Email Author Dennis Brown

2011 Stories by Dennis Brown

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  Year in Revue: Our two stage junkies reveal which 2011 productions delivered the most righteous buzz

  published December 29, 2011

  Year's end is a time for lists. Not necessarily "ten best" lists, because in theater there rarely is such an animal as "best." Rather, here's a... More >>

• The Elves and the Shoemaker at the Heaney Theatre, closes December 23

  published December 22, 2011

  The Elves and the Shoemaker An impoverished cobbler shows kindness to an outcast beggar woman and magic ensues. (And guess who she turns... More >>

• This Just In: Grinch steals Xmas but not much else

  published December 15, 2011

  There's more family fare on tap this month. But I'm not sure that any age is suitable to enjoy Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas:... More >>

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  Tom Sawyer scores a direct hit on your inner ten-year-old

  published December 15, 2011

  In the lobby after the opening-night performance of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the rambunctious holiday offering from the... More >>

• Newly Reviewed: My Three Angels, at the Gaslight Theater

  published December 8, 2011

  My Three Angels Talk about a lost play! Sam and Bella Spewack's fable about three amiable convicts who influence the lives of a failed... More >>

• Newly Reviewed: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer now at the Loretto-Hilton Center

  published December 8, 2011

  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Irrepressible Tom, divine Becky Thatcher, carefree Huck Finn — shucks, the entire populace of sleepy... More >>

• The Dork at the Top of the Stairs: The Last Night of Ballyhoo manages only a flicker of illumination before lights-out

  published December 8, 2011

  By the end of Act One, Lala Levy is as mad as hell, and she's not gonna take this any more. Lala's soap-opera life has never been easy. She's a... More >>

• Vacancies: Lanford Wilson explains how actors can fill in the spaces of Hot l Baltimore

  published November 24, 2011

  Lanford Wilson came to prominence in 1973 with The Hot l Baltimore, a character-driven tale of misfits living in a derelict hotel. The... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published November 17, 2011

  Newly Reviewed More >>

• Parallel Porking: You don't need a permit to see How I Learned to Drive, but you'd best buckle up

  published November 17, 2011

  If only it weren't for that damn rear-view mirror, perhaps Li'l Bit could put the ugly secrets of her past behind her and journey on with her... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published November 10, 2011

  Newly Reviewed More >>

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  Boogie Bored: The story made for an uplifting film, but Billy Elliot The Musical falls flat at the Fox

  published November 10, 2011

  Against all odds, eleven-year-old Billy Elliot is auditioning for the Royal Ballet School in London. This in itself is a kind of triumph,... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published November 3, 2011

  Newly Reviewed More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published October 27, 2011

  Ongoing God of Carnage Two wealthy couples, ostensibly people of goodwill, meet after their children have duked it out... More >>

• Timing Is Everything: Two 90-minute offerings find Dennis checking his watch

  published October 20, 2011

  They sound so inviting, these 90-minute intermissionless plays. Easy in, easy out. No distractions. But like looks, lengths can be deceiving,... More >>

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  St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published October 20, 2011

  Newly Reviewed More >>

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  Screw Loose: St. Louis Actors' Studio gets tangled up with a crazy whore and goes Nuts

  published October 13, 2011

  Claudia Faith Draper is a high-end prostitute in New York City, and she has killed one of her clients. She claims she acted in self-defense;... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published October 6, 2011

  Newly Reviewed More >>

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  The Addams Family musical is creepy, kooky and, yes, altogether ooky

  published October 6, 2011

  It's not uncommon for families to partake of favorite parlor games, innocent competitions like Charades or board games like Monopoly. But in... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published September 22, 2011

  Newly Reviewed More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published September 15, 2011

  Newly Reviewed More >>

• Big Man on Canvas: The Rep opens its theater season with a portrait of Mark Rothko

  published September 15, 2011

  "Let it embrace you," the abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko passionately implores his young apprentice, who is gazing upon a Rothko... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published September 1, 2011

  Newly Reviewed The Guys More >>

• End of an Error: Midnight Company freely concedes Mistakes Were Made

  published August 25, 2011

  "Here's the deal," fast-talking theater producer Felix Artifex intones into a phone as he attempts to persuade a cocky movie star to act in an... More >>

• Let's Role! A local couple resolves to produce Anne Nelson's 9/11 drama The Guys

  published August 25, 2011

  So you want to produce a play? Alan Knoll has some practical advice: Start early. (And however early you think that should be, it's not soon... More >>