1844 Actor Sarah Bernhardt is born. "The Divine Sarah" creates many memorable roles in French and English, notably in Alexandre Dumas, fils' classic La Dame aux Camelias, better known as Camille.
1905 Broadway debut of 's "scandalous" drama, Mrs. Warren's Profession, starring as the woman who defends her prostitution as a business like any other.
1928 roar onto Broadway with their rowdy musical comedy by and . It runs 191 performances, and is made into a landmark film comedy with most of the score deleted.
1942 A stage adaptation of 's novel opens on Broadway. directs as Bigger Thomas, a black man whose accidental murder of a white girl awakens a storm of racist fury in a small town. It runs 84 performances.
1958 , and 's comedy about a quiz show winner, opens at the Playhouse Theatre. is the lead, playing a television producer in the production, staged by . The show runs 308 performances.
1963 collaborates with for the first time, directing , which opens at the Biltmore Theatre. and co-star in the comedy, which is made into a movie in 1967. The Broadway production runs 1,532 performances.
1967 stars in the title role of , and 's musical adaptation of the novel The World of Henry Orient, opening at the Palace Theatre. Though critics are not enthusiastic about the show itself, 20-year-old receives raves鈥攁nd a Tony nomination鈥攆or her performance as the conniving Kafritz, stopping the shows with her two solos, "Nobody Steps on Kafritz" and "Poor Little Person." The production only manages to run through the end of the year, closing after 80 performances.
1972 The cast of has "magic to do" as it opens at the Imperial Theatre. , , , , and head the cast of the show about accepting oneself for who you are. The story follows Pippin, son of Holy Roman Empire patriarch Charlemagne, as he realizes he is just not the hero he is or wants to be. Instead he learns to settle down and live life with a hearth and home. The legendary directs and choreographs the show, which wins him rave reviews and a Tony Award. The show has a very successful run of 1,944 performances.
1975 and turn Singer's short story "Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy" into , opening at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. The show, which runs 223 performances, stars as an orthodox Jewish girl who wishes to defy tradition and be educated like the boys. plays the role in the 1983 film, which turns the story into a musical.
1997 A musical adaptation of Marivaux's opens on Broadway. It runs just 85 performances despite a cast packed with current and future stars: , , , , , and .
2002 Chechen rebels wielding guns and explosives seize a large Moscow theatre during a performance of the musical Nord-Ost, taking the audience hostage. After a three-day stand-off, Russian government forces reclaim the building, but not until after the death of 129 hostages from an anesthetic gas pumped into the theatre by the would-be rescuers. No theatregoers are actually executed by the terrorists.
2008 A Broadway revival of , starring , , and , opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. 鈥檚 comedy shows two Hollywood sharks whose movie pitch is interrupted by a pretty temp worker. When Piven withdraws just a few weeks into the run, claiming mercury poisoning, his role is assumed, in turn, by , , and .
2013 and Greg Pierce's The Landing, starring and , opens Off-Broadway at the . directs the show, which is comprised of three mini-musicals tied together by the themes of desire, love, and loss.
2014 's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama opens on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre. Directed by , who had previously helmed the play's Chicago premiere and Off-Broadway run, it stars , , and .
2018 Tony Award winner succeeds as Eliza Doolittle in 's revival of . Benanti stars opposite , who originated the role of Henry Higgins in the production.
More of Today's Birthdays: Rita Gardner (b. 1934). (b. 1945). (b. 1951). (b. 1970). Saycon Sengbloh (b. 1977).
Watch highlights from the 2018 Broadway revival of My Fair Lady with Laura Benanti:
