COMMUNITY & CULTURE
TAKE IT FROM ME…
with Mary Strauss
CREATIVE SPIRIT. VISIONARY. SMALL, BUT MIGHTY.
By Diane Kline
I
t wasn’t Mary Strauss’ plan to take on the gargantuan task of
restoring the Fox Theatre to its original glory. It was a matter of fate.
It happened about 40 years ago while Strauss was walking
through the decaying building with her late husband, Leon,
a renowned urban developer and founder of Pantheon
Construction Company. Immediately seeing “the magic,” she pushed
her husband to restore the theater.
“Who will do it?” he asked. She didn’t a miss a beat. “I will,” she
declared.
Never mind that Strauss had no experience to guide her other than
a background in art history. With sheer determination and boundless
energy, she took just one year to reestablish the Fox as a premier
entertainment venue.
Today, she is one of the co-owners of the Fox Theatre and Fox
Theatricals in New York, which has produced Tony Award-winning
Broadway plays, musicals, West End productions and national tours.
But the heart of Strauss’ passion is helping young people through
the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation, the organization
that showcases the annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition for high
school students at the Fox Theatre.
Strauss, who has three adult children and two grandchildren, serves
on multiple cultural organization boards. With seven Tony Awards under
her belt and an ongoing project to catalog an extensive - and impressive –
collection of entertainment memorabilia, Strauss is unafraid of taking on
massive projects and just “figuring it out” along the way.
Night at the Movies. It brought me out of my shell. I had all these ideas
and started to have confidence that those ideas could succeed.
I’m little, but I’m mighty.
I’m only 5 feet tall (and getting shorter). If I’d been taller, I’d have had a
different life. My mother expected a lot, and I delivered. When I wrote
home from camp, my mom sent the letters back with the spelling and
grammar mistakes circled. She’s still in my head, but I think she’d finally
be proud of me.
You can’t stay stagnant, because time moves on.
You always have to be looking for something new, a way to branch out.
In 1990, we became theatrical producers. Most organizations either
present or produce. We’re one of the few that do both. Producing plays
is a crapshoot. Most of them lose money, but we’ve had some big hits,
including “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “The Humans” and “Fun Home.”
I’m a little girl from St. Louis surrounded by the biggest names
in Broadway.
I pinch myself about the success we’ve achieved. Leon and I would say,
“We did it again!” Our productions have received 48 Tony Awards and
150 nominations. It’s been so exciting – the readings, the auditions, the
out-of-town tryouts. At our opening night parties, there would be 1,000
people, and I wouldn’t know anyone.
My passion is helping young people.
I’ve led many different lives, even as a Playboy Bunny!
As a child, my parents introduced me to the arts. I saw “Sunset
Boulevard” 11 times because Gloria Swanson fascinated me. I went to
college in Mexico and became so fluent in Spanish that it was difficult
to speak English when I got home. I’ve taught Spanish and worked as a
trilingual secretary (Spanish, French and English). I was also a Playboy
Bunny. Looking back…that was cool.
Nothing daunted me because I was up for any challenge.
When I was younger, I questioned myself all the time. In fact, I was very
shy, but the Fox changed that. From the day we opened the doors, I was a
part of everything. That was me on stage in vintage costumes for Monday
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GAZELLE STL
In the ‘80s, we started to help children embrace theater and performing
with the St. Louis Teen T alent Competition. It was ahead of its time,
before “America’s Got Talent” or “American Idol,” and we’ve revived it.
The winners get college scholarships, but all the kids get the thrill of
“strutting their stuff” on the Fox stage.
Leave both your eyes open.
Let yourself be free. Leave yourself open to possibilities, and
opportunities will come to you. If you pursue something and really
concentrate, you can make it happen. That’s why my friends say, “She’s
not the little engine that could…she’s the little engine that can.”