Cityscape

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 Grand Blvd,” said Mike Isaacson, a producer with St. Louis-based Fox Theatricals, now 20 years old, and also the artistic director and executive producer of The Muny. I n 2015, a socially and musically groundbreaking musical produced by the company, went on to win five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Also groundbreaking? That it was an all-female creative writing team that took home best book and best score. That musical was called “Fun Home.” It was based on Alison Bechdel ’s graphic

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 Sounds concerts have little idea where exactly they’re going until the day of the concert and no idea what the band will be until they walk in the door. Also, participants pay what they want to pay in order to get in. “If you have no money, or if you have a lot of money, you can come,” said DiGiacomo of the concerts, which are meant to democratize music for listeners of all backgrounds. The group has hosted five productions since its inception and will offer it’s sixth on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m

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, but I just kind of go with it and give dishes their own songs. I switch out the words of famous songs with the names of our dishes.” Chef Jessie Gilroy , 29, who recently started at Peacemaker Lobster and Crab in Benton Park, could not be any more different. She’s known to look “like she’s going to war,” said Meera Nagarajan, the art director of Sauce Magazine. “I have a focus face,” said Gilroy. “What do they call it? Permanent you-know-what face. Yeah, I have that. On the inside I’m usually

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 while telling a good story or two for those who ask for her help. She started working as a volunteer at the City Museum in 1998, a year after it opened, until Bob Cassilly found she could “do stuff” and hired her full-time. Click through the gallery above to see some of the snowflake creations, as executed by third grade students in Oakville. "I can turn anything into a snowflake; I could turn you into a snowflake," Nichols told host Steve Potter on Friday. Recently, Nichols published a book

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.