1896 Birthday of , one of Broadway's most sterling lyricists, mainly in collaboration with his brother . Ira's musicals include ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and in adaptations after his death, , , , and .
1916 For Her Soldier Boy, adapts her book to 's score, with additional music by . The tale of a soldier returning from war opens at the Astor Theatre. It runs for 198 performances.
1939 What dreams does a nightclub men's room attendant dream? If that attendant is , he's dreaming he's Louis XV and this must be . co-stars. supplies the music and lyrics to the book written by and .
1944 The timely rings in at the Cort Theatre. stars as an American officer trying to help the defeated Italians rebuild their lives. adapts 's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
1956 Ethel Merman stars as an American widow who travels to Monaco looking for a husband for her daughter and an invitation to Grace Kelly's wedding for herself in Happy Hunting, which opens today at the Majestic Theatre. Though the production ran for 412 performances, Merman will view the production as unsuccessful due to a score by the untested duo of Harold Karr and Matt Dubey. The experience will inspire her to later reject Stephen Sondheim as the composer-lyricist of Gypsy, pairing him as lyricist with more-than-established composer Jule Styne instead.
1972 Jennie Linden is My Fat Friend, at London's Globe Theatre. The play continues right through to the following season.
1991 It is announced that the Nederlanders have decided to sell the to the Times Square Church, as it remains to this day. The Hellinger was the theatre where and starred in the original Broadway production of in 1956.
2001 Less than three months after the 9/11 attacks, the downtown Flea Theater opens a new play about a fire chief trying to compose eulogies for his dead men. and Bill Murray star. The Guys becomes a long-running hit, and is adapted for film.
2004 Gem of the Ocean, the ninth play in August Wilson's Century Cycle opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre starring Tony Award winner , and LisaGay Hamilton, with John Earl Jelks and Raynor Scheine. directs. The story, set in 1904, begins on the eve of the 287th birthday of Aunt Ester (a recurring character in Wilsonβs play cycle). Citizen Barlow, a man who is in spiritual turmoil, arrives at Aunt Esterβs house in Pittsburgh's Hill District and is soon set off on a spiritual journey to find the mythic City of Bones.
2009 Playwright confronts the issue of racial prejudice in America with his drama , which opens on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. , , , and star in the play about a law firm with one white partner and one black partner who take the case of a white man charged with a sex crime against a black woman.
2011 The East Village stage of takes the form of a Dublin pubβcomplete with booze bottles, smoky mirrors, and sepia-glowing incandescent bulbsβfor the Manhattan premiere of the Irish-pop and folk-infused musical Once, based on the hit indie film. Featuring the music of and , and starring and , the production the following year, and wins the Tony Award for Best Musical.
2012 A revival of , ' 1937 drama about a young musician who takes a gamble on his own artistic dreams when he enters the boxing ring, opens at the Belasco Theatre. Directed by , it stars in the central role of Joe Bonaparte.
2015 , the first new show to open on Broadway in a decade, opens at the Winter Garden Theatre, where his ran for nearly 18 years. The musical is based on the 2003 film about a down-and-out rock guitarist who gets a job as a substitute teacher. and star.
2018 returns to Broadway in a stage adaptation of the 1976 film , opening at the Belasco Theatre. The production, first seen at London's the previous year, is directed by and has a script by , based on the screenplay. Cranston wins a Tony Award for his performance as news anchor Howard Beale.
More of Today's Birthdays: (1859-1933). (1887-1983). (1898-1979). (1900-1985). (1900-1974). (1924-1973). (1928-1980). (b. 1945). (b. 1953). (b. 1978).
