The 2013 Muny Season packs comedy, drama and magic moments into a fun-filled summer on the stage

By Doug Kaufman

Zany comedies and stirring dramas representing a blend of classic and current shows and a dash of Muny magic mark the 95th season of The Muny.

“It’s all shaping up really well,” said Muny executive producer Mike Isaacson. “I was really moved and honored by the audiences’ response to everything we brought to the stage last season, and they seem really excited by this season.”

The season starts with “Spamalot” June 17-23; “Shrek the Musical” June 24-30; “Nunsense Muny Style” July 1-7; “South Pacific” July 8-14; “Les Miserables” July 15-21; “Mary Poppins” July 25-August 2; and “West Side Story” August 5-11. Shows begin at 8:15 nightly. Tickets range from $12 to $80, and there are approximately 1,500 free seats available first-come, first-served for each show. See www.muny.org for more information.

As exciting as the lineup is, theatergoers should be equally excited because The Muny has taken care of their big fans in the audience with big fans blowing cooling breezes throughout the 12,000-seat outdoor theater. This means that no matter how hot and humid the St. Louis nights are, people can keep cool while enjoying the shows.

“The truth is, it’s a real game-changer for us,” Isaacson said. “It’s arguably one of the most important renovations we’ve made to The Muny since the turntable. In 95 years, it’s an important moment in its history. It was really remarkable that after 18 months of private, secret research, we committed to it last October, and we got it done in time for this season. So the effort that went into it on all levels – people pulling together to pull this off – was breathtaking.”

This is “cutting edge technology,” he said, and the fans won’t be turned off when the show starts.

“They can run during the performance, and they’re silent, so people on those hot nights will have a sense of air circulation around them.”

Which means the primary source of heat will be the sizzling performances on stage, starting with “Spamalot.” The show is based on the classic comedy “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and retains the irreverence of the film – with more singing and dancing. It’s directed and choreographed by Denis Jones and stars John O’ Hurley as King Arthur. O’Hurley, known for his role as clothing catalog magnate J. Peterman on “Seinfeld,” is well-qualified with his background as a professional singer and finalist on “Dancing With the Stars.”

“It’s been interesting starting out with a comedy, because there’s such joy and such fun, and that sort of spreads out to the lot, to everybody” Isaacson said. “So, I think the audience will have a great time.”

Although based on the popular Python flick, “Spamalot” has old-school theater roots.

“Structurally, in musical theater terms, it’s a vaudeville,” Isaacson said. “So that, again, has its own goofy, fabulous energy.”

“Shrek the Musical” is another comedy based on a popular movie. John Tartaglia, who played the genie in last year’s Muny production of “Aladdin,” is integral to this year’s “Shrek the Musical.”

“John’s a really extraordinary talent on many levels, and his primary background is as a puppeteer,” Isaacson said.

He was in the original cast of “Avenue Q” on Broadway and started working on “Sesame Street” when he was 16. He played Pinocchio in “Shrek the Musical” on Broadway and offered valuable input to Isaacson, who “loved” the show’s writing but thought it was too literal.

“He and I had a conversation one day about re-inventing it, or how could we find a different look for ‘Shrek’ for The Muny, and sort of re-conceiving some of this using puppetry and things like that,” he said. “John is brilliant, so I asked him to come direct it.”

This is the 30th anniversary of “Nunsense,” so creator Dan Goggin did an adaptation for The Muny, which led to “Nunsense Muny Style.”

The plot involves the Little Sisters of Hoboken doing a benefit to raise money to properly bury sisters who died from eating tainted vichyssoise made by Sister Julia, Child of God (played by Phyllis Smith from TV’s “The Office”). So the sisters do their benefit at The Muny, which means they will use the “Shrek” set. It features 40 tap-dancing nuns and plenty of hilarity from a top-level cast of Broadway veterans including Beth Leavel, three-time Tony award nominee Dee Hoty and Terri White.

“It’s a brilliant, brilliant comedic cast, and we’re gonna have so much fun with the audience on this thing,” Isaacson said. “It’s a real romp. “

“South Pacific” returns to The Muny for the first time in 10 years.

“It’s been too long (away) for this monumental musical,” Isaacson said. “The key here is it’s the same artistic and creative team a pretty glorious production of ‘The King and I’ last year. And one of the cornerstones of that was Laura Michelle Kelly, who played Miss Anna. She’s spectacular, and she’s going to play Nellie for us, which is really exciting.”

Ben Davis, who plays Emile De Becque, is also in The Muny’s cast of “Spamalot.”

“So he’s going from rip-roaring comedy to one of the great roles in American musical theater,” Isaacson said.

Plus, the role demands a powerful singing presence.

“And he has it,” he said.

“Les Miserables,” the Victor Hugo classic set in post-revolutionary France, will do what the movies rarely do and stage productions always do – sing live every show.

“We’re gonna do it in the classic way – we’re gonna sing it like you can’t believe,” Isaacson said, emphasizing “sing.”

The “amazing cast” is led by Hugh Panaro, who just finished “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, as Jean Valjean, and Norm Lewis, who plays Inspector Javert.  

“Norm was nominated last season for a Tony as Porgy in ‘Porgy and Bess,’ and he has an incredible voice,” Isaacson said. “Those two gentlemen on stage will just be amazing for anybody who loves ‘Les Mis.’ And we have five what we’re calling stars of tomorrow – top musical theater college students from around the country – playing those younger parts.”

“Mary Poppins” floats in next.

“That’s a big show,” he said. “I’m really excited about the cast – Jenny Powers and Rob McClure. There are some really, really thrilling moments designed for it, and those classic songs. And then we’re going to make some Muny history and for the first time ever we’re going to fly somebody over the audience.”

“Mary Poppins” and “Shrek the Musical” both have kid appeal, but it’s different for “Poppins,” which was released as a Disney film in 1964.

“Kids today know ‘Shrek.’ They don’t know ‘Mary Poppins.’ You sort of have to be my age or a little younger, and older, to really cherish ‘Mary Poppins.’ So the interesting thing about ‘Mary Poppins’ is the kids will come, but the parents and the grandparents are kind of more excited,” Isaacson said, laughing.

The season concludes with another classic, “West Side Story.”

“It’s one of the greats in American musical theater,” he said. “We’re going to do the classic Jerome Robbins choreography, but t’s choreographed by a guy named Chris Bailey who did ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ for us last year.”

It’s directed by Gordon Greenberg, who directed “Pirates” last season, and features a “really fascinating” set design.

“When you have a show like that that is so good, it’s like doing Shakespeare,” he said. “It’s like doing ‘Hamlet.’ You just gotta get it right. You just HAVE to do it and honor what it is. You can’t muck around with – you just gotta do it brilliantly. So that’s what we’re setting out to do.”

As usual, expect some Muny magic this summer.

“We really spend time – the directors and I, and Tracy, the production supervisor – going through the scripts and combing them (to find) those moments,” Isaacson said. “Sometimes it involves the kids and the teens, sometimes it’s a scenic effect, sometimes it’s finding that moment where a single person, underneath the stars and the trees, with the right song, can gather a sense of power and beauty that can only be accomplished on our stage. … It’s very important to me that we have a goal we that there is a moment where the audience says, ‘Only at The Muny could this be.’ And it’s really exciting to do that.”

Isaacson felt the love from audiences last year, his first as executive producer here.

“That appreciation is a quality feeling and expression that is unlike anyplace else – any theater in the world,” Isaacson said. “That’s an inspiring thing to create for – daunting, sure – but it’s also really inspiring.”