The Midnight Company to Present the World Premiere of ST. LOUIS WOMAN at The .Zack

The Midnight Company presents the World Premiere of ST. LOUIS WOMAN, a play with music starring LAKA, and written and directed by Midnight's Artistic Director, Joe Hanrahan.
ST. LOUIS WOMAN honors the enduring legacy of some amazing female artists who put St. Louis on the map with their timeless music, dance and poetry. LAKA will portray legendary artists Josephine Baker, Tina Turner and Katherine Dunham. In her roles she will also present the poetry of Maya Angelou, the song stylings of chart-toppers Fontella Bass and Ann Peebles, and the Gospel classics of the legendary Willie Mae Ford Smith. Most of these women were either born in St. Louis or came here when they were young, with the exception of Katherine Dunham's who moved here during the height of their career to continue her momentous work.

LAKA is a singer-songwriter who prides herself in performing a multitude of genres. She recently released her third single, a country-folk song titled "Keep it to Myself" that was written by Mike Lipel. LAKA debuted her first cabaret show at the Blue Strawberry in October of 2020 titled "The Music in Me." This cabaret show chronicled her life story through music. She has since gone on to perform the show in New York City at Don't Tell Mama. Most recently Laka has performed in Las Vegas, Naples (Florida) and Nashville.

ST. LOUIS WOMAN was written and will be directed by Joe Hanrahan. Backing up LAKA will be two of her favorite musicians, Corey Patterson on keyboards, who also serves as music director for ST. LOUIS WOMAN, and Gabe Bonfii on percussion. Ashley Tate is choreographing the show, Liz Henning is designing the costumes, Michael Musgrave-Perkins is the video designer, Tony Anselmo is the lighting designer, and Kevin Bowman is the production designer.

Hanrahan says that LAKA has one of the best voices he's ever heard. His appreciation for LAKA's talent and her desire to do something more theatrical led to their collaboration on ST. LOUIS WOMAN. Hanrahan said, "This show became a unique opportunity to present some of the great art created by the tremendous talents who carved out their exceptional careers while living in St. Louis."

ST. LOUIS WOMAN runs October 6 - 22 at the .ZACK theatre. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, with Sunday matinees on October 9 and 16 at 2pm. Tickets are $30 for performances on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and $20 for performances on Thursday. To purchase tickets, visit Metrotix.com. For more information about ST. LOUIS WOMAN, visit midnightcompany.com

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