Springfield Municipal Opera

deepak kumar

The Muni
Location	815 East Lake Drive Springfield, illinois  United States
Type	Community Theater
Genre(s)	Musical
Seating type	Reserved/Lawn
Capacity	800+
Opened	1964
Website
http://www.themuni.org/

Originally conceived on April 21, 1950 as a not-for-profit theatrical organization, the Springfield Municipal Opera Association transformed a 55-acre (220,000 m²) wheat field into an outdoor amphitheater. On June 17, 1950, nearly 3,000 people viewed the opening night performance of its first production, "The Merry Widow".

The Muni flourished until a series of setbacks in the mid-1950s and a major fire in 1963 destroyed part of the facilities. A second fire the following year destroyed what was left.

With hopes for a rebirth, a test production of "Bye Bye Birdie" was staged in Douglas Park in 1964.^[1] The Springfield community responded with such enthusiasm that the Muni was able to rebuild its facility and return to the lake site theater in 1965. That year, over 6,000 patrons saw "The Music Man" and "South Pacific".

In 1967, the Muni produced three shows; "Brigadoon", "Guys and Dolls" and "Camelot" and attendance grew to 14,375. Muni bravely staged its first four-production season in 1972; "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown", "1776", "The Most Happy Fella", "The Sound of Music" and attendance jumped to over 17,000.

In 2006, the Muni welcomed its one millionth patron during the run of Elton John and Tim Rice's "Aida" with a special celebration on July 29.

Muni continues to produce four shows a season and has become one of the largest community theaters in the Midwest. It is believed to be the largest organization of this type in the country that is completely self-supporting, dependent neither on grants nor tax dollars.

Musical productions 1964-2016 (click on title for link to description)

1776-- 1972, 1976 ('76 production starred Robert Alda as Benjamin Franklin) 42nd Street-- 1988, 1999 A Chorus Line-- 2004 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum-- 1970 A Little Night Music-- 1981, 2001 Aida-- 2006 All Shook Up-- 2008, 2014 Annie-- 1985, 1998, 2010 Annie Get Your Gun-- 1969, 1987, 2005 Annie Warbucks-- 2006 Anything Goes-- 1990, 2002 Applause-- 1974 Beauty and the Beast-- 2005, 2012 Bells Are Ringing-- 1969 Big-- 2003 Big River-- 1994, 2004, 2011 Bye Bye, Birdie-- 1964, 1976, 1998 Brigadoon-- 1967, 1978, 1993 Cabaret-- 1986, 2015 Calamity Jane-- 1976 Camelot-- 1967, 1981, 1990 Carnival!-- 1973 Carousel-- 1979, 1994 Chicago-- 2006 Children of Eden-- 2000 Cinderella-- 1977, 2000 City of Angels-- 1995 Crazy for You-- 1997, 2012 Damn Yankees-- 1985 Desert Song, The-- 1977 Dreamgirls-- 1992, 2013 Evita-- 1985 Fiddler on the Roof-- 1971, 1975, 1989, 1998, 2009 Follies-- 1982 Funny Girl-- 1971, 1984 George M!-- 1982 Gigi-- 1987 Godspell-- 1998 Good News-- 1980 Goodbye Girl, The-- 1999 Grease-- 1981, 2000, 2007 Guys & Dolls-- 1967, 1975, 1997, 2011 Gypsy-- 1969, 1980, 1995 Hairspray-- 2011 Hans Christian Andersen-- 1993 How To Succeed In Business (Without Really Trying)-- 1975, 2001 Hello, Dolly!-- 1974, 1983, 1994, 2008 High School Musical-- 2009 Honk!-- 2004 I Do! I Do!-- 1978 Into the Woods-- 1991, 2010 Irene--1976 Jekyll & Hyde--2014 Jesus Christ Superstar-- 1986, 2010 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat-- 1983, 1989, 2002, 2012

King and I, The-- 1971, 1983, 1995, 2006 Kismet-- 1982 Kiss Me, Kate-- 1968, 1997 Les Misérables-- 2013 Li'l Abner-- 1970 Little Me-- 1996 Little Mermaid,The-- 2016 Mame-- 1975, 1988, 2002 Man of La Mancha-- 1970, 1992 Me and My Girl-- 1992 Meet Me in St. Louis-- 1995 Miss Saigon-- 2007 Most Happy Fella, The-- 1972 Music Man, The-- 1965, 1974, 1984, 2000, 2008 My Fair Lady-- 1966, 1977, 1989, 2003 My One and Only-- 1991 Nice Work If You Can Get It-- 2016 No, No, Nanette-- 1979 Oklahoma!-- 1973, 1981, 1990, 2007 Oliver!-- 1968, 1982, 1991, 2009 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever-- 1974 Once On This Island-- 2012 Once Upon a Mattress-- 1973 Paint Your Wagon-- 1978 Pajama Game, The-- 1966, 1979 Peter Pan-- 1984, 1988, 1994, 2001, 2007, 2013 Phantom-- 1996 Pirates of Penzance, The (Joseph Papp 1981 Revival)-- 1993 Producers, The-- 2009 Promises, Promises-- 1973, 1987 Ragtime-- 2005 Rent-- 2013 Secret Garden, The-- 1997, 2008 Seussical-- 2010, 2015 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers-- 1986, 2004 Shenandoah-- 1979 Show Boat-- 1980, 1991 Shrek-- 2014 Singin' in the Rain-- 1989 Sound of Music, The-- 1972, 1986, 1999, 2005, 2014 South Pacific-- 1965, 1980, 1988, 2002, 2016 Spamalot-- 2015 State Fair-- 1999 Student Prince, The-- 1983 Sugar-- 1993 Sweeney Todd--The Demon Barber of Fleet Street-- 2016 Sweet Charity-- 1978 Teddy & Alice-- 1990 Titanic-- 2003 Two Gentlemen of Verona-- 1984 Unsinkable Molly Brown, The-- 1968, 1992 West Side Story-- 1977, 2001, 2015 Will Rogers Follies, The-- 1996 Wiz, The-- 1987 Wizard of Oz, The-- 1996, 2003, 2011 You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown-- 1972, 1985

References

1. "The Muni History". Retrieved 19 June 2013.

External links

• Springfield Municipal Opera