ST. LOUIS — People headed to The Muny for the theater’s opening of its 104th season had to brave the heat on Monday.
People stood in line at the box office and actors prepared to start the season with "Chicago: The Musical" despite temperatures hitting the 100-degree mark.
The Muny does have some plans in place to keep people safe this summer.
For the audience, they have fans that were put in seven years ago which run all night.
For the cast, there is water available when they exit the stage. There are also fans blowing backstage. Dressing rooms are equipped with air conditioning.
Staff said the professionals have been rehearsing outdoors for nearly two weeks and are prepared to bring the heat.
"Of course, once the sun is down that makes a huge difference as well. So. It's warm. It's summer in St. Louis. There's no way around that. Luckily for a century, St. Louisans know what that means. People are safe and smart and healthy when they come out and they enjoy it," said Kwofe Coleman, president, and CEO.
One man told 5 On Your Side he and his wide had been seeing shows at The Muny for 50 years and had mastered summer nights.
“We dress appropriately. We bring our fans that have foam blades on them with water in them and mist ourselves. and we drink, bring a lot of water," said Kent Sturhahn who was purchasing tickets for the show.
Health experts urged that no matter if you are at The Muny, or anywhere else this summer, how important it is to watch the signs to avoid issues like heat stroke.
"If you start feeling dizzy, lightheaded, headaches, a little bit nausea. Vomiting. That means you're moving into heat exhaustion and becoming dehydrated. At that point, you have to take yourself out of the outside and get into a cool environment."
The Muny’s season started late in 2021 due to COVID so the theater did not have its full show count.
It ended with “Chicago” only three nights in so Monday night’s showing was highly anticipated.
The heat index is expected to soar through the middle of the week.