Within a matter of days, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis has announced its receipt of four separate grants, making the Missouri company something of a lightning rod for not-for-profit funding. They've gotten $20,000 from the Southwestern Bell Foundation to support a tour of their touring ensemble, the Imaginary Theatre Company (ITC); $15,000 from the Shubert Foundation in support of the theatre's 30th anniversary; $10,000 from Union Pacific Foundation to help young people experience live theatre; and $5,000 from May Department Stores Company (May's seventh consecutive year of support).
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, nicknamed "The Rep," is a member of the League of Resident Theatres. Education and family-oriented shows are a big part of their mandate, be it ITC performances or subsidized discounts to student matinees. The May Company's contribution helps underwrite teacher study guides.
Spokesperson Judy Andrews told Playbill On-Line the spate of funding announcements was not so much an unusual spurt of activity but simply a number of grants that came through at around the same time but were announced all together.
The Rep's current show is Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, directed by artistic director Steve Woolf. ITC's current touring shows include a childrens adaptation of The Canterbury Tales, titled "Chanticleer!; and a junior-high/high school-oriented drama, Welcome Home, about an idealistc young man who enlists to fight in Vietnam.
In other Rep news, their next mainstage production will be Tennessee Williams' Glass Menagerie ($9-$39.50 March 12 to April 11). Joe Sutton's Voir Dire ($17.50-$25, March 19-April 6) takes the Studio Theatre. Production spokesperson Judy Andrews told Playbill On-Line that although the Rep tries to choose plays that please its subscribers, they also shouldn't be lumped in with "the Midwestern mindset" that some people might ascribe to theatres of its type: "In our 30 years, we've never done a Neil Simon play. We do Shakespeare, a lot of Shaw, and we foster new writers like Anthony Clarvoe, whose Brothers Karamazov premiered here, or Hiram Titus and Barbara Field."
--By David Lefkowitz and Robert Viagas
