WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. — The theater community came together with the help of celebrity actor John Goodman for a special benefit performance to support the historic Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.
The Rep Managing Director Danny Williams said the theater has a special and historic place in the wide-ranging theater scene of St. Louis.
“The cool thing is … it's a thrust stage, meaning that folks sit on almost all sides of the space. You get really close to the actors, and you can see all the magic happening up close, which you really can do at a lot of theaters,” Williams said.
Long-time season ticket holder Marsha Birenbaum said the connection between the actors and the audience is so personal and memorable.
“The fact that it's not a big stage and it's intimate and can do smaller productions just as well as on a bigger stage. Acting is always first-rate. The production values here are wonderful,” Birenbaum said.
For nearly 60 years it’s been the home of St. Louis area musicians, creators, builders, actors and actresses like Carmen Garcia, who stars current show "It’s A Wonderful Life."
“I am a first-generation Mexican American," Garcia said. "My parents came here a billion years ago. And so it's wonderful to be able to come and be a representative for those kids, the little brown kids that maybe don't have someplace to go to see their faces on stage."
Like many theaters, the pandemic hit The Rep hard. Williams says they need to raise $2.5 million just to keep going.
“We've seen slower return of audiences. We've also seen some corporations and other funding sources go away,” Williams said.
To build that back up they reached out to the community for a special benefit rally performance featuring actor John Goodman who auditioned for a role at The Rep early in his career and didn’t get cast, only to go on and support the community where it all started for him.
“If I’d get kicked out of class for disturbing people they would send me to the library and I would read plays I have no idea why that’s why it’s a little spooky like it was meant to be,” Goodman said.
Williams said they are very close to their goal with close to $2 million, but this is only the first phase of fundraising efforts.
The Rep staff said you can support them by simply coming to a show or donating online.
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