Summer learning (for rabbis)It’s always fun to see old friends, especially when you’re thousands of miles away from home. That’s the situation that Maharat Rori Picker Neiss, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, found herself...

If you know Jon Marans strictly as the author of “Old Wicked Songs,” the Muny has a surprise in store for you, a surprise called “Paint Your Wagon.”True, the musical about the California Gold Rush is not an obvious follow-up to the sensitive,...

Singer-songwriter Lucie Silvas pours her heart into her songs, and it’s paid off. Silvas, 41, will open for nine-time Grammy award-winning singer and Missouri native Sheryl Crow and rock band Heart when they come to St. Louis on July 9. Silvas has...

Our hockey team isn’t the only Blues group in St. Louis: Israeli-born guitarist, composer and producer Ori Naftaly and his band, Southern Avenue, are bringing their soul-blues blend to the Old Rock House on Thursday, June 27. The Memphis-based quartet...

Truth, immigration, loveIn any given week, numerous email pitches come my way, but here’s one from last week I couldn’t resist:Hello! I’m a St. Louis native, Solomon Schechter graduate and B’nai Amoona member. I’m based in Los Angeles, but I’m...

For its 101stseason opener, the Muny selected “Guys and Dolls,” considered by many to be the best American musical comedy of all time, whose fame was enhanced by a film based on the Broadway show.Unveiling state-of-the-art renovations, including a...

The big chill of this past winter finally thawed, just in time for the weather — and the St. Louis arts scene — to sizzle. As the temperature heats up, so does the local entertainment scene, with literally dozens of live performances, concerts, festivals...

A wedding is a lot like theater, complete with stars, costumes, sets and, not infrequently, plot twists. So, if writers take inspiration from the altar, why not? After all, the source material is abundant.Playwright Tasha Gordon-Solmon draws from that...

Whether or not you’re a lover of musical theater, one can’t help but notice that it surrounds our culture.  In 2017, “La La Land” won Academy Awards galore and other recent movie musicals such as “Mary Poppins Returns” and “The Greatest...

This story was originally published on April 25, 2019, and is being republished to honor Ed Asner.  Lou Grant wasn’t Jewish. He was Roman Catholic, opines the one person who really ought to know: actor Ed Asner. Asner famously portrayed...

“To Dust” features Matthew Broderick and Géza Röhrig in a film about a bereaved Hasidic cantor obsessing about how his late wife’s body is decaying. To help him understand what is happening underground, he enlists the help of a reluctant, non-Jewish...

At one time not long ago, it would have been unthinkable for a Jewish theater company to produce William Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” the lead character of which is Shylock, a bloodthirsty and corrupt moneylender in the fabled city during...