7 Great Shows at The Muny in 2018

Muny’s 100th Season Has

Something for Everyone

by Pat Lindsey

The Muny will celebrate its 100th birthday next season with seven epic American musicals that encompass the theme of family and home, a theme that has resonated with six generations of St. Louisans since the theater opened in 1918.   As a matter of fact, my mother was born in 1918, just a month before the very first Muny show opened. She used to tell me stories about how she and my grandmother would walk all the way from Manchester and Kentucky Ave. in The Grove neighborhood to Forest Park to enjoy the shows from the free seats. Their love of The Muny has been my legacy for the past 50 years of Muny productions.

Next season’s shows will include two Tony award winners that are new to The Muny–“Jersey Boys” and “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway”–as well as “Annie,” “The Wiz,” “Gypsy,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” and, of course, “Meet Me in St. Louis.” The two family classics–”Annie” and “The Wiz”­–are sure to delight the children.

The shows were carefully selected by executive producer and artistic director Mike Isaacson and his staff to honor the artistic legacy of the past. “In 100 years, you are never one thing,” Isaacson said. “We are always in a state of evolution.” To pay tribute to the history of Broadway, The Muny may likely open with “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway” that will bring the American musical to the stage in a grand way with its featured music from “The King and I,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Peter Pan,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “On the Town,” West Side Story,” and “Call Me Madame,” and great dancing.

“We wanted to go big for the 100th, and this season is really big,” said Isaacson.

                              Centennial Gala May 18, 2018

The Muny’s 100th Anniversary will be much more than its seven-show season. On Friday, May 18, 2018, there will be a centennial gala that will include a new musical production on the outdoor stage, “A Night With the Stars.” Tickets for that event will go on sale online at www.muny.org beginning Nov. 1. Then on Sunday, May 20, there will be a free community birthday party that will feature live local entertainment, theater crafts, food trucks, and interaction with the behind-the-scenes people who make the magic happen. The Missouri History Museum will have a Muny exhibit opening on June 9 and Judith Newmark of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is writing a series of articles about the history of The Muny. Links to these events can be found at muny.org/100.

For the fifth consecutive year, World Wide Technology and The Steward Family will be The Muny’s Presenting Sponsor. Muny gift cards for the 100th season are now available online or at The Muny Box Office. For more information, visit muny.org or call 314-361-1900.

 

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