This Week in Broadway History:
April 13 - 19
🎭OPENING NIGHTS🎭
April 13, 2000: Queenie was a blonde and her age stood still. Well for 68 performances, anyway. The Michael John LaChiusaversion of The Wild Party opened at the Virginia Theatre.
April 14, 1992: The beloved revival of Guys and Dolls starring Nathan Lane, Faith Princeand Peter Gallagheropened at the Martin Beck Theatre, where the floating craps game stayed for 1,143 performances.
April 14, 2011: Ten years ago (!) the epic Best Play War Horseopened at the Vivian Beaumont at Lincoln Center for a run of 718 performances.
April 15, 2009: The Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normalopened its 733 performance run at the Booth Theatre.
April 16, 1985: The ahead-of-its-time (IMHO) musical Grindopened at the Mark Hellinger for a disappointing run of just 71 performances.
April 17, 2019: The reigning Best Musical, Hadestown, opened at the Walter Kerr, where it will return when Broadway does.
April 18, 1994: The Disney Broadway era began on this date when Beauty and the Beastopened at the Palace Theatre. The show would close at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre following a total of 5,462 performances.
April 19, 2015: The Best Musical of 2015, Fun Home, opened at the Circle-in-the-Square and stayed there for 583 performances.
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY🎂
April 13: actor (Baby, Cats) Liz Calloway
April 14: actor (13) Graham Phillips, producer (Wicked, The Band's Visit) Marc Platt
April 15: actor (Hair, Ghost, Frozen) Caissie Levy, actor (The Humans) Arian Moayed
April 16: Tony-winning actors Kelli O'Hara(The King and I) and Ellen Barkin(The Normal Heart)
Reeve Carney Arian Moayed
Kelli O'Hara Nicolette Robinson
April 18: actor (Waitress) Nicolette Robinson, actor (Hadestown) Reeve Carney, Tony-winner (Hello, Dolly!) Gavin Creel
April 13: director Scott Ellis, orchestrator Jonathan Tunick
📆ON BROADWAY THIS WEEK IN 1957📆
So many of the plays and musicals that we consider classics today, were brand new this week in 1957. Take Auntie Mame, for example. Rosalind Russell was packing 'em in at the Broadhurst with this delightful comedy. Then there's the newly opened Orpheus Descendingby Tennessee Williams (at the original Helen Hayes), and what would be that season's Best Play and Pulitzer Prize-winner, Eugene O'Neill's new drama, Long Day's Journey Into Night at the Martin Beck. Maybe Hotel Paradisoisn't a classic, but it is notable for the Broadway debut of one of its cast members, future Mame and Dame, Angela Lansbury.
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