Chris Gibson - Page 31

Tim Schall has been called a 'consummate cabaret performer' by Cabaret Scenes Magazine. His past Sheldon performances have saluted Gershwin, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers, and for this performance, he sings music from and inspired by the luckiest of all - the Irish! Enjoy 'Danny Boy,' 'Streets of Dublin,' and 'Look to the Rainbow.'

In April, Bellingham(WA) based singer/strummer/rambler Robert Sarazin Blake, with the Powderkegs as backing band, will be touring the East Coast in support of their new release 'Put it all down in a Letter'. Recorded in one all-night recording session, at Minor Street Studios in Philadelphia, the album is a letter home full of stories, regrets, humor, and two rambles over 12 minutes long. For three weeks, the band will play east coast destination cities and the spots in-between. Each night brings a unique presentation as the audience, and the adventure of the road, weave in and out of Blake's songs and rambles.

The 2011 season opens with the St. Louis premiere of BECKY'S NEW CAR by Steven Dietz. This comedy starring Susie Wall is about a middle-aged woman who has the chance to trade in her average life for an alternate adventure with an uber-rich elderly gentleman. Since its debut in 2008, the play has been received enthusiastically at regional theatres across the country from Sacramento to Cincinnati. BECKY'S NEW CAR will be directed by Tlaloc Rivas and runs June 9-19.

This month, Washington University's Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences will present the Bard's most popular comedy - arguably the most popular ever written - as its spring Mainstage production: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Set in modern dress, the story begins in Athens as the city prepares for the wedding of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Amidst the celebration, Hermia, a young noblewoman, is ordered by her father, the stern Egeus, to marry Demetrius. Instead, she flees to the forest with her own chosen beloved, Lysander.

The Sheldon presents THE CELTIC TENORS, Friday, March 11, 2011 at 8 p.m. in the perfect acoustics of the Sheldon Concert Hall. Special Music for Lifelong Achievement Instrument Drive! MFLA and Horns to Havana have teamed up to collect and send musical instruments, both donated and purchased, to students in schools in and around Havana, Cuba. Donate a used musical instrument at any concert during February and March, or bring your donations to The Sheldon during normal business hours, Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The Sheldon presents 'Colors of Russia' featuring David Halen, violin, Miran Halen, soprano and Natasha Paremski, piano, Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 8 p.m. in the perfect acoustics of the Sheldon Concert Hall. Inspired by Russian-born painter Marc Chagall's Snowing, from the collection of the St. Louis Art Museum , colorful Russian music is performed by Symphony Concertmaster David Halen and Moscow-born rising star pianist Natasha Paremski with soprano Miran Halen. The program will include Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in its original form for solo piano, Prokofiev's Sonata for Violin and Piano, Rachmaninoff Preludes, and Arensky's Piano Trio. Join us at 7:10 for a pre-concert talk with pianist Peter Henderson.

In celebration of its 25th season, Circus Flora, St. Louis' beloved, one-ring circus, announces its brand new show, VAGABOND ADVENTURES, June 2 through June 26 under the air-conditioned, red-and-white, big top tent in Grand Center. Presented by Edward D. Jones, the show comes on the heels of Circus Flora's triumph with the St. Louis Symphony in January.

Meet Victor and Walter Franz - brothers who haven't spoken to one another in 16 years. One a beat cop, the other a successful surgeon, they meet in the attic of a soon-to-be-demolished house to sell their deceased parents' property. THE PRICE, an essential Miller drama, explores missed opportunities, seething resentments, and the price of life decisions.

The 1980 movie Nine to Five was a pretty big hit when it came out, and one reason is because it touched a nerve with its tale of three secretaries (Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton) who extract revenge from their chauvinistic boss, superbly played by Dabney Coleman, who made a career out of playing the man you love to hate in a number of comedies from that period. And since there are still issues of inequality in the workplace with regards to the salaries and opportunities that are afforded to women (even though there's certainly been some progress made in those areas in the last 30 years), I can see why this material might still seem pertinent enough to launch a stage musical. Even though it runs a bit long, and loses momentum about halfway through, it was obvious to me that most of the audience in attendance found 9 to 5: THE MUSICAL to be a very entertaining show. The current production playing the Fox Theatre is served well by a talented and enthusiastic cast that appears to be having a great deal of fun.

As a fan of the Beatles, I imagine it's a bit of a daunting task to try and bring something fresh to the table regarding their classic catalog of music. After all, their timeless melodies have been explored by artists from around the globe for decades. Nonetheless, Grammy-nominated composer and pianist DAVID LANZ puts his own twist on their work with his new CD LIVERPOOL, and it's a warm and loving tribute that's really quite charming and engaging, taking the listener on a musical journey that truly captures the spirit of the fab four by focusing on the emotions inherent in each song.

HotCity Theatre continues to provide St. Louis with a mix of new plays and modern classics, and actor/playwright Sam Shepard's TRUE WEST is their latest foray in these areas. Considered to be one of Shepard's more accessible works, TRUE WEST is a fascinating look at sibling rivalry, and it also takes some entertaining jabs at the Hollywood blockbuster mentality, which has only grown worse since this play premiered in 1980. HotCity's production is distinguished by an excellent cast and sparkling direction that consistently engages.

As technology races ever forward, we find ourselves continually bombarded with requests for our time. Personal assistants are no longer actual people, but handheld devices that have become our lifeline to our work and families. So, it's not surprising that we've all become a little preoccupied. Then, when you factor in how ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) has been reclassified as ADHD, with a much broader and wider-reaching list of symptoms, it's easy to see why so many people, especially children, are falling under the umbrella of a positive diagnosis. That's the world examined by playwright Lisa Loomer's brilliant comedy/drama DISTRACTED, and Stray Dog Theatre has mounted a terrific production that's required viewing, not only for parents, but for anyone struggling to deal with the demands of modern life.

The Sheldon presents Maura O'Connell, Friday, March 4, 2011 at 8 p.m. in the perfect acoustics of the Sheldon Concert Hall. Irish singer Maura O'Connell, now based in Nashville, combines traditional Celtic sounds with modern folk sensibilities to create a sound all her own. With twelve albums to date, along with recording and performing collaborations with a number Celtic, folk, pop and country artists, the internationally-acclaimed singer has applied her luminescent voice to the songs of John Hiatt, Janis Ian, Tom Waits, Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Paul Carrack, Karla Bonoff and dozens of other song-poets.

Facebook, Scrabulous, handheld solitaire games, the Greek Isles, Greek myths... what do all of these things have in common? They all figure prominently in New Jewish Theatre's upcoming production of SIRENS by Deborah Zoe Laufer, where a 25th Anniversary trip to the Greek Isles becomes a catalyst for an amusing series of events in this quirky romantic comedy. The biggest hit from last year's Humana Festival of New American Plays, Laufer's play is a quirky empty-nest romantic comedy about a husband and wife and the hit love song he wrote for her more than 25 years ago.

The St. Louis MO-based Stan Kann Scholarship Fund, in conjunction with the American Theater Organ Society, is pleased to announce its first scholarship recipient, Rachel Foster, a 23-year-old graduate student at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Ms. Foster is studying organ performance at the American Organ Institute on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, with a special interest in silent film accompaniment. Her training has included organ performance and composition, and she has also had 'hands on' experience in helping install what is known as the 'Mini-Mo,' the Moller theatre pipe organ on campus.

This collaborative print project was produced by St. Louis artists Gina Alvarez and Jana Harper during a residency at Pyramid Atlantic in Silver Spring, Maryland. The series was inspired by a child's notebook of poems made in the 1940s by a distant relative of Alvarez. The artists appropriated the titles of his poems and worked to create 'collaged' images that combine photographs, appropriated images, shapes and colors inspired by Japanese prints, and Indian miniatures. They were made by layering digital prints with traditional printmaking techniques and hand-work that included drawing, stitching and collage.

The Children's Art Village (CAV) works with children in orphanages and schools to introduce art, music and dance components into the children's education and to foster self-confidence, personal growth and healing. Their mission is to connect children to themselves and to their creative spirits through art, with a focus on using art and music as mediums of expression to initiate the process of healing for children who have been abandoned. They promote and support creating and maintaining sustainable art and music programs in each of the different locations around the world where they work. CAV uses art and music therapy practices to help the children work through trauma related to abandonment, poverty and slavery.

In his persona as DOKTOR KABOOM, David Epley is a force to be reckoned with. Brandishing an authoritative German accent, he takes on a role that previous generations may associate with Mr. Wizard and Bill Nye the Science Guy, making science entertaining for children of all ages. His performance at the Edison Theatre this past Saturday (January 29, 2011), as part of their Ovations for Young People Series, was a complete delight, enthralling the youngsters in the crowd with his demonstrations, while keeping the adults amused with his hilarious running commentary.

Writer William Nicholson's play SHADOWLANDS, which was adapted from his 1985 television screenplay, takes a look at the life of C.S. Lewis, focusing its attention on the relationship between the famous author and an American fan named Joy Gresham that he wound up marrying. It's a superbly constructed work that's touching and surprisingly funny, and Mustard Seed Theatre has mounted a wonderful production that's sparked by flawless direction and brilliant performances.

St. Louis Actors' Studio continues its fourth season, themed Angels and Demons, with Patrick Marber's award winning play CLOSER. CLOSER follows four lives intertwine over the course of four and a half years in a densely plotted, stinging look at modern love and betrayal. Dan, an obituary writer, meets Alice, a stripper, after an accident in the street. Eighteen months later, they are a couple, and Dan has written a novel inspired by Alice. While posing for his book jacket cover, Dan meets Anna, a photographer. He pursues her, but she rejects his advances despite their mutual attraction. Larry, a dermatologist, 'meets' Dan in an Internet chat room. Dan, obsessing over Anna, pretends to be her and has cybersex with Larry. They arrange to meet the next day at an aquarium. Larry arrives and so too, coincidentally, does the real Anna. This sets up a series of pass-the-lover scenes in which this quartet struggle to find intimacy but can't seem to get closer.