1925 Texas Guinan and Jack Haley Sr. star in the revue Gay Paree, which opens a 190-performance run at the Shubert Theatre today.

1969 Christian Slater is born today. He will become a teen sensation in such films as "Heathers," "Interview With the Vampire," and "True Romance" before returning to his stage roots during the 1998-1999 Broadway season. Slater played Clifford, mid-run, in the 1999 Tony Award-winning play, Side Man at the John Golden Theatre. TV actor Scott Wolf would later play the role as well.

1981 Playwright and screenwriter Anita Loos dies today. Her play, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, was the basis for the popular stage musical of the same name. That musical, which starred Carol Channing, was filmed with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in 1953.

1999 The Donkey Show, described as a "Midsummer Night's disco," opens for a six-week limited engagement at New York City's Club El Flamingo. Created and directed by Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner, the show sets Shakespeare's classic comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream into the 1970s disco scene where a nightclub impresario Oberon and disco diva Titania find themselves in the midst of a timeless lovers' quarrel. Donkey features disco era songs like "I Love the Nightlife," "Ring My Bell," "Car Wash," and "You Sexy Thing."

2002 Broadway gets its first revival of The Boys From Syracuse since the 1939 original. The revival stars Tom Hewitt, Erin Dilly, Lee Wilkof, Chip Zien and Georgia Engel.

More of Today's Birthdays: Jack Pickford 1896. Shelley Winters 1920. Robert Redford 1937. Patrick Swayze 1952. Christian Slater 1969.