Monday, September 13, 2010

What Happened on Broadway Last Week (9/6 -9/12)

Let's see if the second week of September was any more noteworthy than the first in Broadway History.






The old Morosco Theatre
September 6:
  • One of those "return engagements" of original productions opened today in 1943.  It was Blithe Spirit at the Morosco Theatre (it would be right across from Shubert Alley if it hadn't been demolished for the Marriott Marquis).  The production lasted 32 performances and starred Mildred Natwick and Clifton Webb.
  • The Oldest Show to Open This Week: 155 years ago.  On this date in 1855, a play called Adrienne Lecouveur opened.  Little else is known about the production other than that it opened on this date and was written by Eugene Scribe and Ernest Legouve, and it starred someone named Rachel.

    Sandy Duncan as Peter Pan
  • One of the weeks two big openings happened on this date in 1979.  A revival of Peter Pan starring Sandy Duncan and George Rose opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and ran 554 performances.

September 7:

  • The "newest" show to open this week was 1999's Epic Proportions which lasted all of 93 performances at the Helen Hayes Theatre.  It is notable for its star, one Kristin Chenoweth, hot off her triumph in Steel Pier, and on the verge of a Tony and a little show called Wicked.

September 8:

  • The Oddest Title goes to The Man Who Reclaimed His Head a 28 performance play which opened at the Broadhurst Theatre.  It did star two rather well known actors, Claude Rains and Lucille Lortel.
  • The longest time between Broadway openings: 41 Years.  Carnival in Flanders  opened in 1953, and the revival of Philadelphia, Here I Come! opened in 1994.  The former is notable for being a 6 performance run and still a Tony winner (Delores Gray won Best Supporting Actress in a Musical).  The latter starred Milo O'Shea and Robert Sean Leonard.  It played at the now demolished Criterion Center Right, former home of Roundabout Theatre Company.

September 11:

  • 2001: A national tragedy that continues to influence the country, New York City and Broadway.

September 12:

On Golden Pond

  • The other big opening of the week is listed as a "return engagement" on IBDB, On Golden Pond actually reopened at the Century Theatre in 1982-83, with the original cast, after changing theatres.  The show starred Tom Aldredge and Frances Sternhagen, and ran another 252 performances here.  The theatre was in the basement of the Paramount Hotel!

Jeff
2.15

1 comment:

  1. Hey, Jeff. Well now I know where Mandy was on Sunday, Sep 5th. Why didn't anyone tell me Lin- Manuel Miranda and his Vanessa were getting married that day? If you haven't seen it yet, here's a video clip from their wedding, from the NY Times:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/fashion/weddings/12VOWS.html?_r=1&ref=theater

    I spotted Mandy, Karen, Olga, Priscilla, Janet, Andrea (and her adorable son, dancing up a storm). I didn't spot Chris Jackson in this video, but he's in the L'Chaim video, on YouTube, posted by Lin himself (as is Tommy Kail). If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's awesome.

    I now forgive Mandy for her Wicked absence :)

    Unrelated, yesterday I went to see Brief Encounter and loved it. So clever. The night before I saw Mrs. Warren's Profession. It was the 3rd production I'd seen in as many months, and it was the best of the 3. I've never seen Cherry Jones in anything before, and she's fantastic. Sally Hawkins was out, to my disappointment, as I've been hearing excellent things about her, but honestly the stand-by was wonderful. Sat afternoon I took my mom to see A Little Night Music, and she absolutely loved it. I enjoyed it even more than in July, as Elaine Stritch had all her lines and did not miss anything (at least, nothing obvious).

    ReplyDelete

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