Steven Woolf receives lifetime achievement award from Arts and Education Council

More than anyone in our 50 year history, Augustin Family Artistic Director Steven Woolf has become synonymous with The Rep.

He's held his current position for 30 years, stewarding the theatre through changing times while keeping it fresh and daring. And he's also become The Rep's public face, always open to talking shop with patrons, colleagues and the press.

So it's fitting that the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis chose to honor Woolf during The Rep's 50th anniversary season, a milestone year that exemplifies his successes.

"It's a real thrill. I couldn't be happier," Woolf told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "And I love the people I'm being honored with this year. It's a great class."

That class includes Mike Isaacson, artistic director and executive producer of The Muny, Jim and Cathy Berges (whose Berges Family Foundation sponsors The Rep's current mainstage season), Riverview Gardens band director Harvey Lockhart and more.

The Arts and Education Council also assembled a lovely video about Woolf's contributions to St. Louis theatre, featuring interviews with Rep board member Ann Cady Scott, longtime Rep lighting designer Peter E. Sargent, director Ed Stern and the man himself. Watch it below: