PLAYBILL VAULT'S Today in Theatre History: AUGUST 24

By David Gewirtzman
and Ernio Hernandez and Doug Nevin
24 Aug 2012

1985 Morrie Ryskind dies in his home in Washington, DC. The playwright who collaborated with George S. Kaufman, Ira Gershwin, and George Gershwin on three musicals, Strike Up the Band, Let 'Em Eat Cake and Of Thee I Sing. The latter garnered Ryskind and cohorts the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He was 89 years old at the time of his death.

1988 Stage and film actor Leonard Frey, who appeared in the original production of Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band, dies today of AIDS. Frey also appeared as Mendel, the Rabbi's son, in the original 1964 production of Fiddler on the Roof, and received an Oscar nomination for his performance as Motel, the tailor, in the 1971 film version.

2008 The Phantom of the Opera puts down his mask for four performances starting today at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway while technicians invade his lair and upgrade the sound system. Producers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh take the unusual step of temporarily closing down the longest-running show in Broadway history "to bring the production's sound design technology into the 21st century."

Today's Birthdays: James William Wallack 1795. Max Beerbohm 1872. Nedda Harrigan Logan 1899. Durward Kirby 1912. Jessica Boevers 1972.