The Muny
Continue the magic
The Muny in Forest Park is America’s oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre, bringing lots of music (and a little bit of magic) to the people of St. Louis. The brand already had an unparalleled atmosphere — it just needed a theatre marketing partner to bring the show online.
A theatre for everyone
CHALLENGE
After more than 100 summer seasons, The Muny had become a St. Louis cultural institution. Grandparents brought grandkids. Couples met for first dates. Young children discovered lifelong passions.
But despite its rich history and enduring popularity, The Muny’s event digital marketing appraoch failed to fully showcase its splendor.
SOLUTION
Paradigm pitched a website redesign that would capture the magic of The Muny in Forest Park and spark patrons’ passion for theatre. Our cross-disciplinary team reimagined everything from creative assets to Google Analytics — setting the stage for many summers to come.
Web Content
The Muny is built on the belief that theatre is for everyone.
So naturally, its website had to be for everyone, too.
Theatres may feel intimidating or uninviting to non-theatre buffs, so our website copywriters kept content simple. Pages were kept light and easy to read, with catchy headlines and clever calls to action. Common, friendly language dominated each theatre marketing page, making The Muny feel open to all.
To bolster event digital marketing, we added one key page: Visit. Most people think of The Muny as only a piece of a night out, but there is more than enough to do on its grounds. Our copywriters used this page to introduce a variety of food, drink and pre-show entertainment options.
Web Design
Productions at The Muny in Forest Park have the same showmanship you’d expect of Broadway.
Intense choreography, beautiful set design, stunning costumes…Each production at The Muny in Forest Park is a work of art. Naturally, we wanted to infuse its website and future theatre marketing with a sense of artistry.
Our designers delved into The Muny’s deep archive of show photography — choosing imagery that would create a visual narrative of larger-than-life productions, attentive crew members and talented cast members. The selections took center stage in our website design, reflecting the experience patrons share under the stars.
However, our knowledge of marketing in the entertainment industry pushed us to go further. Our designers added subtle, whimsical effects that reflected The Muny’s spirit. Headlines subtly pop in from the background, photos transform as cursors pass and sliding reels accent certain pages — making each page feel alive.
Web Development
Marketing in the entertainment industry requires some technical wizardry.
The Muny in Forest Park never stops moving. New shows, expansive educational programs and new theatre marketing efforts dot each team’s itinerary. With so much on the horizon and even more in the works, the theatre needed scalability.
As such, our developers built its new site on WordPress’ Gutenberg platform. The block-based editing system allows quick updates and design changes without support. This empowered teams to respond rapidly to event digital marketing needs.
We then turned our attention to transactions. Our developers incorporated e-commerce integrations for ticket purchases, gift shop orders and donations. New software swapped friction for freedom — allowing patrons to seamlessly support their favorite theatre.
“We have the full breadth of resources from Paradigm at our disposal to workshop new ideas and implement new practices. The Muny saw a very successful past year with Paradigm’s analytics and the CPC traffic driven to the site.”
Colby Dezelick Digital Content and Analytics Manager