1937Eva Le Gallienne is Hamlet in a new production of Shakespeare’s tragedy, opening at the Cape Playhouse in Massachusetts. Also in the cast is future stage legend Uta Hagen, making her professional debut as Ophelia.
1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning stage and screen writer Sidney Howard is killed in a tractor accident. Howard, approximately 48 years old, won the Pulitzer for his 1924 play, They Knew What They Wanted. That play would later be made into the Frank Loesser musical, The Most Happy Fella. Just before his death, Howard had completed the screenplay for the film, Gone With the Wind.
1996 Landmark New York theatre company Circle in the Square declares bankruptcy and goes through years of legal wrangling before reopening in 1999 with the rediscovered, and critically lauded, Tennessee Williams drama, Not About Nightingales.
Stars in the House continues today 2pm for Regional Theatre Spotlight On Music Theatre Wichita- Wichita, KS. Host Wayne Bryan is joined by Paula Leggett Chase, Vincent Corazza, Thomas W. Douglas, Kim Huber, Damon Kirsche, Brian J. Marcum, Karen Robu and Thom Sesma.
Stars in the House, the daily live streamed concert series created by Playbill correspondent and SiriusXM Broadway host Seth Rudetsky and producer James Wesley, celebrates the 2013 Tony-winning revival of Pippin August 22.
James Wesley and Seth Rudetsky Joseph Marzullo/WENN
The stream will be available above beginning at 8 PM.
Stars in the House launched March 16 to promote support for The Actors Fund and its services in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It has also raised funds for the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
New shows—typically streaming Monday–Saturday at 8 PM ET with afternoon shows Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM—feature performances by stars of stage and screen, in conversation and song with Rudetsky and Wesley. Peter Flynn serves as streaming director. Click here to watch previous episodes.
To make a tax-deductible donation to The Actors Fund visit ActorsFund.org/Donate. To donate to the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, visit NAACPLDF.org.
Revisit Pippin with Patina Miller, Rachel Bay Jones, and More in Pippin
Twenty-five diverse professional performers recently took part in a study at the University of Bristol whose findings suggest singing produces no more respiratory particles than speaking, depending on volume.
The original Broadway production of La Cage aux Folles opened at the Palace Theatre August 21, 1983. The musical, featuring music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Harvey Fierstein, played 15 previews and 1,761 performances before closing November 15, 1987. The production would go on to earn nine Tony Award nominations, winning six including Best Musical.
Based on the French play of the same name, La Cage aux Folles tells the story of the story of a flamboyant gay couple who must pretend to be straight for one night — with one of the men in drag — to dupe the conservative political family of their son’s fiancee. In a time when homosexuality had yet to become the basis of a big Broadway musical, La Cage proved to be a huge success
Look Back at the Original Broadway Production of La Cage Aux Folles
Look Back at the Original Broadway Production of La Cage Aux Folles
23 PHOTOS
George Hearn Martha Swope
George Hearn Martha Swope
Frank Di Pasquale, David Scala, George Hearn, Dan O’Grady, and Sam Singhaus Martha Swope
Dan O’Grady, Frank Di Pasquale, Sam Singhaus, and David Scala Martha Swope
Elizabeth Parrish Martha Swope
Gene Barry, George Hearn, and cast Martha Swope
Gene Barry and George Hearn Martha Swope
Gene Barry, Leslie Stevens, and John Weiner Martha Swope
Gene Barry, William Thomas, Jr., and George Hearn Martha Swope
George Hearn Martha Swope
The production starred George Hearn as Albin, Gene Barry as Georges, Jay Garner as Edouard Dindon, John Weiner as Jean-Michel, Elizabeth Parrish as Jacqueline, Leslie Stevens as Anne, William Thomas, Jr. as Jacob, Merle Louise as Mme. Dindon, Walter Charles as M. Renaud, Brian Kelly as Francis, Sydney Anderson as Mme. Renaud, David Cahn as Chantal, Dennis Callahan as Monique, Betsy Craig as Paulette, Frank Di Pasquale as Dermah, John Dolf as Nicole, David Engel as Hanna, David Evans as Mercedes, Linda Haberman as Bitelle, Eric Lamp as Lo Singh, Jack Neubeck as Hercule, Dan O’Grady as Odette, Deborah Phelan as Angelique, Jay Pierce as Etienne, Marie Santell as Babette, David Scala as Phaedra, Sam Singhaus as Clo-Clo, Jennifer Smith as Colette, Mark Waldrop as Tabarro, and Ken Ward as Pepe, with Jamie Ross, Bob Brubach, Drew Geraci, Jan Leigh Herndon, and Leslie Simons as swings.
Directed by Arthur Laurents with choreography by Scott Salmon, the productionfeatured scenic design by David Mitchell, costume design by Theoni V. Aldredge, lighting design by Jules Fisher, and sound design by Peter J. Fitzgerald with stage management by Fritz Holt, James Pentecost, and David Caine.
Nothing can stop BroadwayWorld’sRichard Ridgefrom bringing you interviews with your favorite Broadway stars Tune in right here today, August 19230pm ET, as he chats with Broadway songbirdLiz Callaway.
