From CWEA Griffin: The Many Lives of The Muny’s Mike Isaacson

In case you missed seeing the following article in the March issue of the CWEA Griffin, I’m posting it here for what I hope will be an enjoyable read.

It was such a delight to speak with Mike Isaacson. As I put his words together for the Griffin article, I realized that if you were to trace his career path on a map of St. Louis it would only span about 3 miles—from Grand Avenue (St. Louis University and The Fabulous Fox) to The Muny in Forest Park. He and his husband, Joe Ortmeyer live in the CWE, at the very center of that map.

A digital version of the March issue of the CWEA Griffin can be found at the end of this post.

The Many Lives of The Muny’s Mike Isaacson

When Mike Isaacson moved to St. Louis in 1982 to attend Saint Louis University, he never expected to stay. “I was directionless,” he said, “but I kept meeting people, finding jobs and a sense of community here, especially in the CWE, where there was a sense of energy and excitement. The neighborhood has always felt like home to me. St. Louis is a fascinating city. This is a much easier place to love if you aren’t from here. I don’t know what it is—it’s ridiculous to me—but I’m tired of fighting it.”

After graduating from SLU with a degree in English and journalism, Isaacson landed a job working on publications for McDonnell Douglas. When he learned that Jeff Fister–who also worked for McDonnell at one time–and his family had purchased the West End Word, he asked if he needed a theater critic. “Yes,” Fister replied, “but I can’t pay you.” Isaacson said, “That’s okay, I just want the theater tickets.” That fortuitous barter is what Isaacson credits as one of the reasons he’s where he is today, as artistic director and executive producer of The Muny. 

Isaacson eventually left McDonnell Douglas to go back to his alma mater to work for university President Father Lawrence Biondi.  He continued writing theater reviews for additional papers including the RFT, Post-Dispatch, and national publications Stagebill and Playbill.

The theater critic whose life has become immersed in the theater 24/7 is completely self-taught. “I didn’t grow up in a family who knew what any of this was,” he explained. “We moved around a lot, and the library became my home base. I was the library kid drawn to cast albums, liner notes connected to scripts, and theater reviews. I also loved music and played the flute and clarinet.” While in high school, Isaacson subscribed to Variety, which he found fascinating.

During his senior year, he wrote an entire scene for a play, and when the director abruptly walked off stage during rehearsals, Isaacson took over and thought, okay, this is interesting, this is what I know how to do. While he was at SLU, the theater department wasn’t producing musicals, so a group banded together to stage their own. “I became the theater producer putting the pieces together. That was another interesting avenue, but I never thought it could be a living. I knew I never wanted to be an actor. That’s a specific talent. I don’t know how you have that courage.”

A lunch at Bar Italia with David Fay, then-president of Fox Associates, changed Isaacson’s life. “At the time, I was up for a promotion at SLU, but felt like I was in the wrong place, I knew I didn’t want a life in academia.” The Fox was getting into producing plays, and Isaacson was offered a job.

Isaacson joined The Fox in 1996 and remained until 2011. During those 15 years, he was responsible for Broadway shows produced by Fox Theatricals, as well as touring shows at the Fox Theatre. Isaacson was also on the executive committee of the Independent Presenters Network, which is influential in what shows make it to Broadway and on national tour in North America, the U.K., Japan, and China. 

During those years, Isaacson and Chicago-based Kristin Caskey became part of Fox Theatricals. They have remained producing partners ever since. Over the past 25 years, they have produced more than 25 Broadway musicals and plays, national tours, off-Broadway plays and London productions. Their productions have received more than 122 Tony nominations and 34 Tony Awards. The pair also has a musical they’ve been working on for 8 years opening this spring, “The Wiz.”

Isaacson loved his time at The Fox, the work was exciting, and he was really happy there. So, when The Muny job came to him, he thought about it for a couple of years before making the leap. “The job intrigued me because it really scared me. At that point I was 45ish and thought ‘you’re too young to be this comfortable.’” He joined The Muny in 2011, observing his predecessor Paul Blake for that first season, and became artistic director and executive producer in 2012.

With 11,000 seats, The Muny is the largest and, in its 106th season, the oldest outdoor musical theater in North America. “This place is so singular,” Isaacson said, “no stage in the world produces theater on this schedule—7 plays in 10 weeks—or within these parameters.  It may sound like Hallmark, but each of the 75 plays we’ve produced since 2012, has been a gift to me.

“The Muny is known around the world,” Isaacson said. “When I go to London for my Broadway work, there is not a meeting in which The Muny doesn’t come up. It’s respected, admired, and watched. I want The Muny to be a beacon of excellence the whole world knows about.” The theater became known to a wider audience during the “awful” Covid summer of 2020. Realizing the show had to go on or the theater could be forgotten, they launched The Muny 2020 Summer Variety Hour Live!, 10 weeks of free Muny entertainment that was watched by 400,000 people worldwide.

With this recognition comes a huge responsibility to the community, which Isaacson takes very seriously. “The #1 goal working for an institution is “that day you walk out the door, the lights need to be on.”  When he began the 2012 season Isaacson was deciding how The Muny could further inspire the community, because, in his opinion, that’s what was missing.  “What were The Muny’s goals when we got to the 100th anniversary (in 2018)? We had never done a capital campaign. But we went out to the community and asked for $100M and we had it in 5 years. That speaks not only to the work we’re doing, but also the legacy before us. So, I mean, WOW!” 

Isaacson said that from the very first season he’s felt the energy coming back to him from the audience. “It may sound egotistical, but when the systems and processes and people are all working together, you can’t stop trying to make it all better. I’m very grateful for this audience. It makes me realize that The Muny has returned to the central life of the community.”

Actors around the country are eager to audition for this storied theater.  When auditions were announced for the 2024 Season, nearly 1000 people came to town in early February hoping to score a part. “It was intense—unbelievably so—but we got through it.”

One of the many things I love about theater is that it isn’t just about one person. The form requires a level of collaboration and communion among people unlike any other. There is a sense that everybody who participates must be at the same high level to create what we’re creating.” 

Two things Isaacson conveys to actors when they are in rehearsals are: Have no fear, and laughter is really important. “Humor is so good for the soul, so I hire funny people. People are shocked if they visit backstage at what a happy place it is. We own the craziness, the absurdity of what we’re trying to do in a magical way.”

“There’s an incredible variety in this upcoming season, from a 1924 musical to one from 2015. At least one play of the 7 will appeal to you, and that’s the best I can do, create a great show and see where the universe takes it.  If the show isn’t someone’s favorite, we hope they walk out and say, ‘well that wasn’t my thing, but boy, they really did it.’ We never let up on the work ethic.”

“Nobody has the swath of audience we have, anywhere in the U.S. We literally attract ages 8 to 80, from all demographics and all backgrounds. Ticket sales for the 2024 Season have been great, subscribers are back in droves. More group bus tours are traveling across the country and stopping to see a show at The Muny too.

“Generations of St. Louisans have fond memories of plays they’ve seen at The Muny. When we do a classic like Fiddler, the audience remembers who they were with the last time they saw it. People will walk up with their kids, or introduce a grandson to this treasure and say, this is his first. Couples have said, ‘We’re retired, but we’re not leaving St. Louis because we don’t want to give up The Muny.’”

“In the words of Mr. Sondheim, ‘Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor.’ Work creates work. There’s an intensity to this job that I just accept,” Isaacson said. “I couldn’t do any of this without the support of my husband, Joe Ortmeyer, whom I married 8 years ago beside the pool at The Chase. We had our reception at Bar Italia, which has figured so prominently in my life while living in the Central West End.

“I’m very lucky that the projects I’ve worked on are with great people, that’s really satisfying. None of it is easy. I’m not allowed to whine or complain. Sometimes it’s really hard, but it’s my choice and it’s what I do. I don’t get much vacation, but even then, you can’t stop wearing ‘The Muny thing’ no matter what. I’ve got 7 shows to produce each season and that’s what you accept in this. It never ends.” 

In conclusion Isaacson said, “I think of The Muny as a metaphor for the possibility in all of us. The Muny is unparalleled as an active creative work that must be redone, reworked, reconnected, and reimagined. By its very definition it is never allowed to be static. It’s a gift for our community that says, ‘Look what we can do. We’re from St. Louis. You can do it too.’”

 Click here for the digital version of the March 2024 issue of CWEA Griffin.