Before Yeast Nation, there was Urinetown. God only knows what’ll be next.

Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis’ URINETOWN is an hilariously subversive fable of greed, corruption, love, revolution, and urination, in a time when water is worth its weight in gold and there’s no such thing as a free pee. Set in a near-future dystopian Gotham, a severe 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens are forced to use public “amenities” now, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. In this nightmare world, the punishment for an unauthorized pee is a trip to the dreaded URINETOWN. But from the ruins of Democracy and courtesy flushes, there rises an unlikely hero who decides he’s held it long enough, and he launches a People’s Revolution to lead them all to urinary freedom!

Inspired by the outrageous political theatre of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, and (very) loosely based on the writings of late eighteenth-century political and economic theorist Thomas Malthus, URINETOWN is a gloriously silly, irreverently truthful satire from which no target is safe. This is a show that catapults musical comedy into the new millennium with its rule-shattering tear through the traditions and conventions of musical theatre, leaving nothing but uncontrollable laughter and a great big puddle in its wake.

And that’s just Act I.

Cardiff Giant, a theatre company in Chicago, had been known for its outrageous, irreverent social satire, some scripted, some improvised. Two members of the (now defunct) group, Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, began working in 1995 on what would become Urinetown. Kotis was also a member of the alternative theatre group the Neo-Futurists, who specialized in evenings of brilliant one- and two-minute plays. During a trip to Europe with the Neo-Futurists, the nearly broke Kotis discovered to his dismay that most public toilets in Europe are pay-to-use. And the idea for Urinetown was born – a musical about a city in the not too distant future where toilets are all “pay-to-pee” and private toilets are outlawed, where all toilets are controlled by a large, malevolent, monopolizing corporation, the Urine Good Company.

When it opened in New York, the official slogan on the Urinetown T-shirts was “An appalling idea, fully realized.” Actor Daniel Marcus, who played Officer Barrel, said in an interview, “I call it a love letter to the American musical in the form of a grenade.”

In fact, Urinetown is a double satire, laughing at the sappy, happy conventions of old-fashioned musical comedy, but also laughing at shows like Les Miz or Passion which reject those conventions and perhaps go too far the other way. Urinetown raises questions about what we expect from musicals, whether or not “issue musicals” are satisfying entertainment, why certain stories or topics are musicalized, and whether or not serious musicals are too serious.

Bruce Weber in The New York Times said, “There simply is no show I’ve seen that gives such a sense that the creators and performers are always on the same page of an elaborate, high-spirited joke, that they are the proud members of a cabal that knows what it takes to make the world a better place and that they are thrilled to share what they know.” He also called the show “a sensational piece of performance art, one that acknowledges theater tradition and pushes it forward as well.” The show was nominated for 9 Tony Awards (winning Best Book and Best Score), 9 Drama Desk Awards, 7 Obie Awards (winning Best Musical), 5 Outer Critics Circle Awards (winning Best Musical), and a Drama League Award for Best Musical.

The New Line cast includes Dominic Dowdy-Windsor (Lockstock), Jennelle Gilreath (Little Sally), Kevin Corpuz (Bobby Strong), Melissa Felps (Hope Cladwell), Kimi Short (Pennywise), Todd Schaefer (Mr. Cladwell), Marshall Jennings (Officer Barrel), Clayton Humburg, Sarah Porter, Zachary Allen Farmer, Ian McCreary, Brian Carles, Kellen Green, Jessica Winingham, Grace Langford, and Carrie Preismeyer. The New Line production will be directed by Scott Miller and Mike Dowdy-Windsor, with music direction by Nicolas Valdez, choreography by Michelle Sauer and Sara Rae Womack, costume design by Sarah Porter, scenic design by Todd Schaefer, and sound design by Ryan Day.

Produced by arrangement with Music Theatre International, New York

Join us for a cupping – the industry-wide method for evaluating coffees. During this 30-45 minute tasting, we smell and slurp coffees. Most of the coffees are from our current menu. Often, we feature coffees from other great roasters or our upcoming offerings.

Beginners are welcome to join. Staff is on hand to guide the cupping process. There is nothing quite as colorful and vibrant as a table full of coffees. Cuppers compare actual coffees with other coffees on the table, rather than a memory of a coffee. As a result, the participant receives a much more informative experience.

Smelling freshly ground coffee begins the cupping evaluation. Participants make their way around a table of 4-8 samples. They pause and hover over each cup to inhale and evaluate the fragrance. Next, leaders add hot water to the grounds. In a similar manner, cuppers make their way around the table evaluating the aroma of the steeping coffees. After four minutes pass, a spoon is used to break the thick crust of grounds at the top of the cup. Again, participants observe a unique aromatic experience while breaking the crust. Subsequently, after 12 minutes elapse and the cups of coffee are groomed to remove foam, tasters slurp the coffee from spoons. The slurping aerates the coffee. As a result, it comes into contact with many taste buds and engage the olfactory system.

The opening date of this exhibition is TBA, due to public health concerns.

5-7pm: Jazz Dinner at The Dark Room (featuring a rotating line-up)
7-9pm: The Kranzberg Jazz Jam hosted by Bob DeBoo at The Kranzberg
9-11pm: The Dark Room (featuring a rotating line-up)

Every Wednesday evening, the St. Louis community comes together for the Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl, live in Grand Center. Free, family-friendly, and open to jazz lovers of all ages, this weekly event celebrates the finest in jazz talent, and the venues that form the backbone of a St. Louis legacy.

Sponsored by the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, the Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl helps continue the Foundation’s mission to establish the essential infrastructure necessary for the arts to thrive in the St. Louis community and bring the arts within reach for people of all ages and backgrounds.

Stone’s Salon is a monthly gathering of writers, musicians and educators from St. Louis and beyond curated and hosted by Rabbi James Stone Goodman at Grand Center Arts District’s new literary Center High Low. Under the Kranzberg Arts Foundation’s umbrella of creative programming and facilities, Stone’s Salon seeks to bring together poets, storytellers, academics, songwriters, and experimental artists from a cross-section of disciplines, age groups and cultural divides.

Stone’s Salon is called for every second Thursday of the month at 7 PM.

Admission is free.

May
15 — Robert Nelson, Soul
22 — Vehachi, Jazz/Electronic
29 — Harry Imster, Hip Hop/Live Beats

No Cover

3224 Locust St.
2nd floor of .ZACK

Join us for a cupping – the industry-wide method for evaluating coffees. During this 30-45 minute tasting, we smell and slurp coffees. Most of the coffees are from our current menu. Often, we feature coffees from other great roasters or our upcoming offerings.

Beginners are welcome to join. Staff is on hand to guide the cupping process. There is nothing quite as colorful and vibrant as a table full of coffees. Cuppers compare actual coffees with other coffees on the table, rather than a memory of a coffee. As a result, the participant receives a much more informative experience.

Smelling freshly ground coffee begins the cupping evaluation. Participants make their way around a table of 4-8 samples. They pause and hover over each cup to inhale and evaluate the fragrance. Next, leaders add hot water to the grounds. In a similar manner, cuppers make their way around the table evaluating the aroma of the steeping coffees. After four minutes pass, a spoon is used to break the thick crust of grounds at the top of the cup. Again, participants observe a unique aromatic experience while breaking the crust. Subsequently, after 12 minutes elapse and the cups of coffee are groomed to remove foam, tasters slurp the coffee from spoons. The slurping aerates the coffee. As a result, it comes into contact with many taste buds and engage the olfactory system.

The Kranzberg Arts Foundation is now accepting proposals for our 2021 & 2022 Visual Art Exhibition Calendar. The submissions will be considered for both The Gallery at The Kranzberg and the High Low Gallery. While the theme of your proposal may conceptually vary, we do ask that the proposals submitted are for completed bodies of work. We are considering solo and group proposals, in all media. Both of these galleries have special attributes for the presentation of your work and showcases your exhibit within prominent venues in Grand Center Arts District. Curatorial assistance and studio visits are available upon selection.

St. Louis Poetry Center’s signature program, the Sunday Workshops are the longest running poetry writing workshops in St. Louis.  These workshops are offered as a free service to local poets, with notable poet critics commenting on pre-submitted works in a friendly and constructive group setting.

Poetry workshops are held the third Sunday of each month, September through April, except for December.  The guest poet critic will lead the workshop and provide professional critique on a selection of the pre-submitted manuscripts.  All poems submitted will receive written comments.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Submit only one poem, one page in length, 12pt or 14pt font.  Provide name, mailing address, and email address.   Email submissions will be acknowledged within 48 hours of receipt.  Submissions due by 12 midnight by the submission deadline listed above (usually Sunday one week prior to the workshop).  Those submitting poems are expected to attend the workshop.

Everyone, regardless of experience or SLPC membership, is encouraged to participate. You do not need to submit a poem to attend. Workshops are free and open to the public.

Every 3rd Tuesday of the month The Cabaret Project of St. Louis hosts an Open Mic at Sophie’s Artist Lounge, on the second floor of the .ZACK, 3224 Locust in Grand Center. Bring your sheet music and join us! Chuck Lavazzi is your host, with pianist and music director Carol Schmidt.

If you plan to sing bring sheet music, preferably in your own key, and perform your favorite Broadway, pop, or jazz tunes. Medium/up-tempo songs are encouraged but not required. Or you can just relax, have a drink, and enjoy the music.

No admission or cover, but there is always a tip jar! All proceeds go to The Cabaret Project, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to promoting, developing, and sustaining the art cabaret in St. Louis

FREE PARKING in the .ZACK lot across the street.

All are welcome.

5-7pm: Jazz Dinner at The Dark Room (featuring a rotating line-up)
7-9pm: The Kranzberg Jazz Jam hosted by Bob DeBoo at The Kranzberg
9-11pm: The Dark Room (featuring a rotating line-up)

Every Wednesday evening, the St. Louis community comes together for the Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl, live in Grand Center. Free, family-friendly, and open to jazz lovers of all ages, this weekly event celebrates the finest in jazz talent, and the venues that form the backbone of a St. Louis legacy.

Sponsored by the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, the Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl helps continue the Foundation’s mission to establish the essential infrastructure necessary for the arts to thrive in the St. Louis community and bring the arts within reach for people of all ages and backgrounds.

THE NEW LINE FILM SERIES PRESENTS
MACK THE KINFE (1989)
BASED ON THE THREEPENNY OPERA
WEDS, JUNE 17, 2020, 7:00 P.M.
MARCELLE THEATER, 3310 SAMUEL SHEPHERD DR
DURING THE RUN OF NEW LINE’S URINETOWN
TICKETS $10, AT THE DOOR ONLY

STARRING RAUL JULIA, ROGER DALTREY, RICHARD HARRIS, JULIE WATERS, JULIA MIGENES, CLIVE REVILL. DIRECTED AND WRITTEN BY MENAHEM GOLAN, BASED ON THE THREEPENNY OPERA BY BERTOLT BRECHT AND KURT WEILL. 120 MINUTES.

Scoundrel, liar, thief, murderer… They all loved Mack.

Before there was Urinetown, before Cabaret or Sweeney Todd or Hamilton, there was this dark, comic masterpieces of the art form, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s world-famous musical comedy thriller, The Threepenny Opera. Urinetown’s aggressive, confrontational roots are surely found in Brecht and Weill’s iconic show, retitled for this film version.

Like its source, Mack the Knife focuses on the career criminal Macheath who plans to marry the innocent Polly, daughter to Mr. Peachum, the King of the Beggars, all with the help of Mack’s old army buddy, Chief of Police Tiger Brown. So Peachum threatens to organize London’s beggars to ruin Queen Victoria’s coronation unless Brown arrests and hangs Macheath. Of course, at the last minute, the Queen pardons Mack, makes him a Baron, and bestows a lifetime pension on him. Lots of darkly comic double crosses and skullduggery combine into a scathing indictment of the dishonesty and cruelty of “polite society.”

The movie, set in the streets of London at the time of Queen Victoria’s coronation, tells the story of the poor and desperate people who formed the London underclass: the beggars, the prostitutes, the homeless, and the criminals. The underworld is ruled by the enigmatic Capt. MacHeath, aka Mack the Knife, who is attracted to the Peachum’s ripe young daughter, Polly. Their marriage causes war on the streets of London, as the Peachums oppose Mack and the riffraff of London chooses sides.

Brecht surely would have enjoyed Mack the Knife, despite the changes, because the entire movie is an alienating device, keeping us constantly aware that we are watching a movie. By mixing the realistic with the theatrical, the film left many critics confused and uncomfortable, which made them hostile. But after all, isn’t that really the point of Threepenny…?

The Marcelle Theater is at, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive, three blocks east of Grand, in the Grand Center Arts District. Tickets are available at the door ONLY. Tickets are $10 for all seats, no discounts. There is a small parking lot directly across the street from the theatre, and lots of free street parking. Click here for directions. All programs subject to change. The New Line Film Series is curated by Brian Claussen.

More info about the film series at
http://www.newlinetheatre.com/FilmSeries.html

More info about New Line’s production of Urinetown at
http://www.newlinetheatre.com/utownpage.html

Karlovsky & Company Dance welcomes New World Dance Theatre from Cape Town, South Africa as part II of our international collaboration. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see our dual-company performance that transcends cultural differences and embraces the power of dialogue to understand one another and build trust.

Karlovsky & Company Dance welcomes New World Dance Theatre from Cape Town, South Africa as part II of our international collaboration. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see our dual-company performance that transcends cultural differences and embraces the power of dialogue to understand one another and build trust.

May
15 — Robert Nelson, Soul
22 — Vehachi, Jazz/Electronic
29 — Harry Imster, Hip Hop/Live Beats

No Cover

3224 Locust St.
2nd floor of .ZACK

Join us for a cupping – the industry-wide method for evaluating coffees. During this 30-45 minute tasting, we smell and slurp coffees. Most of the coffees are from our current menu. Often, we feature coffees from other great roasters or our upcoming offerings.

Beginners are welcome to join. Staff is on hand to guide the cupping process. There is nothing quite as colorful and vibrant as a table full of coffees. Cuppers compare actual coffees with other coffees on the table, rather than a memory of a coffee. As a result, the participant receives a much more informative experience.

Smelling freshly ground coffee begins the cupping evaluation. Participants make their way around a table of 4-8 samples. They pause and hover over each cup to inhale and evaluate the fragrance. Next, leaders add hot water to the grounds. In a similar manner, cuppers make their way around the table evaluating the aroma of the steeping coffees. After four minutes pass, a spoon is used to break the thick crust of grounds at the top of the cup. Again, participants observe a unique aromatic experience while breaking the crust. Subsequently, after 12 minutes elapse and the cups of coffee are groomed to remove foam, tasters slurp the coffee from spoons. The slurping aerates the coffee. As a result, it comes into contact with many taste buds and engage the olfactory system.

5-7pm: Jazz Dinner at The Dark Room (featuring a rotating line-up)
7-9pm: The Kranzberg Jazz Jam hosted by Bob DeBoo at The Kranzberg
9-11pm: The Dark Room (featuring a rotating line-up)

Every Wednesday evening, the St. Louis community comes together for the Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl, live in Grand Center. Free, family-friendly, and open to jazz lovers of all ages, this weekly event celebrates the finest in jazz talent, and the venues that form the backbone of a St. Louis legacy.

Sponsored by the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, the Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl helps continue the Foundation’s mission to establish the essential infrastructure necessary for the arts to thrive in the St. Louis community and bring the arts within reach for people of all ages and backgrounds.

May
15 — Robert Nelson, Soul
22 — Vehachi, Jazz/Electronic
29 — Harry Imster, Hip Hop/Live Beats

No Cover

3224 Locust St.
2nd floor of .ZACK