For Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the past few years were tough. The pandemic upended the viewing habits of many of its biggest fans, who stopped attending live theater as COVID-19 ravaged the nation — and even when life returned to normal for most Americans, they didn’t come back.That’s what makes Anh Le, the opera company’s director of marketing and PR, downright stoked as she looks at the ticket sales for the festival season that kicks off later this month. “We are trending way ahead of the last two years,” she says. “Ticket sales are actually pacing very close to 2018. It’s the closest to pre-COVID numbers we’ve been since the pandemic.” What accounts for the bump? Digging into the data, Le explains that the devoted opera-goers who dropped out during the pandemic and weren’t ready for outdoor opera in 2021 or masks/vaccine cards in 2022 still haven’t returned. Where Opera Theatre of St. Louis has managed to succeed, however, is by bringing in new fans — in many cases, younger fans — and getting them hooked.”We are seeing extremely high interest from new audiences, people who have not been to the opera before, at percentages that are either equivalent to or higher than pre-COVID,” she says. “More of our audience every year is new to us.” That fact is not without its challenges; it often takes more outreach to bring in new fans, and the cratering of the base adds to the pressure of finding them. But it’s also resulted in audiences where a greater percentage of attendees are younger. You no longer have to attend only on Young Friends Night to notice young couples enjoying a show, or groups of girlfriends sharing a picnic before heading into a performance. Says Le, “Between 2018 and our first season back in the theater, our rate of young audiences jumped from like 25 percent to like 35 percent, but the actual body count was very, very similar. It’s just that now they’re a much larger percentage of the audience because of the people who aren’t coming back.”Part of what seems to be bumping the numbers in 2024 is the show selection. This year includes two major fan favorites — The Barber of Seville and La Boheme, the former one of the most beloved comedies of all time, with an instantly recognizable score, the latter the Puccini classic that directly inspired Rent. What’s not to love?But Le wants you to know there’s more on the bill. The season is rounded out by two operas that may be less well-known, but that she swears will knock your socks off. The first is Julius Caesar, which couldn’t be more different from Shakespeare’s assassination-focused history play. This one has a score by Handel and puts the focus squarely on Cleopatra in what Le describes as “an incredibly sexy, steamy story.” “It’s really her story of how she rises to power and how she uses all of the tools and all of the feminine wiles at her disposal to ensure that that happens,” Le notes. “So it is both political drama and very sexy love story.”The second is Galileo Galilei, with music by Philip Glass, which premiered in 2002 and has only been performed by two smaller opera companies since. “It is a really rare opportunity for those that small but very loud group of people who really really love Philip Glass,” Le notes. click to enlarge COURTESY OF OPERA THEATRE OF ST. LOUIS Costume renderings for Galileo Galilei, which makes its Opera Theatre of St. Louis debut this summer.
But you won’t have to be a Glass-head (is that a thing?) to appreciate the charms of this show. It’s not just that it’s a brisk 90 minutes, with no intermission (although opera’s trailing spouses will certainly approve). It’s also the fashion. Newcomers to shows at Opera Theatre of St. Louis often find their mouths agape at the beauty of its sets and costumes, and Le says Galileo Galilei is a more than worthy heir to that tradition. “I am not lying when I tell you I’ve seen I’ve been here for almost 10 years, and I’ve seen a lot of costume renderings come through our doors, but these ones made my jaw hit the floor,” Le says. “They are stunning. They are incredibly lavish and elaborate, true Renaissance period costumes designed by an Italian designer named Marco Piemontese. “Even if you don’t know anything about contemporary music, or Galileo or science, come see these costumes, because they are going to be kickass. They’re going to be so insane.” And if you are a newcomer to Opera Theatre of St. Louis, it’s also worth mentioning that the evening on offer is one of the most lovely experiences you can have in a St. Louis summer. Fans know to get there early, and order a picnic basket from Ces & Judy’s Catering ahead of time, to partake in a well-executed meal in the beautiful garden near the Loretto-Hilton Theatre on the campus of Webster University. (BYOB drinks are welcome; there’s also a bar.) Then stay after the show to close out the night with drinks under the stars. It’s elegant without being stuffy — and one of the many reasons that once younger people try Opera Theatre of St. Louis, they often come back every year.Incidentally, they’re increasingly around other St. Louis arts fans when they do. Before the pandemic, Opera Theatre of St. Louis regularly saw 20 percent of its audience consist of opera superfans, who fly to Santa Fe or Des Moines along with St. Louis to see the best new productions each year. The pandemic reduced their numbers, too, and now out-of-towners only make up about 10 percent of the company’s audiences, Le says.Again, it makes the job of marketing these shows harder — superfans had been a predictable category — but in some ways, it’s woven Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ fates even more tightly to its namesake city. “We’re really at the early starting point of trying to think about our season’s programming as, ‘How does this serve St. Louis? Why would a St. Louis resident be interested in seeing this work? And are we making it accessible for people who live here?'” Le says. “So we still want to bring all the national attention, we still want the national critics to come, we still want the out-of-town guests to come. But really, we haven’t done our job if we’re not serving our community.”Opera Theatre of St. Louis kicks off its 2024 festival season with The Barber of Seville on May 25. Tickets, picnic orders and more at opera-stl.org.
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When the Missouri legislature brought back tax credits for film productions, there was hope it would lead to a boom in big-budget movies being made locally even beyond On Fire, the adaptation of John O’Leary’s memoir that filmed in and around St. Louis last fall. But whether state lawmakers would excitedly welcome the new film that really should be filmed in St. Louis is not yet clear.The film is currently titled Monsanto, and it comes from Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, the guys who brought you the Dick Cheney biopic Vice and the climate change flick Don’t Look Up. Safe to say that, unlikely the Missouri legislature, these guys are not likely to be sympathetic to a pesticide manufacturer.Sure enough, here’s how McKay describes the film, according to the Hollywood Reporter: “These days stories about the ‘little guy’ taking on huge institutions seem few and far between, both in real life and on the big screen. So when a story as riveting and inspiring as this one shows up on our desks we get excited. Why? Because people love and need these movies. They always have and always will. Erin Brockovich, Silkwood, It’s a Wonderful Life, Spotlight, 12 Angry Men, Moneyball, Norma Rae … I legitimately think I can list 200 wildly successful and beloved films about real people standing up against overwhelming odds with only fairness and truth on their side. So let’s make number 201.”The film is being written and directed by John Lee Hancock, best known for The Blind Side, and will star Glenn Powell as attorney Brent Wisner, who sues Monsanto on behalf of a client who used Roundup and got sick. In real life, Wisner is the LA-based attorney who scored the first major victory against Monsanto on Roundup, winning a $289 million verdict on behalf of high school groundskeeper DeWayne Johnson. The company’s legal problems, of course, have only multiplied since then.The Hollywood Reporter also notes that Laura Dern will star as Monsanto’s chief toxicologist. And so we can’t help but wonder …. does she drive home to a mansion in Ladue? Will we see her drop her kids at Burroughs? Bigger question: Can Adam McKay somehow make this film without touching on Clarence Thomas’ stint at Monsanto? (We’re betting no.) Those three years reportedly helped transform him from a registered Democrat to a conservative. Surely we can get a scene of a young Thomas in Creve Coeur, working for The Man and becoming a free-market-focused firebrand.Even so, how much you want to bet they pull an Ozark and film in Georgia?

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Get ready to laugh, St. Louis. This morning, Stifel Theater (1400 Market Street) announced that three very funny people will be visiting town this year. First up are Patton Oswalt and Tig Notaro, who are coming to town as the headliners of the Flyover Comedy Festival on November 15. The two are set to perform together that night at 8 p.m. The duo are so famous that they likely need no introduction (and if you don’t know who Oswalt is, stop reading immediately and Google “KFC Famous Bowls” for a quick primer). But just in case: Oswalt is a ell-known comedian and actor who not only has eight comedy specials with Netflix and elsewhere, but has been on shows ranging from Parks and Recreation to Seinfeld and is the voice of Remy in Ratatouille. He also brought to life the book I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, the final work of his late wife Michelle McNamara, before the apprehension of Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer.Notaro is also a stand-up comedian and actor who also writes and does radio and is a regular on talk shows such as Ellen and the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. You might know her from being honored as one of Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time, her TV show One Mississippi or her podcast Don’t Ask Tig or her other podcast Tig and Cheryl: True Story.Early bird three-day wristbands to the comedy festival go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m. and cost $45 to $75. More information at flyovercomedyfest.com.But wait, there’s more. Author David Sedaris will soon be bringing his wry humor and wacky tales to town at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22. He’s touring behind two newish books, Happy Go Lucky (2022) and Pretty Ugly (2024).Sedaris is known for his his observational humor, which often takes aim at his own life, his family and friends and humanity in general. Stop to talk to him in the signing line, and you might find yourself in his next collection of essays. However hilarious it is to read his words on the page, he’s undeniably that much funnier in person. Want to experience that for yourself? Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday and cost $45 to $55. More at davidsedarisontour.com.
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