Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas Strike a Chord in Carney’s Kicky ‘Power Ballad’

Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas Strike a Chord in Carney’s Kicky ‘Power Ballad’

By Lynn Venhaus

What happens when a long-dormant dream resurfaces in your life, and it’s within your reach, only to have cruel fates snatch it away?

Ah, the twists of fate. And when dueling singers Rick and Danny are played by effortlessly charming Paul Rudd and charismatic Nick Jonas in the John Carney Musical Universe, the result is a shaggy look at ambition, what matters in life and how music connects us.

After 20 years of modern musical movies, writer-director John Carney returns with another uplifting journey of self-discovery that has many fine emotional beats, moving us with natural conflicts that veer into farcical territory.

Maybe the two tones don’t always mix well together, but this clever story, co-written with Peter McDonald, who also appears as Rick’s lovably quirky bandmate Sandy, has a sincere beating heart that tackles contemporary music business issues.

Wedding bandmates in The Bride & Groove.

The middle-age bandmates in Ireland’s grooviest wedding band, “The Bride & Groove,” get everyone up on the dance floor with the pop hits of the ‘80s and ‘90s, but there is a restlessness to lead singer Rick.

When a wedding guest is former boy-band member Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), he’s invited to join the band onstage, and he and Rick hit it off singing Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish.”

Keeping that spark between them, collaboration ensues during their own after-party, where they play music and drink into the wee hours of the morning. They share dreams, their creative processes, what drives them and more.

You feel their connection, so when things don’t later end on a high note, it becomes a series of unfortunate incidents that put the pair on very different trajectories.

Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd jam.

Once back in L.A., Danny’s solo songs aren’t grabbing his record label, and manager Mac (Carney regular Jack Reynor) gives him the tough talk about falling down the relevant scale. The pressure to get back in the game is enormous, especially after the other boy band members have been successful.

So, he steals Rick’s heart-on-his-sleeve intimate acoustic tune and spiffs it up, creating a global smash pop hit and reclaiming the big time – selling out arenas and living the good life.

Shopping in a mall one day, Rick hears the song playing, to his surprise, but can’t prove he wrote it, so his behavior becomes erratic and combative. When Danny won’t return his calls, he takes drastic measures, and heads to L.A. for a confrontation.

One thing is certain. The song in question, “How to Write a Song (Without You)” is an instant catchy earworm. Could it follow Oscar-winning “Falling Slowly” from “Once” as a Best Song candidate?

Paul Rudd and Peter McDonald go from “Dublin to L.A.”

Everyman Rudd, whom audiences usually root for, isn’t afraid to play a flawed character whose behavior at times is questionable. His wife Rachel (Marcella Plunkett) and daughter Aja (Beth Fallon) are baffled but love him, for better or worse.

And Jonas, whom everyone pegs as a scoundrel, is a more conflicted guy, so the lines between hero and villain are blurred.

Carney, the director of “Once,” “Begin Again,” “Sing Street” and “Flora and Son,” is in familiar territory. But he looks at the price of ambition through an older lens here.

And nobody is as perceptive about music’s redemptive impact. In his raw and real explorations, Carney has created authentic characters and original songs that meet the moments.

Nick Jonas as Danny and Havana Rose Liu as Marcia in Power Ballad. Photo Credit: David Cleary

The weathered Dublin setting is cozy and comfortable, while the L.A. paradise is framed as shallow and sterile. The realistic look at musicians and their struggles, how they fit into the world, is one of Carney’s hallmarks. How natural the characters interact is another.

After all, he is the bassist to The Frames. Carney and his longtime songwriting partner Gary Clark penned 12 original songs for the movie. The soundtrack also includes the wedding reception staple “Celebration,” plus nostalgia nods “The Power of Love,” “Summer of ’69,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Maneater,” and “The Boys Are Back in Town.”

For those who believe music unites us, “Power Ballad” is a heart-tugging, funny look at the ever-changing tides in life.

The 2026 musical comedy-drama is directed by John Carney and stars Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Peter McDonald, Marcella Plunkett and Beth Fallon. It is rated R for language throughout and some drug use and runtime is 1 hour, 38 minutes. It opened in theatres on June 5. Lynn’s Grade: B+.

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Beguiling ‘The Tempest’ Makes A Little Magic in Hale Shakespeare Glen

Beguiling ‘The Tempest’ Makes A Little Magic in Hale Shakespeare Glen

By Lynn Venhaus

On a remote island far, far away, a mischievous mix of magic and mayhem mark “The Tempest,” which is the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s flagship production now anchored in Forest Park’s Shakespeare Glen.

William Shakespeare’s drama-tinged romantic comedy takes place after a violent storm has washed ashore a merry band of revelers, upending the inhabitants on this island – and nothing is as it seems. Perhaps, someone’s bad dream is another’s hopeful voyage. In any case, there is perceptible verve.

Think of this as a way-back machine “Survivor,” where everyone must outwit, outplay and outlast the people who want power. And Prospero (Nancy Bell) is manipulating a chess game.

A mother and sorcerer, Prospero rules this mystical place, and tensions rise between her, her teenage daughter and now the brother who messed up her future and has reappeared. Haunted by his betrayal, she has vengeance on her mind, for she was once Duke of Milan.

Reginald Pierre and Jeff Cummings as Prospero’s evil brothers. Photo by Phillip Hamer.

Through royal chicanery, Antonio (Jeff Cummings) usurped the title, and with the help of another brother, Alonso (Kathryn Bentley), King of Naples, she was banished 12 years earlier. But they can’t be trusted because another ambitious brother, Sebastian (Reginald Pierre), wants the king’s crown himself.

Ariel (Eliza Pagelle) is a shape-shifting spirit on the island that aids Prospero. Through her occult preoccupation, the boss finds out that her nefarious brothers are on their way from Tunis to Italy, so she conjures a squall, and they wind up where she is. Mama Bear thinks she is in control.

It won’t be long until old wounds resurface and new challenges arise. Oh, be careful what you wish for, as Alonso’s honorable son Ferdinand (an earnest Zay Williams) spies Miranda (Sigrid Wise) and falls in love.

Caliban (Chauncy Thomas) is the only true island inhabitant, a witch’s son, and resents being overtaken by Prospero, who imprisoned him so he doesn’t get too close to her daughter.

A fierce Thomas musters all his fury as a resentful native. Formerly of St. Louis, Thomas is always a welcome addition when he returns, now for the sixth time.

Bell and Chauncy Thomas as Caliban. Photo by Phillip Hamer.

The ensemble includes kindly Gonzalo (veteran Whit Reichert), an elderly Neapolitan lord who helped Prospero survive exile (but secretly), and comic buffoons Stephano (Michael Dougherty) and Trinculo (Jose Sabillon), Alonso’s butler and court jester. That daffy duo plots with Caliban to take over.

Mother and daughter have been marooned since the girl was 2 years old, so one can imagine her naivete and innocence – and yearning to break free of the overbearing parent. Nevertheless, the protective mom wants her daughter to marry for love and position.

Wise, enchanting as the isolated Miranda, is as luminous as she was as Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet” in 2018 and was part of “The Winter’s Tale” the year before. She has tangible chemistry with Williams as a decent prince who can be trusted.

Through her instincts and technique, Bell is a formidable Prospero – and as much of an impact she has had on Shakespeare in this city, one must note that this is her first leading role outdoors in Shakespeare Glen.

Bell and Eliza Pagelle as Ariel. Photo by Phillip Hamer.

 (As Playwright-in-Residence, Bell wrote several “Shakespeare in the Street” productions, earning Best New Play awards from the St. Louis Theater Circle for “The World Begun” and “Old Hearts Fresh,” and two years ago, directed the award-winning “As You Like It.” She also founded the Confluence New Play Festival.)

The Circle’s most awarded theater artist, for acting, writing and directing, Bell commands attention from various vantage points perched on the decaying hull of a shipwreck. Her character must find a way to forgive on this journey.

Director Rick Dildine shrewdly showcases Prospero’s dominance by staging Bell’s position at different heights – when she’s talking to others. It’s rare when she’s on the same level of this imposing set, masterfully adorned with functional nooks and crannies.

The former director of St. Louis Shakespeare Festival (2009 – 2017) emphasizes nature’s impact as well as the colonial-era themes. Dildine’s version is a breezy 90 minutes without an intermission.

Goofballs Jose Sabillon and Michael Dougherty with Thomas. Photo by Phillip Hamer.

He is aided by a talented squad — assistant director Lize Lewy, producer Colin O’Brien, production company Blank Slate, stage manager Sarah Luedloff, and assistant stage manager Britteny Henry.

Dildine won a Circle award for directing a shimmering “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2016 where sound, lighting and scenic design enhanced the production, especially the original music.

The storytelling here is boosted by those same elements. The artisan MVPs who blended music and storm effects to elevate the experience included music director Michael Grieve, sound designer Melanie Chen Cole, lighting designer Jeff Behm and scenic designers Justin and Christopher Swader, all making impressive debuts, as were costume designer Kathleen Geldard and props designer Katherine Stepanek.

Grieve’s captivating immersive upbeat music is a zesty blend of roots music, sea shanties and folk melodies, with lively musicians Harrison Farmer, Crayton Haney and Otto Klemp, also in supporting roles, as is Grieve.

Musicians and partiers aboard a vessel. Photo by Phillip Hamer.

An original prologue on a satellite stage creates a festive atmosphere at Alonso’s daughter Claribel’s wedding, which kicks off the show (starting at 8 p.m.). Paul Dennhardt has provided interesting moves for the musicians and guests. All that’s swept away in the tempest.

Regarded as Shakespeare’s last play, when he was in his late 40s, this tale of forgiveness has the compassion of an experienced man looking at what’s important in life. And that is expressed well in this vibrant setting.

Dildine’s focus on nature’s capacity to heal is a key component to this 26th annual outing in the park, a year after a destructive tornado tore through Forest Park. He interprets that resiliency in the aftermath, as we all weather calm seas and violent storms in life.

A portion of the donations collected during “The Tempest” will go towards the tornado relief funds for the St. Louisans hit the hardest. And thanks to the parks department and Forest Park Forever, we are sitting today in these hallowed grounds of immense cultural importance.

Zay Williams and Sigrid Wise as Ferdinand and Miranda while Bell looks on. Photo by Phillip Hamer.

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival presents “The Tempest” May 27 – June 21 at 8:15 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays, in Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park, 6604 Fine Arts Drive (next to the Art Museum). Admission is free and accessible to everyone. The Glen opens at 6:30 p.m. and the Teen Green Show takes place at 7:15 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. For more information, visit www.stlshakes.org

Wise, Williams and Bell. Photo by Phillip Hamer.
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Voices and Visual Elegance Carry OTSL’s ‘The Light in the Piazza’

Voices and Visual Elegance Carry OTSL’s ‘The Light in the Piazza’

by CB Adams

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ production of “The Light in the Piazza” consistently achieves the atmosphere of operatic emotional depth, even if it reaches true operatic emotional danger less often.

Through soaring vocal performances, elegant visual storytelling and sustained tonal sophistication, OTSL delivers a production enveloped in cultivated romanticism and musical yearning.

Cameron Anderson’s striking set design establishes that atmosphere immediately. Sweeping stone arches dominate the stage, carrying the accumulated emotional history of Florence itself.

The arches become emotional architecture — thresholds, passages and reminders that these characters are visitors twice over: tourists moving through Italy and emotional travelers moving toward unfamiliar versions of themselves.

Kate Baldwin as Margaret Johnson. Photo by Eric Woolsey.

Eric Southern’s lighting deepens that visual language beautifully. A stark shaft of light isolates Clara at both the opening and near the production’s conclusion, quietly framing her as emotionally exposed and suspended between dependence and adulthood, innocence and self-determination.

Southern’s lighting and Anderson’s arches together create a visual vocabulary of passage, vulnerability and emotional crossing.

Crystal Manich directs with clarity and tonal confidence. Scene transitions flow with dreamlike fluidity, and the production sustains a remarkably cohesive emotional vocabulary from beginning to end.

The production ultimately belongs to Kate Baldwin’s Margaret Johnson.

Kate Baldwin and Paolo Szot in “The Light at the Piazza.” Photo by Eric Woolsey.

Baldwin gives the evening its mature emotional intelligence, shaping Margaret as a woman who understands that love offers no guarantees, safeguards or reliable maps. Warmth, wit, restraint and quiet exhaustion coexist seamlessly in her performance.

Her richly controlled vocals navigate Adam Guettel’s harmonically restless score with remarkable ease, while her acting continually reveals the emotional calculations unfolding beneath Margaret’s composed exterior.

Though Clara’s romance initiates the story, OTSL’s production increasingly reveals itself as Margaret’s drama — a mature reckoning with love, uncertainty and the frightening necessity of release.

Roy Hage’s Fabrizio proves equally essential to the production’s success. Hage brings lyrical warmth, sincerity and earnest emotional transparency to the role, grounding the production’s refined theatricality in genuine feeling.

Kate Baldwin, Katrina Galka and Roy Hage in “The Light at the Piazza.” Photo by Eric Woolsey.

His chemistry with Katrina Galka’s Clara gives the romance persuasive emotional momentum even when the show’s idealism threatens to outrun practical realism.

Hage’s tenor remains consistently expressive and inviting, and his openness sustains much of the production’s emotional accessibility.

Galka delivers a thoughtful and sympathetic Clara, particularly in the later scenes where the character’s frustration with her constrained life emerges more forcefully.

The Naccarelli family in “The Light at the Piazza.” Photo by Eric Woolsey.

Even so, the production’s emotional center of gravity gradually shifts toward Baldwin and Hage, whose performances carry greater theatrical and vocal authority.

That contrast between youthful emotional openness and the erosion of adult certainty gives the production much of its emotional texture. Clara and Fabrizio move toward love with instinctive urgency, while Margaret and Roy inhabit the lingering emotional afterlife of a marriage whose passion has cooled into habit and caution.

Under Rob Berman’s direction, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra fully embraces Guettel’s lush, classically inflected score. The music unfolds less as a sequence of distinct songs and more as a continuous emotional current built from soaring phrases, suspended harmonies and yearning orchestral textures.

The museums of Florence. Photo by Eric Woolsey.

At times, however, that richness works against dramatic immediacy. The orchestra occasionally overwhelms dialogue, and extended untranslated passages in Italian force audiences to work harder than necessary to remain textually connected.

Those passages clearly reinforce Margaret’s outsider status within Florence’s emotional and linguistic landscape. Still, the cumulative effect creates more distance than intimacy.

Perhaps it is unfair to apply operatic standards of clarity and accessibility to a musical deliberately straddling both worlds. Yet when an opera company stages “The Light in the Piazza” with such unapologetically operatic ambition, those comparisons become inevitable.

What ultimately lingers after OTSL’s “The Light in the Piazza” is less any individual song or dramatic revelation than the production’s carefully sustained emotional and visual atmosphere. The voices, the arches, the light and the cultivated romanticism remain vividly intact —  a performance more immersive than transformative, though consistently elegant and theatrically persuasive throughout.

Michael James Reed and Kate Baldwin as The Johnsons in “The Light in the Piazza.” Photo by Eric Woolsey.

“The Light in the Piazza” continues through June 28 at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus, presented in rotating repertory as part of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ 2026 festival season. Ticket information, dining options and additional production details are available through the OTSL website.

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Disorienting ‘Backrooms’ Is Brilliantly Filmed Liminal Horror Film

Disorienting ‘Backrooms’ Is Brilliantly Filmed Liminal Horror Film

By Alex McPherson

A masterpiece of experiential filmmaking that mines palm-sweating anticipation from what’s lurking around the next corner, director Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms” is an ambiguous yet utterly engrossing horror film for those willing to tune into its otherworldly frequency.

The film is based on 20-year-old Parsons’ YouTube series of the same name, which was inspired by the online liminal space “creepypasta” post on 4Chan from 2019. This newest iteration takes place in 1990 and focuses on Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a failed-architect-turned-furniture-store-owner and alcoholic struggling after a recent divorce.

His ex-wife got the house, so Clark has taken up residence at the store. He’s seemingly resigned to a sad life running a defunct business and making embarrassing TV commercials where he’s dressed up like a pirate. 

He regularly has sessions with his therapist and self-help-book-author Mary (Renate Reinsve), who encourages Clark to reflect on his actions and break obsessive thought patterns. Mary is also a lonely soul who’s processing her own grief from a troubled childhood. She often zones out as haunted memories come flooding back.

Clark notices some strange electrical issues at the store, which eventually leads him to the basement where he finds a hidden entrance to the titular Backrooms — an alternate dimension residing in the uncomfortably uncanny valley. 

Claustrophobic, labyrinthine hallways and office spaces stretch on endlessly, enclosed by walls painted sickly yellow, lit with fluorescent lights, and littered with jumbled piles of furniture like some twisted contemporary art exhibit made by glitched-out AI software. A strange presence also stalks the premises that clearly doesn’t take kindly to visitors. 

Clark, and by extension us as viewers, are immediately thrown off kilter, but Clark becomes fascinated with this alternate universe and makes it his goal to unearth its mysteries.

Suffice it to say, dangers abound. Clark (and eventually Mary) find themselves way over their heads, becoming trapped in a place that can easily lead its inhabitants into spirals of insanity.

It might not have the most elegantly told story, but “Backrooms” is a relentlessly disorienting film, rich in oppressive atmosphere and dark absurdity, that prides itself on putting viewers in the shoes of its characters and letting the nightmarish world speak for itself.

Familiarity with Parsons’ web series isn’t needed to appreciate this film — above all else, “Backrooms” is a vibe, so stylistically assured that it conjures a universal, intoxicating sense of uneasiness.

Through a mixture of “found footage” camerawork and shots that keep us in lockstep with the characters, Parsons lets us feel the winding unknown and the relentless pressure of being chased through an unfamiliar environment without a clear exit. Although the camera generally adopts an omniscient viewpoint, we don’t jump ahead of the characters; we witness each new sight along with them.

And although Parsons does dole out some (rather cliché) themes, he keeps specific explanations vague, emphasizing the fact that this hidden world cannot be reasoned with. 

This approach, not unlike 2023’s horrifying “Skinamarink” (also made by a YouTuber turned feature film director), will prove alienating for viewers seeking a traditional narrative or characters that are easy to rally behind. 

The always reliable Ejiofor and Reinsve bring pathos and intensity to dialogue that rings intermittently too obvious and repetitive. Mary’s constant referencing of behavioral loops is an on-the-nose metaphor here, but the way Parsons brings in the existential weight of consumerism and the false promises of the American Dream are compelling threads left slightly underdeveloped.

The world and the filmmaking itself are the real stars of the show here, though — difficult to describe but viscerally felt: scenes patiently and deliberately build suspense before exploding in edge-of-your-seat set-pieces that cinematographer Jeremy Cox frames with frantic energy.

Parsons and Edo Van Breeman’s music is ingeniously woven into each sequence, feeling inextricably linked to the backrooms themselves in its rumbling, alien-like rhythms.

Sure, the film’s more traditional narrative elements feel undercooked, partly due to a rushed passage of time that feels at odds with the more deliberate approach Parsons takes in-the-moment. “Backrooms” shines in its unknowability and stumbles in the few moments when it panders to the masses, not committing to the bit quite as much as its forbears. 

Still, the feelings it conjures are indelible and specific — best experienced in a theater for maximum immersion. I can’t wait to dive back into “Backrooms” time and time again, and no, boomers, that’s not just because I’m Gen-Z.

“Backrooms” is a 2026 psychological horror film directed by Kane Parsons and starring Chiwetol Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. It is rated R for language and some violent content/bloody images and runtime is 1 hour, 50 minutes. It opened in theaters May 29. Alex’s Grade: A.

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‘Fat Ham’ Flips a Family Tragedy to Free Characters Instead in Black Rep’s Spirited Interpretation

‘Fat Ham’ Flips a Family Tragedy to Free Characters Instead in Black Rep’s Spirited Interpretation

By Lynn Venhaus

With a vivacious cast of relatable relatives, The Black Rep delivers a sassy, spirited and sometimes silly “Fat Ham,” which is a modern humorous reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

Surprising in its fresh spin of the play’s universal themes, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winner by James Ijames replaces royal revenge with a look at black masculinity, queer identity and cycles of generational trauma — but flips it as a comedy, not tragedy.

This production, deftly directed by Geovanday Jones, focuses on unpredictable storytelling. Jones brought out the playfulness of the performers, who sometimes mirror the Bard’s iconic roles, but mostly differ in humorous delivery and make them broader in body language.

Set at a backyard barbecue in the American South, the key points of Hamlet’s torment, confusion and the weight of heritage play heavily on the mind of gay college student Juicy, who is visited by his deceased father’s ghost. Pap seeks revenge, Juicy wrestles with that directive.

Enoch King as the ghost of Pap, with Marshall W. Mabry IV as Juicy. Photo by Howard Ash.

Pap (Enoch King) was murdered in prison and reveals to his son that his brother Rev (King, in a dual role) arranged the hit. The Rev quickly married Juicy’s livewire mother Tedra (firecracker Angela Wildflower), and disturbed Juicy sorts out a tangled web of betrayal, anger and legacy.

Blustery King capably plays two sides of the coin – the hot-tempered wronged brother Pap and the entitled, selfish bully Rev., whose toxicity signals danger.

But sweet, sensitive Juicy, masterfully portrayed by Marshall W. Mabry IV as an old soul, isn’t keen on vengeance. He summons an inner strength, shows how mature he is, and opts out.

Despite her questionable choices, his Gertrude-like mother relies on him to be steady – “You don’t get to go crazy,” she says when everything seems topsy-turvy.

Juicy breaks the fourth wall to comment on what we’re seeing and what expectations we might have, which is another departure from tradition.

Marshall W. Mabry IV as Juicy, now dressed for the party, with Angela Wildflower as Tedra on the porch. Photo by Howard Ash.

Friends and neighbors come to the party with their own baggage. The only real tragedy is that the characters are types who have never been allowed to be themselves. Tension escalates between the mean-dog uncle/stepfather and Juicy can’t relax and be true to himself.

Pass the potato salad as insights are revealed and the core group question their choices. Nods to the Bard’s great tragedy are in the form of a clever game of charades instead of an elaborate wedding banquet entertainment.

Patrick Huber’s scenic design is a marvel of form and function, creating a porch and yard with nooks and crannies for action – an adjacent shed, lawn chairs for tete a tetes, picnic tables to dance on top of while using a karaoke machine.

Huber’s crisp lighting design boosted key transitions while Tre’von Griffith’s sound design punctuated the action. Music is a key component in the presentation, and Heather Himes’ choreography brings out the show’s celebratory themes.

Olajuwon Davis as Tio, Mabry, Brian McKinley as Larry and Raevyn Ferguson as Opal. Photo by Howard Ash.

Two other stagecraft veterans added oomph, too – Andre Harrington’s costumes smartly conveyed characters and Mikhail Lynn’s props accented the social interactions.

An undercurrent simmers as more truths are exposed – Larry and Opal (aka Laertes and Ophelia) are the children of Rabby, a stylish but bossy busybody version of Polonius, who pushes her children to succeed. In another feisty role, Margery Handy lays it on thick as a boisterous social butterfly while her children are reluctant to fit into polite society.

Brian McKinley is misleading as the rigid, reserved Larry, a Marine in uniform, who needs to break free from societal expectations. He’s the epitome of duty, honor, service. As a fierce Opal, Raevyn Ferguson is mopey, forced to wear a dress, but lets loose as a lesbian who gets louder and prouder. Opal has nothing in common with Shakespeare’s Ophelia, and proclaims: “I ain’t dying for nobody.”

These siblings are the most obvious characters subverting expectations. But the major source of comic relief is naturalistic actor Olajuwon Davis as Tio, a chatty, porn-addicted stoner who serves as Juicy’s unfiltered best friend, like the Bard’s Horatio.

Fat Ham Black Rep. Photo by Howard Ash.

Observing Juicy’s melancholy, he remarks: “Your Pop went to jail, his Pop went to jail, his Pop went to jail, his Pop went to jail and what’s before that? Slavery.”

While action gets heated, don’t expect a bloodbath or even tragic deaths. Even with the tamped-down violence, the legacy between fathers and sons’ bristles, as it should for effect.

Hamlet (Juicy) isn’t home from college but attends an online school instead, majoring in human resources, and he is mocked for his goals.

What might life be like if we chose pleasure over harm? That’s the core of Ijames’ work. The younger generation wants to break the cycles of violence and trauma, opting for emancipation and joy.

The ensemble leans into these timeless elements, finding their voices and defying stereotypes. Juicy would rather live his truth out loud and doesn’t need to conform. The best thing about this twist? We are allowed to revel in his hard-fought victory — and in other characters’ liberations as well.

Mabry in the Hamlet role as Juicy. Photo by Howard Ash.

The St. Louis Black Repertory Company presents “Fat Ham” from May 20 through June 7 at The Edison Theatre on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. The play is 1 hour and 45 minutes, without intermission. This production concludes the 49thseason. Tickets and information for performances are available at theblackrep.org or through the Box Office at 314-534-3807. Reduced pricing is available for seniors, educators, museum staff, students, and groups of 12 or more

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KSDK Anchor Travis Cummings to Host 26th Annual Arts For Life’s Best Performance Awards June 14

KSDK Anchor Travis Cummings to Host 26th Annual Arts For Life’s Best Performance Awards June 14

Tickets are currently on sale for Arts For Life’s 26th Annual Best Performance Awards at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 14, which will honor excellence in community musical theater and youth productions.

The ceremony will take place at the Skip Viragh Center for the Performing Arts at Chaminade High School. Travis Cummings, KSDK news anchor and journalist, will be the master of ceremonies. Diana Enloe is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Winners will be announced in 30 categories. Elwyn Dignam and Allison O’Daniels have already been announced as co-recipients of the Best Youth Featured Dancer Award for their performances as Phil Davis and Judy Haynes in “White Christmas.”

Numbers from the three categories of nominated musicals will be performed, including “Always, Patsy Cline,” “Bright Star,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” “Groundhog Day,” “It Shoulda Been You,” “Little Women” “Hadestown Teen Edition,” “Matilda,” “The Prom,” and “White Christmas.”

The Gateway Center for the Performing Arts in Webster Groves and Monroe Actors Stage Company in Waterloo, Ill., lead all groups with 24 nominations each. GCPA has 11 for “The Prom,” eight for “The Wizard of Oz,” and five for “Into the Woods,” and MASC has 23 for “Fiddler on the Roof” and one for “Jekyll & Hyde.”

Next with 23 nominations is the Young People’s Theatre in St. Charles – 10 for “White Christmas,” seven for “Bright Star” and six for “Matilda.”

The Kirkwood Theatre Guild in Kirkwood, Mo., received 12 for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” Center for the Creative Arts in University City has 12 for “Hadestown Teen Edition,” Christ Memorial Productions in South County has 10 for “Little Women,” Act Two Theatre in St. Peters has nine for “Always, Patsy Cline” while Hawthorne Players in Florissant has nine for “Groundhog Day.”

For more information on nominations, visit www.artsforlife.org

Travis Cummings

Master of Ceremonies Travis Cummings is an award-winning, multi-skilled journalist and anchor of Today in St. Louis Weekend Edition on KSDK (5 On Your Side). He joined the station in December 2021 from WRCB in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he spent two years as a reporter and fill-in anchor. Before that, he worked as a weekend anchor and multimedia journalist at KEVN in Rapid City, South Dakota.

A native of New Orleans, Travis earned his degree in Communication Arts – Journalism from Spring Hill College.He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Emerging Media from Loyola University Maryland.

Travis Cummings

“I became a journalist because I believe storytelling can spark emotion, inspire change, and give people a voice—something I strive to do every day by helping people feel heard and supported,” he said.

In 2023, Travis won an Emmy Award and a Missouri Broadcasters Association Award for his work on the special program “RACE: Listen. Learn. Live” about teenagers, highlighting the Inner Ear Urban Youth Orchestra, founded by a young woman in the metro east to teach string music and create a creative outlet for local youth.

In 2025, he earned a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for his work on the Voices of Ferguson special, which was also nominated for an Emmy.

In 2024, Travis was named a Salute to Blacks in Media honoree by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis—one of the youngest journalists ever to receive the honor—recognized for his standout storytelling and commitment to uplifting black and brown voices. That same year, he received the Black Pride St. Louis President’s Award for his community impact.

Beyond the newsroom, Travis has a lifelong love for the performing arts. In 2023, he starred as Harpo in the BPA-winning production of “The Color Purple.” He has also appeared in New Line Theatre’s Broadway Noir for the past two years and performed in the 2025 premiere production of “When It All Falls.” His other stage credits include “The Full Monty” and “The Laramie Project.”

Travis also serves as vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists–St. Louis Chapter, where he leads the annual Student Minority Journalism Workshop, mentoring high school students in the art of storytelling. He is an active member of the national organization and is also a member of Black Pride St. Louis.

Diana Enloe

In a career that has spanned more than six decades, Diana Enloe has enriched the St. Louis area theater community through her artistry, leadership and mentorship.

Diana Enloe

A Granite City native and graduate of Illinois State University, Diana devoted her career to teaching drama and speech at Alton and Wood River public high schools, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and Lewis and Clark Community College.

She also directed productions at Alton Marquette High School and St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley.

As a director and choreographer, Diana has staged more than 30 productions at seven different schools and colleges, and more than 25 community productions with Alton Little Theater, Curtain’s Up Theater Company and The Pinky Swear Project. As a performer and director, she has received numerous accolades through Arts For Life’s awards.

For the past 25 years, she has also been a driving force behind Vintage Voices, a popular annual production in which actors portray individuals from Alton’s history in live performances at Alton Cemetery.

For Diana, theater is more than performance. “It is truth telling, community building, and an act of generosity,” she said. With her passion for art, she continues to touch many lives, as a role model and friend.

Event Information

The Skip Viragh Center is located at 425 South Lindbergh Blvd. Seating is reserved and doors will open at 1:30 p.m. Formal attire is requested.

Tickets to the show are $30 each with a $2 service fee added, and available online at: https://arts-for-life-2.square.site/ and can be picked up at the box office on event day.

Please let us know which theatre group or individual you would like to sit with in the “notes to seller” section at checkout or email Kim at [email protected].

For special seating needs or other concerns, contact [email protected]. Handicapped seating is available.

A cash bar will be available, with drinks and light snacks for purchase.

 “These events recognize the incredible talent we have in St. Louis community theater and honor the passion and dedication of those who build this amazing and unique theatrical community,” said Mary McCreight, president of Arts For Life.

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.

Groups participating in this year’s BPAs include Act Two Theatre Company, Alfresco Productions, Center for the Creative Arts, Christ Memorial Productions, Curtain’s Up Theater Company, Gateway Center for the Performing Arts, Goshen Theatre Project, Hawthorne Players, Ignite Theater Company, Kirkwood Theatre Guild, Kirkwood Youth Theatre, Monroe Actors Stage Company, O’Fallon Theatre Works, Take Two Productions and Young People’s Theatre.

For more information, visit the website at www.artsforlife.org

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Inde Navarette Joins the Horror Greats in Ruthless Chiller ‘Obsession’

Inde Navarette Joins the Horror Greats in Ruthless Chiller ‘Obsession’

By Alex McPherson
Disappointing in its simplicity yet chock-full of savage set-pieces, and featuring an awe-inspiring performance from Inde Navarette, director Curry Barker’s “Obsession” leaves a fittingly queasy impression.

We follow Bear (Michael Johnston), an insecure and socially awkward 20-something with a perpetual sense of self-loathing. He is working up the courage to ask out his best friend and music-store co-worker Nikki (Navarette), whom he has harbored a crush on for a long time but hasn’t known how or when to confess his feelings.

His buddy Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) forbids him from doing it during Trivia Night, which he, Bear, and Nikki attend with their other attractive co-worker Sarah (Megan Lawless). Sarah might have a crush on Bear, but Bear (whose cat has also just died unexpectedly) cannot wait.

After learning that Nikki lost a necklace, Bear decides to buy her a gift from a New Age store. He picks up a novelty trinket called a “One Wish Willow,” which claims to grant a wish to whoever snaps it in two. Later in the night when Bear drives Nikki home, the interaction doesn’t go as hoped.

Nikki asks him if he likes her, and, out of fear, Bear says no, leaving him feeling embarrassed and humiliated. After she’s dropped off, Bear impulsively uses the One Wish Willow himself. His wish? To make Nikki love him more than anything in the entire world. 

Almost immediately, Nikki is changed, taking a newfound romantic interest in Bear and quickly forming a relationship with him, even though she most assuredly is not the same person she was before. Everything seems fine for a while, as Bear gets to live out his fantasy, although Ian and Sarah become increasingly weirded out.

Things quickly spiral downhill, as Nikki’s fixation with Bear grows more obsessive, possessive, violent, and, frankly, batshit insane. Bear’s uneasiness causes Nikki to further devolve in an effort to make Bear love her back, no matter the bloody cost. Bear refuses to take responsibility and remains unable to do anything about the situation until nearly everything in his life is destroyed, one almost-NC-17-level head bash at a time.

“Obsession” is a deeply mean film with heavy-handed ideas about male loneliness, consent, and mental health that revels in making viewers uncomfortable. Barker, who got his start through online sketch comedy shorts with Tomlinson, seemingly designed the film to provoke strong reactions and make clippable sequences of craziness for our online age. I

t’s also relentlessly watchable despite its gruesome violence, largely thanks to a performance by Navarette that’s so full of twisted ingenuity that the film’s more facile, formulaic aspects are easier to overlook.

Indeed, although she isn’t technically the main character (although perhaps “Obsession” would have been more interesting if she had been), Nikki, and Navarette, are the real stars of the show. It’s an incredibly physical performance that Navarette portrays with unrestrained gravitas.

From the “Exorcist”-esque body gymnastics, to how conversations escalate from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye, to the comical facial expressions, to the disturbingly poignant moments when the old, “true” Nikki breaks through the spell, crying out for help before being subsumed by the malevolent force reducing her to base instincts for Bear’s affection, Navarette has to do a lot.

She makes the film’s more nefariously twisted horror set-pieces tinged with melancholy and never lets us forget the real person trapped underneath the facade.

“Obsession” isn’t ultimately Nikki’s story, though, it’s Bear’s — a meek guy who desperately needs therapy and makes a selfish decision with wildly cascading consequences. Brought to life with maddening specificity by Johnston, Bear fails at nearly every turn to take responsibility for his actions out of both fear and a desperate sense of self-preservation as he robs Nikki of her life and agency.

Bear isn’t a monster, and arguably makes the initial wish without knowing if the trinket actually works, yet Barker’s screenplay zeroes in on his entitlement, his cowardice, and his repeated attempts to continue with life as normal even as he knows he’s actively destroying Nikki’s.

Regardless of the relevance of this thematic approach, though, it’s also limiting for “Obsession” — setting the stage for numerous memorably unhinged sequences at Nikki’s expense (and, admittedly, for our twisted enjoyment as an audience), but not developing much beyond the central conceit, and concluding in a feel-bad place that sits right at home with recent horror hits “Hereditary,” “Bring Her Back,” and “Talk to Me.”

That’s not to say Barker’s horror chops aren’t fully formed as a director; there are several sequences that won’t leave my mind any time soon, and the ways he deploys jump-scares and sterling use of darkness and claustrophobic framing are viscerally effective, along with the occasional burst of crowd-friendly, bone-dry humor.

“Obsession” still can’t quite capitalize on the sheer go-for-broke commitment of Navarette, though, falling back into tradition as she carves out her own place among the all-time greats like Mia Goth in “Pearl.” What’s here should satiate the bloodlust of horror aficionados nevertheless, and actively repel anybody with a weak stomach.

“Obsession” is a 2025 psychological horror-dark romance written and directed by Curry Barker and starring Michael Johnston, Inde Navarette, Megan Lawless, and Cooper Tomlinson. It is rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, sexual content, pervasive language, and brief graphic nudity, and its runtime is 1 hour, 48 minutes. It opened in theatres May 15. It began streaming on Peacock July 17. Alex’s Grade: B.

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History Repeats Itself in Sergei Loznitsa’s Mordantly Engaging Drama ‘Two Prosecutors’

History Repeats Itself in Sergei Loznitsa’s Mordantly Engaging Drama ‘Two Prosecutors’

By Alex McPherson

Measured but pulsing with suspense, Ukrainian writer/director Sergei Loznitsa’s riveting new film “Two Prosecutors” underscores the all-seeing shadow of fascism in 1937 USSR while remaining scarily relevant today.

Based on a story by the Soviet dissident and physicist Gyorgy Demidov, the film takes place during Stalin’s Great Purge and revolves around Kornyev (Aleksandr Kuznetsov), a young prosecutor fresh out of law school who truly believes in the sanctity of the law. Kornyev’s idealism blinds him to the systemic conspiracies surrounding him.

One day, Kornyev receives a note scribbled in blood alleging abuse by the NKVD (Stalin’s secret police) from a “counter-revolutionary” inmate named Stepniak (Aleksandr Filippenko), who is being held in a prison in Bryansk. Stepniak’s note was miraculously smuggled out by an elderly prison laborer tasked with burning letters, and it wound up in his office.

Kornyev takes it upon himself to investigate, hoping to bring those culpable to justice, unaware of the jeopardy he’s putting himself in.

Upon arriving at the compound, which is layered with a never-ending series of locked doors, cramped hallways, and death-glare guards, Kornyev is uneasy but deadset in his mission to talk to Stepniak. He’s willing to wait alone in a room for hours and overlook not-so-subtle hints from prison officials that he’d better watch his back.

After finally getting access to Stepniak and hearing his story, Kornyev is emboldened to seek justice. He fully believes that higher-ups will want to hear the truth, ignorant of the fact that his government is, indeed, rotten to its very core.

Suffice to say, Kornyev’s mission doesn’t go according to plan. With a patient approach that ratches up tension, and fateful inevitability, by the second, “Two Prosecutors” paints a fable-like portrait of a society in the throes of totalitarian power. Our protagonist is always being watched and judged as an invading force to be put down.

Loznitsa also interrogates just how useful a legalistic approach is to counter the horror — wryly critiquing Kornyev’s stubborn insistence on following procedure when the law has been thrown to the wind. Even when Kornyev leaves the Bryansk prison, he never really leaves; walls of eyes surveille him wherever he goes.

“Two Prosecutors” takes its time, letting us sit and breathe in the harrowing situations Kornyev finds himself in. Whole conversations take place nonverbally: silent battles waged in stares and body language, dare Kornyev to back off and look the other way. Equally as frequent are trials of patience, where Kornyev is forced to wade through soul-crushing bureaucracy to an almost Kafkaesque degree. 

It’s to Loznitsa and cinematographer Oleg Mutu’s credit that the film is eminently watchable and incredibly suspenseful. We can immerse ourselves in the starkly still, desaturated tableaus, which sometimes resemble a stage-play, and experience the doomed clock ticking along with Kornyev in real-time.

The film’s ensemble is uniformly excellent, with Kuznetsov giving his admirably flawed character equal parts dignity and face-palming frustration. Kornyev ignores clues that are right in front of him while remaining steadfast in his beliefs of right and wrong, and who he assumes is on which side of the scale.

In this sense, Kornyev is a maddeningly flawed character that we desperately want to “wake up”; but his faith in government also reflects a deep-seated optimism that nobly counters the society, and film, that he’s a piece of. Many of the actors actually fled Russia following Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“Two Prosecutors” is a coldly engrossing watch. Its intense focus on the here-and-now and economical storytelling doesn’t bog us down in historical dumps or convoluted plotting.

Loznitsa’s film is quietly unrelenting — celebrating Kornyev’s determination while mocking his naivete (partially through some weirdly buoyant musical interludes); he’s existing within a dystopian system that cannot simply be dismantled by “doing the right thing.” 

Loznitsa paints obvious parallels to modern times, if we’re willing to look, and “Two Prosecutors” shouldn’t be missed.

“Two Prosecutors” is a 2025 legal thriller from Ukranian director Sergei Loznitsa and run time is 1 hour, 58 minutes. It plays Friday through Sunday, May 8-10, as part of the Webster University Film Series, which takes place om the Winifred Moore Auditorium, Webster Hall, 470 E. Lockwood, Webster Groves, MO 63119. Alex’s Grade: A

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Breathtaking Style Dominates David Lowery’s Latest ‘Mother Mary’

Breathtaking Style Dominates David Lowery’s Latest ‘Mother Mary’

By Alex McPherson

Stunning, beguiling, and wholeheartedly its own thing, director David Lowery’s “Mother Mary” is a polarizing experience where pretentiousness is part of the charm.

This gothic-horror-romance-pop-song-chamber-drama follows the titular Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway), a world-famous, Taylor-Swift-adjacent popstar preparing a comeback tour after she experiences a harrowing onstage accident that we get a split-second glimpse of in the film’s opening moments.

Mary is exhausted and a hollowed-out shell of her former self. She has a panic attack during a costume fitting and rushes to the English countryside to make a surprise visit to her former best friend and costume designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel). Sam harbors palpable resentment after being ghosted (no pun intended) 10 years ago. 

Mary is desperate for Sam to make her a dress for the tour so she can “be herself” and find “clarity.” Sam — with a prickly, slyly wolfish demeanor — agrees to take on the challenge. She also sees an opportunity for Mary to address past wrongs in their professional and personal relationship.

Within a foreboding barn-turned-workshop, Sam and Mary get to work, with Sam gradually unspooling years of resentment. Social niceties give way to daggers (and scissors) as the two confront the end of their creative partnership:

Sam’s tireless work to support Mary’s celebrity persona has largely gone unrecognized; the pressures of fame and of constantly being in the spotlight have taken a massive toll on Mary’s psyche and eroded her sense of self. Still, there’s work to be done and a deadline to meet. At least, until things get trippily metaphysical.

Yep, this is definitely a film by the director of “The Green Knight” and “A Ghost Story.” It floats along on its own visually astounding wavelength that never loosens its grip on its insistence for weirdness.

“Mother Mary” is ultimately a difficult experience to pin down — unimpeachable in its craft elements and its central performances, but strangely simplistic in what the narrative boils down to: a whole lot of stylistic extravagance for a story whose emotional beats feel oddly schematic.

Still, Lowery’s latest is a bizarre experience made with such conviction that even when the story’s reach exceeds its grasp, the mesmerizing, phantasmagorical, genre-bending style never loses its impact. “Mother Mary” demands to be watched on the big screen.

It’s filled with gorgeous costumes, eardrum-busting concert numbers (featuring songs by Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX, and FKA Twigs), intensely intimate drama, gnarly horror, and spectral beauty, where the past elegantly blends with the present. 

The shadow-drenched barn becomes a portal to Mary and Sam’s history and imaginations, where their spiritual connection to each other is realized in ways both deeply earnest and unnerving. “Mother Mary” renders the force between the women literal as they each grapple with the weights of their connection and regrets; Daniel Hart’s score’s pulsing bass resembles a beating heart.

Hathaway and Coel are wholly up for Lowery’s wild swings, with Coel in particular commanding her every second onscreen. Cinematographers Rina Yang and Andrew Droz Palermo often frame her in close-up;

Coel’s face almost seems alien at times, her character’s sharp features, deep voice, and acid tongue intimidating and imposing (and sometimes darkly funny), although Sam herself is a heartbroken soul searching desperately for closure. 

Hathaway gives an equally excellent performance as the tormented celebrity. We see the years of expectations and regrets weighing her down, and her embracing a completely different persona onstage amid blinding lights and screaming fans.

One of the film’s best sequences involves Mary showing Sam her dance routine without music — monstrous and animalistic, hinting at the film’s increasingly supernatural influences.

It’s frustrating that “Mother Mary” doesn’t make the characters’ journeys quite as resonant. Indeed, while the film is – mostly – enigmatic to its benefit, Mary and Sam are too thinly-sketched as characters for their relationship to have the emotional thrust “Mother Mary” insists it does.

The main appeal is seeing just what elaborately hallucinatory set-piece Lowery has in store next, rather than investment in their (bluntly-spelled-out) inner battles. The film is so sincere, so earnest, about matters of the heart, but it opts for spectacle, which betrays the more nuanced drama that would truly let viewers into Mary and Sam’s worlds.

So, “Mother Mary” is a bit of a mixed bag, albeit one that deserves to be celebrated nevertheless — creativity and eccentricity like this should be supported, whether or not it fully lands. It’s a beautiful mess.

“Mother Mary” is a 2026 dramatic music thriller written and directed by David Lowery starring Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Kaia Gerber, Hunter Schafer. and FKA twigs,, Its runtime is 1 hour, 52 minutes, and it is rated R for some violent content and language. It opened in theatres April 24. Alex’s Grade: B+.

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Season 4 of ‘Ted Lasso’ Returns to Apple TV on Aug. 5

Season 4 of ‘Ted Lasso’ Returns to Apple TV on Aug. 5

Apple TV has revealed the premiere date for the highly anticipated fourth season of global hit series “Ted Lasso,” starring and executive produced by Emmy Award winner Jason Sudeikis. “Ted Lasso” season four will make its global debut on Wednesday, August 5, 2026 with one episode, followed by new episodes every Wednesday through October 7.

Season four marks the return of fan favorites including Emmy Award -winner Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Emmy Award -winner Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt and Jeremy Swift, alongside new additions Tanya Reynolds, Jude Mack, Faye Marsay, Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey, Abbie Hern and Grant Feely.

In season four, Ted returns to Richmond, taking on his biggest challenge yet: coaching a second division women’s football team. Throughout the course of the season, Ted and the team learn to leap before they look, taking chances they never thought they would.

“Ted Lasso” season four adds Emmy Award -winner Jack Burditt as executive producer under a new overall deal with Apple TV. Sudeikis stars and executive produces alongside Hunt, Joe Kelly, Jane Becker, Jamie Lee and Bill Wrubel. Goldstein serves as writer and executive producer alongside Leann Bowen. Sarah Walker and Phoebe Walsh will serve as writers and producers for season four, and Sasha Garron co-produces.

Julia Lindon will write for season four, and Dylan Marron will serve as story editor. Bill Lawrence executive produces via his Doozer Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, a division of NBCUniversal content. Doozer’s Jeff Ingold and Liza Katzer also serve as executive producers. The series was developed by Sudeikis, Lawrence, Kelly and Hunt, and is based on the preexisting format and characters from NBC Sports.

Following its global debut on Apple TV, “Ted Lasso” broke records and quickly earned praise from fans and critics all over the world. The first season became the most Emmy® Award-nominated comedy series, and the series went on to land rare back-to-back Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys® for its first two seasons on air.

The first three seasons of “Ted Lasso” are now streaming globally on Apple TV.

Here is the teaser trailer: https://youtu.be/PxZg4SfIURg?si=XR4FosCREeq5wkZS

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