St. Louis Theater Reviews

Review: WELCOME TO ARROYO'S at The Zack
by James Lindhorst - May 07, 2023

WELCOME TO ARROYO’S is the current production by The Tesseract Theatre Company that closed on May 7th.  Brittanie Gunn directs a funny and mostly effective production of Diaz’s uneven play. There are plenty of genuine laughs, more resulting from the energy, physical acting choices and rapping abilit...

Review: GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES at Kirkwood Performing Arts Center
by Rob Levy - May 07, 2023

Told in nonlinear time, the play is all about Doug and Kayleen's reconnections and missed opportunities. Over these years, the effects of alcoholism, bad relationships and family dysfunction complicate their relationship, testing the unspoken connection they share. Separated by time and distance, ea...

Review: EUBIE! at The Black Rep At The Edison Theater On The Washington University Campus
by James Lindhorst - May 06, 2023

Originally produced in the 1970s, EUBIE re-introduced audiences to Blake’s iconic career and  his music with a 23-song musical review. The Black Rep's production has taken century old music giving it a current sound with choreography that is both traditional and contemporary. The vocally talented ca...

Review: THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY at The Kranzberg Blackbox Theatre
by James Lindhorst - May 05, 2023

Midnight Company’s Joe Hanrahan performs all nine roles in the play that is narrated by detective Chuck Desantis as he tries to solve the mystery of what happened to Leonard. Along the way the audience is introduced to Leonard’s Aunt Ellen, his cousin Phoebe, one of his bullies, Tyler, and to about ...

Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME at The Marcelle Theatre
by James Lindhorst - April 16, 2023

Michelle Hand is mesmerizing as Heidi, driving nearly all of the play’s dialogue. Her indelible presence is captivating. She enters, introduces herself as Heidi and tells the audience about her mother’s vision to help her pay for college by winning VFW sponsored debates about what the constitution m...

Review: BROKE: THE GAME SHOW SHOW at The Westport Playhouse
by James Lindhorst - April 16, 2023

Unfortunately, there are a lot of things broke with this production. The scripted part of the show is banal. There are too few laughs. The two songs written, one for each act, are forgettable. In fact, the only memorable thing about the production value of BROKE was the bright kelly green blazer and...

Review: VIOLET at The Kranzberg Blackbox
by James Lindhorst - April 07, 2023

While the source material is subpar, director Bekah Harbison uses simple staging with minimal set pieces to focus the audience on the relationships between the characters. Through her collaboration with her actors, she extracts committed and emotional performances out of each member of the cast. Her...

Review: INTO THE WOODS at Tower Grove Abbey
by Rob Levy - April 06, 2023

The second show of Stray Dog Theatre’s 2023 season honors the late Stephen Sondheim with an innovative take on his musical Into the Woods. Filled with great songs, this imaginative production gives audiences a thrilling theatrical experience.at did our critic think of INTO THE WOODS at Tower Grove A...

Review: SKELETON CREW at The Black Rep At Berges Theatre At COCA
by James Lindhorst - April 01, 2023

Director Geovonday Jones vision and collaboration with his actors and technical crew deliver a superb production of SKELETON CREW. In addition to the exceptionally directed performances by the actors, Jones empowers his technical teams and allows their creativity to raise the production value to the...

Review: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS at The Loretto-Hilton Center On The Campus Of Webster University
by Rob Levy - March 27, 2023

Brimming with Hitchcockian noir and soaked in blood and intrigue, The Rep’s Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express excels in every possible way. Great performances, a smart use of projections, gorgeous costumes and a must-see set design come together for a vivid interpretation of Christie’s ...

Review: THE BIRTHDAY PARTY at Kranzberg Black Box Theater
by James Lindhorst - March 19, 2023

Albion’s extraordinary production of Pinter’s work is grounded in Suki Peter’s sharp direction, brisk pacing and her collaboration with her actors. The performances she elicits from each of the cast members are balanced perfection. Her use of the space within Brad Slavik’s smartly appointed period s...

Review: THE ONE FOUR FIVES at The Improv Shop
by James Lindhorst - March 12, 2023

Meeting at the intersection of improvisation and musical comedy is THE ONE FOUR FIVES, a comedy troupe that performs at The Improv Shop in St. Louis. THE ONE FOUR FIVES are made up of four women and three men who create two entirely original musicals at each performance. This performance of the fer...

Review: NINE at The Marcelle Theatre
by James Lindhorst - March 04, 2023

New Line Theatre has again put together an overall performance that is entertaining and enjoyable. This production of NINE succeeds because of the quality performances of every member of the cast and their ability to deliver strong vocals....

Review: JUST ONE LOOK at Midnight Company At The Blue Strawberry Showroom And Lounge
by James Lindhorst - March 02, 2023

JUST ONE LOOK is just one night of exceptional music. It’s a rock ‘n roll cabaret performance that is uniquely driven by a theatrical narrative and it works on every level....

Review: CONFEDERATES at Loretto-Hilton Center For The Performing Arts
by Rob Levy - March 01, 2023

Executed with poignancy, The Rep’s production of Confederates, guided by Dominique Morisseau’s vison and executed by director Elizabeth Carter comes to life through the work of an incredible cast....

Review: DISNEY'S MARY POPPINS at Historic Owen Theatre
by Theresa Bertram - February 28, 2023

What did our critic think of DISNEY'S MARY POPPINS at Historic Owen Theatre?...

Review: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? at Tower Grove Abbey
by Rob Levy - February 13, 2023

Ugly and combatative, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a well-acted drama that lingers with audiences long after the final curtain. This fearless Stray Dog production pulls no punches in bringing marital dysfunction to audiences numbered by its emotional resonance. Impolite conversation has never ...

Review: THE LIGHT at The Hotchner Studio Theatre On The Washington University Campus
by James Lindhorst - February 09, 2023

THE LIGHT, the current offering at The Black Rep, is Loy A. Webb’s two-character play that takes on the painful topic of sexual assault and the victim’s devastation. Newly engaged couple Genesis and Rashad are celebrating when Genesis speaks a painful truth and Rashad deflects to protect the aggress...

Review: SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM at The Catherine Berges Theatre At The Center For The Creative Arts (COCA)
by Rob Levy - February 05, 2023

Although Side by Side by Sondheim provides audiences with a dose of light musical entertainment, those familiar with the composer’s prolific output may not be satisfied. This is because when these songs are taken out of the context of their full productions, some of the magic wanes....

Review: LES MISERABLES at Fox Theatre, St. Louis
by Rob Levy - January 18, 2023

This exuberant and tragic production of Les Misérables is a breathtakingly epic reminder that the power of theater lies in its ability to capture the essence of the human spirit.at did our critic think of LES MISÉRABLES at Fox Theatre, St. Louis?...

Review: DEATH OF A SALESMAN at The Black Rep at The Edison Theater on the Washington University Campus
by James Lindhorst - January 14, 2023

In The Black Rep’s current production of DEATH OF A SALESMAN, director Jacqueline Thompson helms an emotional narrative that is propelled by excellent performances from a stellar cast. She uses Dunsi Dai’s and Lily Thomasic’s multi-leveled static set design effectively to intersperse Willy’s flashba...

Review: RIDE THE CYCLONE at Tower Grove Abbey
by Rob Levy - December 04, 2022

What did our critic think of RIDE THE CYCLONE at Tower Grove Abbey? A tragic rollercoaster ride and a cryptic prophecy from a mechanical fortune teller set the stage for a thrill ride season finale from Stray Dog Theatre. From the onset Ride the Cyclone, establishes itself as a quirky musical with e...

Review: PRIVATE LIVES at Catherine B. Berges Theatre At COCA
by Rob Levy - October 13, 2022

The Rep’s superb production of Noël Coward's Private Lives is directed by Meredith McDonough. This emotionally raw drama pulls no punches in depicting the intense passion and constant divisiveness that haunts Amanda and Elyot’s relationship. Alternating between sexually charged and emotionally abusi...

Review: New Line Theatre's SOMETHING ROTTEN at The Marcelle Theatre
by James Lindhorst - October 09, 2022

This production of SOMETHING ROTTEN is terrific. New Line Theatre’s production delivers a robust number of laughs from a script filled with nonsense musical theatre references. Director Scott Miller has taken a big, overblown musical and effectively shrunk the performance to a smaller stage with a s...

Review: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at Tower Grove Abbey
by Rob Levy - October 07, 2022

Filled with vim and vigor from start to finish. Stray Dog Theatre’s A Little Night Music is an energetic and passionate treat. This frolic filled morsel of musical theater is a pure delight that is not to be missed....