A golden Black Rep

Black theater in America is alive, vibrant and viable — it just isn’t funded. 

That reminder from August Wilson framed Ron Himes’ reflections as The Black Rep announced its 50th anniversary season. For Himes, Black theater remains truth telling and celebration — the place where Black artists can control their own images.

“Our programming allows us to do that,” said Himes, Founder and Producing Director of The Black Rep, as they gathered last month to unveil the milestone season that begins in September. “We show the good, the bad and the ugly. It is cultural preservation. It is where we teach our history and where we fill in the blank spaces in American history.”

Himes said the company is building three pillars as it launches its 50th anniversary this fall. Human capital — staffing, audience, board and philanthropy to support the institution. Protecting intellectual capital — including the twenty-five world premieres The Black Rep has produced and preserving the artistry and history of the company. Washington University is archiving The Black Rep’s history.

The most urgent pillar is financial capital. Cultivating it is ongoing. Himes noted that corporations and funders have made major gifts in the past — some more than 25 years ago — and The Black Rep hopes they will return with support for the anniversary.

“Somehow, a lot of people think that somebody comes with some fairy dust and sprinkles it and a Black Rep show just pops up. Not true,” Himes said. The company doesn’t have major individual donors, major corporate sponsors or major foundation support. There is support from some corporations and foundations, but not enough to sustain the institution at the level the community calls it.

He feels that In many instances, The Black Rep is held to the same expectations and standards as major cultural institutions, despite the funding disparity. It has been the diversity in the arts community and one of the most colorful parts of the cultural fabric of St. Louis.

As the 50th anniversary approaches, The Black Rep is beginning an endowment campaign — with a goal of $15 million — as an investment in the company’s future. That effort could lead to a capital campaign.

“We are, as our ancestors have been, resilient,” Himes said. “And we are constantly moving forward. We are still moving towards the right to produce our work, to support our artists and to create a space for the institutionalization of a major Black cultural institution in St. Louis.”

He noted that The Black Rep is arguably the most diverse performing arts institution in the region.

“When the lights go down, you don’t know if you are sitting next to a Black person, a white person, a straight person or a gay person, a rich person or a poor person,” Himes said. “What you do know is that when you laugh, they laugh. When you gasped, they gasped. When you were about to wipe a tear, they may have handed you a tissue.”

Singer and actress Denise Thimes couldn’t help but start an amen chorus.

“That’s right,” Thimes said as Himes continued with his remarks.

“It is our goal — it is part of our mission and the core of our values — to work as diligently as we can to make sure that experience, that sharing, continues when the lights come up,” Himes said.

The mission of The Black Rep also includes cultivating talent.

“There have been so many times where Ron saw something in someone before they saw it in themselves,” said Thimes, a Black Rep veteran of more than 30 of its 50 years. “I’ve seen that with my own eyes.” 

“The Black Rep will open its 50th anniversary with a song,” Ron said as he revealed show lineup for the company he started as a student at Washington University. 

“The Color Purple” launches the season in September at Washington University’s Edison Theatre. “The Colored Museum” follows. “Purpose” will be followed by a 50th anniversary presentation of St. Louis’ own Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf.” August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean” will close out the season.

Five plays — five productions — reflecting five decades.

For the 11th Annual Black Rep Gala, the company will present a concert version of “Tell Me Something Good,” a musical revue conceived by Himes that has been a fan favorite for more than three decades.

For more information about The Black Rep’s 50th Anniversary season, visit www.theblackrep.org or call 314-534-3807. 

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