5. Sob your way through a modern opera For its final show of the season, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis presents Tobias Picker's modern opera Emmeline, which is about a young woman whose newborn son is forcefully taken from her and raised by an unknown family. Twenty years later she gets married to a younger man, and can you guess who he is? Picker's tale of woe was inspired by events in a nineteenth-century New England mill town, but there is also the hint of Oedipus present. Canadian soprano Joyce El-Khoury makes her OTSL debut in Emmeline, which is performed at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 13, at Webster University's Loretto-Hilton Center (130 Edgar Road; 314-961-0644 or www.opera-stl.org). Tickets are $25 to $125.— Paul Friswold
6. Cheer for the Soap Box Derby racers A quintessential American tradition vroooooms down Macklind Avenue this Sunday, as the R&R Soap Box Derby Race returns for another year of good-spirited fun. Boys and girls between the ages of seven and eighteen are invited to participate in the stock, super stock and masters division of the race — and the winner of each division is eligible to race at the national level later this year. For a donation, adults can take part in the Oil Can Race. The St. Louis Jaycees sponsor this full day (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) of speedy competition on the historic Hill at the corner of Macklind and Botanical avenues (314-740-2755). Races are free to watch, and it costs $15 to compete in the oil-can races.&10;— Brooke Foster
7. Celebrate the rain in Spain at the Muny The great question behind Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady is not "Can a gentleman make a lady of a Cockney flower girl,? but "What does that flower girl see in that gentleman?" Eliza (the flower girl) is sweet and generous even if she can't aspirate her H's, but Henry Higgins treats her first like a project and then like a servant. Who cares if he's "grown accustomed to her face"? There's more to her than that. Ah, well. Despite the fraught implications of the romance, My Fair Lady has stood the test of time, thanks to its basketful of classic songs, not least of which are "I Could Have Danced All Night" and "On the Street Where You Live." The Muny opens its 2015 season with My Fair Lady at 8:15 Monday through Sunday (June 15 to 21) at the Muny in Forest Park (314-361-1900 or www.muny.org). Tickets are $14 to $87. — Paul Friswold
8. Cheer on the ladies at the Women's World Cup Watch Party St. Louisans love soccer for all the right reasons: the athleticism, grace and excitement that make it the beautiful game. From the legendary members of the 1950 U.S. squad to the pickup games found in parks all across the city each weekend, soccer means something to St. Louis. Partake in the Women's World Cup Watch Party at 7 p.m. at Ballpark Village (601 Clark Avenue; 314-345-9481 or www.stlballparkvillage.com), as Team USA competes against the excellent Nigerian club. Catch the action on the 24-foot outdoor screen, while pairing your soccer experience with fun games, great giveaways and delish dishes from a variety of BPV hotspots. Admission is free, but you'll need money for concessions. — Brooke Foster
