The Repertory of St. Louis embarks on a new era with star-studded leadership

by Alexa Beattie / Photography courtesy of The Rep

The new dynamite duo heading up the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis can drop some serious names. Artistic Director Kate Bergstrom, for instance, has shared a stage with Annette Bening and Danny Williams, managing director, starred in a Westport County Playhouse production years ago of Our Town headed by – of all people – Paul Newman. (Joanne Woodward was the artistic director, by the way). To boot, last year, the Rep’s Annual Holiday Experience was headlined by St. Louisan John Goodman. He gave an interview on stage and, fittingly, read T’was the Night Before Christmas. But they don’t mean to brag; this is simply the water they swim in.

The pair has only worked together for a few months. While Williams joined the Rep in 2022; Bergstrom (heavily pregnant when we spoke) came aboard last May 13. It was time for a change: The company, Williams said, had been suffering from a dwindling audience base. The pandemic was partly to blame. But so, perhaps, were the plays themselves which may have had a narrower appeal than the new season picks. After cutting last season short, the theater launched a Rally for The Rep campaign, an emergency fundraiser. The community did indeed rally and a total of $2.6 million was raised.

“We’ve hit our stride artistically the last year and a half,” Danny says. “We are aiming for more resonance with audiences by offering a true array of what theater has to offer.”

Bergstrom’s full title is the Augustin Family Artistic Director, a role underwritten by that theater-passionate St. Louis family for the past 20 years or so. It’s a prestigious appointment: When the position was vacated by Hana S. Sharif in 2018, a nationwide search was conducted. Bergstrom was selected from close to one-hundred applicants and then three finalists. She has an MFA in directing from Brown University; she said her life changed forever after seeing a production of Our Town directed by David Cromer in L.A. (Helen Hunt was the stage manager). 

Her own acting career began in eighth grade when – on a bit of a whim – she went along to addition for Peter Pan. While she may have had designs on the lead role, she was offered the part of Captain Hook. “A whole new world opened up. I felt so held in that space,” Bergstrom says. “The audience’s surprise and delight – being able to give that to them – was like nothing else in the world.”

Williams’s brush with Newman gave him a “taste of glamor,” which lured him toward his career like fish to bait. “Eartha Kit was in the audience, for instance. Mike Nichols, James Earl Jones, Diane Sawyer! Getting up close to all those legends backstage? There was nothing like it.” 

But while the passion for bright lights coursed (and still courses) in Williams’s veins, he fell – quite willingly – into the administrative side of things. “I have a super power for organization,” Williams says.

And there’s quite a lot of that needed in this theater company since Emerson Studio Theater, a new black box space seating 125 beneath the Main Stage, opened in October. “We’re calling this ‘adventurous theater,’” Williams  says of the flavor of plays to be staged here. By that, he means plays which challenge established conceptions, shake up preconceived ideas. The Roommate by Jen Silverman will run through November 17. Gracie Gardner’s Athena, kicks off 2025 on January 15. Remaining in the 2025-2025  four-play season on the 900-seat Main Stage are Million Dollar Quartet Christmas based on the book by Colin Ascott, Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage; and Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood.

“We’re hoping to cultivate a younger base,” Williams says. “If you’ve never been, come. If you came and didn’t like what you saw, come back.”

A dizzying amount of organization, as well, goes into the Rep’s annual trip to London. Over the course of a week, sometime around Memorial Day, 30 or so theatre aficionados see nine different plays in and around that city. Everyone stays at a hotel centrally located in Bloomsbury where conversation – pre- or post-performance – naturally turns to the art of theater and then –  perhaps more profoundly –  shared values and the discovery of larger meaning through art.

“This trip really brings people together in meaningful ways” Bergstrom says. “All ages, all types of theater, all kinds of people – doctors, artists, lawyers. It’s beautiful.” She noted that this summer, the group even took in ABBA Voyage in the ABBA Arena in London’s East End. “It’s a transformative experience,” says Williams. 

If passion is a necessary ingredient for excellence, then – winter aside – the forecast for Webster Groves in the coming months is looking rather rosy.

“We have three tenets: excellence, relevance and extraordinary experience,” Bergstrom says. “That’s what you can expect.”