1954 Playwright and actor is born. He wins Tony Awards for writing and performing in his play , as well as for his book for the musical , and his performance as Edna Turnblad in . Other dramas include the plays and , and the books for the musicals , , and . As an actor, Fierstein becomes a familiar face in Hollywood after hits such as Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day.
1971 Stage legend takes her final bow. Upon finishing her last performance of Long Day鈥檚 Journey Into Night at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., Hayes retires due to acute asthma after a stage tenure of five decades.
1972 Playwright makes his stage debut in the Off-Broadway production of his play Small Craft Warnings. His run is both unexpected and short-lived, however; Williams was simply filling in for three performances for the actor who regularly played the role.
1979 Broadway and film actor dies. Haley is best known for playing the Tin Man in the classic film The Wizard of Oz.
1985 Herb Gardner鈥檚 play, I鈥檓 Not Rappaport, about growing old as seen through the friendship between a black man and a white man, opens Off-Broadway at the American Place Theatre. The play starring and plays 181 performances before to win Hirsch and Gardner Tony Awards for Best Actor and Best Play.
2000 On the 25th anniversary of 鈥檚 , Tony-winning choreographer () mounts a version of the play at the American Place Theatre in New York. Carol Jean Lewis, Eleanor McCoy, Lizan Mitchell, Novella Nelson, J. Ieasha Prime, Katharine J. Smith, and Jackee star as the women representative of seven colors.
2002 and headline a concert of and 鈥檚 Carousel at New York鈥檚 Carnegie Hall. Jackman plays Billy Bigelow and McDonald plays Julie Jordan in the one-night-only event that benefits the famed music hall. Also on stage: as Enoch Snow, as Nettie Fowler, as Carrie Pipperidge, as Mrs. Mullin, as the Starkeeper, as Jigger Craigin, and original Carousel star as narrator.
2002 , legendary booker and producer of national tours, dies at age 72. Time magazine dubs him "King of the Road."
2004 After a campaign urging Tony voters to 鈥渧ote your heart,鈥� is the surprise winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical, beating the heavily favored .
2011 The American premiere of Through a Glass Darkly, Jenny Worton鈥檚 adaptation of 鈥檚 Oscar-winning film, opens Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop. Produced by , the drama about a woman newly released from an asylum stars , , , and Ben Rosenfield.
2016 鈥檚 has its second coming on Broadway, as opens in the comedy at the Booth Theatre. The play was previously seen on Broadway in 2015, with in the role of God.
More of Today鈥檚 Birthdays: Dorothy Heyward (1890-1961). Max Casella (b. 1967). Paul Giamatti (b. 1967). Gideon Glick (b. 1988). Ashley Park (b. 1991).
Gabriel Ebert and Harvey Fierstein in Gently Down the Stream
