Preparations for stage construction
I’ve been writing about the Muny since I started this blog in 2010, and I’ve been seeing shows there since my family moved to St. Louis in 2004. That’s only 14 years of the 100 years of the company’s existence, and in those 14 years I’ve seen a lot of shows at the outdoor theatre in Forest Park that’s become a household name in St. Louis. There’s been a lot of reflecting and looking back over the past year as the Muny has celebrated its centennial. There was a gala concert, a 100th season of performances, a public “open house” style event where St. Louisans were invited to see and celebrate the inner workings of the company, and an impressively detailed and informative exhibit at the Missouri History Museum that I finally got to see recently. That, along with another major event in the Muny’s schedule, were occasions for me and others who attended to reflect on the Muny’s past, and to look toward its future.
The day after I attended the exhibit at the History Museum, I attended the Muny’s presentation called Intermission: Setting the Stage For the Next Act. It was a small gathering in which major Muny donors and representatives of the press were invited as the Muny prepared to begin major renovations to performance and backstage areas, many of which will be ready for next year’s 101st season. Muny Artistic Director and Executive Producer Mike Isaacson, Muny President and CEO Dennis Reagan, and others gave brief descriptions of the projects and outlined their grand plans for the space and for the venue in the years to come. For me, it was an informative gathering but also an instance for reflection, thinking back about my own experience as a Muny audience member and as a reviewer and blogger, and also about the Muny’s place in St. Louis as a cultural institution and tradition for the past century.
Artistic Director and Executive Producer Mike Isaacson speaks on the Muny stage
Now, as to the details of the project and the donors, I refer you to the article I’ve linked on the Muny’s website, as well as their Second Century Campaign page that gives more details on the project and on how anyone can donate to the campaign. It’s an exciting plan in many ways, and walking around on that vast Muny stage that’s full of memories but also outdated in many ways, I couldn’t help but try to imagine what it will be like to be sitting in that auditorium next year and seeing the fully rebuilt stage and updated surrounding areas, featuring improvments both cosmetic and functional. I noted the wooden rail constucted on the stage’s edge as that stage awaits its demolition in preparation for a new one. Next year, that rail won’t be there, and the stage I stood on will be replaced with something shiny and new, and more up to date with today’s theatrical needs. I’m especially curious to see those renderings brought to life.
The memories, still, are there, and the devotion to both preserving and expanding that tradition was stressed at the Intermission event as well as at the exhibit at the Missouri History Museum, which I highly recommend. It may seem obvious, but there’s a lot of history in 100 years. It’s easy to look at a number like 100 and think it’s beyond the scope of imagining, but that exhibit does an impressively thorough job of recounting that history–focusing on the high points, as is expected in an exhibit like this, but there’s also a bit of perspective inherent to exhibits of this nature. We all know the Muny, for instance, or at least we think we do, but 50, 60, 70 years ago it was still the Muny (or the Municipal Opera, as it was formally called), but there were a lot of difference as well. Many changes have happened over the years, both in terms of cultural changes and in terms of the kind of shows presented (operas and operettas used to be the norm), to the long list of performers who have appeared on that stage. For every legendary star who has tread the boards at the Muny (Bob Hope, Pearl Bailey, etc.), there are others whose names used to be familiar but now have mostly been forgotten (Gladys Baxter, Guy Robertson, and more). Imagining the Muny a century from now,, I have little doubt there would be performers from today in both of those categories. A century is a long time.
Trees surround the existing Muny stage. New trees will soon be planted as well.
Still, the focus now, even with the talk of the “Next Century” is on practical improvements for the immediate future, and those results will be seen as early as next year. I’ve already witnessed a lot of changes in the 14 years I’ve been here, but the next few years sound like they’re going to be even more interesting. The sense of hope and optimism was palpable at the Intermission event. It was a very small gathering, representing an important but small portion of the total audience for Muny shows. High dollar donors are needed for a big project like this. They are essential, but the “regular” Muny goers are just as important, if not more so, because a venue as big as this needs audiences to see the shows. There were some great events featured in the Muny’s 100th season, including An Evening With the Stars, the aforementioned History Museum exhibit, and more, but I think my favorite was the “Birthday Bash” open house event, in which the general public was invited into spaces they normally don’t get to see–backstage, behind the scenes, and onto that vast stage to look out at the immense seating area from an angle most of us don’t normally get to see. I sincerely hope that more events like that are planned for the future.
Thanks for the memories, Muny. Here’s to the next 100 years!
Muny President and CEO Dennis Reagan
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