Building Dreams: Behind the Scenes of Gaslight Dreams
When Saint Louis Dance Theatre, Jazz St. Louis, and The Muny's T3 program joined forces this season, we created more than a holiday production – we built a model of how arts organizations can work together to enrich our community. As Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker launches a new holiday tradition for St. Louis, it demonstrates the power of collaboration in making world-class performing arts accessible to all.
Original rendering of the set, courtesy of Studio Spack
T3, The Muny's technical theater training program, pairs high school students with professional stagehands and designers for intensive, hands-on learning experiences. Over four consecutive Saturdays, these dedicated young artists work from 7am to 3pm, rotating through building, painting, and wardrobe stations to create professional-caliber sets and costumes.
“This is definitely the biggest project we’ve done. ”
"It's also one of our first professional productions where the students have worked with scenic designers and learned specialized skills like drapery creation. We've been able to offer them a wider curriculum and bring in more of our professional staff."
Each student works one-on-one with industry mentors, learning everything from power tool safety to costume construction. For this production, students faced new challenges including creating curved platforms for the musicians and crafting custom stage drapery – elements they'd never tackled before.
"It's bringing kids from all over the city to meet peers they would never know otherwise," Allen explains. "They've developed friendships, learned practical skills, and many take their knowledge back to enhance their own school theater programs."
The program, which accepted students from throughout the St. Louis region for our production, exemplifies the same commitment to accessibility that drives all three organizations. Jazz St. Louis provides extensive education programs reaching elementary through college students, offering free field trips, hands-on training, and masterclasses to over 100 local schools. Saint Louis Dance Theatre launched its Youth Access Program in 2024, making performances accessible to youth-serving organizations, while its 20-member Trainee program and Senior Embrace initiative bring dance directly to senior communities.
This three-way partnership represents the future of performing arts in St. Louis – organizations working together to create
productions that are both artistically ambitious and deeply rooted in community. While audiences will see the magic of live jazz and dance on stage, behind the scenes a new generation of artists and technicians is learning to create that magic for years to come.
