1887 Birthday of legendary director, whose long life (107 years) and colossal catalog (more than 110 Broadway shows, sometimes also as producer, writer, or even actor) remains unparalleled. Among his projects were the original productions of , , , , , , , , , , and literally dozens more.
1952 's musical , set in the world of mountain summer resorts, opens a 598-performance run at the Imperial Theatre. , , and star, and Bond later wins a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The show is memorable for featuring a swimming pool on stage.
1973 The Theater Development Fund's TKTS booth opens for business at Broadway and 47th street. The booth proves a landmark of the New York theatre world by providing same-day tickets to audiences to many performances, both on Broadway and Off, at discounted prices.
1979 After delaying the start of previews twice鈥攁nd the opening night once鈥� finally opens on Broadway at the Minskoff Theatre. The musical about a disco-hating saleswoman who becomes the queen of her local dance club closes a week later, after eight performances. At the time, it was the most expensive musical ever mounted on Broadway.
1980 Gus Weil's play To Bury a Cousin, originally saw the stage in 1967. It now receives an Off-Broadway revival at the Cherry Lane Theatre, where it is directed by and features and .
1990 is rocking and rolling Off-Broadway as his Jekyll and Hyde is turned into a rock musical, courtesy of composer , with a book and lyrics by and Marta Kauffman. Seven years later, tries his hand at the dual-personality drama .
1991 Two couples find themselves celebrating the Fourth of July on Fire Island together when 's play Lips Together, Teeth Apart, opens at the at City Center. The play stars and , and and , as the two married pairs. Following a successful engagement, the production transfers to Off-Broadway's Lucille Lortel Theatre for a commercial run in January 1992.
1998 's play opens at the 's Stage Right Auditorium as a last-minute replacement production. Under the direction of is a cast including , , and . Upon its closing at the Roundabout, the jazz-themed comedy drama takes up shop for an open-ended commercial run at Broadway's John Golden Theater, with movie star replacing Sella as the narrator, Clifford. Come June, the play, by now having been cited as a Pulitzer Prize finalist, wins Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Featured Actor for Wood, as the side man himself.
2004 Musical Theatre Works, the not-for-profit Off-Broadway company that created and developed new musicals for 21 years, announces that it will shutter effective immediately.
2009 A music-filled Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night, starring , , , and , opens at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Directed by , it features an original score by Brooklyn-based folk-rock band Hem.
2013 A new musical version of 's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, featuring a score by and , opens in London at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The production is directed by , and stars as Willy Wonka. A revised version of the musical, directed by and starring ,
2018 David Ireland鈥檚 Cyprus Avenue, starring Stephen Rea, opens Off-Broadway at the Public Theater. In it, Rea plays a "non-negotiably British" Belfast Unionist who sees an uncanny likeness between his new-born granddaughter and the Irish republican leader, Gerry Adams.
2018 The world premiere of Log Cabin, by Jordan Harrison, opens at Playwrights Horizons, directed by Tony winner . In it, a group of gays and lesbian friends consider the new mainstream through the eyes of their transgender friend. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Phillip James Brannon, Cindy Cheung, Ian Harvie, Talene Monahon, and Dolly Wells star.
More of Today's Birthdays: (1890鈥�1977). (1915鈥�1998). (1924鈥�2011). (b. 1940). (b. 1951). (b. 1963). (b. 1969). Brandi Burkhardt (b. 1979). Killian Donnelly (b. 1984). (b. 1985).
Laura Bell Bundy and cast of Legally Blonde
Annaleigh Ashford in Wicked
