November 2, 1998
Team 11 carries messages to school, corporate events
Rick Desloge

* Reference 1

For area high schools for free. They belt out songs and play skits addressing teen issues -- drugs, alcohol and pregnancy.

Along the way area corporations have started to catch the act.

This year Team 11 has performed at business functions for Monsanto Co., Edison Brothers Stores Inc., and The May Department Stores Co., said Tiffany Yost, promotions and sales coordinator for Koplar Entertainment.

Yost is not surprised. She thought corporate St. Louis would latch on faster.

"This is the best of the best for this age in St. Louis," boasts Yost, who coordinates the group's rehearsals and books the shows.

The group is entering the tail end of its peak season, March to December. In addition to its free Friday performances at area high schools and middle schools, Team 11 books some 60 corporate and fair events each year. The group has a base charge of $1,500 for the hour-and-a-half shows. Depending on the notice -- and price -- Team 11 tailors material to suit client events, she said.

The group is similar to a St. Louis version of students in "Fame," the 1980s show set in a New York City high school with a cast of teens counting on stardom.

But Team 11 is all local talent. They attend area high schools and colleges and range in age from 15 to 21. All of them are studied singers or dancers. None, including O.J. Smith, the son of former St. Louis Cardinals shortstoop turned broadcaster, Ozzie Smith, gets in without auditions.

"He had to try out twice," Yost said of O.J.

Yost attends all the auditions. Ray Parks, a veteran producer and choreographer, selects all the talent.

To keep the group together, Koplar Entertainment pays the members $7 an hour for rehearsals, and from $25 to $50 per corporate show. The stipend is enough to help through a demanding schedule: two-hour rehearsals, three days a week, one school show, and a corporate event or two. Team 11 members usually don't drop out until after high school, but the group includes a couple of college students.

Mike Cothrine, 22, a student at St. Louis University, is the oldest of the bunch.

"They make me the big brother," said the marketing major, who said Team 11 has opened doors for other commercial work.

Melissa Anderson, 15, just joined in April. After years of school plays and vocal lessons, the Parkway Central student said Team 11 is her first paying job.

Some of the alums have gone on in entertainment.

They include Richard Baird, now in Los Angeles and working with several recording artists; Shante Johnston, who landed a recording contract with Sony Records; Nikki Boyer, now in Los Angeles working on commercials; and Victoria Recano, who joined the KPLR-TV staff as a reporter and now is hosting a cable television show in San Francisco.

Ted Koplar, the president of Koplar Enterprises International, started Team 11 as an offshoot of Koplar Entertainment. The group worked closely with KPLR-TV, the former Koplar-owned station sold last year to Acme Broadcasting.

Team 11 still works with KPLR, but the relationship is not as cozy as when Koplar owned the station. In addition to the change in ownership, one corporate sponsor, Coca-Cola, did not renew this year.

That has put more pressure on Yost to find new corporate sponsors. But as she pointed out, "This is an incredible marketing opportunity."

Team 11 carries corporate messages to all its shows. For example, the group gives out information on Feld Chevrolet at its performances. Feld provides transportation to the shows.

Schnuck Markets, the region's dominant supermarket, is starting its second year as a sponsor. It helps underwrite Team 11's free Friday appearances at area schools.

Mark Blethroad, Schnuck's sales promotion manager, said it was the high level of the talent that prompted Schnuck's to sign on.

"They're very professional in their presentation," he said. "This (school) audience is not one we reach in a lot of other ways, and they'll be our shoppers in the next five to 10 years."

Koplar acknowledged the song and dance troupe runs a deficit. But he said the value is showing off the talent in St. Louis.

"It's kind of like Star Search," he said, "We've identified these kids and put the show together. What we need are the places for these kids to perform. It's a great way for other corporations to latch on before these kids move on. Sometimes the best things are right under your nose."