More than 100 years ago, the Muny started as a patch of grass between two oak trees in Forest Park.
Those oak trees have since fallen, but their legacy lives on at the theater, physically and emotionally. The Oak Lounge, which functions as a green room and meeting space, has a coffee table and a wall made out of the wood from the tree that stood stage left.
Facilities Manager James Spies has his own family legacy at the Muny. His father started working at the theater in 1964, and Spies followed in his footsteps in the early '90s.
“Theater has provided me with a roof, schooling and everything that I could possibly have ever wanted in my entire life has basically been provided to me by the Muny because my dad has worked here his entire life,” Spies said during a tour of the Muny on June 26.
Spies showed the tour group the paint-covered concrete where all the sets are painted, where the actors do quick-changes during shows, revealed the secrets behind how set pieces move onstage and took them to the orchestra pit in the basement, which is completely separate from the stage.
The point of the tour is to help people see art everywhere, says Judith Shaw, director of Art Collaborative, which organized the tour. The Art Collaborative meets quarterly for events like this that are intended to give guests a deeper look into an arts organization that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. It was founded nearly four years ago.
“Seeing art where you don’t necessarily think you’re going to see it,” Shaw said, “and even some of the things we saw, like how the lighting is organized and all of the cords downstairs in the music pit.”
Those cords help bring the music from the orchestra pit up to speakers onstage, while video monitors show the musicians so the actors can see them for visual cues.
'A performance within the performance'
About 120 to 150 people are involved in each Muny production. The actors have 10 to 14 days to prepare, and the set designers only have four to six.
Shaw attended “In the Heights” at the Muny last season. Although multiple rain delays led to the show being ultimately called off that night, Shaw said she was impressed by the dedicated stage crew.
“All the people who came onstage with mops and buckets and blowers — it was beautiful,” Shaw said. “It was a performance within the performance.”
She said she was impressed by the Muny’s commitment and artistry, even when doing something as simple as cleaning up a wet stage.
This artistry is especially evident in the sets: The scenic artists and other staff paint, build and even weld nearly every set piece that goes on the stage for a Muny show.
“Anything you see onstage that’s not a prop or a lighting fixture was made by us,” Spies said.
That's something that Catharine Magel, who has been a scenic artist at the Muny for 33 years, knows well. She has her master’s degree in fine arts.
“When you’re going to art school, it doesn’t matter how long it takes to make a painting as long as it’s good in the end,” Magel said. “Here, it has to be good, and it has to be fast, and it has to be efficient.”
A St. Louis gem
“A lot of people who are from St. Louis have a deep history of the Muny,” said Shaw, who moved to St. Louis from New York 19 years ago.
Shaw said she has attended at least one Muny show every season since she moved.
“I don’t think I fully appreciated before Thursday’s tour how local it is,” Shaw said. “You know, everything that’s on that set is sort of made or grown here.”
Marilyn Firestone, a guest on the tour, had her first date with her husband of 48 years at the Muny in 1976. They saw “Mame,” starring Angela Lansbury.
“I’ve always been a big fan of the Muny and thought this sounded like a lot of fun to see what goes on behind the magic,” Firestone said.
The dedicated guests and staff have situated the Muny as one of the most important establishments in St. Louis.
Audiences will have an opportunity to make their own memories there this summer, with productions running through Aug. 24. The schedule can be found online at muny.org.
