Today being Tuesday and all (and the ever-popular and much-needed "pay-what-you can night"), it's only appropriate to see Tuesdays with Morrie before it ends this weekend. American Stage makes a triumphant return with a new performance space and production, Mitch Albom’s tear-jerker, Tuesdays With Morrie. The much-loved local theater company gives a nod to “celebrating the past while moving on to a better place” with this play, based on the novel that spent four years on the New York Times bestseller list, The story was repackaged for the stage by Jeffrey Hatcher, who maintains every shred of comedic poignancy. Spoiler alert, folks: the story is, to be blunt, downright heart-wrenching. With his signature charming intimacy, Albom details his weekly conversations with his former college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who is dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Sure, there are plenty of funny bits that relieve the morbidity, but bring a hanky and be prepared to use it. Despite being a story about, you know, dying, Tuesdays with Morrie gives life lessons on happiness, acceptance, love and values. Which only goes to show that you can’t keep a good man down — and it looks like the same goes for theater companies. (Pictured: Michael Edwards and Chaz Mena in Tuesdays with Morrie) Through July 5, 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 3 and 8 p.m. Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., no matinee performance on Sat., July 4, Tues., June 30 is "pay what you can night," American Stage, 163 Third Street N., St. Petersburg, $24-$39, $10 student rush tickets 30 minutes prior to curtain, 727-823-7529, americanstage.org. — Franki Weddington
When it comes to Cirque du Soleil’s say, for example, "awesome" — turn out to be the only logical reaction to the show. I mean, what else can you say about people who bend themselves into human parentheses in mid-air? About creatures who are part lizard, part human, part bird, who can clamber up poles, hurtle through space, slither across the stage and do all kinds of other things you didn’t know humans could do? About mimes who are genuinely funny, even (or especially) when they’re doing potty jokes? A Cirque staple since its premiere in Montreal in 1992, Saltimbanco is the first of Cirque’s so-called "classic" shows to be reconfigured for large arena-sized stages. It’s an interesting mix of built-up and pared-down. Though the outlandish costuming and quirky characters stamp it as unmistakably Cirque, it also has a playful, almost free-wheeling ambience at times, as if we’ve been invited to some fantastic slumber party where everyone’s going a little nuts. And some of its greatest charms are its simplest, like the Pee Wee Herman-esque clown who stages a hilarious High Noon-style gun duel using imaginary pistols. Be forewarned; his opponent in the duel is an audience "volunteer." June 25-July 5, 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday, June 25-July 5, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, $42.75- $112.75 (discounted tickets for children 12 and under), 813-287-8844, stpetetimesforum.com. — David Warner
This article appears in Jun 24-30, 2009.