1962 A New York theatregoing tradition is born as the Delacorte Theater in Central Park first opens, with a production of The Merchant of Venice starring . The construction of the famed home of free Shakespeare is made possible by a $400,000 donation from George Delacorte of Dell Publishing.
1963 The 1876 vintage in East Haddam, Connecticut, reopens after an extensive renovation as a headquarters for musicals. The first show in the new series is Oh Lady, Lady. Among productions to land on Broadway are , , and .
1998 A New Brain, the latest work from composer , opens at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in New York's Lincoln Center. The musical, about a composer who faces the possibility of death from a brain tumor, stars , , , , and .
2000 Solo performer brings her Surface Transit to New York City's downtown mecca Performance Space 122. The show headlines the First NYC Hip-Hop Theatre Festival, produced by and also starring (Jails, Hospitals, & Hip-Hop). In the piece, Jones embodies eight widely varied characters that range from a raving bag lady to a widowed Russian mother to a narrow-minded Jewish grandma to a recovering hip-hop rhyming addict turned-slam poet. She later uses this experience as a springboard for her 2006 Tony-winning play .
2010 The City Center Encores! Summer Stars production of the - musical The Wiz, which boasts R&B artist as Dorothy, opens at the New York venue. Directed by , the cast also includes Orlando Jones at The Wiz, as Glinda, Tichina Arnold as Evillene, Christian Dante White as the Scarecrow, James Monroe Iglehart as the Lion, and Joshua Henry as the Tinman .
2012 and 鈥攂oth veterans of 's Shakespeare in the Park鈥攑lay star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, respectively, in a one-night-only gala staged reading of the classic at the Delacorte Theater. The all-star cast also includes as Mercutio, as Benvolio, as Tybalt, as Friar Laurence, and as Nurse.
2018 LCT3 presents the Off-Broadway premiere of Antoinette Nwandu鈥檚 Pass Over, opening at Lincoln Center's Claire Tow Theater. The contemporary mashup of and the Exodus saga, centers on two young black men who dream of a better existence beyond their street corner. The cast includes Jon Michael Hill, Namir Smallwood, and Gabriel Ebert.
Today's Birthdays: (1896鈥�1949). (1904鈥�1991). (1913鈥�1993). (1914鈥�1998). (b. 1928). (b. 1934.; (b. 1939). (b. 1941). (b. 1952). (b. 1971). (b. 1977).
