Opera Theatre of Saint Louis will present a newly commissioned work this season, Shalimar the Clown, based on Salman Rushdie’s book of the same title. composer and pianist Jack Perla of San Francisco created the piece with librettist Rajiv Joseph. Perla (pictured above) is known for his cross-fertilization of jazz and classical music.
Native St. Louisan Christine Danis Handy (Villa Duchesne) has written a novel, Walk Beside Me, about surviving breast cancer with the support of friends. handy, who has been a professional model for major brands like J.Crew, Bud Light and Pepsi, is herself a cancer survivor. She lives in Miami and Dallas with her family.
Congrats to Kerry Brooks, newly named president of Dielmann Sotheby’s International Realty. Brooks has served as VP for Business Development since 2010, alongside broker/owner Andy Dielmann.
St. Louis native Paul Schoemehl has created a new webseries, The Achiever, which premiered last month. Co-written with St. Louisan Barrett Stokes, The Achiever is meant to “connect us all to our inner Lebowski.” He gives a nod to St. Louis in every episode, says Schoemehl, “to send a little postcard back home.” Watch it on theachieverseries.com.
Kudos to Ladue Middle School and phys-ed teacher Jason Theodosiou for being named a 2016 Shape America grant recipient. The school’s passion for the hoops for heart program, to benefit American Heart Association, has raised more than $56,000 since 1998. The grant award will be used to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for the LMS Physical Education Department. Pictured: Jason Theodosiou, back left, with P.E. colleagues at Ladue Middle School
