This Week in Broadway History: January 3 - 9

With everything still pretty much on hold theater-wise, we thought the new year might be a great time to do a content overhaul here on JKTS. When things get going (hopefully soon!), we will, of course, readjust. Until then, look for new series like today's inaugural edition of This Week in Broadway History. We think the name speaks for itself, and hope you enjoy and maybe learn a little something! If you have any comments or suggestions of things you'd like use to look into each week let us know at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com (be sure to spell it correctly).

THIS WEEK IN BROADWAY HISTORY

January 3 - 9

Telly Leung     ZaSu Pitts

Mike Faist     Cynthia Erivo

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY🎂

January 3rd: actor Telly Leung (1980), actor Robert Loggia (1930), actor ZaSu Pitts (1894)  January 4th: actor/dancer Clyde Alves (1980), composer Dave Malloy (1976), Laura Benanti's father, actor Martin Vidnovic (1948), actor (My Fair Lady OBC) Sterling Halloway (1905)  January 5th: actor Mike Faist (1992), actor Bradley Cooper (1975), actor Diane Keaton (1946), choreographer Alvin Ailey (1931)  January 6th: actor Eddie Redmayne (1982), actor Armelia McQueen (1946), author E.L. Doctorow (1931)  January 7th: actor Robert Petkoff (1963), Cats' Stephen Hanan (1947), ensemblist legend Harvey Evans (1941)  January 8th: actor Cynthia Erivo (1987), director Pam MacKinnon (1968), actor Harriet Harris (1955)  January 9th: actor Chris McCarrell (1991), Pippin's Eric Berry (1913), actor Gypsy Rose Lee (1911)

🎭OPENING NIGHTS🎭

• January 3, 1967: A revival of the play Marat/Sade opened at the Majestic Theatre, where it ran for 55 performances, and featured Abe Vigoda in the role of 'Mad Animal.'
• January 4, 1981: Frankenstein opened and closed at the Palace Theatre on this date, with a cast that featured John Carradine, John Glover and Dianne Wiest.

• January 5, 1975:  The Best Musical of 1975, The Wiz, opened at the Majestic Theatre, starring Stephanie Mills, Hinton Battle, Ted Ross, Tiger Haynes, Mabel King, and Andre DeShields. Phylicia Rashad nee Ayers-Allen was in the ensemble, and the legendary Butterfly McQueen was a standby. It would later transfer to the Broadway Theatre, and complete a run of 1,672 performances.

• January 6, 1963: The beloved classic Oliver! opened its 774 performance run at the Imperial Theater and starred Georgia Brown as Nancy, Clive Rivell as Fagin, and David Jones (TV's The Monkees) as The Artful Dodger.
• January 7, 1975: Tony-winner John Cullum lead the cast of Shenandoah, which began its 1,050 performance run at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon).

📆ON BROADWAY THIS WEEK IN 1973📆

If you are a fan of vintage musicals, you could have caught one of the final performances of the smash hit revival of No, No Nanette at the 46th Street Theatre. If you are a fan of the new, modern musical, the original cast of Pippin was just a few months into their run at the Imperial. Of course, if you like a little bit of both, Grease was still packing them in at the Royale.

The Sunshine Boys

Play lovers had lots to choose from, too, including That Championship Season starring Charles Durning and Paul Sorvino at the Booth, and Jack Albertson in Neil Simon's new comedy The Sunshine Boys at the Broadhurst. You could probably snag opening night tickets to all three plays which opened this week - Tricks, The Plough and the Stars, and Look Away. If you caught that last one, I hope you still have the Playbill. It opened and closed on the same night, and it starred Geraldine Page and Maya Angelou! Can you imagine?

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