While awards and honors are appreciated, the co-founders of Gateway Center for Performing Arts prefer to measure success by a student’s journey as they grow and learn.

The four co-founders — Executive Director Paul Pagano, Managing Director Lori Barrett-Pagano, Artistic Director Stephanie Fox and Marketing Director Ashleigh Blevins — wanted to create community by offering professional training in acting, dance, voice, and musical theater lessons.

In 2014, they also co-founded the Youth Theatre Company to provide opportunities for young people to experience high-quality performing arts. The Youth Theatre company produces several musicals a year.

Today, the Gateway Center for Performing Arts is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a place to collaborate. Located in Old Orchard in Webster Groves, the center draws from a wide geographic area — some from as far as Hermann, Missouri, and O’Fallon, Illinois — although most students live within the St. Louis metropolitan area.

The center, located at 8045 Big Bend Blvd. Suite 200, started out in January 2017 with three rooms measuring a little over 2,500 square feet. Since February 2020, the center has more than doubled its footprint in the building.

“We built out the expansion space during the (COVID-19) shutdown and opened it in January 2021,” Executive Director Pagano said. “With that space, we now lease a little more than 25% of the building. It has been a fantastic home for us, and I foresee it being our home for many years to come.”

Classes and private coaching are available for those age five through adult. There are fall and spring session classes, plus summer programs that include youth camps.

To see shy, nervous students thrive as artists is inspiring, not only to their peers, but those who teach them, according to Pagano. Many alumni of the center move on to study performing arts in college, earning spots in high-caliber programs.

“Gateway Center for the Performing Arts strives to really know and understand our students. When we’re preparing them for college, we work with them to tailor an audition package that fits who they are as an artist,” Pagano explained.

“By doing so, our students are much more confident when entering college auditions because they aren’t trying to fit into a box — they are being themselves,” Pagano continued. “This has garnered a lot of success for our students, allowing them to field multiple offers from the top musical theater programs in the country.”

Pagano noted there are also plenty of students who major in other careers such as nursing, physical therapy, political science, history and more, but keep active in theater. He said the founders believe studying the arts develops the discipline to achieve lifelong success and helps growth in relationships.

During a recent acting class for teens 13 and older, students — both new and experienced — talked about how the Gateway Center for Performing Arts has built their confidence, and is a safe space where they feel at home.

“It’s a welcoming, fun place,” said Brooke Susic, 14, of Webster Groves, who attends St. Paul Lutheran School and has studied at the center for three years.

Finley Carfield, 13, also of Webster Groves, said the center has helped him build his confidence and grow his skills.

“I’m a slow starter. I had zero confidence in any of my skills,” said Carfield, who attends Hixson Middle School and has been taking classes at Gateway Center for the Performing Arts for five years.

Adalyn Baron of Kirkwood called herself “super shy and timid” at first, but said she has blossomed through the interactions and connections she’s made through the center.

The teenagers are studying a classic, “Blithe Spirit” by Noel Coward,” learning how to read a script and honing in on clues to help them better understand the storytelling.

“More information allows us to connect to the human experience,” Executive Director Pagano said.

Recent Honors

While students from GCPA have competed before in the annual national awards known as The Jimmys in New York City and won Arts For Life theater recognition awards locally, this summer was perhaps their most impactful yet.

Anna Wright, 18, of Wentzville, was named one of the eight finalists at The Jimmys in June, which is the farthest any St. Louisan has gone in that national competition. For her performance in “Bright Star” at Liberty High School, she won Best Actress at the St. Louis High School Musical Theatre Awards at the Fox Theatre in May.

Wright, who is currently a freshman at Boston Conservatory, said she immediately noticed the community aspect of Gateway Center for the Performing Arts when she started classes there in 2017.

“They take care of your growth as a person and as an artist,” she said. “It’s a collaboration, never lecture – any idea to enhance creativity is treated with respect. That inspires you to work harder. They pull out the best parts of you while you’re performing.”

In July, the center swept the youth production categories at Arts for Life’s  Best Performance Awards, winning nine awards out of 35 nominations, including Best Youth Musical for “Something Rotten!” Arts for Life is a regional nonprofit that recognizes excellence in community theater and youth productions.

In August, Gateway Center for Performing Arts headlined the St. Louis Fringe Festival with the musical “Bare: A Pop Opera,” a powerful coming-of-age story, and performed at five sold-out shows at The Marcelle Theatre. The center also won the Box Office Smash Award and Ella Myers, who played Nadia, won Best Performance of the Year.

Raise The Curtain

Broadway star Taylor Louderman will be part of the entertainment at the center’s annual Raise the Curtain gala on Nov. 4 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Mainstage and Summer Season

Gateway’s two mainstage shows are “School of Rock: The Musical,” running Dec. 15-17, 2023, and “Ragtime,” running April 19-21, 2024, both at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center.

Summer Season shows are a hybrid of the Youth Theatre Company and Gateway Center for Performing Arts educational experience. Three musicals are presented, separated into age groups. 

For more information about the center, visit gcpastl.org.