|
The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical amphitheatre located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. The theatre seats 11,000 people with approximately 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first come, first served basis.〔()〕 The Muny is currently preparing for the 98th annual summer season. The Muny seasons run every year from mid-June to mid-August. It is run by a not-for-profit organization. The current president and chief executive is Dennis M. Reagan. The current artistic director & executive producer is Mike Isaacson. ==History of The Muny== In 1914, Luther Ely Smith began staging pageant-Masques on Art Hill in Forest Park.〔(Luther Ely Smith: Founder of a Memorial - nps.gov - Retrieve January 12, 2008 )〕 In 1916, a grassy area between two oak trees on the present site of The Muny was chosen for a production of ''As You Like It'' produced by Margaret Anglin and starring Sydney Greenstreet with a local cast of "1,000 St. Louis folk dancers and folk singers."〔("Our Historic Theatre" ), Muny, Retrieved January 12, 2008〕 Soon after, the Convention Board of the St. Louis Advertising Club was looking for an entertainment feature for its thirteenth annual convention, which was to take place June 3, 1917. Mayor Henry Kiel, attorney Guy Golterman, and Parks Commissioner Nelson Cunliff stepped in and, in forty-nine days (not counting seven lost to rain), created the first municipally owned outdoor theatre in the United States. On June 5, 1917, the opera ''Aida'' was presented on what would become the Muny stage. In 1919, the new theatre received a name: The Municipal Opera Association of St. Louis, or "The Muny" for short. The first show under the Muny banner was ''Robin Hood'', which opened on June 16, 1919, and featured Mayor Kiel as King Richard. In 1930, the stage was equipped with a turntable for performance purposes. It was reconstructed in 1997 due to dilapidation. In 1994, The Muny's Board of Directors founded the Muny Kids, a select group of performers between the ages of 7 to 13 who traveled around St. Louis performing, and in the summer gave preview shows prior to the production. In 1998, the Muny Teens group was formed for the same purpose, featuring teen performers between the ages of 14 to 18. The Chairman of the Board of the Muny in 2005-2006 was William H.T. Bush (younger brother of former President George H.W. Bush).〔(Bush O'Donnell Capital Partners, LLC: Principals: William H.T. (Bucky) Bush )〕 The current Chairman of the Board is Clark S. Davis. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Muny」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|