Email Author Paul Friswold

2011 Stories by Paul Friswold

• Puttin' the Ass in Christmas

  published December 8, 2011

  Christmas gets people all dewy-eyed about family gatherings, togetherness and the "true meaning of Christmas." If television has taught us... More >>

• The Wild Things In the Night Kitchen, and How They Got There

  published October 20, 2011

  The works of Maurice Sendak remain eternally popular with children (and grown-ups, too) because of Sendak's honesty. His children are inquisitive,... More >>

• A Cracking Spectacle

  published December 1, 2011

  For fans of The Nutcracker, this is a heady time of year. Tchaikovsky's ballet is never performed in July, after all -- December is the... More >>

• The Gift of Music

  published December 1, 2011

  This is the time of year for excess. In the case of credit card usage, that's a bad thing; but in terms of music, there's nothing wrong with a bit... More >>

• Save the People

  published November 10, 2011

  One of the more interesting aspects of Stephen Schwartz's Godspell is the plastic nature of the setting. Directors are encouraged to... More >>

• Strangers in the Night

  published December 1, 2011

  Young Amahl is a bit of a tale-teller. This bad habit concerns his mother almost as much as she worries for his future -- Amahl has a deformed... More >>

• A Plague of Celebrities

  published October 27, 2011

  Day of the Locust, the new group exhibition at White Flag Projects (4568 Manchester Avenue; More >>

• You Can't Spell "Capra" Without "Crap"

  published November 24, 2011

  George Bailey's got all kinds of problems this Christmas. Money problems, confidence problems, and worst of all, he's got a fussbudget angel named... More >>

• Run, Freeman, Run

  published December 1, 2011

  Douglas Trumbull's 1972 thinker, Silent Running, is not your typical science fiction film, at least to the modern viewer. The... More >>

• Do A Good Deed -- Have A Drink

  published November 24, 2011

  All year long your friendly bartender makes your drink of choice, listens to your problems and then gets you another drink. Sure, you tip 'em, but... More >>

• Maximal Minimalism

  published November 24, 2011

  If John Cale is (rightfully) accepted as a pillar of New York's avant-garde music scene in the '60s, Tony Conrad is the mythical other... More >>

• Newly Reviewed: The Santaland Diaries, at the Tower Grove Abbey

  published December 8, 2011

  The Santaland Diaries It'd be easy to dismiss Joe Mantello's adaptation of David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries as cynical and... More >>

• Newly Reviewed: It's a Wonderful Life: Live, at the Emerson Black Box Theatre

  published December 8, 2011

  It's a Wonderful Life: Live Slightly less breathless than your typical Magic Smoking Monkey production, but only because it's not... More >>

• Are We There Yet? Jesus Hopped the "A" Train is a real stem-winder

  published December 8, 2011

  Late in Jesus Hopped the "A" Train, attorney Mary Jane Hanrahan (Elizabeth Graveman) is coaching Angel Cruz (Adam Flores) on how... More >>

• The Scarlet Lady

  published November 17, 2011

  Let it not be said that author Hillary Jordan shuns controversy. For her second novel, When She Woke, Jordan opted to reinterpret... More >>

• Daddies' Little Girl

  published November 10, 2011

  The musical juggernaut known as Mamma Mia! can not be stopped, and at this late date, it can't be contained, either. Unsubstantiated... More >>

• The Academy in Peril

  published October 27, 2011

  In the old days, an artist proved his worth by submitting paintings to the Academy, thereby showing his mastery of the four traditional artistic... More >>

• Black Nativity: A Holiday Celebration, the Grandel Theatre, closes December 18

  published December 15, 2011

  Black Nativity: A Holiday Celebration Conceived and directed by Ron Himes, Black Nativity is the Black Rep's gift to the... More >>

• Go Outlaw on the In-Laws

  published November 17, 2011

  Look, it's not that you don't like your in-laws. It's just that they've been at the house since 7 a.m. whipping up pan after pan of their infamous... More >>

• Drag Your Ass Out Tonight

  published November 17, 2011

  So you ate all day and then fell asleep on the sofa before 5 p.m. Now you're awake and kinda restless. Is there any possible way you could cram... More >>

• To Protect and Serve and Jab

  published November 10, 2011

  Tonight, Budweiser's Guns 'n' Hoses celebrates its 25th anniversary by once again pitting city and county firefighters and police officers... More >>

• Two "Gentlemen" of Verona

  published November 3, 2011

  This past summer St. Louis celebrated William Shakespeare with Shake-38, a citywide production of all 38 of Shakespeare's plays by 38 different... More >>

• Godspell at the Fontbonne University Fine Arts Center Theatre, closes December 11

  published December 8, 2011

  Godspell Dunsi Dai has outdone himself, constructing an entire St. Louis street as the set for Mustard Seed Theatre's production of... More >>

• Naughty, But Nice

  published November 3, 2011

  Don Giovanni is a bad man. He's the kinda amoral, love-'em-and-leave-'em rogue that exposes those Jersey Shore dipsticks for the amateurs... More >>

• Llosa Found

  published November 3, 2011

  Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa began his career with weighty, cerebral novels that slyly attacked the military dictatorship of his... More >>