I SAW A NEW PLAY IN A NEW THEATER RECENTLY, right here in St. Louis. It was really an exciting experience to sit in the colorful, brightly painted Marcelle Theatre at 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive in Grand Center for the regional premiere of the musical thriller “Heathers,” staged by New Line Theatre.

While the theater is new, New Line Theatre is not. The company, under artistic director Scott Miller, has been performing in St Louis for 25 years at seven different venues. It now has a permanent home at the Marcelle, thanks to Nancy and Ken Kranzberg. Two years ago Ken bought a warehouse three blocks east of Grand Avenue smack dab between the old Missouri Theatre and Powell Hall. He told me he had no idea what he was going to do with it, but I suspect that Scott Miller convinced him it was an ideal spot for a theater and maybe even a performing arts center.

A quarter of the huge, one-story sleek warehouse building is now home to the Marcelle (named for Ken’s mother), and to a large dance studio. Other companies can rent theater space as well as office space. Dance St. Louis has already moved its offices into the Marcelle while much of the building has been leased to a huge, national wine company. After viewing some of New Line’s tougher works, I suspect that a glass of vino served around the house would be welcome. 

While “Heathers” has finished its run, be sure to check out the Marcelle Theatre the next chance you get. New Line’s 25th anniversary season continues in March with “American Idiot,” followed by “Atomic: A New Rock Musical” in June and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Tell Me On a Sunday” next August.

RENOWNED MALE VOCALISTS CHARLES GLENN AND JOE MANCUSO will be lending their voices Sunday, Nov. 8 to help “Cure MS in One Evening” at 6 p.m. at Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave.  Entertaining the audiences with a variety of songs ranging from Gershwin to McCartney, the two will lead a band of accomplished musicians as they sing away the blues of MS. For more information, call 314-766-JAZZ (5299) or visit Jazzstl.org. 

CIRCUS HARMONY WILL HOLD ITS THIRD ANNUAL JUGGLING BALL from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 at the City Museum. Proceeds from the event help support the group’s Peace Through Pyramids program, which began in 2007 as a collaboration between the St. Louis Arches and Jewish/Arab Galilee Circus in Israel. The program has been the subject of a movie called “Circus Kids” and a newly published and already acclaimed book, “Watch Out for Flying Kids.”

In the summer of 2014, the Arches were stranded in Israel because of the violence there. A few days after they finally returned home, riots erupted in Ferguson.  This led to Peace Through Pyramids: Ferguson/Mirowitz—a collaboration between children from Ferguson and Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School.

Billed as an elegant evening of “dining, dancing, drinking and daring,” tickets to the Ball are $75 and can be gotten by calling 314-436-7676 or visiting circusharmony.org.

MEMORY CARE HOME SOLUTIONS is a non-profit organization, which benefits loved ones caring for someone with memory loss, dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.  Services are provided free of charge. On Thursday, Nov. 12, the ninth annual MCHS Memories and Melodies fund will be held at the Chase Park Plaza. This events sells out every year, so get your reservation in soon. Call 314-645-6247 ext. 226.

TIM MCCARVER AND STEVE CARLTON will serve as keynote speakers at the 46th Annual St. Louis Men’s Group Against Cancer Dinner at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Ritz-Carlton. Proceeds from the group’s annual dinner go to cancer-related charities in the St. Louis area.  St. Louis Men’s Group Against Cancer has raised millions of dollars for cancer research prevention, and care. In May, the group donated over a quarter of a million dollars to 32 local cancer-related charities. Tickets are $375. For more information, contact Alan Epstein at 314-378-2107.