Email Author Paul Friswold

2011 Stories by Paul Friswold

• The Mae Ingredient: Something's missing in Dirty Blonde

  published September 22, 2011

  Claudia Shear's paean to showbiz legend Mae West suffers from trying to be too many things at once. That's more than appropriate, considering... More >>

• Shock the Orchestra

  published September 1, 2011

  Maybe this modern technology thing's gonna work out all right. Thanks to ever-improving 3-D technology, more and more rock stars seem interested... More >>

• The Guys Were Men

  published August 18, 2011

  In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, survivors had to find a way to go on living. For those who lost someone when the World Trade Towers were... More >>

• Feeling Grovey

  published September 1, 2011

  In the Jain religious tradition of India, selflessness is the ultimate spiritual quest. One strives to hurt no living thing, to never lie and to... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published September 15, 2011

  Newly Reviewed More >>

• End Days, Deborah Zoe Laufer's post-9/11 tale about a dysfunctional family, is a laugh a minute

  published September 15, 2011

  After surviving the fall of the World Trade Center through dumb luck, Arthur Stein (Terry Meddows) flees to the apparent safety of the suburbs... More >>

• The Magnificent Marvin

  published August 25, 2011

  Hollywood doesn't make actors like Lee Marvin anymore. The tall, gray-haired Marvin made a career out of playing gravel-voiced heavies in films... More >>

• Watching Sausage Get Cast

  published August 11, 2011

  Felix Artifex is a man coming very quickly to the end of his rope. His impending, landscape-altering stage production, Mistakes Were Made... More >>

• Ahoy, Ladies

  published August 25, 2011

  Somewhere out there in the vast wetness of the ocean is the S.S. Sexiness. Nestled deep in the shapely wreckage is the fantastic Pink... More >>

• Autism Imitates Life: Deanna Jent's Falling will knock you on your ass

  published September 8, 2011

  [Editor's Note: Falling has been extended through Saturday, September 24.] There is no "I" in mother, but there certainly is... More >>

• Viva El Skippito!

  published August 18, 2011

  There are a lot of patronizingly dull children's books out there, but Judy Schachner's Skippyjon Jones series ain't one of 'em. Skippyjon... More >>

• Warner to Bradford, Touchdown

  published August 18, 2011

  Kurt Warner did a lot of amazing things on the football field back in the "greatest show on turf" days, but he'd be the first one to tell you his... More >>

• Hanging by Threads

  published July 21, 2011

  Common sewing thread is one of the flimsier materials an artist can use, yet Gabriel Dawe makes it seem simultaneously opaque and filmy. For his... More >>

• Robot's Road Trip

  published July 28, 2011

  Route 66 remains a touchstone in pop culture because it simultaneously represents freedom and nostalgia, and because in this post-post modern era,... More >>

• Redemption, But No Reprieve

  published August 11, 2011

  The twin themes of compassion and redemption are at the heart of Dead Man Walking. Yes, it's about the death penalty, but that's like... More >>

• Ten years have passed since 9/11, and The Guys has not improved with age

  published September 1, 2011

  The Guys opens with pixilated footage of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center, projected on the back wall. The inevitable,... More >>

• Dodge 'Em

  published August 11, 2011

  The Los Angeles Dodgers are having an historically bad year. The dreaded "ownership divorce" is an actual marital as well as business separation,... More >>

• Growin' Mobile

  published August 11, 2011

  Growing your own is a time-honored American tradition; growing food, that is. The current small-scale agricultural revival has birthed all sorts... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published September 1, 2011

  Newly Reviewed The Guys More >>

• Digging in the Dirt

  published July 14, 2011

  Young Mary, the only survivor of a cholera outbreak in Colonial India, is sent to live with her uncle Archibald in Yorkshire. Archibald is a... More >>

• When Magic's Magic Fades

  published August 4, 2011

  In The Magicians, Lev Grossman introduced us to Quentin Coldwater, a high-school senior who's unhappy with the real world and would... More >>

• Altogether Now

  published August 11, 2011

  Jenna Bauer was an active figure in the St. Louis art scene in the late '90s and early oughts, exhibiting regularly and opening what's now known... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published August 18, 2011

  Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical For a musical based on a porn flick, Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical is neither very musical nor... More >>

• St. Louis Stage Capsules

  published August 11, 2011

  Newly Reviewed Bye Bye Birdie The Muny closes out its current season with the 1960 musical lark that lampoons America's fixation... More >>

• Past/Passed:New Work by Robot Headlines this Weekend's Art Openings

  published Aug 05, 2011

  Route 66 remains a touchstone in pop culture because it simultaneously represents freedom and nostalgia, and because in this post-post modern era, we recognize that both of those sensations were based... More >>