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496BC
Sophocles (d.406BC), the 2nd Greek dramatist after Aeschylus, was born
about this time. He is considered by some as the greatest of the Greek
dramatists. His works include: "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone."
(eawc, p.11)(SFC, 1/10/04, p.D6)
487BC Sep 23, Greek dramatist
Euripides, was born. He wrote "Medea" and "The Trojan Women." His plays
used a device called "Deus ex Machina," literally "God from a machine."
Today the term refers to sudden events that come from nowhere to
advance the plot. [see 484-406, 480-406]
(MC, 9/23/01)
484BC-406BC Euripides was an
Athenian tragedian who brought the gods and heroes down to earth. He
presented pictures of human life that were sometimes tragic, sometimes
comic, but always and undeniably real. [see 487, 480-406]
(V.D.-H.K.p.52)
480BC-406?BC Euripides, Greek tragic dramatist. He
authored "Medea," "Alcestis," "The Cyclops" and "The Trojan
Woman." His drama dealt with situations that were analogous to human
life. In 1997 Greek archeologists claimed to have discovered the island
cave where he worked. [see 484-406]
(WSJ, 1/10/97, p.A9)(WUD, 1994, p.492)(USAT,
1/15/97, p.9A)(LSA, Spg/97, p.14)(EEE, p.12)
448BC-380BC In Greece Aristophanes, considered by
some as the greatest Greek comedy writer, lived. His work includes "The
Clouds" and "Lysistrata." Greek comedy like Greek tragedy originated in
the Dionysian festivals. In Lysistrata he described how Greek women
abstained from sex until their men stopped fighting in the
Peloponnesian war.
(EEE, p.12)(SFC,11/8/97, p.A10)
440-420BCE Sophocles composed his tragedy "The
Trachinian Women." It described what happened when he put on the robe
woven by his wife Deianeira. In 1680 Pierre Puget made his bronze
sculpture of Herakles (Hercules) struggling in the burning tunic.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.55)
431BC Euripides wrote his tragedy
"Medea," based on the legend of the sorceress Medea, daughter of
Aeëtes, King of Colchis, and wife of Jason, whom she assisted in
obtaining the Golden Fleece. It describes how Jason abandoned the
sorceress Medea to marry Glauke, a Corinthian princess.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.55)(WUD, 1994, p.890)
407BC Euripides wrote "The
Bacchae" while residing at the court of the king of Macedon. He had
left Athens in the last years of its war against Sparta. The play dealt
with the violent introduction of the cult of Dionysos into the city of
Thebes.
(WSJ, 12/31/97, p.A8)
406BC Euripides (b.480/484), Greek
tragic dramatist, died. His plays included Phedre, which tells the
story of a queen’s incestuous love for her stepson.
(EEE, p.12)(Econ, 6/20/09, p.89)
406BC Sophocles (b.496/97BCE), the
2nd Greek dramatist after Aeschylus, died. He is considered by some as
the greatest of the Greek dramatists. His works include: "Oedipus Rex"
and "Antigone."
(eawc, p.11)(SFC, 1/10/04, p.D6)
342BC Menander (c.~291), Greek
playwright, was born about this time in Athens. He wrote more than 100
plays, but many of his works have been lost. A 9th century manuscript
from a Syrian monastery contains 200 verses from Menander's play
"Dyskolos" ("The Grouch"). In 2003 a scholar reported another 200
verses in the document appear to be by Menander.
(AP, 12/6/03)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menander)
1509 Andrea Calmo (d.1571,
Venetian playwright, was born about this time. He became a pioneer in
comedia dell’arte.
(www.italica.rai.it/rinascimento/saggi/commedia_cinquecento/capitoli/lezion17.html)
1550 Apr 12, Edward de Vere, 17th
Earl of Oxford, was born (d.1604). Some claimed that he was responsible
for all the 37 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 long narrative poems that are
attributed to William Shakespeare. De Vere was first advanced as the
author of Shakespeare’s work in 1918 by English schoolmaster J. Thomas
Looney.
(SFC, 4/26/97, p.E1)(WSJ, 5/1/97, p.A16)(WSJ,
4/18/09, p.A2)
1576 The Theater in Shoreditch,
London, was built by James Burbage (d.1597). It was the 1st permanent
playhouse in England.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(ON, 11/03, p.1)
1587 Christopher Marlowe’s
"Tamburlaine the Great" was first produced on stage and published three
years later. Marlowe established blank verse as a dramatic form.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.24)
1587 In London the open-air Rose
Theater was built. It was demolished after 1606 when the Globe Theater
surpassed it in popularity. An office building, later constructed over
the site, was suspended by girders to preserve the site. Its exact
location was lost until 1989.
(SFC, 4/15/99, p.E5)(Econ, 5/21/05, p.89)
1598 Dec 28, Richard and Cuthbert
Burbage led a crew to begin the demolition of the Theater in London.
They and partners that included William Shakespeare used the timbers to
build a new theater. The Globe opened in 1599.
(ON, 11/03, p.2)
1598 The first opera was performed
in Florence, Italy, in the 16th century. On Jul 3-5, 1998 Vienna
celebrated the 400th anniversary of opera. Opera emerged as musicians
sought to revive Greek theater.
(SFEC, 5/10/98, p.T3)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1599 Sep 21, The Globe Theater had
its first recorded performance. The 20-sided timber building for
Shakespeare’s plays was constructed on the South Bank of the Thames,
England. The troupe Lord Chamberlain's Men built the Globe Theater.
Timbers came from a dismantled old theater and the new structure held
some 3,000 spectators in 3 galleries. In 2005 James Shapiro authored “A
Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599.”
(Hem, Mar. 95, p.138)(WSJ, 6/17/97, p.A16)(WSJ,
1/11/99, p.R34)(Econ, 11/5/05, p.92)
1607 “The Knight of the Burning
Pestle,” a play by Francis Beaumont (1584-1616), was first performed.
It was first published in a quarto in 1613.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knight_of_the_Burning_Pestle)
1607 Henry Chettle (b.c1564),
English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era, died
about this time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Chettle)
1607 Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla
(d.c1660), Spanish dramatist, was born at Toledo. He became a knight of
Santiago in 1644. The exact date of his death is unknown.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Rojas_Zorrilla)
1609 Ben Johnson wrote his play
"The Silent Woman."
(WSJ, 2/7/03, p.W2)
1609 Shakespeare wrote his play
"Cymbeline." It was based on the story of Cymbeline, king of Britain
during the reign of Augustus Caesar in Rome.
(WSJ, 6/10/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 8/19/98, p.A16)
1610 Shakespeare’s play “The
Winter’s Tale” was first performed.
(www.william-shakespeare.info/shakespeare-play-the-winters-tale.htm)
1613 Jun 29, Shakespeare's Globe
Theater burned down in London. It was soon rebuilt on the same
foundations.
(USAT, 8/16/96, p.8D)(MC, 6/29/02)
1616 Apr 23, William Shakespeare
died in Stratford-on-Avon, England. Shakespeare’s plays included "Romeo
and Juliet" and "Troilus and Cressida."
(AP, 4/23/97)(SFC,12/26/97, p.C22)
1616 London’s Phoenix Theater in
Drury Lane was converted from a cockpit.
(Econ, 5/21/05, p.88)
1619 Richard Burbage, actor and
co-owner of London's Globe theater, died.
(ON, 11/03, p.2)
1625 Aug 20, Thomas Corneille,
French playwright, was born.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1640 Mar 9, Pierre Corneille’s
"Horace," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1642 London's Globe theater closed
as the Puritan-controlled British Parliament suppressed theaters and
other forms of popular entertainment.
(ON, 11/03, p.2)
1650 Jun, Jean Rotrou (b.1609),
French playwright, died of the plague. In his day he was considered
second only to Corneille.
(SFC, 12/31/08,
p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Rotrou)
1658 Moliere was anointed with the
patronage of King Louis XIV.
(SFC, 6/20/96, p.D2)
1663 May 7, Theatre Royal in Drury
Lane, London, opened.
(MC, 5/7/02)
1665 Aug 27, "Ye Bare & Ye
Cubb," the 1st play performed in N. America, was performed at Acomac,
Va.
(MC, 8/27/01)
1668 Feb 7, English King William
III danced in the premiere of "Ballet of Peace."
(MC, 2/7/02)
1674 Aug 18, Jean Racine's
"Iphigenie," premiered in Versailles.
(MC, 8/18/02)
1677 Racine wrote his drama Phedre
in alexandrine meter. It was based on Euripides’ tragic Greek tale of
Phaedra’s love for her stepson Hippolytus, son of Theseus.
(WSJ, 5/21/97, p.A12)(Econ, 6/20/09, p.89)(Econ,
6/27/09, p.92)
1695 Apr 30, William Congreve's
"Love for Love," premiered in London.
(MC, 4/30/02)
1703 A pair of lovers committed
suicide in Osaka. The story of the courtesan and young merchant was
quickly depicted in the Kabuki play “The Love suicides at Sonexaki” by
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725).
(SFC, 6/20/05, p.C5)
1705 Apr 23, Richard Steele's
"Tender Husband," premiered in London.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1707 Moses Chaim Luzzato (d.1746),
Hebrew playwright, was born in Padua. His work included the Mesillat
Yesharim (1740), essentially an ethical treatise but with certain
mystical underpinnings.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Chaim_Luzzatto)
1715 Apr 20, Nicholas Rowe's
"Tragedy of Lady Jane Gray," premiered in London.
(MC, 4/20/02)
1728 Jan 29, The Beggar’s Opera by
John Gay (d.1732), with music arranged by John Christopher Pepusch, had
its premier at the Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. Gay intended it to
be a parody of Italian opera and a satirization of the Walpole
administration. He wrote new lyrics to popular tunes and his "ballad
opera" was a great success.
(LGC-HCS, p.45)(ON, 2/04, p.11)
1732 Jan 24, Pierre Caron de
Beaumarchais (d.1799), French dramatist, was born. He was best
remembered for his plays "Barber of Civil" and "Marriage of Figaro." He
was a conduit for French gold and arms to American Revolution,
persecuted by mob during French Rev. "It is not necessary to understand
things in order to argue about them."
(AP,
12/21/99)(www.theatrehistory.com/french/beaumarchais001.html)
1732 Aug 13, Voltaire's "Zaire,"
premiered in Paris.
(MC, 8/13/02)
1735 Henry Fielding set up his own
theater company at the Little Theater in London's Haymarket. His 1st
production was Pasquin.
(ON, 9/03, p.8)
1736 Henry Fielding presented his
play "The Historical Register for the Year 1736," a pointed attack on
the British government of PM Walpole.
(ON, 9/03, p.8)
1737 May, Sir Robert Walpole
argued for censorship of a play in the House of Commons of a satire
called "The Golden Rump." Walpole pressed through Parliament a
Licensing Act that lasted over 200 years.
(WSJ, 10/14/97, p.A22)(ON, 9/03, p.8)
1750 Mar 5, The 1st American
Shakespearean production, was an "altered" Richard III in NYC.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1750 May 23, Carlo Goldoni's "Il
Bugiardo," premiered in Mantua.
(MC, 5/23/02)
1759 France eliminated the public
practice of sitting on the stage during theater and opera performances.
(SFC, 3/9/07, p.E8)
1763 Feb 12, Pierre de Mariveaux
(b.1688), French novelist and playwright, died.
(SFC, 5/30/09,
p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Marivaux)
1774 Apr 19, Gluck's opera
"Iphigenia in Aulis," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 4/19/02)
1776 Apr 1, Friedrich von
Klinger's "Sturm und Drang," premiered in Leipzig.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1777 May 1, Richard Brinsley
Sheridan's "School for Scandal," premiered in London with Georgiana
Cavendish as Lady Teazle. "Its assumptions are that lust and greed -
when allied with beauty and cunning - deserve to triumph over dullness
and age." He also wrote "A Trip to Scarborough," a rewrite of a
Restoration original.
(WSJ,11/24/95, p.A-6)(WSJ, 11/20/98, p.W6)(MC,
5/1/02)
1782 The Comedie Francaise
installed benches in the pit to prevent a mob-like atmosphere.
(SFC, 3/9/07, p.E8)
1786 May 1, The opera "The
Marriage of Figaro," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, premiered in Vienna.
(AP, 5/1/97)
1789 Mar 2, Pennsylvania ended the
prohibition of theatrical performances.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1792 Feb 7, Cimarosa's opera "Il
Matrimonio Segreto," premiered in Vienna.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1796 Mar 31, Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe's "Egmont," premiered in Weimar.
(MC, 3/31/02)
1797 Mar 13, Cherubini's opera
"Medee," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 3/13/02)
1799 Apr 20, Friedrich von
Schiller's "Wallensteins Tod," premiered in Weimar.
(MC, 4/20/02)
1799 May 18, Pierre de
Beaumarchais (b.1732), French inventor and dramatist, died. In 2007
Hugh Thomas authored “Beaumarchais in Seville.” In 2009 Susan Emanuel
translated to English “Beaumarchais: A Biography” by Maurice
Lever (d.2006).
(www.theatrehistory.com/french/beaumarchais001.html)(SFC, 5/30/09, p.E2)
1800 May 14, Friedrich von
Schiller's "Macbeth," premiered in Weimar
(MC, 5/14/02)
1801 Apr 11, Johann von Schiller's
"Die Jungfrau von Orleans (The Maid of Orleans)," premieres in Leipzig.
(MC, 4/11/02)
1808 Feb 2, Josef Kajetan Tyl
(d.1856), Czech dramatist and songwriter, was born.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Kajet%C3%A1n_Tyl)
1809 Sep, The Old Price Riots
broke out in England when Covent Garden manager John Philip Kemble
raised ticket prices. The riots continued to December.
(SFC, 12/31/08, p.E2)
1814 Oct 19, Mercy Otis Warren
(b.1728), Massachusetts playwright, died.
(WSJ, 2/5/08,
p.A16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Otis_Warren)
1821 Mar 26, Franz Grillparzer's
"Das Goldene Vliess" premiered in Vienna.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1824 Mar 7, Meyerbeer's opera "Il
Crociati in Egitto," premiered in Venice.
(MC, 3/7/02)
1825 Mar 2, The 1st grand opera in
US sung in English was in NYC.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1825 Nov 29, 1st Italian opera in
US, "Barber of Seville," premiered in NYC and was welcomed by the
legendary librettist for Mozart (and friend of Casanova), Lorenzo
DaPonte, who was Professor of Italian at King's (later Columbia)
College.
(MC, 11/29/01)
1826 Apr 12, Karl Maria von
Weber's opera "Oberon," premiered in London.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1827 Feb 7, Ballet (Deserter) was
introduced to US at Bowery Theater in NYC.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1828 Mar 20, Henrik Ibsen
(d.1906), poet and dramatist was born in Skien, Norway. His work
included “Peer Gynt” and “Hedda Gabler.” "The worst enemy of truth and
freedom in our society is the compact majority. Yes, the damned,
compact, liberal majority." In 1971 the 3rd and final volume of “Ibsen:
A Biography” by Michael Meyer (d.2000) was published.
(HFA, '96, p.26)(HN, 3/20/98)(AP, 7/22/98)(SFC,
8/10/00, p.D2)
1834 Mar 22, Horace Greeley
published "New Yorker," a weekly literary and news magazine and
forerunner of Harold Ross' more successful "The New Yorker."
(HN, 3/22/01)
1838 Sep 10, The opera "Benvenuto
Cellini," by Hector Berlioz, premiered in Paris. It was based on
Cellini's autobiography.
(MC, 9/10/01)(WSJ, 12/16/03, p.D10)
1842 May 13, Composer Sir Arthur
Sullivan was born in London. He collaborated with Sir William Gilbert
in writing 14 comic operas that included "HMS Pinafore."
(AP, 5/13/99)(HN, 5/13/99)
1844 Mar 28, Jose Zorilla's "Don
Juan Tenorio," premiered in Madrid.
(MC, 3/28/02)
1844 May 3, Richard D'Oyly Carte,
opera impresario (Gilbert & Sullivan operas, Ivanhoe), was born in
England.
(MC, 5/3/02)
1846 Mar 13, Friedrich Hebbel's
"Maria Magdalena," premiered in Konigsberg.
(MC, 3/13/02)
1847 Nov 22, In New York, the
Astor Place Opera House, the city's first operatic theater, was opened.
(HN, 11/22/98)
1849 Apr 6, Giacomo Meyerbeer's
opera "Le Prophete," premiered in Paris. [see Apr 16]
(MC, 4/6/02)
1849 Apr 16, Giacomo Meyerbeer's
Opera "Le Prophete," premiered in Paris. [see Apr 6]
(MC, 4/16/02)
1849 May 10, A mob destroyed Astor
Place opera house in NYC and 22 were killed. Edward Z.C. Judson (Ned
Buntline) was convicted of leading the riot and was sentenced to a year
in prison.
(MC, 5/10/02)(PCh, 1992, p.450)
1850 Aug 28, Richard Wagner's
opera "Lohengrin'' was premiered at Weimar, Germany, under the
direction of Franz Liszt.
(RTH, 8/28/99)
1852 Apr 30, Anton Rubinstein’s
opera "Dmitri Donskoi," premiered in St Petersburg.
(MC, 4/30/02)
1855 Jun 13, Verdi's opera "Les
Vepres Sicilenne" was produced (Paris).
(MC, 6/13/02)
1855 Sep 27, George F. Bristow's
"Rip Van Winkle," 2nd American opera, opened in NYC.
(MC, 9/27/01)
1856 Jul 26, George Bernard Shaw
(d.1950), Irish-born, English dramatist, critic and social reformer
(Pygmalion-Nobel 1925), was born in Dublin. "The worst sin toward our
fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them;
that's the essence of inhumanity."
(V.D.-H.K.p.237)(HN, 7/26/98)(AP, 3/15/00)
1857 Dec 8, 1st production of Dion
Boucicault's "Poor of NY."
(MC, 12/8/01)
1858 May 28, Dion Boucicault's
"Foul Play," premiered in London.
(MC, 5/28/02)
1858 Aug 23, "Ten Nights in a
Bar-room," a play about the tragic consequences of consuming alcohol,
opened in New York.
(AP, 8/23/08)
1858 Oct 18, The play "Our
American Cousin" by Tom Taylor premiered at Laura Keene's theater in
New York.
(AP, 10/18/08)
1859 Feb 18, Shalom Aleichem
(Solomon Rabinowitz, d.1916), Russian-Yiddish playwright, author
and humorist, was born in the Ukraine. "To want to be the cleverest of
all is the biggest folly."
(AP,
1/13/01)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sholem_Aleichem)
1859 Mar 19, The opera "Faust" by
Charles Gounod premiered in Paris.
(AP, 3/19/97)
1859 Apr 4, Giacomo Meyerbeer's
Opera "Dinorah" was produced in Paris.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1859 Dec 5, Dion Boucicault's
"Octaroon," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 12/5/01)
1861 May 18, Friedrich Hebbel's
"Kriemhildes Rache" premiered in Weimar.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1862 Apr 21, Ellen Price Wood's
"East Lynne," premiered in Boston.
(MC, 4/21/02)
1863 Sep 10, George Bizet's opera
"Les Pecheurs de Perles," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 9/10/01)
1864 Mar 14, Rossini's "Petite
Messe Solennelle," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 3/14/02)
1864 Mar 19, Charles Gounod's
opera "Mireille" premiered in Paris.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1865 Apr 28, Giacomo Meyerbeer's
opera "L'Africaine," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 4/28/02)
1866 May 30, Bederich Smetana's
Opera "The Bartered Bride" premiered in Prague.
(MC, 5/30/02)
1866 Sep 12, The first burlesque
show opened in New York City (NYC). The show was a four act performance
called "The Black Crow", running for 475 performances and made a
reported $1.3 million for its producers.
(MC, 9/12/01)
1866 Bedrich Smetana wrote his
opera "The Bartered Bride."
(MC, 5/16/02)
1867 Apr 27, Charles Gounod's
Opera "Romeo et Juliette" was produced in Paris.
(MC, 4/27/02)
1867 The opera “The Fair Maid of
Perth” by Georges Bizet premiered in France.
(ON, 5/06, p.11)
1868 Mar 9, Ambrois Thomas' opera
"Hamlet" premiered in Paris.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1868 May 16, Bedrich Smetana's
opera "Dalibor," premiered in Prague.
(MC, 5/16/02)
1869 Mar 21, Florenz Ziegfeld,
creator of the Ziegfeld Follies, was born. In 1974 Randolph Carter
(d.1998 at 90) authored "The World of Flo Ziegfeld."
(HN, 3/21/98)(SFC, 10/24/98, p.A22)
1869 May 1, Folies Bergere opened
in Paris.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1870 Mar 19, The opera "Guarany,"
premiered in Milan.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1871 Mar 26, Serafín
Alvarez Quintéro, Spanish dramatist, playwright (El Flechazo),
was born.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1872 The French opera "Djamilah,"
composed by Georges Bizet, was set in Turkish-ruled Egypt. It told the
story of a Muslim pasha who buys a young mistress in the Cairo slave
market.
(WSJ, 11/9/00, p.A24)(ON, 5/06, p.11)
1872-1933 Addison Mizner, American architect and
playwright: "Misery loves company, but company does not reciprocate."
"God gives us relatives; thank God, we can choose our friends." In 2003
the Sondheim play "Bounce" was based on Addison and Wilson Mizner.
(AP, 12/2/97)(AP, 1/24/98)(WSJ, 7/3/03, p.D8)
1873 May 24, Leo Delibes' opera
"Le Roi l'a Dit," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 5/24/02)
1874 Apr 5, Johann Strauss, Jr.'s
Opera "Die Fledermaus" was produced in Vienna.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1875 Mar 3, The opera Carmen,
composed by Georges Bizet (1873), opened in Paris at the Opera-Comique.
The opera was based on a novella by Prosper Merimee (1803-1870).
(www.kirjasto.sci.fi/merimee.htm)(AP, 3/3/98)
1876 Dec 5, In NYC a fire in the
Brooklyn Theater killed 278 people.
(WSJ, 9/13/01,
p.B11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Claxton)
1876-1933 Wilson Mizner, American playwright: "The
worst-tempered people I’ve ever met were people who knew they were
wrong." "A fellow who is always declaring he’s no fool usually has his
suspicions." In 2003 the Sondheim play "Bounce" was based on Addison
and Wilson Mizner.
(AP, 5/8/97)(WSJ, 7/3/03, p.D8)
1877 Apr 27, Jules Massenet's
Opera "Le Roi de Lahore" was produced in Paris.
(MC, 4/27/02)
1877 Dec 30, Joseph Stevens Jones
(b.~1809-1811), physician, Boston actor and playwright, died. He
authored some 100 patriotic melodramas.
(SFC, 12/31/08,
p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stevens_Jones)
1879 Jun 16, Gilbert &
Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore" debuted at Bowery Theater in NYC.
(MC, 6/16/02)
1881 Apr 23, Gilbert &
Sullivan's opera "Patience" was produced in London.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1882 May 20, Henrik Ibsen's
"Ghosts" (Gengangere) premiered in Chicago.
(MC, 5/20/02)
1882 Dec 11, Boston's Bijou
Theatre, the first American playhouse to be lighted exclusively by
electricity, gave its first performance: Gilbert and Sullivan's
"Iolanthe, Or The Peer and the Peri."
(AP, 12/11/08)
1883 Apr 14, Leo Delibes' opera
"Lakme," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 4/14/02)
1883 Sep 14, A Ukase barred
Yiddish theater in Russia.
(www.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=1010)
1883 Oscar Wilde’s first play,
“Vera,” flopped in NYC. It was inspired by the 1878 shooting of a
repressive general of the Russian Czar by revolutionary Vera Zasulich.
(SFC, 9/24/08, p.E1)
1885 Mar 14, Gilbert &
Sullivan's opera "Mikado," premiered in London.
(WSJ, 11/22/00, p.A20)(MC, 3/14/02)
1885 Mar 20, Yiddish theater
opened in NY with Goldfaden operetta.
(MC, 3/20/02)
1885 Jun 6, Leo Delibes' opera
"Lakme" was produced in Paris.
(MC, 6/6/02)
1885 Aug 31, Duboise Heyward,
novelist, poet and dramatist best know for "Porgy" which was the basis
for the opera "Porgy and Bess," was born.
(HN, 8/31/98)
1887 May 18, Emmanuel Chabrier’s
opera "Le Roi Malgré Luis" premiered in Paris, France.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1887 May 25, Gas lamp at Paris
Opera caught fire and 200 died.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1887 Sep 5, A gas lamp at Theater
Royal in Exeter started a fire killing about 200.
(MC, 9/5/01)
1888 Mar 10, The 1st performance
of Cesar Franck's "Psyche."
(MC, 3/10/02)
1888 Mar 21, Arthur Pinero's
"Sweet Lavender," premiered in London.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1888 May 7, Edouard Lalo's opera
"Le roi d'Ys," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 5/7/02)
1889 May 18, Jules Massenet’s
opera "Esclarmonde" premiered in Paris, France.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1891 May 15, Jules Massenet's
opera "Griselde," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 5/15/02)
1892 May 21, The opera "I
Pagliacci," by Ruggiero Leoncavallo, was first performed, in Milan,
Italy.
(AP, 5/21/97)
1892 Dec 9, "Widowers' Houses,"
George Bernard Shaw's first play, opened at the Royalty Theater in
London.
(AP, 12/9/06)
1893 Apr 19, The Oscar Wilde play
"A Woman of No Importance" opened at the Haymarket Theatre in London.
(WSJ, 9/16/98, p.A20)(AP, 4/19/03)
1894 Apr 19, Jules Massenet's
opera "Werther," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/19/02)
1894 Apr 21, George Bernard Shaw's
"Arms & the Man," premiered in London.
(MC, 4/21/02)
1894 Oct 29, The opera “Rob Roy”
opened around Herald Square, NYC. The old Waldorf Hotel was near Herald
Square and soon produced the Rob Roy drink, Scotch whisky and sweet
vermouth.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=7669)(WSJ, 12/9/06,
p.P10)
1896 Mar 7, Gilbert and Sullivan's
last operetta "Grand Duke," premiered in London.
(MC, 3/7/02)
1896 Mar 23, Umberto Giordano's
opera "Andrea Chénier" premiered in Milan.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1896 Mar 28, The opera "Andrea
Chenier," by Umberto Giordano, premiered in Milan, Italy.
(AP, 3/28/97)
1896 Apr 14, John Philip Sousa's
opera, "El Capitan," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/14/02)
1897 Apr 19, 1st performance of
Debussy's "Pelleas et Melisande."
(MC, 4/19/02)
1897 May 18, Paul Dukas
"L'Apprenti Sorcier Pruimtabak on the Market" premiered.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1898 The William Morris Agency
began representing vaudeville performers.
(Econ, 5/2/09, p.65)
1899 Aug 31, Lynn Riggs, writer,
was born. Her book "Green Grow the Lilacs" was adapted by Rodgers and
Hammerstein to become "Oklahoma."
(HN, 8/31/00)
1900 The London show Florodora was
brought to NYC and featured the Florodora Sextette. Evelyn
Nesbit, one of the sextette, later married Harry Kendall Thaw, playboy
heir to a Pittsburgh coal fortune. In 1906 Thaw killed architect
Stanford White, who had frolicked with Nesbit during the Florodora run
[see June 25, 1906].
(WSJ, 12/9/06, p.P10)
1901 Mar 19, Jo Mielziner, set
designer (Carousel, Death of a Salesman), was born in Paris.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1902 Apr 30, Debussy's opera
"Pelleas et Melisande" premiered in Paris.
(MC, 4/30/02)
1902 Sep 29, Broadway impresario
David Belasco reopened the Republic Theatre under his own name.
(AP, 9/29/08)
1904 Mar 2, Gabriele d'Annunzio's
"La figlia di Iorio" premiered in Milan.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1904 Apr 14, George Bernard Shaw's
"Candide," premiered in London.
(MC, 4/14/02)
1904 Aug 20, Dublin’s Abbey
Theatre was founded, an outgrowth of the Irish Literary Theatre founded
in 1899 by William Butler Yeats and Lady Gregory.
(HN, 8/20/00)
1904 Dec 27, Duke of York Theatre
opened in London with the 1st performance “Peter Pan: The Boy Who
Wouldn't Grow Up,” a dream-play written by J.M. Barrie.
(SFC, 1/10/04,
p.D1)(www.amrep.org/past/peter/peter1.html)
1905 Mar 22, Ruth Page, US
choreographer, ballet leader (Diaghilev, Pygmalion), was born.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1905 Oct 13, Henry Irving
(b.1838), British actor, died in England. In 2008 Michael Holroyd
authored “A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen
Terry, Henry Irving and Their Remarkable Families.” Irving was the
first actor to be awarded a British knighthood (1895).
{Britain, Theater, Biography}
(WSJ, 3/6/09,
p.W6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Terry)
1905 Dec 9, Richard Strauss' opera
"Salome," premiered in Dresden. Soprano Marie Wittich delegated the
dance of the seven veils to a member of the corps de ballet.
(http://operetta.stanford.edu/Strauss/Salome/main.html)(WSJ, 10/16/03,
p.D8)
1906 Mar 19, Ermanno
Wolf-Ferrari's "Quattro Rusteghi," premiered in Munich.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1906 Mar 20, George B. Shaw's
"Captain Brassbound's Conversion," premiered in London.
(MC, 3/20/02)
1906 Mar 31, G.B. Shaw's German
version of "Caesar and Cleopatra," premiered in Berlin.
(MC, 3/31/02)
1906 Jun 25, A love triangle came
to a violent end atop New York's Madison Square Garden as architect
Stanford White, the building's designer, was shot to death by Harry
Thaw, for an alleged tryst White had with Thaw's wife, Florence Evelyn
Nesbit. Thaw, tried for murder, was acquitted by reason of insanity. At
the time this was called "The Crime of the Century."
(HN, 6/25/99)(AP, 6/25/06)
1907 Jan 26, John Millington
Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World” opened at the Abbey Theater
in Dublin. Many Irish nationalists found it so offensive that they
embarked on a semi-organized campaign to bring down the production.
(SFC, 12/30/06,
p.E1)(www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10167)
1907 Mar 2, Georges Feydeaus' "La
Puce à l'Oreille" premiered in Paris, France.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1907 May 10, Paul Dukas' opera
"Ariane et Barbe Bleue," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 5/10/02)
1908 Mar 20, Michael Redgrave
(d.1985), actor (Browning Version, Lady Vanishes), was born in Bristol,
England.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Redgrave)
1908 May 12, George Bernard Shaw's
"Getting Married," premiered in London.
(MC, 5/12/02)
1908 May 27, Harold Rome (d.1993),
American composer, lyricist, and writer for musical theater, was born
in Hartford, Connecticut.
(www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_home_page.asp?exhibitId=238)
1908 Aug 4, Bronson Howard
(b.1842), playwright and Detroit-born founder of the American
Dramatist’s Club, died in New Jersey.
(www.theatredatabase.com/19th_century/bronson_howard_001.html)
1908 Aug 26, Tony Pastor (b.1837),
singer and actor, died. He is considered to be the father of American
vaudeville.
(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9058682/Tony-Pastor)
1908 Nov 17, Lydia Thompson
(b.1838), English-born vaudeville actress, died.
(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Thompson)
1908 Dec 12, Luis Peraza (d.1974),
Venezuelan dramatist, was born.
(www.dramateatro.arts.ve/ensayos/n_0011/milagros_santana_11.html)
1908 Archie Lindo (d.1990),
Jamaican playwright, was born.
(http://tinyurl.com/389252)
1908 James Nelson Barker created
his dramatization of historical American life in “The Indian Princess,”
probably the first dramatic version of the story of Pocahontas. The
operatic melodrama premiered in Philadelphia.
(http://tinyurl.com/2uwj9y)
1908 Avrom Goldfadn (b.1840),
poet, playwright and composer, died in NYC. He is known as the Father
of Yiddish theater.
(http://yiddish.haifa.ac.il/tmr/tmr09/tmr09007.htm)
1909 Mar 6, Gerhart Hauptmann's
"Griselda," premiered in Vienna.
(MC, 3/6/02)
1909 Mar 26, August Strindberg's
"Bjalb-jarle-ti" premiered in Stockholm.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1909 Apr 19, The new Orpheum
Theater opened in San Francisco, Ca.
(SSFC, 3/8/09, DB p.45)
1909 Ferenc Molnar (1878-1952),
Hungarian dramatist and writer, wrote “Liliom,” which later was turned
into the musical “Carousel” (1945). During WWII he emigrated to the US.
(SFC, 12/31/08,
p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferenc_Molnar)
1909 The 1,300-seat Columbia
Theater was constructed in SF and named after a major venue destroyed
by the 1906 earthquake. It was designed by Walter Bliss and William
Faville, who also designed the St. Francis Hotel. In 1928 it was
renamed the Geary Theater. It was badly damaged in the 1989 earthquake.
It opened in 1910 with “Father and the Boys.”
(WSJ, 11/16/95, p.A-18)(SFC, 10/21/04, p.A15)(SFC,
9/15/06, p.E2)
1910 Feb 7, Edmond Rostand's
"Chanticleer," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1910 Harley Granville-Barker wrote
his play “The Madras House.”
(WSJ, 1/7/07, p.P9)
1911 Mar 20, Winter Garden Theater
opened at 1634 Broadway, NYC.
(MC, 3/20/02)
1911 May 29, William Schwenck
Gilbert (74), writer (Gilbert & Sullivan), died.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1912 Nov 26, Eugene Ionesco,
dramatist (Rhinoceros), was born in Slatina, Romania. [see Nov 13 and
Nov 26, 1909]
(WUD, 1994 p.750)(MC, 11/26/01)
1913 Mar 25, The home of
vaudeville, the Palace Theatre, opened in New York City starring Ed
Wynn.
(AP, 3/24/98)(MC, 3/25/02)
1913 May 3, William Inge, American
playwright (Picnic, Bus Stop), was born.
(HN, 5/3/01)
1913 Sep 1, George Bernard Shaw’s
"Androcles and the Lion," premiered in London.
(MC, 9/1/02)
1914 Apr 11, George Bernard Shaw's
"Pygmalion," premiered.
(MC, 4/11/02)
1914 Aug 19, Elmer Rice' "On
Trial," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 8/19/02)
1915 Apr 15, Manuel de Falla's
ballet "El Amor Brujo," premiered in Madrid.
(MC, 4/15/02)
1916 Apr 23, Lord Dunsany's "Night
at an Inn," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1917 Apr 7, De Falla's ballet "El
Sombrero de tres Picos," premiered in Madrid.
(MC, 4/7/02)
1917 Apr 12, Domenico Scarlatti's
and Jean Cocteau's ballet premiered in Rome.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1917 May 18,
Satie-Massine-Picasso's ballet "Parade" premiered in Paris, France.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1918 Aug 19, "Yip! Yip! Yaphank,"
a musical revue by Irving Berlin featuring Army recruits from Camp
Upton in Yaphank, N.Y., opened on Broadway.
(AP, 8/19/08)
1918 Aug 31, Alan Jay Lerner,
playwright and lyricist, was born. His work included "Brigadoon" and
"Camelot."
(HN, 8/31/00)
1918 Gilda Gray inspired a dance
craze after she performed "The Shimmy" to W.C. Handy's Saint Louis
Blues in a Broadway show.
(ON, 1/03, p.9)
1920 Mar 2, Karel Capek’s
"Loupeznik" premiered in Prague.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1920 Sep 2, W. Somerset Maugham's
"East of Suez," premiered in London.
(MC, 9/2/01)
1920 Aug 23, M.R. Rinehart and A.
Hopwood's "Bat," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 8/23/02)
1921 Jan 25, Karel Capek's "
R.U.R.: Rossum's Universal Robots" (1920), premiered in Prague. The
play introduced the term robot (robota for forced labor).
(www.czech-language.cz/translations/rur-introen.html)(www.kirjasto.sci.fi/capek.htm)
1921 May 9, The play "Sei
Personaggi in Cerca d'Autore" (Six Characters in Search of an Author)
by Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) premiered in Rome.
(http://tinyurl.com/qs2xg8)
1921 Oct 23, Leos Janacek
(1854-1928) completed his opera "Katya Kabanov," and it premiered in
Brno. It was inspired by Alexander Ostrovsky’s mid 19th century play
"The Storm."
(WSJ, 1/3/96, p.A7)(WSJ, 1/16/98, p.A12)(MC,
10/23/01)
1922 Feb 7, John Willard's "Cat
& the Canary," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1922 Mar 4, Bert Williams
(b.1874), Antigua-born black actor, mime and singer, died after
collapsing onstage in Detroit. In 2005 Caryl Phillips authored “Dancing
in the Dark,” a novel based on Bert Williams. His recordings included
“Nobody.”
(www.duboislc.org/ShadesOfBlack/BertWms.html)(SFC,
2/11/08, p.E1)
1922 Mar 5, "Nosferatu" premiered
in Berlin.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1922 Mar 6, G.B. Shaw's "Back to
Methusaleh III/IV," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/6/02)
1922 Mar 9, Eugene O'Neill's
"Hairy Ape," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1922 Mar 13, George Bernard Shaw’s
"Back to Methusaleh V," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/13/02)
1922 May 23, "Abbie’s Irish Rose"
opened for the 1st of over 2,500 performances.
(MC, 5/23/02)
1923 Sep 4, Noel Coward's revue
"London Calling," premiered in London.
(MC, 9/4/01)
1924 Mar 26, Premiere of Bernard
Shaw's "Saint Joan" in London.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1924 Apr 21, Eleanora Duse
(b.1858), Italian actress (La Gioconda, La Locandiera), died in
Pittsburgh at age 64. In 2003 Helen Sheehy authored "Eleonora Duse: A
Biography."
(WSJ, 8/22/03, p.W10)(http://tinyurl.com/6x59r)
1924 May 8, Arthur Honegger's
"Pacifica 231," premiered.
(MC, 5/8/02)
1924 Sep 2, The Rudolf Friml
operetta "Rose Marie" opened on Broadway and ran for 558 performances.
Producer Arthur Hammerstein ordered that it be written for singer Mary
Ellis (1897-2003).
(AP, 9/2/99)(SFC, 2/3/03, p.B4)
1924 Sep 3, L. Stallings & M.
Anderson's "What Price Glory?," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 9/3/01)
1924 Noel Coward (1899-1973)
wrote, directed and starred in “The Vortex,” a play about drug abuse
among the English upper classes.
(Econ, 12/15/07,
p.94)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Coward)
1924 French Count Etienne de
Beaumont commissioned the ballet “Mercure” from painter Picasso,
composer Eric Satie and choreographer Leonide Massine.
(Econ, 11/17/07,
p.99)(www.ltmpub.freeserve.co.uk/satiecubism.html)
1925 Mar 21, Peter Brook,
director, was born in west London. In 2005 Michael Kustow authored
“Peter Brook: A Biography.”
(Econ, 3/19/05, p.89)
1925 Apr 23, The 1st London
performance of operetta "Fasquita" was staged.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1925 May 12, John Simon, theater
critic, was born.
(MC, 5/12/02)
1925 May 31, Julian Beck, theater
manager, was born.
(HN, 5/31/01)
1925 Apr 23, The 1st London
performance of operetta "Fasquita" was staged.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1926 Actress Mae West starred in
the Broadway play “Sex.” The comedy-drama "Sex" caused a scandal and
police closed it down in 1927 after 375 performances.
(WSJ, 11/18/06, p.P10)(SSFC, 4/15/01, DB p.35)(SFC,
6/24/02, p.D2)
1927 Mar 22, Federico Garcia
Lorca's "El Maleficio," premiered in Madrid.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1927 Apr 19, Rudolf Friml's
"Vagabond King" opened in London.
(MC, 4/19/02)
1927 Apr 27, Actress Mae West was
released from jail after 10 days. She and the entire cast and producers
of her Broadway play “Sex” had been thrown in jail. The 1926 Mae West
comedy-drama "Sex" caused a scandal and police closed it down after 375
performances.
(WSJ, 11/18/06, p.P10)(SSFC, 4/15/01, DB p.35)(SFC,
6/24/02, p.D2)
1927 May 13, Clive Barnes, drama
critic (NY Times, NY Post), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1927 May 13, Herbert Ross,
director, choreographer (Footloose), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1927 Jul 4, Neil Simon, (Marvin
Neil Simon) American playwright, was born in New York City. His many
hit plays include "Barefoot in the Park", "The Odd Couple", "Sweet
Charity", "The Sunshine Boys", "Prisoner of Second Avenue", "Biloxi
Blues" and "Lost in Yonkers" for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize
in 1991.
(HN, 7/4/98)(IB, 12/7/98)
1928 Mar 13, Rudolph Friml's
musical "Three Musketeers," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/13/02)
1928 Mar 22, Noel Coward's musical
"This Year of Grace," premiered in London.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1928 Apr 9, Mae West's NYC debut
in a daring new play "Diamond Lil."
(MC, 4/9/02)
1928 Jul 21, Dame Ellen Terry
(b.1847), British actress, died in England. In 2008 Michael Holroyd
authored “A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen
Terry, Henry Irving and Their Remarkable Families.” Her relationship
with actor Henry Irving (d.1905) lasted over 2 decades.
(Econ, 8/30/08, p.79)(WSJ, 3/6/09,
p.W6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Terry)
1928 Aug 14, The play "Front Page"
by Ben Hecht (1894-1964) and Charles MacArthur (1895-1956) premiered in
NYC.
(http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1541419)
1928 Aug 31, Brecht and Kurt
Weill’s "The Threepenny Opera" opened in Berlin.
(HN, 8/31/00)(MC, 8/31/01)
1928 Sep 12, Actress Katharine
Hepburn (b.1907) made her stage debut in "The Czarina."
(MC, 9/12/01)
1929 Mar 9, Marcel Pagnol's
"Marius," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1929 Apr 4, Sigmund Romberg's "New
Moon" musical opened in London.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1930 Apr 14, Philip Barry's "Hotel
Universe," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/14/02)
1930 "La Dolorosa," a zarzuela or
Spanish type of operetta, was written. It was performed in 1996 at the
new Jarvis Conservatory in Napa, California.
(WSJ, 8/27/96, p.A12)
1930 The opera "Transatlantic" by
George Antheil had its premiere in Frankfurt 10 months after Kurt
Weill’s "Mahagonny."
(WSJ, 4/23/98, p.A16)
1930 Richard Strauss recomposed
Mozart’s opera "Idomeneo."
(WSJ, 8/11/98, p.A16)
1931 Feb 7, US opera, "Peter
Ibbetson," by Deems Taylor premiered at Met Opera NYC.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1931 Apr 6, 1st broadcast of
"Little Orphan Annie" on NBC-radio.
(MC, 4/6/02)
1931 May 8, Franz Lehar's
operetta, "Land of Smiles," premiered in London.
(MC, 5/8/02)
1931 The Broadway show
"Everybody’s Welcome" featured the song "As Time Goes By" by Herman
Hupfield.
(SFC, 9/30/97, p.A21)
1931 The George Gershwin musical
"Of Thee I Sing" was premiered. It won a Pulitzer Prize.
(SFEC, 6/29/97, p.D5)
1931 Odon von Horvath wrote his
musical play "Tales From the Vienna Woods."
(WSJ, 10/30/03, p.D10)
1931 Cole Porter's "New Yorkers"
featured Elisabeth Welch and the song "Love for Sale."
(SFC, 7/18/03, p.A29)
1932 Apr 4, George Bernard Shaw's
"Too True to be Good," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1932 Apr 12, Emmanuel Chabrier's
and Balanchine's ballet premiered in Monte Carlo.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1932 Apr 23, The Royal Shakespeare
Theatre opened at Stratford-on-Avon. It replaced one built in 1879 that
burned down in 1926.
(www.guardian.co.uk/fromthearchive/story/0,,1740490,00.html)(Econ,
3/31/07, p.91)
1932 Jul
22, Florenz Ziegfeld (b.1869), US theatre producer (Ziegfeld Follies),
died. In 2008 Ethan Mordden authored “Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented
Show Business.”
(http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=5539)(WSJ, 11/14/08, p.W10)
1934 Jan 22, Dmitri Shostakovich
premiered his 1932 opera: "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District," in
Leningrad.
(WSJ, 5/7/02, p.D7)(WSJ, 5/2/03, p.W6)
1934 Aug 12, Augustus E. Thomas
(b.1857), American Playwright, died. He is often called the first
playwright to deal in thoroughly American themes.
(www.imdb.com/name/nm0858501/)
1934 Aug 27, Arlen, Ira Gershwin
& Harburg musical premiered in NYC.
(MC, 8/27/02)
1934 Nov 21, The Cole Porter
musical “Anything Goes,” starring Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney,
premiered at New York's Alvin Theatre.
(HN, 11/21/00)(AP, 11/21/04)
1935 Stefan Zweig (1881-1942)
wrote the libretto for the opera Die Schweigsame Frau (The Silent
Woman) with music by Richard Strauss. It was banned by the Nazis and
Zweig was driven into exile.
(Econ, 5/23/09, p.91)
1936 Apr 11, Rodgers' &
Hammerstein's musical "On Your Toes," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/11/02)
1936 Aug 21, Mart Crowley,
playwright (Boys in the Band), was born.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1937 The Rodgers and Hart
Broadway musical comedy “Babes in Arms” was choreographed by George
Balanchine and featured the Nicholas Brothers tap dancing duo.
(SFC, 8/19/97, p.A1)(SSFC, 1/29/06, p.B7)
1937 J.B. Priestley (1894-1984),
English novelist and playwright, authored his play “Time and the
Conways.” It illustrated J. W. Dunne's Theory Of Time through the
experience of a moneyed Yorkshire family, the Conways, over a period of
roughly 20 years from 1919 to 1937.
(Econ, 5/2/09,
p.86)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._Priestley)
1938 Jan 22, Thornton Wilder's
play "Our Town," a portrait of small-town life in Grover's Corners, NH,
was performed publicly for the first time, in Princeton, N.J. It opened
on Broadway on Feb 4.
(AP, 2/4/97)(AP, 1/22/98)
1938 Jun 7, The 1st play telecast
with original Broadway cast: "Susan & God."
(SC, 6/7/02)
1938 Sep 22, The musical comedy
revue "Hellzapoppin'," starring Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, began a
three-year run on Broadway.
(AP, 9/22/06)
1939 Mar 28, Philip Barry's
"Philadelphia Story," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/28/02)
1939 Apr 13, W. Saroyan's "My
Heart's in the Highlands," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/13/02)
1939 Apr 17, S.N. Behrman's "No
Time for Comedy," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/17/02)
1939 May 6, 1st performance of
Honegger and Claudel's "Jeanne d'Arc at the Stake."
(MC, 5/6/02)
1939 Nov 27, The play "Key Largo,"
by Maxwell Anderson, opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York.
James Gregory made his Broadway debut.
(AP, 11/27/97)(SFC, 9/19/02, p.A24)
1939 Berthold Brecht wrote his
play "Mother Courage and Her Children." It was set during the Thirty
Years War (1618-1648) between the German Catholics and Swedish
Lutherans.
(WSJ, 1/24/97, p.A13)(WSJ, 10/23/01, p.A24)
1940 Mar 10, 1st US opera was
telecast in NYC: "Pagliacci."
(MC, 3/10/02)
1940 Apr 4, Richard Rodgers' and
Lorenz Hart's "Higher & Higher," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1940 Apr 29, Robert Sherwood's
"There Shall be No Night," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/29/02)
1940 May 28, Irving Berlin's
musical "Louisiana Purchase," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 5/28/02)
1940 Oct 15, Charles Chaplin's
first all-talking comedy, "The Great Dictator," a lampoon of Adolf
Hitler, opened at two theaters in New York with Chaplin and his wife,
co-star Paulette Goddard, making appearances in both locations.
(AP, 10/15/02)
1940 Oct 25, The musical play
“Cabin in the Sky” opened with an all black cast at the Martin Beck
Theater on Broadway. It featured Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) and her
dance troupe.
(http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/dunham/dunham-notes-cabininthesky.html)
1940 The blues opera "De
Organizer," written by Langston Hughes and James P. Johnson, was
performed in NYC.
(SFC, 12/30/02, p.D3)
1941 Apr 1, Lillian Hellman's
"Watch on the Rhine," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1941 Apr 19, B. Brecht's 1939 play
"Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and her Children),"
premiered in Zurich.
(www.theatre.ubc.ca/mother_courage/subject.shtml)
1942 Mar 1, J. Milton Cage Jr.’s
"Imaginary Landscape No 3" premiered in Chicago.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1942 Jul 4, Irving Berlin’s
musical review "This Is the Army" opened at the Broadway Theater in New
York.
(AP, 7/4/00)
1942 Oct 16, The ballet "Rodeo,"
with music by Aaron Copland and choreography by Agnes de Mille,
premiered at New York's Metropolitan Opera House.
(AP, 10/16/02)
1943 Mar 3, F. Ryerson and Cohn
Claues' "Harriet" premiered in New York NY.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1943 Mar 30, Rodgers and
Hammerstein's first collaboration, Oklahoma, opened on Broadway. [see
Mar 31]
(HN, 3/30/01)(MC, 3/30/02)
1943 Mar 31, The Rodgers and
Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" opened on Broadway. Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein hired Agnes de Mille for the choreography. The
original is only on documentary videotape and the 1954 film was a
"bloated mess." [see Mar 30]
(TMC, 1994, p.1943)(WSJ, 2/5/96, p.A-16)(AP, 3/30/97)
1943 Apr 8, Michael Bennett, AIDS
victim, choreographer (Chorus Line) and theater director, was
born as Michael Bennett DiFiglia.
(NYT, 7/3/87, P.A1)
1943 Apr 29, Noel Coward's
"Present Laughter," premiered in London.
(MC, 4/29/02)
1943 Aug 9, Bertolt Brecht's
"Galileo," premiered in Zurich.
(MC, 8/9/02)
1944 Apr 12, Lillian Hellman's
"Searching Wind," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1944 Apr 18, Leonard Bernstein and
Jerome Robbins' ballet premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/18/02)
1944 May 3, "Meet Me in St Louis"
opened on Broadway.
(MC, 5/3/02)
1944 Aug 20, "Anna Lucasta,"
opened on Broadway.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1944 Oct 19, The play "I Remember
Mama," by John van Druten, opened at the Music Box Theater on Broadway.
(AP, 10/19/04)
1944 The play "The Man Who Had
All the Luck," Arthur Miller's 1st play, premiered.
(SFC, 3/10/04, p.D1)
1944 The Philip Yordan (d.2003)
play "Anna Lucasta," 1st produced by the American Negro Theater in
Harlem, moved to Broadway. A film version with an all-white cast was
made in 1949. Another with an all-black cast was made in 1958.
(SSFC, 4/6/03, p.A23)
1945 Mar 6, Federico Garcia
Lorca's "La Casa," premiered in Buenos Aires.
(MC, 3/6/02)
1945 Mar 8, "Kiss Me Kate" opened
in Britain.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1945 Mar 31, The Tennessee
Williams play "The Glass Menagerie" premiered on Broadway.
(AP, 3/31/97)
1945 Apr 19, The Rodgers and
Hammerstein adopted Ferenc Molnar’s "Lilliom" and produced the musical
"Carousel" on Broadway.
(SFEC, 8/25/96, DB p.40)(AP, 4/19/97)
1946 May 16, The Irving Berlin
musical "Annie Get Your Gun" opened on Broadway starring Ethel Merman
as Annie Oakley. The play closed in 1949 after 1,147 performances.
(AP, 5/16/97)(SFC, 4/24/99, p.A10)
1946 Jul 12, Benjamin Britten's
"Rape of Lucretia," premiered in Glyndebourne.
(MC, 7/12/02)
1946 Sep 6, Terence Rattigan's
"Winslow Boy," premiered in London.
(MC, 9/6/01)
1946 Jean and Walter Kerr made
their Broadway debut with an adaptation of the "Song of Bernadette"
from Franz Werfel’s novel.
(MC, 3/8/02)(SFC, 1/7/03, p.A22)
1946 The musical "St. Louis Woman"
was based on a novel by Arna Bontemps. The music was by Harold Arlen
and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer and featured the Nicholas Brothers tap
dancing duo in lead roles.
(WSJ, 5/6/98, p.A20)(SSFC, 1/29/06, p.B7)
1946 Actress Mitzi Gaynor got her
start in San Francisco with the Civic Light Opera Company’s “Roberta.”
She went on to become a stage and screen star.
(SSFC, 6/29/08, DB p.58)
1947 Mar 13, The Lerner and Loewe
musical "Brigadoon" opened on Broadway for 581 performances.
(AP, 3/13/97)(MC, 3/13/02)
1947 Apr 6, The first Tony awards
were presented at a dinner in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria
on Easter Sunday. They were named in honor of Antoinette Perry
(1888-1946), chairman of the board and secretary of the American
Theatre Wing throughout World War II.
(http://americantheatrewing.org/tony/history_of_the_tony_awards.php)
1947 May 7, The opera "The Mother
of Us All," by Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thompson, premiered at the
Brander Matthews Theater of Columbia Univ. They wrote it as a
meditation on the life of Susan B. Anthony.
(WSJ, 8/6/98, p.A13)(WSJ, 2/5/04, p.A13)
1947 Arthur Miller wrote his play
"All My Sons."
(WSJ, 5/20/98, p.A12)
1947 Red Buttons (1919-2006)
appeared on Broadway in George Abbott’s musical “Barefoot Boy With
Cheek.”
(SFC, 7/14/06, p.B9)
1947 Eugene O’Neill’s play “A Moon
for the Misbegotten” failed. It did not gain recognition as being among
his best works until decades later.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_O'Neill)
1948 Mar 22, Andrew Lloyd Webber,
Broadway composer, was born. His works include "Phantom of the Opera"
and "Cats."
(AP, 3/22/99)(HN, 3/22/97)
1948 May 18, "Ballet Ballads"
opened at Music Box Theater in NYC for 62 performances.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1948 Jul 31, "Brigadoon" closed at
Ziegfeld Theater in NYC after 581 performances.
(MC, 7/31/02)
1948 Red Buttons appeared on
Broadway in the musical “Hold It.”
(SFC, 7/14/06, p.B9)
1948 Kitty Carlisle sang in the US
premier of Benjamin Britten’s opera “The Rape of Lucretia.”
(SFC, 4/19/07, p.A2)
1948 Kurt Weill and Arnold
Sundgaard (1910-2006) premiered their folk opera "Down in the Valley"
at Indiana Univ.
(SFC,12/25/97, p.A25)(SFC, 11/10/06, p.B8)
1949 Feb 10, Arthur Miller's play
"Death of a Salesman" opened at Broadway's Morosco Theater with Lee J.
Cobb as Willy Loman. The play depicting the false dreams of Willy Loman
won a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize.
(WSJ, 10/4/95, p.A-12)(WSJ, 5/13/96, p. A-16)(AP,
2/10/08)
1949 Mar 23, Sidney Kingsley's
"Detective Story" premiered in NYC.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1949 Apr 24, In the 3rd Tony
Awards: "Death of a Salesman" and "Kiss Me Kate" won.
(MC, 4/24/02)
1949 May 2, Arthur Miller won
Pulitzer Prize for "Death of a Salesman."
(MC, 5/2/02)
1950 Feb 15, WM Inge's "Come Back,
Little Sheba," premiered in NYC.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=1867)
1950 Mar 15, "Consul" opened at
Barrymore Theater in NYC.
(www.ibdb.com/venue.asp?ID=1147)
1950 Mar 23, "Great to Be Alive"
opened at Winter Garden Theater in NYC for 52 performances.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1950 Apr 24, "Peter Pan" opened at
Imperial Theater in NYC for 320 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/venue.asp?ID=1208)
1950 May 18, "Liar" opened at
Broadhurst Theater in NYC for 12 performances.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1950 Nov 24, The musical "Guys and
Dolls," based on the writings of Damon Runyon and featuring songs by
Frank Loesser (1910-1969), opened on Broadway.
(AP, 11/24/06)
1950 Robert Sidney (1909-2008)
stage-directed “Bing Crosby on Broadway.”
(SFC, 4/2/08, p.B9)
1951 Mar 7, Lillian Hellman's
"Autumn Garden," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/7/02)
1951 Apr 3, Christopher Fry's
"Sleep of Prisoners," premiered in Oxford.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1951 May 23, Peter Ustinov's "Love
of Four Colonels," premiered in London.
(MC, 5/23/02)
1951 Sep 15, "Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes" closed at Ziegfeld NYC after 740 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=1845)
1951 Arnold Sundgaard collaborated
with Douglas Moore on the opera "Giants in the Earth," based on a novel
by Norwegian writer O.E. Rolvaag about immigrants in the Dakota
territory.
(SFC, 11/10/06, p.B8)
1952 Mar 5, Terence Rattigan's
"Deep Blue Sea," premiered in London.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1952 Mar 26, F. Dürrenmatt's
"Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi" premiered in Munich.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1952 Sep 12, Noel Coward's
"Quadrille," premiered in London.
(MC, 9/12/01)
1952 Frederick Knott (d.2002 at
86), playwright, wrote "Dial M for Murder." It ran for 552 performances
on Broadway. In 1954 Alfred Hitchcock made it into a film.
(SFC, 12/24/02, p.A16)
1952-1965 The Actor’s workshop of San Francisco
performed plays during this period. In 1960 and 1961 the company staged
the US premiers of Harold Pinter’s “The Room” and “The Birthday Party.”
(SFC, 1/8/09, p.E3)
1953 Mar 19, Tennessee Williams'
"Camino Real," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1953 Mar 28, In the 7th Tony
Awards: “Crucible” and “Wonderful Town” won.
(MC, 3/28/02)
1953 May 7, "Can Can" opened at
Shubert Theater in NYC for 892 performances.
(MC, 5/7/02)
1954 Mar 5, "Girl in Pink Tights"
opened at Mark Hellinger in NYC for 115 performances.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1954 Mar 20, "King and I" closed
at St. James Theater in NYC after 1246 performances.
(MC, 3/20/02)
1954 Mar 28, In the 8th Tony
Awards: Teahouse of the August Moon and Kismet won
(MC, 3/28/02)
1954 May 13, The musical play "The
Pajama Game" opened on Broadway for 1063 performances.
(AP, 5/13/97)
1955 Mar 2, The William Inge play
"Bus Stop" opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York.
(AP, 3/2/02)
1955 Mar 24, The Tennessee
Williams play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" opened on Broadway with Barbara
Bel Geddes as Maggie, Ben Gazzara as Brick and Burl Ives as Big Daddy.
Paul Newman won Gazzara’s role for the 1958 film.
(AP, 3/23/97)(SSFC, 1/23/05, Par p.2)
1955 Apr 23, "Kismet" closed at
Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 583 performances.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1955 May 2, Pulitzer prize was
awarded to Tennessee Williams for Cat on Hot Tin Roof.
(MC, 5/2/02)
1955 May 5, The baseball musical
"Damn Yankees" opened on Broadway. It was produced by George Abbott and
Douglass Wallop and ran for 1022 performances. Ray Walston played the
devil in the play and the 1958 movie.
(SFEC, 8/25/96, DB p.41)(AP, 5/5/00)(SFC, 10/23/00,
p.F3)
1955 Jun 25, "Can Can" closed at
Shubert Theater NYC after 892 performances.
(MC, 6/25/02)
1955 The "Inherit the Wind,"
co-authored by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, opened in NYC for an
806-performance run. It focused on the 1921 Scopes evolution trial. A
film version came out in 1960.
(SFC, 2/09/04, p.A19)
1956 Mar 15, The Lerner and Loewe
musical "My Fair Lady" opened starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison
at the Mark Hellinger Theater in NYC for 2,715 performances.
(AP, 3/15/97)(HN, 3/15/02)
1956 Mar 22, Musical "Mr.
Wonderful" with Sammy Davis Jr. premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1956 Apr 1, 10th Tony Awards:
Diary of Anne Frank and Damn Yankees won.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1956 Apr 2, Peter Ustinov's
"Romanoff and Juliet," premiered in Manchester.
(MC, 4/2/02)
1956 Apr 3, "Silk Stockings"
closed at Imperial Theater in NYC after 461 performances.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1956 Apr 4, Enid Bagnold's "Chalk
Garden," premiered in London.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1956 Apr 14, "Plain and Fancy"
closed at Mark Hellinger Theater in NYC after 476 performances.
(MC, 4/14/02)
1956 May 8, John Osborne’s "Look
Back in Anger," premiered in London. The English dramatist introduced
the "angry young man" in his play "Look Back in Anger." It took English
theater on a radical turn. In 1958 it was made into a movie. In 2006
John Heilpern authored “John Osborne: A Patriot for Us.”
(http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/review/0,,1770791,00.html)(SFEC,
4/11/99, DB p.39)(Econ, 5/20/06, p.86)
1956 Jul 7, The Douglas Moore and
John Latouche opera "Ballad of Baby Doe," premiered.
(MC, 7/7/02)
1956 Jul 24, Brendan Behan's
"Quare Fellow," premiered in London.
(MC, 7/24/02)
1956 Nov 29, The musical "Bells
Are Ringing," starring Judy Holliday, opened at Shubert Theater in NYC
for 925 performances. It was written by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and
Jule Styne.
(AP, 11/29/01)(WSJ, 4/18/01, p.A20)
1956 Dec 1, Leonard Bernstein's
musical "Candide," based on the work by Voltaire, opened at Martin Beck
Theater in NYC for 73 performances. The book was by Lillian Hellman
with lyrics by Richard Wilbur.
(AP, 12/1/99)(SFC, 1/11/05, p.E1)
1956 Joan Littlewood directed the
play "The Quare Fella" by Irish writer Brendan Behan. Her work became
labeled "kitchen-sink" drama. This was seen as part of the
working-class revolution in British theater.
(SFC, 9/24/02, p.A25)
1957 Mar 1, "Ziegfeld Follies of
1957" opened at Winter Garden NYC for 123 performances.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1957 Mar 21, Tennessee Williams'
"Orpheus Descending," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1957 Apr 3, Samuel Beckett's
"Endgame," premiered in London.
(V.D.-H.K.p.369)(MC, 4/3/02)
1957 Apr 10, John Osborne’s play
“The Entertainer,” starring Laurence Olivier, opened in London.
(AP, 4/10/07)
1957 Apr 21, In the 11th Tony
Awards: Long Day's Journey into Night and My Fair Lady won. Edie
Adams won a Tony award for supporting actress as Daisy Mae in “Li’l
Abner.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_Tony_Awards)(SFC,
10/17/08, p.A2)
1957 May 25, "Shinbone Alley"
closed at Broadway Theater in NYC after 49 performances.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1957 Dec 19, The musical play "The
Music Man," starring Robert Preston, with book and songs by Meredith
Willson, opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theater for 1,375
performances. Mason City, Iowa, Willson's home town, unveiled Music Man
Square in 2002
(AP, 12/19/97)(MC, 12/19/01)(SSFC, 3/14/04, p.D12)
1958 Jan 30, The play "Sunrise at
Campobello," by Dore Schary about Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggle
against polio, opened on Broadway with Ralph Bellamy as FDR.
(AP, 1/30/08)
1958 Apr 3, "Say, Darling" opened
at ANTA Theater NYC for 332 performances.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1958 Apr 13, In the 12th Tony
Awards: Sunrise at Campobello and Music Man won.
(MC, 4/13/02)
1958 Oct 28, The Samuel Beckett
play "Krapp's Last Tape" premiered in London.
(AP, 10/28/08)(SFEC, 10/15/00, DB p.50)
1958 Miyoshi Umeki starred in
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s "The Flower Drum Song." It based on the 1957
novel by C.Y. Lee and was made into a film in 1961.
(SFC, 10/9/97, p.C3)(SFC, 9/12/07, p.A17)
1958 The musical comedy
"Goldilocks" was written by Jean and Walter Kerr.
(SFC, 1/7/03, p.A22)
1959 Mar 7, "Bells Are Ringing"
closed at Shubert Theater in NYC after 925 performances.
(MC, 3/7/02)
1959 Mar 10, Tennessee Williams'
"Sweet Bird of Youth," premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Bird_of_Youth)
1959 Mar 11, The Lorraine
Hansberry drama "A Raisin in the Sun" opened at New York City's Ethel
Barrymore Theater.
(AP, 3/11/98)
1959 Mar 29, "Some Like it Hot"
with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon premiered.
(MC, 3/29/02)
1959 Apr 11, "Jamaica" closed at
Imperial Theater in NYC after 558 performances.
(MC, 4/11/02)
1959 May 21, The musical "Gypsy,"
inspired by the life of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, opened on Broadway.
(AP, 5/21/97)
1959 May 28, Johnson & Bart's
musical "Lock up your daughters," premiered in London.
(MC, 5/28/02)
1959 Jun 27, The play, "West Side
Story", with music by Leonard Bernstein, closed at Winter Garden
Theater in NYC after 734 performances.
(MC, 6/27/02)
1959 Sep 28, Edward Albee’s play
“The Zoo Story,” written in 1958, opened in Berlin. In 1960 it opened
in the US.
(SFC, 12/31/08, p.E2)
1959 Jack Gelber's (d.2003 at 71)
play "The Connection" opened off Broadway at the Living Theater. It was
a graphic depiction of the dead-end life of drug addicts.
(SSFC, 5/11/03, p.A26)
1959 The Broadway musical “Take Me
Along” featured Jackie Gleason.
(SFC, 1/19/05, p.B7)
1960 Mar 19, "Redhead" closed at
46th St Theater in NYC after 455 performances.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1960 Mar 31, Gore Vidal's "Best
Man," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 3/31/02)
1960 Apr 14, "Bye Bye Birdie"
opened at Martin Beck Theater in NYC for 607 performances.
(MC, 4/14/02)
1960 Apr 24, In the 14th Tony
Awards: "Miracle Worker" and "Fiorello" won.
(MC, 4/24/02)
1960 May 3, The musical "The
Fantasticks" opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich
Village. It featured the song "Try to Remember" by Tom Jones &
Harvey Schmidt and was 1st produced at Barnard College in 1959. Lore
Noto (d.2002), former actor and agent, produced the show, which became
the world’s longest-running musical. It closed Jan 13, 2002 after
17,162 shows.
(SFC, 7/20/02, p.A20)
1960 May 14, "At the Drop of a
Hat" closed at John Golden in NYC after 216 performances.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1960 May 18, Jean Genet’s "Le
Balcon" premiered in Paris France.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1960 Aug 23, Broadway librettist
Oscar Hammerstein II (65) died in Doylestown, Pa.
(AP, 8/23/08)
1960 Sep 1, Robert Bolt's "A Man
For All Seasons," premiered in London.
(MC, 9/1/02)
1960 Cy Coleman (1929-2004)
composed the music for “Wildcat” with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh. The show
included the hit song “Hey Look Me Over,” sung by Lucille Ball.
(SFC, 11/20/04, p.B6)
1961 Mar 2, "13 Daughters" opened
at 54th St Theater NYC for 28 performances.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1961 Mar 8, Jean Kerr's "Mary,
Mary," premiered in NYC. It was adopted to film in 1963.
(MC, 3/8/02)(SFC, 1/7/03, p.A22)
1961 Mar 25, "Gypsy" closed at
Broadway Theater in NYC after 702 performances.
(MC, 3/25/02)
1961 Apr 13, "Carnival!" opened at
Imperial Theater in NYC for 719 performances.
(MC, 4/13/02)
1961 Apr 15, "Music Man" closed at
Majestic Theater in NYC after 1375 performances.
(MC, 4/15/02)
1961 Apr 16, In the 15th Tony
Awards: Becket & Bye Bye Birdie won.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1961 May 10, "Beyond the Fringe,"
premiered in London.
(MC, 5/10/02)
1961 May 18, "Donnybrook!" opened
at 46th St Theater in NYC for 68 performances.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1961 Dec 20, Moss Hart (b.1904),
US dramatist (You can't take it with you), died. His 1959 autobiography
was titled “Act One.”
(www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=6153)(WSJ, 1/7/07, p.P8)
1961 Frederick Knott (d.2002 at
86), playwright, wrote "Write Me a Murder." It ran for 25 weeks on
Broadway.
(SFC, 12/24/02, p.A16)
1962 Mar 15, Richard Rodger's
musical "No Strings," premiered in NYC for 580 performances.
(MC, 3/15/02)
1962 Apr 5, Herb Gardner's
"Thousand Clowns," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1962 Apr 29, In the 16th Tony
Awards: Man For All Seasons and How to Succeed won.
(MC, 4/29/02)
1962 May 8, The Stephen Sondheim
musical comedy "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" opened
at the Alvin Theater in NYC for 965 performances.
(AP, 5/8/97)(SFEC, 5/31/98, BR p.6)(MC, 5/8/02)
1962 Oct 13, The four-character
drama "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," by Edward Albee, opened on
Broadway with Uta Hagen (d.2004) as Martha and Arthur Hill as George.
The opening coincided with co-star Melinda Dillon's 23rd birthday.
(SFC, 1/16/04, p.A23)(AP, 10/13/07)
1962 Eugene Ionesco, French
absurdist playwright, wrote his play “Exit the King.”
(Econ, 4/4/09, p.86)
1963 Feb 20, Rolf Hochhuth's "Der
Stellvertreter" (The Representative) premiered in Berlin. The work
indicted Pope Pius XII for Nazi complicity during WW II. The Catholic
Church was outraged at the portrayal of Pius XII as a war criminal. An
English translation by Richard and Clara Winston was published as “The
Deputy: A Play,” by Grove Press in 1964. In 2002 The Deputy was made
into the film “Amen.” by Costa Gavras.
(WSJ, 4/25/97,
p.A18)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deputy)(Econ, 10/25/08, p.73)
1963 Apr 28, In the 17th Tony
Awards: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and A Funny Thing Happened on
the Way to the Forum won.
(MC, 4/28/02)
1963 May 18, "Beast in Me" closed
at Plymouth Theater in NYC after 4 performances.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1963 May 25, "Hot Spot" closed at
Majestic Theater in NYC after 43 performances.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1963 Jun 15, "Sound of Music"
closed at Lunt Fontanne Theater in NYC after 1443 performances.
(MC, 6/15/02)
1963 Oct 3, Meredith Wilson’s
Broadway musical “Here’s Love,” featuring Dom DeLuise, opened at the
Shubert Theater. The show close on July 25, 1964.
(SFC, 5/6/09,
p.A9)(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3024)
1963 The English musical "Oh What
a Lovely War" was directed by Joan Littlewood (d.2002 at 87).
(SFC, 9/24/02, p.A25)
1964 Jan 16, The musical "Hello,
Dolly!," starring Carol Channing, opened on Broadway at the St. James
Theater, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
(AP, 1/16/98)
1964 Mar 26, The Broadway hit
musical "Funny Girl" premiered with Barbara Streisand as singer Fanny
Brice. Jule Styne and Bob Merrill produced the show, which ran at
Winter Garden Theater in NYC for 1,348 performances
(AP, 3/26/97)(SS, 3/26/02)(SSFC, 1/18/04, p.A1)
1964 Apr 18, Joe Orton's
"Entertaining Mr. Sloane" staged in England.
(MC, 4/18/02)
1964 May 6, Joe Orton's
"Entertaining Mr. Sloan," premiered in London.
(MC, 5/6/02)
1964 May 25, Frank Gilroy's
"Subject is Roses" premiered in NYC.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1964 Aug 29, "Funny Thing
Happened" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 965 performances.
(MC, 8/29/01)
1964 Sep 22, The musical "Fiddler
on the Roof" opened at Imperial Theater on Broadway, beginning a run of
3,242 performances.
(AP, 9/22/97)
1964 Oct 21, The movie musical "My
Fair Lady," starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, had its world
premiere at the Criterion Theater in NYC.
(AP, 10/21/04)
1965 Mar 6, "How to Succeed in
Business" closed at 46th St NYC after 1415 performances.
(MC, 3/6/02)
1965 Mar 10, Neil Simon's play
"The Odd Couple," starring Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison and Art
Carney as Felix Unger, opened on Broadway.
(AP, 3/10/99)
1965 Mar 25, The opera "Lizzie
Borden" premiered in NYC. It was composed by Jack Beeson with a
libretto by Kenward Elmslie. The initial scenario was written by
Richard Plant (d.1997 at 87).
(SFC, 3/17/98, p.A20)
1965 Apr 2, Rolf Hochhuth's play
"The Deputy," which blamed Pope Pius XII for war crimes, was banned in
Italy.
(MC, 4/2/02)
1965 May 16, The musical play "The
Roar of the Greasepaint -- The Smell of the Crowd" opened on Broadway.
(AP, 5/16/98)
1965 Oct 17, The musical "On A
Clear Day You Can See Forever," with a score by Burton Lane and book
and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, opened on Broadway.
(AP, 10/17/05)
1965 The play "The Effect of Gamma
Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds," written by Paul Zindel (d.2003),
was 1st produced at the Alley Theater in Houston. It opened off
Broadway in 1970 and was made into a film in 1972.
(SFC, 4/1/03, p.A16)
1965 Harold Fielding (d.2003 at
86) produced "Charlie Girl" in London. It ran for over 5 years.
(SFC, 10/4/03, p.A18)
1966 Jan 29, "Sweet Charity"
opened on Broadway for 608 performances. Cy Coleman composed the music.
(www.prigsbee.com/Musicals/shows/sweetcharity.htm)(SFC, 11/20/04, p.B6)
1966 Mar 3, James Goldman's "Lion
in Winter" premiered in NYC.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1966 Mar 8, "Golden Boy" closed at
Majestic Theater in NYC after 569 performances.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1966 May 24, The Broadway musical
"Mame" opened with Angel Lansbury and Bea Arthur at Winter Garden
Theater in NYC for 1508 performances. It was directed by Gene Saks and
was based on the novel "Auntie Mame" by Patrick Dennis.
(SFEC, 12/8/96, Par p.18)(SSFC, 12/24/00, Par
p.10)(SSFC, 4/26/09, p.B6)
1966 Jun
11, The musical "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" closed at the Mark
Hellinger in NYC after 280 performances. It had opened on October 17,
1965.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3255)
1966 Jun 16, In the 20th Tony
Awards: Marat/Sade and Man of La Mancha won.
(MC, 6/16/02)
1966 Jul 16, "Half a Sixpence"
closed at Broadhurst Theater in NYC after 512 performances.
(MC, 7/16/02)
1966 Jul 29, Edward Gordon Craig
(b.1872), the son of actress Ellen Terry, died. He had authored the
controversial manifesto “On the Art of the Theater” and envisioned that
the future of theater lay in lights, sounds, shadows and screens.
(Econ, 8/30/08,
p.80)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gordon_Craig)
1966 Frederick Knott (d.2002 at
86), playwright, wrote "Wait Until Dark." It ran for 373 performances
on Broadway. In 1967 Terence Young made it into a film.
(SFC, 12/24/02, p.A16)
1966 The play “My Sweet Charlie”
(1965) was produced on Broadway. It was based on the same name 1965
novel by David Westheimer (1917-2005).
(SFC, 11/12/05, p.B5)
1967 Feb 22, Barbara Garson's
"MacBird!," a notorious counterculture drama, premiered in NYC. It
satirically depicted President Lyndon Johnson as Macbeth and his wife,
Lady Bird Johnson, as Lady Macbeth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBird)
1967 Mar 7, Clark Gesner's musical
"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown” premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_a_Good_Man,_Charlie_Brown)
1967 Mar 26, In the 21st Tony
Awards: Homecoming and Cabaret won.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1967 Apr 11, Tom Stoppard's
"Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead," premiered.
(MC, 4/11/02)
1967 Oct 17, "Hair," subtitled The
American Tribal Love/Rock Musical, premiered off Broadway at the Public
Theater. It moved to the Biltmore Theater on Broadway on April 29,
1968, where it stayed for 1,873 performances.
(http://www.new-age-guide.com/new_age/hair_(musical).htm)
1967 Jul 1, "Funny Girl" closed at
Winter Garden Theater in NYC after 1348 performances.
(MC, 7/1/02)
1967 Aug 9, Joe Orton (34),
English actor, playwright (What the Butler Saw, Loot), was murdered
(bludgeoned with a hammer) while he slept by his male lover.
(MC, 8/9/02)
1968 Jan 13, Hester &
Appolinar's musical "Your Own Thing," premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Own_Thing)
1968 Jan 22, The off Broadway show
"Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" premiered at the
Village Gate Theater. A film version was produced in 1975. Brel
(1929-1978), a Belgian singer, was later buried in the Marquesas Island
of Hiva Oa, in the same cemetery as Paul Gauguin.
(www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/sfla/sfla176.html)
1968 Feb 7, The Arthur
Miller play "Price" premiered in NYC.
(www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/arthur_miller_timeline.html)
1968 Mar 1, The first 15-minute
version of the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
by Andrew Lloyd Weber was performed at Central Hall, Westminster,
London.
(www.thisistheatre.com/joseph/index.html)
1968 Mar 3, The musical "Here's
Where I Belong" opened and closed at Billy Rose Theater in NYC. The
book was by Alex Gordon and Terrence McNally, lyrics by Alfred Uhry,
and music by Robert Waldman.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here%27s_Where_I_Belong)
1968 Apr 14, The gay-themed play,
"The Boys in the Band" by Mart Crowley, opened off Broadway at Theater
Four and set a new genre. A film version was released in 1970.
(AP, 4/14/08)(WSJ, 8/28/96,
p.A10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_in_the_Band)
1968 Apr 21, In the 22nd Tony
Awards: "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" and "Hallelujah Baby"
won.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22nd_Tony_Awards)
1968 Apr 29, The counterculture
musical "Hair" opened on Broadway following limited engagements
off-Broadway.
(AP, 4/29/08)
1968 Jul 26, Britain’s Theater Act
abolished censorship of the theatre and amended the law in respect of
theatres and theatrical performances.
(www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1968/cukpga_19680054_en_1)
1968 Aug, The play "You, Me and
the Next War," by Hanoch Levin (1943-1999), Israeli dramatist, was
produced.
(SFC, 8/19/99,
p.D2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoch_Levin)
1968 Oct 3, The Howard Sackler
play, "Great White Hope," starring James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander,
opened on Broadway.
(AP, 10/3/08)
1968 Nov 6, The play “The Ruling
Class” by Peter Barnes (1931-2004) opened in London. It was a satirical
attack on the church and British aristocracy. It was made into a 1972
film for which Peter O'Toole received an Oscar nomination.
(SFC, 7/3/04,
p.B6)(www.answers.com/topic/the-ruling-class-play-6)
1968 Dec 26, Jay Allen's "Forty
Carats," premiered in NYC. It was adapted from the French original by
Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy. The 1973 film adaptation starred
Liv Ullman.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Carats)
1968 Zvi Kolitz (d.2002 at 89)
co-produced the Broadway show "The Megilla of Itzik Manger."
(SFC, 10/12/02, p.A21)
1968 The musical "Zorba" opened in
NYC. John Kander composed the music and Fred Ebb (d.2004) wrote the
lyrics.
(MC, 3/29/02)(SFC, 9/13/04, p.B4)
1969 Jan 2, The play "To be Young,
Gifted & Black," by Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) premiered in NYC.
(www.aetna.com/foundation/aahcalendar/1992gifted.html)
1969 Feb 6, The Broadway musical
"Dear World," a musical version of Jean Giraudoux’s The Madwoman of
Chaillot, opened with Angel Lansbury at the Mark Hellinger Theater.
(SFEC, 12/8/96, Par
p.18)(www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=202004)
1969 Mar 1, "Red, White, and
Maddox" closed at Cort Theater in NYC after 41 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3452)
1969 Mar 5, “What the Butler Saw,”
the final play of Joe Orton (1933-1967), was first performed in London.
The sex farce was set in a mental hospital.
(SFC, 6/12/09,
p.E1)(http://talkingbroadway.org/regional/sanfran/s823.html)
1969 Mar 16, "1776," a musical
about the writing of the Declaration of Independence, opened on
Broadway.
(AP, 3/16/99)
1969 May 18, "Canterbury Tales"
closed at Eugene O'Neill in NYC after 121 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3455)
1969 May 23, The Who released
their rock opera "Tommy."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_(album))
1969 Sep 6, "Cabaret" closed at
Broadhurst Theater NYC after 1166 performances.
(http://theatre-musical.com/cabaret/show.html)
1969 Oct 21, The play "Butterflies
are Free," premiered in NYC at the Booth Theater. It was written by
Leonard Gershe (d.2002). It closed in 1972 after 1128
performances. Director Milton Katselas (1933-2008) then directed a film
version.
(SFC, 3/23/02,
p.A27)(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3299)(SFC, 11/4/08, p.B5)
1969 Dec 3, Andrew Lloyd Weber and
Tim Rice offered John Lennon the role of Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ
Superstar, but the offer was withdrawn the next day.
(http://tinyurl.com/7bvup8)(http://oldies.about.com/od/oldieshistory/a/december3.htm)
1969 Dec 28, Neil Simon's "Last of
the Red Hot Lovers," premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_the_Red_Hot_Lovers)
1969 Katherine Hepburn starred in
"Coco," a Broadway musical based on Coco Chanel's life.
(WSJ, 10/13/03, p.B1)
1970 Jan 3, "Mame" closed at
Winter Garden Theater in NYC after 1508 performances.
(http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3142)
1970 Feb 17, Robert Marasco's
"Child's Play," opened at the Royal theater on Broadway.
(http://tinyurl.com/3thznf)
1970 Feb 26, "Georgy" opened at
Winter Garden Theater in NYC for 4 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgy)
1970 Mar 15, "Purlie" opened at
Broadway Theater in NYC. In December it moved to the Winter Garden
Theater and in March 1971 to the ANTA Playhouse where it closed in
November after a total of 688 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3514)
1970 Mar 26, "Minnie's Boys"
opened at Imperial Theater in NYC for 80 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnie%27s_Boys)
1970 Mar 30, The musical
"Applause" with Lauren Bacall opened on Broadway. It was based on the
movie "All About Eve."
(SFEC, 5/18/97, Par p.7)(AP, 3/30/07)
1970 Apr 7, "Effects of Gamma Rays
on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds," premiered in NYC. The play was written
in 1964 by Paul Zindel, playwright and science teacher. Zindel received
the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Effect_of_Gamma_Rays_on_Man-in-the-Moon_Marigolds)
1970 Apr 14, The Sandy Wilson
musical "Boy Friend" opened at Ambassador Theater in NYC for 119
performances. The original London production was in 1954.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_Friend)
1970 Apr 26, The musical,
"Company," opened at the Alvin Theatre on Broadway. It starred Elaine
Stritch and ran for [690] 705 performances. It was directed by Hal
Prince. George Furth wrote the book and Stephen Sondheim (b.1930) wrote
the score.
(AP, 4/26/98)(http://www.sondheim.com/works/company/)
1970 Oct 3, "Coco" closed at Mark
Hellinger Theater NYC after 333 performances.
(www.playbill.com/news/article/117071.html)
1970 Oct 19, J. Bock's and S.
Harnick's musical "Rothschilds," premiered in NYC and ran for 505
performances.
(www.answers.com/topic/the-rothchilds-musical)
1970 Dec 18, "Me Nobody Knows"
opened at Helen Hayes Theater in NYC for 587 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Me_Nobody_Knows)
1970 Dec 27, "Hello, Dolly!"
closed at the St. James Theater on Broadway after a run of 2,844
performances.
(AP,
12/27/97)(www.nodanw.com/shows_h/hello_dolly.htm)
1971 Jan 19, The revival of "No,
No Nanette," first produced on March 11, 1925, opened at 46th St
Theater NYC and continued for 861 performances.
(www.broadwayworld.com/bwidb/sections/productions/index.php?var=6282)
1971 Feb 10, The play "The House
of Blue Leaves" by John Guare (b.1938), American playwright, opened off
Broadway.
(SFEC, 5/30/99, DB
p.37)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_Blue_Leaves)
1971 Feb 25, "Oh, Calcutta" opened
at the Belasco Theater.
(www.broadwayworld.com/bwidb/sections/productions/index.php?var=2746)(SFEC,
11/3/96, DB p.38)
1971 Mar 28, In the 25th Tony
Awards held in NYC “Sleuth” won for best play & “Company” won for
best musical.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25th_Tony_Awards)
1971 Apr 4, Stephen Sondheim’s
musical "Follies" was produced at the Winter Garden in NYC and ran for
524 performances. The book was written by James Goldman (d.1998 at 71).
(www.nodanw.com/shows_f/follies.htm)(SFC, 1/20/98,
p.E1)(SFC, 10/30/98, p.D4)
1971 May 17, The musical
"Godspell," by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak, premiered
off-Broadway.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godspell)
1971 Jun 26, "Man of La Mancha"
closed at ANTA Wash Square Theater in NYC after 2329 performances.
(www.broadwayworld.com/bwidb/productions/Man_of_La_Mancha_5857/)
1971 Oct 12, The rock opera "Jesus
Christ Superstar" opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway. It
closed July 1, 1973 after 711 performances.
(AP,
10/12/97)(www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/1012b-almanac.htm)
1971 Nov 6, The musical "Purlie"
closed at ANTA Playhouse in NYC after a total of 688 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3514)
1971 Nov 11, Neil Simon's
"Prisoner of Second Avenue," premiered in NYC.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0072034/)
1971 Samuel Beckett (1906-1989),
Irish-born playwright, authored his play "Not I." Beckett spent most of
his life in Paris and in 1969 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
(SFEC, 1/17/99, BR
p.7)(www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc7.htm)
1971 Peter Brook (b.1925), British
stage and film director, founded his Int’l. Center for Theater Research
in Paris. In 1998 Brook published his memoir "Threads of Time:
Recollections."
(SFEC, 6/14/98, BR
p.5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Brook)
1972 Jan 1, "Promises Promises"
closed at Shubert Theater NYC after 1281 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3438)
1972 Feb 2, The play "Jumpers" by
Tom Stoppard (b.1937) was first performed at the Old Vic Theatre,
London, England.
(SFEM, 1/2/00,
p.6)(www.complete-review.com/reviews/stoppt/jumpers.htm)
1972 Feb 13, "1776" closed at 46th
Street Theater in NYC after 1,217 performances. A film version was
released in November.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1776_(musical))
1972 Feb 14, The musical "Grease"
opened at the Eden Theatre off Broadway, and ran for 3,388 performances.
(http://musicalheaven.com/g/grease.shtml)
1972 Mar 1, David Rabe's "Sticks
and Bones" premiered in New York City.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticks_and_Bones)
1972 Mar 26, "Only Fools Are Sad"
closed at Edison Theater in NYC after 144 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3626)
1972 Apr 2, Tennessee Williams'
"Small Craft Warnings," premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Craft_Warnings)
1972 Apr 19, The Broadway
production Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" opened at the Playhouse
Theatre, where it ran for two months before transferring to the Edison.
It had a total run of 1065 performances. The cast included Grant, Alex
Bradford, and Hope Clarke.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Bother_Me,_I_Can't_Cope)
1972 Apr 23, In the 26th Tony
Awards, held in NYC, "Sticks & Bones" won as best play and "Two
Gentlemen of Verona" won as best musical.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/26th_Tony_Awards)
1972 May 2, The play "That
Championship Season" by Jason Miller (1939-2001) premiered in NYC off
Broadway. A film version premiered in 1982.
(http://www.bookrags.com/guides/championshipseason/)
1972 May 22, Dame Margaret
Rutherford (b.1892), Academy Award-winning English character actress,
died. Her numerous films included “Murder at the Gallop” (1963).
(WSJ, 3/4/06, p.P2)(www.imdb.com/name/nm0751983/)
1972 Jun 7, The musical "Grease"
opened on Broadway. [see Feb 14,1972]
(AP, 6/7/03)
1972 Jun, George Balanchine and
his NYC Ballet presented 22 new dances set to the music of Stravinsky:
"Symphony in Three Movements."
(WSJ, 11/21/02, p.D6)
1972 Jul 1, "Hair" closed at
Biltmore Theater in NYC after 1750 performances.
(www.geocities.com/hairpages/hairhistory.html)
1972 Jul 27, "Applause" closed at
Palace Theater in NYC after 900 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3519)
1972 Aug 12, "Oh! Calcutta!"
closed at Belasco Theater in NYC.
(http://www.blogwaybaby.com/2005/01/bring-back-oh-calcutta.html)
1972 Oct 17, Bob Randall's play "6
Rooms Riv Vu," premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6_Rms_Riv_Vu)
1972 Oct 23, The musical "Pippin"
opened on Broadway and ran for 1944 performances.
(AP, 10/23/97)(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pippin_(musical))
1972 Nov 15, Circle-in the-Square
Theater opened at 1633 Broadway NYC with a revival of Mourning Becomes
Electra.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_in_the_Square_Theatre)
1972 Dec 20, Neil Simon's
"Sunshine Boys," premiered in NYC.
(www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/97/sp720-97.html)
1972 Bernard B. Jacobs (1916-1996)
became the president of the Shubert Organization, which owns Broadway
theaters and produced such plays as Cats and Amadeus.
(SFC, 8/28/96,
p.C2)(www.shubertorganization.com/organization/news/article.asp?id=7)
1972 In Los Angeles the Institute
of the American Musical was incorporated by Miles Kreuger to provide an
organizational shell, and donor’s tax deduction, for his collection of
memorabilia pertaining to American theater.
(WSJ, 6/3/98, p.CA4)
1973 Feb 3, "No, No Nanette"
closed at 46th St. Theater in NYC after 861 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3580)
1973 Feb 13, Musical "El Grande de
Coca-Cola," premiered in NYC. The off-Broadway show closed April 13,
1975
(www.broadwayworld.com/bwidb/productions/El_Grande_de_Coca-Cola_8236/)
1973 Mar 3, "Shelter" closed at
John Golden Theater in NYC after 31 performances.
(www.broadwayworld.com/bwidb/sections/productions/index.php?var=7111)
1973 Mar 26, Noel Coward (b.1899),
English gay playwright, died. He was called "The Master" and his work
included "The Vortex," "Hay Fever," "Private Lives," "Brief Encounter"
and "Blithe Spirit." In 1970 he was given knighthood. "Noel Coward: A
Biography" by Philip Hoare was published in 1996. Another biography, "A
Talent to Amuse" by Sheridan Morley, published in 1974, was
recommended. In 2007 Barry Day edited “The Letters of Noel Coward.”
(WSJ, 8/15/96, p.A10)(SFEC, 8/25/96, BR p.9)(WSJ,
11/10/07, p.W8)
1973 Apr 26, "Two Gentlemen of
Verona," musical opened in London.
(www.nodanw.com/shows_t/two_gentlemen.htm)
1973 May 20, "The Two Gentlemen of
Verona" closed at St. James Theater in NYC after 613 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Gentlemen_of_Verona)
1973 Jun 19, The stage production
of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" opened in London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Show)
1973 Jul 1, The rock opera "Jesus
Christ Superstar" closed at the Mark Hellinger Theater on Broadway. It
closed July 1, 1973 after 711 performances.
(www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/1012b-almanac.htm)
1973 Jul 4, Alan Ayckbourne's
"Absurd Person Singular," premiered in London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurd_Person_Singular)
1973 Jul 26, Peter Shaffer's
"Equus," premiered in London.
(www.bookrags.com/criticism/peter-shaffer-1926_2/)
1973 Oct 18, "Raisin" opened at
46th St. Theater NYC for 847 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raisin_(musical))
1973 Nov 27, Neil Simon's "Good
Doctor," premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Doctor_(play))
1973 The Broadway musical “Irene”
featured Debbie Reynolds.
(SFC, 1/19/05, p.B7)
1973 Alan Ayckbourn (b.1939),
English playwright, created his 3-part play “The Norman Conquests.”
(WSJ, 1/4/07,
p.W7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Norman_Conquests)
1973 The fantasia "Marco Polo
Sings a Solo," by American playwright John Guare (b.1938), was first
directed by Mel Shapiro. It was about a nuclear family on an iceberg
off of Norway in 1999 confronted by a collapsing planet.
(WSJ, 9/30/98,
p.A16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Guare)
1973 Robert Stigwood (b.1934),
Australian-born impresario, produced "Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat," a musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber. It had been
first performed in 1968 at the Old Assembly Hall, Colet Court,
Hammersmith, England.
(WSJ, 8/24/99,
p.A1)(www.andrewlloydwebber.com/theatre/joseph.php)
1974 Mar 3, "Sextet" opened at
Bijou Theater in NYC for 9 performances.
(www.broadwayworld.com/bwidb/sections/productions/index.php?var=2784)
1974 Mar 4, The play "Knuckle" by
David Hare (b.1947) premiered in London.
(www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/uthrc/00052/hrc-00052.html)(SC, 3/4/02)
1974 Mar 5, A revived "Candide"
opened at Broadway Theater in NYC for 740 performances. The book and
lyrics were revised from the 1956 version.
(SFC, 1/11/05, p.E1)
1974 Mar 5, Solomon I "Sol" Hurok
(b.1888), Ukraine-born US impresario, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Hurok)
1974 Mar 6, "Over Here" opened at
Shubert Theater in NYC for 341 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_Here!)
1974 May 28, "Magic Show" opened
at Cort Theater in NYC for 1859 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3468)
1974 Jun 7, The Steve Silver show
"Beach Blanket Babylon" premiered at the Savoy Tivoli in San Francisco.
Nancy Bleiweiss was the original star of the show.
(www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/sponsors/beach-blanket-babylon.asp)(SFEC,
8/1/99, DB p.48)
1974 Sep 7, The musical "Irene"
closed at Minskoff Theater NYC after 605 performances.
(www.debbiereynoldsonline.com/irene.htm)
1974 Sep 23, The 1959
Broadway show "Gypsy" reopened on Broadway with Angel Lansbury
(b.1925), following a 1973 run in London.
(SFEC, 12/8/96, Par
p.18)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy:_A_Musical_Fable)
1974 Oct 27, "Don't Bother Me, I
Can't Cope" closed at the Edison Theater in NYC after 1065 performances.
(http://tinyurl.com/3r9pv9)
1974 Nov 30, "Good Evening" with
Dudley Moore and Peter Cook closed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater in NYC
after 438 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?id=3658)
1974 Dec 18, The Broadway
production "Of Mice and Men" opened. It starred James Earl Jones and
featured Joe Seneca (d.1996). The first stage production was in 1937.
(SFC, 8/17/96,
p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Mice_and_Men)
1975 Jan 5, "The Wiz," a musical
version of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," opened at the
Majestic Theater on Broadway with an all-black cast. It ran for 1672
performances.
(AP, 1/5/00)
1975 Feb 26, "Night... Made
America Famous" opened at Barrymore in NYC for 75 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_That_Made_America_Famous)
1975 Mar 3, "Goodtime Charley"
opened at Palace Theater in NYC for 104 performances.
(www.musicalheaven.com/Detailed/1787.html)
1975 Mar 10, "Rocky Horror Show"
opened at Belasco Theater in NYC for 45 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Show)
1975 Mar 13, Bernard Slade's "Same
Time, Next Year," premiered in NYC. In 1978 it was made into a film
starring Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s1314)
1975 Apr 12, Josephine Baker
(b.1906), US-French revue artist (Folies-Bergere), died in Paris,
France.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker)
1975 Apr 23, Harold Pinter's "No
Man's Land," premiered in London.
(www.thehomecomingonbroadway.com/haroldPinter.php)
1975 Jun 3, The musical "Chicago"
opened on Broadway with a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, and music by
John Kander.
(WSJ, 11/15/96,
p.A14)(http://broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/chicago.htm)
1975 Jul 25, "A Chorus Line," the
longest-running Broadway show (6,137), premiered on Broadway. It had
opened off-Broadway at The Public Theater on May 21, 1975.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Chorus_Line)
1975 Sep 20, The Kansas City Lyric
Opera premiered Jack Beeson’s "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines." It
was commissioned to celebrate founder and director Russell Patterson’s
40th and final year with the company.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Jinks_of_the_Horse_Marines)
1975 Oct 21, "Treemonisha," a 1911
opera by Scott Joplin (1868-1917), opened at Uris Theater NYC for 64
performances. The 1st full professional staging was done in 1975 by the
Houston Grand Opera.
(www.nodanw.com/shows_t/treemonisha.htm)(SFC,
6/21/03, p.D1)
1975 Dec 8, "Raisin" closed at
46th St Theater NYC after 847 performances.
(www.hbdirect.com/album_detail.php?pid=136295)
1975 David Mamet wrote his play
"American Buffalo." It was made into a film in 1996 with Dustin Hoffman
and Dennis Franz.
(SFC, 9/13/96, p.D17)(SFC, 1/24/03, p.D3)
1976 Jan 4, "Candide" closed at
Broadway Theater in NYC after 740 performances.
(www.sondheim.org/php/news.php?id=1675)
1976 Jan 30, The play "Streamers”
by David Rabe (b.1940) premiered at the Long Wharf Theater in New
Haven, Connecticut.
(SFEC, 5/30/99, DB
p.37)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streamers)
1976 Mar 2, The musical revue
Bubbling Brown Sugar" opened at ANTA Theater in NYC for 766
performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubbling_Brown_Sugar)
1976 Apr 5, Tom Stoppard's "Dirty
Linen," premiered in London.
(www.donshewey.com/theater_reviews/dirty_linen.html)
1977 Apr 21, The musical play
"Annie" opened on Broadway, the 1st of 2,377 performances. Laurie
Beechman (d.1998) made her debut in the show based on the “Little
Orphan Annie” comic strip. Beechman later played Grizabella for 5 years
in “Cats.”
(SFC, 3/10/98, p.A17)(AP, 4/21/08)
1977 Jun 12, "Pippin" closed at
Imperial Theater in NYC after 1944 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pippin_(musical))
1977 Aug 7, "Shenandoah" closed at
Alvin Theater in NYC after 1,050 performances.
(www.angelfire.com/stars/scottbakula/Theatrecredits.html)
1977 Aug 27, "Chicago" closed at
46th St Theater in NYC after 947 performances.
(www.curtainup.com/chicago.html)
1977 Oct 20, David Mamet's play,
"Life in the Theater," opened in NYC. It was first produced in Chicago
at the Goodman Theater's Stage Two, opening February 3, 1977.
(www.theatrewesternsprings.com/Actives/archives/LifeTheatre/LifeInTheTheatre.htm)
1977 Nov 17, The "Elephant Man,"
by Bernard Pomerance (b.1940), premiered in London.
(www.answers.com/topic/1977)
1977 Nov 30, Terence Rattigan
(b.1911), English playwright, died. In 1997 Geoffrey Wansell wrote his
biography.
(SFC, 6/23/97,
p.E3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Rattigan)
1977 Dec 4, Neil Simon's "Chapter
Two," premiered in NYC.
(http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/simon.html)(http://tinyurl.com/yvtv65)
1977 Dec 31, "Bubbling Brown
Sugar" closed at ANTA Theater NYC after 766 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubbling_Brown_Sugar)
1977 The musical "I Love My Wife,"
a tale of wife-swapping, opened on Broadway. Cy Coleman composed the
music.
(SFC, 11/20/04, p.B6)
1978 Jan 20, Columbia Pictures
paid $9.5 million for movie rights to "Annie."
(www.coolquiz.com/trivia/history/index.asp?hdate=01.20)
1978 Feb 26, Ira Levin's
"Deathtrap" premiered at the Music Box Theater in NYC.
(www.madstage.com/oldshows/MTGPast.html#Deathtrap)
1978 Mar 1, "Timbuktu!" opened at
Mark Hellinger Theater in NYC for 243 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbuktu!)
1978 Mar 2, Sam Shepard’s play
"Curse of the Starving Class" premiered at the New York Shakespeare
Festival.
(SFEC, 5/30/99, DB
p.37)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Starving_Class)
1978 Mar 27, Bob Fosse's "Dancin'"
opened at Broadhurst Theater in NYC for 1,774 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancin')
1978 May 9, "Ain't Misbehavin'"
opened at Longacre Theater NYC for 1604 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain't_Misbehavin')
1978 Jun 19, "Best Little
Whorehouse..." opened at 46th St NYC for 1584 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4066)
1978 Jun 21, The musical play
"Evita" by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice had its first stage
performance in London’s West End. It featured Elaine Page as Evita.
(SFC, 9/1/96, DB p.42)(Hem., 1/97, p.106)(AP,
6/21/98)
1978 Jun 27, Sam Shepard’s play
"Buried Child " had its world premier in San Francisco.
(www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/buried_child.html)
1978 Sep 20, "Eubie!" opened at
Ambassador Theater NYC for 439 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eubie!)
1978 Sep 30, Edgar Bergen
(b.1903), American actor and ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy), died in
Las Vegas. He was born as Edgar John Bergren in Chicago, Illinois, to a
Swedish family and grew up in Decatur, Michigan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Bergen)
1978 Hugh Leonard (b.1926), Irish
dramatist and journalist, won the Tony Award for best play for his
comedy play: "Da" (1977).
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0094934/)
1979 Jan 28, "The Wiz" closed at
Majestic Theater in NYC after 1672 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiz)
1979 Feb 11, In NYC "They're
Playing Our Song" opened at the Imperial Theater and played for 1082
performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They're_Playing_Our_Song)
1979 Feb 28, Ernest Thompson's
play "On Golden Pond," premiered in NYC.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3923)
1979 Mar 1, "Sweeney Todd" with
Angel Lansbury opened at Uris Theater in NYC for 557 performances. The
score was by Stephen Sondheim.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd)(SFEC,
5/31/98, BR p.1)
1979 Mar 4, "Grand Tour" closed at
Palace Theater in NYC after 61 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3913)
1979 Mar 22, The opera "Miss
Havisham’s Fire" by Dominick Argento premiered at the NYC Opera with
two 80-minute acts. It was based on a character in the 1861 novel
“Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens.
(WSJ, 7/2/01,
p.A12)(www.historicopera.com/listing_operas.htm)
1979 Apr 5, The play “Faith
Healer” by Brian Friel opened on Broadway with James Mason as Frank. It
closed after 3 weeks.
(Econ, 2/25/06,
p.88)(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3933)
1979 Jun 3, In the 33rd Tony
Awards: Elephant Man & Sweeny Todd won.
(http://tinyurl.com/2lytw4)
1979 Aug 25, "Madwoman of Central
Park West" closed at 22 Steps in NYC after 86 performances.
(www.sondheimguide.com/other.html)
1979 Aug 31, Sally Rand (b.1904),
exotic dancer and actress, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Rand)
1979 Oct 8, "Sugar Babies" opened
at the Mark Hellinger Theater in NYC and continued for 1208
performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Babies)
1979 Nov 2, Peter Shaffer's play
"Amadeus," premiered in London.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/trivia)
1979 Nov 8, Bernard Slade's
"Romantic Comedy," premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Comedy_(play))
1979 Sam Shepard (b.1943) wrote
his play: "Buried Child." "It presented life as a blurred nightmare
founded on vague but bloody sacrifice."
(WSJ, 5/16/96,
p.A-12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Shepard)
1979 The play "Bent" was written
by Martin Sherman and first performed in London. It’s Broadway debut
was in 1980. It was about a gay love story set in a Nazi concentration
camp and was made into a film in 1997 that starred Clive Owen, Mick
Jagger and Lothaire Bluteau.
(SFEC,11/23/97, DB p.43)(SFC,11/26/97, p.E8)
1980 Jan 5, The Harold Pinter play
"Betrayal" opened on Broadway. The triptych of relationships hinged
together by adultery was first produced in London in 1978.
(SFC, 11/15/00, p.A24)(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betrayal_(play))
1980 Apr 13, "Grease" closed at
Broadhurst Theater in NYC after 3,388 performances.
(www.awesometickets.net/Theatre/Grease+Tickets/index.php)
1980 May 25, "Musical Chairs"
closed at Rialto Theater in NYC after 15 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4852)
1980 May 29, In NYC "Billy Bishop
Goes to War" opened at the Morosco Theater for 12 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3957)
1980 Jun 29, "Sweeney Todd" closed
at Uris Theater NYC after 557 performances.
(www.sondheim.com/shows/sweeney_todd/#OBC_info)
1980 Jul 10, "True West" by Sam
Shepard premiered in SF and became a stage hit. It was a comic drama of
fraternal rivalry and family angst.
(SFC, 7/10/97,
p.E3)(www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/true_west.html)
1980 Aug 19, Willy Russell's
"Educating Rita," premiered in London.
(www.thisistheatre.com/shows/piccadilly105.html)
1980 Aug 25, The Broadway musical
"42nd Street" opened in NYC for 3486 performances. Producer David
Merrick stunned both cast and audience during the curtain call by
announcing that the show’s director, Gower Champion, had died earlier
that day.
(AP,
8/25/00)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42nd_Street_(musical))
1980 Aug 25, Gower Champion
(b.1919), director, dancer (Marge & Gower Champion Show), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gower_Champion)
1980 Sep 17, The musical Les
Miserables opened at the Palais des Sports in Paris. Boublil &
Schonberg composed the music.
(SI-WPC, 12/6/96)(www.hugo-online.org/070402.htm)
1980 Nov 5, Lanford Wilson's "5th
of July," first produced in 1978, moved to the New Apollo in NYC.
(http://tinyurl.com/2lnkyu)
1980 Nov 19, The musical “Dunbar”
won the Best Musical of the Year at the Audelco Awards ceremony in NYC.
It was based on poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.
(SFC, 11/18/05, p.F2)
1980 JoAnn Akalitis, playwright
and member of The Mabou Mines, wrote "Dead End Kids."
(SFEC, 5/30/99, DB
p.37)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0090913/)
1981 Jan
8, The "Pirates of Penzance" opened at the Uris Theater, NYC, for 772
performances. Linda Ronstadt (b.1946) debuted Mabel.
(http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4088)
1981 Mar 1, "Sophisticated Ladies"
opened at Lunt-Fontanne in NYC for 767 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophisticated_Ladies)
1981 Mar 29, "Woman of the Year"
opened at Palace Theater in NYC for 770 performances. John Kander
composed the music and Fred Ebb (d.2004) wrote the lyrics.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_of_the_Year_(musical))(SFC,
9/13/04, p.B4)
1981 Apr 8, The short play
"Rockaby" by Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), Irish novelist and playwright,
premiered in Buffalo, NY.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockaby)
1981 May 11, The Andrew Lloyd
Webber musical "Cats," based on TS Eliot poems, premiered in
London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_(musical))
1981 Jul 13, Simon Gray's
"Quartermaine's Terms," premiered in London.
(www.haroldpinter.org/directing/directing_quartermaine.shtml)
1981 Sep 6, "They're Playing Our
Song" closed at Imperial NYC after 1082 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3919)
1981 Oct 16, Harvey Fierstein's
"Torch Song Trilogy," premiered off-Broadway in NYC.
(www.matthewbroderick.net/credit/stage/torchsong.html)
1981 Dec 20, Harry Krieger and Tom
Eyen's musical "Dreamgirls" opened at Imperial Theater in NYC for 1522
performances.
(www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/dreamgirls.htm)
1982 Jan 27, "Joseph & the
Amazing Dreamcoat" opened at Royale NYC for 747 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_and_the_Amazing_Technicolor_Dreamcoat)
1982 Feb 4, Musical "Pump Boys
& Dinettes," premiered in NYC for 573 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4161)
1982 Feb 21, "Ain't Misbehavin'"
closed at Longacre Theater, NYC, after 1604 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4058)
1982 Feb 23, Michael Frayn's
"Noises Off" premiered in London.
(www.qsulis.demon.co.uk/Website_Louise_Gold/Noises_Off.htm)
1982 Mar 27, The musical "Best
Little Whorehouse in Texas" closed at 46th St in NYC after 1577
performances.
(www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/albm94.html)
1982 May 9, The musical "Nine,"
inspired by Federico Fellini's film "Eight and a-Half," opened on
Broadway.
(AP, 5/9/07)
1982 May 10, Peter Weiss (b.1916),
German playwright (Marat-Sade), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Weiss)
1982 Jun 10, The play "Torch Song
Trilogy," by Harvey Fierstein, opened on Broadway.
(AP, 6/10/08)
1982 Jun 27, The Broadway show
"Dancin'" closed at the Ambassador Theater after 1,774 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4051)
1982 Jul 27, Menken and Ashman's
musical "Little Shop of Horrors" premiered in NYC.
(www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/albm42.html)
1982 Aug 28, The burlesque musical
"Sugar Babies" closed at the Mark Hellinger Theater in NYC after 1208
performances.
(www.historyforsale.com/html/prodetails.asp?source=froogle&documentid=266183)
1982 Oct 7, The Andrew Lloyd
Webber-Tim Rice musical "Cats," featuring the popular song "Memory,"
opened on Broadway at Winter Garden Theater. The show closed Sept. 10,
2000 after a record 7,485 performances.
(AP,
10/7/01)(www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/cats.htm)
1982 Oct 17, Sam Shepard's "True
West" premiered in NYC.
(www.cherrylanetheatre.org/historyMainstage.htm)
1982 Nov 16, Tom Stoppard's "Real
Thing," premiered in London.
(www.sondheimguide.com/Stoppard/chronology.html)
1982 Nov 28, "Pirates of Penzance"
closed at Uris Theater, NYC, after 772 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4088)
1982 The musical "Nine" opened on
Broadway. It was an adaptation of Fellini’s "8½"The music and
lyrics were by Maury Yeston and the book by Arthur Kopit. It was
revived in 2003.
(WSJ, 4/8/03, p.D4)(WSJ, 4/11/03, p.W9)
1983 Mar 6, "On Your Toes" opened
at Virginia Theater in NYC for 505 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4208)
1983 Mar 13, "Woman of the Year"
closed at Palace Theater NYC after 770 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?id=4104)
1983 Mar 27, Neil Simon's
"Brighton Beach Memoirs," premiered in NYC.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4212)
1983 May 1, "My One & Only"
opened at St James Theater in NYC for 767 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?id=4221)
1983 Jun 5, In the 37th Tony
Awards: “Torch Song Trilogy” won for best play and “Cats” won for best
musical.
(http://tinyurl.com/2wetwl)
1983 Jun 26, "Evita" closed at
Broadway Theater in NYC after 1568 performances.
(www.glopad.org/pi/de/record/production/1001072)
1983 Jul 30, Lynn Fontanne
(b.1887), British-born stage and screen actress (Emmy 1965), died in
Wisconsin.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Fontanne)
1983 Aug 17, Ira Gershwin
(b.1896), lyricist, died in Beverly Hills, Ca.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Gershwin)
1983 Aug 21, The musical play "La
Cage Aux Folles" opened on Broadway.
(AP, 8/21/98)
1983 May 14, Fyodor Abramov
(b.1920), Russian playwright, died in Leningrad. His plays included
“Brothers and Sisters.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Abramov)(Econ,
10/21/06, p.96)
1983 Nov 21, "Doonesbury" opened
at Biltmore Theater in NYC for 104 performances.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0258532/)
1983 The David Mamet play
"Glengarry Glen Ross" was first performed in London. It won a Pulitzer
Prize in 1984 and was made into a film in 1992.
(SFEC, 5/30/99, DB
p.37)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glengarry_Glen_Ross_(film))
1983 "The Gospel at Colonus," a
Pentecostal Gospel rendering of Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, was
written by Lee Breur and composed by Bob Telson.
(SFC, 2/27/97, p.B1)(www.leebreuer.com/cv.htm)
1984 Mar 27, "Starlight Express,"
a techno musical, roller-skating venture by Andrew Lloyd Weber and
Richard Stilgoe, premiered at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London.
(SFC, 12/31/99,
p.C6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlight_Express)
1984 Apr 28, "La Tragedie de
Carmen" closed at Beaumont Theater in NYC after 187 performances.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s0998)
1984 May 20, "On Your Toes" closed
at the Virginia Theater in NYC after 505 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4208)
1984 Sep 2, "Zorba" closed at the
Broadway Theater in NYC after 362 performances.
(www.nodanw.com/shows_z/zorba.htm)
1984 Sep 6, Lanford Wilson's play
"Balm in Gilead," written in 1965, premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balm_in_Gilead)
1984 Oct 11, August Wilson's "Ma
Rainey's Black Bottom," premiered in NYC.
(http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kennedy_lfpd_9/0,9130,1353603-content,00.html)
1984 Dan Goggin created
"Nunsense," an off-Broadway cabaret featuring singing, dancing, punning
nuns that was intended to run just four weeks.
(WSJ, 2/17/04, p.B1)
1984 The musical "The Rink" opened
on Broadway. John Kander composed the music and Fred Ebb (d.2004) wrote
the lyrics.
(SFC, 9/13/04, p.B4)
1985 Mar 3, "My One and Only"
closed at St. James Theater in NYC after 767 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4221)
1985 Mar 6, Yul Brynner appeared
in his 4,500th performance of "King & I."
(www.weekender.co.jp/new/040305/this-month-history.html)
1985 Mar 21, Michael Redgrave
(b.1908), English actor, died. His films included Alfred Hitchcock's
“The Lady Vanishes” (1938), “The Stars Look Down” (1939) and the film
of Robert Ardrey's play “Thunder Rock” (1943).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Redgrave)
1985 Mar 28, Neil Simon's "Biloxi
Blues," premiered in NYC.
(http://tinyurl.com/ygdptw)
1985 May 30, The play "Woman in
Mind" by Alan Ayckbourn (b.1936) was first staged in Scarborough at the
Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_In_Mind)
1985 Aug 11, "Dreamgirls" closed
at the Imperial Theater in NYC after 1522 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4152)
1985 Nov 19, Herb Gardner's "I'm
Not Rappaport," premiered in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'm_Not_Rappaport)
1986 Mar 6, Ken Ludwig's "Lend me
a Tenor," premiered in London.
(www.thisistheatre.com/shows/gielgud123.html)
1986 May 18, "Singin' in the Rain"
closed at the Gershwin Theater in NYC after 367 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4376)
1986 Jun 1, "The Mystery of Edwin
Drood" and "I'm Not Rappaport" won the Tony Awards for best musical and
best play on Broadway.
(www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0153482.html)(http://tinyurl.com/ynyxkb)
1986 Aug 10, "Me and My Girl"
opened at Marquis Theater in NYC for 1420 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/show.asp?ID=5982)
1986 Oct 9, The musical "Phantom
of the Opera" premiered in London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera_(1986_musical))
1986 Dec 4, Neil Simon's "Broadway
Bound" premiered in NYC.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4434)
1987 Mar 12, "Les Miserables"
opened on Broadway. It was written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel
Schonberg.
(AP,
3/12/98)(www.jimsdeli.com/theater/1997-before/les-miserables.htm)
1987 Mar 15, "Starlight Express"
by Andrew Lloyd Weber, opened at Gershwin Theater in NYC for 761
performances. The initial production had opened at the Apollo Victoria
Theatre in London on March 27 1984.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlight_Express)
1987 Mar 26, "Fences" by August
Wilson (1945-2005) premiered in NYC.
(www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/august_wilson_timeline.html)
1987 Apr 15, Alfred Uhry's
"Driving Miss Daisy," premiered in NYC.
(www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1525)
1987 Jul 2, Michael Bennett
(b.1943), Chorus Line director, died of AIDS in Tucson, Az.
(www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=7716)
1987 Sep 20, "Big River: The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" closed at the Eugene O’Neill Theater in
NYC after 1005 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_River_(musical))
1987 Oct 15, Lanford Wilson's
"Burn This," premiered in NYC.
(http://allstarz.hollywood.com/~malkovich/nyburnthis.html)
1987 Nov 5, Stephen Sondheim's and
James Lapine's musical "Into the Woods," premiered on Broadway. It had
debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986.
(www.sondheimguide.com/woods.html)
1987 The play "Frankie and Johnny
in the Clair de Lune" by Terrence McNally opened off Broadway.
(WSJ, 8/13/02, p.D4)
1987 Arthur Miller wrote his play
"I Can’t Remember Anything." He also authored in this year his
autobiography "Timebends."
(WSJ, 1/14/98, p.A17)(Econ, 11/1/03, p.82)
1988 Jan 26, The Andrew Lloyd
Webber musical "Phantom of the Opera" opened at Broadway's Majestic
Theater. It ran for 4,000+ performances.
(AP, 1/26/98)(www.broadway.com/gen/show.aspx?SI=1235)
1988 Mar 20, David Henry Hwang's
"M. Butterfly" premiered in NYC.
(http://tinyurl.com/pztxh)
1988 Jun 5, In the 42nd Tony
Awards Madame Butterfly won for best play and Phantom of the Opera won
for best musical.
(www.wireimage.com/Headlines.asp?navtyp=CAL&ym=198806&nbc1=1)(AP,
6/5/98)
1989 Jan 8, "42nd Street" closed
at Winter Garden Theater, NYC, after 3,486 performances.
(www.theatermirror.com/TA42sbcp.htm)
1989 Feb 26, The musical "Jerome
Robbins' Broadway" opened at Imperial Theater in NYC for 634
performances.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s0355)
1989 Mar 9, Wendy Wasserstein's
"Heidi Chronicles," first produced by the Seattle Repertory Theater,
opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theater.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4538)
1989 Aug 6, "Oh! Calcutta!" closed
at Edison Theater in NYC after 5959 performances.
(www.totaltheater.com/referencialongrunsbroadwayResultList1.asp)
1989 Sep 3, "Into the Woods"
closed at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 764 performances.
(http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4486)
1989 Sep 20, The musical "Miss
Saigon," premiered in London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Boublil)
1989 Sep 30, Virgil Thomson
(b.1896), gay US composer and critic, died at age 92. His work
included “4 Saints in 3 Acts” (1934), the product of the
collaboration between the closeted gay composer and the extroverted
lesbian poet, Gertrude Stein.
(www.glbtq.com/arts/thomson_v.html)
1989 Nov 12, The Broadway musical
"Grand Hotel," written by George Forrest and Robert Wright, opened at
the Martin Beck Theater for 1018 performances. William A. Drake's 1932
screenplay was based on his own play adaptation of Vicki Baum's novel
Menschen im Hotel.
(SFC, 10/13/99,
p.C2)(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4254)
1990 Nov 3, Mary Martin (b.1913),
Broadway musical actress, died in Rancho Mirage, California. Her roles
included Peter Pan.
(AP,
11/3/00)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Martin#Filmography)
1990 Nov 8, The play "6 Degrees of
Separation," written by John Guare opened at Vivian Beaumont NYC for
496 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4622)
1990 Oct 18, "Les Miserables,"
opened at the Imperial Theatre in NYC.
(http://tinyurl.com/qb53p)
1991 Feb 21, Neil Simon's "Lost in
Yonkers," premiered in NYC.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4632)
1991 Mar 2, "Aspects of Love"
closed at Broadhurst Theater in NYC after 377 performances.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1991 Mar 2, "La Bete" closed at
Eugene O'Neill Theater in NYC after 24 performances.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1991 Mar 3, "Big Love" opened at
Plymouth Theater in NYC for 41 performances.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1991 Mar 26, Marc Camoletti's
"Don't Dress for Dinner" premiered in London.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1991 Apr 3, "Penn & Teller
Refrigerator Tour" opened at Eugene O'Neill in NYC.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4636)
1991 Apr 11, The musical "Miss
Saigon," denounced by detractors as racist and sexist, opened on
Broadway.
(AP, 4/11/01)
1991 Apr 25, "Secret Garden"
opened at St. James Theater in NYC for 709 performances.
(http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4640)
1991 Apr 28, The musical "A Chorus
Line" closed after 6,137 performances on Broadway.
(AP, 4/28/01)
1991 May 1, "Will Rogers Follies"
opened at Palace Theater in NYC for 983 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4643)
1991 May 23, Peter T. Thwaites,
British brig-gen, playwright (Love or money), died.
(www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=723&inst_id=21)
1991 May 29, "Les Miserables"
opened at ACTEA Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1991 Jun 2, "The Will Rogers
Follies" won best musical at Broadway’s Tony Awards; "Lost in Yonkers"
was named best play.
(AP, 6/2/01)
1991 Swamp Gravy, the Official
Folk Life Play of Georgia, began when Joy Jinks was at a meeting in
NYC. She was talking about how she wanted to preserve Colquitt's
heritage and record stories about the community. Richard Geer, a
student who was working on his doctorate degree, overheard this
conversation, and he approached Joy Jinks and said that he wanted to be
involved in the project. The group produced plays with universal appeal
steeped in Southern tradition.
(www.swampgravy.com/index.cfm/id:21)
1992 Jan 19, "City of Angels"
closed at Virginia Theater in NYC after 878 performances.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s0351)
1992 Mar 1, "Little Hotel on the
Side" closed at Belasco in NYC after 41 performances.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s0405)
1992 Mar 1, "Visit" closed at
Criterion Theater in NYC after 45 performances.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s0426)
1992 Mar 22, The show
"Conversations with My Father" opened at the Royale Theatre in NYC for
462 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4669)
1992 Apr 6, Molly Picon (b.1898),
Yiddish actress (Milk and Honey), died of Alzheimer's.
(http://www.jwa.org/exhibits/wov/picon/mp25.html)
1992 Apr 8, "Five Guys Named Moe"
opened at Eugene O'Neill Theater in NYC for 445 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/show.asp?ID=3583)
1992 Apr 13, The opera "Life With
an Idiot" by Alfred Schnittke had its world premier at the Netherlands
Music Theater in Amsterdam.
(SFC, 8/5/93, p.A17)
1992 Apr 14, "Guys and Dolls"
opened at Martin Beck Theater in NYC for 1143 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4679)
1992 Apr 26, The musical "Grand
Hotel" closed at the Martin Beck Theater NYC after 1,017 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4254)
1992 Apr 29, "Falsettos" opened at
John Golden Theater in NYC for 487 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4686)
1992 May 31, "Crazy for You" was
named Broadway's best musical at the Tony Awards; "Dancing at Lughnasa"
was named best play.
(AP, 5/31/97)
1992 Aug 18, "Real Inspector
Hound" opened at Criterion in NYC for 61 performances.
(MC, 8/18/02)
1992 William Bolcom composed his
opera “McTeague.”
(WSJ, 12/15/04, p.D10)
1993 Mar 4, "Goodbye Girl" opened
at Marquis Theater in NYC for 188 performances.
(SC, 3/4/02)
1993 Mar 17, Helen Hayes (92), the
"First Lady of the American Theater," died in Nyack, N.Y. Hayes quit
the theater in 1971 due to severe asthma.
(AP, 3/17/98)(SSFC, 12/2/07, Par p.4)
1993 Apr 13, Tom Stoppard's
"Arcadia," premiered in London.
(www.cherwell.oxon.sch.uk/arcadia/outline0.htm)
1993 Apr 22, Peter Townshend's
rock musical "Tommy," premiered in NYC.
(www.musicalheaven.com/t/tommy.shtml)
1993 May 3, "Kiss of the Spider
Woman" opened at Broadhurst in NYC for 906 performances. John Kander
composed the music and Fred Ebb (d.2004) wrote the lyrics.
(www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/albm57.html)(SFC,
9/13/04, p.B4)
1993 Jul 12, Andrew Lloyd Webber's
musical "Sunset Boulevard" opened in London.
(www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/sunset/)
1993 Sep 5, "Jelly's Last Jam"
closed at Virginia Theater NYC after 569 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4684)
1993 Sep 5, "Will Rogers Follies"
closed at Palace Theater NYC after 983 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/show.asp?ID=9383)
1993 Oct 26, Harold Rome (b.1908),
Broadway composer, lyricist, died. His musicals included Fanny (1954),
Destry Rides Again (1959), and I Can Get It For You Wholesale (1962).
(www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_home_page.asp?exhibitId=238)
1994 Mar 3, "Damn Yankees" opened
at Marquis Theater in NYC for 510 performances.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1994 Apr 5, "Jackie Mason
Politically Incorrect" opened at Golden in NYC for 347 performances.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1994 May 9, "Passion" opened at
Plymouth Theater in NYC for 280 performances.
(www.sjsondheim.com/passion.html)
1994 May 29, "Joseph & the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" closed at Minskoff Theater in NYC after
223 performances.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1994 May 29, "Picnic" closed at
Criterion Theater in NYC after 45 performances.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1994 Jul 16, "Sisters Rosensweig"
closed at Barrymore Theater in NYC after 556 performances.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s0449)
1994 Nov 17, The Andrew Lloyd
Webber musical "Sunset Boulevard" opened at Minskoff Theater on
Broadway with Glenn Close as faded movie star Norma Desmond. It ran for
977 performances.
(AP, 11/17/99)
1995 Mar 2, "Smokey Joe's Cafe"
opened at Virginia Theater in NYC.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1995 Mar 23, "How To Succeed in
Business Without Really Trying" opened at the Roy Rodgers NYC for 548
performances.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1995 Mar 26, "Defending the
Caveman" opened at Helen Hayes Theater in NYC for 671 performances.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1995 Mar 26, "Moliere Comedied"
closed at Criterion Theater in NYC after 56 performances.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1995 Jul 1, "Kiss of the Spider
Woman" closed at Broadhurst in NYC after 904 performances.
(www.chitarivera.com/productions/kiss_of_the_spider_woman.htm)
1995 Oct 25, "Victor/Victoria,"
opened at Marquis Theater NYC for 738 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4310)
1996 Apr 29, "Rent" opened at
Nederlander Theater in NYC.
(www.broadway.com/_grp/groups_show.aspx?SI=1257)
1996 Jun 2, "Rent," "Bring in 'da
Noise, Bring in 'da Funk" and "The King and I" dominated the 1996 Tony
Awards, each winning four prizes.
(AP, 6/2/97)
1996 Nov 17, "Present Laughter"
opened at Walter Kerr Theater NYC.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s0571)
1997 Mar 22, The show "Sunset
Boulevard" closed at Minskoff in NYC after 977 performances.
(http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?id=4275)
1997 Mar 26, "Annie" opened at
Martin Beck Theater NYC.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1997 Apr 28, "Jekyll & Hyde"
opened at Plymouth Theater NYC.
(www.mtishows.com/show_home.asp?id=000181)
1997 May 6, The New York Drama
Critics’ Circle picked "How I Learned to Drive" as the best play for
the ‘96-’97 season. "Violet" was selected as the best musical, and
"Skylight" by David Hare was the best foreign play.
(SFC, 5/8/97, p.A20)
1997 May 18, "King David" opened
at New Amsterdam Theater in NYC.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1997 Jun 8, Reid Shelton (71),
actor (Daddy Warbucks-Annie), died of stroke.
(http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800041047&cf=gen&intl=us)
1997 Nov 13, "Lion King," opened
at New Amsterdam Theater, NYC. It was based on the Disney film.
(www.applause-tickets.com/newyork/thelionking.asp)(SFC, 2/11/04, p.A23)
1998 Jan 25, "Grease" closed at
Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC after 1,503 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4610)
1998 Feb 14, The rock musical
"Hedwig and the Angry Inch" opened off Broadway at the Jane Street
Theater. It was written by John Cameron Mitchell.
(SFC, 11/20/02, p.D1)
1998 Feb 22, Revival of "King
& I," closed at Neil Simon Theater in NYC after 781 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4673)
1998 Mar 1, "Art" opened at Royale
Theater NYC.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1999 William Bolcom composed his
opera “A View From the Bridge.”
(WSJ, 12/15/04, p.D10)
2000 Sep 10, The Broadway show
“Cats” closed after nearly 18 years and 7,485 performances at the NYC
Winter Garden.
(SFC, 9/11/00, p.F4)
2001 Sep 13, "Urinetown" was
scheduled to open on Broadway. It was written by Greg Kotis and Mark
Hollman and closed Jan 18, 2004 after 965 performances.
(SFC, 7/3/03, p.E1)(SFC, 11/4/03, p.D6)
2002 Mar 17, After nearly a year's
run, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick left the Broadway hit musical
"The Producers." They later returned for a limited engagement.
(AP, 3/17/07)
2003 Apr 30, Eric Gupton (b.1960),
founding member of the Black theater troupe Pomo Afro Homos, died in SF
of complications from AIDS. The group’s breakthrough first show was
titled “Fierce Love: Stories From black Gay Life” (1990).
(SFC, 2/18/08, p.E1)
2003 Jun 8, "Hairspray" took firm
hold of the Tony Awards, collecting eight prizes, including best
musical. Brian Dennehy and Vanessa Redgrave won best actor and actress
for their roles in "Long Day's Journey into Night." The best play was
"Take Me Out," Richard Greenberg's play about a gay baseball player.
(AP, 6/9/03)(SFC, 6/9/03, p.D9)
2003 Jun 17, John Redwood (60),
actor and playwright, died in south Philadelphia. His plays included
"No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs" (2001).
(SFC, 7/1/03, p.A17)
2004 Jun 6, In the 58th annual
Tony Awards “Avenue Q” won for best Broadway musical. "I Am My Own
Wife" was named best play; Phylicia Rashad, who starred in a revival of
"A Raisin in the Sun," became the first black actress to win a Tony for
a leading dramatic role.
(SFC, 6/7/04, D1)(AP, 6/6/05)
2004 Deborah Jowitt authored
“Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance.”
(SSFC, 8/15/04, p.M1)
2005 Jun 11, Lillian Lux (86),
star of Yiddish theater, died. She made her name with almost continuous
performances of “A Khasene in Shtetl” (A Village Wedding) from the
1940s.
(Econ, 6/25/05, p.86)
2006 Mar 24, The $24 million
musical production of "Lord of the Rings" at Toronto's Princess of
Wales Theatre met mixed reviews as critics applauded its leaping orcs
and menacing dark riders, but got lost in the tangled plots of Middle
Earth.
(Reuters, 3/27/06)
2006 Oct 22, Arnold Sundgaard,
librettist and playwright, died in Dallas, Texas. He and Kurt Weill
collaborated on the 1948 opera “Down in the Valley.”
(SFC, 11/10/06, p.B8)
2007 Apr 17, Kitty Carlisle Hart
(b.1910), stage and film singer and actress, died in New York.
(AP,
4/17/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Carlisle_Hart)
2007 Jun 10, In the annual US Tony
Awards “Spring Awakening” won as the top musical with 8 awards, and
“Coast of Utopia” by Tome Stoppard won as best play with 7 awards.
(SFC, 6/11/07, p.D3)
2007 Jun 19, "The Lord of the
Rings" musical, the most expensive production in West End history,
opened at London's Theatre Royal to mixed reviews, with some critics
praising it as brilliant and others calling it corny and "a thumping
great flop."
(AP, 6/20/07)
2007 Nov 10, A stagehands strike
shut down most Broadway shows, with curtains rising again 19 days later.
(AP, 11/10/08)
2007 Nov 28, Broadway stagehands
and theater producers reached a tentative agreement on ending a
crippling 19-day-old strike.
(AP, 11/28/08)
2007 Dec 25, Actress Pat Kirkwood
(b.1921), once a star of British musical theater, died.
(AP, 12/26/07)(SFC, 12/29/07, p.B5)
2007 Michael Billington authored
“British Theater since 1945.”
(Econ, 12/1/07, p.100)
2008 Feb 6, The play “Betrayed” by
George Packer opened at Manhattan's Culture Project. It was based on
his article in the New Yorker concerning Iraqis, who have worked with
American forces.
(www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/showpage.php?t=betr6202)
2008 Jun 15, In the annual NYC
Tony Awards “August: Osage County” won 5 awards and the musical “In the
Heights” won 4 awards.
(SFC, 6/16/08, p.E3)
2008 Jul 19, Brazilian actress and
comedian Dercy Goncalves (101), known for her vulgar wit and scandalous
behavior, died in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 29, Luther Davis
(b.1916), Tony-winning playwright and screenwriter, died in the Bronx.
His plays included “Kismet” (1954). In 1978 he turned Kismet into a new
show titled “Timbuktu!”
(www.nytimes.com/2008/08/02/theater/02davis.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss)
2008 Aug 11, George Furth
(b.1932), writer and actor, died in Santa Monica. He wrote the book for
“Company,” a 1971 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen
Sondheim. As an actor he appeared in over 85 films and TV show episodes.
(SFC, 8/12/08, p.B5)
2008 Oct 16, Edie Adams (b.1927),
actress and singer, died. The blonde beauty had won a Tony Award for
bringing Daisy Mae to life on Broadway and played the television foil
to her husband, comedian Ernie Kovacs.
(AP, 10/17/08)
2008 Nov 25, Gerald Schoenfeld
(b.1924), head of the Shubert Organization, died in NYC. From 1972 he
and Bernard B. Jacobs (d.1996) reinvigorated the commercial theater
business.
(SFC, 11/27/08, p.B8)
2008 Dec 8, Robert Prosky (77),
theater, film and TV actor, died.
(SFC, 12/12/08, p.B9)
2008 Christopher Plummer,
Canadian-born Shakespearean actor, authored his memoir “In Spite of
Myself.”
(WSJ, 11/4/08, p.A17)
2009 Mar 15, Actor Ron Silver (62)
died in NYC. He had been fighting esophageal cancer for two years.
Silver won a Tony Award as a take-no-prisoners Hollywood producer in
David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" and did a political about-face from
loyal Democrat to Republican activist after the Sept. 11 attacks.
(AP, 3/16/09)
2009 Apr 25, Beatrice Arthur
(b.1922), stage and TV actress, died. The tall, deep-voiced actress
considered herself lucky to be discovered by television executives
after a long stage career that included a Tony award for the musical
"Mame." Her TV shows included “Maude” (1972-1978) and “The Golden
Girls” (1985-1992).
(AP, 4/26/09)(SSFC, 4/26/09, p.B6)
2009 May 2, In Brazil Augusto Boal
(78), theater director and playwright known for the interactive genre
called the "Theater of the Oppressed," died. Seen as a threat to the
dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985, Boal was
arrested, jailed and tortured before being exiled to Argentina. He
returned to Brazil after the fall of the military regime.
(AP, 5/2/09)
2009 Jun 30, Shi Pei Pu (b.1938),
a Chinese operatic soprano, died in Paris. His affair with French lover
Bernard Boursicot (b.1945), inspired the 1988 play and 1993 film “M.
Butterfly.” Both were arrested for espionage in 1983 and convicted in
1986. Shi was pardoned in 1987.
(SFC, 7/4/09, p.B3)
2009 Jul 2, Pina Bausch (b.1940),
influential German choreographer and dancer, died. She was the artistic
director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, founded in 1973.
(SFC, 7/4/09, p.B3)
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