A silver anniversary can make anyone feel dizzy, and Michael Hamilton decided that he needed to steady himself with a touchstone.

That's why in June, the 25th season of Stages St. Louis will open with "A Chorus Line."

Artistic director Hamilton and executive producer Jack Lane, the troupe's founders, cherish special memories of the celebrated musical about the people who make musicals. Years ago, when Hamilton left his family in St. Louis to dance in New York, he was barely off the train before he bought a ticket to see his first Broadway show: "A Chorus Line."

Lane, who grew up in New York, paid what was then a fortune — $25 — to see the show when it was new. Then he went back about 16 more times.

"It's like a vitamin — like a tonic," Lane says. "It always reminds you to follow your passion."

That is just what they did when they founded their theater in Kirkwood. But has it really been 25 years?

"It shocks me," Hamilton says. "The St. Louis theater world has grown so much since then. We have changed, and Stages has changed, too."

It sure has. Consider:

• More shows. In 1986, the first season, about 3,000 people attended 24 Stages performances. This season, more than 47,000 theatergoers are catching 124 performances. The current show, Rodgers and Hammerstein's "State Fair," plays through Oct. 3.

• More money. That first season, $50,000 paid for everything. The annual budget is now $3.7 million.

• More honors. Stages has received 20 Kevin Kline awards, including three for outstanding musical.

• More of a community. Some actors, designers and other theater artists return to Stages every year, creating a friendly, familiar ambiance.

• More education. In 2004, Stages opened a theater-arts academy, with classes in singing, dancing and acting for children and adults. It runs outreach programs in theater arts at schools around town, too.

The academy meets at Stages' Chesterfield home. Lane says the troupe is getting closer to moving to Chesterfield completely, continuing to raise money to build a performing arts center there. That goal, he says, is still about $5 million away; the 25th season, like the first, will play at the Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Community Center.

Hamilton likes many things about the Reim, especially its intimacy. He said that struck him the first time Stages presented "A Chorus Line" in its second season. Back then, Hamilton not only directed that production, he also appeared in it.

The troupe's first big hit, that production marked the first time a Stages show sold out. Stages also staged "A Chorus Line" in 2000.

Hamilton felt it was important for the anniversary season to open on a familiar note. But after "A Chorus Line" (June 3-July 3), he's moving onto new ground with "The Secret Garden" (July 22-Aug. 21), a musical based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic novel, and the gender-bending musical "Victor/Victoria" (Sept. 9, 2011-Oct. 9, 2011). Disney's "101 Dalmatians" will be the children's show.

For more info, go to stagesstlouis.org, or call 314-821-2407