The Muny Announces 104th Season Creative Teams
ST. LOUIS (February 16, 2022) – The Muny announced today the directors, choreographers and music directors for The Muny’s 2022 season, which opens on June 13 with the celebrated return of the 2021 hit that audiences went “Whoopee!” for, the Tony Award-winning Chicago.
“This is an extraordinary group of artists to helm our 104th season,” said Muny Artistic Director and Executive Producer Mike Isaacson. “Some of these teams have been waiting 3 years for their shows, and I’m so grateful for their persistence and loyalty. This is a rich, robust, ambitious season, and here we go.”
Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
Music by John Kander and Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Based on a play by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Script Adaptation by David Thompson
DENIS JONES (Director/Choreographer) is very excited to return to The Muny with Chicago! A veteran of nine Muny productions and a recipient of the St. Louis Theater Circle Award, Denis is also a two-time Tony Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominee. His work has been seen in the Broadway productions of Tootsie, Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn and Honeymoon in Vegas. Other recent credits: Chasing Rainbows (Paper Mill Playhouse), A Chorus Line (Signature Theatre), Eurydice (Metropolitan Opera), The Flamingo Kid (Hartford Stage), Call Me Madam, Paint Your Wagon (NY City Center Encores!), How to Succeed… (Kennedy Center) and The Music Man (Goodman Theatre).
CHARLIE ALTERMAN (Music Director) is thrilled to return to The Muny and this incredible production of Chicago. Past Muny productions include Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Little Mermaid, Meet Me In St. Louis, All Shook Up and Young Frankenstein, as well as several Muny Magic concerts at The Sheldon. Broadway: Music Director for Pippin, Next to Normal, Godspell and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. Other Broadway credits include Legally Blonde (Associate Conductor). National tours: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Grease. He most recently served as Music Consultant/Vocal Coach for the NBC series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.Concert appearances include shows with Brooke Shields, Frankie Avalon, Juan Pablo Di Pace, Dana Reeve, Emily Skinner, Billy Porter, Carol Woods and Ken Page.
BARRY BUSBY (Associate Choreographer) is thrilled to be back at The Muny! He is a Texas native, MFA graduate from the University of Oklahoma, and has lived in NYC for 12+ years. He has been the Associate to Denis Jones for 10 years and together they have collaborated on Broadway, across the country and internationally on over 40+ productions. Broadway: Honeymoon in Vegas, Holiday Inn, Sunset Boulevard and Tootsie. Regional: Goodspeed, Paper Mill Playhouse, The Kennedy Center, Dallas Theater Center, TUTS and Williamstown Theatre Festival. In 2014 and 2016 he was featured on the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and can also be seen in the 73rd Annual Tony Awards! Barry is co-founder of Broadway Imagined – a virtual studio bringing Broadway caliber classes to the homes of dancers and fans of musical theatre.
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe
Based on The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Book adapted by David Lee
New orchestrations by Steve Orich
MATT KUNKEL (Director) Muny: The Sound of Music, An Evening with the Stars, Muny Summer Variety Hour, and an Associate Director on over 20 Muny productions! Recent: Follow the Fellow Who Follows a Dream (92nd Street Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists), The Sound of Music (Virginia Opera/Virginia Arts Festival), Considering Matthew Shepard (University of Michigan/Detroit PBS), White Christmas, Sunset Boulevard, Elf the Musical (Engeman Theater) and Fallingwater (reading for The Met). Recent associate credits: An Officer and a Gentleman (national tour), The Music Man, Tommy (Kennedy Center), Candide (Carnegie Hall), Elf the Musical (Madison Square Garden and national tour). Matt is currently the producer of the 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists Series. Faculty: Governor’s School VA and The Growing Studio. Education: University of Michigan. Rep: DGRW. mattwkunkel.com @mattwkunkel
BETH CRANDALL (Choreographer) returns to The Muny after choreographing The Sound of Music and Matilda, and serving as Associate Choreographer for Disney’s Newsies, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway and An Evening with the Stars. She was recently commissioned to choreograph an original piece for the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC and choreographed West Side Story for the Abilene Opera. Broadway/Off-Broadway associate choreography: Gettin’ the Band Back Together, High Button Shoes, The New Yorkers and 1776. Recent associate choreography: How to Succeed… (Tokyo Orb Theatre), Footloose and The Music Man (The Kennedy Center), Because of Winn Dixie and The Drowsy Chaperone (Goodspeed Opera House) and the Gucci Showtime Campaign. As a performer, Beth was seen on Broadway, in national and international tours, in six Muny shows, on SNL and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Proud member of SDC. Beth Crandall.com
ABDUL HAMID ROYAL (Music Director)Broadway/International/National:Five Guys Named Moe (Tony nomination), Twist, Sophisticated Ladies, Ain’t Misbehavin’; Jelly’s Last Jam; The Wiz, Truly Blessed, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Betsy Brown, Concerts for the Earth, Colors of Christmas, Smokey Joe’s Cafe; The Life. Regional:A Chorus Line, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill; Dreamgirls, Songs for Nobodies, Big River, Black Pearl Sings, Blues in the Night and Sirens of Song. Composer/Arranger:Five Guys Named Moe, Truly Blessed, Body and Soul, Twist, Cole Porter Festival, Colors of Christmas. Recording Artists: Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Peabo Bryson, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minelli, Ashford & Simpson, Jennifer Holliday, Patti LaBelle, Christina Aguilera, Jason Mraz, Stevie Wonder, Ty Herndon, David Foster, LA Philharmonic and Phil Collins. Awards:The Ovation Award and The LA Drama Critics Circle Award (Best Music Direction) on The Gospel at Colonus. NAACP Image Award for Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical, Five Guys Named Moe. NAACP Image Award and Stage Scene LA Award (Outstanding Musical Direction) on the LA production of Recorded In Hollywood.
A Musical based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney Film
Original Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
Book by Julian Fellowes
New Songs and Additional Music and Lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe
Co-Created by Cameron Mackintosh
JOHN TARTAGLIA (Director) For The Muny as Director: Matilda, Annie, The Wizard of Oz, Tarzan and Shrek. Muny as a Performer: Aladdin (The Genie), Seussical (The Cat in the Hat), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Hysterium, St. Louis Theater Circle Award).Director: Stephen Schwartz’s The Secret Silk (Princess Cruises, writer/director), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Maltz Jupiter Theatre), Claudio Quest (NY Musical Festival, Best of the Fest), Shrek the Halls (DreamWorks Theatricals) and many more. Broadway: Avenue Q (Tony nomination), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Shrek. Film/TV: Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, currently on AppleTV+, The Happytime Murders (STX Films), Johnny and the Sprites (Disney Jr., Emmy nomination), Sesame Street (PBS Kids), Jim Henson’s Word Party and Julie’s Greenroom (Netflix), creator, co-executive producer and star of Jim Henson’s Splash and Bubbles (PBS Kids, Emmy nomination). Instagram/Twitter: Johnnytartags
PATRICK O’NEILL (Choreographer) The Muny: Guys and Dolls (co-choreographer). As a choreographer: Leonard Bernstein’s Mass (Utah Symphony/Utah Opera), An Evening with Kelli O’Hara and The Boston Pops, musical numbers for Mario Cantone on The View celebrating Barbara Walters. He served as the Associate Choreographer for School of Rock (Broadway, US national tour, Australia and Korea), The Heart of Rock & Roll (Old Globe), Ever After (Alliance), and as an Assistant Choreographer for the Broadway revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Harmony (Ahmanson, Alliance), and The Nutty Professor (directed by Jerry Lewis). In 2022, Patrick directs London premiere On The Edge – A New Musical. patrickoneill.me / @itspatrickoneill
BRAD HAAK (Music Director) Past Muny credits: Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, A Funny Thing…Forum, Fiddler on the Roof, Into the Woods, South Pacific, The King and I.Broadway: An American in Paris, Mary Poppins, Lestat and Il Divo – A Musical Affair. Pianist for The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Phantom of the Opera.National tours: The Lion King, Miss Saigon.Music supervision and orchestrations for Daddy Long Legs (off-Broadway, London, Tokyo, Seoul and 19 US productions) and for director John Caird’s A Knight’s Tale (Tokyo) and Spirited Away (March 2022.) International: Sousatzka (Toronto), An American in Paris (Paris), Honk! (Singapore and Philippines), Jane Eyre (Tokyo). Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Follies (Jeff Award for music direction) and Sunday in the Park with George, Children of Eden at The Kennedy Center. Orchestrator for New York and Boston Pops, National Symphony, LA Philharmonic and Tokyo Philharmonic.
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
From an Adaptation by Christopher Bond
Originally Directed on Broadway by Harold Prince
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
ROB RUGGIERO (Director) The Muny: 1776, Gypsy (starring Beth Leavel), The Music Man, Oklahoma!; Hello, Dolly!; South Pacific and The King and I. He has also directed many award-winning productions at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, including Follies, Sunday in the Park with George, Take Me Out and Evita. His work has been seen at regional theatres around the country. Broadway: High (starring Kathleen Turner)and Looped (starring Valerie Harper). Off-Broadway, he conceived and directed Make Me a Song (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations). Rob also recently directed a new version of A Grand Night for Singing at Goodspeed Musicals where he is a frequent collaborator. He is the Producing Artistic Director at TheaterWorks Hartford, where he has been affiliated for 29 years.
JESSICA HARTMAN (Associate Director and Musical Staging) The Muny: Footloose, Annie, All Shook Up, Mamma Mia!; Hairspray and Seussical. Broadway: Lysistrata Jones (Associate Choreographer), The Boy from Oz starring Hugh Jackman (Assistant Choreographer/Dance Captain/Swing). Off-Broadway: Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play! (Choreographer, New Victory Theater). Other credits include: Rock of Ages (Director/Choreographer), A Chorus Line, Memphis, Mamma Mia!; How to Succeed… (Choreographer/TUTS), Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Kennedy Center), Norwegian Creative Studios (Choreographer), Disney Junior’s Dance Party (Associate Show Director/Choreographer), Universal Studios/The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Associate). Upcoming: An animated special for HBO Max/Mo Willems and Pigeon national tour. Hartman is the Artistic Director of Broadway Theatre Connection and a proud member of SDC. JessHartman.com
JAMES MOORE (Music Director) The Muny: 1776, Gypsy, The Music Man, Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn, Hello, Dolly!; West Side Story, Meet Me In St. Louis, The Producers. Broadway: Miss Saigon, On the Town, Gigi, Follies, South Pacific, Ragtime, Steel Pier, Company. National tours: The Producers, Kiss Me, Kate; Crazy for You, And the World Goes ‘Round. Encores! Off Center: Road Show. The Kennedy Center: The Music Man starring Norm Lewis and Jessie Mueller, Camelot starring Brian Stokes Mitchell, My Fair Lady starring Jonathan Pryce, Mame starring Christine Baranski. Recordings: On the Town, Follies. Mr. Moore serves as Music Supervisor for the United States touring productions of Les Misérables. He holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in vocal performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
Book by Heather Hach
Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin
Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture
MAGGIE BURROWS (Director) is thrilled to be returning to The Muny after directing On Your Feet! in 2021. Maggie has directed and developed works with Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Theater Company, New York Theatre Workshop, Women’s Project, Williamstown Theatre Festival and The Geffen. Member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab, nominee for Yale’s Sudler Prize, 2018 Boris Sagal Directing Fellow at Williamstown and 2018-2020 BOLD Resident Director at Northern Stage. Select theatre credits: Indecent (Juilliard), Man of God (Geffen), Damsels (Williamstown), The Sound of Music (Northern Stage), Spacebar (Wild Project). Film work includes her short Condolences and a GOTV video for Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote organization. Select associate work: My Fair Lady for Bartlett Sher (Beaumont), The Taming of the Shrew for Phyllida Lloyd (Delacorte) and Constellations for Michael Longhurst (MTC). Upcoming: TRAYF (Geffen), Zoe Sarnak and Alexis Scheer’s Shook, Mark Sonnenblick’s new musical Devotion.
WILLIAM CARLOS ANGULO (Choreographer) is a choreographer, director, playwright and arts educator based in New York. He has collaborated with Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theater, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Ars Nova, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Court Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Teatro Vista and more. He serves as Director of Education for Dance Lab New York and is currently in residence at Portland Center Stage, alongside Micha Rodriguez and Isaac Gómez, to devise a new musical about their families. Other residencies include The Jerome Robbins Foundation and The US Department of State’s Fulbright Program. He is a member of SDC and the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists (ALTA). Upcoming new musicals: Hombres (Portland Center Stage), May We All tour launching in Nashville and Shout, Sister, Shout! on Broadway.
LON HOYT (Music Director) is glad to be back at The Muny after last season’s production of On Your Feet! He was Music Director/Supervisor for Hairspray on Broadway, two national tours, the Toronto, Las Vegas, London, Johannesburg and Cologne companies, the 2006 feature film and NBC’s Hairspray Live! production. He was Music Director/Vocal Arranger for Broadway’s On Your Feet! as well as Music Supervisor for Lennon. Other Broadway MD/Conductor credits: Beautiful, Escape to Margaritaville, Rock of Ages, Hair, Catch Me If You Can, The Rocky Horror Show, Street Corner Symphony and Footloose. Off-Broadway MD: Hereafter, Forever Plaid, Song of Singapore, A Backer’s Audition and Hit the Lights! Regional: Burt Bacharach’s Some Lovers, Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s The Nightingale, Music Supervisor for the Sheryl Crow and Barry Levinson musical Diner, as well as Hollywood Bowl productions of Hairspray and Hair.Music Consultant for the films Hairspray, Boys on the Side, Joyful Noise and Annie. Lon appeared in lead roles on Broadway in Tommy, Baby, Leader of the Pack, Starlight Express and Rock ‘N Roll! The First 5000 Years. Love to the 3 Ls.
Based upon the novel written by Alice Walker and the Warner Bros./Amblin Entertainment Motion Picture
Book by Marsha Norman
Music and Lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray
LILI-ANNE BROWN (Director) is a Chicago South Side native, working as a director, actor and educator, and has directed, performed in and produced many award-winning shows in Chicago and nationally. She is the former Artistic Director of Bailiwick Chicago, where she focused programming on Chicago-premiere musicals and new play development with resident playwrights. Recent directing credits include: School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play and the world premieres of Ike Holter’s I Hate It Here and Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre), Acoustic Rooster… (Kennedy Center), Spunk (Roundabout Theatre virtual), Wally World (Steppenwolf Theatre audio), Put Your House in Order (La Jolla Playhouse), The Color Purple (Drury Lane Theatre). She is a member of SDC, AEA, and SAG-AFTRA, a resident director of Victory Gardens Theater and represented by William Morris Endeavor. lilbrownchicago.com
BREON ARZELL (Choreographer) His breakout and award-winning premiere as a choreographer came with a Chicago production of The Hairy Ape. A Detroit native, he has worked at various studios, schools, universities (DePaul, Northwestern and Roosevelt) and theatres. Regional/TV credits: Once on This Island (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Acoustic Rooster… (The Kennedy Center), Miss You Like Hell (Olney Theatre Center), The 4400 (CW), Empire (Fox). Chicago credits: Kill Move Paradise (TimeLine Theatre), The Color Purple (Drury Lane), Head Over Heels and The Wiz (Kokandy Productions), The Total Bent (Haven Theatre), The House That Will Not Stand (Victory Gardens Theater), Marie Christine, Scottsboro Boys, Little Shop of Horrors and more. Dedicated teaching artist, critically acclaimed, and listed as one of the 50 Players for Chicago 2018 and 2020, he has worked/toured the U.S., England, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Singapore. Currently, along with developing original works, he is working on the restoration and revival of a historical black musical. Hip-Hop, Jazz, Modern, Lyrical, Contemporary and Body Percussion.breonarzell.com
JERMAINE HILL (Music Director) is an award-winning music director, pianist, conductor and vocal coach. Recent credits include Spunk (Roundabout Theatre’s Refocus Project), We Are Out There, Nell Gwynn and Madagascar (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), DukeEllington’s Sophisticated Ladies (Porchlight Music Theatre), The Music Man (Goodman Theatre), The Color Purple (Drury Lane), Too Heavy for Your Pocket (TimeLine Theatre) and The Total Bent (Haven Theatre). As an actor, he has worked with Erasing the Distance and was a guest star on Chicago Med. He is currently the Assistant Chair of the Theater Division at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and maintains a small roster of private voice students, including Tony Award and Grammy Award winner Heather Headley. He is a proud graduate of Ithaca College and the New England Conservatory of Music.
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
JOSH RHODES (Director/Choreographer) is thrilled to return to The Muny after directing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Paint Your Wagon, Jersey Boys and choreographing Young Frankenstein. In New York City, Josh directed and choreographed Mack & Mabel and Grand Hotel (NY City Center Encores!) and staged the critically-acclaimed production of The Who’s Tommy (The Kennedy Center). Other directing credits include: Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville and Guys and Dolls (Old Globe), Spamalot (5th Avenue Theatre), Show Boat (Bucks County Playhouse) and Hair, The Sound of Music, Guys and Dolls and Evita (Asolo Repertory). Broadway (Choreographer): Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, It Shoulda Been You, First Date and Bright Star. London’s West End (Choreographer): Carousel (English National Opera) and Sweeney Todd starring Emma Thompson. Other choreography credits include the filmed production of Company, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Sondheim: The Birthday Concert (PBS) and Doctor Dolittle (UK tour). Josh is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan.
LEE WILKINS (Associate Choreographer) Associate Director/Choreographer: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Paint Your Wagon, Jersey Boys (Muny). . Broadway (Associate Choreographer): Bright Star, It Shoulda Been You, First Date, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Other: Carousel (English National Opera), Mack & Mabel, Grand Hotel and Big River (NY City Center Encores!), The Sound of Music, Evita (Asolo Repertory), Guys and Dolls (Old Globe, Asolo Repertory), Spamalot, Paint Your Wagon (5th Avenue Theatre), On the Town (LA Philharmonic), Company (Avery Fisher Hall), Minsky’s (Ahmanson Theatre). Television: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS), Hatfields and McCoys (NBC), Alpha House (Amazon Studios). Direction: NBC Upfront (Radio City Music Hall), The Little Mermaid (Casa Mañana), First Date (Straz Center), Divas for Democracy (StageIt). Broadway (Performer): Elf, Spamalot, Wonderful Town, Kiss Me, Kate.
SINAI TABAK (Music Director) is an NYC-based music director, pianist and arranger. On Broadway, he has worked as the associate conductor of The Cher Show, as well as a sub on The Band’s Visit and Tootsie. He has music supervised and written new arrangements for several shows including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (The Muny), The Sound of Music, Evita (Asolo Rep), Guys and Dolls and Hair (Old Globe). Other regional credits include Paint Your Wagon (The Muny), Songs for a New World (Paper Mill Playhouse), Bliss (5th Avenue), Footloose (Kennedy Center), Stars of David (DR2 Theatre), Bells Are Ringing (Berkshire Theatre Festival), The Rocky Horror Show (Bucks County Playhouse), Johnny Baseball (Williamstown Theatre Festival) and Les Misérables (Dallas Theater Center).
The Muny’s 2022 Season includes Chicago (June 13-19), Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot (June 22-28), Disney and Cameron Macintosh’s Mary Poppins (July 5-13), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (July 16-22), Legally Blonde, The Musical (July 25-31), The Color Purple (August 3-9) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (August 12-18).
The Muny’s artistic staff includes Artistic Director & Executive Producer Mike Isaacson, Artistic Associate Michael Baxter, Production Manager Tracy Utzmyers and Music Supervisor Michael Horsley.
The Telsey Office is the official casting partner of The Muny.
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Season tickets go on sale March 21, 2022. Single tickets go on sale May 23, 2022.
Muny gift cards for the 104th season are now available online and at The Muny Box Office. For more information, visit muny.org or call (314) 361-1900.
Categories: 2022 Season, Announcements
