The Insider: 5.11.16

Four talented young musicians from our area will be on stage with John, Paul, Ringo and George when In My Life—A Musical Theatre Tribute to the Beatles comes to the Sheldon May 18. The show’s producers approached Grand Central Arts Academy asking for an ensemble that could hold its own onstage with a rock band. Behold that school’s string quartet, pictured above: violinists Nicholas Baggett, Tessa Wild and Kareenah Thomas and cellist Joerdan Carney.

The Children’s Zoo has some new residents: a couple of 2-year-old Tasmanian devils, the first ones to arrive here in 30 years. They came from Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Australia and can be found in the wild only in Tasmania. Our zoo is one of only six in the country selected to participate in the Save the Tasmanian Devil program (the animals are endangered). A normally shy creature, how did it get its moniker? They make loud, screeching noises and eerie growls when seeking and finding food!

Acclaimed choreographer Bill T. Jones will be in St. Louis Sept. 29 to accept the 2016 International Humanities Medal from Washington University. Jones started a troupe in the 1970s with partner Arnie Zane, facing issues like racism and sexual identity and experimenting with video, narrative and other multimedia elements. The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company will be here in concert Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at the Touhill.

Lisa Baron, founder of the local Memory Care Solutions, testified before the U. S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging in Washington, D.C., recently. The focus was on the toll Alzheimer’s disease has on American families.

Kudos to Sen. John Danforth for being honored with the Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League. He will receive the award June 1 during a special luncheon, at which he will treat guests to a conversation with longtime friend, columnist George Will. The award celebrates those who strive to preserve liberty, equality and democracy. Danforth is a former U.S. Senator, Missouri Attorney General and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.