With a loyal local following and rave reviews from The Wall Street Journal to The New York Times, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis continues to draw adoring audiences from throughout the world. And its new season is set to be no exception. General director Tim O’Leary recently filled us in on the company’s worldwide impact and its four new shows, to feature classic and modern opera, jazz, romance and comedy.

The pseudo-Alpine facade of Schneithorst's has been a landmark at the corner of Lindbergh Boulevard and Clayton Road for almost 60 years. In recent times, the lot has been altered somewhat. Now the restaurant is part of The Village at Schneithorst’s, a development that includes several retail establishments that cluster outside the restaurant like a feudal village. While the building and the surroundings may have changed, the food at Schneithorst’s remains—in many ways—unchanged.

Farotto's Italian Restaurant has long provided a little bit of The Hill in the county. A recent trip back after a long absence was a reminder of just why we used to keep their number at the ready.

NOTE: The review below was written for the original presentation of Stupefy! last December. The latest production features three new cast members, including Chris LaBanca, Ben Ritchie and John Wolbers, who are replacing Blaine Adams, Rob Suozzi and John Foughty, respectively. Additionally, the new rendition includes a 5-minute video pre-show as well as new scenes and a new ending, all in a “faster than last time” 90 minutes.

Stories: Winning Juliet focuses on the new girl at a high school who runs into unexpected animosity and resentment by some established ‘popular’ students when she decides to audition for the female title role in the school’s production of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo & Juliet.

Story: Katha has a high-powered job in the city that keeps her in high-stress mode. Her husband Ryu is a plastic surgeon who seems always to be on the run. One day, when Katha by chance meets a dapper fellow named Dean on the street and inquires about his ‘retro’ look, he hands her a brochure about the Society of Dynamic Obsolescence.

We recently made a return trip to the newly reconfigured Cheshire Inn to try out another of its eateries: Basso.

Story: Chance and Money have been friends since childhood. They struggle to pay the bills in their Spin City neighborhood, but dream of having careers as hip-hop artists. When Money’s girlfriend Joi tells him that she is pregnant, Money sees joining the Army as the only way he can make a steady income to support his growing family. He departs for active duty, leaving Chance and their No Plan B hip-hop duo in mothballs.

Story: May ekes out an existence as a cook at a nameless place in a tiny town on the Mojave Desert. Her home is a drab motel room with a bed, a table, a couple of chairs and drinking glasses stored in the bathroom. Her life is dreary but made drastic as well by the unwelcome arrival of her former lover, Eddie.

Story: The time is December 4, 1956 and the place is Sun Records in Memphis. The tiny, unremarkable building once housed an auto parts store, as owner and producer Samuel Cornelius Phillips reminds himself and visitors, before Sam turned it into a tiny recording studio a couple of years earlier.

When we first heard about chef/owner Ben Poremba's innovative vision of turning an old South City house into a fine-dining restaurant (Elaia), and the retired service station next door to it into a wine bar (Olio), we were a bit unsure of just how it would work out. Since the dual concepts have been up and running for a while now, we finally stopped in for dinner at Elaia and are pleased to report the project is quite the success.

Story: Sam and Dinah are a young married couple living the good life in suburbia. Sam is a businessman who commutes by day to his job in the city, while homemaker Dinah tends to chores around the house and caring for their son, Junior.

Story: Two men converse on a nearly barren landscape. They appear to be in dire straits, although their now shabby clothes indicate they once held loftier places in society. They talk about a man named Godot, who has promised to visit them today, much like he has indicated numerous times in the 50 years they have waited. As of yet, though, they have never actually met this individual.

Just go. That’s really all I have to say. A Jackie Robinson biopic was long overdue and this is an A+ effort. It’s a 9.

It's so small that if you blink, you might miss it—but that would be a shame because restaurateur Zoe Pidgeon's newest eatery, Bar Les Freres, definitely is a stop you want to make.

Story: Jane Eyre, orphaned at an early age, is taken in by her mother’s brother and his family. After his death she is subject to ridicule and abuse by her aunt and cousins, and ultimately dispatched to the Lowood School for Girls at age 10. Living conditions at the institution are squalid, and many of Jane’s classmates die in a typhus epidemic.

Well, it’s another dry week at the cineplex. So if you were hotly anticipating my review of the Evil Dead remake or Jurassic Park 3D I’m sorry to disappoint. Nevertheless, if you insist on getting out of the sunshine and hunkering down in a murky movie theater here are your options:

In recent months, Home Wine Kitchen in Maplewood has found its way onto a slew of best-of lists and chef/co-owner Cassy Vires has been getting national attention for her skills in the kitchen.

Story: It’s the early 1920s, and Rose is determined to make her mark in show business. Not as an entertainer on the vaudeville circuit exactly, but rather as an impresario who knows what’s best for booking agents and small-time venues in the many cities she visits with her two daughters, Dainty June and Louise. Rose pushes her children to extreme limits in her efforts to make the younger of the two, June, a bona fide star.

Story: A bureaucrat in Franco’s Spain, circa 1962, interrogates an Israeli professor at the Spanish National Archives in Madrid. The professor has landed in hot water by purloining a file dating back to the infamous Spanish Inquisition from the late 15th century.

Story: The Lazara String Quartet has a history as a brilliant classical music ensemble. The four members of the group have achieved world fame and won numerous awards. Now they are on the verge of their biggest triumph: A command performance at The White House that will be nationally televised and seen by 15 million people.

It's springtime, and that means area restaurants are starting to unveil their new seasonal menus. U. City fave Blueberry Hill has announced four new specialty sandwiches, a Western Wagyu Burger, and a Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake to its menu; and also has re-introduced its popular Gazpacho. Modesto Tapas Bar & Restaurant has debuted some new items for spring, as well. The menu now has four new small bites, including the Fritada (a fried shrimp and scallop skewer) and the Banderilla (an anchovy, artichoke and olive skewer), as well as the return of the Judias Verdes, sauteed green beans with onions and sherry.

I will be brief. It was all I could do to stomach the last seven or eight Twilight movies—at least it seemed like that many. Now, author Stephenie Meyer brings us The Host. Instead of vampires, we have aliens; and instead of…well, that’s about it.