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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)
1599-1600 “As You Like It,” a pastoral comedy by
William Shakespeare, is believed to have been written about this
time and first published in the folio of 1623. It included a
monologue that begins with the phrase "All the world's a stage" and
catalogues the seven stages of a man's life, sometimes referred to
as the seven ages of man: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier,
justice, pantaloon, and second childhood, "sans teeth, sans eyes,
sans taste, sans everything.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_world%27s_a_stage)
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)
1634 In Oberammergau, Germany,
a re-enactment of the last days of Jesus began to be performed. The
Passion Play was performed from then on every ten years with a few
rare exceptions. In 1633 plague victims had sworn an oath to portray
the suffering and death of the Lord every 10 years.
(WSJ, 5/18/00,
p.A1)(www.passionplay-oberammergau.com/index.php?id=127)
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)
1656 The first performance of
an English opera was given in a room at the Smithfield home of Sir
William Davenant.
(Econ, 11/27/10, p.41)
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)
1714 A British comedy called
“The Winder” was staged.
(Econ, 12/19/09, p.132)
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)
1731 Henry Fielding (1707-1754)
wrote his ballad-opera “The Lottery.”
(Econ, 7/10/10, SR
p.15)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fielding)
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)
1790 Jan 26, Mozart's opera
"Cosi Fan Tutte" premiered in Vienna.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cos%C3%AC_fan_tutte)
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)
1871 Apr 16, John Millington
Synge (d.1909), dramatist and poet, was born in Ireland.
(HN,
4/16/99)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Millington_Synge)
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)
1890 Jan 9, Karel Capek
(d.1938), Czech writer and playwright, was born. He is best
remembered for his 1921 play R.U.R. which contained the first use of
the word "robot."
(Econ, 4/2/11,
p.65)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_%C4%8Capek)
1891 May 15, Jules Massenet's
opera "Griselde," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 5/15/02)
1892 Feb 16, The opera
“Werther” premiered at the Imperial Theatre Hofoper in Vienna. It
was composed in 1887 by French composer Jules Massenet based on
Goethe’s 1774 novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther.”
(SFC, 9/17/10,
p.F1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werther)
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 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 Feb 1, The first
production of Puccini’s opera "La Boheme" was performed in Turin.
(SFC, 5/26/96, SFEM p.4)(AP, 2/1/97)
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)
1896 Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian
playwright, authored “John Gabriel Borkman.” This was Ibsen’s
penultimate play.
(Econ, 1/22/11,
p.100)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gabriel_Borkman)
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 Feb 2, Gustave
Charpentier's opera "Louise" premiered in Paris.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_%28opera%29)
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 24, John Millington
Synge (b.1871), Irish dramatist and poet, died in Dublin. He is best
known for his play “The Playboy of the Western World,” which caused
riots during its opening run at the Abbey Theatre.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Millington_Synge)
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)
1910 In San Francisco the Clay
Theater on Fillmore St. opened as a nickelodeon. The single-screen
theater closed down in 2010.
(SFC, 8/23/10, p.E1)
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)
1929 Sep 16, Boston Mayor
Nichols banned the performance of Eugene O'Neill play "Strange
Interlude" on the grounds that it was obscene. The play had never
been banned anywhere, and many Bostonians wanted to see it, but the
mayor would not change his mind. The mayor of neighboring Quincy,
Mass., allowed the play to be performed there on September 30th, and
it played to sold-out crowds for a month. This was later among
events covered in the book “Censorship of the American Theatre in
the 20th Century” (2003).
(http://tinyurl.com/2ejfsl2)
1930 Mar 16 For the first
time, a live opera performance was transmitted via shortwave from
Dresden Germany and received by NBC in New York, which broadcasted
the event for American listeners. Unfortunately, reception was poor
and Americans only heard about 20 minutes of the opera, "Fidelio."
(NY Times, 3/17/1930, p.33)
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)
1934 Lena Horne (1917-2010)
made her Broadway debut in “Dance With Your Gods.”
(SFC, 5/10/10, p.C4)
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)
1937 Alban Berg (1885-1935),
Austrian composer, wrote his opera "Lulu." It was based on two
dramas by German fin-de-siecle playwright Frank Wedekind
(1864-1918). It tells the story of a sexually attractive dancer who
several men and women become obsessed with, often dying as a result,
and who ends up as a prostitute murdered by Jack the Ripper.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alban_Berg)(AP,
2/5/10)
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)
1939 Lena Horne (1917-2010)
performed in the Broadway revue “Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1939.”
The revue ran for 9 performances.
(SFC, 5/10/10, p.C4)
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 Apr 30, Rene Blum
(b.1878), art critic and impresario, died in Auschwitz. Blum became
director of plays and operettas at Monte Carlo in 1924. In 1931 he
was hired to form the Ballet of the Opera of Monte-Carlo by Prince
Louis II of Monaco. His brother was Leon Blum, the first Jewish
prime minister of France. In 2011 Judith Chazin-Bennahum authored
“Rene Blum and the Ballet Russes: In Search of a Lost Life.”
(SSFC, 8/28/11, p.F4)
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)
1945 Jun 7, The opera "Peter
Grimes" by Benjamin Britten," premiered in London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Grimes)
1945 Dec 27, The play “Home of
the Brave” by Arthur Laurents (1917-2011) premiered on Broadway.
(SSFC, 5/8/11,
p.D9)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Laurents)
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 Sep 9, "Where's Charley?"
closed at St James Theater NYC after 792 performances.
(www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/broadwaytheater/history.html)
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 Jan 3, A revived "Pal
Joey" opened at Broadhurst Theater, NYC, for 540 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pal_Joey_%28musical%29)
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 at the Royal Court
Theater. It was about a love triangle involving an intelligent but
disaffected young man (Jimmy Porter), his upper-middle-class,
impassive wife (Alison), and her haughty best friend (Helena
Charles). 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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_Back_in_Anger)(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 Aug 15, The musical "West
Side Story," composed by Leonard Bernstein and based on a concept by
Jerome Robbins, first opened in Washington D.C. The story was by
Arthur Laurents (1917-2011) and the lyrics were by Stephen Sondheim.
(SFEM, 5/23/99, p.18)(SSFC, 5/8/11, p.D9)
1957 Sep 26, The musical "West
Side Story" by Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins opened on
Broadway and ran for 732 performances. The loose adaptation of
William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" produced several hit songs,
including "Maria" and "Tonight". The story was by Arthur Laurents.
(AP,
9/26/97)(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2639)
1957 Oct 31, Jamaica, a
musical, opened on Broadway at Imperial Theater. The book was by Yip
Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Harold
Arlen. Lena Horne (1917-2010) starred in the musical. It continued
for 558 performances.
(Econ, 5/22/10,
p.91)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_%28musical%29)
1957 Dec 5, The William Inge
play, “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs,” opened at New York's
Music Box Theatre and ran for a total of 468 performances, closing
on January 17, 1959. It was directed by Elia Kazan. The drama was
reworked by Inge from his earlier play, Farther Off from Heaven,
first staged in 1947 at Margo Jones' Theatre '47 in Dallas, Texas.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_at_the_Top_of_the_Stairs)
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 Feb 20, The Broadway play
“The Day the Money Stopped” opened at the Belasco Theater. It
featured the debut of actress Collin Wilcox-Paxton (d.2009 at 74).
(SFC, 10/23/09, p.D5)
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 19, The Broadway show
“First Impressions,” a musical version of Jane Austen’s Pride and
Prejudice, premiered at the Alvin Theater. It featured the theater
debut of film star Farley Granger. The show continued for 84
performances.
(www.janeausten.co.uk/magazine/page.ihtml?pid=426&step=4)(SFC,
3/30/11, p.C4)
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" closed at Winter Garden Theater in NYC after 732
performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2639)
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 Nov 5, The Broadway play
“The 10th Man” by Paddy Chayefsky opened at the Booth Theater. In
1961 it moved to the Ambassador Theater.
(SFC, 10/28/09,
p.D5)(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2794)
1959 Dec 16, In Chicago the
“Second City” improvisational theater was founded.
(Fremontia, 7/09, p.24)
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 Feb 22, The Broadway play
“Come Blow Your Horn” by Neil Simon opened at the Brooks Atkinson
Theater.
(SFC, 10/28/09,
p.D5)(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2294)
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 American Conservatory
Theater was founded by William Ball in 1965 in Pittsburgh. ACT moved
west and settled in at the Geary Theater in SF in 1967.
(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W29)
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, The 21st Tony
Awards were held at the Schubert Theater in NYC. “The Homecoming”
won for Best Play and “Cabaret” won for Best Musical.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Tony_Awards)
1967 Apr 11, Tom Stoppard's
"Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead," was performed by the
Royal National Theater at London’s Old Vic Theater. It had premiered
on Aug 26, 1966, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_and_Guildenstern_Are_Dead)
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)
1967 In Oakland, Ca., H. James
Schlader (d.1010 at 96) and his wife, Harriet, co-founded the
Woodminster Summer Musicals at the WPA-built Woodminster
Amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park.
(SFC, 5/14/10, p.C6)
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)
1974 The first high school
swing choir invitational competition was held at Bishop Luers High
School in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Marion High School's (Indiana) "The
26th Street Singers," under the direction of teacher F. Ritchie
Walton, introduced a new brand of song and dance at the competition
and took home the competition trophy.
(SSFC, 10/3/10, Par
p.4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_choir)
1974 In SF the American
Conservatory Theater (ACT) purchased the Geary Theater. In 2006 it
renamed it as the American Conservatory Theater. The ACT had been
founded by William Ball in 1965 in Pittsburgh. It moved west and
settled in at the Geary Theater in SF in 1967.
(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W29)(SFC, 9/15/06,
p.E2)(http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h2705.html)
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 Apr 21, The Public Theater
staged Larry Kramer’s play about AIDS: “The Normal Heart.” In 2011
the show made its debut on Broadway.
(Econ, 5/7/11,
p.92)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Normal_Heart)
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 Comedies"
closed at Criterion Theater in NYC after 56 performances.
(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=12594)
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 Jan 30, Playwright Wendy
Wasserstein (55) died. She celebrated women confronting feminism,
careers, love and motherhood in such works as "The Heidi Chronicles"
and "The Sisters Rosensweig." She was the first woman to win both a
Tony and Pulitzer prize. In 2011 Julie Salamon authored “Wendy and
the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein.”
(AP, 1/30/06)(Econ, 8/13/11, p.78)
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)
2007 “Show Choir!, The
Musical” by Mark McDaniels and Donald Garverick, made its premiere
at the New York International Fringe Festival. The original musical
comedy was awarded two awards for Overall Excellence. After a very
successful reading in November 2008, the musical is actively making
its way to Broadway.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_choir)
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 Sep 4, The musical “Fela!”
premiered off-Broadway at 37 Arts Theatre B in New York City. It was
based on the work of Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Fela
(1938-1997). In 2010 the show won 3 Tony awards.
(SFC, 8/3/11,
p.E3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela!)
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 Dec 24, Harold Pinter
(78), a Nobel Prize-winning British playwright, died. He was one of
theater's biggest names for nearly half a century. His 32 plays
included "The Birthday Party", "The Dumb Waiter" and "The
Homecoming". His first play, "The Room," appeared in 1957 and his
breakthrough came with "The Caretaker" in 1960. In 2010 Antonia
Fraser published “Must You Go? My Life With Harold Pinter.”
(AFP, 12/25/08)(SSFC, 11/7/10, p.F4)
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 May 19, "Glee," Fox's new
musical comedy, premiered.
(http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/19/entertainment/et-glee19)
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)
2009 Sep 17, In London the
musical play “Enron,” written by Lucy Prebble, opened at the Royal
Court Theater.
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.90)
2009 Oct 6, In London the play
“The Power of Yes,” written by Sir David Hare, opened at the Royal
National Theater.
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.90)
2009 Dec 6, The play “Race,” by
David Mamet, opened on Broadway.
(Econ, 12/12/09, p.95)
2009 In Dallas, Texas, the new
Bill and Margot Winspear Opera House, designed by Norman Foster,
opened on Flora Street in the Dallas Arts District. Across the
street the new Dee and Charles Wyly Theater, designed by Joshua
Prince-Ramos and Rem Koolhaas, also opened.
(Econ, 10/31/09, p.42)
2009 Germany’s Hamburg theater
staged an opera about IKEA, “Wunder von Schweden” (Miracle from
Sweden), a biography of IKEA set to Swedish folk tunes.
(Econ, 2/26/11, p.67)
2010 Jun 13, In the 64th Tony
Awards “Red,” John Logan’s drama about painter Mark Rothko, won as
the top drama. A revival of August Wilson’s “Fences” and the musical
“Memphis” also won top honors.
(SFC, 6/14/10, p.D1)
2010 Jul 2, Stanley Williams,
co-founder of San Francisco’s Lorraine Hansberry Theater (1981),
died at his home in SF. Quentin Easter, his partner and co-founder
of the theater, had died 9 weeks earlier.
(SFC, 7/5/10, p.C5)
2010 Oct 10, Dame Joan
Sutherland (83), renowned Australian opera soprano, died at her home
in Switzerland.
(SFC, 10/12/10, p.C3)
2010 Oct 24, Joseph Stein
(b.1912), playwright, died. Stein wrote the librettos for “Fiddler
on the Roof” (1964) based on stories by Sholom Aleichem, and “Zorba
the Greek” (1968).
(SFC, 11/4/10,
p.A13)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stein)
2010 Nov 3, Jerry Bock,
composer of the score to “Fiddler on the Roof” (1964), died in Mount
Kisco, NY. Bock wrote the score with lyricist Sheldon Harnick.
(SFC, 11/4/10, p.A13)
2010 Nov 5, Jill Clayburgh
(66), Hollywood and Broadway actress, died in Connecticut after a
21-year battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She was known for
portrayals of empowered women in a career spanning five decades,
highlighted by her Oscar-nominated role of a divorcee exploring life
after marriage in the film "An Unmarried Woman" (1978).
(AP, 11/6/10)
2010 Nov 19, The opera “Billy
Blythe” opened in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was created by Bonnie
Montgomery and Britt Barber and focused on one day in the life of
teenager and later US Pres. Bill Clinton.
(Econ, 11/27/10, p.41)
2011 Mar 13, Broadway import
"Legally Blonde The Musical," based on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon
film, picked up this year’s Olivier Award for Best New Musical, in
the Society of London Theatre's prize-giving ceremony at the Theatre
Royal Drury Lane.
(AFP, 3/14/11)
2011 Mar 24, The Book of
Mormon, a new musical collaboration between South Park creators Trey
Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez, premiered
on Broadway.
(www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=488721)
2011 Apr 4, In the northern
West Bank Juliano Mer-Khamis, a well-known actor and theatre
director born of Jewish and Arab parents, died when a gunman opened
fire on his car in the Jenin refugee camp as he was driving home
with his infant son and the babysitter.
(AFP, 4/5/11)
2011
Jun 4, The death of longtime Disneyland performer Betty Taylor was
announced on the Disneyland website. Ms. Taylor, age 91, played the
role of Slue Foot Sue in the Golden Horseshoe Revue. A native of
Seattle, she had been a dancer and stage performer before joining
the cast of the long-running Disneyland production; she performed in
the Revue for three decades. Ironically, her co-star, Wally Boag,
died a day earlier.
(AP, 6/5/11)
2011
Jun 12, At the Tony Awards, the big winner was “The Book of Mormon,”
described by one critic as a “profane and hysterical” musical
comedy, from the creators of the hit TV show “South Park.” The
play earned nine awards, including the year’s Best Musical.
(AP, 6/12/11)
2011 Jun 14, The much-delayed
stage play “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark” finally opened on
Broadway. Originally scheduled to open on February 18, 2010, the
project endured financial problems, accidents that injured several
cast members, and criticism from preview audiences, which led to the
firing of the play’s original director, Julie Taymor.
(AP, 6/15/11)
2011 Oct 1, Francois Abu Salem
(b.1951), a French actor and director and long-time West Bank
resident, died in Ramallah. He was the co-founder of the El-Hakawati
Theatre Company, which later grew into the Palestinian National
Theatre, in east Jerusalem.
(AFP, 10/2/11)
2011 Oct 6, Australian actress
Diane Cilento (78), who was once married to James Bond actor Sean
Connery, died. In 1956 she was nominated for a Tony Award for her
portrayal of Helen of Troy in the play "Tiger at the Gates." She
received an Academy Award nomination in 1963 for best supporting
actress for her work in the movie "Tom Jones."
(AP, 10/7/11)
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