Webster University Students Perform at MLK 2020 Community Celebration in Webster Groves
January 15, 2020
Webster University student performers will again be part of annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations in Webster Groves, the community where the University was founded in 1915.
The 2020 Community Celebration on Sunday, Jan. 19, begins at 4:30 p.m. with a march from Webster Groves City Hall to the Steger Sixth Grade Center/Givens Elementary School auditorium, at 701 N. Rock Hill Rd.
That is followed by dinner and a celebration that begins at 5:45, when the Webster student performances will take place.
Conservatory of Theatre Arts students Tony Merritt II and Amara Webb will perform “The Color Purple,” a selection from the musical, with music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray. The titular song of the musical THE COLOR PURPLE reflects the overall theme of building hope and community in spite of oppression and injustice. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Alice Walker, the musical made its Tony Award-winning turn on Broadway in 2005 and was revived in 2015.
Also performing at the event is Madison Rodgers, a Webster Department of Dance student who will perform "Navigator," a self-choreographed dance solo.
Conservatory faculty members Rayme Cornell and Gad Guterman were instrumental in preparing their students and arranging their appearance at the event. Maggi Duecker, chair and visiting professor in the Department of Dance, helped arrange for Rodgers to also perform.
The celebration is hosted by the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves – United Church of Christ.
Note: Webster's U.S. campuses are closed on Monday, Jan. 20, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.