A Grand Night in St. Louis
Living St. Louis hosts a New Year's Eve special from Grand Center

Wednesday, December 31, 2008, at 10:00 p.m.

Each year, nearly 15,000 people gather in and around Grand Center on New Year’s Eve to celebrate First Night®—the coming of the New Year—and to appreciate St. Louis’ visual and performing arts scene.

KETC will air a special program featuring an up-close look at this exceptional event including musical performance highlights, artist demonstrations and a look back at the history of First Night in Grand Center.

Join Patrick Murphy, Anne-Marie Berger, Ruth Ezell and Jim Kirchherr as they explore First Night venues along Grand Boulevard and share what they find in taped and live reports. One of the highlights will be an interview with Pearl Heart, three singing sisters from Florissant who received national recognition last summer in the music competition TV show Nashville Star. They will perform on A Grand Night in St. Louis outdoor on the main stage on Washington Boulevard. Jim Kirchherr profiles another local musical group, Show-Me Sound Drumline, an ensemble of middle and high school percussionists.

In other pieces, Ruth Ezell outlines the rich history of the Third Baptist Church in the heart of Grand Center; Kirchherr explores Grand Center’s evolution from a street full of ornate movie palaces and thriving retail storefronts to its growing role as a theater and gallery district; and Patrick Murphy visits Bruno David Gallery’s current exhibition by Carmon Colangelo about the creation of the universe and manmade changes in the environment; and shows how area art students constructed a 12-foot-tall mosaic rabbit sculpture for First Night using a combination of ceramic objects, glass, mirror and tile.