Events This Weekend
Vivian Maier: Photography's Lost Voice
Wednesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Continues through May 26Arts
Vivian Maier burst onto the art scene in 2007 with her treasure trove of urban photography. It was quite a feat for an 81-year-old, but even more so because most of her work was of mid-century New York and Chicago, and she had ceased making images a decade earlier. Also, she didn't ever show her work herself; filmmaker John Maloof bought a crate of negatives at auction and in it discovered her vast archive. He has spent years printing and scanning these negatives to bring her work to the public eye. Vivian Maier: Photography's Lost Voice, the new exhibition at the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum (3415 Olive Street; www.iphf.org), offers St. Louis the rare opportunity to see Maier's work up close. The show includes her black-and-white urban images, her later color abstract work and examples of her landscape portraiture. Vivian Maier: Photography's Lost Voice is on display Wednesday through Saturday (February 21 to May 26). Admission is $5 to $10. $5-$10
3415 Olive St
St. Louis - Midtown
314-535-1999
Painted Pieces: Art Chess from Purling London
Sundays, 12-5 p.m., Wednesdays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Continues through Sept. 16Arts
The standard chess set has been reimagined in multiple formats, using everything from Simpsons characters to loaded shot glasses. The new exhibition at the World Chess Hall of Fame sees regulation Staunton sets done up with a fresh coat of paint, which doesn't sound all that impressive. But when it's artists such as Caio Locke, Sophie Matisse and Thierry Noir wielding the brushes, the results are dazzling. Painted Pieces: Art Chess from Purling London features vibrant, hand-painted chess sets exploding with color and invention. Painted Pieces opens with a free reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12, at the World Chess Hall of Fame (4652 Maryland Avenue; www.worldchesshof.org). The show remains up through September 16. free admission
Circus Flora
Thursdays, Fridays, 7 p.m., Sundays, 1 & 5:30 p.m., Saturdays, 1 & 7 p.m., Wed., April 25, 7 p.m. and Wed., May 2, 7 p.m. Continues through May 13Performing Arts
It's an unwritten rule that when you need a bellhop, you can't find one. The bellhop at Circus Flora's Hotel Balding has disappeared, and in The Case of the Missing Bellhop, the entire circus goes on the hunt for him, using desperate measures to find him. Acrobat Jeison Dominguez takes the high road, climbing the rotating Wheel of Destiny as it heads for the top of the big top, while Cuzin Grumpy's trained pigs search low, as only learned pigs can. The St. Louis Arches, the Flying Wallendas and the Alanian Riders and their horses all join the search. Can anyone find the little fella? Circus Flora opens its new season in its new permanent home in Grand Center (3401 Washington Boulevard; www.circusflora.org) with shows Thursday through Sunday (April 19 to May 13) and two 7 p.m. Wednesday performances (April 25 and May 2). Tickets are $12 to $75. $12-$75
Jesus Christ Superstar
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. and Wed., April 25, 8 p.m. Continues through April 28Theater
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Jesus Christ Superstar is having a bit of a moment, thanks to the well-received Easter Sunday live broadcast on NBC. If you want to see it again live and in a more intimate setting, Stray Dog Theatre has you covered. The story depicts the last week of Jesus' earthly life and his rapidly fraying relationship with his disciple Judas Iscariot. Stray Dog Theatre performs the show at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (April 12 to 28) at the Tower Grove Abbey (2336 Tennessee Avenue; www.straydogtheatre.org). There are additional shows at 2 p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. Wednesday (April 22 and 25). Tickets are $25 to $30. $25-$30
Chinese Buddhist Art, 10th-15th Centuries
Fridays, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and Tuesdays-Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Continues through Aug. 30Arts
Very rarely does an art exhibition include the actual wall an artist worked on, but the Saint Louis Art Museum does so for Chinese Buddhist Art, 10th-15th Centuries. A six-foot-by-four-foot section of a temple wall that has a painting of the Bodhisattva Akalokiteśvara (Guanyin) on one side is the focal point of the exhibition, and an exceptionally rare object. The show also includes four hanging scrolls, and a never-before-displayed painted, wooden sculpture of a seated arhat, the Buddhist term for a person who has achieved enlightenment. Chinese Buddhist Art, 10th-15th Centuries is open Tuesday through Sunday (March 30 to August 30) in gallery 225 of the Saint Louis Art Museum (1 Fine Arts Drive; www.slam.org). Admission is free. free admission
Mona Hatoum: Terra Infirma
Fridays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. and Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Continues through Aug. 11Arts
Palestinian-born installation artist Mona Hatoum brings together more than 30 of her works for Terra Infirma, her first exhibition in America in more than two decades. Hatoum's sculptures and installations often evoke domestic settings, but subvert the attendant ideas of comfort and safety into something more menacing. Dormiente takes the shape of a seven-foot-long cot, but one made from an upsized cheese grater. Misbah appears to be the sort of high-end light projector you might install in a nursery so that bears and bunnies dance on the walls at night; instead armed figures stalk each other through the darkness. The vocabulary of her work is minimalism and surrealism, but it's filtered through her feminist perspective, further shaped by her own sense of dislocation in a world that doesn’t recognize her native country. Hatoum discusses her work at the museum at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 7. free admission
Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost World
Tuesdays-Sundays. Continues through Sept. 9Arts
The ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion was Egypt's main Mediterranean port from 664 to 332 BC, or roughly 100 years longer than the country of America has existed. It was a thriving, international metropolis — and then a string of natural disasters wiped it off the map. Archeologist Franck Goddio and his team of underwater archeologists rediscoverd Thonis-Heracleion 1,000 years later, four miles off the coast of present-day Egypt. It was more than 30 feet below the surface of the sea, its colossal statues of gods, pharaohs and ritual animals resting in the ruins of a world long gone. Three of these massive statues comprise the heart of the new exhibition Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds, which will be on display at the Saint Louis Art Museum (1 Fine Arts Drive; www.slam.org) Tuesday through Sunday (March 25 to September 9). Alongside the trio of statues are more than 200 ceremonial and commercial artifacts (bronze vessels, coins, jewelry) found both on the sea floor and on loan from museums in Cairo and Alexandria. Admission to the exhibit is $8 to $20, and free on Friday. $8-$20
Judgment at Nuremberg
April 25-28, 7:30 p.m. and Sun., April 29, 2 p.m.Theater
After World War II finally ended, the Allied powers began a series of investigations into non-combatant crimes committed by German citizens under the Nazi regime. Abby Mann's drama Judgment at Nuremberg is a fictionalized account of one such tribunal, which saw a handful of German judges and prosecutors tried for knowingly sentencing innocent people to death for crimes of "blood defilement" (that's sex with Jewish people for you non-Nazis). How does a respected jurist sink to collaborating with evil? The tribunal wants to find out, but it may not like what it discovers. Midnight Company presents Judgment at Nuremberg at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (April 25 to 29) at the Missouri History Museum (Lindell Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue; www.mohistory.org). Tickets are $18 to $20. $18-$20
Judgment at Nuremberg
Wed., April 25, 7:30-10 p.m., Thu., April 26, 7:30-10 p.m., Fri., April 27, 7:30-10 p.m., Sat., April 28, 2-4:30 & 7:30-10 p.m. and Sun., April 29, 2-4:30 p.m. 314-799-5910Theater
The Midnight Company presents the stunning, dramatic recreation of one of the final WWII Military Tribunals in 1947. German judges, who served under the Nazis, are tried for their crimes against humanity in the midst of the mounting pressures of the Cold War. One week only. $18-$20
http://www.midnightcompany.com
From Caricature to Celebration: A Brief History of African-American Dolls
Wednesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays, 12-4 p.m. Continues through July 1 314-421-4689info@fieldhousemuseum.org
Museum Exhibits and Events
Toys are constant companions throughout childhood and beyond. Today’s children can find themselves represented in their toys, but this hasn’t always been the case. From Caricature to Celebration: A Brief History of African-American Dolls takes you on a tour of dolls spanning more than a hundred years. From the earliest days of traditional African dolls and racial stereotypes through the years of assimilation and early acceptance, follow the journey through more than 80 dolls to reach the present day. Adults: $10, Children 7-16: $5, 6 & under: Free
https://fieldhousemuseum.org/
The Dresser
Sundays, 3 p.m. and Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues through April 29Theater
Sir spends his waning years traipsing around the English countryside managing, producing and starring in Shakespeare's eternal dramas. He's worn out as the air raid sirens keep sounding in the distance. Yet the show must go on, and tonight he plays King Lear, his signature role. It falls to Norman, Sir's longtime dresser, to get the legend dressed, made up and ready for the curtain. But Sir can't recall his opening line, and time is pressing. Ronald Harwood's play The Dresser is a testament to the last of the "grand" actors who were larger than the roles they played, and a cunning examination of King Lear's relationship with his Fool, as played out by two consummate professionals who care for one another as much as they resent one another. St. Louis Actors' Studio presents The Dresser at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (April 13 to 29) at the Gaslight Theater (358 North Boyle Avenue; www.stlas.org). Tickets are $30 to $35. $30-$35
A Tree, Falling
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. and Sun., April 29, 2 p.m. Continues through April 28Theater
Lenny has a problem with strangers showing up at his house and peppering him with personal questions. The retired physician is fed up with the interruptions, completely unaware that it's the same person every time — Lola is a social worker assigned to check up on the old man, a fact he never remembers. For Lenny the past is gone and the future is unknowable; all he has is right now. The reality of his dementia soon affects Lola as well. If we can't remember the joys and sorrows of our lives, are we really alive at all? Ron Elisha's quiet tragicomedy A Tree, Falling explores the value of memory and life itself. Upstream Theater presents A Tree, Falling at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday (April 13 to 28), and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at the Kranzberg Arts Center (501 North Grand Boulevard; www.upstreamtheater.org). Tickets are $25 to $35. $25-$35
Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson
Thu., April 26, 8-9:30 p.m., Fri., April 27, 8-9:30 p.m., Sat., April 28, 8-9:30 p.m. and Sun., April 29, 2-3:30 p.m. 314-750-4272carman@kranzbergartsfoundation.org
Theater
Saint Louis University Theatre Presents Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson An infectious score anchors this fictionalized, irreverent look at the rise of our seventh president and the beginning of the Democratic party. A rowdy take on populism, politics and policies that redefines Jackson as a rock star with a dark side. Directed by Nancy Bell. $5 - $8
https://www.metrotix.com/events/detail/slu-theatre-bloody-bloody-andrew-jackson
Falling
Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Continues through April 28 618 462 5222jacobyartscenter@gmail.com
Theater
Deanna Jent’s play presents the joys and challenges of real life family dynamics when one member is autistic. $10 - $20
http://www.jacobyartscenter.orgHabitat for Humanity Saint Louis Auction
Fri., April 27, 6-9 p.m. 314-606-6242harper@habitatstl.org
Benefits
Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis & Rescued Furnishing are partnering together to bring an amazing event to the St. Louis area. On April 27th from 6:00-9:00pm we will co-host an auction where 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis. Each $10 ticket includes snacks and 2 drink tickets! You will have the opportunity to bid on the following items: 2 General Finishes Gift baskets 6 hand made side tables 3 farm house tables 6 blanket ladders & More! Lularoe will also be in store and Rescued Furnishings is offering 20% their entire store. 10.00
https://rescuedfurnishings.com/collections/diy-classes/products/habitat-for-humanity-st-louis-auction?variant=6810609975347
