in St. Louis, earning B.A. degrees in both drama and psychology.
He built a versatile and respected career in regional professional theatre before taking off for New York City nearly eight years ago, earning two St. Louis Theater Circle Award nominations for “Intimate Apparel” at New Jewish Theatre in 2017 and “Topdog/Underdog” at St. Louis Actors’ Studio in 2013.
Chauncy Thomas as Lymon and Carli Officer as Maretha in “The Piano Lesson” at The Black Rep in 2013
His resume includes “Clybourne Park” at the St. Louis Repertory Theatre, “The Piano Lesson” at the Black Repertory Theatre, the La Bute New Play Festival at the St. Louis Actors’ Studio and multiple productions at the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.
Since 2014, he has returned here for productions, including “Dot” at the Black Rep and “The Winter’s Tale” at St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.
“St. Louis is still a place I call home. I still feel incredibly connected to the people there, and especially the theatre community,” he said.
During the pandemic in 2020, he decided to leave New York City for Iowa to stay with his brother and his family in mid-March.
“My twelve-year-old nephew let me use his bedroom, so it was two months of sleeping under Spider-man sheets. In mid-May I trekked to Peoria to stay with my mother. My silver lining of the pandemic is getting to spend so much time with her,” he said.
“I lost all but one of my side jobs, so math tutoring was paying the bills. I got little theatre gigs here and there: zoom readings, workshops, etc. But I truly missed being on stage,” he said. “Most of my actor friends in New York either had to move or were significantly concerned with their finances, so I was still counting my blessings.”
He has worked on many Shakespeare productions and enjoys the challenge.
“I’ve been doing a decent amount of Shakespeare for a decade but last year, I think I figured out how I should approach the work. For the first eight years, I was trying to meet some standard of what I thought Shakespeare was. I’ve since learned I need to bring as much of myself and my racial identity to the work as I can. It’s what makes me unique. I love performing Shakespeare because it’s brilliant, but it also presents the challenge of making a 400-year-old stories relevant to a modern audience,” he said.
With Jacqueline Thompson in “Intimate Apparel” at New Jewish Theatre in 2017.
He has traveled to other theaters in the county, including the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater in Massachusetts.
From his base in New York City, his credits include “Romeo and Juliet” at Lincoln Center Education, “Hamlet” at RIPT Theater Company, “A Raisin in the Sun” at Bay Street Theater, “Our Town” and the television show “Madam Secretary,” in which he played a secret service agent.
Last year, he wrote a one-act for the theatre season for the Performing Arts Department at Washington University, which was part of the live events cancelled due to the pandemic, but was performed as part of “Homecoming Voices,” four plays by alumni, in March.
His play “The Nicest White People that America Has Ever Produced,” featured a Black writer and a white director discussing race, power and artistic integrity in the film industry — a theoretical discourse that prompted real questions about friendship and ethics.
Doing Shakespeare and Williams in the same summer “has been a challenge,” but he is grateful to be working.
“It’s been crazy, but before that, it was nothing, a famine, so I’m trying to enjoy this feast,” he said. “I thought how in the world am I going to get all of this done, but after I had my mornings free, I worked on the line memorization and text analysis,” he said.
As for playing Jim in two different productions, he described it as “fascinating.”
Williams’ memory play of his family and their life in St. Louis features Jim as Tom’s friend from work who is invited to dinner at the Wingfield home to meet Tom’s sister Laura.
The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, “The Moon and Beyond,” ran from Aug. 19 to 29, with its signature play, the one-act and multiple presentations by scholars and a tribute with the cast.
Playwright John Guare wrote a one-act, “You Lied to Me About Centralia,” which imagined what happened after dinner when Jim rushes off to pick up his fiancé at the Wabash train station. The 20-minute play premiered off-Broadway in 2015, and is based on Williams’ short story, “Portrait of a Girl in Glass.”
For the St. Louis Theater Crawl in 2017, the Tennessee Williams Festival performed the one-act with Julia Crump, who returns this year as Jim’s shallow and judgmental girlfriend Betty, and Pete Winfrey, who now lives in New York City, as Jim.
For the radio play version last November, when the TWF pivoted with “Something Spoken,” a series of Williams’ one-acts on radio, Thomas worked opposite Crump for the first time. They were directed by Rayme Cornell, who also directed this year’s live production, presented as a matinee on Aug. 21 and 22.
Thomas described the play as “sweet” and his character thusly.
“I felt there were several directions it could have gone, and I love where Rayme guided us. I know this isn’t technically Tennessee Williams, but it’s certainly Williams adjacent. Many of my favorite plays are American classics, and I’m rarely able to get cast in those kinds of shows, so this was a real treat. Jim is a man with big dreams, and I love to play characters with strong wants and needs; they make the most compelling characters,” he said.
With Elizabeth Teeter in “The Glass Menagerie” this summer. Photo by ProPhotoSTL.
Crump said acting with Thomas is “a master class,” because he makes “bold choices, good choices.” She described him as a “generous and talented actor.”
Elizabeth Teeter. who played Laura in “The Glass Menagerie,” said she agreed with Crump completely. She participated in an interview along with Thomas, Crump and director Brian Hohlfeld regarding TWF St. Louis on the PopLifeSTL.com Presents…podcast on Aug. 14.
“I do look at these as two separate characters,” Thomas said. “Obviously, John Guare took some liberties, and so many things are open to interpretation.”
Chauncy said the perspective of the one-act was fascinating. “I’m either bending the truth, or avoiding the truth,” he said.
As for being part of this ensemble, he described the cast as “absolutely amazing.”
“The other three actors started rehearsal on August 2, while I started on August 9, and we were in tech on the 12th, so I had to figure out what was going on at a faster rate than ever before. On my first day of rehearsal, we didn’t even do a reading of the whole play. We started with Act 2, and after listening to the other actors for the six pages before my entrance, I immediately understood what story we were telling, the tone, the pace, and where I fit into the narrative. These three actors are so vibrant, in-the-moment, and honest, that they do much of the work for me. I don’t have to ‘act’ with them; I can simply exist,” he said.
Besides Teeter as Laura, Brenda Currin plays Amanda and Bradley James Tejeda plays Tom.
Working where Tennessee Williams lived as a boy has been a special experience as well.
“In terms of performing, rehearsing, and living — not the same unit, but the same building — in the apartment where Williams lived, it’s incredibly surreal,” he said.
“To quote Jim, ‘I’m usually pretty good at expressing things, but–this is something I don’t know how to say!’ When Carrie Houk (TWF Artistic Director) called me to offer me the role and explain the production, I was in such disbelief that I didn’t tell anyone about the production for weeks. It seemed unfathomable,” he said.
“All I can say is this production feels magical. I took my first acting class as a sophomore at Washington University, and, that year, Henry Schvey, chair of the theatre department, was directing ‘The Glass Menagerie.’ I was a member of the backstage crew, which was my first experience with a mainstage production, and in many ways my introduction to theatre. And now, 17 years later, I’m performing in the play, at Williams’ home, and the opening night gift my director Brian Hohlfeld gave me is Henry Schvey’s new book about Tennessee Williams. How is this my life?” he said.
Chauncy Thomas, right, in ISF’s “The Winter’s Tale” this summer. Photo by Pete Guither.
For his second year at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, he played Camillo and four small roles in “The Winter’s Tale” and Angelo in “Measure for Measure.”
Afterwards, the festival inducted him into the 2021 Actor Honor Roll.
“Chauncy Thomas is a wonderful addition to our Illinois Shakespeare Festival Actor Honor Roll, He creates rich, nuanced characters that are accessible yet complex. Chauncy is a skilled professional who also is the consummate company member: supportive, positive, and kind. It is a pleasure to welcome him to the honor roll,” said ISF Artistic Director John C. Stark.
In 2017, to celebrate the ISF 40th anniversary, they unveiled “40 Years/40 Actors,” a media display, to recognize “the passion, skill, and talent of select festival performers from the past four decades,” and continues with the annual Actor Honor Roll.
“I’m truly touched and honored by this recognition. This theatre means so much to me! I’ve met some of the loveliest people I could ever hope to meet, it’s the closest professional theatre to my childhood home (it’s an amazing blessing to have my mother in the audience five times in one season,” Thomas said.
“It’s been instrumental in my development as a classical actor, and it’s also been the setting or overlapped with some of the biggest emotional highs and lows of my life. When at its best, a theatre is a family, and I’m thrilled to be the newest member,” he said.
‘Take Ten’ Questions and Answers:
1. Why did you choose your profession/pursue the arts?
“Originally, I was so fascinated about how theatre was an exploration of myself. I’m now intrigued by the power of storytelling, the interpersonal connections I make with other artists, and the exploration of the human spirit.”
Chauncy and Reginald Pierre in “Topdog/Underdog” at St. Louis Actors’ Studio in 2013. Photo by Patrick Huber
2. How would your friends describe you?
“I took some direct quotes: ‘Funny, witty, smart, creative, thoughtful, organized and an amazing friend.’
“Weird.”
“They wouldn’t.”
“Strangely intellectual and precious for a man with this many muscles.”
“Very very very intentional.”
“A chill control freak with unlikely interests.”
“Loyal, brilliant, hilarious, thoughtful, deeply introspective, principled, all around awesome.”
3. How do you like to spend your spare time?
“I spend as much time with my friends as I possibly can.”
4.What is your current obsession?
“I’m so late, but the ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender.’”
5.What would people be surprised to find out about you?
“I’m ludicrously goofy.”
6. Can you share one of your most defining moments in life?
“In my early teenage years, I was very depressed and often had suicidal thoughts. No one could tell, because from the outside I seemed as if I was thriving. I was gay, in the closet and had plenty of friends, but no close ones. I was in a particularly bad place one day when I was 14 and called one of my acquaintances to ask if we could hang out. Twenty years later, I was best man at his wedding. I’m a person who struggles with feeling I may be a burden to someone, so the act of reaching out to the person who is now my oldest childhood friend was the first time I realized I was allowed to ask for emotional help when I needed it.”
7. Who do you admire most?
“My mom. She’s elegant, hilarious, benevolent, poised, and tough as nails.”
8. What is at the top of on your bucket list?
“Acting in a play I’ve written.”
9. What is your favorite thing to do in St. Louis?
“City Museum.”
10. What’s next?
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about that, yet. But the next play on my schedule is in St. Louis in 2022.”
Chauncy Thomas
More Information on Chauncy Thomas:
Age: 36
Birthplace: Peoria, Illinois
Current location: New York City
Family: 2 full brothers, 2 half-brothers, and 2 step-siblings
Education: BAs in Psychology and Drama from Washington University
Day job: Currently a math tutor. In a non-Covid-19 world add catering waiter, chess tutor, and I occasionally portrayed historical leaders for executive leadership trainings for Fortune 500 companies.
First job: House painter
First role: A guard in my high school’s production of “Cinderella.” First professional role was Father Ant in “The Ant and the Grasshopper” for Imaginary Theatre Company.
Favorite roles/plays: Booth in “Topdog/Underdog,” Walter Lee Younger in “A Raisin in the Sun”
Dream role/play: Belize in “Angels in America”.
Awards/Honors/Achievements: One Kevin Kline Award nomination and two St Louis Theater Circle Award nominations
Favorite quote/words to live by: “Leave everyone better than you find them.”
Chauncy Thomas in “Alabama Story”
A song that makes you happy: “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite
To listen to the PopLifeSTL.com Presents…Podcast about the Tennessee Williams Festival, visit: https://soundcloud.com/lynn-zipfel-venhaus/poplifestlcom-presents-august-14th-2021?fbclid=IwAR3lA4F4DCuAk67je9tNrFsb36G1fhaS6RFcZmOkWI0Lx6zQnvPyrCUg0jk
For more information on the Tennessee Williams Festival, visit https://www.twstl.org/
As a secret service agent in “Madam Secretary”. Photo provided.In “Percentage America” by Carter Lewis at St. Louis Actors’ Studio. Photo by Patrick Huber.“Clybourne Park” at St. Louis Repertory Theatre. Jerry Naunheim Photo.
An allegorical horror film with more on its mind than gore-splattered carnage, “Jakob’s Wife” provides some thematically juicy morsels for viewers to sink their teeth into.
Directed by Travis Stevens, the gonzo film centers around Anne (Barbara Crampton), the wife of a small-town Christian minister named Jakob (Larry Fessenden). Anne’s not happy in her marriage, and Jakob is unaware of the ways he casually disrespects her. He frequently talks over her and seems content with maintaining rigid gender norms in their household. His condescending actions have nibbled away at Anne’s psyche, leaving her feeling depressed and quietly despondent.
A Nosferatu-esque creature has different plans for her. After a brief romantic rendezvous with an old flame (Robert Rusler), Anne is bitten by the aforementioned blood-sucker, and she soon adopts a very different, ravenous lifestyle. Possessing renewed confidence in her daily life, she refuses to put up with Jakob’s B.S. any longer. She risks throwing away her previous existence if she chooses to fully give herself over to the strange presence targeting her.
“Jakob’s Wife” has a rough start, indulging in tropes such as dooming the first Black character introduced and deploying easily foreseeable jump scares. To its credit, the beginning of the film establishes a monotonous rhythm that slowly but surely builds suspense as Anne’s malaise reaches a boiling point. Thankfully, after she’s bitten by “The Master” — a pasty, scabbed-up entity spookily portrayed by Bonnie Aarons — “Jakob’s Wife” really starts to pick up. Stevens deploys a more flamboyant style in keeping with Anne’s newfound boldness that keeps viewers on their toes, notwithstanding some formulaic plot points.
Crampton is perfect for her role, and viewers see her simultaneously experience fear and thrill from her urges with real pathos. Scenes of Anne twirling around her living room holding a lamp and tasting blood within a meat package at a local grocery store are off-puttingly hilarious, particularly when juxtaposing them with her initially mild-mannered demeanor. For all The Master’s promises of liberation, though, Anne still loves Jakob, and she isn’t immediately ready to throw her old life away. Her inner battle of temptation takes center-stage in the film’s second half, where we aren’t sure whose side she will ultimately take.
Viewers might expect characters like the titular Jakob to be promptly disposed of, but “Jakob’s Wife” renders him a more complicated presence capable of positive change, despite the sharp left-turn in his arc that’s difficult to buy. Yes, he’s still cartoonish, and his high-and-mighty insistence on being the hero is deeply ironic, but “Jakob’s Wife” provides a refreshing change of pace for how these sorts of stories usually play out. Fessenden is able to flex his comedic muscles as a “man of the household” encountering a shifting power dynamic.
The more traditional genre aspects of “Jakob’s Wife” are less involving, but they get the job done with enough gruesome kills to satiate fans’ bloodlust. The film incorporates deliciously visceral practical effects and a large helping of gallows humor. Indeed, “Jakob’s Wife” loses some of its scare factor and emotional resonance through its tonal shifts, but the humor itself works well, for the most part — the kind of dry self-awareness that this tongue-in-cheek material benefits from. Jay DeVon Johnson is particularly amusing as a jaded police sheriff who wouldn’t be out of place in a Coen Brothers joint.
It’s disappointing, however, that the themes are staked so heavy-handedly into viewers’ brains by the end. Stevens brings up prescient topics — sexism and what it means to live your life on your own terms among them — without reaching anything particularly illuminating. The satirical, B-movie qualities rub against its more serious implications, rendering both somewhat less biting by the other.
Most sins being forgiven, there’s still enough batty fun here to recommend “Jakob’s Wife.” Stevens’ film is a knowingly goofy, surprisingly multifaceted horror outing. It delivers fittingly violent set pieces, while also wrapping its ghoulish tale up in important, disconcerting societal truths.
“Jakob’s Wife” is a 2021 horror film directed by Travis Stevens and starring Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden. It is not rated and runs 1 hour, 38 minutes. It is available streaming on Shudder and on video on demand platforms. Alex’s Grade: B
By Lynn Venhaus The title “Flag Day” is meant to be a metaphor about the American Dream. Who better to embody the flip side of that, with his usual white-hot intensity, than Sean Penn?
The two-time Oscar winner starred and directed this gut-wrenching character study and gets inside the head of a deeply flawed man, John Vogel, who scammed his way through adulthood. Vogel believed life was a grand adventure but was always seeking easy street — and felt he was owed la dolce vita.
Based on Jennifer Vogel’s 2004 memoir, “Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father’s Counterfeit Life,” a complicated father-daughter dynamic takes place from 1975 to 1992, mostly in Minnesota, as she learns dad is more of a train wreck than the larger-than-life figure she thought.
This father of two opted for reckless decisions instead of responsibility, which affected his wife, son and daughter.
The realities of his desperation slowly crept into young Jennifer’s psyche, whose mournful voice is heard over the narration. This is her story, of how she salvaged a broken life and became ‘someone who mattered,” pursuing a career as a journalist.
In a masterful debut, Dylan Penn embodies Jennifer with a yearning, an aching sense of loss, and a moral center. She finds the darkness inside the character as well as the light. Dylan, the 30-year-old daughter of Sean and former wife Robin Wright, is a striking, soulful beauty reminiscent of her mother.
The story, which we know won’t end well, is told in flashback. Screenwriters Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth, who wrote “Fair Game” starring Penn and 2019’s smash hit “Ford vs. Ferrari,” have created an emotional connection that some viewers will relate to – because not everyone grew up in a “Leave It to Beaver” sitcom family household.
Golden-hued memories of idyllic summers at one of Minnesota’s lakes contrast family turmoil. After dad left a trail of unpaid bills and broken promises, he split. But mom, Patty (Katheryn Wittock) descended into a bottle, neglecting the kids.
Those who did not have a safe, secure childhood can relate, and identify with Jennifer finding her voice as she struggles to survive the past, but also of that inescapable bond between parent and child.
Jennifer and her brother Nick see-saw between parents and when teenagers, emerge as the brother-and-sister Penns – Dylan is a punk-goth teen by now. Nick is played by Dylan’s younger brother, Hopper Jack Penn.
In the flashbacks, sweet performances are delivered by Addison Tymec, at 6, and Jadyn Rylee, from 11 to 13, as young Jennifer, and Beckam Crawford as young Nick, age 9-11.
In his sixth directorial effort – and first one featuring him acting, Penn covers a lot of ground. While he is especially good in the interactions with his daughter, he also lapses into proud dad behind the director’s chair, perhaps a little too indulgent with camera time on Dylan. She is, though, destined for stardom.
This might not be in the same league as his best work, “Into the Wild” in 2007, but Penn is a smart storyteller.
One of the film’s drawbacks is the brief turns by accomplished actors. Josh Brolin is part of two scenes as Vogel’s brother Beck (he and Penn worked together on “Milk”) and you want more of him. Regina King is a federal agent and St. Louis’ own, two-time Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz, plays against type as mom’s creepy boyfriend who attempts to assault Jennifer.
When mom turns a blind eye, Jennifer takes off to live with dad, and while she tries to steer him to a normal routine, that ends with more lies, schemes and a prison sentence for armed robbery. He can no longer fool his daughter.
Jennifer’s redemption and John’s lack of is how the film crawls to its inevitable conclusion, as Vogel is targeted by U.S. Marshals after counterfeiting $22 million. He was the most notorious counterfeiter in U.S. history and the subject of an “Unsolved Mysteries” in May 1995.
Melancholy tinges nearly the entire production, but there are moments of love and joy, and some glimmers of hope.
Cinematographer Danny Moder excels at capturing the youthful nostalgia and the patriotic pageantry of American holidays celebrated by many municipalities across the land.
The music is a high point, from composer Joseph Vitarelli and featuring acoustic songs written by Cat Powers, Glen Hansard (“Once”) and Eddie Vedder.
But the main takeaway is a haunting father-daughter story made more poignant by the talent and skills of a real father and daughter.
“Flag Day” is a 2021 true crime drama directed by Sean Penn and starring Dylan Penn, Sean Penn, Katherine Wittock, Hopper Jack Penn, Regina King, Josh Brolin, Bailey Noble, Norbert Leo Butz and Eddie Marsan. Rated R for language, some drug use and violent content, with a run time of 1 hour, 49 minutes. After premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, the film opens in theaters on Aug. 27. Lynn’s Grade: B+.
Directors Stephen Daldry’s and Justin Martin’s new film set during the current COVID-19 pandemic, “Together,” is an intense, powerfully acted, and morally troubling drama.
The film centers around an unnamed couple in the UK struggling to maintain their sanity in pandemic lockdown. “He” (James McAvoy) is a self-satisfied, conservative Alpha Male who manages a boutique consulting firm. “She” (Sharon Horgan) is a left-leaning charity worker with an acid tongue of her own. They live a middle class existence, while neglecting to give their introverted son, Artie (Samuel Logan), much parental attention.
From the moment viewers lay eyes on them, He and She bicker incessantly, piling on the insults in semi-teasing awfulness. The two opposites are stuck together in dire times, developing some semblance of compassion toward each other and the world at large as they endure the COVID-19 emergency.
Daldry and Martin’s film, with a screenplay by Dennis Kelly, is timely to a fault — using current events that have impacted us all as a background for an irritatingly predictable narrative. Despite this, however, “Together” is still a captivating viewing experience, largely thanks to its theatrical presentation and the dynamism of the two leads.
Indeed, “Together” feels highly reminiscent of a stage play, as He and She talk directly to the camera from the first scene onwards, vying for the center of viewers’ attention. This cinematic technique successfully puts viewers in the uncomfortable position of feeling like they’re right in the thick of things with these two flawed “adults,” forced to view their chaotic conversations without a possible exit. As interactions oscillate between being mean-spirited and hopeful, smirk-inducing and devastating, “Together” is relentless during the full 90-minute runtime.
Horgan and McAvoy have tangible chemistry, and their fast-paced dialogue conveys a mostly believable relationship. They’re able to handle comedic lines effortlessly — including an embarrassing exchange about their sex life — while also nailing the more dramatic beats as the months drag on. McAvoy, likably hyper as ever, showcases the insecurities that bely his character’s cynicism. Horgan shines as someone firm in her “good” beliefs who retains her own selfish tendencies. Combined with the film’s fourth-wall-breaking presentation, He and She seem like real people viewers might know. They both dislike and, deep down, care for one another.
Still, “Together” can only stay afloat on acting talent for so long. The story, good intentions notwithstanding, plays upon real-world traumas to somewhat generic effect. A particular subplot involving She’s elderly mother is emotionally devastating but foreseeable from the get-go. It concludes with an impassioned speech from Horgan about the meaning of the word “exponential” regarding viral infection and the government’s fumbling of crucial facts surrounding the illness. In retrospect, it all seems pretty obvious for anyone who isn’t a devoted consumer of misinformation.
“Together” is packed with scenes designed to elicit tears from viewers, but it doesn’t add anything particularly new to the discussion surrounding the global health crisis, nor does it illuminate a perspective that needs to be illuminated. The protagonists are so privileged, all things considered, and their respective character arcs surrounding basic human decency and not taking loved ones for granted aren’t exactly revelatory. If films like “Together” set during COVID times become more common, filmmakers run the risk of using it as a gimmick to grab viewers’ attention, instead of exploring it from new, insightful angles. This film, unfortunately, falls into the former category.
For all its attempts at relevance and its first-rate performances, “Together” doesn’t sit particularly well amid our current climate, where there’s no end in sight regarding the virus’ evolving mutations. It brings together broad social commentary and standard plotting to end up with something above average, but markedly inessential.
“Together” is a 2021 romantic comedy-drama directed by Stephen Daldry and co-directed by Justin Martin and starring James McAvoy, Sharon Horgan and Samuel Logan. Rated R for language throughout, the movie runs 1 hour, 31 minutes. In theaters Aug. 27 and on demand and digital Sept. 14. Alex’s Grade: B-
A refreshing summer breeze took over the Muny for the premiere of the solid-gold Emilio and Gloria Estefan musical “On Your Feet!” and transformed it into an effusive Saturday night Dance Party. Did we need this now or what?
A winning combination of melodic Latin rhythms, heartfelt pop ballads, ebullient dance moves and an only-in-America success story, this electrifying jukebox musical swiftly engaged the crowd, who seemed ready to have the rhythm get them up and on their feet for a rockin’ megamix curtain call.
The winds of change were noticeable opening night on that venerable stage in Forest Park, where it has been a beacon in times of turmoil – and created more than a few memorable moments. Will we remember this night as a turning point? It deserves to be one.
To be sure, it was a fait accompli that also was of historical significance. Looking back at the past decade, this Muny premiere is the most recent work on the schedule, having opened on Broadway in 2015.
While the Municipal Opera archives includes pre-Broadway tryouts and shows imported directly from New York, “On Your Feet!” is also among the shows that have had the shortest time between its Broadway debut and the Muny-produced premiere. For instance, “On Your Feet!” has six years between those markers, only surpassed by “Legally Blonde” — 2007 in NYC and 2011 in Forest Park, and “Newsies” on Broadway in 2012 and at the Muny in 2017. (“Kinky Boots” and “Matilda the Musical” both opened on Broadway in April 2013 and were at the Muny the summer of 2019, and “Shrek the Musical” was in NYC in 2007 and at The Muny in 2013, so all tying the six years’ gap.)
The show also represents a sea change — the first about Latinos by Latinos with a primarily Latino cast. The Estefans are known for breaking barriers, so kudos for this achievement, too.
Arianna Rosario and Omar Lopez-Cepero as Gloria and Emilio Estefan. Photo by Phillip Hamer.
Because the audience of 5,930 wholeheartedly embraced this modern musical, magic materialized and represented something larger in the big picture. After all, the Muny is most importantly about community, and “On Your Feet!” is about what community means – and how determination and everlasting love can get us over insurmountable odds.
There is so much to like about this local production, well-suited for the expansive outdoors stage, not only a showcase for sizzling performances but also as a panorama of cultural heritage.
Based on the remarkable true story of married power couple Emilio and Gloria Estefan (lightning bolts Omar Lopez-Cepero and Arianna Rosario), who met while making music in Miami. Gloria Maria Milagrosa Fajardo Garcia was 17, studying for a degree in psychology.
As leader of the popular group Miami Latin Boys, Emilio recognized her talent, and it was apparent early on they made quite a team. They eventually married, had a son and daughter, and built an international career that resulted in Gloria becoming one of the best-selling female artists of all-time. (75 million records and counting).
Impossible was never in their vocabulary, and the realities of what they overcame makes for a compelling narrative. Above all, their backstory illustrates how enormous hard work and belief in what they offered paid off.
In the 1980s, their Miami Sound Machine music was a revolutionary fusion of Cuban and American cultures and as an early crossover to other audiences, earned worldwide acclaim through its propulsive beats: “Conga!”, “Rhythms Is Gonna Get You,” “1-2-3,” “Get on Your Feet” and “Live for Loving You” lit up club dance floors. Fame and fortune followed, but not without its struggles.
Initially, Gloria shied away from the spotlight, but that exceptional voice demanded she be front and center. The band became known as Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine, later dropping the group name. Grammy Awards, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Kennedy Center Honors and two Super Bowl halftime appearances are among her accolades.
The ready-made-for-a-musical opened at New York’s Marquis Theatre in 2015 after a Chicago tryout and closed after 746 performances in 2017. Some of the Muny cast and production team were involved in the Broadway show, including music director Lon Hoyt, who makes the music pop with pizzazz.
Omar Lopez-Cepero and Arianna Rosario. Photo by Phillip Hamer
This biopic was immediately elevated by the casting of real-life husband-and-wife Lopez-Cepero and Rosario as the leads. They make a dynamic duo, easily captivating with sincerity, personality and noticeable chemistry.
As the Queen of Latin pop, Rosario is a dazzling magnetic force delivering hit after catchy hit and conveying warmth and courage in the personal life interludes. During the Broadway run, she was an understudy for Gloria and performed as Rebecca, Gloria’s sister, and in the ensemble.
Since his breakthrough performance in the Muny’s 2017 “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and his tremendous turn as Armando in 2019’s “Paint Your Wagon,” Lopez-Cepero has been notable. Fortunately, he finally gets an opportunity to be in a starring role, and effortlessly rises to the occasion. He was in the original Broadway cast as a supporting player.
He shines as Emilio, who recognized Gloria’s talents and would not be deterred by all the doors shut along the way, opening windows instead and allowing the music to do its magic. His splendid voice soars in “Don’t Want to Lose You.”
Both the Estefans and the headliners project that their marriage is a terrific representation of a true partnership.
Family is a major focus of the musical’s book by Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Oscar winner for co-writing the original screenplay of “Birdman” with Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone and Armando Bo.
The delightful Alma Cuervo, who originated the role of Consuelo, Gloria’s supportive “abuela’ (grandma) on Broadway, endeared herself on the larger stage.
And because there is never a musical biography without conflict, that friction is displayed in the rocky relationship with bitter mom, also named Gloria, whose dreams were crushed at a young age.
As the elder Gloria, Natascia Diaz stands out in song – “Mi Tierra” and with Lopez-Cepero in “If I Never Got to Tell You,” a song written by Gloria and her daughter Emily Estefan for this show.
Locally, Diaz won a Kevin Kline Award for best supporting actress in a musical in 2006 for portraying Anita in The Muny’s 2005 “West Side Story” and was nominated for a St. Louis Theater Circle Award as Velma Kelly in the Muny’s “Chicago” in 2012.
While the book follows the template of many other standard biographies, Gloria’s backstory does include some hefty issues. At age 2, she fled from the revolution in Cuba with her family. In the U.S. military, her father served in the Bay of Pigs invasion and volunteered for Vietnam, and Gloria’s tapes of her singing comforted him on the far-away battlefield.
Martin Sola is poignant as Jose Fajardo, the loving dad suffering from multiple sclerosis. He was also a part of the Broadway production.
Adolescent performers are bright lights — Isabella Iannelli as young Gloria and Jordan Vergara as son Nayib and young Emilio respectively. Vergara made his Broadway debut as an alternate in those roles and continued playing them in the national tour.
There is a fun recreation of a Shriners convention in Vegas, with the two youngsters as tiny Elvis impersonators, and the enitre youth ensemble is a sunny presence in the big numbers.
The multi-generational ensemble is noteworthy – and the diversity reflects how America looks today. Bravo to the casting that recognized talent comes in all different shades and sizes, and for the work by dialect coach Gaby Rodriguez Perara.
Director Maggie Burrows, a Muny first-timer, has deftly pulled all the elements together to keep the story on its toes, fortified with athletic choreography by William Carlos Angulo and Hoyt’s percussive beat. The musicians were a finely tuned machine, and the additional percussion gave the pulsating numbers extra oomph.
Costume Designer Leon Dobkowski’s signature swirling mix of bright colors provided flexibility and were pleasing to watch in motion.
The book’s construction makes it necessary to stage small, intimate scenes – such as a kitchen counter, a bedroom, a dressing room and a hospital bed, so I wish the sound had been better, because at times it was subpar, hard to hear the conversations.
Because of Gloria’s explosive career as an entertainer, scenic designer Tim Mackabee has staged multiple numbers with the pop superstar descending a staircase in headlining diva mode, and the band perched in full view – which lends such a vitality.
As does video segments on the LED screen as an ‘up close and personal’ viewpoint – an ingenious move that offers something new. Kudos to video designer Kate Ducey on the innovative work.
The scenic design also features a minimal but effective use of tropical settings in Havana and south Florida.
Act II features the devastating accident in March 1990, when the Estefans’ tour bus collided with a semi-truck in a snowstorm. Gloria suffered severe spinal injuries, and could have never walked again, but a nine-hour surgery, where they inserted two titanium rods, helped her to fully recover – that and an intense focus on rehabilitation, not to mention the encouragement from thousands of fans across the globe.
The finale recalls the stunning moment when Gloria took the stage at the American Music Awards the next year and sang “Coming Out of the Dark,” which she wrote with Emilio and songwriter/bandmate Jon Secada.
As with any triumph in life, persistence is the key, and this musical exemplifies that, just like Gloria’s album, “Into the Light.”
“On Your Feet!” is a breath of fresh air, a jolt of joy in an increasingly scary world. As the joint was jumpin’ on opening night, this indicated patrons could be receptive to a brand-new day.
How lovely that the universal language of music could soothe our souls at a time we badly need a reminder in the enduring, inspiring notion that America still is the land of hope and dreams.
This summer smile was indeed welcome. And a sweet ending with fireworks after tripping the light fantastic.
“On Your Feet!” is presented nightly at 8:15 p.m. from Saturday, Aug. 21 to Friday, Aug. 27, at the Muny outdoor stage in Forest Park. For more information, visit www.muny.org. For tickets, visit www.Metrotix.com or the Muny box office, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday at 1 Theatre Drive, or call (314) 361-1900 x1550.
The Megamix Curtain Call. Photo by Phillip Hamer.
Muny photos by Phillip Hamer.
Lynn Venhaus has been reviewing the Muny since 2009 and professional theater since 2005, and is a founding member of the St. Louis Theater Circle, established in 2012. A longtime journalist, she has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metropolitan area publications since 1978, earning awards along the way for news and features (and an Illinois Press Association award for reviews before they dropped the category). She has taught writing for the media as an adjunct instructor at three local colleges. A graduate of Illinois State University, she has a mass communications degree with a minor in theater. Among her life achievements are sons Tim and Charlie.
