Live Entertainment

I’ve always enjoyed a cappella music. I’ve covered Straight No Chaser numerous times at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis. The harmonies are always nice, but the recreation of instrumental sounds strictly by the dexterity of vocal cords is a real treat. When I heard Pentatonix was coming to town I was excited for the chance to cover them and to get a different style and range of song and showmanship than what I’ve grown accustomed to by Straight No Chaser.

The show began with an opening act, Us the Duo. Comprised of husband and wife Michael and Carissa Alvarado, the talented twosome quickly won over the audience with their charisma and skill. Carissa charmed with her smile and warmth, singing beautifully, while handsome Michael played the guitar or keyboard.  They were delightful and earned a deserved standing ovation at the end of their set.

I’ve been covering New Line Theatre for several years running, and the one thing I can always count on is to expect the unexpected. When I heard that director Scott Miller closing his 26^th season with Out On Broadway: The Third Coming, I thought to myself, “Hmmm…never heard of the first two comings but I assume it’s about gay actors on Broadway?” and yep, that’s pretty much it. Five musical veterans: Dominic Dowdy-Winsor, his real-life husband Mike Dowdy-Windsor, Ken Haller, Sean Michael, and Keith Thompson, along with Nate Jackson on the piano, cover a range of songs from a wide variety of musicals. It’s not a musical in and of itself as it doesn’t have a plot; it’s more of a revue, a five-part cabaret without the introspection between numbers. It’s as stripped down to the bone as a New Line production will likely ever get, and that’s perfectly fine, because the music is pretty great.

The Sterling Renaissance Festival is a 7 week long event, that takes place on the weekends, featuring street actors, artisans, and stage performances meant to immerse visitors in the 1500's.

One such performance, by a trio of Triton's temptresses, will captivate you. I'm talking about:

SIRENA

Sirena is a musical/theatrical, experience that takes you back to mythical times where the sirens call would lure in shipwrecked lovers. Sailors both loved and feared them as they would become hypnotized by their song and lose their souls in the process.

WrestlePro is going to be at St. Joe’s Church in Keyport, NJ this Saturday.  There are more matches to be announced (I will likely be adding to this as we get closer to show time), and Hardcore Holly and Fake News Bennett (FKA Bad News Barrett) will also be at this show!  It’s going to be a big one!  You also get to see hometown hero (and huge friend of this column) Coach Dylan Stiffwood make his triumphant return to Keyport!

Tickets available here!

Maybe you've been attending comic conventions for a few years now. If so, you've established your expectations of what you'll see there, the good, the bad, the ugly, and enticing.

But maybe you've been going long enough that you've mutated -- it sneaks up on you -- into those creatures know as parents. If so, you may find yourself visiting your familiar convention environs one summer with a younger human being in tow for the first time, and find yourself suddenly thinking differently about some of the revealing cosplay, the nude superheroine prints, and the bloody special effects makeup and masks. If you've encountered this uncomfortable feeling already, or if you're just lookign for something that will better engage your young offspring (of which it is your duty to raise properly in the ways of the Force, the Prime Directive, truth justice and the American way, and with great responsibility).

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS is a musical by Marvin Hamlisch, Craig Camelia and John Guare based on the screenplay by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman about a post WWII celebrity gossip columnist, his seedy protégé and the muckraker’s strange relationship with his sister. It’s one of the more intricately structured plots you’ll see in a musical. Virtually no one is quite who you thought they were by the end of the show and that level of character depth is deeply satisfying. It’s also likely that you’ll squirm in your seat uncomfortably at times, because Zachary Allen Farmer, one of St. Louis’ best comedic actors, plays one hell of a rat bastard in this New Line Theatre production.

After a blockbuster film, the highest grossing Broadway production in history, ridiculous DVD sales and constant worldwide tours, everybody knows what Disney’s THE LION KING is all about, right? Yes, I still haven’t seen the movie (might as well wait for the “live” action remake now), but I was fortunate enough to see the last tour when it set attendance records at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis.  Since there shouldn’t be any reason to rehash the coming of age story for the future King of the Beasts amid the evil schemes of his sinister uncle, allow me to discuss what makes THE LION KING musical one of the most unique and memorable theatrical experiences you’ll find anywhere.

ATLANTA - April 19, 2017 - Square Enix, Blizzard and Wizards of the Coast will be among the companies at MomoCon, the convention with the largest gaming floor in the Southeastern United States.

Wizard World St. Louis was the weekend place to be to find fan art, celebrity signatures, fantasy weaponry, iconic vehicles, and sundry other geeky goodies. But it didn't put the slightest strain on your wallet to enjoy the free show that was brought to the Dome at America's Center by the attendees who took advantage of the event to show off their talents at transmogrification, bringing to life some of our favorite comic book, animation, video game and television characters. It's all part of the phenomenon known as cosplay -- a portmanteau word of 'costume' and 'play' -- and it's serious business for a lot of the attendees. This isn't a pair of red shorts and a bathtowel tied around your neck and calling yourself "Superman." Utilizing body paint, plaster casting, rubber molding, rivets, stitchery, and every other manufacturing method available, cosplayers pull out all the stops to make their characters look as off-the-page and out-of-the-screen as possible.

Spring is here, which means it’s that time of year again--the time when newness and life spring forth. For those so inclined it means baseball, but for those of us more eclectic types in the Saint Louis area it means one thing above all: It is time for the now apparently annual Wizard World Convention at the America’s Center.

THE ILLUSIONISTS: LIVE FROM BROADWAY is a tricky show to review, no pun intended. How can I discuss magic tricks, illusions, mentalism, and death-defying stunts when I don’t know how 99% of them are done and magic is generally a visual event that words alone cannot reproduce? THE ILLUSIONISTS is a show featuring seven of the top magicians and daredevils in the world. It’s an event that must be seen to be believed, and you only have until the last two shows on Sunday, April 2, 2017 to catch them at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis before they disappear, presumably in a puff of theatrical smoke.

The seven masters of their art are:

What can you say about Agatha Christie that hasn’t been said a thousand times? I mean, when your books are only outsold by the Holy Bible and that lousy hack William Shakespeare, that’s pretty much all there is to say. I’ve read a number of her stories, mostly the ones revolving around Hercule Poirot or Mrs. Marple. I have somehow managed to neither read WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION nor seen it performed until tonight, presented by The Kirkwood Theatre Guild. I don’t know what I was waiting for—I love a good courtroom drama.

Results:

• Preshow - Talon def. Valerio LaMorte

• Bruce Pritchard came out to do a promo to start the show.  He put over WrestlePro huge in a terrific promo.

First off, let's start with the big news!  Mario Bokara, Fallah Bahh, and Kevin Matthews all made their debut at Impact tapings last weekend.  

And this led to Matthews being offered a 2-year contract. Congratulations to all three of these talented performers. They (along with many of the WrestlePro roster) deserve a much bigger platform to show what they can do.  

Life is a simple word that conjures images in one’s head of everything from bland breakfast cereal to fierce religious/political debates to the birth of a child. It is a capricious word. Jobs, relationships, health, you name it--life will change it in an instant, sometimes for the better, sometimes far worse. New Line Theatre’s newest production, ZORBA, is a perfect example of the unpredictability of the one commodity that everyone holds most precious.

“Avast, ye scurvy dogs, and heave to! Aye, you’ll hoist me treasure, or you’ll be sleepin’ in Davy Jones’ locker, argh!” Sigh…I think I’d have made a great pirate. I’m told I have a certain kind of intensity in my eyes, I don’t particularly like shaving, and I have a pet macaw. All I need is an ocean, a galleon and a time machine. Since I can probably only get my hook onto two of those three piratical requirements, I guess I’ll settle for the next best thing: pirate-centric community theatre! Hot on the heels of earning 16 nominations for NOISES OFF and ANNE FRANK at this year’s Arts For Life Awards, O’Fallon Theatre Works presents PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, running February 24 - March 5.

There’s a big WrestlePro show Friday Night (February 10) at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey and on Saturday night in Brooklyn at St Pat’s CYO.  Starland Ballroom is one of my favorite places to catch a wrestling show (or concert), and I’ve had my tickets for this one for a long time now.

Here are our predictions on how the Starland show plays out!

Ryback Vs Brian Cage

Hark! What is this vision which dances before me? Is it Drama personified, grounding us with her stories of maidens, men and honored beasts? Nay! ‘tis Brother Comedy in his smiling mask of gold, sustained by the richness of my laughter. SOMETHING ROTTEN! ‘tis a rose by another name, but sweeter than the forbidden fruit of Eden, for the gods of jests and conspiracies have transported my soul upon the stage of the Fabulous Fox Theatre, and given voice to a belief most fundamental to my divine spirit: “God, I Hate Shakespeare!”

CLOSER is a play by Patrick Marber that was made into a feature film in 2004 starring Julie Roberts, Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Clive Owen. I’m a fan of all four of those actors, and I own the DVD, but I somehow have yet to actually watch it. Thus when I arrived at the lovely .ZZCK Theatre for Theatre Lab’s production of the play, directed by Tom Martin, Produced by Ryan Scott Foizey and co-produced by Rey Arceno, Scott Seibert and Colin Barlow, I actually wasn’t sure what to expect. It was about three or four scenes into the performance where it dawned on me that I knew the plot from trailers I saw thirteen years ago. Better late to a party than never, right?