After Horror Show, Ivory Theatre is Alive and Well

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The curtain is about to rise on the Ivory Theatre's second -- or third? -- act.

​As of last Friday, November 5, the homepage for the Ivory Theatre went dark, sparking rumors of the troubled theater's demise. But those rumors are unfounded says Scott Steele, the new general manager who replaced Donna Perrino, known to some in the St. Louis theater community as "the Ivory Theatre Horror Show."

"The Ivory Theatre is alive and well!" Steele informs Daily RFT.

So what about that website?

"When Donna Perrino was removed -- or whatever the term is -- when she ceased to be part of the Ivory family, we couldn't continue to use the old website," Steele explains.

And why is that?

"I can't comment on that. But we have a new website now." The Ivory's current online home is www.theivorytheatre.com.

"We're not going to become a country/western saloon, either," Steele adds. "Some people have been saying that."

Instead the Ivory will continue to show plays. Steele says its latest show, the Unity Theatre Ensemble's production of Ntozake Shange's for colored girls, was "totally sold out," and Unity has pledged to return to the Ivory in 2011. Family Musical Theater is also staging shows there. Steele has not, however, spoken to Scott Miller of New Line Theatre, one of the chief complainers about Perrino.

But the space will also be used as a performing arts center. Steele has been in talks to bring in comedians and concerts and opera and dance and live radio shows.

Says Steele, "We've put the controversy in the past. This will be huge for the Carondelet area."