ST. LOUIS - Building on the momentum of the successful NOH8 Project St. Louis, organizers of Project St. Louis have partnered with FUZE Beverages, Girl Friday, Just John's and Vital VOICE Magazine to build TEAM FUZE for the 12th Annual Susan G. Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure, June 12.

BY: ANDREA BRAUN – THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

    Queenie and Burrsie were lovers / Oh, lordy how they could love. . . until they didn’t. Same kind of story here with a few changes in who does what, but the outcome is the same. In the Director’s Notes, Scott Miller ties The Wild Party to the lack of civility in our culture, “a metaphor or microcosm for those moments in American history when anger and fear supersede reason and decency.” That statement fits the show, but does the show fit the generalization? Not so much.

    SPRINGFIELD, IL - Equality Illinois reported today that the Illinois House of Representatives voted by 108-0 to pass SB3266, which will require schools to fight bullying in schools by adopting anti-bullying policies, creating resistance education and training for students, and other reasonable measures.  The Illinois State Senate passed the bill earlier this month.

    Significantly, this bill covers bullying specifically targeted at students because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, among other categories.

BY: ANDREA BRAUN – THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

    There are no director’s notes in the playbill for The Country Girl. The artistic directors’ page says: “. . . we believe art speaks to everyone in its own context, and therefore we will let the play speak for itself.” In this case, I’d like to know what someone whose vision has guided the piece—here, Jim Anthony—has to say about what he hoped to accomplish and why he chose to direct this particular work.

BY: R. LEE BOND – ASSOCIATE EDITOR

    For 2010, Pride is expected to have a record turnout of 90,000 rainbow followers — a number not seen anywhere else in the Midwest!  Tyler Hill, Pride St. Louis’s new President, is ready and agog at the helm to captain the HMS Pride to new heights this year! 

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

    The irreverent and funny, Tony Award winning musical, Avenue Q returns to the Fabulous Fox for four performances, April 30-May 2. The smash Broadway musical about real life in New York City has proven an unlikely hit and is told by an eclectic cast of characters, both human and puppet alike.

    WASHINGTON, D.C. –  On April 15, President Obama signed a presidential memorandum taking important steps to protect the visitation and healthcare decision-making rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.  This important action was inspired by last year’s New York Times profile of the tragic experience of partners Janice Langbehn and Lisa Pond. 

BY: ANDREA BRAUN – THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

    Suki Peters isn’t afraid of a challenge. She has elected to direct the sweeping Broadway musical based on the classic 1932 film Grand Hotel with 26 performers, an 8-piece orchestra and all the backstage folks necessary to make a big musical happen. Unfortunately, this show isn’t worth all that effort, though Peters and her cast of seeming thousands give it a lot of color and energy.

    NEW YORK, April 13, 2010 - Hundreds of thousands of students at thousands of middle schools, high schools and colleges will participate in GLSEN's 15th annual Day of Silence on Friday by taking some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment.

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay was on hand at the Duane Reed Gallery for Project St. Louis' Gallery Event to declare April 8, 2010 Project St. Louis Day in the Gateway City. (The Gallery Event, featuring hundreds of portraits, continues on April 9 from 7 to 10 p.m.)

BY: A.J. BOCKELMAN - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PROMO

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

    No, this is not a reprise of The Sound of Music. This is the story of a good elected official gone bad.

    ST. LOUIS - Laclede Gas Company officially changed it's website this week on April 1, 2010 to reflect a promotion of it's non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation.

Laclede Gas Company (Laclede) is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment in all employment decisions. Laclede pledges itself to the following policy for all personnel and applicants for employment: