Today in Theatre History: OCTOBER 27
By Robert Viagas
and Sam Maher
27 Oct 2008
1904 The New York City subway system makes its maiden run today. The first line runs right through Times Square, making it much easier for audiences from the far reaches of Manhattan to get to the Broadway theatres quickly and cheaply. Lines to the outer boroughs are added in subsequent years.
1920 Birthday of Nanette Fabray, star of Broadway musicals High Button Shoes, Love Life (Tony Award), Arms and the Girl and Mr. President.
1925 Birthday of Jane Connell, star of smart 1950s revues with her husband, Gordon Connell; later a reliable and beloved character actress in Broadway musicals including Mame (as Agnes Gooch), Dear World, Me and My Girl and Crazy for You.
1952 The first (and unsuccessful) attempt to turn Verdi's Aida into a Broadway musical. Charles Friedman directed and supplied lyrics for Verdi's music. The show runs 89 performances at the Winter Garden. A successful adaption would come along in 2000, but only after jettisoning Verdi's score.
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 straitlaced.
1964 Robert Preston returns to Broadway in the title role of Ben Franklin in Paris, with a score by Mark Sandrich, Jr. and Sidney Michaels. It runs 215 performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
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 The playwrights win, and the guarantee is no longer valid.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 win a Tony Award for Best Choreography, and be nominated for Best Musical.
2005 Producers co-stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick re-team for a revival of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, which sells out its limited run and an extension.
More of Today's Birthdays: Dylan Thomas 1914. Ruby Dee 1924. John Cleese 1939.
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