1878 Birthday of Sam S. Shubert, co-founder of the theatre-owning and producing titan, the Shubert Organization. Broadway’s Shubert Theatre is named for him.
1921 When it closes after 1,291 performances, Lightnin’ holds the record as Broadway’s longest-running play up to that time. Starring in the piece on closing night is playwright Frank Bacon.
1929 Writer Ira Levin is born in New York. In 1978, Levin writes the mother of all Broadway thrillers, Deathtrap. Other plays include No Time for Sergeants and General Seeger.
1934 Opening night of the revue Life Begins at 8:40, written by Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg, and Ira Gershwin. Stars include Luella Gear, Frances Williams, and future Wizard of Oz co-stars Ray Bolger and Bert Lahr. The score includes “You’re a Builder-Upper.”
1963 Following a hit Off-Broadway run and a national tour, Arthur Kopit‘s comedy Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad opens on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre for a six-week run. Once again directed by Jerome Robbins, the production stars Hermione Gingold, Alix Elias, Sandor Szabo, and Sam Waterston.
1991 Thornton Wilder‘s The Matchmaker opens anew at Off-Broadway’s Roundabout Theatre Company‘s Haft Theatre. The original production of the play opened on Broadway December 5, 1955. The play was later adapted into the musical Hello, Dolly! by Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart.
2001 The musical Urinetown begins Broadway previews at Henry Miller’s Theatre.
2011 New York City shuts down under the threat of Hurricane (later downgraded to Tropical Storm) Irene. All Broadway and most Off-Broadway shows are canceled, and there is a system-wide shut down of New York City mass transit.
2011 Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Love Never Dies, the much-anticipated but critically kicked sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, closes after a run of less than 18 months at London’s Adelphi Theatre.
2014 Sandy Wilson, the British composer and lyricist who was best known for the nostalgic, ’20s-style musical The Boy Friend, which was a monster hit in the 1950s and helped make a star out of Julie Andrews, dies at age 90.
More of Today’s Birthdays: Theodore Dreiser 1871. Frederick O’Neal 1905. Martha Raye 1916. David Shaw 1916. Paul Reubens 1952.
Watch highlights from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, starring Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo:
