Snow White

I took pictures at four shows yesterday plus the outdoor family day activities and kinda went overboard. The big event was ERA Theatre's Snow White, which was quite a spin on the Disney and Brothers Grimm versions. Snow White herself dresses in passionate red. There is an evil stepsister who doesn't have a good bone in her body and a bubble-blowing prince charming. Oh, and seven very tall dwarves. And a gigantic fruit salad. And a plot twist at the end.

It was a visual candy store. So many more good shots I could edit. But it's back to work at the festival for me shortly.        

Friday Night At The Fringe

First night of shows at the St. Lou Fringe Festival. I have so much to edit. I'm going to try to post one photo from each show ASAP and then go back for other good ones when  time permits.

Top: Matthew Marcum in a one man show that explores the artistic technique of Jackson Pollock through a collage of personal quotes, extended vocal techniques and pulsating music. Film clips of Pollock painting were shown on the wall behind him. It blew me away.

Center: a one act musical comedy called Liberals vs Zombies vs Conservatives. The stereotypes are easy to spot. In the end, both sides unite in the face of global apocalypse. Make you think of any other situation?

Bottom: Brittanie Gunn performs a very unusual monologue called Hot For TREX. She portrays a writer of what is called dino-erotica, with novels including Hung Like A Dinosaur, The Flirtatious Period and Getting Dino-Sore. (I'll leave the rest to your imagination.) She tracks down people who have written blistering online reviews of her work and tears into them without mercy.  

Five shows to shoot today plus an outdoor family day. Oy.          

The Fringe Is Back! The Fringe Is Back!

The St. Lou Fringe had its opening ceremony last night. Honors to those who should be honored, announcements and samples of some of the major acts. I hustled over to Grand Center after work to get some shots. Too many people, too many names I didn't write down, but it's obviously gonna be a fabulous season.

Locals: GO, or never darken my doorway again. Schedule, map and tickets here.       

Vandeventer Place Gates

St. Louis has had many grand private streets where the homes of the rich were or are located. Some, in neighborhoods that became undesirable (mostly closer to the Mississippi) are gone. Many from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, mostly west of Kingshighway, survive. One of the most opulent was Vandeventer Place. (Some history here.) Now the area is, well, not so great. The mansions were razed and the development destroyed.

All of these private streets had elaborate entrance gates. For some odd reason, the entrance to Vandeventer Place was preserved and plopped down in an open area of Forest Park in 1950. It's near the Jewel Box and the Korean War Memorial seen a couple of days ago. Now it is an entrance to nowhere.                

HBWT

Wire Paladin, San Francisco?  You date yourself if you get the reference.

Seen while stopped at the traffic light at Market and Broadway. You could have a look at the web site. I particularly recommend Prayer War Room under the Care tab.

If the driver is looking at the blizzard of signs on the right, the van may not get anywhere. Information overload.       

Passion

Walking around downtown late yesterday afternoon after the baseball game let out. (The Cardinals are doing better lately.) Found this on the eastern side of Gio's Restaurant on 7th Street. I don't know if baseball is more a passion or an obsession in this town.       

Today's Bit Of Irony

There is a seldom-visited and almost hidden Korean War memorial in a corner of Forest Park. I confess I'd never seen it until yesterday. (For locals, it's just east of the Jewel Box.) Given recent days' headlines, it was a bit of a jolt. 

The monument refers to a particular battle in the far north, using a horrific pun. I think it's disrespectful. Plus more grammar errors: "lifes" and "minus 40 below zero." And recall that, at first, communism's intentions were honorable. If you know anything about the conditions of industrial workers in the first half of the 19th century, you can see why it came about, or perhaps was necessary. However, its implementation was brutal and stupid. As Winston Churchill said, democracy is the worst form of government ever invented except for all the others.

I've been on a break. It's likely that readers have had enough of my grandchildren and I had no new material. Things will get very busy soon, with the St. Louis Fringe Festival starting next Saturday and Madeleine's fourth birthday on the following Sunday. Oh, and then there is the total solar eclipse. We'll be right under the center of totality.