1872 Birthday of , Broadway's first Peter Pan, who originates the role in 1904, and returns at least three times through 1915.
1918 Birthday of , rotund character actor who memorably originates the roles of Nicely-Nicely Johnson in and Marryin' Sam in .
1924 The original New York production of 's opens at the Greenwich Village Theatre. Starring , , and , it runs for 49 weeks.
1937 The actors play in street clothes against an almost bare, brick backdrop in a production of 's , which opens at the Mercury Theatre. The production proves especially popular with the younger audiences who "rejoiced over this bizarre business because it was in fashion," reports Burns Mantle in his The Best Plays of 1937鈥�1938. Playing Brutus is a young , also the producer and director. The production runs almost five months, racking up 157 performances.
1941 and open a production of at the National Theatre that achieves a run of 131 performances, a Broadway record for the play.
1943 The songwriting team of and make their Broadway debut with a now-forgotten musical, , which stars and is directed by . It runs just 63 performances at the National Theatre. The team goes on to write , , and , among other shows.
1958 French import opens at the Royale Theatre. The title makes no sense鈥攚hich is exactly the point of the madcap revue, plumed by .
1963 stars as a Hitler-like man who goes from nothing to dictatorial power, in the U.S. premiere of 's . Despite direction by , incidental music by , and an impressive gathering of supporting talent, the production expires after just 8 performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
1964 is in the air for 901 performances of 's satire. The original cast includes , , and , directed by .
1985 The Golden Land, a revue recalling the golden days of the Yiddish theatre, opens at the Second Avenue Theatre and runs for 277 performances.
1990 weeps on stage and goes on to win a Tony Award for his performance as Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis in the drama , opposite . It runs 169 performances at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
2000 Comic actor , still seeking answers to meaning in human existence, brings her 1985 solo hit, 's , back to Broadway. Wagner re-approaches the show with a fresh eye in anticipation of the new millennium, according to a statement. In it, Tomlin portrays a teen punk, a wise bag lady, hookers, a fitness freak, a husband, a lesbian editor, and others. The show runs 184 performances.
2001 Times Square's legendary "Polish Tea Room" (formally the Cafe Edison) is the setting for Neil Simon's latest comedy, , which has , , and popping off lots of theatrical insider jokes. Nevertheless, it stays just 73 performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, which is just across the street from the Edison's back door.
2003 , the Tony-nominated playwright who chronicled life in Hoboken, New Jersey, in plays like , dies at age 67.
2004 New York sees a rare play premiere. The one-act play The Fat Man's Wife has its New York debut as part of 's Off-Broadway Williams multiple-bill Five by Tenn featuring , , and .
2010 The Broadway bow of , starring as Pee-wee, opens at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The cast includes three performers who created their characters in the original version at the Groundlings Theatre in 1981: as Mailman Mike, as Jambi the Genie, and as Miss Yvonne.
More of Today's Birthdays: 1887. 1889. 1909. 1960. 1964.
Watch highlights from The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway
