Quantum Kansas: An Anthropocene Study

Dr. Bill Russell

July 1 – August 27, 2022
Opening Reception July 1, 5 – 8pm
Artist Talk July 30, 2pm

The Kranzberg*

Walk-in gallery hours at the Kranzberg Arts Center are from 12pm to 4pm every Saturday. For questions or concerns, please contact [email protected]. Private gallery visits can be made for all galleries by appointment with COVID-19 mitigation policies in place. To make an appointment, and for questions or concerns, please contact  katie@kranzbergarts.org or (314) 533-0367 ext. 105

Dr. Bill Russell is a chronic observer—drawing stories out of the woodwork and transforming them into three-dimensional and digital spaces. “Quantum Kansas: an Anthropocene Study” chronicles his 70 year relationship with the state of Kansas and his ongoing investigations of the socio-political landscape of Middle America. As a conceptual fiber artist on the autism spectrum, Dr. Bill Russell makes art as a means to understand the world around him and weave stories with implicit social commentary. Using color, form, volume, and perspective, he invites the audience to explore the underlying, often unseen, threads that connect the spaces we inhabit and the society that shapes us.

Curated by Audrey Simes

Revenge of the Exquisite Corpse (& other Zombies)

Andrew Erickson 

July 16 — September 11, 2022
Opening Reception July 16, 2022
High Low*

*Walk-in gallery visits to High Low are open to the public during regular hours of High Low, every day from 8am to 3pm. Private gallery visits can be made for all galleries by appointment with COVID-19 mitigation policies in place. To make an appointment, and for questions or concerns, please contact  [email protected] or (314) 533-0367 ext. 105. 

Revenge of the Exquisite Corpse (& other Zombies)
Andrew Erickson
July 15 — September 11, 2022
Opening Reception July 16, 2022
High Low*

Heathers The Musical: Teen Edition is the darkly delicious story of Veronica Sawyer, a brainy, beautiful teenage misfit who hustles her way into the most powerful and ruthless clique at Westerberg High: the Heathers. But before she can get comfortable atop the high school food chain, Veronica falls in love with the dangerously handsome new kid J.D. When Heather Chandler, the Almighty, kicks her out of the group, Veronica decides to bite the bullet and kiss Heather’s aerobicized butt… but J.D. has another plan for that bullet.

Brought to you by the award-winning creative team of Kevin Murphy (Reefer Madness, Desperate Housewives), Laurence O’Keefe (Bat Boy, Legally Blonde) and director Andy Fickman (Reefer Madness, She’s the Man), Heathers The Musical: Teen Edition is a hilarious, heartfelt and homicidal new show based on the greatest teen comedy of all time.

Are you in, or are you out?

Content Warning: HEATHERS THE MUSICAL contains strong language, dark issues, adult themes and acted violence. Please use discretion when booking tickets for children. Heathers is a dark comedy and exists to combat its own subject matter. Topics include: Suicide, Swearing, Gun violence, Violent death/murder, Bulimia, Fat shaming, and Homophobia.

AUGUST 11, 2022 / 8:00 PM

Locked Ward by Amy Crider:

When the body of a nurse is found late at night in a psychiatric ward, the patients realize they are all suspects.  They must hold themselves together to investigate the mystery as they yearn for connection and normalcy.

Author’s note:
“Back in 1993 I had to be hospitalized for bipolar disorder.  I met a wide variety of people who eventually inspired this play.”

Brother Bird is the Nashville-based solo project of Caroline Swon (St. Louis native formerly performing under the name, “Caroline Glaser”). She embraces a playful, ethereal style of indie rock in her 2021 debut LP, gardens. Produced and co-written with long time collaborators, Andy Hull & Robert McDowell of Manchester Orchestra.

AUGUST 12, 2022 / 9:00 PM

Kranzberg Arts Foundation
in collaboration with The TownsendX3 Agency & Knox Entertainment
present
The Grandel Legacy Series: THREE QUEENS
featuring
Denise Thimes, Marsha Evans, Renee Smith
A rare opportunity to experience three legendary St. Louis jazz/soul singers. In Thimes’ three-decade career, she’s performed with titans like Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry and David Sanborn. Evans has been a staple of the St. Louis music scene for decades, working with the likes of Oliver Sain and Fontella Bass. Nicknamed the “Queen of St. Louis Soul,” Smith will perform for the first time in two years.

The Criticals are a Nashville-based rock band formed by Parker Forbes and Cole Shugart. They set their sights on creating a band built on youth, energy, and lust for life.

Since the release of the band’s first single, “Homebody,” in 2019, The Criticals have attracted global online attention. Since 2021 they’ve sold out their first shows across the US in Nashville, NYC, Chicago and more; see why their concerts are an experience unlike any other.

AUGUST 13, 2022 / 10:00 PM

St Lou Fringe is a performing arts festival that bolsters cultural identity in St Louis by providing a support structure to connect independent performing arts with accessible, affordable showcase settings for audiences. Fringe showcases theatre and dance, storytelling and spoken word, burlesque and acrobatics, visual art and more in a unique pressure-cooker of artistic expression. St Lou Fringe has been named “Best Theatre Festival” and “Best Theatre Surprise” by the Riverfront Times, one of “Nine Intriguing US Fringe Festivals” by CNN, and one of “Fifty Essential Summer Festivals” by the New York Times.

The Rose Tattoo tells the story of love, death, and resilience in a downtrodden but hopeful 1940’s immigrant Sicilian community.  Serafina delle Rose clings madly to her Italian identity, to the fanciful memory of her murdered husband, and to her free-spirited daughter. Will she find love with the banana truck driver?  Are all the rose tattoos a sign?

The production, staged by visionary director David Kaplan, surrounds Serafina with a dozen circus performers – including a ringmaster, a strongman, aerial artists, and clowns – who, along with live music and animals, will perform the full text of the play.

“This Rose Tattoo is performed in a circus as a circus, the better to share what Williams called his ‘limitless world of the dream,’” said Kaplan. “Live goats, accordions, impassioned acting, a play that celebrates the wisdom of desire. What’s not to like?”

AUGUST 18, 2022 / 8:00 PM

Eighty-One: Classic Rock & Roll with Serious Jams & Soaring Harmonies!

Featuring Michael Chickey (guitars); Mike Fabian (guitars/mandolin/vocals); Pete Salsich (guitar/vocals); Jim Geoffroy (bass/vocals); Tom Mudd (drums/vocals); Daniel Mudd (keys/vocals)

AUGUST 19, 2022 / 9:00 PM

Kranzberg Arts Foundation
in collaboration with The TownsendX3 Agency & Knox Entertainment
present
The Grandel Legacy Series: ST. LOUIS GOLD
featuring
Tef Poe, The Knuckles, Blvck Spvde

This celebration of the local hip-hop scene features three of St. Louis most respected and long-tenured acts in the genre. Tef Poe is known internationally for his music and activism. Performing together as The Knuckles, singer Aloha Misho and rapper Rocky Knuckles have been making waves in the local hip-hop scene since 2017. Emcee, producer and singer/songwriter Blvck Spvde is a respected pioneer of the St. Louis rap scene.

AUGUST 20, 2022 / 10:00 PM

Jazz pianist Harry Miller makes his first St. Louis appearance in ten years with his trio consisting of local legends Darrell Mixon on bass and Gary Sykes on drums. The group will play a dynamic mix of Harry’s original compositions along with creative interpretations of jazz classics. A CD signing/meet n’ greet follows the performance.

AUGUST 25, 2022 / 8:00 PM

Prism Theatre Company regrets to announce that, due to COVID complications, the company will postpone its 2022 production of Bandera, Texas by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend.

The show was originally scheduled to play from June 17th-26th. With the postponement, this world premiere play will now open on August 26th and run through September 4th. The show will remain at the original venue for the new dates.

Anyone that has already purchased a ticket will be contacted by MetroTix shortly, and will be given the option to receive a full refund or to exchange their ticket for one of the new dates.

The 2022 season will open with the world premiere of Bandera, Texas by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend. Featured in Prism’s 2021 Spotlight On…Women Writing Festival of New Works, Bandera, Texas is a dramedy about marriage, motherhood, and the women who came before us and paved our way. The play follows Liz, a native New Yorker forced to relocate to the Texas Hill Country for her husband’s job. She is visited by her long-dead grandmothers, who help her adapt to her new life.  They remind her that an uprooted woman can grow wherever she is replanted when she knows who she is and carries the people and places she loves inside her.

Bandera, Texas will play at the Kranzberg Black Box Theatre from June 17th-June 26th.

AUGUST 26, 2022 / 10:00 PM

Chris Redd is an actor, writer, stand-up comic, and rapper. Redd is a cast member on NBC’s Saturday Night Live and currently stars in the NBC comedy, KENAN, opposite Kenan Thompson. Redd currently stars in the Peacock series BUST DOWN opposite Sam Jay, Jak Knight and Langston Kerman, and has an hour long special in the works for HBO Max.

In 2018, Redd received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for the “SNL” song “Come Back, Barack.” He appeared in the 2016 film “Popstar:  Never Stop Never Stopping” opposite Andy Samberg, and also starred in the Netflix original comedy series, “Disjointed” opposite Kathy Bates. In 2017, Redd debuted his own half-hour episode of “Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents” and in 2019 released his debut stand-up album “But Here We Are.” Redd was featured as a roaster on the Comedy Central Roast of Alec Baldwin in 2019.

Redd can be seen in the comedy films “Deep Murder,” “The House,” and “A Futile and Stupid Gesture.” On TV, Redd starred in the cult-classic series “Wet Hot  American Summer” and was featured in NBC’s “Will & Grace,” Netflix’s “Love,” Comedy Central’s “Detroiters” and “Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents.”  Additionally, Redd was featured as a 2016 Standup New Face at Just For Laughs in Montreal. Redd was previously a performer at Chicago’s Second City.