Resplendent in top hat, white tie and tails, Chuck Lavazzi brought his intimate cabaret act to the Missouri History Museum for two weekends (this is the second). His performance is part of a series presented by the Museum in collaboration with local theatre companies, in this case, the West End Players Guild (WEPG), whose 2011-12 season the show also kicks off. He came to sing the Golden Oldies, and I’m not talking about the Beatles or even Bing. His material is straight from the Amercian Vaudeville age, and mainly songs from its peak shortly before and during the 1920s.

St. Louis Shakespeare has hit a home run with its production of Cyrano de Bergerac, due in great part to a powerful and poetic performance by Todd Gillenardo in the title role.

When I first learned The New Jewish Theatre was planning a production of Romeo & Juliet set in 1947 Palestine (under the British Mandate), it sounded like a fine idea. The family's conflict, vague in origin in the original play, is a given: The Montagues are Jews and the Capulets are Arabs. So how did it go so far off the rails? Let me count the ways.