The St. Louis Theater Circle

On this final day of 2020 we note with sadness the recent passing of Charles Creath, long-time music director for The Black Rep among his numerous career accomplishments. Charles imprinted his singular style on myriad musicals at The Black Rep over the last few decades. Earlier this year he was honored with the St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Outstanding Musical Direction for his work on The Black Rep's revival of its "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" production in 2019. Cre...ath usually could be seen at his keyboard amiably leading his band to the side of stage right at Edison Theatre or other venues where The Black Rep regularly performed. His easy-going style masked a mastery of his craft and the considerable effort he put into his performances. As Ron Himes, founder and producing director of The Black Rep, stated in a story in the December 29 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "He was a musical genius. He could play anything, and he played everything. He was a tremendous gospel church musician, tremendous jazz musician. "We had done several productions of 'Ain't Misbehavin'' together, and he could play that whole show without the score," added Himes. "He was just an incredible arranger, composer and all-around great musician." In the new film version of August Wilson's play, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," bandleader Cutler starts each selection for his musicians with the mantra, "One, two, you know what to do." Most assuredly, Charles Creath knew what to do to elevate his many performances with The Black Rep and other local and national groups with an accomplished knack of bringing out the best in his playing and that of his fellow musicians for the benefit and enjoyment of his appreciative audiences -- Mark Bretz

We are saddened today with the news of the passing of our colleague, Sarah Bryan Miller, who succumbed after a long battle with cancer at age 68. Bryan was an integral member of the St. Louis Theater Circle membership, casting ballots in the last several years for outstanding achievements in our various categories for opera. As the classical music critic for the past two decades at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Bryan brought insightful observations to her regular reviews of cl...assical music concerts by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and other groups throughout the area, in addition to her critiques and articles about Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Union Avenue Opera, Winter Opera Saint Louis and other arts organizations. Born in Kansas City, Miller moved with her family to Chicago in her high school years. She graduated from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin with a double major in English and History and a double minor in Music and Education. Singing in choirs since childhood, Bryan began a career in opera as a mezzo-soprano singer with the Lyric Opera Chorus of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theatre and others. She also was proficient at writing, contributing to the Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other media. The Post nominated her for a Pulitzer Prize for her series of articles and stories about the financial crisis at the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2001. Andrew Taylor, then-president of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, told her that her reports persuaded his family to donate $40 million to SLSO, the largest gift at that time ever donated to an American orchestra. Bryan's combined her considerable expertise in music with her equally adept writing ability to maintain a serious level of coverage for the arts in St. Louis. We deeply appreciate her invaluable contributions to the St. Louis Theater Circle and are grateful for her enthusiastic involvement in our organization. As Bryan herself is quoted in the Post-Dispatch story of her passing, "The arts are local news...news you cannot get on the wires...The arts are an integral part of any community." Thank you, Bryan, for all that you did to celebrate so many wonderful artists in our greater St. Louis community -- Mark Bretz

https://www.poplifestl.com/the-moon-stars-love-and-more-in/

Chuck Lavazzi's review of The Muny's Summer Variety Hour for KDHX

Lynn Venhaus reviews "Lobby Hero" at Stray Dog Theatre

https://www.poplifestl.com/episode-2-of-munys-summer-varie/