TONY-WINNING MUNY IS SET TO OPEN ITS 107TH SEASON
with Kennedy Holmes in 'Bring It On'
From left: Talya Groves, Sandie Lee and Kennedy Holmes in the 2023 Muny production of "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical"
E-edition PLUS unlimited articles & videos
Personalized news alerts with our mobile app
*FREE access to newspapers.com archives
Hundreds of games, puzzles & comics online
*Refers to the latest 2 years of stltoday.com stories. Cancel anytime.
From left: Talya Groves, Sandie Lee and Kennedy Holmes in the 2023 Muny production of "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical"
Isaacson
Colema
Patti Murin originated the role of Anna in "Frozen" on Broadway. She'll reprise the role at the Muny this summer. Here she performs as Anna at the 72nd annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in 2018.
The Muny offers free seats at the back of the theater.
Singer Kennedy Holmes performs during 51ºÚÁÏ City SC's 'CITY Block Party' on March 3, 2023, at Lou Fusz Plaza outside of CityPark.
From left: Michael McGrath, Stephanie Gomérez, Taylor Marie Daniel and Kennedy Holmes in the 2023 Muny production of "Little Shop of Horrors."
The Muny, the area's beloved outdoor musical theater, has been a 51ºÚÁÏ tradition for 107 years. But this year, there is a difference.
This year, the Muny has a Tony Award. And not just any Tony Award but the Tony Award for best regional theater, which honors an organization's history of artistic achievement that contributes to the growth of theater on a national level.
"It was a big surprise and just really exciting," says Mike Isaacson, the theater's artistic director and executive producer. "I'm not going to lie: When I got the call, I cried a little bit. It's very meaningful to all of us here, because we've worked really hard to make this theater great."
A star is born Co-starring in the season's first production, "Bring it On: The Musical," is a bit of a Muny tradition herself.
Kennedy Holmes made her professional theater debut on the Muny stage as Miss Inez in "Hairspray" in 2015. Since then, she has appeared there in "Little Shop of Horrors," "Dreamgirls" and "The Color Purple."
And "Jesus Christ Superstar." And "Smokey Joe's Café." And "Footloose" and "Newsies" and Sweeney Todd" and several others.
"Bring it On" will be her 13th Muny production, and she is only 20 years old.
51ºÚÁÏans — and a fair chunk of the United States in general — will remember Holmes from her stunning 2018 run on the music-competition TV show "The Voice." She ended up coming in fourth in the competition, though some thought she should have been first.
She was 13 and had just turned 14 at the season's end.
Holmes grew up in Florissant and now lives in 51ºÚÁÏ. She graduated from John Burroughs School and is now pursuing a fine arts degree from Southern California University.
After appearing in small and ensemble roles at the Muny for literally half her life, Holmes says she is now prepared to step into the principal role of Danielle in "Bring it On."
"Being a principal for me is an incredibly special moment. I feel like I've been putting in the work. Now I can say I'm ready," she says. "I'm growing up a little more. I'm learning so many things. I'm stepping into where I want to be."
It helps that she is "obsessed" — her word — with "Bring it On." She has seen all seven of the movies in the franchise that also launched the musical. When she heard that the Muny was going to be presenting the show this year, she knew she had to audition for it, she says.
The musical has many of the same elements as the movies, but it is not based on any of them.
Jonalyn Saxer stars as high school student Campbell, whose dreams of leading a cheerleading squad to a national championships are dashed when she is redistricted to a school without a cheer squad. There she meets Danielle — the character played by Holmes — and convinces her to turn her topnotch dance team into a cheerleading team.
"The show itself touches on a lot of themes: Betrayal, inspiration, teamwork," Holmes says.
"There is so much comedy in it, but there is also a sense of watching these teenagers grow up and seeing where their lives are going."
Later in the season, Holmes will appear in "Disney's Frozen." Then, once the summer is over, she will head back to college, where days as a musical theater major are long and hard.
In acting class, the students work their way from the days of Shakespeare all the way to modern plays. She takes one-on-one voice lessons, and she has dance class every day. She has to take more general college courses, too — last year, she took science and linguistics. And every day the students rehearse for a show they put on each semester.
Next semester, she is looking forward to a class on acting for the screen.
After she graduates, her goal is Broadway, and maybe releasing some of her own music. She writes songs but has not yet released anything.
"I would love to do TV and film as well. I want it all, to be honest. The sky is the limit."
The Muny lineup The season's first show, "Bring it On:
The Musical," (June 16-22) is based on a teen-friendly series of films beginning with the 2000 Kirsten Dunst/Gabrielle Union hit of the same name, but it has its own story written specifically for the musical stage. And its pedigree is impeccable.
"It was Lin-Manuel Miranda, after 'In the Heights' and before 'Hamilton,' it was Tom Kitt after 'Next to Normal,' the incredible Amanda Green on lyrics — they're astounding. And the book was by Jeff Whitty ('Avenue Q')," Isaacson says.
Best of all, he says, it does what the best musicals do best. It brings together disparate art forms of drama, music and dance into one cohesive, artistically unified whole.
"In its story, it kind of explores that idea, the possibility of how hip-hop and dance team and cheer can all come together," he says.
"Come From Away" (June 26-July 2) is based on a true story; it is about hope and togetherness and the unconquerable human spirit on one of this country's darkest days. When the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, planes that were in the air were diverted to the nearest airport. Thirty-eight planes landed in the town of Gander, Newfoundland, where they were broadly welcomed by the town's 11,000 residents.
"It tells this most beautiful, extraordinary story that starts and you just lean forward into this thing.
"The music's gorgeous, and it's just fantastic. We're really excited to do that," Isaacson says.
"Disney's Frozen" (July 6-14) is based on the massively popular 2013 animated film, and it is this year's Muny production specifically aimed at families with young children. It is a challenge and a responsibility that they take seriously.
"When we go into rehearsal for the show, I say to the cast, 'Here's the thing to know: In the audience each night will be 2,000 kids and 1,000 adults who have never been to the theater before in their life, but they're here for this. This is our chance to open the door and welcome them and show them what we can do," Isaacson says.
The story is a classic Disney fairy tale (inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen story), but it is told in a way that has never been told before, he says. And part of its appeal is the inescapable song "Let it Go," which became an instant anthem for children.
When the original film was first screened for Disney executives, the company's head called the head of the theatrical division and said it had to be on Broadway in five years.
"They knew what they had, how exciting it was," Isaacson says.
What makes "Evita" (July 18-24) stand out is that it was first a rock opera music album before its creators, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, turned it into a musical, Isaacson says.
In that way, it followed the trajectory of their earlier hit, "Jesus Christ Superstar." The songs move from one to the next, giving the show an unstoppable, propulsive feel, he says.
The show is about Eva Perón, the popular and controversial wife of the three-term president of Argentina. The couple had massive appeal among the working class, but could also be brutal and authoritarian.
"The authors, Rice and Webber, don't make a judgment on her. They present this story and it's up to you, the audience member, to figure out what you think of her, and what her actions have been, and the results of this," Isaacson says.
Isaacson does not want to give away the plot to "Dear Evan Hansen" (July 28-Aug. 3), but he does say it is a story for our time.
"It is a moment that so many parents and teens are living, and it brings in the impact of social media. It brings in the idea of anxiety and anxiety-reducing drugs. It brings in the idea of class.
"It brings in all these contemporary forces in the story of a young man who, in that great dramatic tradition, with the best intent, makes a very stupid mistake. And you see how that plays through with all of these forces," he says.
The Muny production will be the first or one of the first in the country after the national tour, he says.
"Audiences respond to this thing so powerfully."
The Muny will score another first with its production of "La Cage aux Folles" (Aug. 8-14).
The original 1983 production had a full, lush orchestration with more than 20 musicians. But the story, which is based on the same source material as the hit 1996 Robin Williams/Nathan Lane comedy "The Birdcage," is set in a small and somewhat dingy nightclub. The big orchestra felt out of place, and in a 2010 production it was reduced to just four musicians who sat on the stage.
But the Muny is enormous, with nearly 11,000 seats, and Isaacson thought he could only do justice to the songs with the original orchestration. He had to get permission to do so, from the estate of songwriter Jerry Herman and from the writer of the book, Harvey Fierstein.
They agreed, which means the Muny production of "La Cage" will be the first time in 15 years that it has been produced the way it was originally written.
The theater closes its season with "Jersey Boys" (Aug. 18-24), which Isaacson calls "the gold standard" of jukebox musicals.
Jukebox musicals wrap a story around a selection of popular songs by a musical artist or artists. In "Jersey Boys," the songs are by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, which means a lot of memorable hits that help to tell the story of the band's own rise to fame.
"It's so well written and so well-constructed," he says. "Nostalgia, which basically means a former communal experience, is actually a beautiful and worthy theatrical force, because you're trying to unite an audience, right?
"So when you have a group, and suddenly you know (the songs) and you know them together, it's beautiful."
Daniel Neman – 314-340-8133 dneman@post-dispatch.com
If you go
WHAT: The Muny's 107th season
WHEN: 8:15 p.m. beginning June 16
WHERE: The Muny, 1 Theatre Drive, Forest Park
HOW MUCH: $21-$145, with free seats available
MORE INFO:
