The Black Rep is waiting in the wings for next week’s star-studded gala.
Patron tickets are still available for the annual celebration, to be held Saturday, Nov. 11, at 560 Music Center in University City. Proceeds from the event benefit The Black Rep’s education and community programs.
Longtime actors Wendell Pierce (“The Wire,” “Treme” “Jack Ryan”) and Richard Lawson (“Poltergeist,” “Dynasty,” “All My Children”) are the recipients of the Woodie King Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award.
Pierce received a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman.” In 2012, he won a Tony for Best Play for producing “Clybourne Park.”
Lawson is co-artistic director of the Waco Theater Center in Los Angeles, which he co-founded in 2017 with his former wife, Tina Knowles-Lawson.
Also being honored are St. Louis attorney Susan Block and former St. Louis City police chief Dan Isom, who will be recognized with the Frankie Muse Freeman Service Award.
The evening will be capped off with a one-night-only performance by the acclaimed Tuskegee University Golden Voices Concert Choir.
Tickets for the gala, as well as for concert-only admission, are available by visiting The Black Rep’s website.
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s music director position is now endowed in perpetuity, thanks to a generous gift by Emily Rauh Pulitzer.
The Joseph and Emily Rau Pulitzer Music Director position is currently held by Stéphane Denève, who is marking his fifth year with SLSO this season. The endowment will provide a permanent base of funding that will bolster the 144-year-old orchestra’s ability to retain and attract the highest level of artistic leadership.
The Pulitzers’ affiliation with the SLSO spans more than a century, beginning with Joseph Pulitzer’s father, who served on the board from 1910 to 1940. Joseph Jr. joined the SLSO board in 1939 after returning from Harvard and served for more than 16 years. His widow, Emily, has been an SLSO trustee since 1994. She also currently serves as the secretary of the board and chair of the Powell Hall Task Force, a panel tasked with overseeing the expansion and renovation of the orchestra’s historic home in Grand Center.
The 2023 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Washington University English professor Carl Phillips, will be honored this weekend in University City.
The city will bestow its 2023 Tradition of Literary Excellence Award to Phillips, the author of more than 15 books. His latest, “Then the War: And Selected Poems, 2007-2020,” was announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in May.
Among other recognitions over the years, his first book, “In the Blood,” won the Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize in 1992. He teaches Craft of Poetry and Poetry Workshop at Washington University, where he has been professor since 1993.
Do you know a deserving woman who has devoted her life to the arts or is actively contributing to the local arts scene in her own impactful way?
Submit your nomination(s) through Tuesday, Nov. 14, for the 2024 Saint Louis Visionary Awards, which recognizes women who have made exceptional contributions to the arts.
Award categories include: Outstanding Working Artist, Emerging Artist, Community Impact Artist, Outstanding Arts Professional, Outstanding Teaching Artist, Arts Innovator and Lifetime Achievement. Individuals may make multiple nominations and can also nominate themselves.
An independent review panel comprised of artists, arts educators and arts advocates will select the winners, with names of recipients to be announced in January.
The Visionary Awards, which will be marking its 10th year in 2024, will take place Monday, April 29, at The Sun Theatre in Grand Center.
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis is asking the community to “Rally for The Rep.”
The Rep recently is implementing a few changes to the second half of its 2023-2024 season after announcing a projected $2.5 million budget shortfall. In an effort to streamline its season, two planned productions, “The Lion” and “The Greatest Love for Whitney,” have been cancelled; and “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” will replace The Rep’s annual holiday production of “A Christmas Carol.”
The Rep is also urging the community to support the 57-year-old St. Louis institution through the “Rally for The Rep” campaign. Citing decreasing ticket sales, declining foundational funding and corporate support, and increasing operating costs, The Rep says it is “facing a financial crisis that threatens our very existence.”
“The slower-than-hoped-for return of audiences following the pandemic exacerbated financial challenges and necessitated that we make these significant and difficult changes,” said Danny Williams, managing director for The Rep. “We need patrons to bring friends and family and show support in any way that they can to help us ensure that the productions we have planned in 2024 can happen.”
The Rep’s production of “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” runs Dec. 1 to 23 at the Loretto-Hilton Center. Adapted by Joe Landry from the beloved American holiday classic and based on “The Greatest Gift” by Phillip Van Doren Stern, the show reimagines the film as a live radio performance. For tickets and other information, visit The Rep’s website.
An award-winning journalist recognized for her media leadership and for promoting diversity in her profession, Gazelle editor-in-chief Trish Muyco-Tobin has more than 25 years of experience in print and broadcast media. She is also a journalism professor at Webster University. The Trish Set is her monthly St. Louis column featuring good news and goodwill.
