We’ve officially made it through the first full work week of 2013! If you had as busy of a week as I did, you’re ready to relax and enjoy the weekend. The forecast doesn’t look pretty, but there are still many exciting events going on in our city’s arts community. I hope you get a chance to check out these things to do in the Lou. Enjoy!
1. Jackie & Me Opening Performance
Tonight (January 11 7:30 pm) is the much-anticipated opening night of Jackie and Me, presented by Metro Theater Company and Edison Theatre. “An exciting play that illuminates Jackie Robinson’s courage and dignity in the face of cruel racial prejudice,” Jackie and Me runs through January 27 and promises to be a must-see production in St. Louis and definitely a popular thing to do in the Lou this weekend.
The performance also presents a unique and valuable educational opportunity for teachers and schools as it explores important issues and themes of the Civil Rights Movement and United States history in general.
HEC-TV is thrilled to partner with Metro Theater Company and extend the Jackie and Me educational experience to schools outside of the St. Louis area through the two-way television broadcast, HEC-TV Live! Next Thursday, student groups from around the country will be able to tune in via videoconference and interact in a discussion about the themes and issues raised in the play, including: responding to oppression, offering acceptance, and making an impact.
2. Café Chanson Opening Performance
An Upstream Theater Production
Kranzberg Arts Center
Performance Dates: January 11, 13, 17-20, 24-27
Café Chanson is an evening described by creator/director Ken Page as a “ballet in music.” Step inside and meet an American veteran of World War II who will transport you to the Paris he knew as a young man, the days and nights spent among the denizens of his beloved “Café Chanson.” Through the magic of chanson you will meet some of the people, relationships and emotions that he recalls. Above all, this evening is a celebration of music and verse by some of France’s best known poets, singers and songwriters.
We recently spoke with Upstream Theater Artistic Director Philip Boehm about the performance. Our interview aired on the most recent episode of Two on the Aisle and can be watched through the hyperlink below.
Click photo to view video
3. Javier Mendoza’s Latin Jazz Experiment
Jazz at the Bistro
Performance Times:
Friday (January 11): 7:30 & 9:30 pm
Saturday (January 12): 7:30 & 9:30 pm
Image via jazzstl.org
Our friends over at Jazz St. Louis have an exciting show going on tonight at Jazz at the Bistro. Javier Mendoza’s Latin Jazz Experiment is a once a year experience at Jazz at the Bistro where Javier takes 14 of his Spanish pop songs and transforms them into Latin Jazz.
4. Stomp at The Fabulous Fox Theater
Performance Times:
Friday (January 11): 8 pm
Saturday (January 12): 2 & 8 pm
Sunday (January 13): 2 pm
STOMP is explosive, provocative, sophisticated, sexy, utterly unique and appeals to audiences of all ages. The international percussion sensation has garnered an armful of awards and rave reviews, and has appeared on numerous national television shows. The eight-member troupe uses everything but conventional percussion instruments – matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters, hubcaps – to fill the stage with magnificent rhythms. As USA Today says, “STOMP finds beautiful noises in the strangest places.” STOMP. See what all the noise is about.
5. A Tribute to Johnny Cash at Mad Art Gallery
Sunday (January 13): 7-11 pm
One More Round presents a live musical event celebrating the 45th anniversary of the live recording of Johnny Cash’s iconic album “At Folsom Prison”.
It was January 1968, a year that would be saturated in violence and historical change. Cash’s 1968 concert at Folsom State Prison in California and the ensuing album became a symbol of the late 1960’s and transformed his career.
Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison remains one of the greatest live albums ever made, and the man himself one of America’s greatest musical legends and advocates for prison reform. Forty Five years later, the album still resonates today with a rawness and authenticity that few recordings have ever achieved.
Bill Forness and One More Round will perform the live recording in its entirety, as well as: Johnny’s hits from the 1950s Sun Records releases, America’s favorite duets by June Carter and Johnny Cash and the 1990s iconic songs from Johnny’s American Recordings. The night is not a mere concert it is a theatrical tribute to the Man In Black with a Look, Sound, and Feel of the real deal.
A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit Prison Performing Arts, a 21-year-old, multi-discipline, literacy and performing arts program that serves incarcerated adults and children at St. Louis City Juvenile Detention Center, Hogan Street Regional Youth Center, Northeastern Correctional Center (NECC) in Bowling Green, MO and Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center (WERDCC) in Vandalia, MO.
