Featured Image Metro Theater Company. 

From big, lively productions to intimate shows that move you, St. Louis’ performances are etched into its history. For 40 years now, the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis has uplifted and supported the performing arts.  

Theater, dance and even experimental music, some grantees have been with RAC since the very beginning. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, MADCO, New Music Circle, Metro Theater Company and The Black Rep are a few of the many organizations who have been curating and bringing to life some of St. Louis’ most memorable, lively performances for decades. 

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis 

As one of the leading opera companies in the country, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has been staging performances since its first season in 1976.  

“RAC has supported that [Opera Theatre] has been taking risks, and there is an incredibly virtuous cycle that emerges where RAC support has helped us to grow into the company that we are, because we’ve had stability in our infrastructure and stability in the support that makes our existence possible,” said General Director of Opera Theatre Andrew Jorgensen. “This allows us to start dreaming about what comes next, and it’s hard to overstate how meaningful that is.”  

Opera Theatre is celebrating its 50th season this year, following the same key principles they have kept since their start –– excellence, approachability, civic impact, diversity and inclusion, innovation, fiscal responsibility, and fun. The ability to lift up and center these values consistently over the years means the organization has been able to push the boundaries of what people can expect from opera theatre.  

Image courtesy of Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Don Pasquale (1976)

“Our staff has grown, our resources have grown, and that has enabled us to commit even more deeply and reach even further in the direction of [our] values,” Jorgensen said. “Commissioning world premieres, investing in making opportunity accessible for young artists and taking programs into schools and into the community.”  

Jorgensen notes that a huge part of how the organization is able to stick with these values and bring them to life in creative, effective ways is due to both RAC’s financial support and overall advocacy for the sector

Image courtesy of Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2019)

“RAC isn’t just a funder,” said Jorgensen. “In the arts community, RAC has really taken a centralized role in being a thought leader, being a convener, being a voice and being an advocate. As RAC celebrates its 40th, I think we should also celebrate not just the philanthropic leadership of RAC, but also the civic leadership of RAC.”  

MADCO  

MADCO (Modern American Dance Company) was founded in 1976 to provide ample space for Midwest dancers to live, work, entertain, and teach. Throughout the years, MADCO brought on a variety of artistic directors, each serving their own unique purpose in forming MADCO into the multi-award-winning dance company it is today. 

“Funding from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis has historically allowed MADCO to bring performances to communities when ticket sales and circumstances cannot support them,” said Board Secretary Tricia Zweier. “RAC has been pivotal in providing fundamental support in terms of legal and structural matters –– ensuring that MADCO continues as a healthy organization that continues to give back to the community.” 

Some of the fundamental MADCO programing RAC has assisted with include two in-school programs –– Insight and Freedom, which shares history and new dance techniques with students, Dance Expressions, a creative movement class for individuals with disabilities –– and Books in Motion, combing literature and dance for students.  

RAC also supported the Emmy award-winning Liquid Roads, which tells the story of how the Mississippi River served as a highway, carrying music between St. Louis and New Orleans. Choreographed by Gina Patterson, the national touring of this show was made possible by a RAC grant in 2014. 

Currently in its 49th season, headed steadfast into its 50th, Zweier said the company will continue to “live up to its legacy as the oldest modern dance company in the region” and is grateful for RAC’s support as they enter their next chapter.  

New Music Circle 

Creating, performing, and highlighting experimental, improvisational music is the focus of New Music Circle (NMC). Founded in 1959, it is the longest established organization of its kind.  

Since 2010, Jeremy Kannapell has worked for NMC coordinating programs and publicity. He describes his position as being on the “ground level” in supporting and amplifying the organization’s mission, while also expanding the overall cultural life of St. Louis.   

Over the years, Kannapell said RAC support has contributed to a variety of different aspects of NMC performances, from logistics like ensuring the stage can be seen from every single seat in the house to the overall quality level of the performances that are put on.  

“The overall mission at [New Music Circle] has stayed the same, but it has evolved.” Kannapell said. “Over the years our board has grown, and they all offer different perspectives that make for incredibly interesting seasons.”  

He also said that throughout NMC’s history, the attendance level for performances has increased by at least three times the original size.  

Though there are many, Kannapell recalls two transformative performances RAC supported that stood out to him and the St. Louis community.  

“John Wiese had a weeklong residency that included eighteen local musicians working together to create a 55-minute-long piece,” Kannapell said. “Ellen Fullman is another artist we brought in, who is an experimental musician known for The Long String Instrument. We set this up at WashU for a week, and we were so grateful to have gotten to use the space for that long.”  

Metro Theater Company  

Metro Theater Company (MTC), previously Metro Theater Circus, was started in the early 1970’s as a six-member ensemble of artists with diverse artistic backgrounds ranging from dancers and musicians to visual artists and teachers.  

Carol North was the Artistic Director at MTC for 30 years and wrote the first grant application that the theater company made in RAC’s very first year, which North jokes she mailed in, as that is how it was done back then. 

Image courtesy of Metro Theater Company 

“RAC has continued to be a vital partner in supporting MTC’s growth and development. General operating support from RAC has meant the world to MTC over the years,” said North. “[The] support enabled us to maintain our commitment to pay artists a living wage with benefits, attract first-rate collaborators, expand our audiences, deepen community partnerships, grow responsibly, and embrace artistic risk, time and again.” 

North said RAC provided critical funding that helped MTC produce one of their most ambitious projects –– Hana’s Suitcase by Emily Sher. When it premiered for two weeks in 2007, over 11,000 people came to see it. It also garnered the organization 29 new local program partnerships in the community.  

North also noted that RAC support was vital for Building Community Through Drama, an in-school artist residency program that developed in part by a RAC CAT fellow,  Emily Kohring.  

MTC was also one of the three participants in EmcArts New Pathways Program, an opportunity brought to St. Louis by RAC, where they won a $10,000 award to design, implement and assess a prototype project that addressed MTC’s challenges,  which included moving to their current permanent location with visible street presence in the Grand Center Arts District.

Image courtesy of Metro Theater Company 

“I know that without the support of the Regional Arts Commission over the years – in all the many ways RAC has lent that support – the story [for MTC] would be quite different,” said North. “The beneficiaries [of MTC’s events and programs over the years are] young people, families, educators and community members of every stripe whose stories bring us together in the varied dance of human experience.” 

The Black Rep 

Founded by Ron Himes in the late 1970s, The Black Rep is committed to producing, reimagining, and commissioning work written by Black playwrights. 

For nearly five decades, The Black Rep has created a more equitable theater scene for Black professionals and students in theater, improving representation both on and off the stage while fostering a community culture of mentorship and support. 

Over the years, Himes said the company had experienced constant changes –– both in programing and in location. They navigate the changes through the lens of their strategic plan, which focus on celebrating the rich cannon of African American literature and on relevant and meaningful educational programming for schools and community organizations, all while keeping in mind institutional stability and fiscal responsibility. 

“With RAC’s continued support, we envision creating and sharing a theater experience that fulfills the expectations for the leading and largest Black arts institution in the region,” said Himes.