Metro Theater Company Announces 2022-23 50th Anniversary Season

Metro Theater Company (MTC), St. Louis's premier professional theater for youth and families and St. Louis' third-oldest professional theater company, announces its 2022-23 50th Anniversary Season. Tickets go on sale to the public later this summer. Performances take place at the Grandel Theatre and the Big Top in Grand Center Arts District.

Bold, Brave, Curious!

September 9 - October 16, 2022
Touring to schools across the St. Louis region
Free public performances Oct 15 & 16 at the Fall Free Family Festival
By Mariah Richardson
World premiere commissioned by Metro Theater Company

Nine-year-old Delilah has sworn to be BFFs with Lupe and Stanley, but when Stanley's foster mom falls ill, secrets and lies threaten to tear the friends apart. Can the mysterious, magical object they find in Grandmomma's attic bring them back together?

Bold, Brave, Curious! illuminates the power of friendship and empowers young people to examine friendship, bias, community, and individual power. This first production of MTC's 50th anniversary season is the next chapter in St. Louis-based playwright Mariah Richardson's ongoing series about Madeline Delilah, a thoughtful and precocious girl, whose story first appeared on the stage at Metro Theater Company more than 11 years ago with the world premiere of Delilah's Wish.

Best enjoyed by ages 8 and up.

Seedfolks

October 9 - November 6, 2022
Grandel Theatre
Adapted from the Newbery Medal-winning book by Paul Fleischman

A vacant lot in a broken neighborhood in the middle of the city can become a lot of things. A garbage dump. A gathering spot for trouble. How could it ever be a source of hope? A dozen different characters and their stories come to life, beginning with Kim, a nine-year-old Vietnamese immigrant who plants six precious lima beans. One by one, the people of her community, many also immigrants, sow seeds of hope amid the dirt and grit, tending dreams to full bloom. As the garden grows, so does the community, blooming into something bigger, better, and beyond all expectations. As told by award-winning novelist Paul Fleischman, the garden draws neighbors out of their lonely isolation to rediscover and celebrate the community around them.

Best enjoyed by ages 9 and up.

Fall Free Family Festival

October 15-16, 2022
Grand Center Arts District

To celebrate 50 years of Metro Theater Company, MTC is giving back to the community that has sustained it through its first 50 years with a full weekend of free theater, education, and fun for families and young people. All are welcome at a free fall family festival, featuring multiple free performances each day of both Seedfolks and Bold, Brave, Curious! as well as excerpts from the 21/22 season production of In My Granny's Garden. Attendees can also enjoy children's poetry from one of MTC's co-founders Zaro Weil, a scavenger hunt, arts and crafts, and other hands-on learning activities for young people of all ages. Food trucks will be onsite for al fresco dining, and other arts and education partners from across the region are participating. Attendees will also be invited to help create a piece of public art together, which may become a permanent fixture of the Grand Center Arts District. Festival events take place at the Grandel Theatre, Grand Center Arts Academy, Sun Theater, and on Grandel Square.

Spells of the Sea

February 5 - March 5, 2023
Grandel Theatre
Metro Theater Company
by special arrangement with Megan Ann Rasmussen Productions
presents the World Premiere of
Spells of the Sea
Book, Music and Lyrics by Guinevere Govea with additional creative contributions by Anna Amelia Rose Pickett
Based on the podcast created by Guinevere Govea
Directed by Julia Flood
Music Direction by Deborah Wicks La Puma

Finley Frankfurter is a 15-year-old fisherwoman who is terrible at fishing. H.S. Crank is a grumpy old lighthouse keeper who has been sitting for 20 years in the dark. Together, this unlikely pair begins an adventure through the ocean to find the Elixir of Life, an elusive remedy that will save Finley's father from a mysterious illness. On their journey, the pair encounter mermaids and pirates, whirlpools and their worst fears, and finally a new understanding of the meaning of family, friendship, and belief in yourself.

Guinevere "Gwenny" Govea began Spells of the Sea in quarantined isolation and, with Anna Pickett, developed it into a podcast during the pandemic. Now, this unique tale breathes new life on the stage!

MTC's 50th season celebration continues with the world premiere of this endearing musical and introduces St. Louis to the next generation of great theatrical storytellers in musical theater. As MTC looks forward to its next 50 years, it champions daring young voices like Gwenny's and Anna's who are leading the way!

Spells of the Sea is an uplifting adventure with heart and soul for the whole family!

Best enjoyed by ages 8 and up.

Go, Dog. Go!

April 2-16, 2023
The Big Top
Adapted by Allison Gregory and Steven Dietz
Adapted from the book "Go, Dog. Go!" by P.D. Eastman Published by Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Copyright © 1961 by P. D. Eastman
Copyright © renewed 1989 by Mary L. Eastman.
All rights reserved.
Music Composed by Michael Koerner
"Do You Like My Hat?" Lyrics by Michael Koerner
Presenting Sponsor: Kranzberg Arts Foundation

P.D. Eastman's classic children's book comes to life at the Big Top! Yellow Dog, Blue Dog, Red Dog and dogs of all colors, shapes, and sizes live in a magical world where dogs are king. See them work, play, eat, sing, dance, play musical instruments, swim, skate, ride bikes, drive cars, and go for a boat ride. They do it all! They snorkel. They howl at the moon. They ride a Ferris wheel. They celebrate their world with a big party in a tree. It's like a pop-up book that comes to life - and never stops.

In celebration of Metro Theater Company's 50th anniversary, Go, Dog. Go! at the Big Top harkens back to MTC's beginnings as Metro Theater Circus, taking audiences of all ages into a musical world of doggy fun and reviving one of the most popular plays MTC produced in the last 20 years. This dynamic theatrical adaptation of the beloved book combines music, movement, and rhythmic language into a colorful kaleidoscope of very busy dogs.

Best enjoyed by ages 3 and up.

To ensure continued digital accessibility across the St. Louis region and beyond, as part of PNC Arts Alive's funded MTC Remote initiative, MTC will continue online streaming of its mainstage productions. MTC is also continuing its Pay-What-You-Wish viewing period for each mainstage production (live or streaming) so that economic barriers do not prevent families from experiencing the season's productions. Sensory friendly, audio described, and sign language interpreted performances will also be available for mainstage productions.

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