95 Decibels, written and directed by former St. Louisan Lisa Reznik, recently was featured at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase. The annual event, produced by Cinema St. Louis, spotlights the talents of filmmakers who live or have lived in St. Louis. The movie, based on the true story of Reznik’s daughter, Miranda Meyers, explores the emotional obstacles parents face after getting an unexpected diagnosis of impaired hearing for their child. A Parkway Central Senior High School alum (class of ’87), Reznik now lives in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. Pictured above: Liza Reznik.
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Fodor’s Travel has named White Water in Branson, Mo., one of the 10 Best Water Parks in the United States.
Alexandra Zaharias, longtime director of Alexandra Ballet, won the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Regional Dance America/Mid-States Festival in Skokie, Ill. Zaharias established Alexandra School of Ballet in 1949.
Also featured at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase were two award-winning documentary shorts co-produced and co-created by St. Louis-born Mary Anne Rothberg, a 1978 Clayton High graduate. Do Not Duplicate, about a New York City safecracker, and Half Sour, which focuses on a group of young skateboarders, were made by Rothberg’s New York-based production company, Provenance Productions.
Philanthropists David and Thelma Steward and the Steward Family Foundation have donated $350,000 to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, to support diversity in casting. The gift permanently endows a position for an artist of color each season. The first Thelma Steward Endowed Artist is Frederick Ballentine, a young tenor who appeared this year in Mozart’s The Magic Flute.