By Suzanne Vanderhoef

After  more than 100 years, last Spring, the country’s oldest and largest outdoor musical theater — St. Louis’ own Muny – became “The Tony Award Winning Muny”. So now, more than a season after winning, we wanted to find out what difference having a Tony make? For answers, we sat down with Muny President and CEO Kwofe Coleman and Artistic Director & Executive Director Mike Isaacson to find out.

“I mean, it is a rare honor. It’s a club and suddenly we’re in that club, no doubt about it,” explained Isaacson. “And it changes. It’s not a radical change for us, but it will change. Now, agents are sending their actors off to the Tony Award winning theater. We always had a great reputation, and we get the talent level I want. But yeah, it’s an extra bow.”

Added Coleman, “What means probably the most to me, that this is not just an award about what happens on stage. Absolutely what happens on stage is remarkable and deserving in and of itself, but what happens in this whole city together for people to come here and love this place and love on this place and make it a part of their everyday tradition, I think that’s what was recognized as setting this theater apart from the rest. And so I joke with anyone that comes here, we are all Tony Award winners. If you are from St. Louis, if you’ve been here, if you’ve supported this theater, if you’ve believed in it, this is your award too.”

That point was highlighted on the night of the Tony Award ceremony, when thousands of people in St. Louis came out to Ballpark Village to celebrate long distance.

As Isaacson said, he believes the Muny is a treasure unlike anything else in the world and this acknowledgement by the American Theater Wing for giving the Tony and the people of St. Louis for supporting it are proof that the Muny is one of the best reasons to live in St. Louis.

“When you have an institution that’s now 108 years old, it’s a chapter. It’s a part of our history now forever. When they do the 200th year and they do the history, there’ll be the clip of the Tony of us watching out. You’re a little piece of history.”

Learn more about The Muny and its history in STL Made’s video, “Center Stage”.