Things to Do in Manchester

An authentic trolley with brass rails and bells and outfitted with modern padded seats and air conditioning glides through St. Louis’s historic neighborhoods as knowledgeable tour guides wax poetic about the city’s past and present. Guests gaze out of the trolley’s charming arched windows during the 23-mile ride, catching sight of a much larger arch standing sentry over downtown sites such as St. Louis Union Station and the Mississippi River. Tour guides fling droplets of wisdom like handfuls of rice at famished newlyweds, sharing anecdotes about historic Laclede’s Landing and Forest Park, the site of the 1904 World’s Fair, the first summer Olympic games held in the U.S., and the first forest.

The fully narrated tour departs and returns from Lumiere Place Casino on the riverfront. Tuesday and Thursday evenings, fearless tour goers can follow along a haunted walking tour that highlights some of the city's macabre past, including the St. Louis fire and the Bloody Island.

The classically focused Alexandra Ballet entertains audiences with a well-rounded dance diet ranging from contemporary original pieces to traditional masterworks. The company’s agile dancers have pirouetted their way to uproarious applause in past performances that include The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Peter and the Wolf. Since 2003, the company has enriched the community through its educational-outreach programs, which provide youngsters with free learning materials and ballet performances throughout the school year.

In 2009, while refereeing women’s flat-track derby bouts, the founding fathers of the St. Louis GateKeepers realized they wanted a taste of the speed, adrenaline, and action found in competitive roller derby. The pair gathered a crew of like-minded skaters and, in November of that year, the GateKeepers held its first league practice. By the end of their 2012 season, the league had expanded to feature three teams, plus a travel team that defends St. Louis from out-of-town opponents hoping to claim the Arch as a trophy. Despite its expansion, the GateKeepers stands by its original mission to provide a league for the players, by the players, and welcomes men from all walks of life to try on the sport's sweat-soaked jerseys and multicolored bruises.

It's hard to cut a rug properly. You have to measure room dimensions, don safety goggles, and use a proper pair of carpet shears. Today's side deal to Dance St. Louis lets you leave this labor of love to the professionals. For $25, you get one ticket (up to a $50 value) to a performance of the Moscow Festival Ballet at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus. Tickets are general admission, and seating in the orchestra and parterre sections will be determined on a first-come, first-served basis. All tickets for all showtimes must be redeemed by phone or in person at the Dance St. Louis box office in Grand Center (open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday). Tickets must be redeemed before Thursday, April 22.

Shopping at a boutique is like coveting a fashion-savvy friend's wardrobe, except that you can take home a knockout pair of jeans without worrying that your bootylicious bud wore them better than you to an auto plant. Whereas department stores follow trends, boutiques create them with innovative looks from top designers that you won't find anywhere else in town. Byrd Style Lounge cultivates a collection of classic lines and edgy designs, perfect for those who want one-of-a-kind looks but don't want to sift through thrift or pay top dollar for something someone's grandma already wore.

Elizabeth Birkenmeier, Scott McMaster, Jerry Vogel, and Jason Cannon bring Scotland playwright David Greig's sensual show to life for mature audiences. Set on a remote island off Scotland's coast and directed by Philip Boehm, the play explores three characters entangled in a web of sexual tension on the eve of World War II. The lyrical play is at once a keen exploration of human nature, a moving study of young emotion, and a powerful snapshot of a world teetering on the brink of cataclysm.