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The Medicine Show – Ken Haller at the Kranzberg Studio

 

Ken Haller
“The Medicine Show”

July 20-21, 2018

8pm

$25 General Admission

In the Kranzberg Arts Center
Produced by The Presenters Dolan

Ken Haller’s The Medicine Show peddles miracle cures compounded by Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel, Stephen Sondheim and other noted practitioners of the healing arts. In song and story, Ken shows us how becoming a doctor is just the first step in becoming a healer.

“In this 65-minute show of stories and songs, I look at what captivated me about medicine and the realization that being a doctor is not the same thing as being a healer. I will be accompanied by my brilliant Music Director, Marty Fox, and I hope you will join us for this very personal show.”  ~ Ken Haller

Here’s what the critics have to say about Ken Haller:

 

Cabaret Scenes critic Chuck Lavazzi calls “The Medicine Show,” “…fast and funny… truly moving” and adds “Haller delivered the goods with that combination of theatrical smarts and vocal authority that has made him one of our town’s principal cabaret exports.”

(Read the full review here: http://cabaretscenes.org/2017/05/03/ken-haller-the-medicine-show/ )

“Pediatricians have many talents—Ken is a dear friend and a wonderful pediatrician—and he does a moving and delightful cabaret show with songs and stories about families and growing up—and turning into yourself.” – Perri Klass, MD, New York Times columnist

BEST ST. LOUIS CABARET PERFORMER! The GO! List, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday, April 26, 2015:

“Cabaret performers come and go, but Ken Haller, a pediatrician by day, is a St. Louis legend. If you’re interested in what makes the Great American Songbook great, you owe it to yourself to give this man a listen.” – Calvin Wilson

MAMA’S BOY

“Tender, loving…hilarious. A great show from a great guy.” – Katie Dunne McGrath, KDHX.org

“A stellar performance…an extraordinary cabaret performer.” – Lois Caplan Miller, The Jewish Light

SONG BY SONG BY SONDHEIM

“Haller’s show is a gem… His sincerity and authority carry the day in this very personal creation. This is a terrific show. It’s a model of what cabaret should be!” – Gerry Kowarsky, Two on the Aisle, HEC-TV

“Haller is a charming and talented performer with a voice as smooth as a brandy Alexander… A Classy Act. A Classy Guy.” – Robert Alan Mitchell, KDHX.org

THE TV SHOW!

“…a tremendously entertaining and often extremely funny romp through TV land… fun for the whole family!” – Chuck Lavazzi, KDHX.org

“…a sheer delight…a pleasant trip down memory lane…touching a nerve with all of us who experienced this golden age.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com

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Song by Song by Sondheim 2018

This will be the Year of Stephen Sondheim in St. Louis, as he is honored with the prestigious 2018 Saint Louis Literary Award. To salute the master lyricist and composer, Ken Haller is thrilled to reprise his critically-acclaimed debut cabaret show:

“Song by Song by Sondheim”
Fri & Sat, April 6-7, 2018, 8:00 PM
Tickets at https://www.metrotix.com/events/detail/presenters-dolan-ken-haller-song-by-song-by-sondheim

Weaving songs as sentimental, witty, lacerating, sweet, and rollicking as “Not a Day Goes By,” “Everybody Says Don’t,” “Losing My Mind,” “Not While I’m Around,” “Marry Me a Little,” and his own unique take in “Send in the Clowns” into a “wonderful… funny… terrific… intimate” 65-minute narrative, Ken, accompanied by his Music Director, Marty Fox, displays the gifts that led the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to name him Best St. Louis Cabaret Performer 2015.

Critical raves for Ken Haller and “Song by Song by Sondheim”

“Haller’s show is a gem… Haller gives [Sondheim’s] songs a new, very intimate context, that lets them work in the same way they do in the original shows, [and] his sincerity and authority carry the day in this very personal creation. This is a terrific show. It’s a model of what cabaret should be!” — Gerry Kowarsky, Two on the Aisle, HEC-TV

“Ken Haller once again delights a St. Louis audience with his very special evening of songs by Stephen Sondheim. He first presented this masterfully-crafted cabaret evening some seven years ago at the Kranzberg. Since then he performed it in New York. Thoughtful, lonely, funny, loving – [This] show is well worthy of revival. – Steve Callahan, kdhx.org

“Saw this and it was wonderful! Grab a ticket while you can.” — Gail Pennington, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Ken Haller combines amazing warmth and intimacy, in an act that sets him far above nearly everyone else in town.” — Richard Green, TalkinBroadway.com

“Haller is a charming and talented performer with a voice as smooth as a brandy Alexander… A Classy Act. A Classy Guy.” — Bob Mitchell, kdhx.org

“Ken Haller’s cabaret show is terrific. There are some really beautiful moments. The whole show is Sondheim, and it’s such a good song list! Extremely funny but also extremely personal and warm and emotional.” — Scott Miller, Artistic Director, New Line Theatre

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For St. Louis pediatrician Ken Haller, the turmoil of the early AIDS crisis came close to home

By KELLY MOFFITT

  • Ken Haller shares his story at The Story Collider podcast event on May 2, 2017.

    Ken Haller shares his story at The Story Collider podcast event on May 2, 2017.
    SLEET PHOTOGRAPHY | ST. LOUIS STORYTELLING FESTIVAL

On May 2, St. Louis Public Radio hosted The Story Collider, a national podcast and live storytelling group, for an evening of personal stories about science told on stage under the theme of “Eclipse.” The event was sponsored by the St. Louis Storytelling Festival.

Ken Haller, SLUCare pediatrician at SSM Cardinal Glennon Childrens Medical Center and professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University, shared a personal story from his first years as a doctor in New York City during the rise of the AIDS crisis.

Since 2010, The Story Collider has collected personal stories about science and shared them in live shows and a weekly podcast. Since the May show in St. Louis, the group has partnered with St. Louis Public Radio to produce future shows here through St. Louis Public Radio reporter Eli Chen.

The next event will be during the month of October. Have a science story to share? Reach out to stories@storycollider.org to participate.

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region. 

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Best St. Louis cabaret performer

Ken Haller

Ken Haller (left), a cabaret-singing pediatrician, rehearses for an upcoming performance with musical director Al Fischer at his Shaw neighborhood home in St. Louis on May 22, 2012. Photo by Sid Hastings

Ken Haller

Cabaret performers come and go, but Ken Haller (a pediatrician by day) is a St. Louis legend. If you’re interested in what makes the Great American Songbook great, you owe it to yourself to give this man a listen. ~ CW

Click Here to view this article on STLToday.com

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Fourth annual Briefs Festival showcases eight playwrights

By KATIE COOK

Dr. Ken Haller, far left, Joan Lipkin and John Schmidt are participating in next week’s Briefs Festival. The trio talked to ‘Cityscape’ host Steve Potter, far right, about the event on Friday at St. Louis Public Radio in St. Louis.
CREDIT ALEX HEUER / ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO

What do a gay mermaid looking for love, a Jewish mother who competitively wants her single son to have the biggest wedding, and a lesbian version of Dr. Seuss have in common?

They are all themes in this year’s Briefs Festival of Short LGBT Plays, a festival that brings together numerous directors and actors to showcase the work of eight different playwrights under one roof.

The eight plays being performed at the festival on March 27-29 at the Centene Center for the Arts have been selected out of more than 170 submissions from across the country.

On Friday, “Cityscape” host Steve Potter talked about the festival with Joan Lipkin, the festival’s co-producer and artistic director of That Uppity Theatre Company; Dr. Ken Haller, a pediatrician and actor; and John Schmidt, a playwright and the winner of the Ken Haller Playwriting Competition for LGBTQ and Allied Youth.

Briefs: A Festival of Short LGBT Plays

  • When: 8 p.m. March 27, 2015; 4 and 8 p.m. March 28, 2015; 2 p.m. March 29, 2015; the Ken Haller Award Reception is 6:30 p.m. March 27, 2015.
  • Where: The Rialto Ballroom at Grand Center, 3547 Olive St., St. Louis
  • More information

“Cityscape” is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer and sponsored in part by the Missouri Arts Council, the Regional Arts Commission, and the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis.

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Ken Haller Celebrates his 60th Birthday with ‘Mama’s Boy’

By MARY EDWARDS • OCT 24, 2014

Ken Haller is a pediatrician in his day job.  But in his spare time, he is a cabaret singer.  Following the success of his previous shows “Side by Side by Sondheim” and “The TV Show,” Haller will celebrate his 60th birthday with “Mama’s Boy,” part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival series.

“Cityscape” host Steve Potter began his conversation with Haller by asking him if he really was a mama’s boy. He responded, “Yes, I’m a mama’s boy.  I’m an Irish-Catholic kid from Long Island, and one of five kids. So in the show this is sort of a tribute to her.  It starts out with songs that she used to sing around the house, songs that remind me of her, and that’s sort of a springboard for all the rest.”

Potter gently suggested that being labeled a “mama’s boy” is typically a bad thing. Haller explained that he didn’t see it that way. “I learned a lot of lessons about how to take care of other people …

“Cityscape” is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer and sponsored in part by the Missouri Arts Council, the Regional Arts Commission, and the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis.

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Song by Song by Sondheim at Don’t Tell Mama NYC

Ken Haller returns to New York’s venerable cabaret venue, Don’t Tell Mama, for a third time with his acclaimed cabaret show, “Song by Song by Sondheim,” on Tuesday, August 30, at 9:15 PM. Using the songs of Broadway’s premier composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim to weave a narrative that “gives [Sondheim’s] songs a new, very intimate context, that lets them work in the same way they do in the original shows,” Haller creates a show that has been hailed as “Extremely funny… but also extremely personal and warm and emotional,” and “a model of what cabaret should be.”
Show and ticket info:

Ken Haller
Song by Song by Sondheim
Accompanied by Jim Followell
Tuesday, August 30, 2011, 9:15 PM
Don’t Tell Mama
343 West 46th Street (Restaurant Row) New York City, 10036
Reservations & Info: 212-757-0788 after 4:00 PM daily,
or go to www.donttellmamanyc.com

With So Little to Be Sure of, I am sure that Stephen Sondheim is the greatest composer-lyricist in American theatre of the past half-century, and this Broadway Baby is thrilled that my show of his songs, directed by Tim Schall and produced by Jim Dolan, has been so well received in New York, Chicago, and St. Louis. Though sometimes, when Everybody Says Don’t, I confess to feeling like I’m Losing My Mind, Not a Day Goes By that I’m not grateful for just Being Alive and being able to keep this Good Thing Going. Really, What More Do I Need?

Just you! It would be Lovely if you would join me and my brilliant accompanist, Jim Followell, as we bring the show – a look at how one man takes the many parts of a life and works at Putting It Together – back to New York for one more night!

We’ll make sure you have a great time, even if we have to Send in the Clowns, and I guarantee that you will not be disappointed: Not While I’m Around!

Quotes from the critics:

“Haller’s show is a gem… Haller gives [Sondheim’s] songs a new, very intimate context, that lets them work in the same way they do in the original shows, [and] his sincerity and authority carry the day in this very personal creation. This is a terrific show. It’s a model of what cabaret should be!” — Gerry Kowarsky, Two on the Aisle, HEC-TV

“Saw this and it was wonderful! Grab a ticket while you can.” — Gail Pennington, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Ken Haller’s cabaret show… is terrific. There are some really beautiful moments. The whole show is Sondheim, and it’s such a good song list! Extremely funny… but also extremely personal and warm and emotional.” — Scott Miller, Artistic Director, New Line Theatre

“Ken Haller combines amazing warmth and intimacy, in an act that sets him far above nearly everyone else in town.” — Richard Green, TalkinBroadway.com

“Haller is a charming and talented performer with a voice as smooth as a brandy Alexander… A Classy Act. A Classy Guy.” — Bob Mitchell, kdhx.org

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Song by Song by Sondheim

Jul 15, 2011 at 8 PM – Jul 16, 2011 at 8 PM

Kranzberg Arts Center
501 N Grand Blvd, St. Louis 63103

“With So Little to Be Sure of,” I AM sure that Stephen Sondheim is the greatest composer-lyricist in American theatre of the past half-century, and this “Broadway Baby” is thrilled that my show of his songs has been so well received in St. Louis, New York, and Chicago. Though sometimes, when “Everybody Says Don’t,” I confess to feeling like I’m “Losing My Mind,” “Not a Day Goes By” that I’m not grateful for just “Being Alive” and being able to keep this “Good Thing Going.” Really, “What More Do I Need?”

Just you! It would be “Lovely” if you would join me and my brilliant Music Director, Al Fischer, as we bring the show – a look at how one man takes the many parts of a life and works at “Putting It Together” and hailed as “Extremely funny but also extremely personal and warm and emotional” – back to St. Louis on Friday and Saturday, July 15 & 16, at 8 PM!

Tickets on sale now at www.licketytix.com 

I’ll make sure you have a great time, even if I have to “Send in the Clowns,” and I guarantee that you will not be disappointed: “Not While I’m Around!”