Author: catemarquis

– By Cate Marquis – Tennessee Williams Festival 2026’s “Appropriate” is a change for this festival devoted to appreciating playwright Tennessee Williams, because this is the first time the festival’s featured play was not written by Tennessee Williams. “Appropriate” was written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, although it clearly shows the influence of Tennessee Williams, a drama…

The cast of the Rep’s LITTLE WOMEN.. The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents “Little Women”, September 9-27, 2026. Photo by Jon Gitchoff – By Cate Marquis – The Repertory Theater of St. Louis opens it’s 2026-2027 season with a stage adaption of a literary favorite, “Little Women,” but while most adaptations we have seen…

The cast of the Black Rep’s musical THE COLOR PURPLE. Courtesy of the Black Rep – By Cate Marquis – The Black Rep opens their 50th Season with a splendid production of “The Color Purple,” one filled with spirit, music, dance and an inspiring story of a woman who survives and triumphs over incredible pain…

– By Cate Marquis – West End Players Guild’s contemporary drama “Hookman” references the urban legend of a serial killer with a hook for a hand, a tale passed along by generations of young teen and preteen girls as a cautionary tale about travel at night, but in fact, this drama is about a different…

– By Cate Marquis – The Muny decides to wrap up it’s 2026 season with a bit of fun – no, a whole lot of fun – with the crazy meta-musical laugh riot “Something Rotten,” “Something Rotten” is a hysterically funny mad musical about musicals that is set in Elizabethan London, where theater company leader…

(L-R) Sam Harvey as Sky Masterson and Matthew Schatz as Nathan Detroit in Stages’ “Guys and Dolls.” Photo credit: Phillp Hamer Photography. Courtesy of Stages St. Louis – By Cate Marquis – Stages St. Louis’s “Guys and Dolls” goes classic with one of the most tuneful of musicals, as well as one of the most…

– By Cate Marquis – New Jewish Theater’s “Job” is a searing two-person drama set in San Francisco in January of 2020, just as the Covid 19 pandemic was beginning. The title might bring to mind the Biblical figure but it refers to employment, what one does for a living, although there is an element…

(L-R) Nick Rashad Burroughs, Jawan M. Jackson, Elijah Ahmad Lewis, James T. Lane, Daniel Yearwood as the Temptations in the Muny’s AIN’T TOO PROUD. Photo credit: Philip Hamer. Courtesy of the Muny – By Cate Marquis – The Muny’s “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations” is hit-packed celebration of one of…

(L-R) Jade Cash and Caitlin Mickey in Neil LaBute’s BRUNCH, one of the short plays in the St. Louis Actors’ Studio’s LaBute New Theater Festival. Courtesy of St. Louis Actors’ Studio. – By Cate Marquis – Actors Studio’s annual LaBute New Theater Festival offers six one-act plays including one from playwright Neil LaBute, for whom…

– By Cate Marquis – The Muny’s “Newsies” is an uplifting, hopeful, dancing extravaganza that was inspired by an actual newspaper boys striking in late 19th century New York, a show that mixes drama, humor, hope and heart, with a bit of history. If you love dancing, athletic, exuberant dancing, this is the Muny show…