1886 Birthday of writer/director , whose work for the revues Ziegfeld Follies, Greenwich Village Follies, and John Murray Anderson's Almanac helps launch and further the careers of countless Broadway stars.
1919 The Hudson Theatre plays host to the opening of Clarence, a new comedy by . The play, about a diffident entomologist who teaches a family persistence and values, stars and a young . Variety reports that Hayes is "delicious all the way" and proclaims that she is a "child prodigy."
1924 Walter Winchell's first daily article appears in the New York Evening Graphic. Titled "Your Broadway and Mine," it is Winchell's first Broadway column and, accordingly, he is the first Broadway columnist. The news of the day is that has left in a dispute over stage time.
1929 is born. She is the wife of (to whom she was married on this day in 1954) and mother of . She stars with Jerry in 's in 1956, 's in 1970, 's in 1988, and the revival of 's in 1993. She also scores an off-Broadway success with her first play, After-Play.
1955 's and Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera was a flop in its , but its at the Theatre de Lys, with a new translation by , is a sensation and goes on to run more than 2,600 performances. The cast includes , , , , and Weill's widow, . Despite being an Off-Broadway production, and Lotte Lenya are both nominated for Tony Awards, and Lenya wins for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
1978 The musical revue , celebrating the music of , opens at Broadway's Ambassador Theatre. The production features and brother in the cast. At the opening night curtain, 95-year-old Blake takes a bow. The show lasts 439 performances and closes October 7, 1979.
2000 makes her debut as the obscure and tortured transsexual rock singer in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The actor, known for her work in films such as The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, and High Art, is the first female to play Hedwig. Previously, only male actors had filled the role: the show's creator , , and . The musical opened at the Jane Street Theatre on February 14, 1998 and closes April 9, 2000, after 12 previews and 857 performances.
2001 and 's opens on Broadway, having worked its way up from Fringe Festival to Off-Broadway to Broadway, and having postponed its planned September 13 opening in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The oddly titled and themed musical goes on to win 2002 Tony Awards for Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical ().
2007 Lucy Thurber's Scarcity, starring Kristen Johnston, Michael T. Weiss, and Jesse Eisenberg, opens at Atlantic Theatre Company. Directed by Jackson Gay, the cast also includes Maggie Kiley, Meredith Brandt, Todd Weeks, and Miriam Shor.
2012 makes his U.S. stage debut in the American premiere of 's If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet. Opening Off-Broadway at the 's Laura Pels Theatre, the cast also includes , Michelle Gomez, and . directs the play about an overweight 15-year-old girl whose life is changed by the arrival of her estranged uncle.
More of Today's Birthdays: (1878鈥�1968). (1899鈥�1980). (1925鈥�2012). (1927鈥�1980). Ted Neeley (b. 1943). (b. 1966). (b. 1967). (b. 1984).
John Cullum and cast in Urinetown
