[TGE-mail] Stray Dog Theatre Arrives In The Neighborhood!

[GFBell at aol.com]

Hello Tower Grove East Neighbors!  I don't know if you saw  this great 
article in the Post Dispatch yesterday, but I really wanted to share  it with you!  
Please come to the Open House Gala Event to 
see your Arts Center and make reservations for Suddenly Last  Summer by 
Tennessee Williams!  
Tickets are going fast!  Ticket Line 314-865-1995. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Good afternoon!
We're so excited that we are featured in  today's Post-Dispatch Arts & 
Entertainment section!  It  highlights _Tower Grove  Abbey_ 
(http://www.towergroveabbey.org/) , the new music, fine arts, and community venue in your  Saint Louis 
neighborhood! 
Come check out our new place at the  free _Grand Opening Gala_ 
(http://www.towergroveabbey.org/)  on Wednesday, September 5th,  (Open  House 6-10:00pm) and 
our first production, _SUDDENLY LAST  SUMMER_ 
(http://www.straydogtheatre.org/) , September  6-22, 2007! Call (314) 865-1995 for reservations. 
(_www.StrayDogTheatrewww._ (http://www.straydogtheatre.org/) )
We hope  to see you soon!
 

Gary Bell, artistic director of Stray Dog  Theatre, 
speaks to actors before a rehearsal Tuesday at 
the Tower Grove Abbey.
(Whitney Curtis/For the  Post-Dispatch)
 
_Old church cast in new role_ 
(http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/stage/story/3D2CCA51F9133DDD8625733A007D0A54?OpenDocument) 
By Judith  Newmark
POST-DISPATCH  THEATER CRITIC
08/19/2007

Since everybody sees the world from his own mountain, it's only natural  that 
Gary Bell, founder and artistic director of Stray Dog Theatre, looked out  
the window of his Tower Grove East house and saw a theater next  door.

Anybody else would have probably seen a church — just what the  gracious, 
101-year-old structure had always been. 

Bell, whose  peripatetic troupe has performed in a dance studio, a monastic 
center, a  university and, most recently, at a suburban high school, looked at 
it  differently.

Ever since he and his partner, Rob Ogden, moved into the  erstwhile parsonage 
more than a year ago, Bell imagined a transformation for  their largely-empty 
neighbor. 

"I told Rob we should buy it, because it  would be a wonderful theater," Bell 
says. "Now, actually being here … it just  doesn't seem real."

It became real when members of the church  unexpectedly asked neighbors if 
they'd like to buy the roomy old building. Ogden  proposed a compromise instead.

Under the deal they reached, the Garden  Light Church of Christ owns the 
building at 2336 Tennessee Avenue, now called  Tower Grove Abbey (the building 
used to be called St. Luke's). Stray Dog has a  99-year lease that includes the 
right of first refusal, should the church one  day decide to sell the 
structure. 

Stray Dog uses the building Monday  through Saturday (except for the office 
of the new minister, the Rev. Jonathan  Edwards). On Sunday, Garden Light 
United Church of Christ holds services.  Another congregation, South City Church, 
also holds Sunday services  there.

"This building is alive now," Edwards says. "We see this as a  marriage that 
works. Stray Dog's presence here at the Abbey is an extension of  our 
ministry. We hope they see us as partners, too."

Ogden thinks it's a  win-win situation because the theater, like Garden 
Light, has a big commitment  to outreach programs. Stray Dog runs a number of 
educational programs for  children and teens. Some will be held at other sites, 
including Clayton High  School, where Stray Dog will continue to work, and some 
will be at the  Abbey.

The troupe already runs a summer theater camp and an  award-winning, 
after-school program. In its new digs, Stray Dog plans to add  adult classes, such as 
yoga; to offer sites for community meetings; and to  provide a stage for other 
performance companies, such as music groups, that are  based in the Tower 
Grove area.

There's plenty of room for that, from the  spacious basement to the old bell 
tower (now a lighting booth). The building,  partly remodeled in the 1990s, is 
in good shape; Ogden, Stray Dog's executive  director, says transforming the 
building into a theater demands mostly cosmetic  changes.

Apart from the professionals they have hired, Ogden, Bell and  their friends 
are investing a lot of "sweat equity," mainly in the sanctuary —  now the 
Stray Dog mainstage. The stained-glass windows and some of the religious  art, he 
says, will remain. 

"We respect the history here," he says, "and  we respect our neighbors." 

The diverse neighborhood, near Compton  Heights' elegant houses and the South 
Grand restaurant district, includes an  elementary school that backs up to 
the Abbey. Its parking lot will be available  to theatergoers at night.

Two other new theater venues — the Ivory in  Carondelet and the Actors Studio 
in the old Gaslight Square district — also are  opening this fall. Is that 
too many for the St. Louis area?

No, says  Bell, who unleashed Stray Dog in 2003. He suspects that more 
theaters create a  broader theater audience, a plus for everyone. 

And his own situation  could scarcely be better, he adds, glancing out a 
church window to his house  next door. "You just can't beat the commute."


STRAY DOG SCHEDULE 
Stray Dog Theatre kicks off its 2007-08 season with an open house 6 to 10  
p.m. Sept. 5 to introduce theatergoers to its new venue, _Tower Grove Abbey_ 
(http://www.towergroveabbey.org/) , 2336 Tennessee Avenue. The productions  are:

"Suddenly Last Summer" Sept. 6-22

"And Miss Reardon  Drinks a Little" Nov. 1-17

"The Santaland Diaries" Dec.  6-22

"The Music Man" in concert Feb. 15-17 at Clayton High  School

" 'night, Mother" (workshop production) Feb. 28-March  15

"Morning's at Seven" June 12-28

Performances at the  Abbey are at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, except for a 2 
p.m. matinee for each  final Saturday show. Tickets cost $18 general admission, 
$15 for students and  older adults. More info: 314-865-1995 or 
_www.straydogtheatrewww._ (http://www.straydogtheatre.org/) . 

Judith  Newmark
Post-Dispatch Theatre Critic
jnewmark at post-jnewmark@jnewmark at post-<WBR>d 







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