What a lineup for the month of April! Our top entertainment picks range from a one-night-only concert featuring Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriters on The Sheldon stage to a blockbuster musical at the Fabulous Fox.
WHAT: SKELETON CREW
WHERE: COCA’s Berges Theatre
WHEN: Various times through April 16
The Black Rep presents “Skeleton Crew,” which follows a close-knit group of assembly-line workers pondering their fate when the Great Recession threatens the future of one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit.
The highly charged drama is the third work in the Detroit cycle trilogy by award-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau, a MacArthur Genius grant fellow and Tony Award nominee for the Broadway musical, “Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations.”
$50 ($45 for seniors); theblackrep.org
WHAT: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME
WHERE: The Marcelle
WHEN: Various times through April 23
Heidi Schreck’s highly acclaimed memoir, “What the Constitution Means to Me,” makes its St. Louis premiere as the season opener to Max & Louie Productions’ 2023 season.
A Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee for Best Play, Schreck recalls participating in debates as a teenager. The play’s title is inspired by the prompt she received during those competitions: Draw a personal connection between your life and the Constitution. Interweaving her teenage and present self, the playwright traces the profound relationship between four generations of women in her family and the founding document that shaped their lives.
$50 ($45 for seniors, $15 for students); maxandlouie.com
WHAT: WICKED
WHERE: Fox Theatre
WHEN: Various times, April 12 to May 2
Fan-favorite “Wicked” takes audiences back to the Land of Oz long before Dorothy arrives. When Elphaba, a misunderstood, smart young woman with emerald-green skin, meets popular, bubbly blonde Glinda, their initial rivalry turns into an unlikely friendship. That is, until the world decides to call one “good,” and the other “wicked.”
The fifth longest-running show in Broadway history, “Wicked” is the winner of more than 100 international awards, including a Grammy and three Tony awards.
From $55; fabulousfox.com
WHAT: MARK COHN & SHAWN COLVIN TOGETHER ONSTAGE
WHERE: The Sheldon
WHEN: 8 p.m., April 14
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriters Mark Cohn and Shawn Colvin come together for what promises to be a memorable night of songs and stories on the world-famous Sheldon stage.
Cohn, noted for his soulful ballad, “Walking in Memphis,” and Colvin, whose hit, “Sunny Came Home,” took home the Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, will perform for one night only as part of the 2022-2023 Sheldon Folk Series.
$40 to $50; TheSheldon.org
WHAT: GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES
WHERE: Kirkwood Performing Arts Center’s Strauss Blackbox Theatre
WHEN: Various times, April 14 to May 13
Closing out The Rep’s 2022-2023 season is the intimate and playful “Gruesome Playground Injuries” by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph.
The story follows Doug and Kayleen, who meet as 8-year-olds in the school nurse’s office. Over the next three decades, their lives intersect as they return to each other and their injuries – both physical and psychological – struggling with vulnerability and love.
From $35; repstl.org
WHAT: SLATKIN CONDUCTS STRAUSS
WHERE: Powell Hall
WHEN: 10:30 a.m. April 22 and 3 p.m., April 23
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conductor laureate Leonard Slatkin takes the stage to perform a program of lively and enchanting works inspired by Spanish literature and dance. The repertoire begins with Emmanuel Chabrier’s “España,” followed by Mason Bates’ “Anthology of Fantastic Zoology,” and concludes with Richard Strauss’ “Don Quixote,” based on the epic tale by Miguel de Cervantes.
The role of Don will be portrayed by cellist Joshua Roman in his SLSO debut. Principal Violist Beth Guterman Chu takes on the role of Sancho Panza, Don’s sidekick.
$15 to 69; slso.org
Monet & Mitchell, Spanning Two Centuries, in Side-by-Side Exhibition at Saint Louis Art Museum
