Writer-Director Helping Small Professional Theatre Sustainment Fund

By Lynn Venhaus
Cory Finley first came on my radar with “The Feast,” his original play that was produced by the St. Louis Actors’ Studio in fall 2017. Since then, he has received national acclaim for two films, “Thoroughbreds” and “Bad Education.” He is definitely one to watch.

Now he is giving back to the small theater company that gave him a shot by being one of the artists trying to help STLAS and others in St. Louis through the Small Professional Theatre Sustainment Fund. This was started to help these struggling companies pay their bills until they can safely re-open.

The coronavirus pandemic has threatened extinction for millions of small businesses all over the world, including theater companies, who will continue to be hit hard as they might not receive any funding in 2021, and if they do, it would be a small amount.

“The federal government has offered some help, but small professional theaters are not in line for major funding and the existing funding that relies on tax dollars is vanishing,” said William Roth, STLAS Founder and Artistic Director. “We decided to take matters into our own hands with the creation of the Small Professional Theatre Sustainment Fund and enlisted the help of well-known St. Louisans with careers in the arts.” 

By donating to the Fund, participants are automatically entered into a drawing to win a virtual hangout with Finley or other famous St. Louis artists Sterling K. Brown, Jon Hamm, Sam McMurray, Beau Willimon, or Neil LaBute (longtime friend of the St. Louis Actors’ Studio).

For every $75 donated to www.stlas.org/sustain, the participant’s name is placed into a drawing for 50 chances to win. The more a person donates, the better their chances are for winning. Contest ends Sept. 17 and the winner will be drawn on September 18.  

During the virtual meet-up, the winner will be able to discuss anything of interest with the artist—from acting tips and insights, to fans just wanting to spend a little quality time. Names will be drawn until all artists are spoken for. For official rules and regulations, please visit the FAQ page. Donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Finley wanted to get involved because he believes in their work and the mission they’re starting.

“I was lucky enough to have STLAS put on a production of my play ‘The Feast.’ I’m a huge fan of the work they’re doing and I’m very concerned about the health of theater in America generally in pandemic conditions. I think it’s a great initiative to help keep vital institutions alive,” Finley said. 

In a short-take review, I described the play this way: “One act, three actors, five genres, so says director John Pierson, who shrewdly realizes an eerie “Twilight Zone”-type mind game by Cory Finley of Clayton, Mo. The twisty-turny original play, only 65 minutes’ long, benefits from an accomplished trio of actors and Patrick Huber’s customary meticulous set and artful lighting design. Pierson’s crisp direction and keen sound design enhance the mysterious off-kilter quality.”

Pierson, a St. Louis actor, director and teacher, has been at John Burroughs School since 1993 and is chairman of the Theatre, Speech and Dance Department.

Finley, 31, a Burroughs graduate, is based in New York City, where he is a member of the Obie-winning Youngblood playwrights group at Ensemble Studio Theater. He received a commission from the Alfred P. Sloan foundation for playwrighting, and was the inaugural recipient of the Gurney Playwrights Fund for “The Feast,” which was presented first at The Flea Theater.

Three years ago this month, Finley’s play “The Feast” fit into the vision at The Gaslight Theatre, STLAS’ black-box home.

“STLAS is committed to bringing engaging theatrical experiences to our community of actors, writers, producers, filmmakers and all patrons of the arts; and to provide a strong ensemble environment to foster learning and artistic expression. Through the use of ensemble work, STLAS explore the endless facets and various themes of the human condition by producing existing and original collaborative theatre,” Roth said.

Finley received high praise for the film “Thoroughbreds,” which he adapted from his play and also directed. It was accepted for the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017, and nominated for the Audience Award in the Best of Next! competition. It played at the St. Louis International Film Festival that November. Sold to Focus Features for $5 million, the film opened in theaters in March 2018.

Finley wrote the crime-drama-dark comedy about two upper-class teenage girls in suburban Connecticut, who rekindled their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. Then they hatch a plan to solve both of their problems — no matter what the cost. The cast included Anna Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke, and was the last film of Anton Yelchin, who died in a tragic accident at his home in June 2016. The film is dedicated to him.

Anton Yelchin, Cory Finley, Anya Taylor-Joy. Photo by

Indie Wire described the film as “Heathers meets American Psycho.” Rotten Tomatoes had a score of 86% and the critic consensus was: ” Thoroughbreds juggles genres with panache, delivering a well-written and refreshingly unpredictable entry in the teen thriller genre.”

In 2019, Finley scored a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Screenplay for “Thoroughbreds.” The annual awards, held since 1984, honor independent filmmakers working with small budgets. For more information on the film, visit www.thoroughbredsmovie.com

Last year, Finley directed “Bad Education,” which was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 and sold to HBO for $20 million. HBO aired it April 25 this year (Currently available in HBOMax catalog) and as of Sept. 8, it is available on DVD and Blu-Ray. It is also available for rental or purchase on streaming platforms.

“Bad Education” is nominated for two Emmy Awards — Best Television Movie and Hugh Jackman for Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. The Emmy Awards are Sunday, Sept. 20.

The film, based on a true story, focuses on the popular superintendent of New York’s Roslyn school district as well as his staff, friends and relatives who become the prime suspects as the single largest public school embezzlement scandal in American history unfolds. Former Roslyn student Mike Makowsky wrote the screenplay based on the New York Magazine article “The Bad Superintendent” by Robert Kolker.

Finley said he was drawn to the script for several reasons.

“I thought the script had a really unique tone, a complex character at its center, and themes about greed, institutional failure and systemic corruption that spoke to me,” he said.

And working with the cast was a positive experience.

Jackman played Frank Tassone, who was sentenced to 4 to 12 years for the $11.2 million embezzling scheme, and Alison Janney played Pam Gluckin, an assistant superintendent who took part in the scheme.

“I was enormously lucky that my A-list cast all had the work ethic and humility of actors just starting off: particularly Hugh and Alison made my job incredibly easy and were intensely collaborative and open, as well as super-prepared,” Finley said.

He said he is not at liberty to divulge his next project just yet..

How has he been coping with the pandemic in New York?

“My partner is a medical resident who got pulled into the COVID ward right at the height of the pandemic, so I had a very intense view of the worst of it through her. But she’s now back home doing tele-health and things are much more normal,” he said. “I’m fortunate to have a job that I can do from home — the writing and prep parts of my job at least — and so I’m far less affected than many New Yorkers have been.”

What has he learned during this time of quarantine?

“It’s a total cliche, but I’ve learned how important a sense of social community is, and how badly we all need it back,” he said.

Cory FInley at Film Independent Spirit Awards. Photo by Kevin Mazur.

Q&A QUESTIONS FOR “TAKE TEN”
1. Why did you choose your profession? 
I always loved creating and managing made-up worlds: first pretend games, then Dungeons and Dragons, then school plays, then  directing film. 

2. How would your friends describe you?
Tall, polite, bad at remembering things, dad jokes, no sense of direction. 

3. How do you like to spend your spare time?
Playing basketball with great enthusiasm and minimal ability. 

4. What is your current obsession? 
Youtube chiropractic adjustment videos. Also, archived Firing Line videos of William F. Buckley debating prominent leftists of the 60s — Noam Chomsky, James Baldwin, Huey Newton. They show at once how far our politics have come and how little our discourse has changed. 

5. Who do you admire most?
In no particular order: Caryl Churchill, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Lebron James. 

6. What is your favorite thing to do in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area?
Ted Drewes and the Tivoli Theatre.  

More to Know:
Name: Cory Finley
Age: 31
Birthplace: St. Louis, MO (Clayton, specifically)
Current location: Manhattan
Day job: Many years SAT/ACT tutoring
Favorite movies: Brief EncounterThere Will Be Blood

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis announces a series of four community conversations to be presented with partners across the St. Louis community, examining representation and equity in the arts, entertainment, and media. Each panel event will address a different topic, including casting in the performing arts, leadership in film and television, opportunities within the music industry, and the voice of the media.
The panels will feature Opera Theatre artists, prominent St. Louis arts and media professionals, and leading figures with a national perspective on these questions. The series strives to further dialogue in the St. Louis community about equity, making art, and the responsibility to reflect the rich diversity of our community.The first event in the series is presented in partnership with John Burroughs School.
Representation and Responsibility: Perspectives on Equity, Casting, and the Performing Arts
in the 21st Century, will be held on Friday, October 26 at 7 p.m. at the Haertter Performing
Arts Center at John Burroughs School, at 755 S Price Road, St. Louis MO 63124.

The community conversation will be moderated by Adrienne Davis, Vice Provost and William M.
Van Cleve Professor of Law at Washington University, and will include an audience Q&A and a reception with the four panelists:
• Soprano Julia BullockBullock returns to St. Louis in OTSL’s 2019 Festival Season as one of the stars
of the world premiere Fire Shut Up in My Bones. A former member of
OTSL’s Monsanto Artists-in-Training Program, which is now in its 29th year of
providing college level voice lessons to high school students, Ms. Bullock has now
given critically acclaimed performances at Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco Opera,
The Santa Fe Opera, the English National Opera, the Berlin Philharmoniker, and The
Bolshoi.
• Actor and educator Duane Foster
Foster made his Broadway debut in the original cast of Ragtime in 1998 and
enjoyed an extensive national career before returning to St. Louis and his alma mater in
the Normandy School District to revive their drama program and chair the district’s
fine arts program.
• Christina Rios, Artistic Director of R-S Theatrics
Rios’s St. Louis-based theatre company is now in its tenth year of producing St.
Louis premieres of thought-provoking works that demand conversation, offering new
productions of work by such important contemporary voices as Lin-Manuel Miranda,
Rajiv Joseph, and Stephen Adly Guirgis. She serves as casting director for R-S. As a
performer, she has appeared in numerous St. Louis productions, including The
Threepenny Opera, Jerry Springer: The Opera, First Lady Suite, and Into the Woods.
• Opera Theatre General Director Andrew Jorgensen
Mr. Jorgensen assumed leadership of OTSL in July 2018 after most recently serving as
Director of Artistic Operations and acting as Interim Executive Director at the
Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center. Highlights of his collaborations
with WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello include the revised world premiere of
Appomattox, the East Coast premiere of Champion, and the commissioning of six new
chamber-length operas as part of the American Opera Initiative Program.
The discussion will be held at John Burroughs School, 755 S Price Road. The panel will last
approximately 75 minutes, with a casual reception immediately following. Tickets can be
reserved online at www.ExperienceOpera.org, or by calling the Box Office at (314) 961-0644.
During Julia Bullock’s visit to participate in this event, she will also lead masterclasses for
students at Southeastern University Illinois Edwardsville and John Burroughs School, her alma
mater. She also appears in recital at The Sheldon Concert Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 8
p.m. Tickets to the Sheldon concert are available at www.thesheldon.org.
Subsequent panels in the series will continue through June, 2019, featuring filmmaker and
producer Kasi Lemmons, composer and Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter Terence
Blanchard, and New York Times columnist Charles Blow – all members of the creative team
behind “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” which opens Saturday June 15, 2019 as part of OTSL’s 2019
Festival Season. More information regarding later Representation and Responsibility
discussions will be announced later this fall.
Representation and Responsibility is made possible in part by the Fred M. Saigh Endowment at
Opera Theatre and by the Sally S. Levy Family Fund for New Works, which provides support
for contemporary opera and related community engagement activities. Leadership support comes
from the Whitaker Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Fire Shut Up in My
Bones is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and made
possible by an OPERA America Innovation Grant, supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty
Foundation. Major production support is provided by OPERA America’s Opera Fund.
Audience development programming is made possible by PNC Arts Alive.
About Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is a spring festival featuring casts of the opera world’s most
exciting singers accompanied by the acclaimed St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Each season,
OTSL presents four inventive new productions in English during the months of May and June. In
addition to presenting innovative interpretation of classics, OTSL is also committed to
premiering new and relevant operas by prominent composers; since its inaugural season in 1976,
27 operas have premiered Opera Theatre.
Opera Theatre’s competitive young artist programs foster the next generation of emerging
American singers; these programs have been a springboard for countless artists to launch
international careers.
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is funded in part by the Regional Arts Commission, Arts and
Education Council, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Missouri Arts Council, with
audience building programs supported by The Wallace Foundation.
Generous leadership support for the services of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is provided
by the Taylor family and the late Jack C. Taylor.