1954 Kim Stanley gets her first star billing today in Horton Foote's drama, The Traveling Lady, as it opens tonight at the Playhouse Theatre. The show closed after 30 performances.

1962 The British revue opening at the John Golden Theatre is definitely Beyond the Fringe. The show, which opens today, runs 673 performances and stars Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett, operating on the periphery of all things normal and straightlaced.

1980 The Actor's Equity Association has an anti-trust suit filed against it today by a group of major playwrights, including David Mamet. The organization is demanding that actors who participate in off-off Broadway showcase presentations be guaranteed work in future productions of the play. The playwrights win, and the guarantee is no longer valid.

1992 John Leguizamo's second major one-man show, Spic-O Rama, opens tonight at the Westside Theatre. His first show, Mambo Mouth, came out in 1991 and it won him an Obie Award. This new show includes his looking at his family from a childhood perspective and will run 80 performances. Mr. Leguizamo will have a third one-man show in 1998, Freak, which wins him a Tony Nomination for Best Play and for Best Actor in a Play.

1995 The Public Theater is host tonight for a show that recounts African-American history through a tap dance revue. George C. Wolfe directs Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk in its pre-Broadway run downtown, which opens tonight. The show, conceived and choreographed by "tap dance kid" Savion Glover, will transfer to Broadway's Ambassador Theatre in April 1996, where it will be nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical. --By Sam Maher and Steve Luber