The WHY of MY City – Fair Ground

Celebrate Black history and youth empowerment with a new production by Saint Louis Story Stitchers, written by Story Stitchers artists and directed by Sillo.

The WHY of MY City – Fair Ground

Synopsis of the story: In a top podcast show a 19-year-old Army Reservist draws inspiration from a Civil War  story about the power of young people to make progress towards fair ground.

Photo Gallery from the 2024 production

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Audience comments

Great! I appreciate the work and the relevance of the both the content and the context used to shape the stories.

Excellent! Love all the music!

Excellent! Story Stitchers is absolutely amazing!

Excellent! Keep the plays coming.

Excellent! Educating the audience while keeping it entertaining and story stitcher based was w great idea!!!!

Excellent! Performances were amazing!

Well done !!! Another fantastic performance. The song, dance, and poetry were all so moving and impressive. The story told was so rich and interesting- learned so many things about St. Louis and the Civil War history. Thank you for the hard work and commitment to each other and St. Louis.

Excellent! Keep up the great work. The performance was both informative and engaging!

The WHY of MY City is a multi-year signature program that captures and documents pieces of black history through written word and art while training the next generation to become active, engaged citizens. Our goal is that programs become a force multiplier, rippling into families, schools, and neighborhoods, offering solutions to common urban problems.

Saint Louis Story Stitchers artists have been meeting since January to write a new script of fictional history for The WHY of MY City – Fair Ground, centering on the story of a young African American man, enslaved in central Missouri in 1862, who makes his way to St. Louis and joins the Union Army, becoming a free man upon enlisting. At Benton Barracks, which sat on the land we now call Fairground Park, he learned to read and write. After the Civil War, our young soldier joins with peers to create an amazing and lasting legacy for his home state. Our inspiring story is one that alumni of Lincoln University famously celebrate. Themes in the production include civic responsibility, young adults taking collective action to help others, and the power of youth to shape society and their world, including creating lasting change for the future. The WHY of MY City – Fair Ground honors Black history, military service, quality education for all, and the great State of Missouri, which fosters the young leaders of tomorrow.

April 18 and 19, 2024

Thursday and Friday at 7:00 PM

.ZACK Theatre

3224 Locust, Saint Louis, MO 63103 

Please contact Susan Colangelo at susanc@storystitchers.org or call 314-899-9001 with accessibility questions or requests.

 

https://fox2now.com/am-show/st-louis-story-stitchers-presents-play-the-why-of-my-city/

St. Louis Story Stitchers presents play: ‘The Why of My City’

Acknowledgements

Saint Louis Story Stitchers’ The WHY of MY City is funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and Missouri Arts Council.

Support for Story Stitchers creative youth development programs is provided in part by The Lewis Prize for Music 2021 Accelerator Award.

Additional support is provided by Kranzberg Arts Foundation, where Saint Louis Story Stitchers is a proud resident organization, Ameren Missouri, and Arts and Education Council.

Susan Colangelo

Producer

Producer: Susan Colangelo, MFA, LSU, is the founding president of the Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective and currently serves as president and CEO. Susan brings 30+ years of social justice arts practice, artistic direction, and performing arts staging experience and serves as in-house video editor. 

Sillo

Director, Choreographer

Director: Sillo, has an impressive career spanning several years, and has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including Pretty Ricky, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna and his expertise in dance has been showcased on prominent platforms such as BET and MTV. This is Sillo’s fourth project with Saint Louis Story Stitchers. He served as choreographer for the 2023 production of The WHY of MY City, SAFE! Team’s 3 Steps Back dance and choreographer for Story Stitchers’ DJ UP performance, which premiered at Saint Louis Art Museum in 2023.

Bobby Norfolk

Master Storyteller

Bobby Norfolk, as Elijah Jones, a Master Storyteller and Story Stitchers’ featured artist since 2017. In 1979, Bobby made his first appearance as a storyteller at the St. Louis Storytelling Festival. In television, Bobby won three Emmy awards as the host of the CBS TV show “Gator Tales. Bobby was given the national Circle of Excellence Oracle Award, an honor presented by the National Storytelling Network, which recognizes the very best storytellers in the nation. Bobby has won the prestigious Parents Choice Gold Award. He has co-authored eight children’s books, serves on the St. Louis Storytelling Festival Advisory Council, and is a featured artist in festivals world-wide. 

 

Troy Anthony

Videographer and Musician

Troy Anthony, creating videography for the performance, joined Story Stitchers as an Artist in Residence in 2018. He currently resides in East Saint Louis, Illinois and maintains a photography studio in St. Louis, Missouri. He joined the Army at the age of 17 where he achieved the rank of Sergeant First Class and is now retired from the 1st Infantry Division Band. Troy holds a BA in Operational Management and an MBA with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship from Ashford University in Iowa. He also has a Master’s certification in Entrepreneurship from Kansas University. He is a partner at two photography studios in the St. Louis region, the photographer for I Am East St. Louis, The Magazine, and the official photographer for the City of East St. Louis.

Michelle Eunice

Podcast Host and Performing Artist

Michelle L. Eunice as Ava Williams, our StitchCast Studio show host, is herself a podcaster, TV host, motivational speaker, proud Spelman College graduate, and recent Sony Pictures Entertainment Fellow from the University of Southern California.

Branden Lewis

Poet and Performing Artist

Branden Lewis, performing multiple pieces in this production, is Story Stitchers’ Youth Artistic Coordinator, is a performing artist, poet, rap artist and songwriter. Lewis is a graduate of Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and is a featured leading artist at Story Stitchers since 2017, leading 75 episodes of StitchCast Studio and performing original work created at Story Stitchers Studios over 500 times at venues across the St. Louis region.

DJ Domo

DJ UP

Dominick Hines, aka DJ Domo, our production’s DJ UP lead, joined Story Stitchers in 2020 through dance battles and has been a mentor, teaching artist, DJ, and performer since that time including at workshops and performances at Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Zoo, and Story Stitchers dance battles. Domo also served as stage manager for the 2023 production of The WHY of MY City. Domo is a participating artist in Peace in the Prairie, adding research to the ongoing multimedia project.

 

Dembari Taneh   

DJ UP Dancer

Dembari is an award winning dance artist and choreographer. Dembari is a member in Story Stitchers Youth Council and has joined activities as a performing artist, taking first place in both the Youth and Adult categories at Story Stitchers’ last dance battle on May 20, 2023 at the Grand Opening dance battles.   

Rich Grzelka

DJ UP Dancer

Rich is an award winning dance artist and choreographer and joined Story Stitchers in 2020 as a dance battle judge and has been a mentor and performer since that time including at performances at Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Zoo, and Story Stitchers dance battles. He is also a skilled photographer and videographer and has served as a documentary artist. Rich is a participating artist in Peace in the Prairie, adding research in dance and choreography to the award-winning and ongoing multimedia project.

Keith Brown

Music Production and Performing Artist

Keith Brown as John Jones, is a leader in Story Stitchers Youth Council, contributing as a producer and performing artist to multiple projects including The WHY of MY City, StitchCast Studio, and SAFE! Team, and Perception Isn’t Always Reality.

Traydon Rogers

Poet and Performing Artist

Traydon Rogers aka Traydon Inspires, is a poet, singer, and artist. Traydon has been an active member of Story Stitchers Youth Council since 2018, contributing to numerous performances and programs. He is also a leading youth on Peace in the Prairie, Pick the City UP, StitchCast Studio, and Perception Isn’t Always Reality.

Malik Jones

Music Production and Performing Artist

Malik Jones, is a rap artist and producer. Malik has been an active member of Story Stitchers Youth Council since 2023, beginning through a paid internship from SLATE, and since contributing to numerous performances and programs. He is a leading youth producer on Pick the City UP, StitchCast Studio, Perception Isn’t Always Reality, and DJ UP.

Rachael Jones

Performing Artist

Rachael Jones, singer and artist, was the lead, Wanda, in the 2023 production of The WHY of MY City. Rachael has been an active member of Story Stitchers Youth Council since 2018, contributing to numerous performances and programs. She is also a leading youth on StitchCast Studio, and Perception Isn’t Always Reality.

Kashela Armstead Clark

Performing Artist

Kashela Armstead Clark joined Stitchers Youth Council in 2024 and is a poet and performing artist.

Sayuri Bonds 

Performing Artist

Sayuri Bonds joined Stitchers Youth Council in 2023. She joins the cast of The WHY of MY City – Fair Ground as a vocalist and singer.

Andrew Roberson

Performing Artist

Andrew Roberson joined the cast of The WHY of MY City – Fair Ground as a strong vocalist and mentoring artist in 2024.

 

Chris Pendleton aka Blue Beatz

Music Production and Sound

Chris Pendleton aka Blue Beatz, leading music production and sound, is a teaching artist and Story Stitchers lead audio producer and engineer. Blue Beatz joined Story Stitchers as an audio engineer in 2019 and has been creating music, teaching production, and providing live sound and stage AV ever since. Chris is the lead engineer on StitchCast Studio. Chris has been professionally recording, engineering, and producing beats for recording artists for 15 years. He graduated from Extreme Institute with a degree in Recording, Engineering, and Production and is Avid Pro Tools certified.

 Darian Poe aka S.K. Banga

Music Production and Sound

S.K. Banga serves in music production and sound, as a teaching artist and Story Stitchers audio producer and engineer. S.K.  joined Story Stitchers as an audio engineer in 2023. He graduated from Extreme Institute.

 

Ivana Solomon

Stage Manager 

Aaron Leonard

Stage Crew

Alexis Allen Brown   Jamia Jones

Front of House

Quinsonta Boyd

Video Documentation 

 

Julie Kreumpel

Marketing Consultant

Julie Ridge

Graphic Design

Llord Brown

Social Media

Marquee Media

Publicist

 

Q&A will follow each production

John A. Wright, Jr.

John A. Wright, Jr. is a Member at Large of the Board of Directors at Saint Louis Story Stitchers. John is a long-time school teacher in the St. Louis Public School District and has degrees in advertising, speech, curriculum, and technology, and a doctorate in educational leadership. He is a coauthor of Images of Modern America: African American St. Louis. 

Rochelle Caruthers

Rochelle Caruthers is Director, African American History Initiative at the Missouri Historical Society, Missouri History Museum, Library & Research Center and Soldiers Memorial

 

Sponsorships are available.

Please inquire to Susan Colangelo, susanc@storystitchers.org.

 

About Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective

Saint Louis Story Stitchers is a nationally recognized Artists Collective known for high quality art and innovative youth violence prevention programs.

Story Stitchers is committed to placing youth at the center of the work both in identifying topics for exploration as well as the methods for engagement. This approach builds a community of youth and professional artists who respect one another. Gun violence continues to be a pressing public health crisis that consumes the attention of the engaged youth, and artistic expression helps youth work through the pain and loss they have experienced.

Stitchers collect stories, reframe and retell them through art, writing and performance to promote understanding, civic pride, intergenerational relationships and literacy. Projects create a platform for community engagement through an artistic lens and with it the Saint Louis Story Stitchers work to shift perceptions and realities and bring hope to the Saint Louis community. Our goal is to promote a better educated, more peaceful and caring region through storytelling.

In 2023, Saint Louis Story Stitchers opened The Center for creative youth development in keeping with the vision of Stitchers Youth Council for creating a healthier and happier region through storytelling and the arts. Youth who are 16-25 years old may apply for a free membership to access programs and opportunities with this link: https://storystitchers.wufoo.com/forms/zeinv521f4w9ez/