The French Have a Word for It

There's a reason Les Liaisons Dangereuses evolved from book to play to film to teen-flick-starring-Sarah-Michelle-Gellar: Everyone loves the hunt for The Virgin. When a man finds something pure as snow, he is biologically compelled to piss his initials, and the sick conquest rivets everyone from feminist to misogynist. Throw in a manipulative bet, and the plot sweetly thickens like molasses. For lack of a flow chart, follow the French: the Marquise de Merteuil puppeteers her ex, Valmont, into seducing both the engaged virgin Cecile and the virtuous Presidente de Tourvel by proffering sex as a reward. Little does the Marquise know that Valmont is yanking his own strings, so to speak. St. Louis Shakespeare has its Liaisons at the Grandel Theatre (3610 Grandel Square; 314-361-5664 or www.stlshakespeare.org) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with 2 p.m. matinees Sunday (September 2 through 11). Tickets are $18 to $22. -- Kristyn Pomranz

Peripatetic Poetry

Readings @ the Schlafly Tap Room

THU 9/1

If you enjoyed last year's "Readings @ the Contemporary" poetry series, you're going to love the "Readings @ the Schlafly Tap Room" (2100 Locust Street; 314-241-1337 or www.belz.net/readings/). The program is curated by the same group, so only the location has changed, and this location has beer. Geraldine Kim, a Boston transplant with a fondness for zombie flicks and a Fence Books' Modern Poetry Series prize for her collection Povel, opens the free series at 8 p.m. Also reading is Stephanie Schlaifer, an Iowa Writers' Workshop grad with Southern roots so deep that she's in the midst of a series of poems about Southern weather. Write what you know, indeed. The series continues at the Tap Room on the first Thursday of each month through April 2006. -- Paul Friswold

Joie de Viviano

TUE 9/6

Man-about-town Tony Viviano takes his flair for the Rat Pack-era song (suave, stylish and swaggering) outdoors for the kickoff of the Twilight Tuesday Concert Series. And he's tailored his show to the showy grandeur of nature as well, offering nothing but the music of Bobby Darin. This is not a covers show -- it's a tribute from one showman to another, dig? The party runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on the lawn of the Missouri History Museum (Lindell Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue; 314-746-4599), and admission is free. Bring a blanket and your will to swing, baby. -- Paul Friswold