ST. LOUIS — From Shakespeare and musical theater in Forest Park to symphony performances in Grand Center, there are plenty of places to find unique arts and cultural activities in the Gateway City.

In addition to Broadway touring shows and musical theater from the African-American perspective, St. Louis is home to an eclectic array of independent theater companies, galleries, and museums that feature a variety of works. For more information about arts and cultural attractions in the area, visit http://www.explorestlouis.com/ or call the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission at 1-800-916-0040.

It's no surprise that a place responsible for launching so many talented actors, musicians and writers would have a lively and active contemporary music, dance and theatre scene.

Playwright Tennessee Williams spent his formative years in St. Louis, as well as T.S. Eliot and Maya Angelou. Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age like Betty Grable, Vincent Price, Shelley Winters and Buddy Ebsen have roots here too, along with contemporary favorites John Goodman, Marsha Mason, Robert Guillaume and Kevin Kline.

Each summer the magic of musical theatre echoes through Forest Park as The Muny - short for Municipal Opera Association - stages seven weeks of American musicals under the stars. A St. Louis tradition since 1917, The Muny (http://www.muny.org/) is America's largest outdoor theatre, with 12,000 seats. The 2008 season features "The Producers," "High School Musical," "My Fair Lady," "Miss Saigon," "My One and Only," "Fiddler on the Roof," and "90 Years of Muny Magic," celebrating the theater's storied history.

Speaking of Forest Park the annual Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis (www.sfstl.com) brings "Richard III" to Forest Park in 2008, with three weeks of free outdoor performances. The shows take place every night (except Tuesdays) from May 23 through June 15, and begin with a traditional English "Green Show," that offers songs, dance and a synopsis of the night's play for children.

The Grand Center arts and entertainment district (http://www.grandcenter.org/) continues to live up to its name, with an eclectic array of arts and cultural offerings. Grand Center is home to galleries, museums and performing arts venues such as The Fabulous Fox Theatre, The Sheldon Concert Hall, and Jazz St. Louis. The renowned Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, led by new music director David Robertson, calls Powell Symphony Hall home, and the ornate Fox Theatre stages a variety of touring Broadway shows, dance performances and live comedy and music concerts throughout the year. The ornate 1929 theatre, described as Siamese-Byzantine in design, is one of the most stunning performance venues in the country.

At the neighboring Grandel Theatre, the St. Louis Black Repertory Company presents a season of drama, comedy and musicals told from the African-American perspective. The Black Rep season runs from January through June, and the company has been called America's best African-American theatre. The acoustically perfect Sheldon Concert Hall presents live jazz, folk, blues, and more throughout the year, along with the popular Cabaret in the Savoy Room series.

Dance St. Louis (http://www.dancestlouis.org/) brings some of the greatest dancers and dance companies in the world to St. Louis audiences each year. Performances take place at the Fox Theatre, the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center and in collaboration with Washington University's Edison Theatre, and feature the full spectrum of dance, from classical and contemporary ballet to modern, ethnic, ballroom, tap, jazz, hip-hop, and cutting-edge artists of every sort. Both the Edison Theatre (http://www.edisontheatre.wustl.edu/) and the Touhill PAC (http://www.touhill.org/) host various live performances, including opera, music and comedy concerts throughout the year. The Touhill is located on the campus of the University of Missouri - St. Louis.

St. Louis boasts one of the most acclaimed opera companies in North America. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (http://www.explorestlouis.com/scripts/mlt.asp?m=334&t=www.experienceopera.org) offers classic and contemporary opera sung in English by some of the best talent in the business. The '08 season features "The Tales of Hoffman," "Madame Butterfly," "Una Cosa Rara," and "Troilus and Cressida." Performances are held at the Loretto-Hilton Theatre on the campus of Webster University.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (http://www.repstl.org/), which also performs at the Loretto-Hilton Theatre, features cutting-edge drama, contemporary comedy and classic favorites. From September through April each year, audiences enjoy a variety of live theater experiences on the main stage and in the studio theatre.

Community theater is alive and well in St. Louis, with a variety of professionally staged productions on the boards at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre (http://www.explorestlouis.com/scripts/mlt.asp?m=33&t=www.florissantmo.com) and STAGES St. Louis (http://www.explorestlouis.com/scripts/mlt.asp?m=401&t=www.stagesstlouis.com). Florissant is home to the annual St. Louis Family Theatre Series and a number of special events, while STAGES offers classic American musicals from June through October.

At the Center of Creative Arts (http://www.cocastl.org/), children and adults can enjoy classes and performances in the visual and performing arts for children, teens and adults. Highlights for 2008 include "Jason and the Argonauts," "Peter Pan," and a COCA original production, "The Little Dancer - Goes Around the World!"

Unity Theatre Ensemble (http://www.utensemble.org/) is a touring company offering a diverse repertoire of musical revues, gospel musicals, reader's theater, traditional drama, and children's theater. UTE's touring season is July through December, and during February. The St. Louis Cathedral Concerts (http://www.stlcathedralconcerts.org/), held from October through April, feature spectacular music and musicians from around the world. And as far as music venues go, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in one of the most beautiful in the country.

In keeping with their tradition of offering visitors an opportunity to experience unique artwork from around the globe, the Missouri Botanical Garden (http://www.mobot.org/) presents "Niki," an exhibition of the works of Niki de Saint Phalle. A prolific self-taught artist, de Saint Phalle's work features playful, larger-than-life sculptures ranging in size from four to 18 feet tall, with some weighing as much as a ton or more. Forty colorful mosaic and painted sculptures of animals, dancing women, heroes and totems will be displayed throughout the 79-acre botanical garden from April 27 through October 31.

Each Thursday the "Get Out" section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch carries current event listings for the upcoming week, as does the Riverfront Times, a free newspaper found in restaurants, hotels and clubs throughout St. Louis.   

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