Upcoming Events

Documentia is a series of digital collages inspired by and in direct response to these recollective narratives. A body of work created in celebration of the dementia mind, Documentia visualizes the compression, the overlap, the incongruous conversations between memory and sense that occur in that human container. This exhibit invites viewers to contemplate their own stories and sense memories to consider how they organize shards of experience into novel constructions.

Benjamin Kaplan, 2022

Throughout history, the queer community hasn’t always been able to be out and proud. The community developed sophisticated codes to coexist as queer in a world that criminalized their identities. Polari, a secret British slang used by gay men, allowed them to speak freely without fear of arrest. As time progressed this language became lost and very few within the community still know of it.

Drop Everything, is a collection of artwork exploring the history of the bathhouse within the queer community and its role as a cruising ground for gay men.

Utilizing the codex language of Polari, in combination with drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and digital techniques, I am giving the language a contemporary life. Combining contemporary items or images associated with acts within the queer community allows viewers to see items and then veils of text referencing the language.

A vacant lot in a broken neighborhood in the middle of the city can become a lot of things. A garbage dump. A gathering spot for trouble. How could it ever be a source of hope? A dozen different characters and their stories come to life, beginning with Kim, a nine-year-old Vietnamese immigrant who plants six precious lima beans. One by one, the people of her community, many also immigrants, sow seeds of hope amid the dirt and grit, tending dreams to full bloom. As the garden grows, so does the community, blooming into something bigger, better, and beyond all expectations. As told by award-winning novelist Paul Fleischman, the garden draws neighbors out of their lonely isolation to rediscover and celebrate the community around them.

Adapted from the book by Newbery Medal-winning author Paul Fleischman.

Best enjoyed by ages 9 and up

Upstream Theater presents the world premiere of THE GOOD SHIP ST. LOUIS a new play by Philip Boehm with original music by Anthony Barilla. On May 13, 1939, a ship left Hamburg flying the German Nazi flag and carrying over 900 Jewish refugees. They held landing certificates for Cuba; from there most planned to emigrate to the United States. But when they reached Havana, their documents were declared invalid. Despite increasingly urgent appeals, neither the US nor Canada would admit them, and so the ship was forced to return to Europe, where the refugees were ultimately caught up in the tide of war and occupation. Many perished in the camps. The ship was the MS St. Louis, and we are taking this voyage as a starting point for a soulful examination of the basic human right to asylum by linking its story to the history of our city with the same name, known for welcoming refugees from the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Yet as tens of thousands of civilians flee war and violence, ethnic persecution and economic upheaval from places as far-flung as Syria and Myanmar, Venezuela and Afghanistan, South Sudan and Ukraine–are we not bound to do more in the name of social justice?

The weekly Mid Coast Comedy Series features rising and established stand up comedians. Each Thursday, you can count on some of the city’s best – as well as the occasional out of town famous friend – stopping by to be part of the show. Lineups and additional show information can be found at www.midcoast.media/centralstage

Schedule:
Nov. 3, 2022 – Ray Rowry, Will O’Donnell, Precious J, Larry Greene
Nov. 10, 2022 – Brandon Taylor, Mollie Amburgey, Shondon, Max Pryce
Nov. 17, 2022 – Tom Brown, Meredith Hopping, Myke Jones, JC Sibala

NOVEMBER 4, 2022/ 9:00 PM
DOORS OPEN 8:30PM

The Funky Butt Brass Band was formed in 2008 by six talented musicians who respect and revere the New Orleans brass band tradition. The FBBB takes classic New Orleans brass tunes and gives them a twist, in the style of Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth and Bonerama. But don’t be surprised if you also hear some Minneapolis funk, Southern rock, Memphis soul, Chicago blues and St. Louis R&B in the mix.

A Blues Event to raise funds for the SLACO After School and Summer Camp Music Program.

SLACO, in partnership with the St. Louis Blues Society, presents a celebration of St. Louis’ place in the great blues tradition.

DIALOGUE RECORD RELEASE SHOW WITH LOBBY BOXER AND THE CHANDELIER SWING

NOVEMBER 5, 2022/ 9:00 PM
DOORS OPEN 8:30PM

Ping-Pong Wednesdays with Chris Bauer will take place on November 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th, 2022.

It is FREE to play! Sign-ups will begin at 6:00pm. Games will begin at 7:00pm.

For more information about the pop-up venue Jamo’s at Central Stage, click here.

RECAPTURED

Celebrating 10 years of dance by Karlovsky & Company Dance!

November 10 – 11, 2022

7:30pm

The Grandel

3610 Grandel Square

St. Louis, MO 63108

Karlovsky & Company Dance: RECAPTURED celebrates a decade of dance highlighting memorable excerpts from our evening-length productions of contemporary dance-theater with live music and spoken word.

In celebrating our 10^th anniversary this year, we will present a collage of our repertoire with excerpts from FRENCH CONNECTIONS (2015), LOUDER THAN WORDS (2017), REMEMBRANCE (2018), and SHIFTING TIME (2019.)  Rejoining the company for this special performance are dancers R. Vance Baldwin and Maeve Dohogne.

RECAPTURED offers an assemblage of the rich choreographic range created for Karlovsky & Company Dance by the company’s founder and artistic director, Dawn Karlovsky.  Original sound scores created for the select works of Karlovsky & Company Dance will be performed live by: Lance Garger, Kalo Hoyle, and Tory Starbuck.

KARLOVSKYDANCE.ORG

Literary Death Match makes its long-awaited St. Louis debut in a homecoming for the ages (LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga is a STL native), as we head to High Low (part of the brilliant Kranzberg Arts Foundation) and bring together a sensational lineup of the Midwest’s best. This historic night will be one to remember — don’t you dare miss it!

What is Literary Death Match? Part literary event, part comedy show, part game show, Literary Death Match brings together four of today’s finest writers to compete in an edge-of-your-seat read-off critiqued by three celebrity judges, and concluded by a slapstick showdown to decide the ultimate champion.

JUDGES:
Literary Merit: Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond, poet and author of chop: 30 kwansabas for fannie lou hamer, performer, and educator, and a Cave Canem fellow with an MFA from the University of Memphis and a PhD from Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Performance: Olajuwon Davis, actor who’s recently appeared for The Black Rep Theatre’s “Jitney,” “Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea” and “The African Company Presents Richard III”

Intangibles: Max Pryce, stand-up comedian and winner of Funniest Person in St. Louis 2021

READERS:
Round 1:
* Gabe Montesanti, a queer, Midwestern roller-derby player and author of roller-derby memoir Brace for Impact; her piece, “The Worldwide Roller Derby Convention” was named a notable essay in The Best American Essays 2020

* Ron A. Austin, author of Avery Colt Is a Snake, a Thief, a Liar, a collection of linked stories that won the 2017 Nilsen Prize, was a 2019 Foreward INDIES GOLD Award winner, and was nominated for the  PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and a 2020 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

Round 2:
* Deborah Taffa, winner of the PEN Jean Stein Grant, her memoir Whiskey Tender is forthcoming from Harper Collins in 2023, she’s a Kranzberg, MacDowell, Hedgebrook, and Tin House Fellow, and director of the MFA Creative Writing program at IAIA (Institute of American Indian Arts)

* Angela Hamilton, essayist who has appeared in The Southeast Review, Quarterly West and The MacGuffin; a Fulbright scholar who’s taught in Jordan and Turkey; and an associate professor of English at St. Louis Community College

Hosted by LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga (author of the award-nominated novel Collision Theory)

Where: High Low (Kranzberg Arts Foundation’s literary arts cafe), 3301 Washington Ave., St. Louis

The weekly Mid Coast Comedy Series features rising and established stand up comedians. Each Thursday, you can count on some of the city’s best – as well as the occasional out of town famous friend – stopping by to be part of the show. Lineups and additional show information can be found at www.midcoast.media/centralstage

Schedule:
Nov. 3, 2022 – Ray Rowry, Will O’Donnell, Precious J, Larry Greene
Nov. 10, 2022 – Brandon Taylor, Mollie Amburgey, Shondon, Max Pryce
Nov. 17, 2022 – Tom Brown, Meredith Hopping, Myke Jones, JC Sibala

NOVEMBER 10, 2022/ 9:00 PM
DOORS OPEN 8:30PM

River City Allstars combines some of St. Louis’ best musical talents all on one stage – ft. Allie Kral, Gerard Erker, Sean Canan, John Hussung & Joe Winze.

THE GRATITUDE HOUSE CONCERT SERIES
HEARTLESS WITH SPECIAL GUEST JIMMY WARREN

MK Ultra (est. 2021) is a unique collaboration of Ben Miller (Ben Miller Band) and Pat Kay (The Kay Brothers) born out of the great pandemic. You see…here’s what happens when two fellas like this spend too much time in their shops and start playing “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” Miller & Kay, both renowned torchbearers for Ozark mountain music tradition heretofore, have basically built themselves some kind of jangle-stomp-time machine.  And in it, together, have embarked on a journey exploring hillbilly music from a distant future.  Banjos meet Synthesizers… Dulcimers meet Wobble… Strange flashing lights… Unexplained phenomena… These industrious builders of cobbled homemade instruments showcase some of their most bizarre implements & soundscapes. The future of the past is here, and it’s only weird the first time.

MK Ultralinks:

https://www.facebook.com/mkultraphonic/

https://www.instagram.com/mkultraphonic/

https://soundcloud.com/mkultraphonic

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCwMDEqIJbazCxI_ie8fU0A

https://www.tiktok.com/@mkultraphonic

Ben Miller Band: https://www.facebook.com/benmillerband

The Kay Brothers: https://www.facebook.com/TheKayBrothers

Left Bank Books welcomes #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Kind of Woman, Kate Baer who will her second full length poetry collection And Yet, in person at .ZACK Performing Arts Space and virtually at 7pm CT on Tuesday, November 15th.

Tickets are available for the in person event at Metrotix.com for the in person event or Left-Bank.com for the virtual event. Each ticket will include one SIGNED copy of And Yet from Left Bank Books to support authors and independent bookstores!

Kate Baer is the 2x New York Times bestselling author of What Kind Of Woman and I Hope This Finds You Well. Her work has also been published in The New Yorker, Literary Hub, Huffington Post and The New York Times.

The second full length poetry collection from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Kind of Woman.

Kate Baer shot into the literary stratosphere with the publication of her debut poetry collection, What Kind of Woman, which became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller.

Kate’s second full-length book of traditional poetry, And Yet, dives deeper into the themes that are the hallmarks of her writing: motherhood, friendship, love, and loss. Taken together, these poems demonstrate the remarkable evolution of a writer and an artist working at the height of her craft, pushing herself and her poetry in a beautiful and impressive way.

Intimate, evocative, and bold, Kate’s beguiling poetry firmly positions her in the company of Dorianne Laux, Mary Oliver, Maggie Nelson, and other great female poets of our time.

Ping-Pong Wednesdays with Chris Bauer will take place on November 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th, 2022.

It is FREE to play! Sign-ups will begin at 6:00pm. Games will begin at 7:00pm.

For more information about the pop-up venue Jamo’s at Central Stage, click here.

The weekly Mid Coast Comedy Series features rising and established stand up comedians. Each Thursday, you can count on some of the city’s best – as well as the occasional out of town famous friend – stopping by to be part of the show. Lineups and additional show information can be found at www.midcoast.media/centralstage

Schedule:
Nov. 3, 2022 – Ray Rowry, Will O’Donnell, Precious J, Larry Greene
Nov. 10, 2022 – Brandon Taylor, Mollie Amburgey, Shondon, Max Pryce
Nov. 17, 2022 – Tom Brown, Meredith Hopping, Myke Jones, JC Sibala

Ashley Byrne is a St. Louis native with origins in the folk singer-songwriter genre. Her upcoming sophomore album, Baby Blue, ascends into airy synth-pop. Its songs are a vulnerable account of the pursuit of love, heartbreak, and the introspection that follows.

Jr. Clooney is an American CityPop band from St. Louis.

Yuppy is Dad rock but for step-dads.

DROP EVERYTHING
Zackary Petot
September 23 — November 26, 2022
Opening Reception October 14,  5 – 8pm
Artist Talk November 19, 4-6pm
High Low

Throughout history, the queer community hasn’t always been able to be out and proud. The community developed sophisticated codes to coexist as queer in a world that criminalized their identities. Polari, a secret British slang used by gay men, allowed them to speak freely without fear of arrest. As time progressed this language became lost and very few within the community still know of it.

Drop Everything, is a collection of artwork exploring the history of the bathhouse within the queer community and its role as a cruising ground for gay men.

Utilizing the codex language of Polari, in combination with drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and digital techniques, I am giving the language a contemporary life. Combining contemporary items or images associated with acts within the queer community allows viewers to see items and then veils of text referencing the language.

In A Trance: A Live Drag & Ballroom Experience is hosted by Peebles Mazzaratie & Sara Shay.

Ping-Pong Wednesdays with Chris Bauer will take place on November 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th, 2022.

It is FREE to play! Sign-ups will begin at 6:00pm. Games will begin at 7:00pm.

For more information about the pop-up venue Jamo’s at Central Stage, click here.

The weekly Mid Coast Comedy Series features rising and established stand up comedians. Each Thursday, you can count on some of the city’s best – as well as the occasional out of town famous friend – stopping by to be part of the show. Lineups and additional show information can be found at www.midcoast.media/centralstage

Schedule:
Nov. 3, 2022 – Ray Rowry, Will O’Donnell, Precious J, Larry Greene
Nov. 10, 2022 – Brandon Taylor, Mollie Amburgey, Shondon, Max Pryce
Nov. 17, 2022 – Tom Brown, Meredith Hopping, Myke Jones, JC Sibala

When two worlds collide it tends to create something brand new while simultaneously bringing people together. The Night of The Crows will do exactly that at Central Stage in the Grand Central District on November 25th. Tef Poe with his band (Edgefield Family Gorillas) comes together with Monkh and The People for a one night, once in a lifetime event. The night will include high energy Fonkh mixed with many different layers of soul, hip hop and pure Rock n Roll. The crows will fly and all truths will be revealed on this night. See you there.

St. Louis (Thanksgiving Weekend) Saturday November 26th we’re back at it with my comedy show Class Klowns!

Starring “Willie C” Royster, (Making his return from NYC) Nathan Orton, along with (STL comedy legend) Jessie Taylor, and headlined by (The forever hilarious – as seen on BET, HBO, Comedy Central, etc.) Kelly “K-Dubb” Walker!

This will all take place at the Grandel Theater (3610 Grandel Square, St. Louis, MO 63103)

Doors open at 6:00P
Show starts at 7:30P

DJ Cuddy Montana on the 1’s and 2’s