Springfield Municipal Opera
The Muni | |
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| Location | 815 East Lake Drive Springfield, illinois File:Flag of the United States (23px).png United States |
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| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Type | Community Theater |
| Event | Musical |
| Seating type | Reserved/Lawn |
| Capacity | 800+ |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1964 |
| Website | |
| http://www.themuni.org/ | |
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Originally conceived on April 21, 1950 as a not-for-profit theatrical organization, the Springfield Municipal Opera Association transformed a 55-acre 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. 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.
The 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.
Springfield Municipal Opera Répertoire 1964-2025
[edit | edit source]Here follows a list of the many shows that The Springfield Municipal Opera has presented in its summer seasons.
Chronological Listing[edit | edit source]1964[edit | edit source]^0 Test production staged at Douglas Park to see if enough community interest could be generated to rebuild the old lake site after 2 fires wiped out the facilities 1960s[edit | edit source]1965 (Season 1)[edit | edit source]1966 (Season 2)[edit | edit source]1967 (Season 3)[edit | edit source]1968 (Season 4)[edit | edit source]1969 (Season 5)[edit | edit source]1970s[edit | edit source]1970 (Season 6)[edit | edit source]1971 (Season 7)[edit | edit source]1972 (Season 8)[edit | edit source]1973 (Season 9)[edit | edit source]1974 (Season 10)[edit | edit source]1975 (Season 11)[edit | edit source]1976 (Season 12)[edit | edit source]^1 Bicentennial production featuring Robert Alda as Benjamin Franklin and underwritten by Franklin Life Insurance Company. Many cast members of the 1972 production reprised their roles in this show. 1977 (Season 13)[edit | edit source]1978 (Season 14)[edit | edit source]1979 (Season 15)[edit | edit source]^2 The Muni's 50th production 1980s[edit | edit source]1980 (Season 16)[edit | edit source]1981 (Season 17)[edit | edit source]1982 (Season 18)[edit | edit source]1983 (Season 19)[edit | edit source]1984 (Season 20)[edit | edit source]1985 (Season 21)[edit | edit source]1986 (Season 22)[edit | edit source]1987 (Season 23)[edit | edit source]1988 (Season 24)[edit | edit source]1989 (Season 25)[edit | edit source]1990s[edit | edit source]1990 (Season 26)[edit | edit source]1991 (Season 27)[edit | edit source]^3 The Muni's 100th production 1992 (Season 28)[edit | edit source]1993 (Season 29)[edit | edit source]^4 The 1981 Joseph Papp revival version 1994 (Season 30)[edit | edit source]1995 (Season 31)[edit | edit source]1996 (Season 32)[edit | edit source]1997 (Season 33)[edit | edit source]1998 (Season 34)[edit | edit source]1999 (Season 35)[edit | edit source]2000s[edit | edit source]2000 (Season 36)[edit | edit source]2001 (Season 37)5[edit | edit source]^5 First season without a Muni premiere production 2002 (Season 38)[edit | edit source]2003 (Season 39)[edit | edit source]2004 (Season 40)[edit | edit source]^6 The Muni's 150th production 2005 (Season 41)[edit | edit source]2006 (Season 42)[edit | edit source]^7 The Muni welcomed its one millionth patron with a special celebration on July 29, 2006. 2007 (Season 43)[edit | edit source]2008 (Season 44)[edit | edit source]2009 (Season 45)[edit | edit source]2010s[edit | edit source]2010 (Season 46)[edit | edit source]2011 (Season 47)[edit | edit source]2012 (Season 48)[edit | edit source]
2013 (Season 49)[edit | edit source]2014 (Season 50)[edit | edit source]2015 (Season 51)[edit | edit source]2016 (Season 52)[edit | edit source]
2017 (Season 53)[edit | edit source]^8 The Muni's 200th production at the lake site amphitheater 2018 (Season 54)[edit | edit source]2019 (Season 55)[edit | edit source]2020s[edit | edit source]2020 (Season 56)[edit | edit source]All Productions Postponed Until Summer of 2021 Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic[edit | edit source]2021 (Season 57)[edit | edit source]All 4 shows cancelled for summer 2021 due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic[edit | edit source]2022 (Season 58)[edit | edit source]2023 (Season 59)[edit | edit source]2024 (Season 60)[edit | edit source]2025 (Season 61 - promoted as 75th Anniversary Season)[edit | edit source]
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Alphabetical Listing[edit | edit source]
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See also
[edit | edit source]Sources
[edit | edit source]- Programs from recent Muni Opera productions