THE CAST
THE WOMEN
LEAH STEWART, a native of St. Louis, is currently a cast member of Disneyland’s Disney Junior Dance Party and The Tale of the Lion King as Shenzi/Timon in California. She is a lead singer for Urban Music Society band, which will perform at NAMM Show this year. Stewart sang soprano internationally for acapella groups and bands, including national recording artists. She was in the films Cook & Banks (2015) and Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story (2022), starring Ledisi and starred in the title role, Nina Simone: Four Women (2019) at the St. Louis Black Rep. Stewart received a BA in Theater Dance with a Chemistry minor from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She is an original cast member of RIVERS OF WOMEN from the 2011 production.
AMBER ALEXANDRIA ROSE is a native of St. Louis, MO. She began singing in church at the tender age of four and became a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Since Rose’s return to St. Louis, she has done background vocals for local artists and National Recording Artists, such as Grammy Nominee Mali Music. She has been cast in various shows at the Black Rep and performed Pre-Shows for The MUNY in St. Louis.
CHEERAZ GORMON, a St. Louis native, has nearly twenty years of experience crafting compelling and culturally relevant stories that resonate with people in meaningful and impactful ways. As a visual storyteller, poet, author, award-winning advertising copywriter, and two-time TEDxGatewayArch speaker, Gorman uses the spoken and written word to give voice and visibility to the untold truths of individuals, organizations, and communities. As a poet, Gorman has opened up for scholars Cornell West, Dennis Kimbrow, MacArthur Genius, educator and curator Deborah Willis, and hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons. Her poetry has been featured in Ebony Magazine online, Huffington Post, St. Louis Public Radio, and on-air in London, England and Portland, Oregon. She has hosted events at Left Bank Books and has performed on stages locally, nationally, and internationally.
Gorman has launched and led several nonprofits and businesses. She founded and is co-executive director of Sonic Arts United, a S.T.E.A.M.-based nonprofit. She also established and directs the Sibling Support Network, a nonprofit that supports people who have lost their siblings to violence. In addition to her work with these organizations, Gorman is the founder of STLNightWriters – a writers’ workshop and reading series, a founding committee member of the St. Louis Brick City Poetry Festival, and a member of the Screwed Arts Collective. She works to deepen and refine her healing practices in Somatics and Reiki. Gorman is a Miami Ad School graduate in Miami, Florida, and has continued her studies in Cultural Anthropology and Psychology at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park.
PACIA ELAINE ANDERSON is a St. Louis-based written, spoken, and visual word artist whose work meets at the intersection of arts learning and community development, focusing on youth advocacy and the reclamation of the cultural traditions and customs of the African diaspora. Anderson collaborates as a teaching artist, creative consultant, and community development and engagement strategist with numerous organizations and institutions, both locally and nationally. Her poetic work is a multilayered adventure rooted in storytelling, rhyme, and the imaginative expansion of what poetry can be while striving to uphold the legacy and work of those who have come before. (Photo courtesy of Cory Lampkin)
SPECIAL GUEST VOCALISTS
ADRIANNE FELTON KING has been performing locally for nearly thirty years. Her music career began as a member of the Motown trio “SATIN” in 1993, which toured until 2013. King has been the featured vocalist of the smooth jazz and R&B quintet, “The Coleman-Hughes Project featuring Adrianne,” since 2013. Her voice extends beyond the front lines as a background vocalist for many St. Louis entertainers and national artists who have performed in St. Louis, often appearing as an opening act.
ANGEL RILEY is a soprano with an exciting stage presence, and rich vocal color distinguishes her performances. Hailing from Belleville, Illinois, Riley has a Master of Music degree from UCLA and a Bachelor of Music degree from DePauw University. She is a 2020 Emerging Artist with Boston Court Pasadena, a 2020-21 Gerdine Young Artist with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and a 2021-22 Resident Artist with the Indianapolis Opera. In 2022, Riley returned to the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as a Gaddes Festival Artist for her mainstage debut as Papagena in The Magic Flute.
ABOUT THE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
LYAH BETH LEFLORE-ITUEN is a television and film producer and music supervisor. She has worked at Nickelodeon, Uptown Records/Entertainment, Wolf Films/Universal, and Alan Haymon Development (Productions) — where she served as an in-house producer and head of tv development for nearly a decade, brokering lucrative deals on various high-profile television, film, and music projects. She has partnered with television producers like John Wells and Emmy Award-winning director Anthony Hemingway. LeFlore is the author of eight critically acclaimed books, two of which are National Bestsellers. Her titles, Wildflowers (2009), Tell the Truth & Shame The Devil: the Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown (2020), which she co-authored with Lezley McSpadden, mother of the slain Ferguson teen; and is currently in development with major Hollywood studios to be turned into television series, with her attached as Executive Producer. LeFlore is the co-founder and Executive Director of the literary-arts-based nonprofit the Shirley Bradley LeFlore Foundation and its Creative Arts and Expression Laboratory, which honors LeFlore’s late mother, St. Louis Poet Laureate Emeritus, Shirley Bradley Price LeFlore. She is a Commissioner for the Regional Arts Commission, a founding board member of Counterpublic, and is part of the New Works Collective Council for Opera Theater St. Louis.
LeFlore-Ituen is a native of St. Louisan, a graduate of Stephens College, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. She and her husband are the proud parents of nine-year-old Bella Grace.
ABOUT THE MUSICAL DIRECTOR/ORIGINAL SCORE
ALERICA ANDERSON is a consummate singer, songwriter, composer, producer and director. He has served as Music Director/Keyboardist/Bassist for several touring and local artists. He has been Music Director/Keyboardist/Bassist for several theatrical productions to include The Tap Dance Kid (St.Louis Black Repertory Company), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ( St. Louis Community College at Forest Park) and productions with Historyonics Theatre Co., Liberty Playhouse, Lindenwood University ( Mary Poppins) Chaminade College Prep High School ( Shrek ), Gateway Center for the Performing Arts ( Hairspray, In The Heights, Violet, Carrie, Matilda, Annie, Spring Awakening and Something Rotten), Spotlight Productions (Tarzan) and several Collegiate Productions (the University of Missouri-Columbia, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville). As an actor, Anderson’s performance credits include: Big Moe (Five Guys Named Moe/ St.Louis Black Repertory Co.) Anderson has performed with secular and gospel artists, including Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, David Peaston, The Drifters, Bobby Jones, Ebony Fashion Fair, The Miss Universe Pageant and Celine Dion. He has also written and produced songs for various gospel and secular recordings, including the Edwin and Walter Hawkins Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choir. Anderson’s production credits also include “PeaceFest,” an outdoor concert event held annually in St. Louis, Missouri, and he is the Music Director for the inaugural St.Louis Fringe Music Festival. Known for his artist development skills, Anderson has worked with hundreds of artists in all genres of music and serves as a consultant/advisor for several artist management companies and arts organizations locally and nationally.
ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER
N. “PINKY” THOMAS is highly respected as a performer, instructor, and choreographer in the dance industry. A native of University City, Missouri, Thomas graduated from Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in St. Louis and received her BFA in dance from The University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Introduced to ballet and tap as a young child. She quickly joined the award-winning Ray Parks Academy of Dance Competition Team. As an adolescent, Thomas began training at the Katherine Dunham Center for the Performing Arts, S.I.U.E., and East St. Louis Center under the direction of Theodore Jamison. Over the years, she expanded her knowledge of dance by studying African, Caribbean, Haitian, Cuban, Capoeira, and yoga techniques. Thomas has traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe, working with companies across the country, including the world-renowned Katherine Dunham Dance Ensemble – SIUE, Martha Graham Dance Company, Urban Bush Women, The MUNY, Jose Limon Dance Company, Spirit of Angela West African Dance Ensemble, Inner Vision Dance Theatre, CounterGroove Dance Company, Minianka African Drum & Dance Ensemble, and Banyan Dance Theater. She has appeared in countless stage productions, including A Chorus Line, Three Coins in the Fountain, Showboat, and Tap Dance Kid. She has staged musicals nationwide, such as Fiddler on the Roof, Once Upon This Island, The Wiz, Children of Eden and many more. As an instructor, Thomas exposes thousands of aspiring dancers & performers to the wonderful dance world each year. Her passion for sharing is evident through workshops and ongoing residencies with the Missouri Historical Society, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Inc., Stages St. Louis-Education Outreach, Girls Scouts of Eastern Missouri, St. Louis Public Schools, International Association of Blacks in Dance, Black College Dance Exchange, Neighborhood Houses, Club CHIPS, and many more.
In 2006, she founded the Pinx Academy of Dance in University City. As Academy Director and Principal Instructor, Thomas offers a comprehensive dance curriculum to students and professionals of all ages in a culturally diverse environment with knowledgeable instructors worldwide.