Meet Sonja Furiya
Director of the Annual Fund

What do you do in your job?

I get to work directly with patrons who support The Muny financially beyond buying their tickets. The dollars raised by the annual fund—from Muny Partners, brick and seat donors, tribute gifts and Muny Visionaries—all help make the magic happen on the stage every summer. Muny Partners is kind of like a membership program with different benefits available to donors at different levels of giving. During the offseason we are preparing all of those fun and wonderful benefits our donors enjoy during the season. Then during the season we get to implement all those things—like making parking easy and creating fun experiences at rehearsals—and help make The Muny experience even more special. For some, simply making their gifts makes them happy; for others, having access to some of those perks makes them happy. Truly, the best part of my job is making people happy.

Sonja leading a Muny Partner backstage tour during the 2019 season.

How long have you worked at The Muny?

I have been at The Muny for 17.5 years, which is pretty amazing!

What is your favorite Muny memory?

My two favorite Muny memories both involve an enormous, empty stage and a solo performer. First is Norm Lewis as Javert (in our 2013 production of Les Misérables)standing on the empty stage, staring up at the star-filled ski, singing to the stars. Second is when Beth Leavel simply commanded our huge empty stage with such presence (in our 2018 production of Gypsy) that it took my breath away. I think that’s one of the most magnificent things about The Muny stage: you can have 100 people or you can have 1 person, and the stage is neither too small nor is it too big!

What is your favorite Muny show?

Les Mis is definitely my top favorite show; however, West Side Story has always been one of my favorites because it includes amazing music and amazing dancing. But as I thought about this, a surprise favorite for me now is Gypsy. I was never interested in that show before until I saw our 2018 version and realized it was actually a story about mothers and daughters and who you want to be when you grow up and why who you aren’t what you thought you would be.

If you weren’t working at The Muny, and you didn’t have to worry about moving or training or anything, what would you be doing?

I would be designing and creating ballroom dance costumes for same-sex ballroom dancers. I am a competitive same-sex ballroom dancer, and costumes are very difficult for us. I design and sew all of the costumes my wife and I wear. The costumes same-sex ballroom dancers wear can be gendered like you are probably familiar with where the leader wears a tux and the follower wears a gown or they can be what I would call “clone costumes” where both dancers wear the same outfit (which makes it sort of difficult to know who is leading and who is following) or they can be something more interesting where the costumes coordinate but are not necessarily gendered or exactly the same—which are the kinds of costumes I like to make. Tuxes and gowns accentuate the movements of the wearer. I try to use the qualities the tux and gown provide without having them necessarily look like a tux and gown.

What’s one of your favorite accomplishments?

One of my favorite accomplishments was helping my ex-circus partner Jessica Hentoff set up her St. Louis-based nonprofit which is now called Circus Harmony. I studied circus with Jessica in New York in my 20s, and she went on to become a professional circus performer. She started The St. Louis Arches, Circus Flora’s youth group. When I moved to St. Louis in 2001, Circus Flora made the decision that they couldn’t maintain the circus youth any longer. So, Jessica decided she had to figure out how to keep the program. I am proud that I was able to help her figure out how to set up a nonprofit to make that possible. Based out of City Museum, Circus Harmony is a social circus organization that uses circus arts to motivate social change—they teach the art of life through circus education.

What is your personal mantra/motto?

Everything constantly changes so keep moving forward.

What would you tell your younger self now that you work at The Muny? Having an office job can be pretty fun. I was determined as a young, 20-something that I would never, ever, work in an office because that would be the most boring thing in the world. But, it’s not!

Lightning Round

Where did you go to high school? High School of Music and Art in New York City
First Muny show? Miss Saigon in 2001—Terrace C with that helicopter
Favorite St. Louis attraction other than The Muny? Mississippi River; I realize it’s not really an “attraction” but it’s an attraction for me.
Favorite season? The one that is coming up next, whenever that is during the year.
Early Bird or Night Owl? Yes
Coffee or Tea? Tea with a little bit of milk—British style
Righty or Lefty? Righty
Android or iPhone? iPhone
Favorite St. Louis restaurant? Nobu’s Japanese Restaurant
Beach, mountains or desert? Yes, please.
Favorite superhero? Xena: Warrior Princess
Favorite road trip snack? Sweets & Beets (sweet potato chips and beet chips)
Favorite holiday? I don’t really have a favorite holiday. And, for me, because I lived in England for a number of years, the word “holiday” means “vacation.” As such, my favorite holiday was sailing through the Panama Canal in January 2018.
Favorite Muny treat? Ronnie’s Rocky Mountain Cone