Avast, Pardner

It's a question that has plagued sages for ages: Who's tougher, pirates or cowboys? The answer should be obvious. A combination pirate/cowboy would be invincible. And at last, someone has recognized this elegant solution, as Robert Hart Baker and the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra present the benefit pops concert, Buccaneers and Buckaroos. The first half of the show features music inspired by those roughnecks of the open seas, including Franz Waxman's theme from the film Captains Courageous, Klaus Badelt's score for Pirates of the Caribbean, and some filigreed and foppish bits from Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore and Pirates of Penzance. The second half of the program is all about the pirates of the high prairies; you get music from The Magnificent Seven, the whip-cracking Rawhide and even the theme from Bonanza. Showtime is 8 p.m. at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus (1 University Drive at Natural Bridge Road; 314-516-4949 or www.touhill.org). Tickets are $20 to $40. Please check all cutlasses and hog legs at the door.
Fri., Aug. 22, 2008