The Rep’s studio season is off to an impressive start with a new play by Daniel Pearle, A Kid Like Jake. Stylishly directed by Seth Gordon, the play centers on never-seen Jake, a 4-year-old Manhattanite testing and interviewing his way into one of New York’s exclusive kindergartens, and his love of ‘gender-variant play.’ (He likes to dress like a princess.) His parents, Alexandra and Greg, played with charm and ease by Leigh Williams and Alex Hanna, seem unsure whether to hide or exploit their son’s ‘imaginative play’ during the interview. Well, Alexandra is conflicted at any rate; Greg seems supremely unconcerned.
It’s a pity the play has closed at this writing because I would love to recommend it. The acting was first-rate all around, Williams navigating a difficult role and Hanna embodying the ‘modern’ father, caring more about his son acting out in class than whether or not he might be gay. Playwright Pearle, not even 30, writes
two excellent roles for women in Alexandra and her friend and mentor, Judy (Susan Pellegrino). While we may not be as fixated in the Midwest on making our children the most precious of all the snowflakes, A Kid Like Jake engenders fascinating discussion on the ever-changing roles of parenting.
Winter Opera St Louis opened its season with Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), its first, and tremendously successful, foray into Mozart. It might be said that aristocrats in Mozart’s era had too much time on their hands and that a hard day’s work would prevent them from engaging in these ridiculous intrigues, but then we wouldn’t see Count Almaviva (Chad Armstrong) getting outfoxed by his servants in such a merry and entertaining manner.
The production was stellar on all levels. The singing was exceptional, most notably Todd William Donovan (a dashing Figaro), Katy Lindhart (sweet and clever Susanna), Armstrong’s creepy Count Almaviva and Cherry Duke (a sprightly Cherubino.) My favorite performer, Jane Jennings as the Countess Rosina Almaviva, stole my heart with her gorgeous voice and intelligent, lovely acting. Her aria in Act III, Dove Sono, where she recalls happier days with the loutish Count, was a highlight. Not to be outdone by the performers, the technical aspects were every bit as delightfully done, like lush costumes (JC Krajicek), exquisite orchestration (Scott Schoonover), and a luminous full moon backdrop for Act III that combined great scenic and lighting design (Scott Loebl and Sean Savoie.) I’m looking forward to a return visit.
Speaking of return visits, Mustard Seed Theatre is remounting last year’s box-office success, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. A touch Ken Burns, a smidge Spoon River Anthology, a dash Prairie Home Companion, it’s a loose story told from fragments of the letters and journals of enemies who found a brief friendship in an equally brief moment before resuming their battle during World War I. It’s the singing you come for: beautiful a capella tunes by an all-male cast, led high by the delicious tenor of Luke Steingruby and low by the equally compelling basso profundo of Jason Meyers. Antonio Rodriguez delivers a French version of O, Holy Night that may make you weep. It is every bit as heart-warming and string-pulling as an American audience at Christmastime could hope for.
Pictured: Chad Armstrong, Todd William Donovan, Jane Jennings and Katy Lindhart in Winter Opera St. Louis’ Le nozze di Figaro.
Photo: Ron Lindsey
