Thousands of people will celebrate New Year's Eve wth music, art, theater, dance, fireworks and other framily-freindly activities in Grand Center on Monday.
More than 40 acts will perform or lead hands-on activities in 23 venues, inside and outside. Decorations and programming will reflect this year's theme, a traveling circus.
Fireworks will be shot from the roof of the St. Louis University parking grages at Olive and Compton at 9 p.m. and midnight.
Circus-related acts include the Flying Wallendas, who will cross Grand Boulevard on a wire 25 feet above ground; Claire the Clown, a one woman circus extravaganza; and acrobatics by the Purina Incredible Dog Team
And, on the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamtion, First Night will recall the spirit of hope experienced by slaves awaiting freedom on New Year's Eve 1862. The Freedom's Ever Celebration at the Scottish Rite Auditorium will include drama, dance, music and historical timelines in shows at 6:45, 7:45 and 9:15 p.m.
At a glance
What: First Night St. Louis
Where: Grand Center. Grand Boulevard between Lindel and Delmar will be closed from 6 a.m. Monday through 6 a.m. Tuesday.)
When: 6-midnight New Year's Eve
Admission buttons: Advance tickets are $10 adults, $5 children 6-12; children 5 and younger free. They may be purchased through the website or at 24 locations listed on the website. At First Night, tickets are $12 adults, $6 ages 6-12; 5 and younger, free; they may be purchased at the First Night Button Shop, 519 N. Grand Blvd. and at the north entry of St. Louis University's Busch Student Center.
Food: Available for purchase
Information: Visit www.grancenter.org/first-night or call 314-289-8121
First Night St. Louis entertainment schedule
Boeing Main Stage, Grand and Lindell
6 p.m. Opening ceremonies. Traveling circus magic begins. A cast member from the touring Broadway production of "Wicked" will perform the National Anthem (encore performance at 11:45 p.m.)
6:45, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Joseph Tran, magician and illusionist, will bust all your preconceptions about magic. He is known for his ever-evolving, cutting edge-routines.
9 p.m. "Auld Lang Syne." Early show by Joseph Tran, followed by a dance party with a DJ.
9 and 11:30 p.m. Dr. Crucial's Video Show: choreographed video set. Picture your favorite music videos being projected larger than life while the songs echo down Grand.
11:30 p.m. Countdown to New Year. Dance your way into 2013.
Scottish Rite Auditorium
6:45, 7:45 and 9:15 p.m. Feedom's Eve Celebration. On the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, First Night will recall the spirit of hope experienced by slaves awaiting freedom on New Year's Eve 1862. The celebration will include drama, dance, music and historical timelines.
Grand Center Arts Academy, across from Powell Hall
8-10:30 p.m. Cafe and Coffee House. Stop in to purchase coffee or hot chocolate. Grand Center Arts Academy students will perform at 7:00, 7:30, 8:30, 9:15 and 9:45 p.m.
Outdoors
6-11:30 p.m., on Grand, across from Kranzberg Arts Center. Fish Eye Fun: Volunteers will snap a photo of you and your family and friends for a free First Night souvenir.
6:30, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., Purina Incredible Dog Team, on Grand at Samuel Shepart, across from the Grandel Theatre. Acrobatic dog tricks.
7:30 and 10 p.m., Grand at Washington. The Flying Wallendas will cross Grand Boulevard 25 feet above the crowd.
7:30-11:30 p.m. Dance Under the Big Top: on Grand, near the Fox Theatre. DJ Christ Johnson will keep you warm and moving with non-stop dance beats.
Stauss Park
6-11:55 p.m. Burn Your Regrets: Secretly write down anything you want to leave behind as you move into 2013. Throw your regret into the colorful fire and watch it fade away. Or, Make a Wish and pace it in the fortune teller's giant crystal ball.
Busch Student Center, St. Louis University campus
6-10 p.m. (lower level) Create Your Own Art: Children and adults can color animal masks, making a colorful
necklace, creating and decorating a clown hand puppet, creating a shake, rattle & roll percussive instrument and decorating a cupcake. Volunteers will help you get started. Also, make creative designs with Legos.
6-10 p.m. (lower level) Fantasy Faces: Airbrush artists will turn your face into a work of art.
6:15 and 8 p.m. Claire the Clown: Claire's act includes slapstick, juggling, magic, pantomime, acrobatics, improvisation, balancing feats, object manipulation and audience participation.
6:15-7 p.m. (St. Louis Room) Leverage Dance Theatre: interactive performance for "Pas de Chat's New
Year's Eve Adventure," as Pas de Chat, a lost little cat, goes on a fun, character-filled journey to find her way home.
6:15-6:45 p.m. (Main Level Media Room) Metro Theatre Company: Families are invited to participate in a fun and highly interactive drama workshop. Professional theatre artists will lead participants in improvisational drama games inspired by baseball legend, Jackie Robinson, and their upcoming production of "Jackie and Me." The 6:15 p.m. performance is ecommended for ages 5-7; additional workshops at 7:15 p.m. (recommended ages 9-11) and 8:15 p.m. (recommended ages 12 and older).
6:30-10:30 p.m. (lower level) Puppeteer Paul Vandivort: classic folk tales and comedy with handcrafted puppets.
7 and 9:45 p.m.(lower level) Babaloo: An award-winning wild and wacky musical comedy act for kids of all ages. His high-energy, interactive show keeps audiences on the edge and out of their seats with bean-bag-bopping, bucketbeating,
bubble-boogying, and all sorts of musical mayhem. Be prepared to make noise and laugh a lot.
7:15-7:45 p.m. (Third Floor, St. Louis Room) St. Louis Arches: Circus Harmony rings in the New Year with flipping, flying and flinging by five of the acrobatic children known as the St. Louis Arches! Look for special guest appearances by Arches' alumni, who are currently studying at Ecole Nationale du Cirque, the circus school in Montreal affiliated with Cirque du Soleil.
8-8:30 p.m. (St. Louis Room) Ashleyliane Dance Company: The professional dance company specializes in blending modern, jazz, and contemporary training with urban street dance.
9:45-10:30 p.m. (St. Louis Room) Stickley and Canan: Blended Americana and Irish romp music.
9:45-10:30 p.m. (St. Louis Room) Mound City Slickers: St. Louis string band performs a variety of old-time, square dance music, songs and ragtime on fiddles, guitar, banjo and ukulele. Deborah Hyland calls the dances.
Kranzberg Arts Center
6:45 p.m.-7:35 p.m. (studio) Wack-A-Doo: The St. Louis-based band performs "American Musette," a highpowered mix of toe-tapping vintage swing, folksy Americana and speakeasy syncopation. Their upbeat style is reminiscent of nostalgic eras; the cafes of 1920's Europe, Prohibition, juice joints and the back-porch swing.
7-10 p.m. (lower level) Craft Alliance Creations: Design an outrageous New Year's Eve Party hat inspired by a traveling circus.
8-8:30 p.m. Celia: The popular St. Louis entertainer performs alone and with Celia's Big Rock Band.
11-11:45 p.m. (studio) Betse Ellis: Renowned fiddler, Betse Ellis, founding member of the "hillbilly riot" band, The Wilders, strikes out on her own.
Third Baptist Church Sanctuary
6:15-7:15 p.m. Clave Sol: a spicy fusion of jazz improvisation
with Latin, funk, island and world rhythms. Their music is lively, improvisational, and danceable.
7:45-8:45 p.m. The Service: This new group features St. Louis all-star musicians from the soul, funk, and jazz scenes. Their sound is described as the New Mastersounds meets Jimi Hendrix meets Jimmy Smith and who all get into a fight.
9:15-10:15 p.m. Justin Branum Band: Award-winning fiddle and mandolin player performs in many different styles.
10:45-11:45 p.m. Gene Dobbs Bradford & The Blues Inquisition: As one of the top harmonica players in St. Louis, Gene Dobbs Bradford leads the Blues Inquisition in a high-energy blues performance.
Grandel Theater
6:15, 7:45, 9:15 and 10:45 p.m. (main level theater) Death by Tickle: Extreme juggling with a mechanical pig and a straitjacket escape await you. Magic and goofball antics by Juggling Jeff and Oh My Gosh Josh.
6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Bob Kramer's Marionnettes: Half-hour winter musical variety show with snowmen, elves, toys and a circus finale.
9:15 and 10:45 p.m. (Grand Hall) Easelmuse. As you arrive, you'll be invited to write on an index card one thing that didn't happen to you this year. You'll get to choose from various independent and collaborative techniques and materials to make "what-if" art inspired by these anonymous unhappenings.
Sheldon Concert Hall
6:30 and 9:45 p.m The Lulus: old-time, bluegrass, classic country, strong vocals, tasteful harmonies by independent women who "tell it like it is." The Lulus meld an array of instruments with a unique repertoire of little known songs.
6:45 -7:35 p.m. (ballroom) Big Brother Thunder and the MasterBlasters blend funk-struttin'-soul with rock and jazz by pulling from African, Caribbean and Brazilian styles and rhythms. Their foot-stomping world beats are very danceable.
7:45 p.m. One More Round. Bill Forness and One More Round perform Johnny Cash's hits from the 1950s Sun Records releases, America's favorite duets by June Carter and Johnny Cash, and the 1990s iconic songs from Cash's "American Recordings."
8-8:30 p.m. (ballroom) Middle Class Fashion: St. Louis-based group marries breezy hook-infused pop melodies with slightly dark, classically influenced arrangements and a penchant for complex, joyous vocal harmonies.
9:45-10:30 p.m. (ballroom) Nee: The dance squad at the cool kid magnet school. It is vintage synthesizers and ricocheting drums and poses. Mostly, it is Kristin Dennis, who is surprisingly effective at making you feel bad for not dancing. While singing certain vowels, sounds like a real bird.
11-11:45 p.m. (ballroom) Joe Hardy & The Public: The band's 2007 heartache-laden LP, "Working in Love," bids farewell to alt-country influences for a punchy and pretty 60's blue-eyed southern
soul ethos, while the St. Louis quintet's live show often features a full horn section and a faithful cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Rosalita
(Come Out Tonight)."
St. Francis Xavier College Church
6:30-7:30 p.m. Gannon, Martin & Buckley: This trio plays traditional Irish music on three quintessential Irish instruments: harp, Uilleann pipes and fiddle.
8-9 p.m. Farshid Etniko: evokes textures, rhythms, colors and stories of diverse cities and countries, fused with Blues, Latin and Middle Eastern timbers with Persian graces.
9:15-10:15 p.m. Mark Holland: Native American flute music
10:45-11:45 p.m. Pianist Gerry Liebmann
