Posts Tagged ‘bread and wine theatre company’

“Steel Magnolias” at Bread and Wine Emphasizes Connection and Heart

Posted in St Louis Theatre, tagged , , , , , on July 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Steel Magnolias
by Robert Harling
Directed by Haley Clegg
Bread & Wine Theatre Company
June 27, 2026

Katherine Garrett, Melody Valen Quinn
Photo by Edward Crim
Bread & Wine Theatre Company

Steel Magnolias is a popular play. It’s fairly easy to see why, since the show is so full of memorable characters and relatable situations, while also maintaining a strong sense of time and place.  The latest local production, by Bread and Wine Theatre Company, highlights its well-chosen cast and thoughtful direction by Haley Clegg. 

The story, entirely set in a beauty shop, follows six different characters with contrasting personalities. They are all women who live in a small Louisiana town, and with one exception, are well-versed in the town’s culture and characters. The newcomer, Annelle (Tia René Williams), has just been hired at the shop by owner Truvy (Melody Valen Quinn), and the rest of the characters are customers at the shop. The four scenes show the passage of time as the characters get their hair done, share town gossip, and deal with life’s challenges. The main focus appears to be on mother and daughter M’Lynn (Lisa Karpowicz) and Shelby (Katherine Garrett), who in the first scene are preparing for Shelby’s wedding. Shelby’s delicate health is a major concern throughout the play. We also get to meet the town’s former First Lady, Clairee (Laura Lee Kyro) and the outspoken Ouiser (Ann Egenriether), both of whom are longtime residents of the town and seem to know everyone. Through the course of the play, more is revealed that brings the characters through a range of experiences and emotions, emphasizing their bond as friends and family. 

The 1980’s atmosphere in this production is impeccable, and perhaps the best I’ve seen in a production of this show. The costumes by Sonya Valentine are just on point, as is the decor in the shop and the set design by Matt Dossett. The music that plays before the show and between acts also works especially well to set the mood. There’s also fine work from sound designer Alan Phillips and voiceover actor Antonio Watts as a local radio DJ. 

The pacing is spot-on, for the most part, with a few slower moments, but mostly maintaining a comic tone with occasional well-pitched dramatic moments. The cast is uniformly excellent, with first-rate ensemble chemistry and excellent comic timing, especially by Egenriether as the sharp-tongued Ouiser and Kyro as the kind but occasionally snarky Clairee. Williams does an excellent job as Annelle, the character who changes the most throughout the show, and Karpowicz and Garrett bring warmth and credibility to their characters’ mother-daughter relationship. 

Steel Magnolias is a well-known show with an even more well-known movie adaptation, so audiences may be comparing this stage show to the film. This production stands well in its own right. It’s another memorable performance from the still relatively new Bread & Wine Theatre Company. The only real drawback is that it only ran for one weekend.

Laura Lee Kyro, Ann Egenriether, Tia René Williams, Melody Valen Quinn, Lisa Karpowicz
Photo by Edward Crim
Bread & Wine Theatre Company

 

Read Full Post »

Bread and Wine’s “Babette’s Feast” Entertains with Energy and Heart

Posted in St Louis Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Babette’s Feast
Conceived and Developed by Abigail Kileen, Written by Rose Courtney
Adapted from the Short Story by Isak Dinesen
Directed by Owen Brown
Bread and Wine Theatre Company
in Collaboration with KTK Productions
March 27, 2026

Deborah Roby, Michelle Yoder, Sonya Valentine
Photo: Bread and Wine Theatre Company

Bread and Wine Theatre Company is producing their latest production, Babette’s Feast, in a new venue at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Old North, in collaboration with KTK Productions, who have worked to renovate the church’s basement for their new theatre space. The production fits the space well, featuring an enthusiastic cast and striking musical elements, making for an entertaining and emotional story of generosity and grace in the midst of asceticism and interpersonal conflict.

The story is told in flashback, as narrated by the cast. While the titular Babette (Deborah Roby) eventually becomes a central figure, we don’t meet her until after a somewhat involved prologue setting up the story’s main event. We meet a devout religious community in a small Norwegian mountain town, led by a strict but loving Dean (Cole Wright) who has two daughters, Martine (Sonya Valentine), and the musically gifted Phillipa (Michelle Yoder). We see how Martine is courted by a young visitor named Loewenheilm (Michael Cox), who later reappears as a General (Charlie Labitska). Philippa, for her part, meets and takes singing lessons from renowned French opera singer Achille Papin (Ben Smith), with who she shares an attraction, but these relationships both end as the sisters choose to stay in their austere life and community. Years later, Babette appears on their doorstep, cast out from Paris and sent with a recommendation letter from Papin, who mentions that “Babette can cook”. She becomes the sisters’ housekeeper and carries herself with a determined air, eventually becoming well known in the village.  After more years pass, something happens that allow Babette to make an elaborate offer that both intrigues and frightens the sisters and the town, but eventually leads to much revelation and truth. 

It’s a fascinating story, originating as a short story by noted Danish author Isak Dinesen that was made into an acclaimed 1987 film. The stage version is well-structured and collaborative, with most of the players playing several roles, with the exception of the sisters and Babette. The narration is fairly easy to follow, except for a few of the moments in which the cast speaks in unison, which can sometimes be difficult to understand, and some of the acoustics make some dialogue difficult to hear at times. For the most part, though, the story flows well, and the characters are memorable, led by Roby’s determined Babette, who exudes a palpable blend of confidence, determination, and integrity. Valentine and Yoder are also convincing as the sisters, with Yoder’s excellent singing a particular highlight of the production. The rest of the players (also including Madeline Trinity, and Mary Elsa Henrich) fill out the story with enthusiasm and energy, and with memorable turns from Cox in various roles and Smith for his also impressive vocals. It’s a long production–almost two hours with no intermission–but the thoughtful direction and cast energy holds the audience’s attention without dragging.

The set by Tara Laurel works well on the slightly high stage, and Laurel’s costumes are appropriate to the period and setting, suiting the characters well. There’s also notable work from lighting designer Megan King and music director Nathan Wamsley. The production also included eye-catching Irish dancing from Lucy Marie and Pippa Gutting from St. Louis Irish Arts, although its inclusion in a story set in Norway and featuring no Irish characters seems a bit odd. 

Babette’s Feast is structured almost like a folk tale or poem, and it raises fascinating questions of asceticism and piety vs. generosity and indulgence, and how those concepts fit with religious devotion and community flourishing. The concepts of grace and generosity are well-embodied, and there’s much to think and talk about here. It’s also a delightfully musical show, featuring  both classical singing and congregational hymns. It’s an entertaining offering from the still relatively new Bread and Wine Theatre Company.

Cast of Babette’s Feast
Photo: Bread and Wine Theatre Company

Bread and Wine Theatre Company is presenting Babette’s Feast in collaboration with KTK Productions at Holy Trinity Catholic Church until March 29, 2026

Read Full Post »

Bread And Wine’s “Christmas Short Play Festival” Brings Festive Spirit in an Inventive Setting

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

A Christmas Short Play Festival
Bread and Wine Theatre Company
December 6, 2025

Bo Hanley, Peter D’Alessio
Haley Clegg, Laura Kyro
Photo by Roger Ottwell
Bread and Wine Theatre Company

Bread and Wine Theatre Company is a newer face on the St. Louis theatre scene, expressing a mission to “create innovative productions that highlight the beauty of a virtuous life”, according to CEO Owen Brown, who also directs one of the plays in their inaugural Christmas Short Play Festival. Held in a somewhat unusual venue, the Historic Sappington House, the festival features five plays and a cast of local performers. It’s an intriguing way to get to “know” a new theatre company while also exploring themes of love, loss, compassion, family–both biological and found, and the passage of time. 

The first and longest play of the evening is by celebrated playwright Thornton Wilder. “The Long Christmas Dinner”, directed by Brown, shows a family holiday gathering over the course of 90 years, starting in the 1840s and ending around 1930. The conceit is that it plays out showing the passage of time as one continuous gathering, starting early in the marriage of Roderick I (Adam Usry) and Lucia I (Haley Clegg), as they share a holiday meal with his mother, Mother Bayard (Bo Hanley). Over the course of the story, the conversation never stops, but characters grow old, get up and leave through a black curtain (apparently symbolizing death), as new characters enter, the family increases and decreases, and characters reflect on changing times and relationships. Much of the story focuses on Lucia and Roderick’s children, since from childhood to older age and played by Pietro D’Alessio as Charles and Laura Kyro as Genevieve, who join their parents and aging Cousin Brandon (Nicholas Urbanowicz), and are later joined by Charles’s wife Leonora (Tara Laurel) and their children Sam (Usry), Lucia II (Clegg), and Roderick II (Urbanowicz); and Cousin Ermengarde (Hanley). Abbey Robinson also appears as a nurse working for the family.  This is a fascinating play with a strong through-line of change and the passage of time. The performances are enthusiastic, with Kyro standing out for a believable portrayal of Genevieve’s growth from childhood to adulthood. The setting in the library building at Sappington House works especially well to set the mood and tone of this production.

The rest of the plays range from the very short to about 20 minutes in length, ending with a poignant if slightly over-the-top production of Dan Neidermyer’s adaptation of O. Henry’s classic “The Gift of the Magi”, directed by Travis Pfeifer. Michael Cox and Livy Potthoff are endearing as newlyweds Jim and Della, who struggle to find gifts for each other as they prepare to celebrate their first Christmas as a married couple. Bruce Jehling also appears in two roles, as Jim’s boss and as a shopkeeper.

The festival also features Cox in the title role of “Bosco’s Xmas” by Carol W. Berman, also directed by Pfeifer. This is a very short sketch about a cat, memorably played in a physically animated performance by Cox, who is seeking “revenge” by attacking his family’s Christmas tree. 

The remaining two plays are directed by Chandler Spradling. “The Last Mall Santa” by Michael Cox features Jodan Matt-Zeitler as Pete, a melancholy mall Santa who is reflecting on his time in this role, as his mall is undergoing difficult times and is about to close. The staging is clever here, as we see Pete interact with various toys that slide in from offstage, “playing” the roles of children who visit Santa. Pete grows sadder and more discouraged until his final visitor appears, this time played by a real child and aptly named Hope (Riley Shelembauer). It’s a poignant look at changing times and seasons, and the importance of hope.

“Baked Alaska” by Kelli Lynn Woodend features a group of guys from a rehab facility–Jeb (John Emery), Vigil (Connor Malone), and Clementine (Matt-Zeitler) being taken on a shopping trip by Freida (Hannah Lindsey) to buy Christmas gifts for their kids. It’s a little rough around the edges, but the message of kindness in hard times comes through clearly, making for a memorable sentiment. 

The location and seating arrangement adds much in the way of intimacy to the proceedings here, and although some of the performances are uneven, the Christmas spirit–in various forms–is palpable. It’s an intriguing look at a new theatre company with potential. I’m curious to see what else they bring in the future. 

Bread and Wine Theatre Company is presenting A Christmas Short Play Festival at the Historic Sappington House until December 13, 2025

Read Full Post »