Take Ten with Actor-Director-Writer John Contini

Take Ten with Actor-Director-Writer John Contini

By Lynn Venhaus

Back in his day, John Barrymore was considered one of the most influential and idolized actors of stage and screen. He died at age 60 in 1942, and by then, his personal life — four divorces, alcohol abuse — had overshadowed his professional career. However, his glorious stage work, particularly his “Hamlet” in 1922, drew rave reviews for his tragic portrayals, and his body of work has been a testament to his legendary impact.

So, it seems fitting that John Contini, one of St. Louis’ most respected and tenacious actors, would assume the title role for a new production at the St. Louis Actors’ Studio in a limited engagement Dec. 1 -10 at the Gaslight Theatre, 360 N. Boyle. Performances are Friday through Sunday Dec. 1-3, and Tuesday through Sunday, Dec. 5-10, at 8 p.m. except for Sundays, which are at 3 p.m. For more information, visit: www.stlas.org

John Contini as “Barrymore.” Photo by Patrick Huber

The two-person play “Barrymore” by William Luce depicts the famous actor a few months before his death as he is rehearsing “Richard III,” which would be a revival of his 1920 Broadway triumph. Each act begins with a grand entrance onto the stage that he has rented to prepare for his comeback performance. He jokes with the audience, spars with the offstage prompter, reminisces about better times, and does delicious imitations of his siblings Lionel and Ethel. Frank, the stage manager that can be heard over the theatre’s loudspeaker, is voiced by Alexander Huber. The play is directed by Erin Kelley.

Produced on Broadway in 1997, Christopher Plummer won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actors in a Play, and reprised the role in a 2011 film adaptation.

Contini, who describes the actor as fascinating, has portrayed the larger-than-life thespian before, for the Avalon Theatre Company at the ArtSpace at Crestwood Court, both no longer in existence, in the summer of 2009. For that effort, he won a Kevin Kline Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play.

“I am grateful I get to revisit and revive John Barrymore,” he said.

His award-winning performance as Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” in 2014.

He has been an Equity and SAG/AFTRA actor for more than 40 years, and has performed in over 300 productions across the country. He has been in shows at the St. Louis Repertory Theatre, The Black Repertory Theatre, New Jewish Theatre, and The Muny in St. Louis, as well as the Fox in Atlanta, Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, August Wilson Theatre in New York City, Ozark Actors’ Theatre in Rolla, Mo., Maples Repertory Theatre in Macon, Mo., and the Bluff City Theatre in Hannibal, Mo., among others.

He won a St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama for his portrayal of Willy Loman in Insight Theater’s “Death of a Salesman” in 2014. For his “King Lear” at St. Louis Actors’ Studio, he received the GO Magazine Award as Best Actor. Other favorite roles include Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Norman Thayer in “On Golden Pond” and Henry Drummond in “Inherit the Wind.” He’s appeared in the film “Four Color Eulogy” with his son Jason Contini, who is also an actor.

He has also directed over 60 productions, including “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”: at St. Louis Actors’ Studio, for which he won Outstanding Director from the St. Louis Theater Circle. Other credits include “The Gin Game,” “American Buffalo,” “Tuesdays with Morrie,” “Deathtrap” and “I Do! I Do!”

John Contini in the movie “Four Color Eulogy”


Take Ten Q &A with John Contini:

1. What is special about your latest project?

 I like that I get to revisit and revive John Barrymore, who I find fascinating.

2. Why did you choose your profession/pursue the arts?

I could never see myself doing anything other than something in the Arts.  The arts are the windows to our culture.

3. How would your friends describe you?

Loyal, dependable and dedicated…I hope

4. How do you like to spend your spare time? 

Watching old movies, researching movies and writing and drawing.

5. What is your current obsession?

 Godzilla movies and drawing at the moment

6. What would people be surprised to find out about you? 

That I am a comic book collector, writer and artist.

7. Can you share one of your most defining moments in life? 

Professionally : the first time I appeared on stage at the age of 18. I just knew that this is what I had to do for the rest of my life.

8. Who do you admire most?

I have always admired the actor and the man Vincent Price and how he handled his life and his career.

9. What is at the top of your bucket list? 

I’m pretty easy.  Go to the Oscars or the Tonys LIVE would be fun.

10. How were you affected by the pandemic years, and anything you would like to share about what got you through and any lesson learned during the isolation periods? Any reflections on how the arts were affected? And what it means to move forward?

Father and son awards

The Covid years gave me a chance to finish the book I was writing and soon publishing, and to spend more time at home also to make plans for the future when things could open up again. It gave me time to reflect on what was important to me and how I wanted to spend the time I have left.  As for how Covid effected the Arts, I would say that the Arts became more private and personal because of the isolation. 


11. What is your favorite thing to do in St. Louis?

Walking in different parks

12. What’s next? 

I am working on a small independent film with my son Jason and promoting my book.

Inherit the Wind

More About John Contini
Birthplace: St Louis
Current location: St Louis
Family: wife Sharon, sons Jason and Nathan, daughter-in-law Danielle
Education: highest level Master in Theatre Arts from St. Louis University
Day job: retired
First job: Bagger at South Public Market
First movie you were involved in or made: Escape From New York
Favorite jobs/roles/plays or work in your medium? Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Wily Loman in Death Of A Salesman, Barrymore, directing: classic dramas like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff
Dream job/opportunity: Work for Spielberg
Awards/Honors/Achievements: Go Magazine Award Best Actor for King Lear, Kevin Kline award Best Actor for Barrymore, St Louis Theatre Circle awards: Best Actor for Wily Loman (Death of a Salesman) and Best Director for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff
Favorite quote/words to live by: Love the ART in yourself, not yourself in the ART.
A song that makes you happy: “Comedy Tonight” from “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to a Forum“

Bobby Miller and John Contini in “King Lear”

“Barrymore” is a limited engagement Dec. 1- 10, with shows performed Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., with special performances Tuesday, Dec. 5 and Wednesday, Dec. 6. General admission tickets are $40 each plus fees, $35 each plus fees for students with valid ID and seniors 65+, available via Ticketmaster or at the theater box office one hour before showtime. For more information, visit stlas.org or email help@stlas.org.

About St. Louis Actors’ Studio

St. Louis Actors’ Studio was founded to bring a fresh vision to theatre in St. Louis. Housed in The Gaslight Theater in historic Gaslight Square, STLAS is committed to bringing engaging theatrical experiences to our community of actors, writers, producers, filmmakers and all patrons of the arts; and to provide a strong ensemble environment to foster learning and artistic expression. St. Louis Actors’ Studio, through the use of ensemble work, will explore the endless facets and various themes of the human condition by producing existing and original collaborative theatre. For more information, visit stlas.org.


See the trailer for “Barrymore”: https://youtu.be/3h-7-XfS13k?si=__jG3lsqRCMFCNkV

John Contini, David Wassilak, Richard Lewis in “The Dresser” in 2018 at STLAS, directed by Bobby Miller.

Take Ten with Playwright Liza Birkenmeier

Take Ten with Playwright Liza Birkenmeier

By Lynn Venhaus

In what she describes as a dream, Liza Birkenmeier came home to St. Louis to oversee the mounting of her play “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House,” which the St. Louis Actors’ Studio is producing this month at The Gaslight Theatre, an appropriate location for a city rooftop peering over the Mississippi River near Interstate 55.

Featuring St. Louis references and specific songs from that summer, the action takes place on June 17, 1983, on the eve of astronaut Sally Ride’s historic Challenger Space Shuttle mission.

“To be in St. Louis for the process — for the process to be in St. Louis at all — is a dream. The play takes place here and is full of the wonder I have at the city and the people,” she said.

The New York-based playwright, 37, was commissioned by Ars Nova in New York City, where it premiered in 2019, and became a New York Times Critics Pick and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

Selecting Sally Ride came later to the process, Liza said. But when she found out the date of her launch, and how, as the first American woman astronaut, she still couldn’t live an authentic life, so she was a closeted lesbian. In her obituary some 30 years later, she mentioned her partner of 27 years.

RN Healey and Lindsey Brill in STLAS’s “Dr Ride’s American Beach House” Photo by Patrick Huber

The play’s female characters include two lesbians who are childhood friends, Matilda and Harriet, who have MFAs in poetry but work as waitresses, and have invited a guest, Meg, to their Two Serious Women Book Club. Meg is an out-lesbian, and she is shocking to them, how comfortable she is being herself.

Smartly written and acted, the play gives us snapshots of women living lives of quiet desperation, and what a bold, risky, adventurous woman like Sally Ride represents to them.

The comedy-drama runs Oct. 6-22, with Thursday through Saturday performances at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. at The Gaslight Theatre, 358 N. Boyle Ave., St. Louis.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or at the box office one hour prior to the performance. For more information, visit www.stlas.org

Birkenmeier has a connection with St. Louis Actors’ Studio, as she performed in the riveting drama “Blackbird” in 2018, earning a St. Louis Theater Circle nomination for outstanding actress as the 27-year-old Una, who confronts the 55-year-old man, Ray, who seduced her 15 years ago, when she was 12. John Pierson played Ray in this complex portrayal of ruined lives intertwined. Her director, Annamaria Pileggi, is also the director of her show.

Liza Birkenmeier and John Pierson in “Blackbird” at STLAS in 2018

In her notes, she said she is grateful to work with Pileggi, Patrick Huber, and Amy Paige again, and to be united (or reunited) with this group of artists.

After high school in St. Louis, Liza earned a bachelor’s degree in drama at Washington University and an MFA degree at Carnegie Mellon University. She now lives in Brooklyn with her wife, Shannon, and two cats.

Her work as a playwright has been seen and developed at The Public Theatre, TiQ, HERE, Dixon Place, University Settlement, Playwrights Realm, Lincoln Center, and elsewhere.

She is a New Georges Affiliated Artist, a Yaddo and Macdowell Fellow, and is currently commissioned by Sam French and the Manhattan Theatre Club.

“F*ck7thGrade,” a musical collaboration with Jill Sobule, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for outstanding musical and was also a New York Times Critics Pick and finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Drama; it will return to the Wild Project this fall, where it premiered in 2022.

Recently, she premiered “Grief Hotel” at Clubbed Thumb, directed by Tara Ahmadinejad. Other plays include “Islander,” “Honestly Sincere” (New York Times Critics Pick/Drama League Award), and “Radio Island” (finalist for the Philip Seymour Hoffman Relentless Award).

This semester, she is teaching playwrighting at Washington University and has written a novel. There is a lot more wit, wonder and words in her future.

The Take Ten Questionnaire:

1.What is special about your latest project?

“There are too many special things about this production of ‘Dr. Ride’s American Beach House’ at STLAS for me to name. To be in St. Louis for the process — for the process to be in St. Louis at all — is a dream. The play takes place here and is full of the wonder I have at the city and the people.

Annamaria Pileggi and I have been working together since I was her student at Wash U. I’m wildly happy that she’s directing this particular piece here and now. The cast and creative team are full of former classmates and teachers. It’s a warm and surreal experience.”


2. Why did you choose your profession/pursue the arts?

“It would have been so much saner for me to have chosen this! Truly, I have a compulsion to make stuff and then try to show people. I’ve always imagined building planets, inviting people to visit them, and then feeling desperate for someone to say: ‘Oh, I’ve always wished to be here!’ There’s no reason; it’s embarrassing.”

3. How would your friends describe you?

“Inspiring and competent. (Is this getting fact-checked?)”

4. How do you like to spend your spare time?

Walking around my neighborhood, trying to become a genius.

5. What is your current obsession?

It hasn’t changed in so many–thirty? –years! Novels. 

6. What would people be surprised to find out about you?

“I love Provel cheese?”

7. Can you share one of your most defining moments in life?

“When I was in the fifth grade (at the Forsyth School), I insisted on playing the ‘sailor that gets mauled by the Cyclops’ in the class production of The Odyssey. There was no such part, but I guess I weaseled in a scene in which I could die a violent death, come back to life, and sing a solo. In a way I don’t know if I can explain, this is what I continue to do.”


8. Who do you admire most?

“My cats.”


9. What is at the top of your bucket list?

“I would like to pull off an elaborate con. Ideally, this would be theatrical, nonviolent, and lucrative. Or have a novel published. Somehow this feels like the same thing.”


10. How were you affected by the pandemic years, and anything you would like to share about what got you through and any lesson learned during the isolation periods? Any reflections on how the arts were affected? And what does it means to move forward?

“My dad, who is a pulmonary critical care physician, was working in the COVID unit at the Veterans Hospital here in St. Louis, and I was at home in Brooklyn. While I think he’s the coolest person imaginable, I dreaded that part of his work. As things felt more ‘normal’ with time, I started to work again, and I found that writing in novel ways, for novel opportunities–for online pieces, podcasts, all non-live stuff–was so healthy for my brain.

I always think I’m being ‘creative,’ but I wonder if even in untraditional, off-Broadway theater, I had gotten into accidental habits. The first play I wrote for live performance since 2020 was called ‘Grief Hotel’ and somehow had, in sneaky ways, some sadness and anxiety of isolation, even though it was a comedy. It premiered at Clubbed Thumb in New York this summer, and was one of my favorite, proudest experiences.


11. What is your favorite thing to do in St. Louis?

See my friends and go to Blues games.

12. What’s next?

“I wrote a novel. Wish me luck!”


More About Liza Birkenmeier

Birthplace: Olivette
Current location: Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY since 2012.
Family: My wife, Shannon, and two cats, Lila and Lenù
Education: BA Washington University. MFA Carnegie Mellon.
Day job: This semester, teaching Playwriting at Wash U!
First job: Brown Shoe warehouse, replacing choking hazard laces on Build-A-Bear Sketchers.

Awards/Honors/Achievements: I’m most proud of being a two-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Drama and of my work with Ars Nova and Clubbed Thumb in New York.

Favorite quote/words to live by: Sentences that Yiyun Li, Annie Dillard, Elena Ferrante, Elif Batuman, Maggie Nelson, Iris Murdoch, and Annie Erneaux wrote. 

“Dr Ride’s American Beach House” off-Broadway. Photo by Ben Arons

STLAS’ ‘Dr. Ride’s American Beach House’ Reflects A Different Frontier

STLAS’ ‘Dr. Ride’s American Beach House’ Reflects A Different Frontier

By Lynn Venhaus

Women leading lives of quiet desperation are hanging out on a rooftop one sweltering summer evening in red brick south city St. Louis.

Intrigued? In the smartly written and well-acted “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House,” you are not going to get a pat script here. In fact, St. Louis playwright Liza Birkenmeier’s comedy-drama provokes more questions than answers – but in a good way.

It’s Friday, June 17, 1983. The time, date and place are firmly established if the play does not, or refuses to, fit into tidy boxes. The songs of that summer, catchy radio hits, immediately take you back to that period as they blare out of a boombox.

NASA nerds can point to that night as the eve of astronaut Sally Ride’s groundbreaking achievement as the first American woman in space as part of the Challenger Space Shuttle mission.

To these unfulfilled women hanging out in the sticky humid air “near Highway 55 and the Mississippi River,” they realize this is a giant leap forward for women, at least professionally. But for Dr. Ride, she can’t acknowledge that she’s gay until she announces it in her obituary nearly 30 years later, revealing her partner of 27 years, Tam O’Shaughnessy.

However, it’s still a big-deal achievement that they are in awe of – risky, bold, adventurous. Not spoken out loud is that it was just a different time – that uncomfortable putting on a front to not make waves move so many accepted as the way it had to be.

They are stuck in ruts of their own choosing, as they stay in second gear living inauthentic lives. Harriet and Matilda, seemingly lifelong friends who share a deeper relationship and should be self-aware that their failure to launch is self-inflicted, display a palpable bond and familiar shorthand. Whatever is currently troubling them is suppressed in exchange for quips and vague discontent.

The setting is Harriet’s place, a sanctuary above where the hum of her air-conditioning unit dripping water – that irritates her landlady Norma (Lizi Watt)—is a nuisance that she’s ignoring.

As played by the intuitive Lindsay Brill, Harriet’s a wallower, a quick-to-be irritated woman going nowhere. She has returned from visiting her dying mother in Florida, carrying plenty of emotional baggage, and is drinking a beer and eating ice cream straight out of a carton for dinner. There is mention of a boyfriend, but that reeks of convenience.

She’s as restless as bestie Matilda, who has stopped by, still wearing her waitress uniform, singing snippets of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” and griping about her sick child and lack of a supportive husband. Clearly a life choice that she seems ill-suited for, as she tosses off quips and complaints. She brings up that she is smart, a chip-on-the-shoulder retort — after all has an MFA in poetry. We can tell her verbal skills are highly evolved, and Bridgette Bassa breezes in as a force to be reckoned with – but maybe she’s all talk?

These two women may rhyme together, but nothing else does in their fragmented lives. It would be an ordinary, insignificant night, but it’s not, really.

Birkenmeier, now living in New York City, made her off-Broadway debut with this play, which premiered in 2019 after being commissioned by Ars Nova in New York. It was a New York Times Critics Pick and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Drama.

RN Healey

This is her return to St. Louis Actors’ Studio as a playwright, after her astonishing performance in “Blackbird” in 2018, nominated for Best Actress in a Drama by the St. Louis Theater Circle. She appears to have an old soul and a sharp wit.

Annamaria Pileggi directed her then, and helms this current production, intending for us to read between the lines. Pileggi, STLAS’ associate artistic director, is assured in drawing out the personalities of these dissatisfied women who sadly lack the tools to take the reins of their own lives.

They are ‘meeting’ for the Two Serious Women Book Club, but really, that’s not happening, although newcomer Meg comes over to join them by invitation. Now Meg, as played by an assertive RN Healey, is everything these two are not: comfortable in her own skin. Wearing a rock band T-shirt and showing tattoos while wearing scrubsi, she could easily stand up and unapologetically sing “I Am What I Am” at a nearby karaoke.

Are Harriet and Matilda afraid of pursuing their own journeys, hiding in the trappings of a humdrum life because it would be too difficult to take the road not traveled?

That’s for you to ponder – especially if you think we are our choices.

 For certain, this production features vibrant, fully realized performances, punctuated by an astute selection of songs of the day. (Brilliant choices – especially the misunderstood “Every Breath You Take” hit by The Police, not a love song suitable for weddings).

You will hear the sounds of loneliness, remembering what you had and what you lost.

Patrick Huber’s interesting rooftop set design captures the modest space of multiple story flats, with thrift shop finds, aided by Kristi Gunther’s effective lighting design, using accent lamps and strings of lights as twilight falls.

Emma Glose’s sound design is crisp and clear, and her props selection reflect life 40 years ago. Abby Pasterello has wisely chosen appropriate costumes, hair and makeup looks. And as always, Stage Manager Amy J. Paige keeps things flowing smoothly.

This robust 90-minute production indicates Birkenmeier has a special voice and showcases a tight quartet who were at ease playing complicated females. We can look back now, and say affirmatively women have come a long way.

St. Louis Actors’ Studio presents “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House” Oct. 6-22, with Thursday through Saturday performances at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. at The Gaslight Theatre, 358 N. Boyle Ave., St. Louis. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or at the box office one hour prior to the performance. For more information, visit www.stlas.org

Lindsay Brill, Bridgette Bassa

Lissome Acting and Distinct Points of View Mark This Year’s ‘LaBute New Theater Festival’

Lissome Acting and Distinct Points of View Mark This Year’s ‘LaBute New Theater Festival’

By Lynn Venhaus

This year’s LaBute New Theater Festival dives right into blistering topical commentary on our great societal divide, and while “Safe Space” is one of the playwright’s sharpest one-acts in the fest’s nine-year history, the best play is about a troubled prizefighter who hasn’t been in the news for decades.

“One Night in the Many Deaths of Sonny Liston” by JB Heaps of New York City is a masterfully constructed conjecture about what might have happened the night the former heavyweight champion died on Dec. 30, 1970.

Both plays feature Reginald Pierre, who has frequently been a part of the festival since it began in 2013, and next to his outstanding work as Lincoln in “Topdog/Underdog” that same year, this is his finest hour, as Sonny Liston and as a theatergoer in “Safe Space.”

In a revelatory performance as Liston, Pierre conveys bravado, hurt, resentment, and toughness recounting how, as a celebrated and feared sports figure, he faded from glory as his bad boy reputation persisted.

Considered an outsider, his difficulties adjusting to fame, and those demands that led to his downfall are documented by Heaps in clever dollops of dialogue, as Liston opens up to a professional escort delivering a “Christmas present” from sordid types he does business with, at his home in Vegas.

While only hinted at, these presumed underworld figures are connected to a multi-state mob syndicate. All very shady, the real details are murky, and Heaps weaves a plausible tale because the tango Pierre does with Eileen Engel, playing this mysterious woman, is riveting.

With a world-weary air and looking glamorous in a glitzy evening gown, Engel’s smoothness makes us question whether she’s compassionate or has ulterior motives, and the more Liston spills the tea, what is her story?

As Pierre, who does not physically resemble an imposing boxer, skillfully peels back layers on Liston, he divulges a litany of hard-knock life injustices, his triumphs in the ring, and his torment over being blacklisted by the boxing establishment.

Eileen Engel, Reginald Pierre. Photo by Patrick Huber

Through exposition, Heaps shares key facts about one sharecropper’s son, born in Arkansas, an ex-con who knocked out Floyd Patterson, tussled with Muhammad Ali, hobnobbed with the rich and famous – and is included in the famous artwork on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover. For real!

Thoughtfully directed by Kari Ely, she lets the drama unfold naturally while Pierre and Engel establish a rhythm, keep each other sharp, projecting both a mutual like and a distrust. It was one of the few plays in the line-up that was gripping until the very end.

The climactic impact is genuine, bolstered by the superb performances but also Heaps’ knowledge of the subject. A second-act playwright at 71, he retired from a television career as an executive producer for Showtime Sports where his shows on boxing won five Emmy Awards. (As they say, write what you know).

Liston’s death has remained suspicious for some 50 years, fueled by knowledge that he was a heavy drinker and used heroin. While no one knew for sure, his age was estimated at 40. His wife, Geraldine, whom he married in 1950, was from St. Louis and there visiting her mother over the holidays. She discovered his body about two weeks after authorities think he died.

Because Pierre gives emotional heft to a tragic, larger-than-life figure, you may want to find out more about the guy, nicknamed “The Bear,” and there is a 2019 Showtime documentary called “Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston.”

Heaps’ play opens the second act, while “Safe Space” kicks off the presentation.

Engel, Anthony Wininger. Photo by Patrick Huber.

LaBute, the provocateur, through shrewd writing and supple performers, tackles the current state of “us vs. them,” the culture wars and racial friction in the U.S., in “Safe Space.” It is through the theatrical lens that he explores how we got to this point and is today’s state of outrage histrionic or necessary.

Here, he seats a privileged white woman (Jane Paradiso) next to a black theatergoer (Reginald Pierre) for a performance advertised as a special evening for African Americans to come together for this show, although they allowed others to purchase tickets too. The Man attempts to be polite in the shared space, but the Woman feels his agitation, and let the verbal sparring begin.

LaBute, the longtime playwright and screenwriter, has written a new work for every festival, and his highly verbal and rhythmic dialogue is well-suited for one of his favorite themes – political correctness. And add the divisive climate now infiltrating every aspect of daily life, and let the fur fly.

We’re at a point where any little thing we say — whether misunderstood, taken out of context, or deemed inappropriate, will be used against us in the public court of opinion. And is anyone really listening anymore or just shouting to be heard? “Safe Space” touches on all those notes.

The points of view here are strong, so if you wince at any confrontation, be warned. But it is a lively exchange that does come to some sort of truce. And a time capsule entry for 2023.

Paradise is captivating as a woman huffy about being perceived as entitled, but then demonstrating why one could understand that observation and Pierre easily throws shade with some glances and reactions, defensive about why he’s pitching a fit. Both are deft in their delivery, and John Contini astute in his direction of the rapid-fire, razor-sharp piece.

Laurel Button, Colleen Backer. Photo by Patrick Huber.

Like LaBute’s play, the others utilize the intimacy of the black box stage to their advantage. The festival features works that have up to four characters.

The other three dramas in the line-up this year include “The Blind Hem” by Bryn McLaughlin of Oregon, “DaVinci’s Cockroach” by Amy Tofte, and “The Mockingbird’s Nest” from Craig Bailey of Vermont.

I heard someone in the audience compare the offerings to a box of chocolates. The plays, always a mixed bag, are memorable when they are a touch strange and keep us off guard. Others prefer less edge, but different is better than staid.

In any case, the talent is usually affecting, and this year, the format lends itself to their particular strengths. Colleen Backer, who excels at portraying eccentrics, is a jittery scientist named Dana whose work destroys things. Perhaps she’s soulless, she seems guilty about the way her life has gone. Loathe to connection, she does engage with a staff member, Finn, who is having a bad day at an art museum in “DaVinci’s Cockroach.”

They talk about things trivial and big-picture, and you want to know more about the pair, to an extent. But hen Tofte just goes on for far too long. But Laurel Button is impressive as a kooky, colorful young woman for whom art brings joy.

“The Blind Hem” is a melancholy-tinged romance between a college professor and a former student – hence named after the ‘invisible’ stitches in a garment, and is one of those character studies where you have to read between the lines to fully grasp what is happening, and what transpired before we entered their cheap motel room. Anthony Wininger is Robert, a conflicted man fooling himself about life, while Eileen Engel is Kate, no longer in school but still naïve.

They’re fine, although unsympathetic, but does McLaughlin’s play say anything new or explore another facet of an illicit romance that we haven’t seen before?

“The Mockingbird’s Nest” takes on another familiar topic – an aging parent’s dementia but does so with a technological twist. We’ve wound up in the twilight zone, and that’s a clever aspect of Craig Bailey’s piece. But despite Backer and Paradise’s splendid portrayals, the play ultimately loses steam by not trimming what seemed to be a tacked-on ending.

The production crew is efficient in setting the scenes for each show, and Abby Pastorelli’s costume design nails each personality in a simple yet effective way. She also did the artwork shown, which is for sale.

A 10-member panel selects the plays from submissions across the country. It’s nice to see a rebound from the pandemic that halted theater, then delayed its reboot with those pesky variants.

The presentations offer food for thought, an opportunity to see something thought-provoking and watch local performers shine, but best of all, support new work.

Backer, Paradise. Photo by Patrick Huber

St. Louis Actors’ Studio presents the ninth annual LaBute New Theater Festival July 7 to 9, July 13-16, and July 20-23, with performances at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 3 p.m. on Sundays at The Gaslight Theater on North Boyle in the Central West End. For more information: www.stlas.org

Ninth Annual LaBute New Theater Festival Celebrates Emerging Writers

Ninth Annual LaBute New Theater Festival Celebrates Emerging Writers

St. Louis Actors’ Studio (STLAS) is pleased to present its ninth annual LaBute New Theater Festival celebrating new works by emerging professional and high school playwrights July 7-23 at The Gaslight Theater. STLAS received hundreds of submissions worldwide and selected four to be produced on the stage at The Gaslight Theater, along with a brand new piece by esteemed film director, screenwriter and playwright Neil LaBute, for whom the festival and is named and who serves on its creative team. This year’s productions include the following works/playwrights:

§  The Mockingbird’s Nest by Craig Bailey of Vermont

§  One Night in the Many Deaths of Sonny Liston by JB Heaps of New York

§  Da Vinci’s Cockroach by Amy Tofte of California

§  The Blind Hem by Bryn McLaughlin of Oregon

§  Safe Space by Neil LaBute

“We are pleased to once again share the works of some of the country’s best emerging playwrights, as well as Neil LaBute,“ said William Roth, founder and artistic director of St. Louis Actors Studio. 

Shows will be performed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and on Sundays at 3 p.m. General admission tickets are $30 each plus fees, $25 each plus fees for students with valid ID and seniors 65+, available via Ticketmaster or at the theater box office one hour before show time. For more information, visit stlas.org or email help@stlas.org.

John Pierson, Neil LaBute, William Roth. Photo by Russ Rowland.

About St. Louis Actors’ Studio

St. Louis Actors’ Studio was founded to bring a fresh vision to theatre in St. Louis. Housed in The Gaslight Theater in historic Gaslight Square, STLAS is committed to bringing engaging theatrical experiences to our community of actors, writers, producers, filmmakers and all patrons of the arts; and to provide a strong ensemble environment to foster learning and artistic expression.

St. Louis Actors’ Studio, through the use of ensemble work, will explore the endless facets and various themes of the human condition by producing existing and original collaborative theatre. For more information, visit stlas.org.

Nancy Bell and Chauncy Thomas in Carter Lewis’ “Percentage America,” which won Best New Play from the St Louis Theater Circle in 2018. Photo by Patrick Huber.

COVER PHOTO of Jane Paradise and Reginald Pierre in Neil LaBute’s “Safe Space” by Patrick Huber

St. Louis Actors’ Studio Announces 16th Season: ‘A Way Forward’

St. Louis Actors’ Studio Announces 16th Season: ‘A Way Forward’

St. Louis Actors’ Studio (STLAS) is pleased to announce its thrilling16th Season at The Gaslight Theater – ‘A Way Forward,’ including the following productions:

Liza Birkenmeier

Dr Ride’s American Beach House by Liza Birkenmeier, October 6-22, 2023: Directed by Associate Artistic Director Annamaria Pileggi, STLAS is proud to present this play by friend and Actor/Playwright Liza Birkenmeier. Birkenmeier last performed on the STLAS stage as Una in BLACKBIRD and has gone on to become a successful playwright in New York. 

Dr Ride’s American Beach House is an intimate snapshot of queer anti-heroines. On the eve of Dr. Sally Ride’s historic space flight, four women with passionate opinions and no opportunities sit on a sweltering St. Louis rooftop, watching life pass them by.

Barrymore, By William Luce, December 1-10, 2023:

A two-week limited engagement directed by Erin Kelley, Barrymore featuresstalwart St. Louis actor John Contini’s return to the STLAS stage to reprise the role in which Christopher Plummer won a Tony for his portrayal of John Barrymore. Each act begins with a stunning entrance onto a stage that the legendary actor has rented to prepare for a comeback performance of Richard III. Barrymore jokes with the audience, spars with an offstage prompter, reminisces about better times, and does delicious imitations of his siblings Lionel and Ethel.

Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, February 9-25, 2024:

This winner of three Tony® Awards is directed by Wayne Salomon. In 1941, German physicist Werner Heisenberg went to Copenhagen to see his Danish counterpart, Niels Bohr. Together they had revolutionized atomic science in the 1920s, but now they were on opposite sides of a world war.

Brendan Fraser, Oscar winner for “The Whale”

The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter, April 5-21, 2024:

Now an Academy Award® Winning Film, The Whale, directed by Associate Artistic Director Annamaria Pileggi, stars Artistic Director William Roth as an obese recluse, hiding away from the world and slowly eating himself to death as he is given one last chance at redemption.

LaBute New Theater Festival, July 2024:

In the return of STLAS’ month-long festival, renowned playwright Neil LaBute will delight audiences with his own new story along with the winning submissions from emerging high school and professional playwrights.

“This is a very exciting and diverse season,” says Artistic Director WIlliam Roth. “Producing a fantastic play by St. Louis’ own Liza Birkenmeier, the return of John Contini, who has been with us from day one, and welcoming Erin Kelley to our directing ranks. Each of the plays this season examines human failings, hopes and dreams as we all look for ‘A Way Forward’.”

STLAS appreciates the support of its diverse corporate sponsors including McCormack Baron Salazar, Missouri Arts Council, Regional Arts Commission, The Clifford Willard Gaylord Foundation and the Rex Foundation. 

For subscriptions and individual ticket info, visit stlas.org.

About St. Louis Actors’ Studio

St. Louis Actors’ Studio was founded to bring a fresh vision to theatre in St. Louis.

Housed in The Gaslight Theater in historic Gaslight Square, STLAS is committed to bringing engaging theatrical experiences to our community of actors, writers, producers, filmmakers and all patrons of the arts; and to provide a strong ensemble environment to foster learning and artistic expression.

St. Louis Actors’ Studio, through the use of ensemble work, will explore the endless facets and various themes of the human condition by producing existing and original collaborative theatre. For more information, visit stlas.org. 

Chekhov’s ‘Uncle Vanya’ Is An Acting Showcase at St. Louis Actors’ Studio

Chekhov’s ‘Uncle Vanya’ Is An Acting Showcase at St. Louis Actors’ Studio

By Lynn Venhaus

Ah, existential angst. Few acting roles are as consequential as the ones in Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” and few casts are up to the stimulating challenge like the outstanding ensemble is at St. Louis Actors’ Studio.

Expert craftsmen present deeply felt and moving performances, as they peel off the many layers of Chekhov’s tortured characters like they are giving a master class in rejuvenating a classic 19th century work.

To portray how a family’s ordinary life on a rural estate is disrupted by a self-centered relative and his alluring younger second wife one summer, each performer shades the subtext, making sure the melancholy is perceived and yet, displaying glimmers of joy.

Smooth, insightful direction by Annamaria Pileggi makes every corner of The Gaslight Theatre’s intimate black box crackle with tension and melodrama as messy family entanglements unfold.

Greg Johnston makes the vain retired university professor Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov thoroughly detestable. He has lived in the city for years on the earnings of his late first wife’s rural estate. You can understand his brother-in-law Vanya’s resentment and how his faithful wife Yelena has fallen out of love with this irritable, demanding man.

As the beautiful Yelena, Jennelle Gilreath Owens makes her misery palpable and her torment realistic over two other men professing their love, as she has beguiled them with regal bearing, and intelligence.

John Pierson as Uncle Vanya. Photo by Patrick Huber.

As lovesick Vanya, aka Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky, John Pierson gives one of his finest, most explosive performances – and I didn’t think he could top “Blackbird” and “Annapurna,” but he burns bright as an agitated powder keg of conflicting emotions and seethes, consumed by grudges, and fumes, because of the rejections and his many regrets. It’s also a surprisingly physical part, too.

Grumbling Vanya and his devoted niece Sonya have kept the crumbling estate going, all in service to the professor, and he is hopping mad at giving his life to such a thankless role. His sister, first wife, is Sonya’s mother and this was her estate.

In a devastating performance, Bryn McLaughlin is heartbreaking as beleaguered Sonya, written as “plain” but kind, and wise beyond her years. She is in love with the visiting doctor, Mikhail Astrov, who only has eyes for Yelena, and endures countless agony as a woman without any prospects for marriage. McLaughlin, a young actress fairly new to St. Louis, breaks through in this memorable role.

Our empathy for Sonya is strong. As the rock of the family, she clings to her idealism as well as her practical nature, still hopeful and understanding of her circumstances. She soothes her malcontent uncle, even though she is deserving of happiness too.

Michael James Reed is commanding as the visiting country doctor Mikhail Lvovich Astrov, glum yet charismatic. His provincial existence isn’t fulfilling, and neither is his medical work, although he takes it very seriously.

He is clueless about Sonya’s unrequited love, which causes her hard-to-bear sorrow. She has poured her heart out to her stepmother, not realizing the sparks between her and the good, but hard-drinking, doctor. He is drawn to spend more time there and things get topsy-turvy.

Photo by Patrick Huber

In supporting roles, Jan Meyer is Maria Vasilyevna Voynitskaya, Vanya’s out-of-touch mother; Eleanor Mullin is caring, pragmatic housekeeper Marina Timofeevna; and Michael Musgrave-Perkins is good-natured Ilya Ilych Telegin, a poor landowner, who is nicknamed “Waffles” for his pockmarked skin, and lives on the estate as a dependent. His music added a pleasant cultural note.

Patrick Huber’s set design is visually appealing and practical for country living in a sweltering summer. Teresa Doggett’s costume design outfits each character well, especially Owens. One quibble — McLaughlin’s wig is too large and heavy for her delicate face.

This version of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” was adapted by contemporary playwright Neil LaBute in 2020, and he has retained the passion and intensity without chopping much, to my recollection. Any changes he made aren’t jarring or noticeable, and the length is still three hours.

This Chekhov work has been adapted many times on stage and in film, and inspired other works. The fact that its chaos is relatable today – lonely people living in isolation, family hierarchies, and even the doctor’s talk of ecological problems and destruction of forests — is remarkable.

Vanya is one of Chekhov’s four classics, written in 1897 and directed by Konstantin Stanislavski at the Moscow Art Theatre two years later, following “The Seagull” and before “The Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard.”

Because of his penchant for realism, Chekhov is credited with establishing modernism in theater, and Stanislavski took the ‘between the lines’ concept one further with the “Method” acting blueprint for many performers.

His influences remain, and it’s refreshing to see how much we can relate to his bleak visions on lost youth, disappointments and finding our purpose – but with some satiric touches, too. For a classic to work in the 21st century, it must have a vitality and teach us anew.

In 2016, St. Louis Actors’ Studio presented “Ivanov,” which was a tall order with 14 people in the cast but was an effective, smart work with stellar performances.

Greg Johnston, Jennelle Gilreath Owens. Photo by Patrick Huber.

The skill shown throughout this ambitious work is exceptional, and another crown jewel for St. Louis Actors’ Studio.

The St. Louis Actors’ Studio presents Chekov’s “Uncle Vanya” from Feb. 17 to March 5, with 8 p.m. shows on Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. on Sundays, with Thursdays at 8 p.m. on Feb. 23 and March 2, at the Gaslight Theatre, at 360 North Boyle in the Central West End. Tickets through Ticketmaster or show up at the box office half-hour before curtain. For more information: www.stlas.org.

Photo by Patrick Huber
Michael James Reed, Michael Musgrave-Perkins, John Pierson. Photo by Patrick Huber

St Louis Theater Circle Awards Announces Nominations for 2022

St Louis Theater Circle Awards Announces Nominations for 2022

ST. LOUIS THEATER CIRCLE AWARDS RETURN FOR IN-PERSON GALA APRIL 3, 2023

TO HONOR OUTSTANDING WORK IN LOCAL PROFESSIONAL THEATER IN 2022

The Muny leads with 21 nominations, Stages St Louis has 19, The Black Rep 17 and Stray Dog Theatre 15

First In-Person Gala Since 2019 Due to Coronavirus Pandemic

ST. LOUIS, February 6, 2023 – After a four-year hiatus of not holding an in-person ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 through 2022, the St. Louis Theater Circle Awards will return April 3, 2023  in a ‘live’ ceremony beginning at 7 p.m. at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University. The previous two events were streamed online by HEC Media.

Tickets at $23 apiece will soon be available at the box office of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis at www.repstl.org or 314-968-4925, and also at the box office one hour before the ceremony.

Nominees in more than 30 categories will vie for honors covering comedies, dramas, musicals and operas produced by local professional theater and opera companies in the calendar years 2022. Approximately 90 productions have been considered for nominations for this year’s event. This compares to roughly 120 productions normally considered in one year alone prior to the pandemic.

Three productions – “Chicago” at The Muny, “A Christmas Carol” at The Rep, and “Head Over Heels” at New Line Theatre – were ineligible because the same production was presented within the last three years at the respective venues.

Nationally recognized playwright, theater producer, and long-time advocate for the arts Joan Lipkin will be honored with a special award for lifetime achievement.

The eighth annual award ceremony, which was to have been held at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University, was cancelled in February 2020 due to the escalating number of cases of COVID-19. Instead, that event, honoring outstanding local theater productions for the year 2019, was held virtually in a highly polished presentation produced by HEC Media and streamed on HEC’s YouTube channel and web site.  A ninth annual ceremony similarly was streamed on HEC Media for the combined years of 2020 and 2021.

The nominees for the 10th annual St. Louis Theater Circle Awards are:

Bronte Sister House Party, SATE. Photo by Joey Rumpell

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Comedy, Female or Non-Binary Role 

Cassidy Flynn, “Brontë Sister House Party,” SATE 
Hannah Geisz, “The Lonesome West,” West End Players Guild 
Jilanne Klaus, “Barefoot in the Park,” Moonstone Theatre Company 
Bess Moynihan, “Brontë Sister House Party,” SATE 
Valentina Silva, “The Rose Tattoo,” Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Comedy, Male or Non-Binary Role 

Ted Drury, “The Lonesome West,” West End Players Guild 
Joel Moses, “Brontë Sister House Party,” SATE 
Bradley Tejeda, “The Rose Tattoo,” Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis 
Chauncy Thomas, “Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival 
Eric Dean White, “Hand to God,” St. Louis Actors’ Studio 

Molly Burris, Dear Jack Dear Louise

Outstanding Performer in a Comedy, Female or Non-Binary Role 

Colleen Backer, “Hand to God,” St. Louis Actors’ Studio 
Molly Burris, “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” New Jewish Theatre 
Rayme Cornell, “The Rose Tattoo,” Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis 
Claire Karpen, “Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival 
Rachel Tibbetts, “Brontë Sister House Party,” SATE

Jeff Kargus, Jason Meyers, “The Lonesome West” Photo by John Lamb

Outstanding Performer in a Comedy, Male or Non-Binary Role 

Mitchell Henry-Eagles, “Hand to God,” St. Louis Actors’ Studio 
Jeff Kargus, “The Lonesome West,” West End Players Guild 
Ryan Lawson-Maeske, “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” New Jewish Theatre 
Jason Meyers, “The Lonesome West,” West End Players Guild 
Stanton Nash, “Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Joe Clapper, Behind the Sheet, Photo by Philip Hamer

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play 

Amina Alexander, “Stick Fly,” Repertory Theatre of St. Louis 
Jesse Alford, “The Rose Tattoo,” Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis 
Joe Clapper, “Behind the Sheet,” The Black Rep 
Jasmine Williams, “Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea,” The Black Rep 
John Wylie, “Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Sound Design 

Lamar Harris, “Behind the Sheet,” The Black Rep 
Pornchanok (Nok) Kanchanabanca, “House of Joy,” Repertory Theatre of St. Louis 
Jackie Sharp, “Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea,” The Black Rep 
Rusty Wandall, Kareem Deanes, “Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival 
Amanda Werre, “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” New Jewish Theatre

Joel Moses in “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” New Jewish Theatre, Photo by Jon Gitchoff

Outstanding Costume Design in a Play 

Dorothy Marshall Englis, “Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival 
Liz Henning, “Brontë Sister House Party,” SATE 
Liz Henning, “Rodney’s Wife,” The Midnight Company 
Oona Natesan, “House of Joy,” Repertory Theatre of St. Louis 
Michele Friedman Siler, “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” New Jewish Theatre

Outstanding Set Design in a Play 

Dahlia Al-Habieli, “House of Joy,” Repertory Theatre of St. Louis 
Dunsi Dai, “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” New Jewish Theatre 
Bess Moynihan, “Rodney’s Wife,” The Midnight Company 
Kyu Shin, “Stick Fly,” Repertory Theatre of St. Louis 
Josh Smith, “Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival 

Riley Carter Adams, right, The Bee Play, New Jewish Theatre. Photo by Jon Gitchoff.

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Drama, Female or Non-Binary Role 

Riley Carter Adams, “The Bee Play,” New Jewish Theatre 
Sarajane Alverson, “The Normal Heart,” Stray Dog Theatre 
Rachel Hanks, “The Christians,” West End Players Guild 
Rachel Tibbetts, “Rodney’s Wife,” The Midnight Company 
Sumi Yu, “House of Joy,” Repertory Theatre of St. Louis 

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Drama, Male or Non-Binary Role 

Cameron Jamarr Davis, “The African Company Presents Richard III,” The Black Rep 
Joseph Garner, “The Christians,” West End Players Guild 
Michael James Reed, “Proof,” Moonstone Theatre Company 
Joey Saunders, “The Normal Heart,” Stray Dog Theatre 
Jeffrey Wright, “The Normal Heart,” Stray Dog Theatre

Summer Baer, Michael James Reed “Proof,” Moonstone Theatre Company.

Outstanding Performer in a Drama, Female or Non-Binary Role 

Summer Baer, “Proof,” Moonstone Theatre Company 
Lavonne Byers, “Good People,” Stray Dog Theatre 
Kelly Howe, “Rodney’s Wife,” The Midnight Company 
Chinna Palmer, “Behind the Sheet,” The Black Rep 
Jennifer Theby-Quinn, “Iphigenia in Splott,” Upstream Theater

Outstanding Performer in a Drama, Male or Non-Binary Role 

Kevin Brown, “Jitney,” The Black Rep 
Jeff Cummings, “Behind the Sheet,” The Black Rep 
Olajuwon Davis, “Jitney,” The Black Rep 
Joel Moses, “The Christians,” West End Players Guild 
Stephen Peirick, “The Normal Heart,” Stray Dog Theatre 

“Jitney,” The Black Rep, Phillip Hamer photo

Outstanding New Play 

“Bandera, Texas,” by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend, Prism Theatre Company 
“Brontë Sister House Party,” by Courtney Bailey, SATE 
“The Good Ship St. Louis,” by Philip Boehm, Upstream Theater 
“Roll With It!” by Katie Rodriguez Banister and Michelle Zielinski, The Black Mirror Theatre Company 
“Winds of Change,” by Deanna Jent, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Achievement in Opera 

Daniela Candillari, “Carmen,” Opera Theatre of Saint Louis 
Thomas Glass, “Harvey Milk,” Opera Theatre of Saint Louis 
Karen Kanakis, “La Rondine,” Winter Opera Saint Louis 
Robert Mellon, “Falstaff,” Union Avenue Opera 
Sarah Mesko, “Carmen,” Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Union Avenue Opera’s production of A Little Night Music on August 17, 2022.

Outstanding Production of an Opera 

“Awakenings,” Opera Theatre of Saint Louis 
“Falstaff,” Union Avenue Opera 
“The Gondoliers,” Winter Opera Saint Louis 
“Harvey Milk,” Opera Theatre of Saint Louis 
“A Little Night Music,” Union Avenue Opera

Outstanding Musical Director 

Cullen Curth, “Jerry’s Girls,” New Jewish Theatre 
Jermaine Hill, “The Color Purple,” The Muny 
Walter “Bobby” McCoy, “In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis 
James Moore, “Sweeney Todd,” The Muny 
Andrew Resnick, “The Karate Kid – The Musical,” Stages St. Louis 

The Karate Kid – The Musical, Phillip Hamer photo.

Outstanding Choreographer 

Dena DiGiacinto, “A Chorus Line,” Stages St. Louis 
Keone and Mari Madrid, “The Karate Kid – The Musical,” Stages St. Louis 
Patrick O’Neill, “Mary Poppins,” The Muny 
Josh Rhodes, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” The Muny 
Luis Salgado, “In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical, Female or Non-Binary Role 

Tami Dahbura, “In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis 
Melissa Felps, “Something Rotten!” New Line Theatre 
Nicole Michelle Haskins, “The Color Purple,” The Muny 
Grace Langford, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” Stray Dog Theatre 
Dawn Schmid, “Ride the Cyclone,” Stray Dog Theatre

Marshall Jennings, Melissa Felps “Something Rotten!” New Line Theatre

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical, Male or Non-Binary Role 

Luis-Pablo Garcia, “In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis 
Clayton Humburg, “Something Rotten!” New Line Theatre 
Jeffrey Izquierdo-Malon, “Something Rotten!” New Line Theatre 
Marshall Jennings, “Something Rotten!” New Line Theatre 
Jordan Wolk, “Assassins,” Fly North Theatricals

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Musical 

Tyler Duenow, “Ride the Cyclone,” Stray Dog Theatre 
Bradley King, “The Karate Kid – The Musical,” Stages St. Louis 
John Lasiter, “Sweeney Todd,” The Muny 
Sean M. Savoie, “A Chorus Line,” Stages St. Louis 
Sean M. Savoie, “In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis

“In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis, Photo by Phillip Hamer.

Outstanding Set Design in a Musical 

Edward E. Hayes, Jr. and Greg Emetaz, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” The Muny 
Anna Louizos, “In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis 
Derek McLane, “The Karate Kid – The Musical,” Stages St. Louis 
Michael Schweikardt, “Sweeney Todd,” The Muny 
Josh Smith, “Ride the Cyclone,” Stray Dog Theatre

Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical 

Eileen Engel, “A Little Night Music,” Stray Dog Theatre 
Eileen Engel, “Assassins,” Fly North Theatricals 
Samantha C. Jones, “The Color Purple,” The Muny 
Brad Musgrove, “In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis 
Alejo Vietti, “Sweeney Todd,” The Muny 

Anastacia McCleskey, “The Color Purple,” Phillip Hamer photo.

Outstanding Performer in a Musical, Female or Non-Binary Role 

Carmen Cusack, “Sweeney Todd,” The Muny 
Jeanna De Waal, “Mary Poppins,” The Muny 
Eileen Engel, “Ride the Cyclone,” Stray Dog Theatre 
Melissa Felps, “Urinetown,” New Line Theatre 
Anastacia McCleskey, “The Color Purple,” The Muny 

Outstanding Performer in a Musical, Male or Non-Binary Role 

Ryan Alvarado, “In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis
Corbin Bleu, “Mary Poppins,” The Muny 
Ben Davis, “Sweeney Todd,” The Muny 
Stephen Henley, “Assassins,” Fly North Theatricals 
Jovanni Sy, “The Karate Kid – The Musical,” Stages St. Louis

Stephen Henley, The Balladeer, Fly North Theatricals.

Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy 

“Brontë Sister House Party,” SATE 
“Heroes,” Albion Theatre 
“Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” New Jewish Theatre 
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival 
“Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival 

Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama 

“The African Company Presents Richard III,” The Black Rep 
“Behind the Sheet,” The Black Rep 
“The Christians,” West End Players Guild 
“Jitney,” The Black Rep 
“The Normal Heart,” Stray Dog Theatre

The Christians, West End Players Guild, Photo by John Lamb

Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical 

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” Stray Dog Theatre 
“A Chorus Line,” Stages St. Louis 
“The Color Purple,” The Muny 
“In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis 
“Sweeney Todd,” The Muny

Outstanding Director of a Comedy 

Robert Ashton, “The Lonesome West,” West End Players Guild 
Eddie Coffield, “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” New Jewish Theatre 
David Kaplan, “The Rose Tattoo,” Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis 
Keating, “Brontë Sister House Party,” SATE 
Bruce Longworth, “Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

“Rodney’s Wife,” The Midnight Company, Photo by Joey Rumpell

Outstanding Director of a Drama 

Gary F. Bell, “The Normal Heart,” Stray Dog Theatre 
Joe Hanrahan, “Rodney’s Wife,” The Midnight Company 
Ron Himes, “The African Company Presents Richard III,” The Black Rep 
Ron Himes, “Behind the Sheet,” The Black Rep 
Ellie Schwetye, “The Christians,” West End Players Guild 

Outstanding Director of a Musical 

Lili-Anne Brown, “The Color Purple,” The Muny 
Scott Miller, “Something Rotten!” New Line Theatre 
Bradley Rohlf, “Assassins,” Fly North Theatricals 
Rob Ruggiero, “Sweeney Todd,” The Muny 
Luis Salgado, “In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis

“Much Ado About Nothing,” St Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Production of a Comedy 

“Brontë Sister House Party,” SATE 
“Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” New Jewish Theatre 
“The Lonesome West,” West End Players Guild                   
“Much Ado About Nothing,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival 
“The Rose Tattoo,” Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis

“The African Company Presents Richard III,” The Black Rep, Photo by Phillip Hamer

Outstanding Production of a Drama 

“The African Company Presents Richard III,” The Black Rep 
“Behind the Sheet,” The Black Rep 
“Good People,” Stray Dog Theatre 
“Jitney,” The Black Rep 
“The Normal Heart,” Stray Dog Theatre

Outstanding Production of a Musical 

“Assassins,” Fly North Theatricals 
“The Color Purple,” The Muny 
“In the Heights,” Stages St. Louis 
“Ride the Cyclone,” Stray Dog Theatre 
“Sweeney Todd,” The Muny

“Ride the Cyclone,” Stray Dog Theatre, Photo by John Lamb

Special Award 

Joan Lipkin, for lifetime achievement 

Joan Lipkin

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

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

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

Twisty ‘Fiction’ Explores Blurred Lines in Relationships at Actors’ Studio

Twisty ‘Fiction’ Explores Blurred Lines in Relationships at Actors’ Studio

By Lynn Venhaus

Sympathies shift as does time in the twisty relationship drama “Fiction,” presented by the St. Louis Actors’ Studio as a study in the stories we tell ourselves.

Playwright Steven Dietz explores “What would you do if you had to live with a secret that you thought you would die with?”

That complicates life for sophisticates Linda and Michael Waterman, who are both writers, thus the verbal jousting throughout the two acts.

Their literate lives will be turned upside-down with the diagnosis of a terminal brain tumor (hers) and the revelation of an affair (his).

After Linda’s devastating news, she asks her husband to share his diaries with her. Who can refuse a dying person’s wish, right? He agrees – tearing out a page – and his entries disclose what happened at a writer’s retreat with a young Abby, an administrator at The Drake Colony. Rut-ro.

With his customary witty dialogue, Dietz examines the blurred lines between fact and fiction, truth and lies, reality and imagination. Does discretion spare pain or make betrayal worse? Can couples overcome deceit? Is “memory the better writer” as Michael states?

And what kind of mind game are we exactly in for here?

As cagily played by Lizi Watt as Linda and William Roth as Michael, their carefully constructed worlds come to a head when they are forced into edgy territory – and are backed into a corner.

The very opinionated and glib Waterman defends his journaling by describing it as fiction. A rather stressed Linda conjures up scenarios in her head, as she thinks she knows him well enough to figure out what happened. He described Abby as a lethal combination of beauty, danger, youth and wit.

As they revise facts, trust breaks down. Then Michael reads Linda’s diaries. Well, who is keeping secrets now? And what isn’t disclosed on the hand-written pages?

What a tangled web Dietz has weaved into two hours, adding plot twists – and a few contrivances to make this more confounding rather than easily filling in the blanks.

William Roth, Bryn McLaughlin, Lizi Watt. Photo by Patrick Huber.

What the Watermans have been telling themselves for 20 years is that their longtime relationship is built on honesty and candor. After all, they are writers. But the irony is that sometimes, those adept at the written word aren’t always the best communicators when it comes to expressing feelings and deep thoughts one-on-one.

Confrontations will expose vulnerabilities and appear to be ripping scabs off old wounds. And what’s with this mysterious Abby, and how long was she in contact with Michael? How does she know Linda?

Agile at rapid-fire banter, Watts and Roth are convincing, if not enitrely relatable, as the pair – his character tends to pontificate, and her healthy self can get snippy, but you do feel for her current predicament. His novels are so popular they’re made into movies while her one acclaimed book, “At the Cape,” a fictionalized account of her sexual assault in South Africa, is long in the rearview mirror, and she now teaches creative writing. Linda is tough and confident, not a pushover.

As Abby, Bryn McLaughlin plays her close to the vest when she appears before and present, shading her ambiguously. She holds her own in scenes with the older established characters.

This three-hander, deftly staged by Wayne Salomon, digs deeper into the gray areas of relationships that aren’t so black-and-white. Salomon’s a master at dissecting ordinary people and their motivations, as he has shown in an illustrious career spanning 50 years.

In recent years at STLAS, he’s done sharply defined work with “August: Osage County,” “Three Tall Women,” and “Farragut North.” This one, with its enigmatic premise, is indeed a challenge.

While the actors are smooth and obviously well-rehearsed, given the dexterity on display and their earnest analysis to make the material understandable, the stumbling block is the play’s structure.

The time shifts are not always clear, which is intentional. There are minor changes in costumes to reflect the year depicted, a smart move by costume designer Carla Landis Evans.

When we first meet the couple at a café in Paris (really?), they seem to have a comfy rapport. Dietz’s idea to start with a high-spirited argument on best rock vocal performance is clever, for we immediately ascertain they’re Boomers, with each taking a side – he’s adamant it’s John Lennon in “Twist and Shout,” and she’s making a case for Janis Joplin for “Piece of My Heart.”

Music, being the universal language, helps us size up the characters. But turns out, this is their first meeting, and they eventually marry. It sets up their rhythms, for couples tend to have their own shorthand..

This shift in time will keep us off-guard, particularly with the back-and-forth on the Abby sequences, and perhaps more at a distance that we should be as we’re trying to keep straight what’s accurate.

Then, there is the matter of mortality. The reason she’s reading his diaries is that she’s going to die soon (three weeks, or as she puts it, “twenty meals.”) Spoiler alert: But then, lo and behold, doctors say ‘oops!’ and never mind — due to an “oncological misapprehension,” she’s given a reprieve, so that makes things stickier for what’s out in the open. But then… (won’t spoil the rest). And if she has a malignancy tumor, undergoing treatment, wouldn’t that affect her behavior?

These choices are debatable, and the off-kilter nature can be frustrating, if that’s how you sense it. I can see where deciphering the relationships can become chore-like.

In all narratives, talking about writing can get in the weeds with theatergoers, while showing the writing process is even trickier. I can see responses vary about the two.

Should our lives be an open book in our intimate relationships? Dietz brings up questions, but are his points persuasive?

Are the characters unreliable narrators? Things are open to interpretation, depending on your viewpoint. And given human nature, perspectives will vary.

The setting, designed by Patrick Huber and carried out by Andy Cross and Sarah Frost, is minimally staged to focus on the verbal fireworks. No bookshelves, such as those artfully staged for Zoom, for the backdrop.

St. Louis Actors’ Studio, now in its 15th season, is looking through the lens of life’s fundamentals in several productions this year.

Their selections always bring up provocative issues that make a viewer consider how they think and feel, which results in an interesting experience worthy of discussion.

“Fiction” was produced in a workshop setting through ACT Theatre in Seattle in 2002, then presented at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., and later, off-Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre in 2004.

Active for 30 years, the prolific Dietz is one of the most widely produced playwrights in the U.S. Locally, his works “Bloomsday” and “This Random World” have been performed by the West End Players Guild. “God’s Country,” “The Nina Variations,” “Lonely Planet,” “Shooting Star” and “Private Eye” are among his many plays, often staged in regional theaters. Always witty and frequently insightful, Dietz’ comedy-dramas intrigue.

This much I know is true – the truth is uncomfortable but lies are worse. Although this brings up thought-provoking topics, whatever Dietz was going for in “Fiction” doesn’t land wholly satisfactorily, although the performances are genuine and the production work sincere.

William Roth, Lizi Watt. Photo by Patrick Huber

The St. Louis Actors’ Studio presents “Fiction” by Steven Dietz from Oct. 7 to Oct. 23, on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 3 p.m. at The Gaslight Theater at 358 N. Boyle in the Central West End.

For tickets, visit https://www.ticketmaster.com/the-gaslight-theater-tickets-st-louis/venue/50324 or purchase at the box office prior to showtime. For more information: www.stlas.org

Delayed Gratification: 8th Annual LaBute New Theater Festival Delivers First of Two Sets of Wonderful Acts

Delayed Gratification: 8th Annual LaBute New Theater Festival Delivers First of Two Sets of Wonderful Acts

By CB Adams
Before the lights dimmed and the 8th annual LaBute New Theater Festival began, this reviewer felt pity instead of anticipation – pity for the nine playwrights who had to endure a two-year, pandemic-induced delay for their works to be fretted and strutted upon the intimate performance space at the Gaslight Theater.

During the festival’s four-week run, the St. Louis Actors’ Studio presents two sets of five one-act plays selected in 2020 – a Whitman’s Sampler (something for everyone!) of short dramas. Each slate includes “St. Louis,” written by the festival’s founder and namesake, the Tony-nominated, acclaimed writer and director Neil LaBute.

Two years may have felt like an eternity to playwrights and public alike, but the first set of one acts, running from July 8–17, delivers a collectively gratifying experience resonating with relevance to the current zeitgeist.

The first set includes Aren Haun’s “What Else is New,” John Doble’s “Twilight Time,” Willie Johnson’s “Funny Thing,” and Fran Dorf’s
“Time Warp,” as well as LaBute’s “St. Louis.”

Experiencing this evening of one acts is like reading a short-story collection. You might not enjoy every play (not all in the first set are one-hit wonders), but taken together, they are engaging, thought-provoking and satisfying. When soliciting for one acts, the LaBute
Festival seeks plays that feature no more than four characters. They should be crafted specifically to exploit the Gaslight’s intimate, 18-foot square performance space with quick changes in scenery, setting and set moves.

For theater-goers who love plays that focus on the fundamentals of dramaturgy – plot, character and theme – the LaBute Festival is a must-see, based on this first slate.

The plays presented this year are diverse, yet share a common thread, if not a common theme, of human connectedness:

“What Else is New,” set in a diner, involves Bruno (and his suitcase), an unhoused loner (replete with an annoying need for conversation and more tics and twitches than Brad Pitt in the film “12 Monkeys”) and Mark, a disinterested college art student who works the counter. t’s a marvel to watch the two characters circuitously connect.

“Twilight Time,” concerns a chance encounter between Benjamin and Geraldine, two disaffected youths who discover they are both planning their suicides. Though not as humorously death-drenched as “Harold and Maude,” they connect over common political and other opinions and soon make plans to live, perhaps happily ever after.

“Funny Thing” is anything but funny as the four-month relationship between Older Man and Younger Man is stuffed into a blender and set to frappe. The resulting, non-chronological plot makes frequent pivots that are easy to follow, thanks to fine acting and effective lighting changes.

No one dances in “Time Warp,” but, as the song goes, “…With a bit of a mind flip / You’re into the time slip / And nothing can ever be the same…” For those of us who like stories that explore the possibilities presented by punctures in the time- space continuum, “Time Warp” delivers a mind-bending – and ultimately harrowing – tale involving Brian, a Vietnam War army psychiatrist, his wife, Beth, a curiosity shopkeeper, CG Young, and a specter-like painter and fellow soldier, Joey Passarelli. The warping of time and circumstance ensues, though not in a science fiction sort of way.

LaBute’s “St. Louis” (presented in both sets of the festival) could have been titled Stand and Deliver because that’s what this play’s three characters do: they stand and deliver (as does the entire play itself). St. Louis does not concern itself with Ted Drewes, the Arch or any other tourist destinations. There are a few compass- point references to St. Louis, such as the Central West End, but the true location
of this one act is the triangulated world and relationships of the three monologists, She, Her and Him. The climax of the relationship – the connection – among these characters is too good to spoil.

But, climax aside, the most noteworthy achievement is how the story is unfolded by the three characters, each in a pool of
light and each speaking as if to their own offstage interlocutor. Separately, and yet collectively, they stand and deliver their part of a shared, very personal history. Under the deft direction of Spencer Sickmann (himself a seasoned actor), the actors collectively embrace their characters and deliver these short plays with confidence, believability and chemistry.

And, in the case of “Twilight Time,” they surpass the play itself. Mitch Henry Eagles plays triple duty in “What Else is New,” “Funny Thing” and “Time Warp.” All are fine performances, but the standout is as the Younger Man in “Funny Thing.” His character is whiplashed by the on-again/off-again relationship he shares with Older Man and Eagles easily flips between “should I stay” or “should I go?”

Bryn McLaughlin does double duty as Geraldine in “Twilight Time” and She in “St. Louis.” Her performance in the former is the strongest in that play, and in the latter, she’s even better as she projects a strong, confident counterpoint to the bro-ish Him. As Him, Brock
Russell plays a character one loves to hate, or vice versa, and that dichotomy is testament to his ability to fully reveal the complexities of Him.

Eric Dean White demonstrates tremendous range playing the twitchy chatterbox Bruno in “What Else is New” and, a couple of one acts later, as the sensitive psychiatrist and husband in “Time Warp.” The nervous energy he pours into his Bruno is as exhausting as it is exhilarating.

In the case of these one acts, to call the sets, lighting and costumes bare bones is a compliment. As in most literary short stories, there’s nothing extraneous and everything must serve a purpose in black-box one acts. In this first slate of plays, that’s exactly what Patrick Huber achieves with the flexible sets and lighting, as does Carla Landis Evans with the costume designs.

Set One of the LaBute New Theater Festival runs July 8-17 at at the Gaslight Theater, 358 N Boyle Ave. Set Two runs from July 22–31. Times are 3 p.m. on Sundays and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, www.stlas.org
All photos by Patrick Huber