“Iron Ladies of Liberia” airs on KETC in April…Sneak Preview of Independent Lens Film at Missouri History Museum

Alex Detrick pulled together another fine evening last night at the Missouri History Museum, featuring Independent Lens film “Iron Ladies of Liberia” which will later air on KETC/Channel 9 April 6th at 11 p.m. Click here for video clip and political background on Liberia and the film. Click here for 2005 Washington Post article written…

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS takes on new sheen as middleschool thespians perform challenging work in Kirkwood, Missouri—story by Tayé Foster Bradshaw

I first encountered the word of the talented and entertaining Antona Smith (writing under the name Tayé Foster Bradshaw) at the St. Louis Writers Guild Wired Coffee Open Mic. When Antona told me about her youngest son and middle child Joshua’s choir performances, I asked her to share this work with you. Check out Antona’s…

St. Louis Black Rep’s “Othello”: Passionate performance meets passionate audience

There is no curtain on the starkly evocative stage. We begin. After the first few minutes, our ears tune to the language of long-ago times, and we, the audience, drop into another world…a world parallel to the one Shakespeare created in his text, and at the same time, a world entirely on-center with the one…

Black Rep “Othello” director Chris Anthony explores connections, connotations, revelations in conversation with each other

At the bottom of this post you’ll see several links leading you to responses to the St. Louis Black Reperatory Company’s production of “Othello.” Some I feel are reactionary and some responsive. But, here, speaking directly for herself from the “Othello” program notes is Chris Anthony. —JGR From Chris Anthony’s letter in the “Othello” prograM…

St. Louis Black Repertory Company’s 31st Season—“Season of the Storyteller”—currently featuring an innovative re-visioning of “Othello”

Put on your party shoes and tap dance down to the Grandel Theatre (a renovated church of magnificent proportion and features) in the heart of the Grand Center to experience some of the best nights in the theater, at the best value, you’ll ever have.

St. Louis Public Library Ranked 2nd place in America’s Most Literate Cities Study; St. Louis finished 6th overall among the 69 largest cites in the nation

Shuntae Shields Ryan of the Downtown Partnership reports that: “For the fourth year in a row the St. Louis Public Library has garnered more positive media attention toward St. Louis, ranking 2nd place in the Library Category of the America’s Most Literate Cities study.

Free preview: “BANISHED”–Missouri Historical Society & KETC/Channel 9 present powerful evening of community cinema…straight talk opens door towards racial healing

Hundreds flocked to watch the Independent Lens preview for “Banished,” at the Missouri History Museum tonight. Parking was at a premium, and seating overflowed into an adjacent viewing room.

Riehlife’s St. Louis Black Fine Artist Feature Series Continues

This conversation with Joseph LaMarque is the seventh in my series of profiles on African-American fine artists and leaders of cultural organizations in St. Louis which now include (in alphabetical order): Rene Dimanche Jr., Ron Himes, Joseph La Marque, Edna J. Patterson Petty, Robert Powell, Freida L. Wheaton, and Rochleigh Z. Wholfe. You can go…

Joseph LaMarque: St. Louis Artist…His art career sprang from home training and he sees art as a part of everyday living.

This conversation with Joseph LaMarque is the seventh in my series of profiles on African-American fine artists and leaders of cultural organizations in St. Louis which now include (in alphabetical order): Rene Dimanche Jr., Ron Himes, Joseph La Marque, Edna J. Patterson Petty, Robert Powell, Freida L. Wheaton, and Rochleigh Z. Wholfe for a total…