Two on the Aisle - The Podcast

Two on the Aisle - Theatre Reviews for August 1, 2019

August 01, 2019 HEC Media Episode 533
Two on the Aisle - The Podcast
Two on the Aisle - Theatre Reviews for August 1, 2019
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

This podcast is from episode number 533 of the program, originally broadcast on Thursday, August 1, 2019 and features reviews of the plays:

- PAINT YOUR WAGON, by Lerner & Loewe & Jon Marans at The Muny

- LA BOHEME, by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, & Giuseppe Giacosa at Union Avenue Opera

- GREASE, by Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, and others at Stages St. Louis

- LABUTE THEATRE FESTIVAL, SET TWO, by various playwrights at St. Louis Actors’ Studio

- JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice at Over Due Theatre Company

- FOOTLOOSE, by Dean Pitchford, Walter Bobbie, Tom Snow, et al. at The Muny

- OVERDONE, by David Hawley, & SCREAMING AT OPTIMUM PITCH, by Peg Flach, at First Run Theatre Company

AND…

- JAWS: THE PARODY LIVE!, by Donna Northcott et al. at Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre

You can also see video and still pictures of the shows that we've talked about in all of our episodes by looking for us on all social media platforms...YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Search for "twontheaisle" on all of them. Here are the direct links:

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Twitter:  http://twitter.com/twoontheaisle

See you on August 15, 2019!

Announcer 1:

This is HEC Media.

Announcer 2:

The views and opinions expressed on the following program do not reflect the views or opinions of HEC or this station.

Gerry Kowarsky:

Today we have opera and musicals.

Bob Wilcox:

We have new plays and a little foolishness.

Gerry Kowarsky:

Hi, I'm Gerry Kowarsky

Bob Wilcox:

and I'm Bob Wilcox.

Gerry Kowarsky:

Come with us to the theater and we'll tell you what we've seen from our two seats on the aisle.

Rod Milam:

Welcome to… Two on the Aisle...the podcast...produced by HEC Media in St. Louis, Missouri. Two on the Aisle the podcast is an audio version of the televised and webcast program produced every two weeks that features a review of theater and opera productions around the St. Louis area along with a calendar of theater due to play around the region. The regular hosts of the program, Box Wilcox and Gerry Kowarsky have been hosting and reviewing all over town for more than 25 years on local cable and more recently on the internet. This podcast is from episode number 533 of the program, originally broadcast on Thursday, August 1, 2019 and features reviews of the plays: PAINT YOUR WAGON at The Muny LA BOHEME at Union Avenue Opera GREASE at Stages St. Louis LABUTE THEATRE FESTIVAL, SET TWO at St. Louis Actors’ Studio JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT at Over Due Theatre Company FOOTLOOSE at The Muny OVERDONE& SCREAMING AT OPTIMUM PITCH at First Run Theatre Company AND… JAWS: THE PARODY LIVE! Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre Now to start our review s f or this episode, Here's Bob Wilcox.

Bob Wilcox:

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe had their first hit together in 1947 with Brigadoon, a romantic fantasy set in the highlands of Scotland. Its music has a strong Scottish flavor. Next was the less successful Paint Your Wagon, set in the California mountains during the Gold Rush of 1849. Traditional American folk music flavors this one. Then came the biggest success for the pair, My Fair Lady, followed by the movie musical Gigi, a multiple Oscar winner, and the Broadway musical Camelot, another enduring success. Perhaps because a couple of the songs from Paint Your Wagon were hits on the popular music charts, and perhaps becaue Loewe had done a little gold mining as a young man when he immigrated to the U.S. from Germany, Paint Your Wagon was not allowed to rest. It became a movie with Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin. Both did their own singing. Playwright Paddy Chayefsky pretty thoroughly re-wrote the book, still set in a mining camp with some of the same characters, though significantly changed. Playwright David Rambo revised the libretto again for a production in Los Angeles in 2004. Now playwright Jon Marans, best known for the Holocaust play Old Wicked Songs, has revised it again for the Muny. If you've seen any of those earlier versions, you'll recognize the music at The Muny, at least a few of the names of the characters, and a few incidents. With its world premiere on the Forest Park stage, playwright Marans opens his version with a stage full of covered wagons in the Gateway to the West and people singing I'm On My Way. Among them are young newlyweds parting as he goes to make his fortune, an abusive husband and his long-suffering wife, a South Carolinian and his slave, a pair of Chinese brothers, a free and educated black man, all headed for the gold fields. That's where we find Ben Rumson, another Southerner who when his wife died and his business failed put his daughter in boarding school and headed west. When we meet him in the high woods he seems as much a mountain man as a panner for gold. He links up with a young Mexican, Armando, lost in the woods, and together they do go down the mountain to No Name City, where the'49ers have gathered to find treasure in its streams and fields. Rumson calms troubles that arise in the camp, some because of the ethic mix there, some just because of the greed that gold lust feeds. He winds up buying the abused wife from her husband in a curious gold fields auction tradition. He marries her, and together with Armando, they strike it rich in a fittingly ironic way. With the wealth, Rumson deveops No Name City and gives it his name. He builds a tavern, dance hall, and casino and brings in a troupe of dancing girls. He reconciles with his daughter, upset when she returns from school to find him married. She finds consolation with Armando, though Rumson, who has defended the Chinese and the Blacks, resists seeing his daughter married to a Mexican. Playwright Marans has added much of the treatment of the minorities to Lerner's original, and I think contemporary audiences will find his version more satisfying and attractive. A big man with a big voice in the best tradition of the musical theatre leading man, Matt Bogart plays Ben Rumson. Mamie Parris gives a survivor's strength to Cayla Woodling, the abused wife who becomes Ben's wife and perfect partner. Omar Lopez-Cepero charms as the sweetly macho Armando, and Maya Keleher brings emotional depth to both her estrangement from her father and her attraction to Armando as Jennifer Rumson. Preston Truman Boyd is the bullying South Carolinian and Alan K. Washington his slave who is freed by Rodney Hicks' free black man. Austin Ku is the older and Raymond J. Lee is the younger of the Chinese brothers, an order they are careful to preserve. Bobby Conte Thornton plays the trouble-beset young husband who has left behind his wife played by Sally Glaze. Michael James Reed spews the worst of abuse on his wife. Director and choreographer Josh Rhodes pulled these fine performances together. He gave the miners powerful angular choreography and included everyone in the dance hall dances. Michael Schweikardt's sets combined with Caite Hevner's video designs to carry us to California, though the video had an unusual rough quality, perhaps reaching for an Impressionist effect? John Lasiter's lighting included some evocative nighttime effects. Amy Clark designed the frontier clothes and John Shivers& David Patridge the sound. Music director Sinai Tabak, the cast, and the Muny orchestra revealed how good Loewe's score is. Paint Your Wagon is still a little loose jointed in places, but tight enough overall to be quite enjoyable.

Gerry Kowarsky:

Well, I liked the first act a lot. I think the second act needs more work, but I'd like to see that happen.

Bob Wilcox:

Yeah, I, I do hope that continues. I think there's something very good there. Especially the music. Let's hear some.

Music Break:

[ Music Break]

Gerry Kowarsky:

When I was listening to our family's recording of“La Boheme” in the days of vinyl LPs, I would set the tone arm down in the middle of side one to get immediately to the good parts: the arias and duet that end the first act. I had no desire to skip ahead, however, at Union Avenue Opera’s current staging of“La Boheme.” Every part of this production is not just good, but excellent, starting with opening orchestral flourish. It’s just right under conductor Elizabeth Hastings– buoyant, but not too fast or loud. Hastings maintains an ideal balance between voices and the orchestra throughout and fully supports director Mark Freiman’s approach to the libretto. The hallmark of that approach is full involvement in the action from every performer. In that opening scene I used to skip, the young artists are given distinctive, vibrant personalities by Jesse Donner as Rodolfo, the poet, Andrew Wannigman as Marcello, the painter, Isaiah Musik-Ayala as Colline, the philosopher, and Nicholas Ward as Schaunard, the musician. Their shenanigans are a hoot when the artists duped Benoit, their landlord, into revealing too much about himself when he was trying to collect the rent. The way they toss him around the room before they tossed him out of it is a perfect fit for the music. E. Scott Levin was amusingly befuddled in this act as Benoit and amusingly put upon in the next act, as Alcindoro, the sugardaddy of the bumptious singer, Musetta. Donner as Rodolfo and Yulia Lysenko as Mimì, a seamstress with consumption, sing with striking beauty and act with stirring passion in the great arias and love duet at end of Act I. The ensemble, the children’s ensemble under Alice Nelson, and Dale Obermark as the toy vender, are vital contributors to the festivities in the second act street scene. Cree Carrico brims over with sauciness as Musetta, who has an ostentatious dress to match her personality. Costume designer Teresa Doggett did not, however, give inappropriate finery to the Bohemian artists. Patrick Huber uses a forced perspective to add visual interest to a scenic structure that admirably serves all four scenes with a bit of alteration and some help from the properties by Kate Slovinski. Behind the set piece is a wonderful panorama of the Parisian cityscape. The Bohemians impressively darken their performances for the seriousness of Act III and the tragedy at the end of Act Four. The enduring popularity of“La Boheme” is easy to understand at the end of a production like this one.

Bob Wilcox:

Yeah. It was very, very well done production, as you say, the comedy there in that first act was so well done by the four artists with Mark Fryman, the director, I think he's very good at that and I even, I would not mind hearing a little more Puccini right now.

Music Break:

[ Music Break]

Bob Wilcox:

In the musical Grease, Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey resurrect the bad kids of high school in the 1950s, the greasers and their girls. They've thrown in a couple of straight arrows to be ridiculed, plus an old maid teacher and adults who are exploiting the burgeoning youth culture. Jacobs and Casey hit the fun parts of high school, the parties, the rivalries, the hot car, the macho posturing, all painted in cartoonish bright colors and broad strokes, but with reminders now and then of the real agony of adolescence. And Jacobs and Casey float all this on glorious sound. Each scene in Grease's episodic structure climaxes in a number that is an affectionate parody of the doo-wop and rock-and-roll of the period. The moment you recognize the musical reference, you start smiling at the cleverness of the guys who put this together. Then Grease had the same misfortune as Paint Your Wagon. It was made into a movie. This time, it wasn't the plot that was done over, it was the music, the great joy of the original. Now everyone uses some of those songs from the movie when they do Grease on stage, even the current production at Stages St. Louis, which is, I guess, what audiences expect. Even the book is revised at the beginning. We start with the movie's theme song, Barry Gibb's embarrassingly disco Grease Is the Word. When Danny suffers the alpha male teenagers most embarrassing moment, being seen without a date in a sea of cars, of course he wails Alone at a Drive-In Movie, not a serenade to the girl who just dumped him. And You're the One That I Want can't match All Choked Up's Elvis references. But enough of the grouchy old man. Director Michael Hamilton, musical director Lisa Campbell Albert, and choreographer Tony Gonzalez eased us over the disco moments with greaser style. True love eventually won out for Summerisa Bell Stevens' Sandy Dumbrowski and Sam Harvey's Danny Zuko. Jesse Corbin made Kenickie a poster boy for cool, matched by Morgan Cowling's Rizzo, all attitude all the time until her moving There Are Worse Things I Could Do. Julia Johanos, Brooke Shapiro, and Lucy Moon completed the Pink Ladies, each with a specialty number, and Collin O'Connor, Patrick Mobley, and Frankie Thams the Burger Palace Boys. Kendra Lynn Lucas blew the roof off as both Miss Lynch and the Teen Angel. Aisling Halpin and Brad Frenette played the good kids, Zach Trimmer the singer at the Prom, Tiger Brown the winning dancer. Steve Isom has the voice of the'50s as DJ Vince Fontaine. James Wolk's sets again use translucent plastic. Brad Musgoves resurrects period dress in detail with great prom outfits, with lighting by Sean M. Savoie and orchestral design by Stuart M. Elmmore. Now somebody please bring back the original Grease.

Gerry Kowarsky:

Well, I hope someone does that for your sake, but I don't think it's going to happen.

Bob Wilcox:

No, probably not. But I'll listen to whatever music we want to hear now.

Music Break:

[Music Break]

Rod Milam:

You can follow all things Two on the Aisle on Facebook by searching for“Two On The Aisle” and liking the page…and you can be the first to see the reviews on YouTube by subscribing to the Two On The Aisle channel AND checking the“Notification” bell. Again...you can find us on Facebook and YouTube by searching for TWO- ON- THE- AISLE

Gerry Kowarsky:

In its second set at the Gaslight Theatre, the LaBute New Play Festival premiered three new one-act plays and repeated Neil LaBute’s own contribution to the festival. Set 2 began with“Predilections” by Richard Curtis. The setting is a restaurant, where Sparlin is the guest of Laura. He’s the influential obituary writer for an important publication. She wants to influence the obituary he will soon write about someone important to her. Kim Furlow as Laura and Tiélere Cheatem as Sparlin deftly played the cat-and-mouse game between the characters. They were especially good when the cat and mouse changed places. Wendy Renee Greenwood adroitly directed this piece and the next two. As an aside, Curtis should revise the script to acknowledge that the author of an article does not ordinarily write its headline. In Joseph Krawczyk’s“Henrietta,” the title character is the voice-controlled personal assistant in the navigation system just installed in the car driven by Carl, who is on his way to a tryst. There are two important clues to what is about to happen. First, Carl’s wife instigated the upgrade from the old navigation system. Second, the new system’s name is KANS, which stands for“Kick-Ass Navigation System.” I can’t be certain where Henrietta’s name comes from, but I do know that in Shakespeare’s“Henry IV,” the title character’s nickname is Prince Hal. Carly Rosenbaum as Henrietta and Chuck Brinkley as Carl had lots of fun with Henritta’s increasing dominance and Carl’s increasing terror, especially when Henrietta won’t open the pod bay doors– I mean the car doors.“Sisyphus and Icarus: a Love story” is William Ivan Fowkes’ exploration of what might have happened if two characters from Greek mythology had managed to form an attachment so lengthy that they need couples therapy from a relationship guru in our time. The humor in script was enhanced by the wacky performances of Tielére Cheatem as Sisyphus, Shane Signorino as Icarus, and Colleen Backer as the therapist, but I would like to have seen more of a connection between the characters and the myths from which they arose. On our last show, Bob perceptively reviewed LaBute’s“Great Negro Works of Art,” about a couple attempting to navigate the twin minefields of online dating and race relations. I’ll echo Bob’s praise of Carly Rosenbaum’s Jerri, Jaz Tucker’s Tom, and John Pierson’s direction. These characters have potential. I’d like to see LaBute do more with them than just guiding their feet to every possible landmine.

Bob Wilcox:

Huh. Interesting way of putting it. Yeah. Um, yes. Uh, three more interesting plays. I don't know that any were that outstanding for me, but, uh, certainly, uh, amusing and worth seeing.

Gerry Kowarsky:

I agree.

Bob Wilcox:

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is probably my favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical. Lloyd Webber does pastiche well, and this is mostly pastiche. I don't always know why he's using the style he is, but it's fun to listen to. And Rice is not straining for great literature. Written for a boys school, productions now, like the one at Over Due Theatre Company, often begin as a narrator gathers a group of children around her. These kids get to do more than listen. They even perform the Joseph MegaMix themselves, all good performers, singers, dancers. Bekah Harbison is a very smart director, and Patrick Blanner a smart choreographer. Harbison has kept it simple and clear, an uncluttered stage with some posters that changed messages and smart use of movement and grouping. Blanner puts his best dancers up front and has trained well those upstage. Aubree Hoard is a very clear and hospitable Narrator. Shane Rudolph's Joseph welcomes both praise and suffering graciously. His brothers are played by Nick Perrin, Victoria Lininger, Alex Miller, Tyler Luetkenhaus, Jacob Kujath, Andrew Feigenbaum, Maggie Canizales, Ben Canizales, Samantha Hayes, Morgan McKenny, and Katherine Wheeles, and Mark Strahm in shorts and suspenders and tee shirt is their father. Someone had the bright idea to print the name of each member of the family on their tee shirts. Mark Conrad is a truly kingly Pharoah, in voice and body. Wayne Mackenberg is his Butler and Ray Martin his unfortunate Baker. Chris Loynd plays Pharaoh's lieutenant Potiphar and Kelechi Loynd his seductive wife. Music director Matt Kauzarich gets very good sounds from singers and orchestra. Ryan K. Young designed lights, Richard Dempsey the sound, Matthew Garrison and Bekah Harbison the scenery, Jacob Kujath designed and constructed the dazzling Dreamcoat, Stage Manager Matthew Garrison keeps things running smoothly, and possibly the hardest working person in show business, Sara Blackwood, is the Child Monitor. I enjoyed this well-prepared and executed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Gerry Kowarsky:

I did too.

Bob Wilcox:

Yeah, let's hear some, some music.

Music Break:

[ Music Break]

Gerry Kowarsky:

“Footloose” surprised me more than once in its recent incarnation at the Muny. The first surprise came from the program booklet. In his introductory essay, the Muny’s executive producer, Mike Isaacson, noted that“Footloose” ranked number one on the Muny’s most recent audience survey. The second surprise was the show itself. I liked it. A lot. For the first time. The 21-year-old musical was adapted from the 1984 movie of the same name starring Kevin Bacon. The central character is Ren McCormick, a high-school student from Chicago who loves dancing. Ren’s father has just abandoned the family, forcing Ren and his mother to move to an out-of-the-way small town called Bomont, where they have been offered a place to stay by Ren’s aunt and uncle. If adjusting to a new place, a new school, and a new crowd weren’t enough, Ren has to cope with the town’s ban on dancing. The town’s minister, Reverend Moore, is behind the ban, and he’s a man of tremendous influence, except in his own family. His teenage daughter, Ariel, is quite the rebel. She sneaks out at night to meet up with an abusive boyfriend and eventually takes a shine to Ren. I ascribe my increased appreciation for the show to the brilliance of the musical numbers under choreographer Jessica Hartman and music director Andrew Graham, to the astute focus on relationships in the direction by Tony Award–winning actor Christian Borle, to the fluidity of staging facilitated by the synergy of Tim Mackabee’s scenic design and Greg Emetaz’s video design, to Rob Denton’s lighting, John Shivers& David Patridge’s sound, Leon Dobkowski’s costumes, and Kelley Jordan’s wigs, and finally to the excellent performances by, MASON REEVES as Ren JEREMY KUSHNIER as Reverend Moore MCKENZIE KURTZ as Ariel, HEATHER AYERS as Ariel’s mother, and DARLESIA CEARCY as Ren’s mother. The climactic encounter between Ren and the Reverend was especially moving– perhaps because Kushnier knows both sides of that relationship because he originated the part Ren on Broadway. My final“Footloose” surprise came in note from the Muny about the attendance at the Tuesday evening performance– 10,314, less than 500 shy of capacity. I wasn’t the only one who liked this show.

Bob Wilcox:

Well, uh, I'm glad all of you people did like it. I mean, I, it's, I, I don't, I don't want, that rubs me the wrong way somehow... That show every time I see it. Anyway. Uh, let's hear some of this music and watch them dance to it or whatever they do.

Music Break:

[ Music Break]

Rod Milam:

If you're on Twitter and Instagram, you can find us there too! You can FOLLOW us on Twitter at Two On The Aisle and be among the first to find out about our uploaded reviews to YouTube and any other special news that we have to announce. Plus on Instagram you can see some sneak peeks at the shows we’ve just gotten video for BEFORE the next episode when you FOLLOW US. Again...follow us on Twitter and Instagram by looking for TWO- ON- THE- AISLE.

Bob Wilcox:

Always presenting new plays, First Run Theatre offered two this time. Overdone, by David Hawley, is a farce, and it was directed broadly by David Houghton. Hawley knows how to write funny moments, though he sometimes succumbs to the danger in farce and pushes events past the suspension of disbelief. Overdone unfolds a dinner party gone wrong. Barbara Hill played the hostess, who tried very patiently and hard. David DeRose was her husband the supposed host, though he rarely rose to the occasion. Flynn Hayes was an actor, a brother, and a man with a secret. Alex Alderson was also a brother and Melanie Klug his wife. They all, except the hostess, were guilty. Peg Flach's Screaming at Optimum Pitch is not so much a play as three connected monologues from a daughter, a mother, and a grandmother. Each story is well written and was well performed by Kaitlyn Chotrow as the daughter, Melanie Klug again as the mother, and Gwynneth Rausch as the grandmother. Joshua Teoli was a voice without a name. David Houghton directed. I like Flach's writing; I hope she'll give us a play. David Bornholdt, Molly Smith, and Denise Mandle were stage managers, Jenn Ciavarella was responsible for properties, she and Betsy Gasoske for lights, Denise Mandle for costumes, Mark Choquette for set. Brad Slavik was the composer and sound designer. Now that First Run is back on its feet, I look forward to more new plays.

Gerry Kowarsky:

Agreed. When St. Louis Shakespeare spawned Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre, single movie parodies were the mutant offspring’s bailiwick. Eventually, the Monkeys set their sights on complete sagas, such as“Star Wars,” and“Harry Potter.” These large-scale efforts could be problematic. Reducing a movie to a third of its length is one thing. Reducing three seasons of“Game of Thrones” to a 30th of their length is another. I was happy to see the Monkey focusing once again on one film in their latest venture,“Jaw: The Parody.” It was vintage Magic Smoking Monkey, in part, because“Jaw: The Parody” did not bite off more than it could chew. If you think I reached too far for that joke, Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre may not be for you. If you appreciate a groaner or two or twenty, you should put the Monkeys on your map. To be fair, Monkey humor is usually more sophisticated than the sophomoric antics that are all you laugh at if you don’t know the underlying material. I have always found that familiarity breeds respect at a Monkey show, so I streamed“Jaws” just before I went to the parody. I’m glad I did. Here’s example of how adroitly the parody undercuts the original. One of the movie’s most significant scenes is when Mrs. Kintner, the second victim’s mother, blames Chief Brody for her son’s death because he took no action after the first shark attack. This humiliation is the key motivator for the water-fearing chief to do whatever it takes to end the threat. The Monkey version turns the verbal assault into a physical beat-down. If the slapstick weren’t enough, the Monkeys further undermine the seriousness when Mr. Kintner asks the chief if their poker game is still on. This is a typical Monkey strategy: stick close to the actual dialogue until you have a chance to subvert it with a joke from left field. The leads in the movie were nicely recalled by Ryan Glosemeyer’s earnest Chief Brody, James Enstall’s frenetic Hooper, and Rob McLemore’s unflinching Quint. A ton of bricks would have been more subtle than Dylan Comer’s Mayor, but who cares about sublety at a Monkey show? Cast members who got into the swing of things included Jake Blonstein, Cece Day, Jack Janssen, Maya Kelch, Deanna Massie, Bethany Miscannon, and Shannon Nara. The monkey business was enhanced by costume designer Kayla Lindsay, lighting designer and scenic painter Natalie Piacentini, Sound Designer Anthony Elliott, and props designer Jaiymz Hawkins. Putting actors inside the yellow barrels during the shark hunt was one of many clever touches from director Donna Northcott.

Bob Wilcox:

Yes. Well I have not seen the movie so I'm glad you were doing this review because you've got much more out of it than I did. Although there are always fun things. I mean, I love the the shark costume among all those other wonderful things there. You always find it a monkey show.

Gerry Kowarsky:

Well, there are definitely two levels to the humor.

Rod Milam:

Let's take a look at what's going on in theater around St Louis. For the month of August, 2019 we'll start with the dinner theaters. The Dinner Detective Hilton St. Louis Frontenac Murder Mystery Dinner Show Continuing on Saturday nights Zombie Love Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theatre Aug. 2-Nov. 2 Sherlock Holmes in“The Case Without a Clue” Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre Aug. 2-Oct. 27 Grease Stages St. Louis Through Aug. 18 The Wizard of Oz Alton Little Theater, Alton, Ill. Through Aug. 4 La Boheme Union Avenue Opera Through Aug.3 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Over Due Theatre Co. Through Aug. 4 Mamma Mia! Hard Road Theatre Productions, Highland, Ill. Through Aug. 4 Paint Your Wagon The Muny Through Aug. 2 Plaza Suite Act Two Theatre, St. Peters Through Aug. 11 Assisted Living: The Musical Playhouse@ Westport Plaza Through Aug. 11 Disney’s The Little Mermaid Clinton County Showcase, Breese, Ill. Through Aug. 4 Footloose The Musical Hawthorne Players Aug. 2-11 The Rising Stars Showcase Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation Aug. 4 Matilda The Muny Aug. 5-11 Guys and Dolls Stray Dog Theatre Aug. 8-24 A Man of No Importance R-S Theatrics Aug. 9-25 St Lou Fringe Festival St Lou Fringe Aug. 13-18 Antigone SATE and ERA Theatre Aug. 14-31

Gerry Kowarsky:

We'll be watching some of these productions from our two seats on the aisle

Bob Wilcox:

and we'll be watching the mail and the email for your thoughts about theater in this program and for items for the calendar.

Gerry Kowarsky:

Send them to TWO ON THE AISLE, HEC Media, 3221 McKelvey Road, Bridgeton, MO 63044, or by email to tota@hectv.org.

Bob Wilcox:

Join us next time on cable in the web for musicals and nothing about musicals.

Gerry Kowarsky:

We'll see you then.

Rod Milam:

Producer- Bob Wilcox Associate Producer- Gerry Kowarsky HEC Media Producer- Paul Langdon Hosts- Gerry Kowarsky and Bob Wilcox Television Director- Rick Rubbelke Segment Editors, and Videography- Kerry Marks, Paul Langdon, Ben Smith, and Rod Milam Audio- Paul Langdon Associate Producers- Kerry Marks and Ben Smith Studio Camera Operators- Kerry Marks and Jack Connaghan Teleprompter- Jack Connaghan Set and Lighting- Paul Langdon, Kerry Marks, and Ben Smith Theme Music- Daniel McGowan HEC-Technical Support- Jayne Ballew HEC Media Assistant Producer, Social Media Broadcaster, Podcast Producer, and Podcast Host- Rod Milam. Two on the Aisle was made possible with the support from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. Don’t forget that you can find all things Two on the Aisle online on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. Just go to each social media platform…search for TWO- ON- THE- AISLE…and Like, Subscribe, and Follow us there. Thanks for downloading the Two on the Aisle Podcast. We’ll see you next time.

Announcer 1:

This is an HEC Media podcast.