st. louis public library | You must be very, very quiet. This is a library. Now, you may be working—well, playing and recording music on guitar, keyboard or synthesizer—in one of St. Louis Public Library’s recording rooms, in which case you’ll have to make some noise. But no one else should hear it, not even in the next room. Not only is the room virtually soundproof, but you’ll probably be wearing headphones if you’re enjoying this aspect of SLPL’s Creative Experience. Didn’t expect this at the library? Well, quite frankly, neither did we. Like most offerings at SLPL, this service is free. First, however, you’ll need some help getting around! All new users of the Creative Experience recording rooms are required to attend an in-person or virtual orientation. These orientations are offered every month on the first Monday at 10 a.m., the second Wednesday at 4 p.m., the third Thursday at 10 a.m. and the fourth Tuesday at 4 p.m. The orientation covers the procedure for using the equipment and room; please schedule a Tech Connect for help with specific recording projects or software. Registration is required. Visit slpl.bibliocommons.com/events.
kirkwood
Just in case you haven’t noticed, something special is afoot around town. Well, our hometown MLS team can’t win them all, of course. But what a start! Four wins in a row to start off the season is unprecedented for an expansion club. Young soccer fans can help kick off the first-ever season via a special permanent exhibit that opened last month at The Magic House. Meanwhile, Soccer City is a comprehensive historical retrospective of ‘football’ in the Lou, featuring jerseys, trophies, game balls, footwear and the like at Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. Compare the ca.-1950s leather cleats and smooth leather ball in our photo to the high-tech gear used by St. Louis CITY SC players, or the muddy gear your kids have strewn all over the back of the minivan, to see how much the game has changed in just a few decades. The exhibit runs through February 2024. Now, back to Kirkwood, one of our favorite suburbs anywhere in the Lou, where The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum, has teamed up with St. Louis CITY SC to create a novel, interactive soccer-themed exhibit designed to help youngsters learn more about the time-honored sport of football, AKA soccer, imagine themselves as part of the team, and get excited about health and wellness through the power of play and sports. An inspirational video features a speech by Bradley Carnel, CITY SC’s head coach. A pair of motivated women, however, got this show on the road. “St. Louis has an incredible soccer culture and history,” says St. Louis CITY SC president and CEO Carolyn Kindle. “St. Louis CITY SC and my family are humbled to be able to help introduce the sport to the next generation of players and fans.” A generous donation from Jo Ann Taylor Kindle made the Magic House exhibit possible. “I loved playing sports growing up, as did my girls and their cousins,” she says. “As a mom, grandmother, and fan, I’ve seen the incredible benefits sports can have on our children’s confidence, leadership skills and overall health.” The women hope families get a kick out of playing and imagining in the exhibit and believe it will help build a lifelong love of soccer. Visit magichouse.org and mohistory.org for more details.
the metro
To get your ear balls ready—suddenly, this summer—for the upcoming 8th Annual Tennessee Williams Festival, tune into Classic 107.3 at 4 p.m. on the last Saturday of this month, April 29, for Something Spoken: Tennessee Williams on the Air. The first of four radio plays over four consecutive weeks will be performed; the one-act performances slated are Sunburst, The Magic Tower, Something Unspoken and The Case of the Crushed Petunias. The radio shows will continue at 4 p.m. on the first three Saturday afternoons in May. The programs will be reprised this summer on all four Saturdays in August. Visit classic1073.org or twstl.org.
notable neighbors
downtown
If you haven’t experienced Circus Harmony, you’re missing some of the most precise, graceful athleticism in the Lou. Representing 76 ZIP codes in and around the metro, young men and women aged 10 to 19 tumble, flip, fly, wire-walk—all seemingly with the greatest of ease—on the third floor of the City Museum downtown. Jessica Hentoff, a transplanted New Yorker and ‘ringmaster’ of this lithe, committed crew, came to the Gateway City in the mid-1980s as half of an aerialist duo; she stayed put when the partnership wound down and her co-performer departed. She has been using circus to motivate social change since she founded the St. Louis Arches youth circus performance troupe in 1988. Circus Harmony, a ‘social’ circus and school for young performers, has been Hentoff’s labor of love since 2001: She’s aimed to expand circus opportunities for youth, many of whom live in disadvantaged neighborhoods and sincerely need the lift the troupe provides, literally and figuratively. Their camaraderie is priceless. You know how the shenanigans in Washington, state capitals and elsewhere are sometimes referred to as a circus? If only. “You’d wish politics was a circus, where everyone helps and supports one another,” Hentoff says, with a sigh. She sat right outside the ring with Maple, her dog, 3; Teko, her macaw, 32; and a reporter, 68, whose childhood wish to run off and join the circus evaporated on the spot. It’s hard work. These kids sweat. And on this particular Tuesday, they’d already been on TV early in the morning, attended school most of the day, and were to spend several afternoon and early-evening hours in the ring: Briland Schack-Farnell was putting his performers through their paces as they rehearsed Swashbuckle, a pirates-and-treasure-themed fantasy performance-art piece that he wrote, choreographed and directs, having premiered on Saturday, April 15, World Circus Day. It will continue with two shows on the next two Saturdays and one show on Sundays. The back of his black T-shirt read “Watch Out for Flying Children.” They’ve done many offsite shows, including an extended engagement at the airport. They’ve performed for at least one wedding reception. The troupe had 30 shows offsite in 2021 and 2022; they performed 586 shows at City Museum. Hentoff says the arena is a little tight: A typical circus ring is about 40 feet across; Circus Harmony’s ring is half that. And the ceiling is only 17 feet high. The organization has been on the hunt for suitable space. A converted church would be ideal, Hentoff says. (A reporter didn’t remember until just before pecking out this sentence that another church in the metro has been retrofitted as a skateboard park.) Several veterans have gone on to professional circus careers. One juggles in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Four have joined the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil. (Interestingly, one switched careers and is now a WWE professional wrestler. He has his own action figure.) “Our kids, as young as they are, do professional-level tricks,” Hentoff points out. “They’re ordinary children doing extraordinary things.” Visit circusharmony.org.
