This Week in Broadway History: April 6 - 12

This Week in Broadway History:

April 6 - 12

🎭OPENING NIGHTS🎭  

April 6, 2017: Titans of the cosmetics world faced off in the musical War Paint at the Nederlander Theatre for 236 performances.

April 7, 1949: One of the greatest musicals of all time, South Pacific, opened at the Majestic Theatre. It won 10 Tony Awards, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and played 1,925 performances.

April 8, 1990: Love changes everything when Aspects of Love opens at the Broadhurst Theater, where it will stay for 377 performances.

April 8, 2018: "Fetch" may never catch on, but at least it tried when Mean Girls opened at the August Wilson. A casualty of COVID-19, the show closed after 804 performances.

April 10, 2011: Live in living color, Catch Me If You Can opened at the Neil Simon Theatre for a disappointing 166 performances.

April 11, 2011: Time sure flies. 30 years ago today, Miss Saigon opened its 4,092 performance run at the Broadway Theatre.

April 12, 2015: The classic movie musical An American in Paris came to life at the Palace Theatre when it opened its 623 performance run.

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY🎂

April 6: actors Zach Braff, Paul Rudd and Marilu Henner

April 7: actor Aaron Lohr

April 8: actor/dancer Stephanie Pope, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, director/choreographer Michael Bennett

April 9: actor Cynthia Nixon

Joel Grey     Stephanie Pope

John Selya     Alexandra Socha

April 10: actors Alexandra Socha and Laura Bell Bundy, Movin'Out dancer John Selya

April 11: actor/director/Wonderful Wizard/Emcee Joel Grey

April 12: actors Dan Lauria and Ann Miller

📆ON BROADWAY THIS WEEK IN 1987📆

Ahhh. Early spring on Broadway. New shows galore, and plenty of holdovers to see!

The hottest (and most difficult to get ticket) was the recently opened sensation Les Miserables at the Broadway Theatre. Another London import was also a tough ticket, Me and My Girl, at the brand new Marquis Theatre. A third just-opened London import, Starlight Express, was still doing grand business at the Gershwin Theatre (it had a huge advance).

Plays this season were mostly all-American, including two that opened this week: Harvey Fierstein's short-lived Safe Sex at the Lyceum and The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at the Longacre. Star power was the hallmark of the other big plays this week, including James Earl Jones in Fences at the 46th Street, Linda Lavin, Jonathan Silverman and Jason Alexander in Neil Simon's bittersweet Broadway Bound at the Broadhurst, Mary Tyler Moore and Lynn Redgrave in Sweet Sue at the Royale (above), and Richard Chamberlain, Blythe Danner, Judith Ivey and Geraldine Page starring in Blithe Spirit at the Neil Simon. Sadly, Ms. Page would pass away during the run of this revival.

Holdovers include the 1984 Tony-winning Best Musical La Cage aux Folles at the Palace, the 1985 Tony-winning Best Musical, Big River  at the Eugene O'Neill, starring Martin Moran, Marin Mazzie, George Merritt and, in his Broadway debut on April 7th, Roger Bart, and the 1986 Tony-winning Best Musical (and recently re-named) Drood, starring Howard McGillin, George Rose, Karen Morrow and Donna Murphy was in its last weeks at the Imperial.

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