Fox Associates, LLC is thrilled to announce a multi-year agreement to present Broadway productions at Stifel Theatre in downtown St. Louis. “We are excited to bring more great Broadway entertainment to St. Louis” said John O’Brien, Fox Associates Vice President of Programming.
“While the Fabulous Fox will continue to be the home of our two-week Broadway season ticket series, having the ability to utilize another magnificent venue will allow us to book return and short run engagements that we would otherwise have to pass on due to a full calendar. St. Louis Broadway fans will now have a selection of even more national touring theatrical experiences to enjoy.”
“Stifel Theatre is thrilled to partner with Fox Associates, LLC, a fellow cultural gem in St. Louis’ vibrant arts landscape,” said Todd Mitchell, Enterprise Center and Stifel Theatre Vice President and General Manager. “Through this collaboration, Stifel Theatre and Fox Associates, LLC are elated to expand their commitment to present audiences bold, entertaining, and thought-stirring works. A delightful mix of classic and new, this inaugural Broadway at Stifel Theatre season promises to offer theatre-goers a wonderful night out in downtown St. Louis.”
The first season will include three outstanding Broadway shows at Stifel Theatre in the spring of 2024: Harper Lee’s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD; HAIRSPRAY; THE CHER SHOW.
Richard Thomas played Atticus Finch on national tour of “To Kill a Mockingbird” that was at the Fox last winter.
Harper Lee’s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD | January 9-10, 2024
All rise for Academy Award® winner Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork. The New York Times Critic’s Pick TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is “the most successful American play in Broadway history” (60 Minutes). Rolling Stone gives it 5 stars, calling it “an emotionally shattering landmark production of an American classic,” and New York Magazine calls it “a real phenomenon. Majestic and incandescent, it’s filled with breath and nuance and soul.” With direction by Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — “the greatest novel of all time” (Chicago Tribune) — has quickly become “one of the greatest plays in history” (NPR). Emmy Award®-winning actor Richard Thomas plays the role of Atticus Finch in the National Tour.
HAIRSPRAY | February 8-9, 2024
You Can’t Stop the Beat! HAIRSPRAY, Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon is back on tour! Join 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad in 1960s Baltimore as she sets out to dance her way onto TV’s most popular show. Can a girl with big dreams (and even bigger hair) change the world? Featuring the beloved score of hit songs including “Welcome to the ‘60s,” “Good Morning Baltimore” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” HAIRSPRAY is “fresh, winning, and deliriously tuneful!” (The New York Times). This all-new touring production reunites Broadway’s award-winning creative team led by Director Jack O’Brien and Choreographer Jerry Mitchell to bring HAIRSPRAY to a new generation of theater audiences.
Stephanie J. Block, center, won a Tony Award for her performance as Cher
THE CHER SHOW | April 10-11, 2024
Superstars come and go. Cher is forever. For six straight decades, only one unstoppable force has flat-out dominated popular culture – breaking down barriers, pushing boundaries and letting nothing and no one stand in her way. THE CHER SHOW is the Tony Award®-winning musical of her story, and it’s packed with so much Cher that it takes three women to play her: the kid starting out, the glam pop star, and the icon. THE CHER SHOW is 35 smash hits, six decades of stardom, two rock-star husbands, a Grammy®, an Oscar®, an Emmy®, and enough Tony Award-winning Bob Mackie gowns to cause a sequin shortage in New York City, all in one unabashedly fabulous new musical that will have audiences dancing in the aisles!
Performance times for all show dates is 7:30 pm. Single tickets will go on sale to the public Monday, October 2. More information about pricing and how to purchase will be available at a later date at www.stifeltheatre.com
Lynn (Zipfel) Venhaus has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metro region publications since 1978. She writes features and news for Belleville News-Democrat and contributes to St. Louis magazine and other publications.
She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, currently reviews films for Webster-Kirkwood Times and KTRS Radio, covers entertainment for PopLifeSTL.com and co-hosts podcast PopLifeSTL.com…Presents.
She is a member of Critics Choice Association, where she serves on the women’s and marketing committees; Alliance of Women Film Journalists; and on the board of the St. Louis Film Critics Association. She is a founding and board member of the St. Louis Theater Circle.
She is retired from teaching journalism/media as an adjunct college instructor.
Even if you forgot most of the 1960 novel that you read in way back in middle school and most of what you loved about the 1962 film (Gregory Peck! Mary Badham! Robert Duvall!), the Aaron Sorkin-scripted staged production of “To Kill A Mockingbird” at the Fox Theatre will powerfully remind you of why this beautifully wrought story remains essential to America’s self-narrative.
And, spoiler alert, this excellent touring production, headlined by Richard Thomas, may forever elevate your expectations of what theater can – and should – achieve. It will be hard to accept anything less – or less relevant.
“Mockingbird,” like its classmate “Catcher In the Rye,” is one of those stories that runs the risk of having its potency diminished by required reading in our formative years. Both could be relegated to the “been there, read that” shelf. The beloved film adaptation of “Mockingbird” further exacerbates this risk with a “been there, saw that” ubiquity.
In the spirit of transparency, I’m a bit of an Aaron Sorkin fanboy who appreciates his talky style of dialogue. I also count myself in the minority of folks who continue to mourn the cancellation of his HBO show “Newsroom” and who believes that the soliloquy-ish “America is not the greatest country in the world anymore” scene, delivered by Jeff Daniels, is some of the best dialogue in the history of television.
Sorkin’s “Mockingbird” is impressive for its ability to remain true to the heart of Harper Lee’s slowly unwinding examination of racism and injustice while resequencing and re-pacing the story to appeal to current sensibilities. It may have a small-town setting but it confronts an all-towns topic.
“Mockingbird,” given its status as an American classic, doesn’t need saving, but it certainly benefits from a modern stage treatment. Sorkin introduces the trial of Tom Robinson, the African-American man accused of the rape of a white woman, Mayella Ewell, at the start of the play, rather than build up to it as Lee does halfway through her novel. This places the play’s central conflict and theme front and center. The trial scenes are briskly and effectively toggled with scenes set mostly on the porch of Atticus Finch, the small-town lawyer defending Robinson. Tying these two strands together is a triumvirate of chatty-cathy narrators: Scout, Jem and Dill.
Sorkin’s rejiggering would go for naught if it weren’t supported by the excellent, tight direction of Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher, evocative set design by Miriam Buether and, of course, the performances of the entire cast, top to bottom. Thomas as Atticus Finch brings his own type of ubiquity earned from his early-career success as John Boy on “The Waltons” television series. He’s shown considerable range and depth as an actor since then. I’ve especially like him more recently as Walter Gaskell in the film “Wonder Boys” and Nathan Davis in the Netflix series “Ozark.” Thomas delivers a nuanced Atticus whose story runs parallel to – but doesn’t usurp – that of Tom Robinson, played by Yaegel T. Welch with an impressive coiled anger shackled by powerlessness, imposed deference and unfair accusation.
Melanie Moore as Scout, Justin Mark as Jem and Steven Lee Johnson as Dill delivered their adults-as-children characters with effective interplay of voice-over narration, wild-rumpus physicality and tomfoolery. This ensemble within an ensemble is evenly balanced is they each experience the transition from youthful innocence to a more mature, darker moral awareness.
As Calpurnia, Jacqueline Williams confidently portrays the Finch family’s wise African-American housekeeper who assuredly balances her role as surrogate mother to Jem and Scout and a certain Jiminy Cricket to Atticus. It’s hard to like the character of Mayella, but Ariana Gayle Stucki’s performance of the sexually and emotionally abused young woman was more than easy to admire. Stucki fully inhabited and revealed Mayella through a clinched (at times near-contorted) body, bitter tears and puffy red face.
The production deserves a couple of quibbles. One is the Southern accent that I know and loathe from countless movies and television shows. Although not off-putting, it’s nonetheless disappointing that the characters’ diction wasn’t more specific to Alabama instead of the generic, non-specific Southern patois.
Another is the unexplained “fire curtain” that covered the stage between acts. Again, not off-putting, but it raised more questions than it answered because it could refer to the fire in the novel (not in this play). It could also refer to the heat of the subject matter. It might even be making some sort of statement about the protective capabilities of live theater.
To call this production of “To Kill A Mockingbird” a must-see might not be strong enough as a recommendation. Like The Black Repertory’s recent production of “Death of a Salesman,” another deeply familiar American story, this interpretation of “Mockingbird” renews and invigorates a story that deserves retelling. It also more than deserves our continued attention and support.
Performances of “To Kill A Mockingbird” at the Fabulous Fox run February 28 – March 12. . Show times vary. Tickets on sale now at MetroTix.com or by calling 314-534-1111. For more information, visit www.fabulousfox.com
Mary Badham, who played Scout in the 1962 film, plays Mrs. Dubose in the national tour
CB Adams is an award-winning fiction writer and photographer based in the Greater St. Louis area. A former music/arts editor and feature writer for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, his non-fiction has been published in local, regional and national publications. His literary short stories have been published in more than a dozen literary journals and his fine art photography has been exhibited in more than 40 galley shows nationwide. Adams is the recipient of the Missouri Arts Council’s highest writing awards: the Writers’ Biennial and Missouri Writing!. The Riverfront Times named him, “St. Louis’ Most Under-Appreciated Writer” in 1996.
The Fabulous Fox Theatre is eager to celebrate its 40th Anniversary with an incredible lineup in the 2022-2023 U.S. Bank Broadway Series! Get ready to open the season with the signature dance moves and silky-smooth harmonies of the legendary quintet in AIN’T TOO PROUD – The Life and Times of The Temptations. Winner of eight 2019 TonyAwards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, HADESTOWN invites you on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back in October. For the first time in forever, experience Disney’s FROZEN like never before in this unforgettable theatrical experience filled with sensational special effects. To kick off 2023, you’ll lose your head over the new original musical that is the global sensation SIX. All rise in St. Louis for the most successful American play in Broadway history, Harper Lee’sTO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, followed by the laugh-out-loud love letter to the theater, TOOTSIE. To close out the seven-show season ticket package in May of 2023, everything will be alright with JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR celebrating its 50th Anniversary. An eight show package is also available to subscribers with the addition of Broadway sensation and St. Louis’ most “popular” musical WICKED when itflies into town in April.
AIN’T TOO PROUD – The Life and Times of The Temptations | September 20 – October 2, 2022
AIN’T TOO PROUD – The Life and Times of The Temptations is the electrifying, new smash-hit Broadway musical that follows The Temptations’ extraordinary journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With their signature dance moves and silky-smooth harmonies, they rose to the top of the charts creating an amazing 42 Top Ten Hits with 14 reaching number one. Nominated for 12 Tony® Awards and the winner of the 2019 Tony Award for Best Choreography, AIN’T TOO PROUD tells the thrilling story of brotherhood, family, loyalty, and betrayal, as the group’s personal and political conflicts threatened to tear them apart during a decade of civil unrest in America.Written by three-time Obie Award winner Dominique Morisseau, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys), and featuring the Tony-winning choreography of Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys, On Your Feet!), the unforgettable story of this legendary quintet is set to the beat of the group’s treasured hits, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Get Ready,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” and so many more.
HADESTOWN | October 11-23, 2022
BroadwayEva Noblezada, who plays Eurydice, and the Broadway cast of Hadestown.
Come see how the world could be. Welcome to HADESTOWN, where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 TonyAwards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show from celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and innovative director Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) is a love story for today… and always. HADESTOWN intertwines two mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — as it invites you on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers and singers, HADESTOWN is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.
Disney’s FROZEN | November 2-13, 2022
From the producer of The Lion King and Aladdin, FROZEN, the Tony®-nominated Best Musical, is now on tour across North America and the critics rave, “It’s simply magical!” (LA Daily News). Heralded by The New Yorker as “thrilling” and “genuinely moving,” FROZEN features the songs you know and love from the original Oscar®-winning film, plus an expanded score with a dozen new numbers by the film’s songwriters, Oscar winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT winner Robert Lopez. Oscar winner Jennifer Lee (book), Tony and Olivier Award winner Michael Grandage (director), and Tony winner Rob Ashford (choreographer) round out the creative team that has won a cumulative 16 Tony Awards. An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with sensational special effects, stunning sets and costumes, and powerhouse performances, FROZEN is everything you want in a musical: It’s moving. It’s spectacular. And above all, it’s pure Broadway joy. Presented by Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation.
SIX | January 24 – February 5, 2023
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the mic to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an exuberant celebration of 21st century girl power! This new original musical is the global sensation that everyone is losing their head over. The New York Times says SIX “TOTALLY RULES!” (Critic’s Pick) and The Washington Post hails SIXas “Exactly the kind of energizing, inspirational illumination this town aches for! The Broadway season got supercharged!” Written by Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss.
Harper Lee’s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD | February 28 – March 12, 2023
All rise for Academy Award® winner Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork. The New York Times Critic’s Pick TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRDis “the most successful American play in Broadway history.” (60 Minutes). Rolling Stone gives it 5 stars, calling it “an emotionally shattering landmark production of an American classic,” and New York Magazine calls it “a real phenomenon. Majestic and incandescent, it’s filled with breath and nuance and soul.” With direction by Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — “the greatest novel of all time” (Chicago Tribune) — has quickly become “one of the greatest plays in history” (NPR).
TOOTSIE | March 21 – April 2, 2023
Call it “musical comedy heaven” (Rolling Stone). Call it “the most uproarious new musical in years!” (The Hollywood Reporter). Call it TOOTSIE! This laugh-out-loud love letter to the theater tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime. Featuring a hilarious Tony®-winning book by Robert Horn and an outrageously clever score by 2018 Tony-winner David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), this New York Times Critic’s Pick is “a joyful delight” (The Washington Post) that’s “so packed with punchlines, it should be called a jokebox musical!” (Bloomberg). “In these turbulent times, when the world seems out of balance, we need a place to let the good times roll,” raves Rolling Stone. “TOOTSIEis it!”
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR | May 9-21, 2023
Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, a new mesmerizing production of the iconic musical phenomenon returns to the stage. Originally staged by London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and helmed by the acclaimed director Timothy Sheader (Crazy for You, Into the Woods) and cutting-edge choreographer Drew McOnie (King Kong, Strictly Ballroom), this production won the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival garnering unprecedented reviews and accolades. Appealing to both theater audiences and concert music fans, this production pays tribute to the historic 1971 Billboard Album of the Year while creating a modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring. With lyrics and music by Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winners Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTARis set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’, ‘Gethsemane’ and ‘Superstar’.
WICKED I April 12 – May 7
So much happened before Dorothy dropped in. WICKED, the Broadway sensation, looks at what happened in the Land of Oz…but from a different angle. Long before Dorothy arrives, there is another young woman, born with emerald-green skin—smart, fiery, misunderstood, and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships…until the world decides to call one “good,” and the other one “wicked.” From the first electrifying note to the final breathtaking moment, WICKED—the untold true story of the Witches of Oz—transfixes audiences with its wildly inventive story that USA Today cheers is “a complete triumph! An original musical that will make you laugh, cry, and think.”Presented by Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation.
Series Specials
Seven additional Broadway shows will be offered as specials to 2022–2023 season ticket holders for priority seating before their public on-sale dates. One of the world’s most beloved and timeless stories, Nebraska Theatre Caravan’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL, is a holiday tradition at the Fox and will play December 1-4, presented by the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation. The longest running and highest rated holiday television special, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, will fly into St. Louis December 11. CIRQUE DREAMS HOLIDAZE will light up the stage in the popular and dazzling family holiday spectacular December 16-17. Embrace you inner elf when the modern day Christmas classic ELF The Musical plays at the Fox just in time for the holidays December 20-24. BEAUTIFUL – The Carole King Musical, the Tony® and Grammy® Award-winning inspiring true story of King’s remarkable rise to stardom, returns to the Fox January 6-8. Cameron Mackintosh presents the acclaimed production of Boublil and Schönberg’s Tony Award® winning musical phenomenon LES MISÉRABLES January 17-22 and will be welcomed by Saint Louis Ballet.Featuring pulsing, original music, custom-made instruments, surprise audience interaction and hilarious absurdity, join BLUE MAN GROUP in a joyful experience that unites audiences of all ages February 9-12.
New seven and eight show season ticket packages will go on sale June 6 at 10 a.m. Current U.S. Bank Broadway season ticket holders will receive their renewal information in the coming weeks. On-sale dates for individual shows will be announced later. For more information, please call the Fox Subscription office at 314-535-1700.
Six
2022 – 2023 U.S. Bank Broadway Series Shows and Specials:
(The Season Ticket Package shows are in bold)
AIN’T TOO PROUD – The Life and Times of The Temptations * September 20 – October 2, 2022
HADESTOWN * October 11-23, 2022
Disney’s FROZEN * November 2-13, 2022
A CHRISTMAS CAROL * December 1-4, 2022
RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER * December 11, 2022
CIRQUE DREAMS HOLIDAZE * December 16-17, 2022
ELF The Musical * December 20-24, 2022
BEAUTIFUL – The Carole King Musical * January 6-8, 2023
LES MISERABLES * January 17-22, 2023
SIX * January 24 – February 5, 2023
BLUE MAN GROUP * February 9-12, 2023
Harper Lee’s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD * February 28 – March 12, 2023
Lynn (Zipfel) Venhaus has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metro region publications since 1978. She writes features and news for Belleville News-Democrat and contributes to St. Louis magazine and other publications.
She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, currently reviews films for Webster-Kirkwood Times and KTRS Radio, covers entertainment for PopLifeSTL.com and co-hosts podcast PopLifeSTL.com…Presents.
She is a member of Critics Choice Association, where she serves on the women’s and marketing committees; Alliance of Women Film Journalists; and on the board of the St. Louis Film Critics Association. She is a founding and board member of the St. Louis Theater Circle.
She is retired from teaching journalism/media as an adjunct college instructor.
