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Theater|Hot, Big and Buggy: Why Do Broadway Actors Love to Work Summers Here?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/theater/the-muny-st-louis-tony-award.html
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As summer sets in and New Yorkers escape to greener, milder, beachier pastures, Broadway performers are flocking elsewhere: the great, landlocked outdoors of St. Louis, where summers are known for … bugs. Humidity. Unpredictable storms. Oppressive heat.
What draws them there is the Muny, a century-old outdoor musical theater nestled in Forest Park that seats nearly 11,000 a night through a rapid-fire lineup of seven shows in 10 weeks. The experience, according to the actors who return year after year, is worth the elements.
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Preparations for the Muny’s 107th season, which begins June 16 with “Bring It On,” are in full swing. A whirlwind week of rehearsals began on Monday, as has been the Muny’s fast and furious way for decades. Only this summer, the process is unfolding with an extra notch in the company’s belt: this year’s regional theater Tony Award.
The honor is certainly a nod to the cast and crew members who put up Broadway-caliber shows in an impossible span of time, seven times in a row. But it’s also a recognition of the significant role the Muny plays in St. Louis — a place where generations of families have spent their summer nights, an institution as synonymous with the city as the Gateway Arch or the Cardinals.
“Everyone has worked so hard, really worked hard, because we believed in what this could be for our community and our audience,” said Mike Isaacson, the Muny’s artistic director and executive producer.
