Meet Michael Baxter: The Casting Director Behind The Muny's 194-Actor Season

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The Artistic Associate Manages the Casting of Nearly 200 Principal and Ensemble Members for The Muny's Seven Shows

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Every season Tony winning actors and legendary Broadway talent grace The Muny stage in each of its seven productions. Previous seasons have seen the likes of Jessica Vosk , Norm Lewis , Michael James Scott , Rob McClure , Jackie Burns , and others who have taken on principal roles. This season Tony winners Paulo Szot and Beth Leavel will return for roles in South Pacific and Meet Me in St. Louis. Tony winner Matt Doyle and legendary stage actor Richard Kind will make their Muny debuts in Something Rotten and Hairspray. For many of these actors, playing The Muny is on their bucket list.

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It takes a large team of creatives to cast the 194 principal and ensemble roles from the more than 3,000 in-person auditions and the hundreds of other video auditions submitted each season. The casting team includes The Muny’s executive and production teams, each production’s director, choreographer, and music director, and The Muny’s casting partners at The Telsey Office . But, one man, Muny Artistic Associate Michael Baxter helms this team from start to finish, finalizing the casts for each of The Muny’s seven productions.

Michael Baxter grew up as a theater kid in the Detroit suburb of Troy, Michigan. He started out as a singer performing in community theater productions, but it wasn’t until he discovered dance that everything changed for him.

“When I started taking dance lessons, I realized there was a professional life for me in theater.” Baxter continued, “Dance catapulted me into a different understanding of the perseverance and discipline required to be successful in the industry. It is what shaped the work ethic I have today.”

Baxter credits two mentors who inspired him as a young performer. “My dance studio teacher Deborah Agrusa and my high school drama teacher Rick Bodick nurtured my talent and skill.” He said that their leadership is the reason he’s working in theater today.

Following high school graduation, Baxter came to St. Louis to earn his BFA in Musical Theater at Webster University’s Sargent Conservatory. While at Webster he performed in shows at The Muny and earned his equity card. He was part of the ensemble in The Producers, My One and Only, and 42nd Street. Baxter says it was that early experience at The Muny that gave him the confidence to pursue a full-time career in theater.

Following graduation, he moved to New York City. “I did a multitude of gigs in every arena possible,” Baxter shared. “It gave me a real sense of understanding talent, the theater, and why we make this art.”

Then in 2012 The Muny came calling again. He was hired by Mike Isaacson as casting support and was the dance demonstrator for auditions. Isaacson was impressed by his skill and immediately offered him the role as The Muny’s full-time resident choreographer.

For seven years Baxter directed, choreographed, and led the Muny Teens program. “I instilled and injected a new love and energy into the teens program and delivered on the promise of being an institutional guy who was an integral part of its success.”

“I wanted to prove myself and become an artistic leader. It was Mike’s (Isaacson) mentorship that helped shape me,” he said. “I am immensely grateful to Mike for his ongoing leadership.”

In 2018, Isaacson promoted Baxter to Artistic Associate in charge of casting. “I’m so fortunate that Mike saw something in me and took a chance on me,” Baxter blushed.

This year marks the 8th season that Michael Baxter is leading the casting efforts. He humbly mentions that the process is a collaboration between him, Isaacson, the creative leads on each of the shows, and his casting partners at The Telsey Office in New York.

Casting efforts begin the moment the season is finalized . Baxter says “it is a multi-collaborative process. We start planning the size, budget, and scope for each show. We consider the number of principal actors needed, how large the ensemble needs to be, and how we might integrate The Muny Teens and Kids into the show.”

There are eight major casting events that include out of town equity tryouts and local auditions for equity and non-equity actors, singers, and dancers. Performers are being seen for all seven shows at the same time. Once that process is complete, there are callbacks for each specific show.

Baxter and his casting partners Rachel Hoffman , Lindsay Levine , and Rashad Naylor at The Telsey Office work tirelessly throughout the process to put quality talent in front of the shows’ creative personnel who have the final say in the casting decisions. He wants to ensure the entire artistic committee feels good about their casting choices.

Once casting decisions are made Baxter is solely responsible for making offers to actors, negotiating their contracts, and finishing the deal. “I work 70-hours a week from the time the shows are announced until the casts are finalized.”

“The beautiful thing is that our audition process is open to emerging talent from performing arts institutions all across the country,” says Baxter. “You name any school with a BFA in Musical Theater and they’re sending aspiring talent to auditions for an opportunity to spend a summer at The Muny.”

Baxter said one of his favorite stories from this season’s auditions was that of Nicholas A. Wilkinson who came to one of the open calls for singers. Nicolas was auditioning in a sea of hundreds of other singers at that day’s auditions. He stood out, was called back, and was offered the principal role of Seaweed J. Stubbs in Hairspray.”

Nurturing young talent is one of the aspects of Baxter’s role that brings him an immense amount of pride. He speaks fondly of the dozens of kids who came through The Muny Teen’s program who have gone on to successful careers on Broadway and in national tours. “I can’t mention one of them or I would have to mention all of them,” Baxter beamed.

One of the youths from The Muny Kids troupe, 11-year-old Joy Elizabeth Rhodes , is playing Little Inez in Hairspray this season. It’s one example of how Baxter and The Muny nurtures talent by giving a young actor an opportunity to fill a featured role alongside some of the biggest names in the business.

Baxter calls The Muny the Broadway of the Midwest. “There is a cultivation and investment in the community that the actors can sense.” He says, “It is an outpouring of love, energy, and excellence in artfulness that is unapologetically theatrical. It’s emotional. It is real, and that’s why playing The Muny is desired by so many actors.”

“That makes it our collective responsibility to deliver on the promise of an exceptional experience for our artists and audience,” Baxter notes. “I am really proud that the energy of the audition work we do shows on the stage. It takes a lot of investment but there is an incredible nose to the grindstone work ethic happening here.”

Michael Baxter ’s work will shine on The Muny stage during all 50 performances this summer. He led the efforts and had a hand in hiring every one of the 194 actors who will fill the principal and ensemble roles.

The Muny season opens with Hairspray on June 15, 2026, running through June 21. The remainder of the 2026 lineup includes Shrek the Musical June 25 – July 2, 2026, South Pacific July 6 – 12, Disney’s Newsies July 16 – 22, Ain’t to Proud July 27 – August 2, Meet Me in St. Louis August 6 - 13, and Something Rotten August 17 – 23.

Single tickets are on sale now for all seven productions. Visit muny.org for more information.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/st-louis/article/Interview-Chatting-with-The-Munys-Casting-Director-Michael-Baxter-20260528)._