Today In Theatre History: MARCH 8
By Anne Bradley
and Ernio Hernandez
08 Mar 2009
1873 Birthday of singer/actress Anna Held, future wife of Florenz Ziegfeld, and the classic sexy French flirt of her era. She will play this role in a series of musical vehicles including La Poupee, The French Maid, Mam'selle Napoleon, The Parisian Model and Miss Innocence.
1920 Ziegfeld Girls of 1920 enjoys a 78-performance run at the New Amsterdam Roof Theatre. This revue also boasts the talents of Fannie Brice, W.C. Fields, and Lillian Lorraine.
1932 Bert Lahr and Lupe Velez star in Hot-Cha! a musical by Mark Hellinger, Ray Henderson and Lew Brown. It runs 119 performances at the Ziegfeld Theatre. It's the last original musical produced by impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, who dies four months later.
1941 American novelist and playwright Sherwood Anderson died today in Panama. Two of his best known works are "Winesburg, Ohio" and Triumph of the Egg. He was 65 years old. 1960 At the movies, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" was opening, but star Anthony Perkins was returning to the stage to make his musical debut in Frank Loesser's Greenwillow. The production opens today at Broadway's Alvin Theatre. 1999 Everybody's Ruby, Thulani Davis' drama based on a true murder and the writer, Zora Neale Hurston, who covered the trial, opens tonight at the Joseph Papp Public/Anspacher Theater. Phylicia Rashad, of "Cosby Show" fame, stars with staging by Kenny Leon. 1999 Don't be afraid... Night Must Fall. Or maybe you should be. Matthew Broderick stars as Danny, smiling and sinister, in this revival of Emlyn Williams's 1936 thriller. Judy Parfitt and J. Smith-Cameron also star. John Tillinger directs at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre.
More of Today's Birthdays: Eileen Herlie 1920. Cyd Charisse 1921. Paul Shyre 1929. David Cryer 1936. Lynn Redgrave 1943. Carole Bayer Sager 1947.
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