Email Author Paul Friswold

2008 Stories by Paul Friswold

• Two Nights at the Opera

  published February 6, 2008

  Opera lovers, rejoice. New Opera Saint Louis, as the name implies, is a new, locally based opera company dedicated to performing full... More >>

• Everybody on the Bus

  published February 6, 2008

  Ah, the majesty of the bus. What? You don't think a bus ride is exciting? The Axis Theatre Company relieves you of that misconception with the... More >>

• Mecca Wish

  published February 6, 2008

  The elderly widow Miss Helen lives on her own in a small South African village. She minds her own business, creating sculptures for her garden.... More >>

• High Heels, High Drama

  published February 6, 2008

  Beauty pageants are sexist. Wait, wait — hear me out. Young ladies parading in evening gowns and demonstrating some sort of talent while a... More >>

• Noon Ramble

  published February 6, 2008

  Oscar Micheaux wrote and directed more than 40 movies between 1919 and 1948. He gave Paul Robeson his first role (in 1924's Body and Soul),... More >>

• And the Verdict Is...

  published February 6, 2008

  With but one set, a dozen actors (who are referred to only by their juror numbers), and no opportunities for stagecraft or special effects,... More >>

• Clowded House

  published February 6, 2008

  You can always spot cat people. Stray hairs on their slacks are a dead giveaway. And sure, non-cat people are quick to judge those who live with... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published February 6, 2008

  Cherry Docs A Jewish legal-aid lawyer must defend a skinhead who has admitted to a brutal murder. As these two repeatedly meet in the... More >>

• Pork Down

  published January 30, 2008

  Super Bowl, schmooperbowl. Football is about as exciting as filling out tax returns. But the food that goes along with this so-called "big game"?... More >>

• Piece de Repugnance

  published January 30, 2008

  There's an art to creating a smashing outfit. Balancing color, texture, accessories, hair, makeup — it's a Herculean task, and it's even... More >>

• Show Us Your Ankles!

  published January 30, 2008

  Depending on the weather, Mardi Gras celebrants in St. Louis will either bundle up or dress down. In Hermann there's no guesswork: You should... More >>

• One More Resurrection

  published January 30, 2008

  Jesus Christ Superstar, the rock-opera-cum-theatrical-staple, has a lengthy history of casting actual rock stars in key roles: Ian... More >>

• Bead Me Up, Scotty

  published January 30, 2008

  You heard all about this recession thing, right? The market's nose-diving and your 401(k) took it in the seat of the pants. But I'm not worried... More >>

• Lite Wait

  published January 23, 2008

  Early in the second act of The Waiting Room, Uncle Pat (Eddie Webb) tells the audience in soliloquy, "Truth ain't no wimp." Pat's a... More >>

• The Italian Job

  published January 16, 2008

  Pantalone is old, wealthy and miserly. He wishes to marry his daughter to a high-class, wealthy man, because he's an advocate of the whole... More >>

• Turangalîla-philia

  published January 16, 2008

  Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony appropriates structural concepts and sounds from Indian music, ancient Greek rhythms, gamelan... More >>

• Maybe Ask St. Anthony?

  published January 16, 2008

  The gold mine once belonged to the Apaches. Or it was owned and operated by the Peralta family. Many say it was discovered by a German immigrant,... More >>

• Old is the New New

  published January 16, 2008

  No offense, but you have a lot of old crap sitting around the house. Maybe you could get rid of — no? How 'bout you at least spruce it up?... More >>

• Train in Vain

  published January 16, 2008

  Is it something as momentous as a rite of passage, or is it nothing more than a fleeting escape from the monotony of small-town life during the... More >>

• Berlin Story

  published January 16, 2008

  History is purportedly written by the winners, but the anonymous author of A Woman in Berlin would beg to differ. In April of 1945,... More >>

• You down with OPP?

  published January 16, 2008

  Every weekend, the Chelsea flea market in New York City beckons to a unique subset of photo connoisseurs: those who collect family snapshots.... More >>

• Dear Beer

  published January 16, 2008

  Beer has been ghettoized as the blue-collar beverage for too long. There's nothing wrong with that — blue-collar workers are the backbone of... More >>

• Time for Art

  published January 16, 2008

  Can you depict time in something as static as two- or three-dimensional art? An image in traditional media is fixed, and time is forever on the... More >>

• On-the-Job Training

  published January 16, 2008

  Suppose you're a young artist. You believe you have the talent and you have the desire to make things, but you don't have the practical experience... More >>

• Grow Up, Not Old

  published January 16, 2008

  The latest installment of Sesame Street Live, "When Elmo Grows Up," has the Muppets imagining what careers they'll pursue when they... More >>