St. Louis has had a rough week for public perception, what with Stan Kroenke’s 29-page letter bashing the city as home to the St. Louis Rams . In another competitive realm however, those arguments aren’t remotely valid. “It is so funny listening to people bash St. Louis right now, one person in particularly with a bad toupee, and here is this remarkable story of this organization that is producing on Broadway for 20 years, major works, making national and international impact based on offices in

Combining the nostalgic allure of a speakeasy, the surprise element of a pop-up restaurant and the reward of being “in the know,” a new-to-St. Louis group has emerged in the past year that brings those feelings to the concert-going experience. The name of the collective is Sofar Sounds and it has ties to a worldwide movement “Everyone, you’ve gotta just trust me here,” said Chris DiGiacomo, one of the city leaders for Sofar Sounds’ St. Louis branch. Why the trust? People who sign up for Sofar

Sometimes when you enter Pastaria in Clayton during prep hours you can hear singer Executive Chef Ashley Shelton , 28, belting out a tune or two. You may also receive a Kool-Aid refresher or piece of candy to “keep the flow going” and put a smile on the other cooks’ faces. “I’m not a good singer,” said Shelton. “Pastaria can get really, really busy. It gets daunting. I do whatever I can to lighten the mood when I tell my team is getting down. Singing is something I like to do, I’m not good at it

We here at “Cityscape” know—making the perfect paper snowflake can yield some serious headaches. No, really, we do. For a recent holiday party, we were each in charge of making paper snowflakes. Amid cries of exasperation like ‘Crud! I cut the wrong edge!’ and ‘It doesn’t look like anything,’ we thought to call for help. Enter: Marion Nichols. You may know her as the ‘Snowflakey Lady’ at City Museum. On Friday’s “Cityscape,” she joined us to share how she makes perfectly patterned snowflakes—all

In the lead-up to Christmas, the Bach Society of Saint Louis’ Christmas Candlelight Concert is a tradition almost as old as eggnog itself—this year marks the 75 th anniversary of the organization devoted to performing choral works by Johann Sebastian Bach, among other classical composers.

The 63-member National Lutheran Choir, based in Minneapolis, is making its sixth stop in St. Louis to perform its annual Christmas festival, this time themed “The Spotless Rose.” The performance will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Kirkwood on Saturday. “We look for a space that fits the kind of program that we do,” said David Cherwein, artistic director of the choir. “That was more of the effort than ecumenical issues…which I would love to brag about, but I can’t. We’re really all

If you’re a Star Wars fanatic, your thrusters are probably already in hyperdrive in anticipation of the release of the next installment of the franchise, “The Force Awakens,” which opened Thursday night. It is hard to imagine the films without the entire subculture of cosplay , props, toys, videogames, books and action-figures that come with them. But, alas, there did exist a time before wookies and droids and Han Solo. That’s where “St. Louis on the Air” host Don Marsh comes in. In 1977, while

Things got a little heated in the Sauce Magazine office while putting together the most recent issue , the best new restaurants of 2015. Post-it notes were stolen; Editors got in fights; People had to return to eat delicious foods at their choice contenders time and time again—all in the name of finding the most delicious new restaurants in the area. It was for you, dear listener. On Friday’s “Cityscape,” the magazine’s managing editor Heather Hughes and Catherine Klene were joined by Meera

On Friday’s “Cityscape,” we talked about the most influential, interesting and moving parts of St. Louis’ arts and culture scene in 2015. Themes of social justice, urban design, and the continued evolution of issues within the Zoo-Museum District were all part of the discussion. Joining us were the folks who know it best: St. Louis Public Radio’s arts and culture reporters: Nancy Fowler, Willis Ryder Arnold and Robert Duffy. “I think there was a lot of work around social justice,” said Fowler.

Love her, hate her, replicate her—there’s no denying that Joan Rivers was a force in American comedy. The first woman to host a late night network television talk show, the host of the critically-acclaimed “The Joan Rivers Show” and the co-host of the controversial E! fashion show “Fashion Police,” Rivers always kept people talking. Rivers died in 2014, but actor and female impersonator Joe Posa is on a mission to keep her wise-cracking spirit alive with tribute shows across the country. Tony

Next Tuesday, a local dream musical team will unite for the 442s’ “Holiday Spectacular” at Washington University’s 560 Music Center. In addition to the talents of the 442s themselves, Peter Martin, Brian Owens and Erin Bode will join the group on stage to perform holiday favorites. "We are all constantly a part of each other's projects," said Bjorn Ranheim, member of the 442s. In this case, that means performing personal holiday favorites and originals from each performer's repertoire. On Friday

On any given day, the world of Broadway wheelin’ and dealin’ feels pretty far away from St. Louis, Missouri. Not so for author Ridley Pearson, who makes his home here. As the co-author of the popular series “Peter and the Starcatchers” with writer Dave Barry, Pearson has been involved in that world as his book has been adapted for the Broadway stage. In the mid-2000s, Disney Theatrical Productions, the play producing arm of the media powerhouse, adapted the prequel to “Peter Pan” with the help

“Peter and the Wolf,” the classic work of Sergei Prokofiev , has been performed in countless guises over its 80-year history. It is often presented as a work for children, but the St. Louis Symphony is challenging that assumption with its next performance of the work over Thanksgiving weekend. “’Peter and the Wolf’ is often relegated to concerts for children or family concerts,” said David Robertson, the St. Louis Symphony’s music director. “While I particularly love family concerts and have

Renowned singer, actor, playwright and St. Louisan Ken Page describes it like this: “There’s a point in the play where one of the characters says ‘It’s like that captain of the football team that you fell in love with or that boy whose green eyes you still see when you close yours…you know the one.’ It’s that thing, that’s what it’s based on.” The ‘it’ in that description is “Sublime Intimacy,” the name of Page’s new play for Max and Louie Productions, which will have its world premiere on

Music, candles, delicious food and drink: all normal parts of a delightful and atmospheric holiday gathering. For the Greenleaf Singers and the Not-Ready-For-Reformation Players the gathering also includes “comely wenches and sturdy lads” as well as Renaissance-era songs of the season. Next week, the two groups will perform in the 40 th annual Renaissance Theatre and Christmas Rout at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood. The performance includes appetizers, libations, and dessert for the crowd as well as

Defeat is not one of the primary words associated with Sir Winston Churchill’s career. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953, he gave the prophetic “Iron Curtain Speech” at Westminster College in 1946, and, most importantly, he emerged victorious during World War II as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. What many people don’t know is that Churchill did in fact experience the agony of defeat…and that’s what fueled his second life as a painter. Churchill’s best paintings are now

Artist Salma Arastu knows a thing or two about intercultural communication. She was born in India and raised in Hinduism before embracing Islam through her marriage. Now, she uses that melded faith background to build religious bridges through her artwork: Arabic calligraphy melded with abstract expressionist paintings. On Friday’s “Cityscape,” Arastu joined host Steve Potter to discuss her artwork, which is now on display at Saint Louis University’s Museum of Contemporary Religious Art ( MOCRA

The Soulard Fine Arts Building is celebrating 25 years of housing a community of 17 different visual artists in its walls. The occasion will be commemorated with an exhibit at the Regional Arts Commission about the building itself. Over 15 artists’ works will be shown as part of the exhibition. The owner of the building , Robert Michelmann, as well as a photographer and exhibit curator, Anne Murphy, joined “Cityscape” host Steve Potter on Friday to discuss the anniversary as well as what the

Maybe you’ve recently patronized a restaurant that lists the farms their food came from on the menu. Or maybe you read that Vanity Fair article lambasting chefs who prioritize where food comes from over taste. But is that what the farm-to-table movement is really about in St. Louis? On this month’s Sound Bites, St. Louis Public Radio’s partnership with Sauce Magazine, we get to the bottom of it. Our guests: · Anthony Devoti, Chef/Owner of Five Bistro on The Hill · Meera Nagarajan, Art Director,

A lot of things have changed in the past five years for Big Muddy Dance Company , but one thing has not: the dedication of the group’s original core members, most of whom are still performing with the company. That’s pretty inspiring, mostly because the group has completely changed the tone and tenor of its dance style over that period of time. “The Big Muddy was filling this gap of accessible jazz dance at its very beginnings,” said Erin Warner Prange, the group’s executive director. “Since

Photographer Regina DeLuise took a chance and ended up in Bhutan. “Oftentimes in my life and in my career, I’ll just kind of throw my hat far over the...