1881 Birth of Pelham Grenville Wodehouse鈥� to theatre lovers鈥攊n England. He writes a series of "Jeeves" stories as well as many Broadway musicals including and (lyrics), and (librettos), and (additional lyrics), and writes the words to the song "Bill," heard in .
1928 directs and co-stars with in a Broadway production of 's that runs 63 performances.
1930 A new musical revue opens on Broadway: , with a book by and much of its music from . In the cast are , , , , and . Some memorable songs are introduced in the show, including "Body and Soul" and "Something to Remember You By." The revue runs 272 performances.
1938 plays the 16th president in 's , which goes on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
1952 plays a lonely American looking for love in Venice in ' . The show runs for 263 performances at the Empire Theatre. David Lean's 1955 screen version, Summertime, stars . It is also reincarnated in the form of and 's 1965 musical
1953 plays an American captain learning how to live with the natives on occupied Okinawa in 's drama , which wins both the Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
1969 Broadway audiences get the effects of the post-war 60's as many performances, both on Broadway and off, are canceled due to Vietnam Moratorium Day. Producer cancels the performance of that was scheduled for the evening. The cast is paid, though. Although its shows are performed, the proceeds from go to various charities of the cast's choice. , the star of , doesn't go on, although producer says it is a breach of contract. Many Off-Broadway performances are canceled, and even national tours are affected. , performing in Dallas in Cabaret, threatens to take out a newspaper ad explaining his absence. He misses tonight's performance.
1987 Grateful Dead frontman makes his Broadway debut with the concert show at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
2003 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joins artistic director and executive producer in firing a confetti cannon on West 47th Street to rededicate the refurbished . The theatre that once housed Hair and has been dark since 1987 and came close to being demolished. Instead, backed by a $27 million capital campaign, and an accompanying multi-use tower that made it all financially feasible, the 1925-vintage playhouse relights as MTC's new Broadway flagship. It is renamed the Samuel J. Friedman, after the Broadway publicist, in 2008.
2003 89-year-old playwright (, ) has a late-career hit with , a drama about Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. Gibson and star earn Tony nominations for their work. The production runs 493 performances.
2009 Rebuilt from (below)鈥坱he ground up, the 1918 vintage Henry Miller鈥檚 Theatre reopens with 's production of . , , , , , and star in the first Broadway revival of the 1960 musical about a rock singer whose manager plans one last publicity stunt before he鈥檚 drafted into the army.
2018 Donja R. Love's Fireflies makes its world premiere Off-Broadway with Atlantic Theater Company. Set in the Jim Crow South, the piece is the second in the writer's "Love Plays" trilogy, which explores Black, queer love across crucial points in American history. Saheem Ali directs, with Khris Davis and DeWanda Wise starring.
More of Today's Birthdays: (1887鈥�1956). (1879鈥�1967). (1893鈥�1985). (1918鈥�1994). (1924鈥�1999). (b. 1937) Paige Davis (b. 1969). (b. 1971).
Julie Knitel, Emma Rowley (back), Allison Strong, John Stamos, Deanna Cipolla (back), Jillian Mueller and Catherine Blades in Bye Bye Birdie.
