Brooke Edwards

This fundraising event features Peggy Billo, Michele Dumoulin, Barbara Helmer, Marlissa Hudson, Lee Ann Mathews, Devon Roberts, Deborah Sharn, Katy Tibbets, BJ Ware and Orange Girls co-founders Brooke Edwards and Meghan Maguire performing your favorite jazz standards and Broadway hits.

Orange Girls was created out of necessity by three pals, co-founder and co-artistic director Brooke Edwards said.

"Even with the Rep adding a third season, there were only roles for three women," she said."There's definitely a need for this."

Their first production, "Elephant," staged in October, which gave a voice to four pioneer women, garnered outstanding reviews from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Riverfront Times.

"We weren't shocked.We knew we had a pretty good show," Edwards said.
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Edwards recently moved to the St. Louis area from Los Angeles to raise her young son in a "quieter" area, and has appeared in theatrical productions in Washington, D.C. and TV and film in Los Angeles.

St. Louisan Hand has performed with many local theatre groups and teaches performance at Fontbonne University.
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"A lot of theatre companies do blind casting, as far as race, not as far as sex," Edwards said.
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"I've always wanted to do a Greek tragedy and bring a modern voice to it," Edwards said of "Medea.""We're trying to take a modern issue like postpartum depression and bring it to the forefront."

They recently held auditions for "Medea," and Edwards said a lot of people are interested in working with Orange Girls -- and the announcement of the Kline noms certainly will help bring the troupe more attention.

For "Elephant," Orange Girls was nominated for Outstanding Production of a Play; Deanna Jent for Outstanding Director of a Play; Outstanding Ensemble in a Play; Nancy Lewis and Meghan Maguire for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play and Brooke Edwards and Michelle Hand for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play.
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"Now it's going to be a staged reading of 'The Fattest Person Wins,' about four women waiting in a liposuction clinic," Edwards said.
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Edwards said Orange Girls is wisely taking baby steps in the St. Louis theatre community, and all three co-founders are still working "day jobs," as they look toward their next season, as well as obtaining non-profit status and an outreach program -- possibly to aid a woman's shelter or teen program in the area.

"We also would like to develop new works," Edwards said.

The Orange Girls production will feature company co-founders Michelle Hand and Brooke Edwards, as well as Nancy Lewis, Julie Layton and Magan Wiles, with direction by Deanna Jent.

Last October this fledgling company, composed of actresses Brooke Edwards, Michelle Hand and Meghan Maguire, debuted by introducing St. Louis theatergoers to Going to See the Elephant , a lovingly wrought exercise in prairie realism.
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In the title role, Brooke Edwards renders a tormented portrayal, but she doesn't share her torment with the audience.

The Orange Girls are Brooke Edwards, Michelle Hand, and Meghan Maguire .
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Brooke Edwards
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Brooke Edwards

Brooke Edwards is co-founder and co-artistic director of Orange Girls and is honored to share these titles with her partners, Michelle Hand and Meghan Maguire.
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Brooke brings to Orange Girls, over 20 years of performance experience. She started acting in children's theatre in her hometown when she was 10 years old, and since then has studied and performed all over the country. Brooke received her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Western Illinois University in the spring of 1995. Her concentration was costume design and world theatre history. he then attended the certificate performance program at The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Washington, D.C. She also studied privately at The Studio Theatre Conservatory, where she also worked and performed. Other Washington credits include The Wooly Mammoth Theatre, The Source Theatre, and The National. Brooke moved to Los Angeles in 1997 where she studied with renowned instructor and coach, David LeGrant. She has appeared in film and television, including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the police drama Pacific Blue.
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Brooke moved to St. Louis with her family in early 2000, and has since performed with many local theatre companies including Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage with Hothouse Theatre, The Food Chain, with City Players, Julius Caesar, and most recently, The Winter's Tale, for St. Louis Shakespeare, and The Hunchback Variations for The Midnight Company.
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Brooke has previously taught scene study at The Jewel Box Theatre in Los Angeles, under mentor Walter Olkewicz and taught on-camera, improvisation, and early childhood acting for John Robert Powers.
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Meghan Maguire is extremely proud to be a co-founder of Orange Girls alongside Michelle and Brooke.

Brooke Edwards (Director of Theatre) - (314) 725-1834 x150 - >

Brooke Edwards, Co-founder and Co-artistic Director, Orange Girls

Actresses Hand, Maguire and Edwards formed The Orange Girls in 2005 after a lunch-time conversation at the St. Louis Bread Company turned to working, motherhood and the lack of focus on strong female roles.

Trouble ahead: Brooke Edwards (center) is a tormented Medea.

The Orange Girls don't play it safe.Last October this fledgling company, composed of actresses Brooke Edwards, Michelle Hand and Meghan Maguire, debuted by introducing St. Louis theatergoers to Going to See the Elephant, a lovingly wrought exercise in prairie realism.
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In the title role, Brooke Edwards renders a tormented portrayal, but she doesn't share her torment with the audience.