I recently found myself at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis, and it was, well, fabulous.
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I LOVE theater. That’s no secret. I spend every summer in the free seats at the Muny, fascinated by the shows on the stage. But going to the Fox is a real treat.
On Friday, I was standing in the Fox, absolutely fascinated by the intricate decorations and details. No matter how many times I’m lucky enough to go, I always discover something new, another reason to love that theater.
The fun started before the show. We arrived about an hour before curtain, which gave me plenty of time to explore. I stood starstruck in the lobby, admiring the elephant motifs in the carpet and the beautiful paintings and carvings on the walls.
There’s an organ player who plays showtunes before the show and during intermission. This man is my hero. I bopped along to the organ renditions of “All I Ask of You” and “City of Stars.” Every song he played, I recognized, further solidifying my place as a total theater nerd.
And the bathrooms! Okay, not to be weird, but the bathrooms in the Fox are so much fun. The women’s room is down a set of stairs and has its own little foyer, which is always beautifully decorated. There were still a few Christmas decorations set up in the foyer, and I enjoyed that quite a bit.
This weekend, I got to see “The Outsiders.” This show won Best Musical at the Tony Awards, so I knew it was bound to be great.
The book, written by 15-year-old S.E. Hinton in the 1960s, was required reading in middle school. Since then, I’ve watched the movie a couple of times and gotten a real kick out of seeing the young Greasers played by future huge celebrities, like Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze.
All that being said, I was sure the musical was going to be a blast, if a little devastating. But nothing could have prepared me for the way the songs turned up the volume of the story. Great art, truly. I laughed. I cried. I had a great time.
At intermission, I wormed my way out of my chair and walked closer to the stage so I could look up at the gorgeous chandelier in the theater. I splurged on tickets to go see “Phantom of the Opera” in February, so I was especially interested in the chandelier this time around. (If you know, you know.) I can’t wait for another spectacular performance next month.
But really, the weekend solidified my belief that we have great art in our region. The Midwest often gets a bad rap. We don’t have the Broadway of the East Coast or the Hollywood movies of the West. But we bring in some fantastic traveling performers, who do incredible work, and it’s a treat to get to see them.
Not to mention, of course, the thousands of creatives who reside right here! We have so many talented musicians and actors and comedians and dancers and artists in the Midwest.
Yes, St. Louis and Chicago are home to a lot of these people, but even Alton, Edwardsville and Belleville have thriving art scenes. I know quite a few people who have started here and ended up in huge productions, and even more who have decided to stay right here and share their talents with their hometowns. What a gift to be surrounded by artistic, kind folks, like we are here.
I ventured out a bit this weekend and enjoyed St. Louis’s theater scene, but as I crossed the bridge back into Illinois, I was committed to supporting more art closer to home. I want to engage with local artists and performances as much as possible, and I can’t wait to spend 2026 with my creative neighbors.
In the meantime, I will be humming along to “The Outsiders” soundtrack and dreaming of all the great art I’ll be lucky enough to consume this year.
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