Video: Kwofe Coleman Explains What's in Store for the MUNY's Epic 105th Season

Welcome to

Rise in Every time that I step in I'm burning a fever

because I'm a heat speaker Of course of May Welcome to backstage

With Richard Ridge The Muni, which is the nation's largest outdoor theater

is getting ready to kick off their 105th season And to tell us all about it

is the president and CEO of the Muni, Kofi Coleman. How are you

All right, my friend, 105th season. What is going through your mind as we start this interview off? Number one

it's we are T minus a few days out from the season. So going through our mind is a list of things

that I'm pretty sure have to be done soon. But most of it's excitement. You know, the crews are back

on the lot. We did a couple events over this past weekend where we just had different groups

coming in and just talking about the season coming up. The excitement is back. We feel like

we're a little bit past to just survive post-pandemic phase. And we're back into the reality

and the excitement of thriving. So number one, I would say I feel excitement, a little bit of anxiety

But for the most part, it's going to be a great summer. It's got to be so exciting because I know we talked during the pandemic and we talked

the first season back. And it must be so great that, you know, the winter comes, everything shuts down

Then all of a sudden you're like, oh my gosh, here we go, getting ready to turn the lights

on again and put the audience in there. Absolutely. That feeling comes back. And I think you feel it before you see it

You know, the weather starts to turn. And I've been here for a long time

This is going to be the 25th, I think my 25th season here. So after a while, you know what that thing feels like in your stomach, in your heart

It just is this sense of energy that's different. You're right. The winter, we shut down

We start planning for the next thing. But now it's going to happen. Sooner than later, the lights will be on the stage

The orchestra will be in the pit. The folks will be on stage. It's going to be, it's something magical that happens

I can't describe it feeling well. I wish I could bottle it. But it's, it's, we're getting back to that

And that's a great, it's a great place to be. You know, I wouldn't trade this for anything

So you said this is your 25th season, right? Yeah, this is going for me

Yeah, yeah. So you started as going as a theater goer and then you started as an usher

That's right. So I had a couple, I went to a couple shows as a kid back. Gosh, I was probably nine years old, I think the first one

I saw the Wizard of Oz here. I think I saw it twice, I want to say

And then, yeah, I started as an usher when I was. I was 16 and stuck with it and different jobs in between

You know, I joke that this one pays better, but being an usher was a whole lot of fun

You know, you just meet the folks. What happens in stages is unbelievable, but also what happens in the audience and then the

community part of it is something that I think is one of the things that sets us apart just

because we can bring so much of the community together and it's been so much of it

My 25 years is not even a lot, you know, relative to some of the folks that have been coming

out that they're in this audience. And so that connection, I think when you talk about the fuel of electricity, it's coming back

It's also you're going to see friends and people you haven't seen for a long time and you're going to share something together

You know, what I find one of the most special things about the Muni is, is you let the audience decide what the season is going to be like

And I think that is the best thing to do. So, I mean, tell me, you pride yourself on that, don't you

100%. Now, this is a, this theater belongs to this community. And so, you know, we do that survey and we put, you know, 30-something shows that we're open, willing, able to do

And we really look at those results over several years also to see what our audience wants to see

You know, one of the things that's really exciting about this season is we ask them, what do they want to see

And that includes four premieres. And that's a really great thing, you know, a place that's built a lot

There's a lot of tradition here. There's a lot of history. But that desire for our audience to also mix in premieres, new shows, expand the vocabulary of what we do

that tells us that there's a long future here because our audience is in line with the evolution of the art form as well

So if we do a survey, we count them and look, it's amazing to see how passionate people are about that

But, you know, we want this theater to feel like a welcoming home and a place for everyone

So that means you decide, in large part, what you want us to give you, and then we will do our best job to give you the best version of those shows

Okay. you bring an audience of over 350,000 people a season. I mean, that is a incredible number

How proud you must be of how much joy the immunity brings to that number of people

Yeah, it's something that we use. It's a sense of pride 100%, because that means that that many people

Some of them have been coming forever, but some of them was a percentage. This is the first time they've ever seen a show

It might be the only time they ever see a show. So our opportunity to be at a place to be either welcoming or that one time to see musical theater on a scale that we believe is unparalleled is something that we take a lot of pride in

And there's no barriers to that access. We have the free seats. We have seats that are all different prices

We make sure that there's public transportation, all the ways to get here so that there are any barriers between an individual having the desire to see a great show made for and by the people of their community

And that's something that we pride ourselves on. I think theater as a whole is about breaking people together

whether it's here in St. Louis, there in New York, or anywhere in between. It is a together, it's a communal, it is a shared activity and shared experience

And so if you can do it on a giant scale, if we can bring in 8, 9, 10, 11,000 people a night

where we can move that needle of how many people have sat in an audience and seen a great show

And what's also wonderful about the newney is people who come here, They may be like, oh, I may not be able to become an actor

but boy, I could become a set designer, a costume designer, a lighting designer

I mean, you give them, they can just see what you do with the Muni, and you can start them on a path of working in the theater. Absolutely

I can use myself in an example. I had never there was never a chance that I was going to be on a stage anywhere No that is not good for anyone But you come to a place like this and there an opportunity like you said to learn all the disciplines backstage whether it the internship programs

We have a magnificent education program that has a bunch of different individual opportunities within it

And so that is a chance for people, like you said, to find a livelihood, to find a path in something that brings them joy or not

You know, the things that you learn, if you take our kids and teens or education program

they may not end up doing theater at all, but they've learned the process of creating and working together

They've learned the process of being comfortable in front of people. If you can be nine years old and get on that stage in front of 11,000 people

by the time you're 29, 39, if you go on to be an attorney, a holding court won't be a problem

Public speaking isn't an issue. So we believe strongly that this art form is also one that just, as you

grow in it builds a set of skills that may or may not be needed to be on stage, but definitely

needed an adult life. And that's great. We think that that's, again, part of participating in the community in a productive way

See, that must make you so proud of what you do because with these programs, like I said

even if they don't want to go into the theater, just standing on a stage, learning how to present

yourself in the world to go out there and say, I can do anything or I can be in a room with

anybody and I can have my voice heard. You know, you set them up to being these strong people that they eventually become

You just said it perfectly. I want to re-quote that I can be or do anything

And that is what we want people to believe when they come out of here, whether they participate

in making the shows with us or if you're in that audience and you see a reflection of

yourself on that stage, it tells you the same thing. I can be anything

Cinderella, Belle, the King, whoever it is, they can look and they can be anybody

And I think that what we all get to do for a living is help people understand reality or see it in a way that is sometimes also a little bit non-traditional, but says to them that anything is attainable

And that's, you know, I love this. I love what we get to do because we get to bring joy and bring a different reality, a better reality or a hopeful reality to people

And again, we get to do it on a scale that is really big. feel like you're moving the needle. You feel like you're, you're making an impact. And I hope

I hope we are. Oh, no, I know you are. We all know people who've gone to the muni or whatever

are gone to your programs or whatever else. So thank you for continuing. And like I said

105th season. That's an incredible number, right? It is. Many people have come before us. I think

we're getting to the point where there aren't many people left that could have possibly even

have been here in the beginning. There's a couple, but we're getting, it's getting low. So, stylers made it through a lot of different parts of history

and it's due very much to the community we serve here, but the community nationwide, I think we aren't

we don't achieve this history, if the best and brightest from Broadway haven't made this a destination at some point for themselves

if this isn't a place where we have the respect of the community globally or nationally

that helps. That's why we can make it for so long. So we don't take that responsibility lightly

it's our job to turn around and give the best unmatched, unparalleled type of experience possible

Well, let's talk about your incredible 150. Oh, my gosh. Now, some of these are premieres

You kick off with beautiful, the Carol King musical. Tell us, is this the first time for that to be there

at the Muni? First time to be here at the Muni. It would be like the fifth time I've seen it. I saw

the opening and then I saw it as many times humanly possible after. When we talk about the survey

we talk about shows that people have voted for and they really want to see. This is really high on that list. And, you know, I think it's, it's tailor-made for a place like the Muni. It tells a great story, but it's also just really full of great music, right? Music that is familiar. When you're as big as we are, you have a section of your audience that are there, tried and true musical theater, bands, they follow it and know. And then there are some that are here for the moment of being outdoors and having experience. And so they sometimes need a piece of familiarity

that is not built or baked in being the theater part of it

So Beautiful is one that I think will serve the audience, a cross-exam the audience, really well

Like I said, I have a personal affinity. I love the show. So, you know, once you get to be one of the deciding chairs

you get to be really exciting, really excited about some of the shows that are coming. So Beautiful is definitely one

Well, that runs from June 12th through the 18th. You have an incredible director

It's Marcia Milgram Dodge, and we all know from New York. but you're going to have people dancing in the aisles with the moonlight and everything else for that one, right

Absolutely. Yeah, Marsha, as you said, has been here a few times. And so she knows our audience

She knows the stage. She knows the community. So it's going to be one. Yeah, I think we'll have to let the ushers know

Let them dance. Let them sing. It'll be fine. Now, you have a few Alan naked musicals coming, which I'm thrilled about following beautiful is Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Talk about that under the moonlight. You know, when, when you have a show

where you have all the family is going to be here. You know that. You're going to see it the next

generation start to have their theater or their community journey. That's always a special

moment when it can be something like Beauty and the Beast, which is a story that's kind of, it's a fantasy. It's, it's magical. It's made to be told partially outside. The whole thing

about Beauty and the Beast just fits. It just makes sense here. So that's, again

it's one that we see high on the, high on the survey. It's one that we get to do because

it's geared toward a younger audience. We get to do a show like Beauty and the Beast more often

And every time we see it here, there's a whole new host of little bells running around

a little beast running around and here for the show. So it's running a little bit longer

because we know that the excitement and the interest is there. So we look forward to that one

Like I said, when you see that tradition starting for a next person or a next wave

it's one of the exciting parts of doing this job and just being out there every night

But that's the great thing about the Munich because you're going to have grandparents, parents, and their kids

Everyone comes to your audience. But I'm sure Disney's Beauty and the Beast

is going to be packed with generation, after generation, after generation. Yeah, I think I remember when I counted as young

and it was exciting for me now. I'm no longer in that young category. It still exciting because I have that nostalgic relationship with the show So yeah it going to be one that you see that real groups of families coming You said grandparents down to grandkids having a night together Well that is from June 22nd through the 30th

And what a stellar cast you have in that. And you have Ashley Blanchett as Bell

You have Broadway's last phantom. Ben Crawford as the Beast. Yes. You know, I can't say enough about our production team

And Mike, Mike, Mike Austin, and Michael Baxter and the casting, they have the ability to

reach out and find people that want to be here, but who have been, like you said

from phantom from everywhere that have done a, that have credentials and resumes that you

wouldn't believe. And so that's, that's, I think the audience here deserves the best of the best

And our production team, they do a great, great job of finding those folks

Well, like I said, you have Claiborne Eldor's Gaston. You have Anne Haradus, Ms. Pott

John Tarthaglia is directing. Yeah. And so, you talk about John, John and Anne

Anna and Ann Barada. It's, I don't know if they want to be called Muni family

but we call them Muti Family. And that's, you know, that's always nice. I talk about what it's like when people come back here

And you see, you know, look at all the things that Ann's doing. Look at all the places John Titaglia's been

But this is something that they still want to do and they still say yes to

That feels, you talked a lot about what makes us proud to be here

to have that level of talent. Look at that cast that we just announced that all those folks said

yes, they wanted to be here. They want to be a part of our production

And so we know that what our audience is in that house, they're going to see the best of Broadway

the best of this country right here in St. Louis, to see Beauty and the Beast

Half those kids have, they have no idea what they're, they don't even realize what they're

years later, they'll look back and say, this is who I saw on stage. And that's a moment that we're proud to give folks

And then, of course, you have chess coming after that, which is like, I call them the first Abbott musical

Of course, it features a book by Richard Nelson, lyrics by Tim Rice, music by the audio of

Harris, and Benny Anderson. I mean, chess is coming in from what

That's July 5th through the 11th. That's a big one coming in here

Yeah, it's a big one. It's a great that we have the opportunity to do that. It's little known fact

St. Louis is the chess capital of the world. I will tell you, I live here

I am from here. That was news to me. I live, little do I know. I live less than a block away from the World Chess Hall of Fame

The World Chess Museum in the Hall of Fame. dropped the street from me. I've driven pot. So long, long way to say it's a show that has a really

unique relationship with this city. Like you said, it's a show that has a, I don't want to call it a

cult following, but like whatever's close to that, that's the right way to say it. And we know it

we were excited to do it. When we announced that show of all we announced all seven shows together

that got the most response from people that are like, that's the one I'm going to see

When people, when there's one they're picking of all, they're not coming, the whole season, maybe just a couple

That was on that list. So it's not done often. It has not been done here

Because of that relationship with World Chess Hall of Fame and the city, we were able to

take the opportunity to do a show that I think deserves to reproduce more, isn't necessarily

but we can do that on our scale and bring some eyes back to the show

That's exciting. And also, there's just an increased relationship with the game of chess in

this country right now. So it couldn't have been better time. I'd love to say that we could take that we knew that way it was happening in the world

but it works out well. So it's going to be a great show

It's got some music and songs. Again, even if you don't know the show, most people have heard one night in Bangkok

You know, there's a lot of songs that people will hear and feel familiar with

So that'll be a great way to come back from that Fourth of July weekend. Oh, I love that

Of course, that is directed by Josh Rhodes. following that is one of the biggest classics of all time

West Side Story, I mean, book by Arthur Lawrence, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

you know, a concept by Jerome Robbins. That's from July 15 to the 21st

How excited to you for West Side Story? Well, when you list that pedigree

you see why that show is a classic and will always be

I'm really excited for that. I think classics are part of the history here, right

It's part of what we, it's where we started. It's one of the things that we do really, really well

Some of those classics are made and written for stages and situations that are as big as we are, or close to that

So that one definitely serves the audience really well. It's on that rotation that we see it, you know, a couple times a decade if we can

The music, there's nothing I can say about that show that has not been set or has not been written in its history

but to say that it is one that's always done really well here

you know, where I know we're getting ready to announce some more casting on that. I think people will be really thrilled to see how that show's coming together

But yeah, to do a classic at the Muni is that that's kind of one of those bread and butter moments

And that's, again, one that the audience has asked for them and one that I personally really love

So I will be in the audience for a whole week in July that much I can promise you

Okay, the next time I talk to you at the end of the season, and I want to see your jets and your sharks moves

Just so we talked about it. I'm not supposed to be on stage. Well, you're going to get those moves at your DNA

Just so you know, my friend. I'll be in our 11-day rehearsal period

is a little too short for a novice like me, but I'll see what I can do. Again, that's July 15th through the 21st

The director is Robert Prio. God bless you, sir. Thank you. Allergies are happening, even in St. Louis

Oh, everything is in blue. Two things happen in April and May here

The staff comes back, I get excited, and outside starts to bloom and I get sad

So that's it we are. That's the mix you have to deal with

That's starting a 100th season. Gift and the Curse. Following that is Little Shop of Horrors, Book and Lairs by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Mencken

I mean, that runs on July 25th through the 31st, directed by Maggie Burroughs

What a fabulous musical that's going to be with the big plant on stage. Big plant on stage

production. We started talking about this a couple years ago, and our production

our manager Tracy Oatemaier and Mike, I know, have had the most interesting conversations

and debates on how that plant is going to come to live on stage. They never disappoint

I have not seen any of the plans. I want it to be a surprise for me, too, but, you know

you talk about a I talked about a call classic before with chess Same here Little Shop is one that has a following It an exciting one It one again that welcomes Sometimes folks that aren again theater fans necessarily but they want it something that they familiar with

It's interesting. It's a little funny. It's a little weird. It's all of those things

So Little Shop came up high on the list. I will love

I can't wait to see what our team does with that plan. But I'm sure we'll be thrilling

Proper balance of feeling and terrifying. Because of the size of your stage

your Audrey, too, is going to be the largest Audrey 2 that anyone has ever seen anywhere in the world

I think we can just about guarantee that. And we're in the middle of, we're in the middle of forest park

This is municipal park. So everything's green around here. So I think if there was a show

like getting Taylor made for a stage that has plants on it already, that's got oak trees and everything on it already

This is a place for it. Well, we can't wait for that

And then following that is another incredible new classic rent with, of course, book, music, and lyrics

by Jonathan Larson, which is running from August 4th through the 10th with your director

Lily Ann Brown. I mean, how excited are you to bring rent? First time there

First time, first time here for rent. And, you know, we have a lot of conversations every season about what's the lineup

going to be. And this, you know, it was, you know, Mike and I started talking about putting rent in

this season probably two years ago. And you talked about Lily Ann Brown and that whole creative team

The whole creative team coming back is the same team that did the color purple for us last

year and what a moving unforgettable experience that was. So I'm excited to welcome them back for a

second show. I'm excited to see what they do with Rent. But again, Rent is also a show that when you

talk about musical theater, and if we're going to be a historic, iconic, whatever a superlative

is gifted upon us, Rent has to be in that pantheon of shows that we've done. And so there's a lot

of interest, there's a lot of conversations, a lot of excitement about Rent being here

here finally, and I say it finally on our stage. Well, that's very exciting

And then you close out the season with another Alan Mankin musical that he wrote the music for

with lyrics by Glenn Slater. I mean, sister act. Yeah. Sister act is going to be, you know, I'm always, I like to close the season with a celebration

It's not, you know, you don't always get to do that, but, you know, it's a feel good story

People are familiar. We've seen the movie. So by the time you get to the end of the season, you want, you want to send people out with

a little bit of joy and a great song and a great memory in our heart

So Sister Act was a, I think it was the most selected show on the survey

You know, people wanted to see Sister Act here this year. So the team is coming together for that

It's going to be another fun night at the Muni. It's just something that you can feel

You're going to see a great show. You're going to see your amazing talent. But you're also just going to have a great night

You're going to have a great time. And that's a large part of who we are

So, you know, you put those seven shows together like that. you know, people forget over the past few years, we've been doing seasons that had shows

left over from 2020, 2021 that we just couldn't do due to the pandemic. So I think what feels

best about this season is that there's seven shows that were put together to be with each

other, right, that you can build a season. I can't, again, I can't commend our artistic team

enough for the thought that they put into how these seven shows take our audience through

a cohesive journey. So that, you know, when you look at that, I think that that's really

is what makes people the most excited about it as a whole season, because all those shows

give you something different. By the time you hit the end of the summer, you have felt all

the emotions. You have laughed, cried, and everything in between. And so that, I think that

that's, that's one of the gifts of being able to do seven shows in a condensed amount of time

You can spend a summer and have experienced all the highs and lows, the big shows, the small

So all the different characteristics of a theatrical performance have happened here

And we're ready to take people on that journey. Well, that's your final show

It's directed by Dennis Jones and it runs on August 14th through the 20th

My final question for you is talk about how special the Muni is to you and to your audiences

Oh, wow. I mean, that the Muni has. Yeah, I mean, for me, this is a, it's home

Why it's so special to me, like I said, is because on any given night, every type of person that lives in the city and this community can be here

And there's no reason for them not to be. Like I said earlier, there are no barriers to their access

And for a minute, we're in a world right now, like we are hyper aware of all the things that make us different from each other

And there's an inherent beauty in that because it celebrates uniqueness, but there's a challenge sometimes because we can be so unique that we feel alone

And so when you're here, when you're 11,000 people and you're doing, you're experiencing the same emotion at the same time, regardless of how you got there, what your means are, who you are when you walk out of here

You forget those differences and you celebrate the concept of together and community

And I hope that that's the same reason why it's special to our audiences. And above that, they get to experience a superlative experience in St. Louis

But sometimes the narrative here isn't about all the things that are great. It's about the things that are challenging, which every city has

So to have a theater that's one of one and to be the people that get to be stewards of that

is a gift that we love to give back to our community on a regular annual basis

105 times now. Hopefully, looking forward to 106 times. Well, once again, the Muni, which is the nation's largest outdoor musical theater

is getting ready to kick off its 150 Cs. For tickets, just visit muni.org

Kofi, always a pleasure to see you, my friend. This was a blast. It's great talking to you

This is the next step of excitement. Now I know I've talked to you, so it's really happening

We're about to do this. Seven shows, a hundred and fifth season

Thank you. Take care, everybody. We'll see you at the theater and go to the Muni

We'll see you soon. Take care, everyone. Thank you