VIDEO: On This Day, May 9- AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ Opens On Broadway
On this day in 1978, the musical revue Ain’t Misbehavin’ opened on Broadway
Playbill Vault’s Today in Theatre History: May 9
1860 Birthday of James M. Barrie, British author and playwright whose creations include What Every Woman Knows, The Little Minister, The Admirable Crichton, and the work that makes him immortal, Peter Pan.
1921 Robert Atkins directs William Shakespeare‘s Pericles for Lilian Baylis at London’s Old Vic Theatre. This continues the cycle that began in 1914 and ends in 1923, when all 37 of the Bard’s works have been performed.
1940 Laurence Olivier produces, designs, directs, and stars in Romeo and Juliet on Broadway at the 51st Street Theatre. Playing Juliet to Olivier’s Romeo is his fiancée, Vivien Leigh.
1956 In The House by the Lake lives a woman who was saved from suicide by her husband years before through hypnosis. Now he plans to bring her to commit the act, again through hypnosis. Hugh Mills‘ thriller draws audiences for 928 performances at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London.
1972 The children’s classic Tom Brown’s Schooldays is adapted by Joan and Jack Maitland with a score by Chris Andrews. Adam Walton and Roy Dotrice are in the cast at the Cambridge Theatre in London.
1978 Ain’t Misbehavin’, a revue based on the music of Fats Waller, opens at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. Nell Carter, Ken Page, Charlaine Woodard, and André De Shields are in the cast. It wins the Tony Award for Best Musical and runs 1,604 performances.
1982 On the ninth day of May, Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston open their musical Nine at Broadway’s 46th Street Theatre. Tommy Tune directs a cast that includes Raúl Juliá and a slew of women, including Karen Akers, Anita Morris, and Liliane Montevecchi. The musical was inspired by the film 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini. Less than a month later, it wins the Tony Award for Best Musical.
1994 Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine‘s musical about obsessive love, Passion, opens on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre. Based on the 1981 film Passione D’Amore, it stars Marin Mazzie, Jere Shea, and Donna Murphy under Lapine’s direction. It runs 280 performances, and wins the Tony Award for Best Musical.
2005 The Broadway theatres long known as the Plymouth and the Royale are renamed by the Shubert Organization in honor of longtime leaders Gerald Schoenfeld and the late Bernard B. Jacobs.
2007 Audra McDonald and Steve Kazee star as spinster Lizzie Curry and con man Bill Starbuck in this first Broadway revival of 110 in the Shade since its 1963 main stem premiere. Based on the play The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash, the musical features a book by Nash with lyrics and by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt.
2011 Lynn Nottage‘s By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, about an African-American maid and her white movie-star employer in the Golden Age of Hollywood, opens Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater. The world premiere production stars Sanaa Lathan as the title character, with Stephanie J. Block as her boss.
2012 Top Hat, a stage version of the 1935 film of the same name with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, opens at the West End’s Aldwych Theatre. The production, which stars Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen in the roles created in the film by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, wins the 2013 Olivier Award for Best Musical.
2019 MCC Theater celebrates the opening of the Off-Broadway premiere of Aziza Barnes’ BLKS. Robert O’Hara directs the new comedy, which follows a trio of 20something women hunting for intimacy and purpose in New York City. Leading the cast are Paige Gilbert, Alfie Fuller, and Antoinette Crowe-Legacy.
More of Today’s Birthdays Leonard Sillman (1908-1982). Fay Kanin (1917-2013). Alan Bennett (b. 1934). Albert Finney (1936-2019). Glenda Jackson (b. 1936). Candice Bergen (b. 1946). Justin Vivian Bond (b. 1963). Christopher Shinn (b. 1975). Grace Gummer (b. 1986).
Look Back at Liliane Montevecchi and the Cast of Nine on Broadway
Billy Porter, Heather Headley, Alex Newell, More to Appear on AIDS Walk: Live at Home
AIDS Walks Across America is going virtual for a second year with a televised and streaming event that will feature appearances and performances from Ann-Margret, Billy Porter, Heather Headley, Rita Moreno, Tony Goldwyn, Liz Callaway, Alex Newell, Rosie Perez, Carson Kressley, George Takei, and stars from RuPaul’s Drag Race. AIDS Walk: Live at Home will be broadcast on ABC7/KGO-TV in the San Francisco area and streamed live on CBSN and AIDSWalk.net May 16 beginning at 1 PM ET.
The event, a collaboration between AIDS Walk organizations in six states, will benefit GMHC, Vivent Health, CrescentCare, AIDS Walk San Francisco Foundation, Lifelong, and dozens of other AIDS organizations. Since its founding in 1985, AIDS Walk events have raised more than $155 million to help end the spread of an epidemic that still touches millions of people worldwide, disproportionately so in BIPOC and queer communities.
“As we mark the 40th year of AIDS in America, we are inspired by the coming together of AIDS Walks from all across the United States,” says US AIDS Walks founder Craig R. Miller. “The local community partners and I are so very excited to continue to work alongside these outstanding participating organizations. Together, we will continue to fight as one for an end to the AIDS epidemic.”
Viewing parties are planned for the event at New York City’s Central Park Boathouse and the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
For more information, visit AIDSWalk.net.
Meet the Stars of Stage Door: Jonalyn Saxer Shares Her Love of Sutton Foster and Taylor Swift!
Today, we’re getting to know Mean Girls vet Jonalyn Saxer, with whom you can book a shoutout today
Wake Up With BWW 5/6: Broadway to Reopen at 100% Capacity in September, and More!
Today’s top stories Broadway will reopen at 100 capacity in September, Waitress revival in the works starring Sara Bareilles, and more
Andrew Cuomo Says Broadway Shows Will Open at Full Capacity September 14
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in a May 5 press conference that Broadway shows, after being shut down for over a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, would reopen at 100 percent capacity beginning September 14. He added that tickets would go on sale beginning May 6.
The governor did not specify in his remarks exactly which shows are planning to operate on this timeline—productions are expected to welcome back audiences on a rolling basis based on their individual needs, including hirings and rehirings and varying amounts of rehearsal.
The Broadway League, the trade organization that represents producers, theatre owners, and other key decision makers in the reopening process, confirmed the fall target (albeit without the specific date) shortly after Cuomo’s announcement, noting that the timeline still depends on the state government’s final approval of each theatre operator’s health and safety protocols.
Earlier this week, Cuomo gave Broadway and other tri-state area theatres logistical clearance for this major step, saying that most remaining capacity restrictions would be lifted May 19. However, venues would still have to abide by CDC guidelines on social distancing, rendering it impossible for a theatre with fixed seating to welcome a pre-pandemic-sized audience. Moreover, the industry needs to tie up myriad loose ends before raising the curtain, ranging from new agreements with the various unions involved to reaching and persuading would-be ticket buyers to return.
READ: New York to Lift Capacity Restrictions on Broadway and More Beginning May 19
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio had previously said he intends to “fully reopen” the city July 1 should state mandates allow. Cuomo’s follow-up now echoes de Blasio’s conjecture that September is a more realistic, if optimistic, goal for Broadway specifically.
League President Charlotte St. Martin said that Cuomo’s decision signifies that he “clearly recognizes the impact of Broadway’s return on the city and state’s economy and the complexity of restarting an entire industry that has been dormant.” Broadway’s economic contributions have been at the center of many industry arguments for funding and relief during the shutdown; in the last full theatre season, the League says, Broadway welcomed 14.77 million theatregoers (more people than New York’s 10 major sports teams combined), contributing to nearly $15 billion to the New York economy and supporting employment for roughly 97,000 people.
So far, only new shows have announced exact opening dates. Diana, which played nine preview performances prior to the March 12, 2020, shutdown, says it will resume December 1; the revival of The Music Man expects to begin previews December 20. With this latest update, theatregoers can expect to see campaigns from long-running favorites announcing their own returns in the coming weeks.
BWW Exclusive: Listen to Excerpts from New Episodes of BROADWAY GIVES BACK Focusing on Behind-the-Scenes Philanthropy
Philanthropy unites Broadway stars like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Gloria Estefan, Judith Light, and more. The Broadway Gives Back Podcast spotlights Broadway actors, shows, and organizations in their pursuit of social impact and doing good. Our talented guests will share stories about their favorite charities, how they got involved, and the people and causes who have benefited from these philanthropic efforts. The latest episodes feature Damian Bazadona Situation, Greg Propper Propper Daley, and BroadwayWorld’s own Robert Diamond.
In the News: Lea Salonga, David Henry Hwang Named to API Impactful Leaders List, Rock-Baroque Hybrid My Cyrano to Play NYC
Read on for some recent theatre headlines you may have missed in today’s news.
Lea Salonga, David Henry Hwang, More Named to API Impactful Leaders List
A number of Asian and Pacific Islander theatre artists were included on Gold House’s 2021 A100 List, honoring API individuals who have made a substantial impact in the past year. Among those recognized are Jagged Little Pill producer Vivek J. Tiwary, Tony winners Lea Salonga and David Henry Hwang, Auli’i Cravalho, Daniel Dae Kim, Gemma Chan, George Takei, Kelly Marie Tran, and Riz Ahmed. “Recognizing the achievements of the AAPI community couldn’t be more timely than right now. The tragic events of the recent past only serve to underscore the need to celebrate the many ways Asian Americans contribute to our country and the world,” said Kim, who also served as an A100 Icon judge. Click here to see the full list.
Inaugural Recipients of Lloyd Richards New Futures Residencies Announced
Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation announced actor-director-writer Shá Cage and actor-director Elizabeth Carter as the inaugural recipients of the Lloyd Richards New Futures Residencies, which pair mid-career BIPOC directors and choreographers pursuing institutional leadership with forward-thinking directors. In this inaugural year, the residencies were reserved for Black artists. Cage will spend the year-long residency with the Cornerstone Theater Company with Artistic Director Michael John Garcés in Los Angeles, while Elizabeth Carter will be mentored by Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Nataki Garrett. Named for the late, Tony-winning director of August Wilson’s Fences, the residencies provide each recipient with a $40,000 grant, a place at each theatre’s artistic table, and health insurance. Each theatre will also support an ongoing relationship with the resident artist by employing them to direct in a subsequent season.
Rock-Baroque Hybrid My Cyrano to Play NYC in June
The Upper West Side’s West Park will be home to the premiere of My Cyrano, a rock-meets-baroque interpretation of Edmond Rostrand’s Cyrano de Bergerac by Tanya Lebedinskaya. Mariya Kotlova will direct the Russian-language presentation, running June 11 and 12. The cast features Andrey ‘Cheggi’ Chegodaev as Cyrano and Marina Wonder as Roxanne, along with Leo Grine, Carlo Maria Velardi, Gala Orlovskaya, Zeyna Gagne, Badimir, Lev Grzhonko, Vadim Kroll, Valentina Kvasova, Nina Ros, and Anna Zinenko. Chegodaev is also the front-man of the band The Blackfires, whose music will be featured. The performance is the latest installation from New Wave Arts and Salon Z’s “Inspired by Baroque” series. For tickets and more information, click here.
Andrew Lazarow Will Lead Rockwell Group’s LAB
Andrew Lazarow has been named a director of Rockwell Group’s LAB, the experience design and technology studio. The interactive designer will lead the LAB and its branded experiences, immersive environments, exhibitions, and pop-ups. Lazarow, who joins current LAB Directors Dan Marino and David Tracy, previously collaborated with Rockwell Group for the Norwegian Cruise Lines tour of Kinky Boots, The Terms of My Surrender, and My Very Own British Invasion. “I am so honored to take on this new leadership role at LAB at Rockwell Group,” he said. “The theatre has always been a place to show the possibility of a better future. Combining that with the studio’s history of creating immersive environments makes this a thrilling opportunity to bring the magic and imagination of theatre to our everyday world.”
Adorable Schoolchildren Take on Frozen in New Documentary
A NYC Chinatown elementary school’s theatre program is at the heart of Curtain Up!, premiering on World Channel May 11 at 8 PM ET in recognition of AAPI Heritage Month. The film takes viewers to P.S. 124, where students are staging a youth version of the Disney musical Frozen. As the fifth graders rehearse for the musical production, nervous excitement and flubbed lines brush up against cultural stereotypes, family expectations, cultural divides, and post-graduation uncertainties. Curtain Up! will also be available to stream on WorldChannel.org. Check out the trailer below.