Muny Theatre question

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 8/3/15 at 7:51pm

How is he Muny theatre able to get so many broadway caliber actors for their shows? They must pay them really well!  I am just curious because their productions always look so ameture and cheap! I was just looking at the pics for their production on Beauty and the Best (and past shows) and the sets and costume are laughable! I have seen high schools do a better job! 

I mean come on this looks like a community theatre production. 

I know my statements might not be popular, but I am really curious how they are able to get such amazing talent season after season and their over all productions look awful! 

http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery/first-pics-kate-rockwell-rob-mcclure-and-nicholas-rodriguez-lead-a-broadway-studded-cast-in-munys-beauty-and-the-beast-355389#1

Updated On: 8/4/15 at 07:51 PM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/3/15 at 7:58pm

Yes, they pay well.

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 8/3/15 at 8:00pm

Thats what I figured, because if they didn't I dont think the Broadway starts they get would not step foot on that stage LOL

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/3/15 at 8:24pm

And don't forget it's an 11,000 seat amphitheater that wouldn't work with cheap and huge sets and costumes.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 8/3/15 at 8:44pm

The MUNY is a nearly hundred year old institution of both St. Louis and summer stock. Famous people have been playing the MUNY almost since it's inception. Folks like Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Bette Davis, Tynne Daly, Yul Brynner, Robert Goulet, Joel Grey, Sid Ceasar, Carol Burnett, Madeline Kahn, Zero Mostel, Bernadette Peters, Debbie Reynolds, Tommy Tune, Betty White... and there's lots more. 

The MUNY is so huge (more than 5 times the capacity of the Palace, which originally housed the Broadway production of Beauty & the Beast) that more detailed sets would simply be lost. Shows run for a week, so there's really no point in making the sets high quality because they're just going to be junked. 

I hate the MUNY, but you should know what something is before you trash it. It's not that your opinion is unpopular, just painfully ignorant. 

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 8/3/15 at 9:20pm

KJisgroovy, I know the history behind the Muny theatre! and in my opinion all of their productions look like crap! 

 

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 8/3/15 at 9:50pm

Then I'm confused by your comment. I guess I thought that anyone who knew the history of the MUNY would understand that their sets are functional for the purpose of the venue. They are purposefully oversized because most patrons are VERY far away, and they are purposefully of cheaper materials because they only function for a week. You called it amateur, but these are very clearly intentional choices.

We recently saw Into the Woods... and while everything is hideous in pictures, it all looked fine from Row T in the A Terrace... and we were relatively close. A nice, detailed set would be pointless and probably terrible to those sitting past the fifth row... not to mention being unnecessarily expensive. The MUNY puts it's money on the talent, and it's worked quite nicely for almost a hundred years. 

I suppose the MUNY has survived all this time without you, no need for you to start attending now. 

 

 

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 8/3/15 at 10:28pm

KJisgroovy, I understand why the sets look the way they look, but I every right to think that the sets and costumes still look like crap! 

Don't worry, I don't have planes to attend anytime in the near future  Thanks, but no thanks! 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 12:18am

"armature"

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 12:27am

So aru!

[Kad]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 8:21am

"KJisgroovy, I understand why the sets look the way they look, but I every right to think that the sets and costumes still look like crap!  "

You really don't, then.

 

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 10:50am

They should just staple bolts of brightly colored fabric to each actor, but that might give the illusion there's a concept and not that items were grabbed at random from a darkened basement  

Actual tours used to come in through as late as the mid 80s, so it's not like junkiness as a point of pride was always the way it was. 

[ggersten]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 10:56am

Once they got rid of the "Books", I thought the set pieces for Into The Woods looked real cool - well, I was in the free seats - and the revolve worked real well.  

But, haters gonna hate.  

[mpd4165]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 11:50am

"KJisgroovy, I understand why the sets look the way they look, but I every right to think that the sets and costumes still look like crap! 
Don't worry, I don't have planes to attend anytime in the near future  Thanks, but no thanks! "

I think the MUNY with its 100 year history may survive without your patronage.