The electricity began from moment one of the Ensemble Español Spanish Dance performance Friday evening at The Touhill. With furrowed brows, chins raised and eyes cast downward in concentration, heeled shoes called out, "Rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat." And with the confidant flip of a ruffled skirt, the women charged, elbows forward, "Rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat, Ha!" In response, coat-tails were flung backward to reveal the men's hands pridefully--nobly--ensconced on the hips of their high-waisted pants. Their collective heels hit the floor in a progressively faster and more complex display as the dancers' grace resolved into a puffed-chest freight-train of flamenco rhythm.

The chemistry between the dancers was palpable. Dark passion and flirty charm exchanged equally as dancers circled each other, their moves culminating in arms tossed succinctly and triumphantly in the air before resuming another impossibly beautiful combination. A rhythm that was double-timed was--seemingly beyond human capability--quadrupled. As if the energetic dancers were not (literally) breathtaking enough, less than twenty minutes into the two-and-a-half hour performance, two Spanish guitarists took the rear-stage in silhouette and the most wonderfully gravelly, mournful, haunting traditional singer you could hope for turned the fiery performance into an out and out conflagration.

St. Louis audiences have been known to treat the final curtain as a starter-pistol for a pedestrian drag-race to the parking lot. This was far from the case last night. The entire room leaped to it's feet to applaud, and whistled and howled until the stage lights fell again and the house lights illuminated. In the lobby afterwards, I passed an elderly man delivering coffee to his companion with a jaunty "rat-a-tat" of his own heels and a tickled expression on his face. There was a ripple of warm chuckles from those who passed. I think we all kind of wanted to do that.

I'd advise The Touhill get some safety-belts in preparation for tonight's performance. Members of the audience were on the edge of their seats for so long last night, I was afraid some were in danger of falling off. Saturday's evening performance is the company's last for this show. Run--do not walk--to the box office to snag a ticket. It's the best night of performance available in town and out.

(Danielle Sommer)

If you love Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright David Mamet (best known for plays Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed the Plow, Sexual Perversity in Chicago and films The Verdict and Wag the Dog), you probably rush to the theatre to absorb his "Mamet-speak," especially those fascinating, mysterious, phone call monologues in which you have no idea who is on the other line or what is being discussed. In Oleanna, now playing at HotCity Theatre, you won't have to wait; the play opens with one of those fabulous phone calls.

Oleanna tells the story of a college professor (John Pierson) assured of his impending tenure - and the nicer house that goes with the salary bump - and a concerned student (Rachel Fenton) who visits the professor's office to talk about her terrible grades. Or is it the story of a predatory older man in power and a victimized young girl? Or is the story of a pompous but harmless educator and a vengeful, potentially disturbed woman? Part of the fun - and the challenge - of Mamet is unraveling the mystery, threading the clues together to figure out the story.

What is clear is that Mamet is a master of words, whether they rush forward or stumble out in fragments. Words themselves are the crux of the issue in Oleanna. Do we really mean what we say? Do we ever fully understand each other's words? Another focus of Oleanna is education itself. Is higher education necessary? Is it helpful? Or is it, for some, just another object to acquire or a status symbol to attain? Oleanna gives us much to think about...and talk about.

Oleanna, directed by Annamaria Pileggi, runs through February 4^th at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Find ticket information at HotCity's website or Facebook page.

Words definitely have great power, and we often interpret each other's words quite differently from the way they were intended.  Share a memory of when words had unintended consequences for you by clicking on "Comments," below.

If you are alarmed at the state of culture when whether you are a 'Carrie' or a 'Samantha' starts well-informed debate at nearly any table, don't gather your canned-goods and head for the doomsday bunker just yet; deciding whether you are a 'Tom' or a 'Huck' can still spark just as much keen discussion. This month, the Repertory Theatre keeps Mark Twain's enduring cultural lynch-pin on top of the zeitgeist with a brand new adaptation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through Dec 23rd.

Last Friday night, I took my place with the Rep crowd under the entry canopy and funnelled through to the lobby's refreshment area to the dimmed theater within thinking about those favorite childhood buddies who made you late for dinner, coming home to parents' crossed arms and cross expressions with grass stains on your knees and strange things in your pockets. How well Tom's adventures capture that elemental childhood awareness of perpetually growing to be the biggest, oldest, and wisest you've ever been, and the heartbreaking sincerity and earnestness (and humor) that comes with that knowledge in so many children. I couldn't wait to see that come alive on stage.

Promptly at 8 p.m., the crew's silhouettes scurried busily from view, the stage lights rose and the crowd's voices fell, revealing a spartan but vibrant set: an aged picket fence, yellow stalks of wheat and blue sky. Tom and Huck were playing hooky from school. From here on, the young audience audibly delighted in the many (often dubious) treasures of youth Tom and his friends present, from brass doorknobs as love-tokens, to dead animals as currency, to the pursuit of love, freedom and honor--to the knowledge of darker things like betrayal and murder.

I couldn't resist turning in my seat more than once to try to locate the child who had squealed at Tom and his gang's bratty antics. Tom and Becky's first kiss got intergenerational smiles. Even the music (banjo and electric guitar?) has a singular cheekiness, and the music and sound effects together form a continuous soundtrack that creates a nearly film-like atmosphere.

But it is not all foibles and laughs. When Tom has a nightmare that the murderous "Injun Joe" stalks and kills his friends and family, some slouched pre-teen spines snapped to attention as a terrific slasher spray of blood spattered across Tom's bedroom window, through which Injun Joe's ominous silhouette is visible.

It makes for a charming night out for any person who once was or still is a kid. So, thanks for the reminder, Rep: I have a long-overdue date with the book, a flashlight, a tent made of blankets, and my inner child.

Please click here to find detailed ticketing and contact information for the theatre's current and upcoming shows or call 314-968-4925.

During yesterday's matinee performance of Billy Elliot the Musical at the Fox Theatre, I heard weeping in the seat behind me. I looked back to see tears streaming down the face of a handsome, bearded man in his fifties. As Billy took his last bow and the curtain dropped, the theatre lights slowly unveiled a crowd of people warm with the thrill of inspiration. And, to the delight of screenwriter Lee Hall, a fair number of them were men.

Billy Elliot is not only riveting in its inventive set production and impeccable choreography; it is also a great story. Set in a small town in England in 1984, the musical captures The National Union of Mine Worker's strike against the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. While the story is largely interested in the economic depravation resulting from the strike, it centers on Billy, a coal miner's son who wants to become a ballet dancer. More so than the film Billy Elliot, the theatre production focuses on the mining community: their struggle to find work, live with no hope of social mobility and, eventually, come together to send Billy to ballet school in London.

Director Stehphen Daldry teamed with Elton John, who wrote music specifically for the production. John saw the premier of the film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000, and, like the sobbing audience member behind me, left the theatre deeply affected. John could relate to the elemental themes in the story (trying to be something out of the ordinary, breaking free from parents' expectations) and proposed the idea for adaptation to Daldry. Since its debut in 2005, Billy Elliot the Musical has received more than 70 awards and ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

The most creative element of the production shows itself in how the rowdy, angry miners and the delicate ballerinas share the stage and the same musical numbers. In the amalgam of little girls in leotards, bawdy drinkers with protest signs, and tried, homely mothers, the message of each scene never loses its focus.  The viewer at once experiences Billy's passion for the ballet and the econmic distaster with in the mining community.

Some critics are quick to caution parents that the language of Billy Elliot the Musical is at times ribald and quite crude. It's true. But these are the voices of kids who come from a working class mining town and so, reasonably, they speak with a little edge. Despite this qualm, Billy Eliot cannot be missed. Everyone from young children to theater gurus to teary-eyed dads will love the heart, grit and passion of such a legendary performance. 

See Billy Elliot the Musical at the Fox from now until November 13, 2011. Tickets are available at fabulousfox.com

Photo credit: Michael Brosilow

Photo by Peter Wochniak

It's a simple story. A young woman prepares to marry a good man, but her heart still draws her to a bad one. But, thanks to playwright Federico Garcia Lorca and the always-creative Philip Boehm and Upstream Theatre, Blood Wedding is a feast for the senses.

We meet a mother who mourns her murdered husband and son as much as she adores her surviving son. Her sense of dread at losing her only remaining family to marriage foreshadows a more permanent loss. We meet a father who wants his obedient daughter to make a profitable match and provide him grandsons to work his land. The daughter's passions seem to lie elsewhere, however, foreshadowing a sad end for this couple. And we meet a bloodthirsty moon and his friend Death, who will control these passionate characters to tragic effect.

Live musical accompaniment by Lliam Christy adds to the passion and pain. Set Design by Michael Heil creates a world so dry your throat yearns for water. And the gorgeous costumes by Michele Siler make me wish I could be transported just for a moment to early 20th Century rural Spain.

Blood Wedding, directed by Upstream Theatre's artistic director Philip Boehm and starring Elizabeth Ann Townsend, Michael James Reed, Linda Kennedy, Kelsea Victoria McLean, J. Samuel Davis, Alessandra Silva, Peter Mayer, Julie Lawton, Jef Awada and Aaron Orion Baker, runs through October 23 at the Kranzberg Theatre in Grand Center. Tickets and information are available at Upstream Theater's website or Facebook page.

Has passion ever led you to a dangerous place? Share your thoughts by clicking on "Comments," below.

Photo by John Lamb

The state wants to commit a woman to a mental institution because her doctor, her parents and the prosecutor believe her behavior is wildly inappropriate for a lady of her upper class background. She is not demure and prim; she speaks her mind; she is brutally blunt about her sexual life, and those closest to her simply cannot accept that these are the actions of a rational mind. No, this isn't the 18th Century. It's 1979, and it's the crux of the conflict in Nuts at St. Louis Actors' Studio.

Nuts was a Broadway success in 1980 and a hit film starring Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfuss in 1987. While we can hope that our attitudes about mental illness - and, frankly, about women - have since changed for the better, it's still a harrowing story to watch. Where is the line between protection and imprisonment, whether it's drawn by one's family or one's government?

Playwright Tom Topor began his writing career as a journalist for the New York Post, covering the police beat and spending hours in courtrooms and psychiatric wards, eventually turning that experience into "ripped from the headlines" tales (such as Nuts and the film The Accused, starring Jodie Foster) long before Law and Order did the same for television.

Nuts, directed by Milt Zoth and starring Keith Thompson, William Roth, Alan McClintock, Donna Weinsting, John Contini, Steve Callahan, Rachel Visocan, Bob Harvey and Lara Buck, is the current offering of St. Louis Actors' Studio's "Law and Order" season and runs through October 23rd at The Gaslight Theatre - 360 North Boyle Avenue, next to the West End Grill and Pub. Tickets and information are available at St. Louis Actors' Studio's website and Facebook page.

We have all been misunderstood by those closest to us. Hopefully your experiences aren't as extreme as those exposed in Nuts, but you can share your own story by clicking on "Comments," below.

It's a tradition for St. Louis natives and a tourist destination for the out-of-towners. It's also a yearly tradition among families and a great night out with friends.  A new season of The Muny is underway with a line up of musicals that are sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.  To enjoy a relaxing evening out, here is some great information to make the most of your night at this iconic St. Louis landmark.

     
Dining outside The Muny theater.  Photo from The Muny Facebook page.

1.  Pack up the picnic basket, snag a park bench, and enjoy the views of Forest Park by creating your own five star restaurant before the show, a tradition among many Muny veterans.  For a sit down affair, The Culver Pavilion restaurant (reservations only), offers mouth-watering entrees, desserts, soups, and salads. During intermission cool off with a variety of treats at the concession stands, especially the Muny staff favorite-ice cream cones!  Use their trick and have cup to put your cone in so it won't melt all over your clothes.

 2.  Did you know that The Muny houses 11,000 seats, 1,500 of them are free? But bring your binoculars and be at the gates at 7 p.m. to snag one of the seats because they're very popular. Purchasing seats though, will get you closer to the action. Laura Peters, Director of Marketing and Publicity, says that her favorite seats are the "honeymoon seats," an entire row with just two single seats.

 3.  A typical St. Louis summer can be summed up in two words- hot and humid.  Take the right precautions to stay cool during the show.

• A soft sided cooler that fits under the seat
•  Plastic bottles full of ice cold water
•  Ice pack
•  Wet rags to wrap around your neck
• Fans (homemade from paper or battery-powered handheld)

4.  The Muny Kids, live bands, and sponsored events are some of the pre-show entertainment offered.  Each Muny production provides different entertainment to provide variety to the many frequent visitors.  These events start at 7 p.m. and are located throughout the venue.  Just keep an ear out for music!

                        

Children partake in pre-show activities for The Little Mermaid. Photo from The Muny Facebook page

 5.  Dress to impress when visiting The Muny.  Whether it's your Sunday best or a new summer dress, a variety of styles are worn by all ages. The most important consideration is to stay cool and comfortable in cotton or other breathable fabrics.

 6.   To keep comfortable for hours, seat cushions are a must and are available for rent before the show.  A well stocked cooler will help you stay hydrated and binoculars are encouraged if you want a front row view from 40 rows back.

7.  The Muny is a timeless family tradition for all ages.  Some season tickets have stayed in the family for three generations.  For one patron, The Muny has special family ties.  According to Joy Boland, The Muny receptionist, one woman working on an anniversary party for her parents, came in with a ticket stub from the show her parents saw on their first date in 1952.  After looking through the archives, Joy discovered the play was entitled, "Sally."  When told the name of the play, this woman's eyes filled up with tears.  "Sally is my name," she told Joy, in amazement that she was named after the production of her parent's first date.

 8.  First time to The Muny? Here a list of things to know from veterans before the big show:

• There is free parking along the streets of Forest Park
• Get there early to enjoy a great meal and mingle with other Muny guest
• Be courteous to others during the production – take bathroom breaks before the show and during intermission, and try not to eat loud or smelly foods
• Turn off your cellphone during productions
• Stay until after curtain call

 
9.   The Muny is just exciting for the guest as it is for the actors and staff backstage.  During hot summer nights, performers wear ice pack vests under their costumes to keep them cool.  Throughout the day, The Muny set is busy with show rehearsals which are done just 10 days before the opening.  Staff members keep busy chasing a family of ducks around the venue before performances.  When The Muny is out of season, twelve staff members work year round to bring the viewer the best outdoor theater experience in the county. 

Brenna Seger, brenna@stlrac.org

Photo by Andy Knef

Who knows more about faith: an older priest who's led his flock for decades or a young seminarian who's desperate to become a priest? Wisdom and experience versus a fresh perspective; comfort and complacency versus the arrogance of youth: there's the crux of the conflict in Bill C. Davis' Mass Appeal.

Beloved parish priest Father Farley (Alan Knoll, relishing the role of a man with feet of clay) agrees to help a student (Dylan Duke, as earnest as they come) who is in danger of being kicked out of the seminary because of his fervor for unvarnished truth, regardless of the consequences. The two men clash, disagree, frustrate each other, and, in the end, risk everything to help each other.

The story deals with religious faith, but it's also about faith in humanity here on earth. What do we owe each other? When is kindness really cruelty, and when is cruelty actually kindness? Is there such thing as a harmless lie, even if you think you're lying to help someone? It's serious stuff, handled delicately by director Deanna Jent (artistic director of Mustardseed Theatre), but mixed in with the solemnity are some welcome laughs.

Mass Appeal runs through June 12th at Dramatic License Productions' theatre inside Chesterfield Mall's Artropolis district. Find ticket information at Dramatic License's website or Facebook page.

How much honesty is too much? Are little white lies really little? Share your thoughts by clicking on "Comments," below.

How do aspiring playwrights start their careers? If they're lucky, they're nurtured by companies like St. Louis' HotCity Theatre.

HotCity holds a competition every year to discover and develop new playwrights. They request full-length play submissions (totaling almost 300 in 2010), choose three finalists to stage for their GreenHouse Series and invite the public to attend those readings free of charge and offer their input on the pieces. Then one play is selected to become a fully-produced piece as part of their next season. Intelligent Life is their latest discovery.

The story deals with an eclectic group of characters (a couple of alien-hunters, a Hooters waitress, an alcoholic and a lonely little boy) in search of life on other planets, but it becomes clear they are actually searching for a connection with people here on Earth. Playwright Lauren Dusek Albonico says she wrote this piece to ask questions about faith. What does it mean to believe in something wholeheartedly?  What happens if you begin to question that faith or lose it completely?

Intelligent Life runs through May 14^th at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Visit HotCity's website or Facebook Page for ticket information. And don't forget that HotCity's GreenHouse Series premieres its newest seedlings November 18^th - 20^th.

Have you ever had a close encounter with Intelligent Life? Share your thoughts by clicking on "Comments," below.