kirkwood | You and your family can enjoy the benefits of the new Nine PBS Family Club at the Magic House in Kirkwood next month with free entry for up to six family members. Nine PBS Night is at the renowned kids museum for hands-on learning from 6-9 p.m. on Nov. 12. In the club, which anyone can join with a new or sustaining donation, supporters of public television become even more integral to a community that celebrates learning with PBS and PBS KIDS programming. Enjoy exploring the Magic House with other Nine PBS members, and while there be sure to stop by the PBS KIDS exhibit: Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. In this innovative interactive feature, families and young adventurers sneak through a hidden passage to the Secret Museum and unlock three different times in history. Members of the Nine PBS Family Club can enjoy exclusive perks such as:Nine PBS Passport, the app that unlocks extended access to favorite showsInvitations to exclusive Family Club eventsVIP meet and greet at a PBS KIDS character appearance each yearMember tours of Nine PBS studiosEarly access to screenings and community eventsAs readers are probably aware, federal funding for public television has dried up, and the impact of these cuts has hit home. Nine PBS needs our help more than ever. Visit ninepbs.org.
st. louis
It’s not your everyday type of entertainment, nowhere near as sedate as golf or as physically violent as football. Check that. Football players have protective pads and wear helmets. One can’t imagine what it’s like for a driver being tossed around behind the wheel of a 12,000-pound truck with a name like Gravedigger or El Toro Loco, pictured, just two of the beastly vehicles that will be competing in a Monster Jam contest Jan. 17 and 18 at the Dome at America’s Center. The weekend features the world’s best drivers tearing up the dirt as they battle for the championship in three competitions: racing, skills and freestyle, where Monster Jam trucks appear to defy the laws of physics and do the impossible. Fans will be right in the middle of the action, helping to crown the event champ by scoring the drivers in real time based on their skills, stunts and saves. Of the 12 competitors, only the champ will get to compete in the world finals over July 4 weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster at several tiers. One allows fans into the ‘pit party’ to high-five the drivers, get selfies with the trucks and mill around. Another, the ‘trackside experience,’ is about an hour before the command for (ladies and) gentlemen to start their engines. For more dirt on this uproarious event at the Dome, visit monsterjam.com.
grand center
Soul On Fire is the locally filmed story of John O’Leary, who was playing with gasoline as a child and burned over more than 90% of his body when his house was nearly consumed by the flames. He clung to life and today is a motivational speaker, bestselling author and father of four—for a long time, doctors doubted he would survive. The faith-based film had its star-studded premiere on Oct. 2 at Powell Symphony Hall with O’Leary and his family in the audience, and it opened in theaters nationwide on Oct. 10. John Corbett portrays Denny O’Leary, John’s late father, and William H. Macy plays Hall-of-Fame sportscaster Jack Buck, who encouraged the boy, a rabid Cardinals fan, during his long recovery. Most of his fingers had to be amputated, and Buck was both one of his many cheerleaders and an ad hoc physical therapist who coached him on how to write again via handwritten notes to Redbirds players requesting autographed baseballs. He received dozens. Buck was a lifelong friend. Nowadays, demonstrating how far he has come from physical handicaps, on premiere night he played “Amazing Grace” on piano. Many of the people critical to helping him arrive where he is today, portrayed by big-name actors, are prominent in many scenes. To wit, his wife Beth (Masey McLain) is essential to O’Leary’s emotional and spiritual recovery. As his girlfriend, she’s in a bowling scene shot at Saratoga Lanes in Maplewood, and she’s essential to the story, which includes depictions of their wedding and growing family. A nurse at Mercy Hospital during physical therapy sessions spurred him to walk again. The scenes in the O’Leary home, which has been repaired but was unavailable, were shot in the one where his mother, Susan, still lives—all decked out in 1980s décor. One of John O’Leary’s motivational speeches in Las Vegas was filmed in Chaifetz Arena at SLU. If you leave the theater without wiping your eyes, have someone check your pulse. At least you’ll have enjoyed taking a trip around the StL.
notable neighbors
dardenne prairie
Nobody can be in two places at the same time. But try and tell that to Becky Domyan, senior VP and market manager at Audacy Radio in St. Louis—and executive director of St. Louis Fashion Fund (SLFF). It seems to make some sense for someone whose early life was kind of all over the place, yet intensely focused. For one thing, Domyan has lived in a city as large and diverse as Detroit, Michigan, and a community as rural as Washington, Missouri. Today, she starts at home in Dardenne Prairie with a daily commute downtown for her executive gig with KMOX, Y98 et al., plus myriad duties as they come up in the $7.7 billion fashion business segment throughout the metro. These 800-some entities range from international shoe giant Caleres and luxury retailer Neiman Marcus to budding fashion designers, many of whom are recipients of $5,000 SLFF scholarships. One responsibility that’s now off her plate is the Wichita, Kansas, market for Audacy, which she delegated to a member of her team after 2.5 years in the chief leadership role, as well. “You’re only as good as your team,” she says. She’s confident the stations there are in good hands. It’s apparent that Domyan keeps all the balls in the air, including golf balls here and there. But the role that’s the lead responsibility listed throughout her social media: Mom. Her son Cash, 10, knows it’s the short game that helps most in golf. Her older son Cole, 18, is a budding fashion model who’s creating a bespoke Batman costume for Halloween, leather breastplate and all. And they’re both self-starters. Apparently, the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. A principle that’s evolved since early in Domyan’s life, which she honed at Mizzou and is a vital element in her leadership style today, is building community. “How do I make a difference where I can?” she notes. It’s essential for ‘The Voice of St. Louis.’ There are mutual connections throughout her twin responsibilities as a media exec in charge of six StL radio stations and serious fashionista: “We’re introducing the media world to the fashion world,’ she says. And there’s no reason the StL can’t reclaim its role as a fashion capital—for the lion’s share of the last century all along Washington Avenue and several adjacent blocks were manufacturers and design houses. “I love New York and L.A., but we have so much talent here, as well! And fashion is part of our arts community,” she points out. Susan Sherman, SLFF’s co-founder and current board chair, is an icon in our fashion ecosphere, but Domyan has hit the ground running since she was appointed executive director of SLFF on Jan. 1. “We have five new board members, and a sixth is in the pipeline,” Domyan says. Meanwhile, this year’s international designer to grace St. Louis in SLFF’s ‘Speaking of Fashion’ series is Wes Gordon, executive creative director of Carolina Herrera. Patron tickets may remain available for the benefit coming up Nov. 18. Visit saintlouisfashionfund.org. Previous honorees include Michael Kors, André Leon Talley, Iris Apfel, Karlie Kloss and Diane von Furstenberg, who offered Domyan a wee bit of fashion advice on the spot. “She suggested a better way to tie my dress!” laughs Domyan. For a glance at Domyan’s Instagram feed, which features fashion, Audacy and family pride, click on @beckydomyan.