DIRTY BLONDE • Dramatic License Productions

A clever look at the bawdy, naughty film star, Mae West, is what's on offer at Dramatic License Productions.  Mae West was a true icon, and a pioneer when she started out in vaudeville.  With her sexually provocative stage shows and salacious one-liners, what she may have lacked as far as talent, she made up for with chutzpah, pushing the envelope of censorship.

This play covers a lot of ground considering it has only 3 actors.  It starts off introducing us to Charlie (John Reidy) and Jo (Kim Furlow).  They're two modern day fanatics who LOVE Mae West, and run into each other in a Brooklyn cemetery at Mae's crypt on August 17, the anniversary of her birth.  Jo is a lonely actress who temps more than she acts, and Charlie is a mild, quiet man who works at the New York Public Library Film Archives.  They strike up a friendship, and the ambiguous relationship between these two Mae West devotees grows during the course of the play.  By the end of it, they both get to "be" Mae West -- in a sense.  There are also scenes involving a young Mae (also Kim Furlow), with the various men of her life (John Reidy and B. Weller).  These follow her beginnings on the vaudeville stage, honing her persona, testing the boundaries of what she could get away with, and taking a few tips from a couple of drag queens -- a hilarious scene that suggests these queens helped give Mae West some finishing touches that solidified the indelible images that come to mind when we hear her name.  There are also scenes that show a young Charlie meeting Mae when he was 17 and she was an aging sexpot in her 80's, still trying to work it for all it was worth.  These scenes were some of the most compelling for me, with a rather sad Mae taking delight in looking at old pictures of herself, and Charlie, completely smitten, and Joe Frisco (B. Weller), a long-time friend of Mae's and hanger-on hoping to get lucky again.  Even into her mature years, she insisted that she looked like a woman of 26.

PASSING STRANGE • New Line Theatre

New Line's season opener rocks.  Literally.  Never letting you forget you're watching a play, PASSING STRANGE challenges the preconceptions about what a musical is -- a musical for people who don't think they like musicals.  It's a high-octane, allegorical, semi-autobiographical account of a musician, Mark Stewart, who goes by the single name, Stew, and his journey of self-discovery.  It opened on Broadway in 2008, garnering a Tony Award for Best Book.

Stew (Charles Glenn) serves as the older, wiser narrator, looking back on "Youth" (Keith Parker) who serves as his rebellious younger self, our Hero for the evening.  Pivotal scenes from Stew's life are played out with Youth, and a fully engaged ensemble.  Strong numbers like, "Baptist Fashion Show", "Amsterdam", and "May Day", shine a full light on the electrifying strength of this cast that a New Line production always promises.

THE WINNERS • HotCity Theatre

So, how does winning a butt-load of cash in the lottery change your life?  Or more intriguingly, what temptations and behaviors do new-found financial freedom uncover? That's at the center of THE WINNERS, written by David L. Williams.  This play won HotCity's GreenHouse new play competition last year, and it's receiving a full production in its St. Louis premiere in the cozy black-box confines of the Kranzberg.

What's the first thing Cassie (Shanara Gabrielle) and her husband Kurt (Shaun Sheley) do after raking in $337 million?  What else?  They buy a hooker for the night!  See, Cassie used to have the hots for an Asian classmate in college, but she never experimented, so they hire "Tiffany" (Sasha Diamond) a young attractive escort, so Cassie can live out her fantasy.  Naturally her husband was all for it.  After awkward small talk and money negotiations they get down to business.  All of the "action" takes place offstage, but once the first round is over, there's a bit of animosity in the air.  Cassie and Kurt seem to do a little "power-tripping" in light of their upper-hand in the situation, and they proceed to run Tiffany through a series of rather humiliating scenarios.  Throughout the night, we also hear from a crying Shirley, the couple's daughter, over the baby monitor.  Shirley's almost two years old, but not yet able to talk.  Weary of always having to go up and check on the baby, Cassie and Kurt have Tiffany go up to check on her to give themselves a break.  Geez.  Have the hooker do the dishes too while you're at it.

RED • The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

"What do you see?"

That's the first question painter Mark Rothko poses, almost pleads, to his new apprentice Ken in the opening minutes of the Rep's scorching season opener, John Logan's RED.

Mark Rothko's "multiforms" led to the development of Color Field Painting in the 1940's and 50's.  Although he is considered a master abstract expressionist, he shunned labels of any kind applied to his style.  You know -- that temperamental artist thing.

The play takes place in Rothko's 1950's art studio after he's been given a $35,000 commission (over $2 million today) to paint a series of murals for Manhattan's new Four Seasons restaurant.  Ken, an aspiring young artist himself, has been hired as Rothko's assistant.  He does everything from fetching Chinese food and preparing Rothko's canvases, to being a sounding board for the master and his intellectual ramblings.  Before Ken even has a chance to answer Rothko's initial question, he's given instructions on how to perceive his art -- "Let it work on you.  Let it pulsate.  Now what do you see?".

FALLING • Mustard Seed Theatre

With an estimated 1 in 110 kids having an ASD, or Autism spectrum disorder, many of us are familiar with autism to some degree -- in a once or twice removed kind of way.  But seeing the challenges of a family with an autistic son up close and personal in Mustard Seed's first show of their season, written by artistic director, Deanna Jent, is a powerful and touching experience.

THE CONVERSATION • The Black Mirror Theatre Company

There's a new theatre company in town folks, and THE CONVERSATION, written by St. Louisan Dennis Corcoran, is The Black Mirror Theatre Company's inaugural performance.

This play focuses on a discussion between Queen Elizabeth I and Gráinne Ní Mháille, or Grace O'Malley.  Grace was an Irish pirate and chieftain of the Ó Máille clan.  In the 16th century when England was in the process of trying to gain rule over Ireland, many Gaelic chieftains were handing over their land to the monarch and adopting fancy English titles, but Grace was a thorn in England's side -- a "bleeding ulcer" who refused to submit.  Her notorious exploits on the sea also posed a threat to England's purse.  When Grace's son and half-brother were imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth's armies, she sailed to English soil to seek favor and petition their release.

RESTORATION • St. Louis Shakespeare

Ah, the class system.  It never really goes away, does it?  Whether you're in 18th century England or 21st century America, injustice is a timeless subject that Edward Bond considers in RESTORATION, currently on stage at the Grandel presented by St. Louis Shakespeare.

THRILL ME: THE LEOPOLD AND LOEB STORY • Max & Louie Productions

Let me just start off by saying, there is some interesting pre-show chatter that goes on sometimes.  "My cousin's uncle got him out of jail".  "Yeah, and the prosecuting attorney was my aunt's brother-in-law".  This was the kind of small talk going on before Max & Louie's opening night performance of Stephen Dolginoff's THRILL ME:  THE LEOPOLD AND LOEB STORY.  This musical is based on the true story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, "thrill killers" who were sentenced to life plus 99 years for the murder of a young boy.  With songs like "Nothing Like a Fire", "Way Too Far" and "Ransom Note", the dark nature of this "crime of the century" seems unlikely material for a musical, but as director Brooke Edwards points out in her notes, this show concentrates less on the crimes and more on the relationship between these two young well-to-do law students from Chicago.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR • St. Louis Shakespeare

In the latest production from St. Louis Shakespeare, Mistresses Ford and Page are up to mischief in Windsor.

Sir John Falstaff (Martin Casey) is broke when he visits Windsor, and plans to woo Mistresses Ford and Page (Suki Peters & Jamie Marble) to get at the wallets of their husbands.  Fellas, if you're gonna write a nearly identical love letter to two women, make sure they don't find out about it, please.  That's the mistake Falstaff makes.  Once the Mistresses find out, they are bent on making a fool of him -- not really a difficult task.  Master Page (Chris Jones) doesn't give this buffoon much thought, but Master Ford (Ben Ritchie ) is jealous like crazy, so he disguises himself as "Master Brook" to try to get to the bottom of the "Fat Knight" and exactly what his intentions are.  Mistresses Ford and Page have a great time causing Falstaff to endure all kinds of humiliation as payment for his sloppy flirtations -- everything from being submerged in a filthy mess of smelly laundry to being poked and prodded by the local townsfolk.  Poor Falstaff.  In the end though, everything turns out fairly well.

THE CRUMPLE ZONE • Citilites Theatre

Ah, the holidays.  Supposedly a time of mirth and merriment for families and friends right?  Well, not always.  If there's one thing this play about infidelity, love and friendship demonstrates, it's that the holiday season can be just as unfulfilling for gays as it can be for straight folks.  Sounds like an engaging play though, right?  Well, not really.

Set in a small apartment in Staten Island, our cast of characters includes Terry (Keith Thompson), the incredibly lonely and neurotic unemployed actor who has a tremendous crush on Buck (Troy Turnipseed). But Buck is the lover of Alex (Seth Ward Pyatt), Terry's roommate.  He's working as a Santa Claus at the Staten Island Mall.  Then there's Matt (Anotnio Rodriguez), Alex's long-term boyfriend who is out on the road touring with a musical adaptation of "Salem's Lot".  There's also Roger (Devin Przygoda) who is picked up by Terry on the Staten Island ferry.

THE VISIT • Stray Dog Theatre

After seeing this play, I could hardly wait to rush home and google Tragicomedy.  This 1956 play in three acts by Swiss playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt presents some pretty absurd ideas, but getting sucked into how irrational ideas eventually become rationalized during the course of a story like this is chilling, but uncomfortably familiar at the same time.

As the play begins, the town of Güllen is gathered at the train station planning a grand welcoming for Claire Zachanassian (a commanding Julie Layton).  She's a billionaire home town girl who has scheduled a visit to her old stomping grounds.  With the loss of the town's industries, Güllen is drowning in its own poverty, and they hope that Claire might throw some bank their way.  Anton Schill (R. Travis Estes), who runs the general store, has been assigned the task of buttering her up.  She arrives early and catches the townsfolk off-guard.  After a blustery welcome by the Burgomaster (Jan Niehoff), Claire announces her intentions -- she is willing to offer 1 billion marks, half to the town and half to the citizens, in exchange for the life of one of the most popular guys in town.  That's right -- Anton Schill.  See, Anton and Claire were sweethearts back in the day, but Anton got her pregnant when she was 17.  Claire lost a paternity suit against Anton and turned to prostitution for awhile to get by after being forced out of town, so Claire's looking for some revenge.  I mean uh, justice.  The town is appalled and rejects her offer, but Claire asserts that she'll wait.

TONY AWARDS AFTERGLOW

In celebration of the big winner tonight…  Oh…  last night…  I felt compelled to post another song from THE BOOK OF MORMON -- the opening number called "Hello!".  Congratulations to all of the Tony Award nominees and winners!

Yay, theatre!!

WAR HORSE • Vivian Beaumont Theatre

Well, here on the day of the 65th Annual Tony Awards, I've finally gotten around to posting about this show -- my favorite from this past NYC trip.

I rarely cry at the theatre.  It's happened twice -- once during WICKED's "For Good" (I was seeing it with my best friend so… you know…) and then once during the first 10 minutes of  THE LION KING because it was just so visually beautiful.  But during WAR HORSE?  I cried like a little bitch.

This play with music was adapted from a children's book of the same name that was written by Michael Morpurgo.  There's also a Steven Spielberg film in the works.  Admittedly, the book for this play has received some criticism for its simplicity, but whatever.  The real draw of this production is the life-sized horse puppets (along with a very animated little puppet goose) developed from the creative talents of the Handspring Puppet Company.  Kind of like AVENUE Q, after awhile you don't even see the puppeteers.  The team of 3 or 4 operating the horses disappear, and you're looking at a horse on stage.  The twitching ears, head shaking, the subtle movements of the front legs and hooves, the flutter of the tail, that spark in the eyes -- theatre magic, baby…

THE IMMIGRANT • New Jewish Theatre

Not all Jews who escaped the pervasive violence in Russia ended up in Manhattan's Lower East side.  About 10,000 ended up in Galveston, Texas through a resettlement program called the Galveston Movement.  The New Jewish Theatre closes its season with THE IMMIGRANT, directed by Edward Coffield, a play that serves as a tribute to the playwright's grandparents, Haskell and Leah Harelik and their migration to Hamilton, Texas.

The set (Josh Smith) draws you in -- a warm, rustic cedar paneled framing and a thrust stage.  In addition to the title being projected onto the back of the set, the play begins with projections that set up the story that include real photos from the Harelik family album as well as photos from the harrowing journey to America.

BARE • New Line Theatre

Some themes are universal.  The high school years tend to expose many of these coming-of-age themes -- especially at a co-ed Catholic Boarding School -- where you might happen to be gay.  With about 33 songs and very little dialogue, BARE (or alternatively, BARE:  A POP OPERA) is truly a pop opera.  When this show was first presented in 2000, there were some comparisons to RENT, but I think I liked this one better.

The kids are getting ready to put on the school play, ROMEO AND JULIET.  Within this framework, we see the struggles of Jason and Peter's attraction to each other -- Peter willing to be "out", and Jason, trying to stay "in".