The St. Louis Area Theatre Calendar

For the Week of 5/20/2019

Updated Sunday, May 19, 2019

Brought to you by Stage Left and 88.1 KDHX.

To submit your event, send an email to calendar at stageleft.org. Your event information should be in text format (i.e. not part of a graphic), but feel free to include publicity stills for inclusion here and on the enhanced version of this calendar at the Stage Left blog (where you can offer comments, updates and corrections).

And don't forget to check out my list of St. Louis theatre links!


This week is your last chance for a hit musical at the Fox and Tesseract's new play festival, as well as the opening night for Opera Theatre's season.
CSZ St. Louis presents The ComedySportz Show on Saturday nights at 7:30 pm. The show is "action-packed, interactive and hilarious comedy played as a sport. Two teams battle it out for points and your laughs! You choose the winners the teams provide the funny!" Performances take place on the second floor of the Sugar Cubed, 917 S Main St. in St Charles, Mo. For more information: www.cszstlouis.com.

Come From Away
The Fabulous Fox Theatre presents the musical Come From Away through May 26. "The New York Times Critics' Pick takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships." The Fabulous Fox Theatre in on N. Grand in Grand Center. For more information: fabulousfox.com.

Tesseract Theatre Company presents Dates by Elizabeth Breed Penny, running through May 26 as part of the 2019 Festival of New Plays. "Dates is a play about Caroline, a recently "unmarried" woman who has been finding it hard to live in the outside world: literally. Unable to leave her house, she attempts to reconnect with her friends, her therapist, and potential romantic interests through online dating, emails, and text messages. The reality is, her self-imposed isolation is merely a ploy to prevent herself from coming to terms with the abusive relationship she has just come out of." Performances take place at The .ZACK, 3224 Locust in Midtown. For more information: tesseracttheatre.com.

Tesseract Theatre Company presents Earworm by Shaulee Cook running through May 26 as part of the 2019 Festival of New Plays. "Earworm tells the story of Candles Out, a decade-old punk rock break up song seeking closure with five people whose lives she's entwined with in very different ways - Sasha and Jory, the two band members that wrote her; Trevor, the guy they wrote her about; Elise, Trevor's sister; and Kess, Trevor's new girlfriend … who also happens to be the song's biggest fan. A strange trip involving music and memory and how each affects the other." Performances take place at The .ZACK, 3224 Locust in Midtown. For more information: tesseracttheatre.com.

Alpha Players present the comedy Exit Laughing through May 26. Performances take place at The Florissant Civic Center Theater, Parker Rd. at Waterford Dr. in Florissant, MO. For more information: alphaplayers.org, call 314-921-5678.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Flaming Saddles through July 28 The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com

Tesseract Theatre Company presents Hoist by Erin Lane running through May 25 as part of the 2019 Festival of New Plays. "Sometimes you don't get to be the hero of the story... even when you sign up for it. In 2008, the war rages on in a basement bar in Chicago. Skyler, the bartender and an Afghanistan veteran, has left everything she knows behind in an attempt to survive. She struggles to gain control over her present life, but, day in and day out, discovers it lifeless at the bottom of a rocks glass. As she battles with violent demons, she finds there is no escape when someone from her past walks into the bar." Performances take place at The .ZACK, 3224 Locust in Midtown. For more information: tesseracttheatre.com.

I Now Pronounce
Photo by John Gitchoff
New Jewish Theater presents the St. Louis premiere of the comedy I Now Pronounce Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 2 and 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm through June 2. "A play that mines disconnections. After Adam and Nicole's wedding culminates in an awkwardly timed fatality, the reception spins into an increasingly strange evening that leaves the bride and groom questioning just what it is they're celebrating. But there's no stopping the festivities: the flower girls are running amuck, the bridal party members are preoccupied with their own flailing relationships, and everyone needs to stop ordering the blue drinks. Comedies end in marriage. Tragedies end in death. This play begins with both." Performances take place in the Marvin and Harlene Wool Studio Theater at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. For more information: www.newjewishtheatre.org or call 314-442-3283.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents Mozart's comedy The Marriage of Figaro opening on Saturday, May 25, and running through June 29. " Life at court is about to get complicated. The maid Susanna is determined to wed her fiancé, Figaro, while the Count is equally determined to add her to his list of conquests. But Susanna and Figaro won't allow one self-entitled nobleman to ruin their happy ending! They each hatch their own plots to teach their master a lesson. What follows is a whirlwind day of romantic intrigue, cunning schemes, and uproarious fun. One of Mozart's most beloved masterpieces, The Marriage of Figaro reminds us all that love will always prevail, and forgiveness is always within reach." The opera runs three hours and ten minutes with one intermission and is sung in English with English supertitles. Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center at 135 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus.  For more information: opera-stl.org call 314-961-0644.

The HIlton St. Louis Frontenac presents The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Dinner Show through July 27. "Solve a hilarious crime while you feast on a fantastic dinner. Just beware! The culprit is hiding in plain sight somewhere in the room, and you may find yourself as a Prime Suspect before you know it!" For more information: https://www.thedinnerdetective.com/st-louis

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents Muurder in Maaaybury! through July 27. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com.

The Black Rep presents Nina Simone: Four Women running through June 2. "Nina Simone's velvet voice was unafraid to sing lyrics that cut right to the truth. Her music and her life were a personal exploration branded in the kiln of the civil rights movement; so, in the aftermath of the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and the tragic loss of the four little girls her powerful anthems, MISSIPPIPPI GODDAM, SINNERMAN, AND OLD JIM CROW, fueled the Civil Rights movement and changed her public persona from songstress to activist. From the iconic 'I PUT A SPELL ON YOU&" to FOUR WOMEN, of the title, Simone's lyrics weave a story of four women alienated from themselves and one another due to the color of their skin." Performances take place at the Edison Theatre on the Washington University campus. For more information: theblackrep.org.

Lion's Paw Theatre Company presents Plays on the Menu, a reading of the plays Change of Venue by Judd Lear Silverman; Turtles and Bulldogs by Scott C Sickles; and Man. Kind. by Don X Nguyen on Monday and Tuesday, March 21 and 22, at noon at The Hearth Room at The Hawken House, 1155 South Rock Hill Road. The readings include lunch. For more information: lionspawtheatre.org.

The St. Louis Writers' Group presents the final round of its Playwright Slam on Monday, May 20 at 6:30 pm. "Get ready for a night of fun impromptu theater. The order of scripts to be read will be chosen at random. Actors to read will be chosen at random. Each script will be given a five minute read, and rated by a panel of judges based upon audience reaction. The judges will then select a winner." The event takes place upstairs at Big Daddy's, 1000 Sidney in Soulard. For more information: www.stlwritersgroup.com.

KTK Productions presents the musical Smoke on the Mountain Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through May 26. "Smoke on the Mountain tells the story of a Saturday Night Gospel Sing at a country church in North Carolina's Smoky Mountains in 1938. The show features two dozen rousing bluegrass songs played and sung by the Sanders Family, a traveling group making its return to performing after a five-year hiatus. Between songs, each family member &"witnesses&" - telling a story about an important event in their life. Though they try to appear perfect in the eyes of a congregation who wants to be inspired by their songs, one thing after another goes awry and they reveal their true - and hilariously imperfect - natures. By the evening's end, the Sanders family has endeared themselves to us by revealing their weaknesses and allowing us to share in their triumphs." Performances take place at St. John the Baptist Church, 4200 Delor. For more information: kurtainkall.org or call 314-351-8984.

Looking for auditions and other artistic opportunities? Check out the St. Louis Auditions site.
For information on events beyond this week, check out the searchable database at the Regional Arts Commission's Events Calendar.
Would you like to be on the radio? KDHX, 88.1 FM needs theatre reviewers. If you're 18 years or older, knowledgeable in this area, have practical theatre experience (acting, directing, writing, technical design, etc.), have good oral and written communications skills and would like to become one of our volunteer reviewers, send an email describing your experience and interests to chuck at kdhx.org. Please include a sample review of something you've seen recently.