Nicki's Central West End Guide

Benefit for Shakespeare Festival at Dazzle Me Twice

It took a great cause, a benefit for Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, to finally get some of my neighborhood friends through the door at the CWE's Dazzle Me Twice. Admittedly, when Marty London first re-opened her consignment shop at 4632 McPherson in 2011, the hours were extremely limited, but that has changed (see end of post).

Last Wednesday evening an enthusiastic group of Shakespeare board members and supporters enjoyed wine and delicious appetizers while perusing the beautiful two-story shop's offerings. Marty provided the refreshments, which were passed by a charming waiter (who also offered approval as shoppers modeled their potential choices), and donated 15% of sales to Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. 

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis will open its thirteenth season Memorial Day weekend in Forest Park. This year's production, Twelfth Night, marks the directorial debut of delightful Shakespeare Festival Executive Director Rick Dildine. Several years ago there was a benefit for Shakespeare Festival at The Vino Gallery (see post here), just across the street from Dazzle Me Twice. Love that the board keeps some of the festival's fund-raising events in the CWE, close to Shakespeare Glen.

Marty London, in action above, offers pre-owned designer clothing, some of which has never been worn, at great prices. Comments heard from people who had not been to Dazzle Me Twice previously ranged from how comfortable it is to shop there, to how amazing the selection is.

Low-key benefit events such as this are so much fun for supporters and easy work for the board, whose main job is to simply get the word out. SFSTL Board Chair & CWEnder Jessica Holzer, far right above, and honorary CWEnder and board member Mary Morgan, middle, were among those in attendance.

The evening was a great chance to visit, shop, and support a great cause at the same time. Shakespeare Festival St. Louis's website is full of information on Twelfth Night, some would say "the best" event of the summer season.

Dazzle Me Twice, Weds. to Fri. 11-5, Sat. 11-4, 4632 McPherson, (314) 757-4464.

Duncan Wall, "The Ordinary Acrobat"

Duncan Wall, son of CWEA Board Member Mark Wall and his wife Claudia will be in town tomorrow evening to introduce his new book, The Ordinary Acrobat, shown prominently displayed at Left Bank Books, above. The anything-but-ordinary book signing (see why below) will take place at the Mad Art Gallery in Soulard starting at 7 p.m.

Claudia Wall said Duncan attended Iowa University and spent his junior year abroad at the Center for Critical Studies in Paris. That's when his interest in the circus (which bored him as a child) began. Duncan currently lives in Montreal where he teaches circus history at The National Circus School of Montreal. He's primarily a writer and also an actor who has performed with the Candidatos, a modern clown-theater company he founded. His play "I'm Sorry and I'm Sorry" was performed at the Minneapolis Fringe Festival in 2005, the Dublin Film Festival in 2006 and, closer to home, at the Clayton Black Box theater in 2007. 

Later, Duncan lived in Europe for about a year and eventually won a Fullbright grant to study the circus. He enrolled at the National School for the Circus Arts in France, where he learned about the "nouveau cirque," or contemporary circus," a genre of performing art developed in the later 20th century in which a story or a theme is conveyed through traditional circus skills." The school offers classes in circus skills as an art-form that involve creative play and athleticism.

Published by Knopf and edited by Jonathan Segal, "The Ordinary Acrobat is a magical, funny, sometimes scary story of what happens when one average American joins a host of gifted (and flexible) international students in a rigorous regimen of tumbling, trapeze, juggling, and clowning."

In Nick Otten's interview with Duncan published in Friday's StLBeacon (read interview here), the author said that the circus arts have moved into the mainstream and become more familiar. He knows "dozens, if not hundreds, of 'ordinary acrobats' right now, people who work at a desk job as an architect or a school teacher and fly on a trapeze at night."

The book signing, a Circus Now event which promotes the circus as art will include performances by artists from our town's Circus Flora, Circus Harmony, and Bumbleshoots Aerial Arts, located on Gravois.

Meet the author Duncan Wall as he reads from The Ordinary Acrobat, Tuesday, March 19, at Mad Art Gallery, 2727 S. 12th. Doors open at 7, the performance begins at 7:30. $5 cover goes towards the purchase of the book, $26.95. Books provided by Left Bank Books.

Small world footnote: As is often the case when you are thinking of something, or in this case writing about someone, a related story shows up elsewhere. As I finally caught up on Sunday's NY Times last evening, there was the following opinion piece written by Duncan Wall in the Sunday Review section: "Moving Beyond The Big Tent."

Sunday, February 10: Scenes from last Sunday's snowfall

If you remember last Sunday's snowfall it was just beautiful, but gone in a flash. The bird's nest I photographed blanketed in snow at 7:15 a.m.,

was left with only three baby snowbirds by 2:30 Sunday afternoon.

Candles were lit
 

And fluffy caps iced hydrangeas

Beanies topped a stucco wall designed by the late Bob Cassilly



And alongside Left Bank Books, admirers posed with T. S. Elliot who was sporting a hat made of snow.

The skinny on author Gillian Flynn

There are many advantages to having locally-owned businesses in the neighborhood, but one advantage that perhaps I don't mention often enough is how delightful it is to strike up a conversation with the shopkeeper. Last fall (this post has been a long time coming) I stopped in to Big Sleep Books with my visiting sisters-in-law.

Robin and Eileen are big mystery aficionados, as am I (provided it isn't too scary), and when I saw Gillian Flynn's best-selling Gone Girl on the counter I asked the girls whether they too had read it. It has to have been one of the most talked about books among people of all ages last summer and fall, and continues to be on best seller lists even now.

Big Sleep's proprietor Ed King added that Flynn's first two books, Screwed and Dark Places, are even better. Ed nailed it when he described the characters in Flynn's novels as "unlikeable people you can't help but like."

"As a matter of fact," Ed continued, "the author grew up in Kansas City (most of Gone Girl is set in Missouri) and her high school English teacher recently stopped in Big Sleep when visiting St. Louis. She pointed to the books and said to her companion, 'Gillian Flynn was in my English class and I had to grade her essays after everyone else's, she was that good, even in high school.'"

Big Sleep Books, 239 N. Euclid, Mon. to Thurs. 11-6, Fri. & Sat. 11-8, Sun. 12-6, (314) 361-6100.

P.S. - Read W Magazine's interesting interview with Gillian Flynn (here). She was writing the screenplay for the movie at the time, and Reese Witherspoon had been cast as the lead character in the film. I imagine we'll be talking about that too.

"Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker" draws a huge crowd

This isn't the first time I've started a post with the words: "It was standing-room only at Left Bank Books..." Last evening's reading by best-selling author Jennifer Chiaverini (in red above) warrants the same opening lines. The crowd of over 100 people bought all 50 copies of her book, Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker (more will be in the store Tuesday or Wednesday). Whether the draw was Ms. Chiaverini, who has written twenty-one novels, or the introduction of seamstress Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley in the award-winning movie Lincoln, fans were shoulder to shoulder, even peering through gaps in the bookshelves to follow the lively conversation.

It never surprises me to hear that someone of note spent time in St. Louis. Elizabeth Keckley lived here for ten years making dresses for St. Louis families. One of the attendees last evening said that the Griot Museum of Black History, 2505 St. Louis Avenue, has a wax model of Elizabeth Keckley in its exhibition. The seamstress was able to buy freedom for herself and her son with help from some of her clients, and left for New York soon afterwards. She eventually made her way to Washington, D.C., and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Author Jennifer Chiaverini mentioned last evening that she hopes filmmaker Steven Spielberg picks up Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker. Those in attendance at the reading seem to hope so too.

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, $26.95, will be available at Left Bank Books 399 N. Euclid, next Tues. or Weds. The e-book version is available on the bookstore's website right here, $12.99. Kris Kleindienst, co-owner of Left Bank Books, said that author Jennifer Chiaverini signed bookplates that will be inserted in the books when they arrive in the store.

Second Presbyterian refits its pipes

Last May I posted a story about the food pantry at Second Presbyterian Church in which I mentioned the start of an interior renovation of the Romanesque Revival structure on Westminster at Taylor. The first phase  of the project has now been completed on the sanctuary.

The restoration involved extensive plastering, painting, and renovation of the sound system in the sanctuary. Because of the dust and debris that would be generated with the renovation, it was decided that the organ, which was installed in 1965, should be cleaned and refitted at the same time. Second Presbyterian's organist Andrew Peters said that organs need cleaning and refitting every 40 to 50 years.

Interior photos by Mary Gene Boteler

On May 1^st the organ's builder, who still works for the company that originally installed it, Schantz Organ Co. of Orville, Ohio, arrived in a semi-tractor trailer with the original blueprints in hand.   

He and his crew disassembled the organ and returned to Ohio with a stunning 3000-plus pipes back to be cleaned and refitted.

The largest of the pipes are 16’ long, the smallest are one-haf the size of a pencil!!

(From this photograph,taken by Mary Gene Boteler, you see two examples of Tiffany windows that are installed in the sanctuary.)

At the beginning of this month the organ builder returned with 85% of the restored pipes, which were put back in place and tuned. I asked Andrew how the organ sounded without the complete set of pipes. He and the congregation agree that it sounds wonderful, much better than before.

There is more to be done when the builder returns the second week of January. In addition to installing the remainder of the pipes, Schantz Organ Co. will perform the “finishing,” when each of the 3000+ pipes will be tested to be certain they sound perfectly clear and well-rounded. Finishing will take two weeks, during which the sanctuary must remain completely quiet.

You can hear Andrew Peters play the refitted organ tomorrow (Sunday) during services at 11 a.m. On Christmas Eve there is a service at 4 and at 10 p.m. Next Sunday, December 30, services are at 11 a.m., and there will be more carols and Christmas readings. All are invited.

A peek inside those holiday windows, Part II

Handlebars here and a few pedals there, led by a red-nose reindeer, fashion Mike's Bikes' witty entry in the 2012 Window Walk Contest.

The shop at 324  N. Euclid carries handsome bike baskets from the Nantucket Bike Basket Co., $35 to $45, and the latest in bikes for tykes, Striders, $95 to $100, for children 18 months to 5 years. As the tag on the pint-sized bike says, "if your child can walk, your child can ride." Looks like fun to me...
Mike's Bikes, (314) 875-0080.

Neighborhood shopowners without windows to decorate--Christiane Danna of Christiane's Handcrafted Jewelry and Jennifer Walker, Jennifer Walker Jewelry at 449 N. Euclid, have draped railings with greens and ribbons, and hung a whimsical Dr. Seuss kind-of-thing made out of paper lanterns and other gizmos, see night shot below.


A small selection of Christiane's lovely silver necklaces is pictured above, some with semi-precious stones. They range in price from $39 to $89.

Christiane's Handcrafted Jewelry, Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10 to 1, Saturday 1 to 4, 449 N. Euclid, (314) 398-0636.

The small sampling of Jennifer Walker's earrings and bracelets shown above are made of silver or gold plating, with stones or enamel, $30 to $110.

Jennifer Walker Jewelry, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8 to 2:30 p.m., Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 9 to 5:30, 449 N. Euclid, (347) 528-3210.

Dawna Sturdivant, proprietor of Borough Vintage, and Jennifer Ingram, The Apparel Doctor, collaborated on decorations for the entry to their shops at 447 N. Euclid.

Dawna suggests dressing up a holiday package with a vintage button (example upper left), $10. Vintage hairpins and hounds-tooth-patterned earrings made from Borough Vintage's large selection of vintage buttons are $10 each. There are some great-looking glittery tops for the holidays at the shop too!

Borough Vintage, Thursday-Saturday 11 to 6, Sunday 12 to 5, 447 N. Euclid, (314) 884-8436.

Cassie's beautiful holiday windows at 316 N. Euclid, above and below.

Cassie's carries Crabtree & Evelyn products (hard-to-find with closing of Crabtree store in Galleria) including a gift package of six assorted hand therapy creams, $29. Customers are buying the set and dividing them up as stocking stuffers or gifts for friends. Pacifica soaps in scents such as Tibetan Gardenia and Lotus Garden are another popular stocking stuffer idea, $5 each.

Cassie's, Monday-Thursday 10:30 to 6, Friday & Saturday 10:30 to 8, Sunday 12 to 5, 316 N. Euclid, (314) 454-1010.

The Flower Shop at the Chase Park Plaza carries a large selection of handmade cardboard Christmas houses, $14 to $95. The smaller houses can be hung on the tree. To add to the seasonal charm, the backs accommodate a little lightbulb. Ornaments and holiday decor are 20% off too!

Hostess aprons are meant to wear, I am sure, only while adding a spring of parsley to your holiday platter, and pretty enough to wear over leggings (if you don't mind the exposure), $82.95. Fake fur aprons will add even more spice, $42.  

To preserve a holiday manicure how about a fancy pair of dishwashing gloves with rhinestone and fur, left, $29.99. Or better yet, wear the gloves and have someone else do the dishes!

You might also consider ordering your holiday centerpiece from senior designer Rod Nelson too!

The Flower Shop at The Chase Park Plaza, Tuesday-Saturday 10 to 6, by appt. Sunday & Monday, 212 N. Kingshighway, (314) 633-6910.   

Ed King, co-owner of Big Sleep Books with Helen Simpson, admitted they had adopted a "Charlie Brown kind of look" with their Christmas tree. Though it certainly isn't the most stunning entry in this year's Window Walk Contest (see contest info here), it's endearing, and sitting slightly askew against the backdrop of action posters at the entry...you just never know.

Three hot, hot titles Ed suggested I mention are best-selling author Michael Connelly's The Black Box, $21 to $22 (a guesstimate, too much trouble to do the math) after tax (Big Sleep offers 25% off hard covers). Another popular hit is Bruno, Chief of Police, $15, by Martin Walker. "The novel has wine, food, atmosphere and besides, it's a great mystery,"  Ed said.

Everyone seems to love Scandinavian author Jussi Adler-Olsen's The Keeper of Lost Causes, a Dept. Q Novel, $14.95. Ed has a source for British editions of Scandinavian novels and will be getting the sequel in paperback, long before those other shops do. Sounds mysterious.

Big Sleep Books, 239 N. Euclid, Monday-Thursday 11 to 6, Friday & Saturday 11 to 8, Sunday 12 to 6, (314) 361-6100.

Author brings home "The Big Bang"

Photo courtesy of Linda Joffe Hull

Former St. Louisan Linda Joffe Hull, above, will be appearing at Left Bank Books (two doors from where her father Bill Joffe and step-mom Liz (Trinkie) Heller live) at 7 p.m. Tuesday night, November 27, to promote her first novel, The Big Bang. Bill Joffe, above, introduced his five daughters (Linda is the eldest) to Kafka when they were in elementary school. He preferred that they read the classics rather than the Weekly Reader, for instance, which Linda really preferred. "As a result," Linda said, "I read, but can't say I understood, books like The Catcher in The Rye in the fourth grade. I thought Animal Farm was a really good book about animals."

Now, as a result of their father's efforts, all of his daughters are avid readers, and one has published her first novel, "a suburban satire/pregnancy whodunnit," making Bill Joffe understandably proud.

Photo courtesy of Linda Joffe Hull

Linda was 15 when her parents divorced and her father moved to the Central West End. After attending Burroughs and Ladue High School, Linda went off to study economics at UCLA. When she left for college her mother(Margie Moskowitz) moved to Westminster Place. Linda has fond memories of coming home for Christmas and trudging along Euclid through the snow wearing pajamas and boots as she traveled between her parent's houses.

Linda and her husband, Brandon Hull, (who have three children) have lived in Denver for 18 years. One son is a freshman at Indiana University, another is a junior in high school, and their 7-year-old daughter, Eliza, is in the first grade. Though Linda dabbled in writing before she married, she waited until her eldest son was four to join the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. While there she tried her hand at novel-length fiction. After close to 150 rejection letters for her first novel, The Big Bang was finally published by Tyrus Books this fall. Linda said that there is no way she could have accomplished this without the support of her husband, who just wouldn't let her give up, and the support of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. A second novel, Eternally 21, the first in the author's "Mrs. Frugalicious" mystery series, will be published next spring. 

With the release of The Big Bang, Linda had "an utterly incredible signing party at Denver's indie bookstore, The Tattered Cover" two weeks ago.  And she is really excited about reading at the neighborhood's Left Bank Books. "I will always consider St. Louis home," Linda said. "It will be great to reconnect with the friends, family and members of the community who show up at the signing. In fact, I can't wait!"

Meet Linda Joffe Hull, author of The Big Bang, at 7 p.m. Tuesday night (tomorrow), November 27, Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid.

8th Annual Holiday on the Plaza, Saturday, December 1

Joe's Cafe Gallery

Last year, when artist Bill Christman opened his Ars Populi Gallery in the Skinker/DeBaliviere neighborhood, it turned out that none of his followers could later recall the name of the gallery or "get" why he chose it. So in late September, Ars Populi was renamed the more generic "Joe's Cafe Gallery" to coincide with the opening of the current exhibition featuring paintings by entertainer Frank Moskus, and the photography of Thelma Market Blumberg. Bill said that he is very proud to have given these two artists their time in the spotlight, as neither had exhibited their work previously.

To say that Bill Christman does nothing by the book would undoubtedly unleash many accounts of his offbeat humor from his many followers, including yours truly. If you've been to the City Museum. you've probably seen Christman's "Beatnik Bob’s Museum of Mayhem, Mystery and Mirth." His passion however is the creation of unique signage which he fashions in a workspace behind the gallery. (A good example of Bill's artful signage--shown in window above--can be found over the entry to the neighborhood's Left Bank Books.)
Joe's Cafe Gallery is an example of Bill Christman's, above, quirkiness. To start, the gallery is only open on Thursday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m. This coincides with Bill's music venue next door---Joe's Cafe, which is open only on Thursday nights as well. (By now you've probably surmised that there is no "Joe.") The Cafe is a BYOB non-profit club (see ** at end of post) with reasonable dues and few membership requirements, other than age--30 and up.

When I visited the gallery last Thursday evening Bill was on his way over to the Cafe to introduce that evening's band, Acoustik Element. So I had a great time touring the exhibition by myself while listening to the band's Latin-inspired music piped over the speakers in the gallery.

Frank Moskus, whose paintings are shown above and below, is described on Bill's website as "a big, funny, foul-mouthed Lithuanian-American whom he met when the Gaslight Square tavern keeper and entertainer lived on the riverfront in a packet boat called 'The Yacht Club.'" Last Thursday, Bill told me that Frank was a true character (look who's talking...), a natural performer who played music in bars he owned on Gaslight Square.

I photographed a couple of Moskus's paintings including "Corner Confectionary," and

"House on Lafayette Square."

Frank Moskus's son, Joe, is also a painter. His lively work, above, reminiscent of his father's, is exhibited in a back room of Joe's Cafe Gallery.

I was especially fascinated by Thelma Blumberg's photography of Gaslight Square during its heyday from the late 1950s through the '60s. According to the bio, above, Thelma Blumberg was the entertainment district's official photographer.

Jack Parker, who wrote the descriptions for each of these wonderful photographs, had a front row seat to the goings on at Gaslight Square from his restaurant, O'Connell's Pub, which was  relocated to 4652 Shaw at Kingshighway from its original location on Boyle. Jack identifies the "guy with the angelic face" in the photograph above, "as Chris King, who went to N.Y. and made it big as an Irish Troubadour, and then came back to open Big Sleep Books." Chris's son, Ed, still runs Big Sleep on Euclid at Maryland along with Helen Simpson, the wife of Chris's partner, Peter (see earlier post here).

Jack's description of the motorcycle gang, "The Bone Shakers," includes a quip about the "beatnik intellectual (left) hanging around to see the sights."

The photograph above shows the celebration in Gaslight Square after the Cardinals won the 1964 World Series (oh, well).

"Bennie Sharp and the Sharpies," an East St. Louis band, performed in the Square. Their hit single was "Do the 45."

This 1961 photograph shows patrons in a drugstore on the Square. On this photograph Jack writes that he played pool with the Smothers Brothers in the pool parlor visible through the drugstore window.

Blumberg's fascinating photographs are priced at $150 each, which seems like a fabulous price for a window into the neighborhood's storied past.

Joe's Cafe Gallery also features a collection of signs on loan from collectors around the country, above, whom Bill said all know each other.

The current exhibition will be on view until Thanksgiving. Joe's Cafe Gallery, 7 to 10 p.m. Thursdays only,  6010 Kingsbury Avenue, joescafegallery@gmail.com, (314) 862-2541. You have to live in Skinker/DeBaliviere to figure out how to get around the streets of this neighborhood. Do yourself a favor, park on Des Peres at Kingsbury and walk in.

**You don't have to be a member to attend a Thursday night performance at Joe's Cafe. The cost for non-members is $10. Bring your own drink and food, you must be at least 30. See this Thursday's line-up below.

....Bob Komoske....
October 25th:
The Polish Adonis. The Polish Stevie Ray Vaughn. Mr. Bumblebee.

One of our better local guitar gods.
Sometimes funny, sometimes moving.
Fine sense of dynamics.

Bob usually performs his Joe's gigs with drummer and bassist.

"A reliable cure for a Cardinals hangover"

Admission: $5 for members. Others $10.

Joe's is a non-profit BYOB club, open on Thursday nights.
Doors open around 7:00
Music starts at 8:00
Alcohol consumption ends at 10:00
Recycle your own stuff
Smoking outside only
Park on Des Peres Ave.