Highly recommended, friendly, informative, as well great presentation, love their operas & plays,…read morewonderful cast! Especially for the size of theater

Well color me impressed…read more I am not a regular at the opera. To be honest, it's not my favorite thing to do. My wife loves it so I'm usually just along for the ride, and my hopes weren't very high for our night at the Union Avenue Opera. I'm happy to admit that my thoughts about this beautiful place were completely wrong. We showed up for La bohème and I realized I had actually been in a wedding before in the very same church -- the place is beautiful. Parking was free and extremely easy, and staff was on hand to assist. Once inside, we had plenty of help finding our way to our (comfortable! padded!) seats, and from what I can tell there wasn't a bad seat in the house. We were a little surprised that the entire show would be 2 hours and 40 minutes with intermissions and we had to actually leave early to make another commitment, so that was a bummer. Plan ahead because you'll probably be here for a while! Intermissions are long -- one was 20-25 minutes and the other was closer to 15. I can't say enough wonderful things about the staff, the set, the performers, and the venue. What a talented group of individuals. It was humbling to see such extreme talent right here in our city. Go get yourself some culture and enjoy the Union Avenue Opera!

Ms. Thimes is a lot like Kim Massie in that she wows me with her powerful voice. The two ladies…read morehave very different styles, but both are worthy performers in St. Louis. Denise's style is sultry, and slow. It's jazzy through and through. She has an elegance about her that enhances her lyrical performances. She's been compared to many of the greats, and rightly so. She's made quite a name for herself in this town.

I love going out to sing karaoke, or even listen. It's way more fun when you have someone managing…read morewhat is going on. For years Shaggy was at Cotters, which was our dive of choice, not under new managment.. well lets just say it sucks, due to new managment and new karaoke company. I'm excited that Shaggy will now be at Melvin's Brewing in Eureka MO every Wednesday from 6-9pm.. those are hours I can get behind!! Shaggy is also available to hire for private events.

**Main location - Cotter's Sports Bar & Karaoke Lounge**…read more There are several factors involved in good public-forum karaoke: 1) Large and diverse music selection 2) Great sound system 3) Logical order of singers (no random cuts, no skipping, no forgetting) 4) Focus on karaoke (low downtime between singers, low filler songs) 5) Solid stage set-up 6) Energetic crowd and singers 7) X-Factors (day of the week, event type, etc.) Of these factors, the Karaoke DJ (aka KJ) has a direct control over numbers 1-4. The others are frankly the product of location, marketing, and hype. The best part about Shaggy Sounds is that no matter what location (my favorite is Cotter's), no matter what type of crowd, no matter how energetic or mellow of a night it is, you are guaranteed a fantastic experience with those things directly in the KJ's control: Massive library of music? CHECK. The biggest books of anyone and that's literally LESS THAN HALF of the songs. Don't see a song you want to sing in the book? Just go up and ask and there is a good chance it's in the computer system. Shaggy is very accommodating and willing to search through his library. Don't be shy! Great sound system? CHECK. Depending on the bar's vibe, the karaoke can be front-and-center (which is the case with all the locations Shaggy hosts at) or background filler (*cough* Double D's *cough*). If you like bars where karaoke is background noise, maybe Shaggy-hosted events aren't for you. But if you like to actually sing and listen to others sing, you'll love it! High-quality speakers, high-quality mics, solid sound checks to balance volumes and make adjustments from singer to singer if needed... you get the picture. Logical order of singers? CHECK. The most annoying thing (at least for me) that can happen at karaoke is watching an unorganized KJ forget the order, lose song selections, and randomly let people skip in the order because of connections/friendship. This is not an issue with Shaggy KJs as their song-selection set-up is done on computer. They enter in your name with a song title within the order, and that's your placement in the rotation for the rest of the night. No shuffling of little pieces of paper, no losing them to the floor, no priority passing (unless you tip, which of course make sense and I would never fault a KJ for letting someone jump in line in those situations...you gotta make that money). Focus on karaoke? CHECK CHECK CHECK. Shaggy events are all about having fun singing. Songs are literally back-to-back as they are totally focused and not dilly-dallying. The only time you hear filler songs is if there aren't that many singers and sign-ups, and it's usually only at the beginning of the night. If there are a lot of sign-ups, there won't even be filler songs at the end of the rotation. It will be straight into the next round. True end-to-end karaoke! There are a lot of options for karaoke in St. Louis. You'd be remiss if you didn't try one of Shaggy's weekly nights. Go and have fun!

I havent found many Hidden Gems in St. L yet, but I think we're changing that here.. Maybe?…read more Okay, you think Comedy and St. Louis - you think Funny Bones, The Helium Club and maybe the Pageant and Fox Theatres I recommend you add one more to your list, the Improv Room. Warning: I had received some conflicting info so bear with: Now first and foremost, I have to explain that this is not your typical standup comic set. These are Improv students (Being taught at ... THE IMPROV ROOM) doing a nice take of "Drew Carey's Improv Ganza" Show (I would say "Who's Line Is it Anyway", but they usually only do one scene per show). Mind blown yet? Don't be. Cause you've got an amazing operation here with so MUCH you're not going to realize it, and it's incredible for the cost. Basically, this is operation is a series of classes, in which you can come in to learn how to do "improv" (ironically, I don't think it's limited to comedy, at least per the website, although that's their specialty). There are literally three stages in one quaint (Ironically, "out of the way" location, which seems to make it feel safer for parking than you can expect). It's time to take things out of order: Because of the special fact of the Improv Room. I will start with the drinks/food: The food is minimal fare honestly, but that's okay. Sandwiches/Wraps/and Quick Bites. (The good news is that if you're in a show, simply turn on the tea lamp on your table and someone will come to you. My problem was that I picked a lightless table. OOPS on the staff!). {sorry guys; have to take off 1 point since I didn't get to try the food for this error} The good news was they have bar and a 'Lounge" (of sorts) out front, and the nice young bartendress told me how the building and stages worked (and made a great Vodka Collins beforehand.) and a nice conversation with her about the entire building and company for a while. And just for warning purposes, the lighting was very dim in the "lounge".. dunno if it was for aesthetic purposes, but it did a very bad job of hiding the "STEPS" up to the stage rooms.. (Yes, i found out the hard way, but held it together) Anyway, so why do the food first? Because now it's time to talk about the shows. ** and there is some confusion on Yelp and the website (so this will be a "at your own risk" at the moment) The Shows: Now remember these are mostly improv students, so you're getting some amateurs with a little practice or maybe first timers, so be gentle. Mondays: You get to watch one of (up to 3) shows of the students doing a scene of some sort (sometimes with audience participation, sometimes without), all of which run about 60 minutes. and then a second "elevated' show with participants who have had more class time. But believe it or not, for you the audience, it's absolutely FREE! Come on, you can't argue that cost, can you? *NOTE; this is where Yelp and the website differ: The website calendar says they do Monday shows and even have a Monday specific menu, Yelp says it's closed, so if anyone can unconfuse me, please do * Note: My last attendance was on a Monday show, so I think yelp may be in the wrong here The keys are the show times; 7:30 and 9:00 PM. Usually you get your choice of one of two shows on each hour process (again, check the calendar for confirmation), and that goes for Thurdsay (fee for the early show, FREE for the late show), Friday (all ticketed/fee-prices) and Saturday (all ticket/fee-prices) So back to my visit: I managed to find the place in time to make the last bit of the early show (where teams were competing for audience applause) and the late show on a Monday where the featured act was a "LARP" of a Dungeons and Dragons game. (well as much as you can when you're pretending to be doing laundry [audience suggested by the way} as a major quest - final hint: we can say the laundry DIDN'T get done by the end of the scene) Again, I wasn't expecting professional standup comics, I got stage actors having fun doing unique scenes for laughs. And all at a reasonable price and accommodations. And looking back through all this. I feel bad that I haven't even mentioned the "Improv classes". Remember how I told you the shows are ticketed and free, and you have to keep asking yourself how do they do them for free? Think of it as a co-op. Sign up for (I believe) 8 weeks of courses you learn the art of improv (and ironically, I don't think it's all comedy, although I think that's where it's focused) and these free shows are your "tests" along the way. And just as a warning: I'd minimum age of 16 for attendance, due to potential subject matter, although i don't think they have any rules against kids, and try to keep it reasonably PG+ So go support your young aspiring St. Lou actresses and actors. Go now! Yes now! (but make sure it's a show day!)

Came on a Thursday night for the first time to see a friend in a show. It's a much bigger space…read morethan I imagined! They had a bar with alcoholic beverages available and food! I didn't get anything to drink, my friend got an old fashioned and didn't love it, but it looked fine to me! The improv was really good! I was very impressed. Every show is different, the show I saw had three groups. Would come back. Tickets seem very affordable.

First time at this comedy club and I loved how close it was to our home. Ladies at the box office…read morewere friendly and efficient. We arrived an hour early, so had a cocktail in their lounge while we waited for the showroom doors to open. What I didn't like was the haphazard lines to get in. We got the couples package so our line was along the left wall, but for general admission, they had people line up on the right, but since there's a break, we saw entire groups cutting, which was not fair to people who lined up earlier. Inside the showroom, things were run pretty smoothly, and we liked how they had the servers greet us and take us to our table. We found the f&b prices fair and the drinks strong. All in all, it was an enjoyable date night, and we look forward to seeing more acts at this venue.

Great show by Chris Redd…read more But I must say the drinks are severely overpriced. 4 shots and 2 beers came out to $90 + ! Insane pricing. Food was not good either, came out warm and was very dissatisfying.

I just saw Flying West. It was absolutely terrific. The play was about a time when former slaves…read morewere invited after the civil war to found black cities of black people where they did not deal with Jim Crow and could live free. This was a story of three sisters and their mother, all former slaves who bought land and were living free. One sister fell in love with a handsome former slave and the action starts. The acting was excellent, the venue in Kirkwood is superb, and the story is important. Overall it was an excellent play, well acted and directed and about an important time in our history that is not well known. The town Nicodemus is real and is now a National Historic Site. Time well spent.

The scenery was very creative. The sets took me back in time. The costumes were from the 20s. The…read moreperformers were excellent. The singing was impressive. The staff that greeted me were polite and helpful. They remained that wall from beginning to end. I purchased some Chicago popcorn, and it was delicious. A word of caution. You can't eat in the theater. There is no camera or filming allowed for this live performance. Blues in the Night is the 1st show of the season. I plan to go back to see another show. Perhaps it will be the comedy performance that's next.

If your friends or family try to do an intervention on you, thank them for their concern. Tell them…read moreyou've got it under control and that you're planning to go to, Rehab. Just don't say, Bar & Grill. Last time I was in this bar, it went by another name. So that was a really long time ago. To be honest, it probably was the last century. Not going, was a big mistake. When I stopped by the other day, the staff and other patrons were very welcoming and friendly. I stopped by for a quick cocktail before attending an event at another local small business. Rehab impressed me with their friendly customer service. I was also pleased to see that they had outlets and hooks under their bar. That's a small detail that always impresses me. The restrooms are gender neutral. They've even have a sign proudly announcing, "This restroom may be used by any person regardless of gender identity or expression." In addition to that sign, they also have another asking, "One Per Stall". You can share a restroom, just not the stall. The music playing was true party music, giving the bar a positive vibe. I also noticed they had a kitchen. I didn't eat anything, but it's good to have munchies available when you are dancing and drinking the night away. Now that I've been to Rehab, this is one Rehab I will not mind repeating time and time again.

I have been coming to rehab for over a decade and have always had a great experience. Their patio…read moreis unmatched. My current favorite and why I frequent is Moxie's shows that she produces on Wednesdays. They are always AMAZING, week after week. They also have good food at a spot in the corner, straight ahead when you first walk in. I have always had great service there!

This is my favorite comedy club. It feels like a real big city comedy club once you are inside…read more The service is fantastic. Betty the waitress was almost a part of the show. we like and will continue to go. I believe the experience would be even better if they got blues bar going next door. However, i can't ding them for that.

We came here for a work event which included our drinks. The club wasn't packed at all. I expected…read moremore, like an updated venue. The wait staff was incredible and the drinks were literally OK. If you get drinks from the bar outside of the main room the bartender is better. She was making a decent whiskey sour and chocolate Martini. After the comedy show which was amateur hour at best but still pretty decent we went to the karaoke room which was much nicer. The only downside was the drinks sucked over there which ONLY comes down to the bartender. If the drinks weren't free I would not recommend purchasing a cocktail. My coworker said they have some $5 comedy nights or something like that. I would attend during those times but otherwise I'm sticking with Helium Comedy Club