Live Entertainment

My top five favorite concerts are all act that have been around for several decades: Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, John Fogerty, Rush, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and now Paul Simon. I will let you draw whatever conclusions you will from that with regards to the staying power—or presumable lack thereof, of many contemporary pop acts. These acts are all Hall of Famers for a multitude of reasons, be it musicianship, songwriting, the ability to connect to a wide audience of diverse demographics, and more. On a hot humid Sunday evening at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Paul Simon demonstrated that fantastic music is absolutely timeless.

Saint Louis's premiere horror, sci-fi and pop culture convention, Con-Tamination, returns for another spine-tingling, hair-raising, jaw-dropping year, this June 17 through 19th at The Stratford Inn, 800 S. Highway Drive, Fenton, Mo 63026.

Among the many guests this year are BATTLESTAR GALACTICA original cast members Dirk Benedict (Starbuck), Richard Hatch (Apollo), Herbert Jefferson Jr. (Boomer), Anne Lockhart (Sheba) and Jack Stauffer (Bojay). They'll be joined by Gary Graham (STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, ALIEN NATION) and STAR TREK: ORIGINAL SERIES legend, The Gorn Commander (Bobby Clark).

Wrestling superstars Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Atomic Dog will be flexing muscle and signing autographs. Fans can also meet screen sirens Kayla Perkins, Kristina Klebe, and Seka in her last U.S. appearance.

When I saw the lineup for the 25^th Anniversary season of New Line Theatre, I immediately noted ATOMIC as the one that interested me the most. Why, you ask? I knew HEATHERS from the 1988 film, I knew AMERICAN IDIOT from Green Day’s music, and I knew TELL ME ON A SUNDAY from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s pedigree. ATOMIC I knew nothing about. Heck, this is only the fourth time anyone has ever staged this show, and the first in the Midwest. I assumed it would have something to do with bombs—maybe a rock opera about the Reagan years, or perhaps a declaration against nuclear power in favor of safer, greener, renewable forms of energy? As it turned out, it was a biography of one of the lost names of the Manhattan Project, presented as a moving and tense rock musical from Danny Ginges (book and lyrics), Philip Foxman (music and lyrics) and Andy Peterson (orchestrations).

While several artists have cancelled appearances as an expression of dissent over North Carolina's House Bill 2, aka the "bathroom bill" established as a protection from potential predators posting as transgendered people, pop bands Death Cab for Cutie and Chvrches have released a statement that, while they oppose the sentiment of the bill, they will honor their commitment to fans and play the venues in North Carolina for which they have been booked -- but that these would be the last concerts played so long as HB2 remains the law.

In their statement today, released through Atlantic Records, the groups collectively state:

On Saturday, May 14, Geek Time Entertainment, Critical Blast and The Iron Room presented the First Annual Costume Party in Atlantic City!  The party served as a thrilling capstone for the day's events at ACBC Con.  Seriously, is there anything better than a cool party after an exhilarating day on the convention floor?

The winners always go home with an extra special smile, but just about everyone in attendance seemed to have a great time.  Here is a rundown of the winners:

On Saturday, May 14 from 9 PM - Midnight, Critical Blast and Iron Room will present the First Annual Post-Con Costume Party in Atlantic City!  So, enjoy the day at ACBC then head over to the Iron Room!  

First off, let's talk money.  And we're talking a lot of money.  There are $1,100 in total cash prizes!  The event kicks off at 9 but judging begins at 10pm in a wide variety of categories.  

Want a breakdown, well check this out:

I've regularly attended comic and sci-fi conventions, or whatever you want to call them these days, since the '80s.  Let me tell you, the experience has changed quite a bit in those decades.  In the past, cons were mostly a place to shop for merchandise, dress in costume, meet like-minded people, or schmooze comic creators.  Today, it's more about celebrity signings, video games, or movie and television panels.  Geeks have seemingly overwhelmed the Earth and every niche wants in on the con action.  Including more than comics and sci-fi means larger attendance for the shows, which is great in many ways.  Unfortunately, it also caused overcrowded convention floors, admission costs have skyrocketed, and worst of all, it's increasingly difficult to get tickets for huge shows like San Diego Comic Con or New York Comic Con.

LOS ANGELES, April 26, 2016 – Wizard World, Inc. today announced the appointment of John D. Maatta as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Wizard World is the leading producer in North America of events and comic conventions that celebrate the very best of pop culture, celebrity, movies, TV shows, gaming, technology and live music.

“John brings Wizard World his solid entertainment industry experience and proven success in creating innovative content and distribution strategies. Wizard World is poised to expand its already significant footprint, and John will work with us to guide the company to its next phase of growth and beyond,” said Paul Kessler, Chairman of the Wizard World Board of Directors.

Heroes and Villains FanFest has expanded their celebrity guest list for the upcoming event in NY/NJ. This time their bringing in Caity Lotz, who is currently a time-traveling LEGEND for DC's latest CW hit series.

WARNING: This announcement / analysis contains SPOILERS for a recent episode of CW's ARROW.

Her character, Sara Lance, went from party girl (sneaking off with her sister's boyfriend, Oliver Queen) to a deadly assassing with a crew of time-travelers; trying to stop a madman from destroying the world as we know it.

 THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY is the Tony Award winning musical based on the novel by Robert James Waller, which in turn was made into a hit 1995 film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood with Meryl Streep. I have somehow managed to miss the film and never got around to the book. I entered the resplendent Fox Theatre in St. Louis knowing only that it was a musical and a love story, and that there were likely going ot be bridges of some sort. I’d like to tell you that I always plan to see shows like this with zero preconceived notions, but this one was just providence.

I never got into film and theatre criticism because I like to second-guess the artistic vision of a director or debate the relative merits of a given lead in a musical. I have my opinions, sure, but it’s a deeper passion that drives me to rush from a 50-hours a week day job to theatres all over town, and whether it’s serenely sung or admirably acted, for me it always comes down to the story. The story is everything. If you don’t have a strong, compelling story to tell, no matter how intricate or simple the plot, you won’t have an audience for very long. HELVETICA, a new play by Will Coleman, should have an audience for years to come. Unfortunately, the Tesseract Theatre is only running their delightful program from April 1- April 10 in the Regional Arts Commission Building in the Delmar Loop.

The star of the hit CW series ARROW, and playing Casey Jones in the upcoming TMNT sequel, will headline the Heroes & Villains Fan Fest, as the first wave of guests are announced.

Joining Stephen Amell, on the early short-list of guests, are ARROW co-stars: David Ramsey (John Diggle) and Willa Holland (Thea Queen).

The Heroes & Villains Fan Fest is a 2-day event that occurs at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ during the first weekend of July.

This past weekend, Wizard World descended upon Saint Louis in an epic blaze of glory that had this nerd and the throngs of nerd-dom far and wide in 7th Heaven.

If you don’t believe that a YouTube video about a two man band with over 56 million views is a sign that those two fellows might actually be just as good in person, then you don’t deserve to be on the Internet. I first discovered 2CELLOS the way most of the world has, from fun video clips showing these two good-looking European boys doing to cellos what superstars like Angus Young and Eddie Van Halen do to guitars—namely, beat them up like they owe them money. Two most folks, the word “cello” calls to mind a soft string quartet that plays Celine Dion or The Righteous Brothers while you make your way through the food line at your cousin’s wedding. Unless you were in your school’s orchestra from an early age, you probably couldn’t pick the cello out of any music with more than a couple of instruments involved, sight unseen. After watching them perform live at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, I will never underestimate the power of the cello again.

No it’s not an April Fool’s joke, Wizard World Comic Con returns to St. Louis for the fourth time, April 1-3, 2016. The lineup is jam packed with artists, authors, graphic designers, cartoonists, illustrators, cosplay guests, and iconic replica vehicles. In addition, the schedule boasts celebrities from Daredevil (Charlie Cox, Elden Henson, Jon Bernthal), Jessica Jones (Mike Colter, David Tennant), Doctor Who (Billie Piper, Matt Smith, David Tennant), Voice Actors from Halo (Steve Downes, Jen Taylor), and much more who will be conducting panels, signing autographs, and posing in photo ops. 

On the show floor you'll be sure to find hundreds of amazing vendors with great art, comic books and collectibles. And this year for the first time in St. Louis, Wizard World is adding a gaming to the mix. You'll be able to play the games as well as compete in tournaments for cash prizes.

SHE LOVES ME presented by The Roundabout Theatre on Broadway is literally a story you’ve seen before. If you’ve ever seen Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan's YOU’VE GOT MAIL or James Stewart/Margaret Sullavan’s THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, you've heard this story. Boy meets girl, boy and girl strongly dislike each other, but work together, craziness ensues, low and behold they’ve loved each other the entire time, happy ending. It’s actually quite a unique story as far as rom-coms go.

IF/THEN is a different sort of musical than what you may be used to. It’s not an “easy” show; you probably won’t sit there quietly singing to yourself and straining against your better judgment to get up and dance along as you might with MAMA MIA!, GREASE or ANYTHING GOES. It’s a deeper, more introspective production with top-flight acting and powerful vocals.  It’s not a show for those of you who don’t care for intricate plots and complicated narrative. IF/THEN rewards the vigilant observer with a rich character study, more multi-layered than you’d typically expect from your traditional musical fare. 

I’m a bit of a comedy snob. I can’t stand stupid comedy: low brow, “Whoa, Dude, I’m like, whatever!” fare is completely lost on me. I appreciate a more subtle hand in humor, a sly wit, a surprising turn of phrase. The British to be particularly adept at that brand of comedy, so it was much to my delight that I watched NOISES OFF, a stage comedy written by celebrated English playwright Michael Frayn and directed by Melissa Boyer for the O’FallonTheatreWorks. My only dismay is that it took me so long to discover this hilarious play.

The New Line Theatre kicked off their second production in their swanky new digs in the Marcelle Theatre with AMERICAN IDIOT, a mostly sung through musical written by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer, featuring the entire American Idiot album with a few numbers from 21^st Century Breakdown included too. Obviously, if you’re a Green Day fan you’ll probably love the show. Me, I’m not a huge fan. I don’t necessarily dislike the band; I just don’t typically listen to them. Immediately after the performance, my first reaction was, “Nice performed by some great talents, but I don’t have much sympathy for these presumably upper-middle class suburbanites being self-destructive by cooking their heroin and meth on the silver spoons they were born with.” And yet something deep in my guts said, “Sleep on this one.

I’ll admit it—I’m embarrassed. What I knew about Carole King before arriving at the Fabulous Fox to see BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL consisted mostly of the soft rock easy listening stuff I used to get subjected to when my coworkers would insist on tuning our radio to the “Delilah” show on KEZK in St. Louis. I knew she won a Grammy forTapestry and you can hear “It’s Too Late,” “I Feel The Earth Move,” and “A Natural Woman” pretty regularly still today. I knew she was elected into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but they let Green Day and The Public Enemy in too--Run DMC and Public Enemy got in before Peter Gabriel, Rush (are you kidding me?), Lou Reed, Hall & Oats, Nirvana and KISS. Don’t get me wrong—I enjoy rap music a great deal, but this isn’t the Hip Hop Hall of Fame, this is Rock & Roll. Carole King, no disrespect intended, didn’t really strike me as a rock star either.