Louis Williams News

After careful deliberation, the multi-award-winning Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis (TWSTL) finds it necessary to push their 5th Annual event to summer due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Kinky Boots, the smash-hit musical that brings together four-time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein (Book) and Grammy Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Tony Award-winner for Best Score for Kinky Boots), opens at the Patchogue Theatre, August 30 and runs through Saturday September 14, 2019 presented by The Gateway.

After three successful years, NEW CENTURY DANCE PROJECT (NCDP) returns to Salt Lake City August 13-17, 2019 with an all new focus. NCDP, the brain-child of Santa Fe-based choreographer and educator Francisco Gella (RDT dancer 1996-1998), brings together professional teaching artists, dancers and companies from Utah and across North America to share their expertise and artistic excellence with young aspiring dancers ages 8-22 training for their future. For the third year, RDT is proud to be a sponsoring partner of the event held at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. 

Luminario Ballet of Los Angeles is a very unique and valuable, strong and powerful Dance Company. They offered up two fantastic evenings of Dance, Song, Music and a Q&A, last weekend at Club Fais Do Do, and this past weekend at the Skirball Center, in conjunction with a Fashion Exhibit of Rudy Gernreich's '60s fashions that tied in perfectly with the 2nd dance piece presented that evening. The costumes used in 'Inscape,' were originally created by Rudi Gernreich at the same time the piece was set, in 1976. 'Choose Your Identity' June 16, 2019 The evening began with singer Tawny Ellis and her band, performing several selections from her new upcoming album release 'Love Life.' Dressed in a beautiful, flowing, lacy white dress, she looked like an angel and sang like one, playing her matching white Lap Steel and omni chord instruments with a passionate, down-to-earth country sound that was soothingly sultry, with lyrics that commanded your attention. She and her talented band played selections from her upcoming release; one of them being 'Pretend Love,' which was accompanied by a beautiful dance, choreographed by the Artistic Director, Judith FLEX Helle, performed by the incredible Kelly Vittetoe, an extraordinary soloist, en pointe, accompanied by David Tai Kim and Cory Goel. The strongest ballerina I have ever seen, (Ms. Vittetoe) that up-close; performing magnificently, with one of the most beautiful bodies, face and feet, ever. She is exquisite, and her two partners were also equally impressive. The exactness of technique performed by all three dancers was just heavenly. Up close and personal. What a treat!

If you know Tennessee Williams, and I hope you do/will, you know there's a lot to unpack in his work. His characters are tormented and textured, plotlines layered with the riddles and aches of the human heart. There's no mercy when Tennessee Williams shines a flashlight into the darkest corners of a soul, and you will likely come away from the work exhausted and amazed for both the damage and any bit of renewal you've witnessed. Such is the case in The Night of the Iguana, playing at The Grandel Theatre now, as the main stage production of the 2019 Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis.

In association with its new exhibition Fearless Fashion: Rudi Gernreich, the Skirball Cultural Center presents excerpts of choreographer Bella Lewitzky's seminal 1971 work Inscape. Wearing iconic costumes originally designed by fashion pioneer Rudi Gernreich and now newly reconstructed by Diana MacNeil, dancers from Luminario Ballet worked with John Pennington of Pennington Dance Group to recreate elements of this masterwork. As described by the New York Times in 1979, [Inscape] still has the fascination of Rudi Gernreich's decor and stretch fabric costumes, which are totally integrated into the design and intent of Miss Lewitzky's choreography.

Four eccentric and unforgettable women fry chicken, plan a picnic to Creve Coeur Lake, and cope with loneliness and lost dreams in an efficiency apartment on Enright Avenue in the Central West End circa the mid-1930s.

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis will present Tennessee Williams' steamy and startling 'The Night of the Iguana' as its main stage production at the Grandel Theatre on May 9-19.

Musical Theater West (MTW) brings the incredible true story, turned hit film, turned Broadway Tony Award-winning musical Catch Me If You Can to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center March 29 through April 14. Created by the dream team of song writers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Smash, Mary Poppins Returns) and librettist Terrence McNally (The Full Monty, Ragtime), Catch Me If You Can delivers a the high-flying musical comedy about chasing your dreams and not getting caught.

In collaboration with the Recording Academy, Great Performances presents GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends 2018®, the third annual all-star concert offering a primetime spotlight for the Recording Academy's 2018 Special Merit Awards recipients. The celebration and tribute concert feature rare performances by honorees and never-before-seen renditions of their classic songs by those they've inspired. Recorded in July at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre, the event premieres nationwideFriday, October 5 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) and will be available to stream the following day via pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, named 2019 Best Arts Startup by the Arts & Education Council, is pleased to present 'Confessions of a Nightingale,' directed by Lana Pepper, running November 1-4 at the Curtain Call Lounge at the Fox Theatre in the Grand Center Arts District.

REPRISE 2.0 (led by Producing Artistic Director Marcia Seligson), in association with the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television's Department of Theater (UCLA TFT) chaired by Brian Kite, presents its inaugural production of Sweet Charity.  Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall with musical direction by Gerald Sternbach, the classic Broadway hit plays through July 1 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. Take a look at photos from the show's opening night below!

REPRISE 2.0 in association with the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television's Department of Theater presents its inaugural production of Sweet Charity. Get a look at the all-star cast below!

Casting is now complete for the inaugural REPRISE 2.0 production of Sweet Charity. Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, the classic Broadway hit plays from June 20 to July 1 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. 

Sophia Brown and Nick Narcisi will create the tempestuous relationship between renowned characters Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire," the main stage production of the third annual Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, May 10-19, at the Grandel Theatre. Tim Ocel will direct the production for this year's Festival titled, "Tennessee Williams: The French Quarter Years."

In partnership with Lythgoe Family Panto, Theatre Under the Stars has opened their family-fun, holiday-filled interactive production Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight to Houston audiences. With a star-studded cast, popular music, and a storybook vibe, Kris Lythgoe's Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight had both the children and the parents in the audience laughing, shouting at the characters onstage, and erupting in applause. This production tells the tale of the cursed Princess Aurora (Lauren Taylor) on the brink of her eighteenth birthday, and the handsome Prince (Garrett Clayton) on the road to his wedding day with the Princess, as the evil fairy Carabosse (Debbie Gravitte) does everything in her power to sabotage the kingdom.

Joining Broadway star Cortney Wolfson and Disney star Stephanie Renee Wall onstage this summer in the world premiere production of Romy and Michele's High School Reunion at The 5th Avenue Theatre is a sensational cast that's the coolest thing since the invention of Post-its!

In May, the city of St. Louis again celebrates the city's world-renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright - Tennessee Williams - with the 2nd Annual Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, May 3rd through 7th, in venues across the Grand Center Theatre District. 

The veteran comedian, actor and renowned urban public official is proud to announce that he will return to Joe Louis Arena on Saturday, February 11 at 8 p.m. as part of the "Farewell Season at The Joe".

In May, the city of St. Louis will pay homage to the city's favorite playwright - Tennessee Williams  - with an annual Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis (TWFSTL).  This inaugural celebration kicks off May 11th and runs through the 15th on a variety of both conventional and unexpected stages in the Grand Center and Central West End areas. Highlights from this first festival include a Hirschfeld Exhibition Unveiling and An Evening with Olympia Dukakis.  With a focus on St. Louis, the TWFSTL will offer something for all tastes - theatrical productions, movies, a visual art exhibition, readings, panel discussions, a tour, and live music.   Tickets will be available through Metrotix.