Oslo, 2019

Leading Ladies

The Leading Ladies… 14 great seasons and beyond!

Rep Leading Ladies

Thank you for your continued support of our artists and for your past contributions to The Rep’s Leading Ladies program. Fourteen seasons ago, a collective of our community’s most engaged and enthusiastic women came together to raise over $26,000 to sponsor our production of The Miracle Worker. Each season since, the Leading Ladies have come together annually to support one female-focused production at The Rep and to celebrate the awesome power of women as supporters and change agents of the arts. We are so proud and grateful to have raised over $850,000 with you.

Thanks in part to this unprecedented support from donors like you, women have gained increased access to leadership positions in the theatre industry, as more women directors, playwrights, designers and producers emerge as industry leaders. It is a thrilling shift, and all of us at The Rep are excited to be national leaders of this movement. To honor the change you have helped to bring about, we have taken this moment to rededicate our Leading Ladies giving levels in honor of the wide range of talented women who have emerged as industry leaders over the past two decades. Check out this exciting list of playwrights, directors, performers and artists below..

We hope you will join us in our elevation and celebration of women in theatre by renewing your support of Leading Ladies today. Rather than supporting a single production, your gift will support The Rep’s entire 2021-2022 season, the first in Rep history in which all productions will be directed by women. Your contribution at any level will provide you with access to Behind the Curtain, a Leading Ladies exclusive virtual series of discussions with directors, designers and artists at The Rep, and our new play reading and discussion group, Rep Reads.  If you have any questions about your gift, please contact Merritt McCarthy, Individual Gifts Manager, at mmccarthy@repstl.org or (314) 687-4030.

Thank you in advance for joining us again in our mission. We are thrilled to celebrate a season of marvelous and talented women with you!

Levels of Giving

Lynn Nottage - $10,000+

Lynn Nottage is a playwright and screenwriter who has remained one of the most vital voices of the American theatre. Nottage is the first (and only) woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice, for Ruined (2009) and Sweat (2017). Other major works include Mlima’s Tale, Intimate Apparel, Crumbs from the Table of Joy and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussions with Rep directors, designers and artists
  • Access to Rep Reads, The Rep’s play reading and discussion group
  • Invitation for 6 to a private dinner with Hana S. Sharif and special guest
  • Signed costume rendering
  • 10 tickets to one Mainstage production in The Rep’s 2021-2022 season
  • Invitation for 10 to an exclusive Dinner & Dialogue with Hana S. Sharif and special guests

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info

Julie Taymor - $7,500 - $9,999

Julie Taymor is a director and designer who has helped create some of the most exciting and notable productions of the last 25 years. Taymor became the first woman to receive the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Lion King (1997). Other major works include Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark and the 2017 Broadway revival of M. Butterfly, as well as several Shakespeare productions off-Broadway.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussions with Rep directors, designers and artists
  • Access to Rep Reads, The Rep’s play reading and discussion group
  • Invitation for 4 to a private dinner with Hana S. Sharif and special guest
  • Signed costume rendering
  • 6 tickets to one Mainstage production in The Rep’s 2021-2022 season
  • Invitation for 6 to an exclusive Dinner & Dialogue with Hana S. Sharif and special guests

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info

Idina Menzel - $5,000 -$7,499

Idina Menzel is an actor and singer known for her distinctive voice and powerful belt. Menzel is perhaps best known for her Tony Award winning performance as Elphaba in Wicked (2003) and her performance as Elsa in the 2013 film Frozen, lending her voice to the Oscar and Grammy winning song “Let It Go.” Other major roles include Maureen Johnson in the off-Broadway, Broadway and film casts of Rent, Elizabeth in the original Broadway cast of If/Then and Kate in the original off-Broadway cast of Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussions with Rep directors, designers and artists
  • Access to Rep Reads, The Rep’s play reading and discussion group
  • Invitation for 2 to a private dinner with Hana S. Sharif and special guest
  • Signed costume rendering
  • 4 tickets to one Mainstage production in The Rep’s 2021-2022 season
  • Invitation for 4 to an exclusive Dinner & Dialogue with Hana S. Sharif and special guests

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info

Suzan-Lori Parks - $2,500-$4,999

Suzan-Lori Parks is a playwright and screenwriter whose innovative and stylistic plays have challenged and thrilled audiences since the turn of the century. Parks became the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002 for Topdog/Underdog. Other major works include The America Play, Venus, In The Blood, Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) and the book for the 2011 revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussions with Rep directors, designers and artists
  • Access to Rep Reads, The Rep’s play reading and discussion group
  • 4 tickets to one Mainstage production in The Rep’s 2021-2022 season
  • Invitation for 4 to an exclusive Dinner & Dialogue with Hana S. Sharif and special guests

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info

Marianne Elliott - $1,000-$2,499

Marianne Elliott is a British director whose productions have received transcontinental acclaim. Her major works on both Broadway and the West End include War Horse (Tony winner), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Tony and Olivier winner), the 2017 revival of Angels in America and most recently the 2018 revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussions with Rep directors, designers and artists
  • Access to Rep Reads, The Rep’s play reading and discussion group
  • 2 tickets to one Mainstage production in The Rep’s 2021-2022 season
  • Invitation for 2 to an exclusive Dinner & Dialogue with Hana S. Sharif and special guests

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info

Paula Vogel - $500-$999

Paula Vogel is a playwright and stateswoman of the theatre whose plays have explored a wide range of traditionally controversial themes—such as prostitution, HIV/AIDS, abuse and homosexuality—with humor and compassion. Vogel won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1997 for How I Learned to Drive. Other major works include Indecent, The Baltimore Waltz, And Baby Makes Seven and Desdemona, A Play about a Handkerchief.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussions with Rep directors, designers and artists
  • Access to Rep Reads, The Rep’s play reading and discussion group
  • 2 tickets to one Mainstage production in The Rep’s 2021-2022 season
  • Invitation for 1 to an exclusive Dinner & Dialogue with Hana S. Sharif and special guests

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info

Anika Noni Rose - $250-$499

Anika Noni Rose is an actor and singer best known for providing the voice of Princess Tiana in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. Rose won a Tony Award for her performance as Emmie Thibodeaux in the original Broadway production of Caroline, or Change. Other major roles include Maggie in the 2008 Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Beneatha in the 2014 Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun and Lorrell the 2006 film adaptation of Dreamgirls.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussions with Rep directors, designers and artists
  • Access to Rep Reads, The Rep’s play reading and discussion group
  • 1 ticket to one Mainstage production in The Rep’s 2021-2022 season

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info

Phillipa Soo - $100-$249

Phillipa Soo is an actor and singer best known for her role as Elizabeth Schuyler in the original cast of Hamilton and the live stage recording released in 2020. Other major roles include Natasha Rostova in the off-Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, the title role in the Broadway production of Amélie and Rebecca in the Broadway production of The Parisian Woman.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussions with Rep directors, designers and artists
  • Access to Rep Reads, The Rep’s play reading and discussion group

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info

Condola Rashād - $50-$99

Condola Rashād is an actor who rose to prominence as Sophie in the 2009 Off-Broadway premiere of Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Ruined. Her Broadway roles include Cheryl in Stick Fly, Thelma in The Trip to Bountiful, Juliet in the 2013 production of Romeo and Juliet, Emmy in A Doll’s House, Part 2 and the title role in the 2018 revival of Saint Joan.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussion with Rep directors, designers and artists
  • Access to Rep Reads, The Rep’s play reading and discussion group

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info

Rising Star - $1-49

Gifts of all sizes make a meaningful impact at The Rep. This is the perfect giving level for those just beginning their philanthropic lives, or as a gift made in honor of young women with a passion for theatre.

Donors at this level will receive:

  • Access to “Behind the Curtain,” a virtual event series featuring in-depth discussions with Rep directors, designers and artists

(Please click the "More Info" button to make your donation.)

More Info
  • Leading Ladies History

    To learn more about the Leading Ladies’ past fundraising efforts, visit our Leading Ladies History Page.

Leading Ladies Committee

Margaret Augustin and Judi Scissors, Co-Chairs

  • Wendi Alper-Pressman
  • Susan Block
  • Diane Buhr Englesmann
  • Terri Ciccolella
  • Pamela Dern
  • Catherine A. Faught
  • Linda Finerty
  • Dotti Fischer
  • Nancy Galvin
  • Juanita H. Hinshaw
  • Becky Bryant Hubert
  • Hannah Langsam
  • Toni Leidenfrost
  • Jane M. Robert
  • Lois Schultz
  • Pat Schutte
  • Ann H. Straw
  • Lynn Yearwood