Student matinees for the first three shows of this season at the St. Louis Repertory Theatre were enormously successful, with over 7,500 students from 109 schools attending.
Traditionally, classics like The Crucible and Twelfth Night are popular with teachers because the plays are often part of the curriculum. Unfortunately, unknown titles don’t attract much attention, which is evident by a much smaller number of reservations for the second half of the season.
The Rep has received a surprisingly small response to Crowns from schools with largely African-American populations.
Based on the book Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats, the play is the story of Yolanda, a street-smart New York teen who is sent to live with her grandmother in South Carolina after her brother is killed. A completely new life awaits Yolanda as she is taken on a music-filled cultural journey from slavery in the United States all the way back to Africa.
The play, full of exuberant gospel and jazz, has been a hit all around the country.
There are two scheduled student matinees of Crowns in April, and only one is full enough to keep on the schedule. But there is still time to book more reservations, and the Rep is mounting an effort to fill both performances.
Providing tickets and a bus for 50 students would require a contribution of $550 (50 tickets @ $7 each plus four hours of bus rental @ $50 per hour).
If your company would be willing to sponsor a school, or if you can suggest a company that would be a good match for this project, please contact the Rep at 968-7340 or HYPERLINK “mailto:bharris@repstl.org”bharris@repstl.org.