|
 |
ACROSS THE
BOARD
|
The St.
Louis Black Repertory Company
By Pam Droog
In 1976, Ronald Himes and a group of African American theatre students
at Washington University began performing as the Phoenix Theatre
Group. Over time, that group became the St. Louis Black Repertory
Company, where Himes still performs onstage, in one play each season.
But his more demanding, daily role is behind the scenes, working
with a dedicated board of directors to make sure the Black Rep remains
the pre-eminent African-American performing arts organization in
Missouri and one of the five largest African-American companies
in the U.S.
In January, the Black Rep began its 24th season $50,000 in the black.
"We sold 1,900 subscriptions compared to 1,500 last year. Single-ticket
and group sales are up, too," says Black Rep board chairman Debra
Denham, vice president of community affairs at BJC HealthCare. "People
were so anxious to get back after such an exciting season last year,
the phones just rang off the hook once tickets went on sale."
However, Himes notes, "when you generate only 50 to 60 percent of
the $1.5 million operating budget you need at the box office, you
still have to raise 40 to 50 percent of overhead. That's where an
active and committed board comes in."
|
Front
Row (left to right): Patti Riggle, Denise Thomas
Second
Row (left to right): Debra Denham, board president;
Cheryl Sharpe, managing director; Dr. George Murphy;
Audrey Jones; Gloria Ross; Wyndell Hill; Susan Hagen,
business manager
Third
Row (left to right): Dr. Moisy Shopper; Ron
Himes, founder and producing director; Richard Greene;
Traci Blackmon;
Larry Richardson; Peter Sargent; Emmanuel Kintu
Not
pictured: Benjamin Ola. Akande, Ph.D., dean
of the school of business, Webster University, Samuel
P. Jenkins, vice president shared services, The
Boeing Company.
|
|
The Black Rep's 26-member board is "perhaps the strongest we've
had in the history of the organization," Himes says. Members represent
community groups, educational institutions, law, banking, professional
sports, media, medicine and more.
Most board members serve three-year terms on a rotating basis. "This
gives us continuity, and helps us maintain a leadership trail to
develop officers," Himes says. The full board meets bi-monthly,
and the executive, nominating, finance, marketing, development and
facilities committees meet monthly.
New candidates are nominated by individual board members. "In areas
where we targeted a specific need, we identified a couple of people
we were interested in and went after them," Himes says. "We've never
had anyone we have sought not accept a position on the board. That
speaks well for the work the board does and how it's perceived in
the community."
That also benefits an organization continually adding capacity and
programs, and looking for ways to support its growth. To raise needed
funds, board members make contributions, and also solicit them,
mainly at work. The board also sponsors a series of fundraising
events. The most notable is the Woodie Awards, which Himes created
in honor of Woodie King, Jr., a pioneer of the Black Theatre movement
in America. Last year's gala, held at the Sheldon in June, raised
a record $150,000.
The board also recently kicked off a major African-American giving
initiative, the Cornerstone Project, which will help build cash
reserves and establish an endowment. "We hope to raise $150,000
to $200,000 the first year, then $50,000 or more annually," Himes
says. "It's ambitious but to support our expanding artistic programming,
we've got to be ambitious."
The Black Rep board's most recent achievement has been receiving
an equity investment of $128,000 from the Working Capital Fund,
a collaborative effort of the Ford Foundation and the Nathan Cummings
Foundation. The Working Capital Fund is a four-year program designed
to strengthen nationally-recognized arts groups of color that have
reached a critical juncture in their development.
An additional source of satisfaction for the Black Rep board is
that all five mainstage plays have been underwritten by corporate
sponsors. "This is exciting for us, because it allows us to focus
more on the art," Denham says. The season kicked off in January
with a St. Louis premiere, "Jitney" by August Wilson, and also offers
two Midwest premieres, "Oak and Ivy" and "The Dance on Widow's Row,"
a world premiere, "Legends," and a revival of "Godspell." Sponsors
include Southwestern Bell Foundation, Emerson, Kwame Building Group,
Whitaker Foundation, AT&T and Anheuser-Busch.
In addition to the mainstage season, the board also oversees the
Black RepÕs education and community programs. The company presents
more than 150 tour performances each year, exposing more than 60,000
students to live theatre through its Professional Intern Program.
Each year, six to seven theatre graduates act, provide production
support, assist in administration and conduct workshops for children,
adults and community groups. "We look at this program as a transition
from academia to a career in the arts," Himes says.
The Black Rep is comfortable at the Grandel Theatre, where it moved
in 1992. However, classes and workshops are held at Harris Stowe
College and scenery and costume shops are in rented space outside
Grand Center. "We're searching for a way to bring everything into
one facility in Grand Center," Himes says. "The board will aggressively
work on that in the next couple of years."
In the meantime, the Black Rep will continue to pursue its mission,
to produce the work of African-American playwrights. "No other group
has made the commitment to develop artists of color, and to build
the kind of diversity this community really needs," Himes says.
ÒI think we've been very successful at that, and you can see it
on any night at the theatre, where we undoubtedly have the most
diverse audience of any performing arts organization in the region."
Pam Droog is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer. |
|
|
|
|
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
