Musicals 101 Historic Calendar
October
Compiled by John Kenrick
(Copyright 2000, Revised 2004)
October 1
- Actor/singer Stanley Holloway born (1890)
- Actor James Whitmore born (1921)
- Actor/singer Tom Bosley born (1927)
- Actor Richard Harris born (1930)
- Actress/singer Julie Andrews born (1935)
- Best Foot Forward opened on Broadway (1941)
- Composer/lyricist/librettist Lynn Ahrens born (1948)
- Berlin to Broadway With Kurt Weill opened Off-Broadway (1972)
- Hal Prince's production of Roza starring Georgia Brown opened on Broadway (1987)
October 2
- Actor/singer/comedian Groucho Marx born (1890)
- Actor/comedian Bud Abbott born (1892)
- Actor/singer Sting born (1952)
- An Evening with Bea Lillie opened on Broadway (1952)
- Valmouth opened in London (1958)
- Birds of Paradise opened Off-Broadway (1987)
- Hal Prince's revival of Show Boat opened on Broadway (1994)
- Revival of Little Shop of Horrors opened on Broadway (2003)
October 3
- Actress Elenora Duse born (1859)
- Actor Warner Oland born (1879)
- Actress Gertrude Berg born (1899)
- Composer/lyricist Johnny Burke born (1908)
- Producer Ray Stark born (1914)
- Noel Coward's Sail Away starring Elaine Stritch opened on Broadway (1961)
- Stop the World . . . starring Anthony Newley opened on Broadway (1962)
- Meredith Willson's Here's Love opened on Broadway (1963)
- Sondheim's Forum opened in London (1963)
October 4
- British actress/singer Hy Hazell born (1922)
- Revue Oh Coward! opened Off-Broadway (1972)
October 5
- A Chinese Honeymoon opened in London; first musical to run 1,000 performances (1901)
- Director/librettist Joshua Logan born (1908)
- Actor/singer William Tabbert born (1921)
- Actress/singer Glynis Johns born (1923)
- Harold Arlen's Bloomer Girl opened on Broadway (1944)
- Revival of Hair opened on Broadway (1977)
- Revival of Sondheim's Company opened on Broadway (1995)
- Revival of A Chorus Line opened on Broadway (2006)
- 13 opened on Broadway (2008)
October 6
- Polonaise opened on Broadway (1945)
- Jerry Herman's Mack and Mabel opened on Broadway (1974)
October 7
- Gilbert & Sullivan's Utopia Limited opened in London (1893)
- Actor/singer Alfred Drake born (1914)
- Actress/singer June Allyson born (1917)
- Actor/singer Reid Shelton born (1924)
- Weill's One Touch of Venus starring Mary Martin opened on Broadway (1943)
- Actor/singer William Parry born (1947)
- Weill & Lerner's Love Life opened on Broadway (1948)
- Happy Town opened on Broadway (1959)
- The Robber Bridegroom opened a limited run at the Harkness Theatre (1975)
- The 1940s Radio Hour opened on Broadway (1975)
- Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats opened on Broadway (1982)
- Reefer Madness opened off-Broadway (2001)
October 8
- Vaudeville theatre manager E.F. Albee born (1857)
- Director Rouben Mamoulian born (1889)
- At The Drop of a Hat opened on Broadway (1959)
- Sugar Babies starring Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney opened on Broadway (1979)
- Les Miserables opened in London (1985)
October 9
- High Button Shoes starring Phil Silvers opened on Broadway (1947)
- Actor/singer Scott Bakula born (1954)
- Actress/singer Marin Mazzie born (1960)
- Dude opened on Broadway (1972)
- Robber Bridegroom moved to Broadway (1976)
- Tango Argentino opened on Broadway (1985)
October 10
- Producer Richard D'Oyly Carte opens The Savoy Theatre in London (1881)
- Composer Vernon Duke born (1903)
- The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway (1935)
- Actor/singer/dancer Ben Vereen born (1946)
- Actor/singer Gary Beach born (1947)
- Actor/singer Ken Jennings born (1947)
- Rodgers & Hammerstein's Allegro opened on Broadway (1947)
- Actress/singer/dancer Jodi Benson born (1961)
- Jerry Herman's Milk and Honey opened on Broadway (1961)
- Drat! The Cat! opened on Broadway (1965)
- Revival of The King and I opened in London (1973)
October 11
- Director/choreographer Jerome Robbins born (1918)
- Actor/singer Jonathan Hadary born (1947)
- Frank Loesser's Where's Charley starring Ray Bolger opened on Broadway (1948)
- Revival of On Your Toes opened on Broadway (1954)
- Goldilocks starring Elaine Stritch opened on Broadway (1958)
- Pearl Bailey took over lead in Hello Dolly (1967)
- Actress/singer Jane Krakowski born (1968)
- Revival of Most Happy Fella starring Giorgio Tozzi opened on Broadway (1979)
October 12
- Cole Porter's Jubilee opened on Broadway (1935)
- Irving Berlin's Call Me Madam starring Ethel Merman opened on Broadway (1951)
- Let It Ride opened on Broadway (1961)
- Actor/singer Hugh Jackman born (1968)
- Webber & Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar opened on Broadway (1971)
- Marlowe opened on Broadway (1981)
- Revival of Pacific Overtures opened Off-Broadway (1984)
October 13
- Actress/singer Della Fox born (1871)
- Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland opened on Broadway (1903)
- Composer/actor Albert Hague born (1920)
- Actor/singer George Lee Andrews born (1942)
- Actress/singer Karen Akers born (1945)
- Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson moved to Broadway (2010
October 14
- British producer George Edwardes born (1855)
- George Edwardes production of A Gaiety Girl opened in London (1893)
- Actress/singer Pert Kelton born (1907)
- Actor/singer Allan Jones born (1908)
- Lyricist/librettist Lee Adams born (1924)
- The Gershwins' Girl Crazy opened on Broadway (1930)
- Actor/singer Harve Presnell born (1933)
- Legendary flop Buttrio Square opened on Broadway (1952)
- Loesser's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opened on Broadway (1961)
- The Club opened Off-Broadway (1976)
October 15
- Director/designer Hassard Short born (1877)
- Lyricist/librettist P.G. Wodehouse born (1881)
- Librettist/playwright Robert E. Lee born (1918)
- Artists and Models of 1924 opened on Broadway (1924)
- Three's a Crowd opened on Broadway (1930)
- The Cat and the Fiddle opened on Broadway (1931)
- Actress/singer Linda Lavin born (1937)
- Late Nite Comic opened on Broadway (1987)
- Bye Bye Birdie revived on Broadway (2009)
October 16
- Austrian actor/singer Karl Blasel born (1831)
- Actress/singer Angela Lansbury born (1925)
- Long-running revival of The Red Mill opened on Broadway (1945)
- Judy Garland brought vaudeville back to New York's Palace Theatre (1951)
- Director Vivian Matalon's revival of Brigadoon opened on Broadway (1980)
- Long-running revival of Zorba with Anthony Quinn opened on Broadway (1983)
- Short-lived Raggedy Ann opened on Broadway (1986)
- Side Show opened on Broadway (1997)
- The Boy From Oz starring Hugh Jackman opened on Broadway (2003)
- Rock of Ages opened off Broadway (2008)
October 17
- British stage director James T. Tanner born (1858)
- Actress/singer Irene Ryan born (1902)
- Actress/dancer Rita Hayworth born (1918)
- Actress/singer Gretchen Cryer born (1935)
- Producer Cameron Macintosh born (1946)
- Director/choreographer/dancer Susan Stroman born (1954)
- Copper and Brass starring Nancy Walker opened on Broadway (1957)
- Bock & Harnick's Tenderloin opened on Broadway (1960)
- Jennie starring Mary Martin opened on Broadway (1963)
- Lerner & Lane's On A Clear Day You Can See Forever opened on Broadway (1965)
- The 1940's Radio Hour opened on Broadway (1979)
- Revival of Brigadoon opened on Broadway (1980)
- Revival of Flower Drum Song opened on Broadway (2002)
October 18
- Actress/singer Lotte Lenya born (1898)
- Producer Ben Bagley born (1933)
- Bock & Harnick's The Apple Tree opened on Broadway (1966)
- Raisin opened on Broadway (1973)
- Disney's Snow White opened at Radio City Music Hall (1979)
- Once On This Island moved to Broadway (1990)
- Mamma Mia opened on Broadway (2001)
October 19
- Victor Herbert's The Enchantress opened on Broadway (1911)
- Weill's Knickerbocker Holiday starring Walter Huston opened on Broadway (1938)
- Sigmund Romberg's My Romance opened on Broadway (1948)
- Actress/singer Jennifer Holliday born (1960)
- Bock & Harnick's The Rothschilds opened on Broadway (1970)
- A Chorus Line moved to Broadway (1975)
- Revue Flamenco Puro opened on Broadway (1986)
- Long-running revival of Anything Goes opened on Broadway (1987)
- Revival of Hello Dolly! starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway (1995)
- Memphis opened on Broadway (2009)
October 20
- Lyricist/librettist Morrie Ryskind born (1895)
- Actress/singer Anna Neagle born (1904)
- Dancer Fayard Nicholas born (1914)
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1923 opened on Broadway (1923)
- Actor/singer Jerry Orbach born (1935)
- Peter Pan starring Mary Martin & Cyril Ritchard opened on Broadway (1954)
- Irving Berlin's Mr. President opened on Broadway (1962)
- Golden Boy starring Sammy Davis Jr. opened on Broadway (1964)
- Her First Roman starring Richard Kiley opened on Broadway (1968)
- Hello Again opened on Broadway (1994)
- Michel Legrand's short-lived Amour opened on Broadway (2002)
- In My Life opened on Broadway (2005)
October 21
- Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow opened on Broadway (1907)
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1912 opened on Broadway (1912)
- Actress/singer Julie Wilson born (1924)
- Actress/singer Georgia Brown born (1933)
- The Gershwins' Let 'Em Eat Cake opened on Broadway (1933)
- Scott Joplin's Treemonisha opened on Broadway (1975)
- Nunsense II opened Off-Broadway (1994)
- Saturday Night Live opened on Broadway (1999)
October 22
- Actress/singer Judy Blazer born (1956)
- Bob Merrill's Take Me Along opened on Broadway (1959)
- Me and Bessie opened on Broadway (1975)
- King of Hearts opened on Broadway (1978)
- Short-lived Into the Light opened on Broadway (1986)
- Swingin' On a Star opened on Broadway (1995)
- Footloose opened on Broadway (1998)
October 23
- Animal Crackers opened on Broadway (1928)
- Noel Coward's Conversation Piece opened on Broadway (1934)
- Actor/singer/songwriter Michael Rupert born (1951)
- Kwamina opened on Broadway (1961)
- Henry Sweet Henry opened on Broadway (1967)
- Maggie Flynn starring Shirley Jones opened on Broadway (1968)
- Jimmy opened on Broadway (1969)
- Stephen Schwartz's Pippin opened on Broadway (1972)
- Tintypes moved to Broadway (1980)
- Buddy opened on Broadway (1990)
- Triumph of Love opened on Broadway (1997)
October 24
- Tony Pastor opens the first "clean" variety show, inventing the form later called vaudeville (1881)
- Playwright/librettist/director Moss Hart born (1904)
- Actor/singer Kevin Kline born (1947)
- 110 in the Shade opened on Broadway (1963)
- Billy Joel's Movin' Out opened on Broadway (2002)
October 25
- Composer Johann Strauss, Jr. born (1852)
- Actress/singer Barbara Cook born (1927)
- Cabin In The Sky opened on Broadway (1940)
- Actor/singer Adam Pascal born (1970)
- Revival of My Fair Lady opened in London (1979)
- Victor/Victoria starring Julie Andrews opened on Broadway (1995)
- The short-lived Thou Shalt Not opened on Broadway (2002)
October 26
- Actor/singer/lyricist/librettist/producer Edward "Ned" Harrigan born (1844)
- Actor/singer Anthony Rapp born (1971)
- Jolson opened in London (1995)
- The Full Monty opened on Broadway (2000)
- The Times They Are A-Changin' opened on Broadway (2006)
- Rain opened on Broadway (2010)
October 27
- Actress/singer Nanette Fabray born (1922)
- Actress/singer Jane Connell born (1925)
- My Darlin' Aida opened on Broadway (1952)
- Ben Franklin in Paris starring Robert Preston opened on Broadway (1964)
October 28
- Actress/singer Cleo Laine born (1927)
- Costume designer Florence Klotz born (1928)
- Andrew Lloyd Webber's short-lived By Jeeves opened on Broadway (2001)
October 29
- Actress/singer Fanny Brice born (1891)
- British composer Vivian Ellis born (1904)
- Cole Porter's Red, Hot and Blue starring Merman & Durante opened on Broadway (1936)
- Actress/singer Melba Moore born (1945)
- Lighting designer Ken Billington born (1946)
- Hair premiered Off-Broadway at The Public Theatre (1967)
- In Gay Company opened Off-Broadway (1974)
- Kander & Ebb's The Act starring Liza Minnelli opened on Broadway (1977)
- Revival of Cabaret starring Joel Grey opened on Broadway (1987)
October 30
- Actress/singer Jane White born (1922)
- Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars opened on Broadway (1949)
- Cole Porter's Panama Hattie starring Ethel Merman opened on Broadway (1940)
- Pippin opened in London (1973)
- Stephen Schwartz's Wicked opened on Broadway (2003)
- Hairspray opened in London (2007)
October 31
- Actor/singer Charles King born (1889)
- Actress/singer Ethel Waters born (1896)
- Actor/singer David Ogden Stiers born (1942)
- Marc Blitzstein's Regina opened on Broadway (1949)
- Actor/singer Brian Stokes Mitchell born (1957)
- Harold Arlen's Jamaica starring Lena Horne opened on Broadway (1957)
- Kander & Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys opened on Broadway (2010)