AFL To Honor Donna Weinsting With Lifetime Achievement Award

AFL To Honor Donna Weinsting With Lifetime Achievement Award

Best Performance Awards to Honor Community Theatre, Youth Productions June 30

Local performer Donna Weinsting, who has been a popular figure on stage, in films and comedy clubs throughout St. Louis for 60 years, is this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from Arts For Life.

“I am beyond honored to receive this very special recognition, humbled and excited. I feel that this is a gift — to be acknowledged for something I have had a passion for nearly my entire life,” she said.

Donna Weinsting

Born Donna Collins, she grew up in St. Louis, and while her family moved several times, she landed in Oakville at age 13, and that is where she has lived ever since. She was first in a summer city park production of “Sleeping Beauty,” then a play in junior high.

“The die was cast and a 60-year career in acting and stand-up comedy was launched,” she said.

A graduate of Mehlville High School, she has never shied away from a challenge, playing leads as well as supporting and brief roles. She has performed in one-woman shows, played characters like Mr. Potter in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Jabba the Hutt in “Star Wars,” and various animals in WiseWrite plays written by 10-year-olds.

The community theater organizations she has worked with include Clayton Community Theatre, Theatre Guild of Webster Groves, and the no longer active Affton Players.

She has been on the stages of the regional professional companies The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Max and Louie Productions, New Jewish Theatre, St. Louis Actors’ Studio, Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble, Stray Dog Theatre, St. Louis Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, Upstream Theater, West End Players Guild, and the shuttered Orange Girls, Insight Theatre, OnSite, and others.

She has appeared at the Bluff City Theater in Hannibal, Mo., Ozark Actors’ Theatre in Rolla, Mo., Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre in Arrow Rock, Mo., Stages Houston and 59E59 Theatre Off-Broadway in New York as part of the LaBute New Theatre Festival.

Her honors include a Kevin Kline Award for Lead Actress, as Bessie in “From Door to Door” at New Jewish Theatre, St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Outstanding Actress as Iola in “Salt, Root and Roe” at Upstream Theater, and a St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Comedy Ensemble for “Jacob and Jack” at New Jewish Theatre, where she played both Ester and Hannah.

 She is proud of those honors but her most treasured things are her two children, five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and her 63-year marriage to her high school sweetheart, Mike.

Next up is a one-act play, “The Magic Tower,” which is part of the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis production of “Life Upon the Wicked Stage” this August.

She will be shooting a movie in Springfield this fall called “Big Mike’s Cabin,” and has appeared in “Ethan and Edna” and “Doubting Thomas.”

Zion Thomas emcee

Tickets Available for Awards Ceremony

Tickets are now available for the Arts For Life’s 24th Annual Best Performance Awards for community theater recognition on Sunday, June 30 at the Keating Performing Arts Center at Kirkwood High School, 801 W Essex Ave, Kirkwood, MO 63122

Zion Thomas will be the event’s master of ceremonies. A recent graduate of Case Western Reserve University, he is pursuing a career in film/TV.

Thomas served as the assistant director for GCPA’s “Ragtime,” and has performed the show twice — in the Union Avenue Opera production as part of the Harlem Ensemble last summer and was nominated for a St. Louis High School Musical Theatre Award for his performance as Coalhouse Walker Jr. at MICDS.

A GCPA alumnus, Thomas was BPA-nominated as Flick in “Violet” and played one of the adults in “Spring Awakening.”

Paul Pagano will serve as director. A native of St. Louis, he is the executive director and a co-founder of Gateway Center for the Performing Arts. He earned a bachelor’s degree in drama from Washington University and a master’s in theatre education from Fontbonne University.

A proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association since 2001, he has worked with The Muny, Stages St. Louis, HotCity Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and others. Besides teaching at GCPA, he has been an instructor at COCA, St. Louis University High School, and Stages Performing Arts Academy.

The ceremony will include performances from the top musicals nominated in the three Best Musical Production categories.

Paul Pagano will direct the awards ceremony

Act Two Theatre’s “The Drowsy Chaperone” and Monroe Actors Stage Company’s “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” lead all musical productions with 17 nominations apiece.

Gateway Center for the Performing Arts has the most nominations with 31- for “Bare: A Pop Opera” (7) and youth productions “9 to 5: The Musical” (14) and “School of Rock” (10).

Seating is reserved. Please let us know which theatre group or individual you would like to sit with in the “notes to seller” section at checkout.

BPA tickets are $30 and are available online with a service fee of $2 added: https://arts-for-life-2.square.site/.

Reservations can be arranged via the mail. Make check payable to ARTS FOR LIFE and mail to PO Box 16426, St. Louis, MO 63125.

All BPA ticket orders will be held at the box office unless a self-addressed stamped envelope is included with the ticket order. If ordering for a group, please attach a list of individual names for box office pick-up.

Please contact us at afltrg@artsforlife.org if you have any special seating needs. Handicapped seating is available.

Award Nominations

Nominations are listed on the website, www.artsforlife.org.

“These events recognize the incredible talent we have in St. Louis community theater and honor the passion and dedication of those who build this amazing and unique theatrical community,” said Mary McCreight, AFL president.

Participating groups included Act Two Theatre, Alpha Players of Florissant, Christ Memorial Productions, Crusader Players, Curtain’s Up Theatre, Dayspring Arts and Education, Gateway Center for the Performing Arts, Goshen Theatre Project, Hawthorne Players, KTK Productions, Looking Glass Playhouse, Monroe Actors’ Stage Company, O’Fallon Theatre Works, Spotlight Productions and Take Two Productions.

Arts For Life is a local not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to the healing power of the arts through its work with youth, the underserved, and the community, with its goal of “Making a Dramatic Difference.”

AFL is dedicated to promoting public awareness of local community theatre, encouraging excellence in the arts, and acknowledging the incredible people who are a part of it.

For advertising rates, BPA event sponsorship or more information, email afltrg@artsforlife.org or visit the website, www.artsforlife.org

GCPA Producing the Epic Musical ‘Ragtime’ April 19-21

GCPA Producing the Epic Musical ‘Ragtime’ April 19-21

Renowned for its innovative and impactful theatrical work in St. Louis, Gateway Center for Performing Arts is producing one of its most epic musical endeavors yet — “Ragtime.”

“This production pulls out all the stops, including aerial effects by On the Fly Productions, the functioning Model T Ford used in the national tour, and a large live orchestra,” said GCPA Executive Director Paul Pagano, who is directing the show.

“This is a very deep, emotional, and complicated story. These young artists are telling it with a wisdom that is beyond their years. They understand what it means to fight for equity far better than I did at their age. I learn a lot from them. My hope is that through their telling of
this story, you will learn from them, too,: Pagano said.

The musical will be staged for four performances at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center April 19-21, with showtimes at 7 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday.

“Ragtime” intertwines the lives of three families – white, black and immigrant – navigating the vibrant and tumultuous landscape in turn-of-the-century America. The lush Tony award-winning musical score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty sets the backdrop for this powerful tapestry, delving into the complexities of racial tensions, social change, and the pursuit of the “American Dream.”

GCPA’s talented and passionate young cast, under the direction of a diverse powerhouse creative team, tell a story that not only revisits the struggles of the past, but also holds a mirror to the present, inviting audiences to reflect on how much has truly changed, and how much remains the same.

“My role was to research this show, but I really learned the most from the actors in this cast,” said Dramaturg Kate Schuler. “We can – and should – learn about racial injustice in school, but learning directly from the performers, having open conversations and how the story of “Ragtime” resonates with them as they bring it to life, has been so Important. We need to keep having these conversations.”

Zion Thomas, a GCPA alum now joining the creative team as Assistant Director, shared his perspective. “We see the protagonist, the passionate and adventurous Coalhouse Walker Jr., grow angry and violent as the story unfolds. His actions are a calculated response to all he has lost. They come from the mind of a man who screams for respect yet has found no other way to be heard. I do not excuse his actions, but I do understand them.”

“In my opinion, one cannot focus on Coalhouse’s violence without first dwelling upon what drove him to it: the defilement of his dignity, the inability to obtain legal justice, and the brutal murder of his love with impunity. Like all people, Coalhouse sought common decency and respect. And when it was denied him, he demanded it. I hope you fall in love with Coalhouse, but more importantly, I hope you hear his plea. It is one that many cry to this day,” he said.

Ragtime takes a hard look at the connection between the injustices of the past and the present, but it also calls audiences to action for the future. Aurora Lindsey, who plays Sarah’s friend, shared the impact of connecting with community while developing her character.

“Working alongside this gifted cast, especially in a group of gifted black friends, I have experienced such deep connection as we’ve grown together through telling this story. My character experiences a lot of pain, but she has taught me the importance of even through pain, always taking the chance to lift people up, create change, and move forward.”

Activist Emma Goldman is played by Grace Cooperstein, who reflected, “I’ve learned from my character how to speak up and use every opportunity to make change. My sword is my voice.”

And James Davis IV, who is a part of the Harlem Ensemble and plays Coalhouse’s Follower, said: “Ragtime illuminates the very real discrimination we still face today, but my takeaway is that these characters never gave up and never stopped fighting for their joy and for their dreams. We have the power. especially when we are family together, to make change. When opportunity strikes, don’t linger in the noise. Keep going.”

The choreography is by Laura Roth and Lawrence Haliburton and Lori Pagano is the music director.

Tickets are available through Metrotix or the KPAC box office for $15-26 and can be purchased through www.gcpastl.org/tickets. Student
tickets are available on Saturday night for $15. You can avoid Metrotix fees by purchasing directly from the KPAC box office.