2 Pianos 4 Hands

2 Pianos 4 Hands is playing at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis through October 25, part of the theater's current season at the Loretto-Hilton Center. It's a two-man show with Richard Todd Adams (Ted) and Matthew McGloin (Richard) on stage, and the title tells you exactly what to expect: two actors, two Steinway pianos, and a lot of live music. This particular production comes from Pioneer Theatre Company's 20th anniversary, directed by Tom Frey with scenic design by Yoon Bae.

The play was written by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt, who gave their own names to the characters. It follows two pianists looking back on their years of lessons, recitals, and competitions, tracing their paths from reluctant children at the piano to obsessed whiz kids and eventually to professional musicians. The action moves between scenes of instruction and performance as the characters age from young students into adults confronting the realities of a life in music. Along the way, the two of them play around two dozen scene partners across a series of flashbacks, so while there are only two actors on stage, the world they build is a lot larger.

The music is the real draw here. The score runs from Bach and Beethoven to Billy Joel and Jerry Lee Lewis, and the whole thing is presented as a tour-de-force of live playing. If you've ever spent time around a piano, you'll recognize the arc it traces—the early drills, the high-stakes recitals, and the eventual shift into playing for yourself. It's a look at a specific kind of life, the one spent in practice rooms and on stages, and it's told through the music itself.

There are several ways to catch it. The show runs through October 25, with performances on Friday, October 16 at 7:30 PM; Saturday, October 17 at 4:00 PM; Sunday, October 18 at 2:00 PM; and Wednesday, October 21 at both 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. The Saturday and Sunday matinees both include a post-show talkback, so if you're the kind of person who likes to stick around and hear the actors and crew talk about how the show came together, those are your best bets. You'll find it at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road, in St. Louis.