Popster Picks for Saturday, Sept. 24

Popster Picks for Saturday, Sept. 24

By Lynn Venhaus
What’s Poppin’ this Saturday? Here are our Popster Picks for the Bi-State Area (and beyond):

Live Theater: “Winds of Change” in Bevo Mill, presented by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. Free. LAST NIGHT.

One of my favorite things to do every September, Shake in the Streets this year is in my old stomping grounds. This year’s show is a delightful mix of music and comedy, performed with humor and heart.
It starts at 8 p.m. and will end about 9:20 p.m., without an intermission. There is local food and drink around the area, and it’s recommended that you come early. This is the last night, for it was performed Sept. 22 and 23 too.
The play, written by Deanna Jent, uses The Bard’s “The Comedy of Errors” as a foundation for a story on Bosnian immigrants’ contributions to St. Louis, is part of the “Shakespeare in the Streets” annual program. Come to the intersection of Gravois and Morganford, bring a lawn chair, and enjoy the spirited neighbors who love the transformed south city enclave. Lots of laughs and whoops from appreciative crowd (300 on opening night Thursday!)
Directed by Adam Flores, it features Ashwini Arora, Milly Burris, Hannah Geisz, Noah Later, Hady Matta, Youssef Matta, Colin McLaughlin, Brenda Morrison, Christina Rios, Rosario Rios-Kelley, Carly Uding and local denizens Father Mitch (Doyen, pastor of St. John the Baptist and Mark and Joani Akers of Oasis International. Edo Maajka plays the accordion and Nadja Kapetanovich performs a lullaby, “Nini Sine, Spavaj Sine.”
KTK Productions humorously explains the history of the Bevo Mill — Bill Bush, Aileen Kidwell, Chris Kidwell, Matthew Lewis, Jake Singer and Mike Singer III.
It took an army of folks to make the outdoor presentation happen. Kudos to producing artistic director Tom Ridgely, music direction and composition by Colin McLaughlin, music composition by Noah Laster, stage manager Kathryn Ballard, KTK Productions chair Joe McKenna, assistant director Miranda Jagels Felix, producer Colin O’Brien, set designer Dunsi Dai, costume designer Michele Friedman Siler, and lighting designer M. Bryant Powell.

Natalie Wood and James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause”

TV: “Rebel Without a Cause” on PBS Ch. 9, 9 p.m.
James Dean, Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood gained stature for their roles as conflicted suburban middle-class teenagers in this 1955 American coming-of-age drama directed by Nicholas Ray, shot in the recently introduced CinemaScope format. It opened on Oct. 27, almost a month after top-billed Dean’s tragic death in a car accident on Sept. 30. It’s his most celebrated role, and followed his Oscar nominated performance in “East of Eden.”

Offering social commentary, it was considered groundbreaking for depiction of moral decay, delinquents, parenting and generational gaps. After all, it was adapted from Robert M. Lindner’s 1944 book, “Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath.”

Mineo, Wood and Ray all received Oscar nominations. In 1998, it was ranked #59 on AFI’s Hundred Years…Hundred Movies.

Fun Fact: The most famous line: “You’re tearing me apart” was lifted by writer-director-actor Tommy Wiseau for his 2003 cult film “The Room” (the worst movie I have ever seen, and also one of the most unintentionally funny movies).

Movie: “Sidney” streaming on Apple TV Plus.
The 2022 documentary “Sidney” on the great Sidney Poitier, directed by East St. Louis native Reginald Hudlin and produced by Oprah Winfrey. You’ll hear from Sidney, his family, friends, filmmakers and fans for an indelible portrait of the artist — as a movie star, mentor and activist.
I reviewed the film on KTRS (“Mueller Furniture Presents Lynn Venhaus Goes to the Movies”) Thursday with St. Louis In the Know host Ray Hartmann. Here’s the audio: https://soundcloud.com/550ktrs/itk-lynn-venhaus-gttm-9-22-22?in=550ktrs/sets/rayhartmann

Stay tuned for an interview with Reginald Hudlin, coming soon in Belleville News-Democrat. I talked to the filmmaker Friday via Zoom.

Fun Fact: “In the Heat of the Night” was partially filmed in Sparta, Ill., which subbed for Sparta, Miss., and both Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger stayed in Belleville during the film of the 1967 film, which went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture (and Best Actor Steiger) in 1968.

Happening: Taste of St. Louis, Sept. 23-25, Ballpark Village, Free and open to the public.
Want to try Boardwalk Ice Cream and Waffles, Chicken Out, Hi-Pointe Drive-In, Kimchi Guys, Mission Taco Joint, Salt + Smoke, Steve’s Hot Dogs and Under the Sun SnoCones? Locally based brick and mortar food establishments can participate in Sauce Magazine’s Restaurant Row. There’s live music and other vendors that are part of the festivities. More info: https://tastestl.com

Fun Fact: On this day in 1952, Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its first franchise in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Machine, El Hombre, Uncle Albert.

ICYMI Cardinals Nation: No. 5

Can’t get enough of Albert Pujols‘ magical night Sept. 23? Check out coverage on the St. Louis Cardinals MLB site: https://www.mlb.com/cardinals (and a wrap-up article on this website).

Fun Fact: On this day in 1922, St Louis Cardinals future Baseball Hall of Fame infielder Rogers Hornsby set the National League Home Run mark at 42. That season, he also had 52 RBI’s, a .401 average and 450 total bases.

Millie Bobby Brown

Latest Trailer to Watch: “Enola Holmes 2”
Millie Bobby Brown is back in another adventure as Sherlock Holmes’ teenager sister in the sequel dropping on Netflix Nov. 4. Enola takes on her first case as a detective, but to unravel the mystery of a missing girl, she’ll need some help from friends — and her brother.

Also starring Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter, Louis Partridge, Adeel Akhtar, David Thewlis, Susan Wokoma and Sharon Duncan-Brewster.


https://youtu.be/KKXNmYoPkx0

Playlist: Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Listen on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/smells-like-teen-spirit/1440783617?i=1440783625
On this day in 1991, Nirvana released its second album, “Nevermind.”
A critical and commercial success, by January 1992, it had reached no. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart and this lead single has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The album garnered three Grammy Awards nominations and has sold more than 30 million copies, considered one of the best albums of all-time.
Frontman Kurt Cobain was dubbed “voice of his generation,” and the album brought grunge and alternative rock to the mainstream.


Classical Music Critic Sarah Bryan Miller Subject of PBS Documentary

Classical Music Critic Sarah Bryan Miller Subject of PBS Documentary

Nine PBS will air the documentary, The Places Music Has Taken Me: An Unfinished Story of Sarah Bryan Miller, Sunday, Sept. 18, at 3:30 pm, and in primetime Saturday, September 24, at 7 pm. It will also be available to stream anytime on ninepbs.org and the PBS Video App. 

Sarah Bryan Miller, or “Bryan” as she was known to friends and family, was the classical music critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for more than 20 years until her untimely death in November 2020. Before her death, Bryan’s editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch asked that she write a final retrospective about her career which she planned to be entitled: “The Places Music Has Taken Me.” 

Unfortunately, she was unable to complete her column but thanks to friend and local video documentarian Miran Halen, her legacy as a tough but fair-minded journalist and music critic is preserved in a film about her important role in the arts and the lives she touched.  

Hosted by internationally acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin, artistic leaders, colleagues, and friends throughout the country pay tribute to Bryan and the importance of the role of classical music reviewer plays in cultural life, particularly today. 

“I’d known Bryan for over two decades as a music critic for the St. Louis Post Dispatch,” says Halen. “When she was honored as a Media Persons of the Year by St. Louis Press Club in 2019, I was one of the honorary chairs and had the opportunity to work closely with her for six months. In doing so, I got to know more about her personal side and how much she truly loved the community. 

“Prior to Bryan’s passing, I talked with Bryan about what a music critic is all about. To her, it was much more than covering one evening’s performance; it was about providing a public service by educating the public about the arts. She believed in this so strongly that even when her health was failing, she was still writing and finding ways to provide accurate information to her readers.”  

Following Bryan’s death, Halen continued her research to create a retrospective  about her legacy and overarching feelings about intergenerational connectivity that music provides to audiences. 

The documentary promises to deliver on the goal to educate viewers on the important role a music critic plays in the arts. In addition to Bryan’s impressive accomplishments and legacy, she left generous gifts to a number of St. Louis community arts organizations, including the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre Saint Louis, and the Men and Women’s Choir. The St. Louis Press Club established a scholarship fund in Sarah Bryan Miller’s name for students interested in pursuing a career in music-related communications. 

Bryan was a member of the St. Louis Theater Circle, which annually awards excellence in regional professional theater and opera.

About Nine PBS  

As an essential community institution, Nine PBS magnifies and deepens understanding of our community to help our region flourish. We tell stories that move us. We meet people where they are the most comfortable consuming content. Nine PBS’s platforms include four distinct broadcast channels (Nine PBS, Nine PBS KIDS®, Nine PBS World, and Nine PBS Create), ninepbs.org, social media, the free PBS Video App, streaming services, live and virtual events, and the Public Media Commons. Since 1954, Nine PBS has accepted the community’s invitation into their homes, schools, and businesses. Follow Nine PBS on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. 

Nine PBS Offers More on Hemingway and His St. Louis Influences

Nine PBS Offers More on Hemingway and His St. Louis Influences

Before next month’s premiere of Hemingway on Nine PBS, tonight’s Living St. Louis at 7 pm features author Andrew Theising, who discusses the influence St. Louisans had on young Ernest Hemingway, including the three women from St. Louis whom he married.

On March 29 at 7 pm, Hemingway’s running with the bulls in Pamplona and his relationship with author A.E. Hotchner is on Living St. Louis.  Both episodes will livestream during broadcast and are available to watch after broadcast on ninepbs.org and the PBS Video App.

FILE – In this undated file photo, A.E. Hotchner, left, and author Ernest Hemingway pose for a photo in Seattle. Hotchner was staging Hemingway’s story “A Short Happy Life” in a pre-Broadway tour in Seattle. A.E. Hotchner, a well-traveled author, playwright and gadabout whose street smarts and famous pals led to a loving, but litigated memoir of Hemingway, business adventures with Paul Newman and a book about his Depression-era childhood that became a Steven Soderbergh film, died Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, at age 102. (AP Photo, File)

Nine PBS will also host a virtual screening with director Lynn Novick and producer Sarah Botstein on Monday, April 19, at noon. Registration will open soon at ninepbs.org/events.  

Ernest Hemingway, the iconic literary figure considered one of the greatest American writers and among the first to live and work at the treacherous nexus of art and celebrity, is the subject of an upcoming three-part, six-hour documentary series directed by award-winning filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.  

The series airs three consecutive nights, April 5-7, from 7-9 pm, with an encore presentation from 9–11 pm. Hemingway will be available to stream for free on ninepbs.org and the PBS Video App. A trailer for the series is available here.   

Narrated by long-time collaborator Peter Coyote, the series features an all-star cast of actors bringing Hemingway (voiced by Jeff Daniels), his friends, and family vividly to life. Through letters to and from his four wives—voiced by Meryl Streep, Keri Russell, Mary-Louise Parker and Patricia Clarkson—the film reveals Hemingway at his most romantic and his most vulnerable, grappling at times with insecurity, anxiety, and existential loneliness.  
   

Hemingway interweaves a close study of the biographical events of the author’s life with excerpts from his fiction, nonfiction, and short stories, informed by interviews with celebrated writers, scholars, and Hemingway’s son, Patrick. The filmmakers explore the painstaking process through which Hemingway created some of the most important works of fiction in American letters. 

“The documentary attempts to go beyond prevailing assumptions about Ernest Hemingway and his writing. At the same time, we are unsparing in our inquiry into less well-known aspects of his character and writing. Our intent is to offer viewers an honest portrayal of a complex and conflicted writer who left an indelible mark on literature,” says director Ken Burns. 

About Nine PBS  

As an essential community institution, Nine PBS exists to enable access to information, knowledge, and learning opportunities for all. We tell stories that move us. We meet people where they are the most comfortable consuming content. Nine PBS’s platforms include four distinct broadcast channels (Nine PBS, Nine PBS KIDS®, Nine PBS World, and Nine PBS Create), ninepbs.org, social media, the free PBS Video App, streaming services, live and virtual events, and the Public Media Commons. Since 1954, Nine PBS has accepted the community’s invitation into their homes, schools, and businesses. 

Ernest Hemingway and his second wife Pauline Pfeiffer


Finalist Acts Announced For St Louis Teen Talent Competition

Finalist Acts Announced For St Louis Teen Talent Competition

On February 28, fifty metro area high school acts competed in the semi-final round of the 11th Annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition.  Six outstanding performing arts professionals adjudicated the performances and narrowed the field to 14 acts (20 students) who will move on to the finals, performing on the Fabulous Fox Stage for a special NinePBS broadcast to air later this spring.

Annually 120,000+ viewers have watched the NinePBS feature program on the final competition.  We are thrilled that NinePBS is partnering with the us again to broadcast the 2021 competition. Due to pandemic constraints, the final competition will not be filmed in front of a live audience on stage at the Fox Theatre, however the finalists will have the opportunity to perform in front of a small group of their closest family and friends. Finalists include a variety of singers, musicians, dancers, a poet, and an acrobat (a list of acts can be found here). 

Mary Strauss, creator of the St. Louis Teen Competition and Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation Board President “It’s a thrill for me to see the competition evolve with new acts, talents and skills! Every year is so different – we have a great mix of talent this year!” 

In addition to the excitement of performing on the Fox Stage, contestants are eligible to win scholarships, prizes, and performance opportunities.  Nearly $50,000 in prizes, cash awards, and college scholarships will be distributed among the top competitors.  A full list of prizes along with official event information can be found on the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation’s (FPACF) website. 

The acts will be directed by St. Louis native Tony Parise, Broadway actor, dancer, director, choreographer, who is returning for his 11th year to write the script and direct the finals. Parise will work with choreographer Yvonne Meyer Hare and music director Steve Neale to prepare performers for filming on the Fox Stage.

Finalists acts will be judged on technical ability, interpretation, stage presence, and originality. Judges for the finals have careers spanning music, dance, and Broadway.  A complete list of final round judges is available on the FoxPACF website. 

The announcement of the date and time of the Nine PBS broadcast, subsequent re-broadcast, and online celebrations will be available on the FPACF website and Nine PBS website along with social media outlets. The 2020 winner was DemBari Taneh, a freestyle hip hop dancer from Kirkwood High School who will return this year for a special performance. A complete list of the past ten years of winners and finalists can be found on the FoxPACF website. 

Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation fosters, promotes, and encourages young people in the St. Louis region to discover and participate in the joy and wonder of live performances.

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