The Muny closed out its centennial season with Meet Me in St. Louis. It seems unnecessary to add “of course” at the end of that sentence. Unless one is a complete curmudgeon and sneers at any hint of boosterism or being a homer, it was very hard to resist this show.
The Muny, clearly not happy with the 1989 Broadway version of the show, brought in Gordon Greenberg to revise the book. The results are a good part of the pleasure. I acknowledge not having seen the film more than once and that many years ago, but the story is different from both the film and that earlier version, airier and with fewer disagreements between the young adults. The songs, over the years, have had adjustments made to their lyrics as well as the expected removals and reappearances. (Those original lyrics to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” for the 1944 film were wistful to the point of sadness, reflecting, perhaps on the strain of World War II; they were changed well before the earlier version of the musical play.) This version includes a song not in the original, but which, like the title song, dates from the year before the fair opened, and a surprise to the audience – it’s “Under the Anheuser Busch”.
This may be the most well-cast play of their season. From start to finish, we see great work. Among the residents of 5135 Kensington are the parents, Alonzo and Anna Smith, Stephen R. Buntrock and Erin Dilly – who are married in real life. The two older daughters Esther and Rose are Emily Walton and Liana Hunt; the two small girls, Katy and the irrepressible Tootie, are Elle Wesley and Elena Adams. Grandpa, Anna’s father, a retired physician, is Ken Page. Their son, Lon, played by Jonathan Burke, is home from Princeton for the Christmas holidays. The famous boy next door that Esther swoons over and sings about is Dan DeLuca, and his friend Warren Sheffield, Michael Burrell is clearly sweet on Ruth. Kathy Fitzgerald plays the family’s general factotum, having worked for them for years, and as full of opinions as the rest of the household. Lucille Ballard, who seems to be a rival to the girls is Madison Johnson.
Who’s great at what? Well, Walton and DeLuca, the young lovers are a delight, she with the rules of well-brought-up young ladies fighting with her own innate curiosity and drive, he with a wondrous feeling of aw-shucks propriety that his instinct is telling him to bend a little. Buntrock as the patriarch and Dilly as the mother who runs the house and is almost – almost – an equal partner with him feel very comfortable to watch. Rose, Liana Hunt, the elder daughter, discovers she can and will be a little more forward and strides through it very properly, although her confusion between her emotions and her internalized “rules” when Burrell proposes unexpectedly is amusing and very well played.
Surely everyone wishes they had a grandfather like Ken Page gives us here. Warm and attentive, little girls on his lap, and that great voice, especially paired in the opening number when Tootie begins to sing the title song, and he takes up the lyrics, it’s almost hair-on-the-back-of-the-neck. And the two little girls are remarkable. It’s hard to realize these kids are acting. Happily, the script doesn’t give all the smart lines to Tootie, Elena Adams; Elle Wesley’s Agnes gets off some sharp ones, too.
It’s a physically beautiful show, a marvelous set complete, naturally, with a trolley, that combines Michael Schweikardt’s scenic design, Matthew Young’s video design, and Rob Denton’s lighting. Lovely costumes from Tristan Raines fit quite beautifully.
Marcia Milgrom Dodge directed the production, which certainly glorifies and magnifies St. Louis, although one wishes Mr. Smith and Dr. Prophater’s glowing predictions of the city’s future greatness and prosperity had been fully met. It’s clearly a loving birthday tribute, a gift from the Muny to all of us. I’m not sure if it would work in Cleveland, but it was a show that left even this critic not caring about that at all.
And the closing fireworks were the perfect touch at the end.
...And many more to one of St. Louis’ great institutions. See you next year.
Meet Me in St. Louis
The Muny
Forest Park
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