Musicals101 Historic Calendar
January
Compiled by John Kenrick
(Revised 2011)
January 1
- Librettist/lyricist Ludovic Halevy born (1834)
- Actor/producer Lew Fields born (1867)
- Singer/showgirl Lillian Lorraine born (1892)
- George M. Cohan's 45 Minutes From Broadway opened on Broadway (1906)
January 2
- Burlesque fan dancer Sally Rand born (1903)
- Actress/dancer Vera Zorina born (1917)
- Songwriter Roger Miller born (1936)
- Fig Leaves Are Falling opened on Broadway (1969)
January 3
- Musician/comedian Victor Borge born (1909)
- Rodgers & Hart's She's My Baby starring Bea Lillie opened on Broadway (1928)
- Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock opened on Broadway (1938)
- Pal Joey revived on Broadway (1st time) starring Vivienne Segal (1952)
January 4
- Merry Widow co-librettist Victor Leon born (1858)
- Actor/singer Sterling Holloway born (1905)
- The Shubert-produced Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 opened on Broadway (1934)
- Actor/singer Patrick Cassidy born (1962)
- Home Sweet Homer starring Yul Brynner opened on Broadway (1976)
January 5
- Songwriter/performer Jack Norworth born (1879)
- Gilbert & Sullivan's Princess Ida opened in London (1884)
- The Wiz opened on Broadway (1975)
- Revival of Show Boat opened on Broadway (1946)
January 6
- Actor/librettist Henry E. Dixey born (1859)
- Singer/actress Bonnie Franklin born (1944)
- Lionel Bart's Oliver opened on Broadway (1963)
January 7
- Big Boy starring Al Jolson opened on Broadway (1925)
- Actor/singer/dancer Harvey Evans born (1941)
- Cole Porter's Something For the Boys opened on Broadway (1943)
- Shenandoah starring John Cullum opened on Broadway (1975)
- Revival of The King & I starring Yul Brynner opened on Broadway (1985)
January 8
- Stripper/actress Gypsy Rose Lee (Hovick) born (1911)
- Actor/singer/director Jose Ferrer born (1912)
- Actor/singer/director Stanley Prager born (1917)
- Actor Ron Moody born (1924)
- Actor/singer Elvis Presley born (1935)
- Company opened in London (1972)
- Revival of The Pirates of Penzance moved to Broadway (1981)
- Children of Eden opened in London (1991)
January 9
- British singer Gracie Fields born (1898)
- Choreographer George Balanchine born (1904)
- Actor/singer Eric Berry born (1913)
- Stripper/actress Gypsy Rose Lee born (1914)
- Andre Charlot's Revue of 1924 opened on Broadway (1924)
- Kurt Weill's Street Scene opened on Broadway (1947)
- Actor/singer J. K. Simmons born (1955)
January 10
- Actor/dancer/singer Ray Bolger born (1904)
- Lane and Harburg's Finian's Rainbow opened on Broadway (1947)
- Director/librettist James Lapine born (1948)
- The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway (2008)
January 11
- D'Oyly Carte comedienne/soprano Jessie Bond born (1853)
- Composer Mary Rodgers born (1931)
- Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures opened on Broadway (1976)
- Jerry Herman's The Grand Tour opened on Broadway (1979)
- James Joyce's The Dead opened on Broadway (2000)
January 12
- Actress/celebrity Texas Guinan born (1884)
- Actress/comedian Patsy Kelly born (1910)
- Actress Luise Rainer born (1910)
- Actor/singer/dancer Andre De Shields born (1946)
- Showgirl starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway (1961)
January 13
- Mulligan Guards Ball opened on Broadway - Harrigan & Hart's first full-length musical (1879)
- Singer/actress Sophie Tucker born (1884)
- Dancer/actress/singer Gwen Verdon born (1926)
- Actor/singer/director Charles Nelson Reilly born (1931)
- Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1940 opened on Broadway (1940)
- Your Own Thing opened Off-Broadway (1968)
- The Most Happy Fella revived (1st time) on Broadway (1992)
- Legally Blonde opened in London (2010)
January 14
- Designer/photographer Cecil Beaton born (1904)
- George & Ira Gershwin's Strike Up the Band opened on Broadway (1930)
- British director Trevor Nunn born (1940)
- Sandy Wilson's The Boyfriend opened in London (1954)
- Fosse opened on Broadway (1999)
January 15
- D'Oyly Carte baritone Rutland Barrington born (1853)
- Actor/composer Ivor Novello born (1893)
- Producer/director Cy Fuer born (1911)
- Actress/singer/comedian Andrea Martin born (1947)
- Revue Make Mine Manhattan opened on Broadway (1948)
- Ari opened on Broadway (1971)
- Forbidden Broadway opens Off-Broadway (1982)
January 16
- Actress/singer Irene Bordoni born (1895)
- Actress/singer Ethel Merman born (1908)
- Actress/singer/dancer/choreographer Debbie Allen born (1950)
- Actress/singer Liz Larsen born (1959)
- Conquering Hero opened on Broadway (1961)
- Jerry Herman's Hello Dolly! starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway (1964)
January 17
- Actress/singer Eartha Kitt born (1927)
- Alive and Kicking opened on Broadway (1950)
January 18
- Actor/singer Danny Kaye born (1913)
- Kander & Ebb's The Happy Time opened on Broadway (1968)
- Flaherty & Ahrens's Ragtime opened on Broadway (1998)
January 19
- Choreographer/director/dancer Albertina Rasch born (1896)
- Actor/singer John Raitt born (1917)
- Actress/singer Jean Stapleton born (1923)
- Actor/singer Michael Crawford born (1942)
- Long-running revival of No, No, Nanette opened on Broadway (1971)
January 20
- George & Ira Gershwin's Pardon My English opened on Broadway (1933)
- Dance Me a Song opened on Broadway (1950)
- Tim Rice's Blondel opened in London (1984)
January 21
- The Wizard of Oz starring Montgomery & Stone opened on Broadway (1903)
- Nelly Bly opened on Broadway (1946)
- Long-running revival of Sweethearts opened on Broadway (1947)
- Actor/singer Robby Benson born (1956)
- Actor/singer Davis Gaines born (1959)
- Revival of Little Me opened on Broadway (1982)
January 22
- Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore premiered in London (1887)
- Actor/singer Lee Dixon born (1914)
- Producer/designer Lemuel Ayers born (1915)
- Orchestrator/arranger Sid Ramin born (1919)
- Producer Emmanuel Azenburg born (1934)
- All For Love opened on Broadway (1949)
- Jacques Brel is Alive and Well opened Off-Broadway (1968)
- Celebration opened on Broadway (1969)
January 23
- Actress/singer/dancer Chita Rivera born (1933)
- Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark starring Gertrude Lawrence opened on Broadway (1941)
- Bock & Harnick's The Body Beautiful opened on Broadway (1958)
January 24
- Librettist Fred Thompson born (1884)
- Choreographer/director/performer Donald Saddler born (1918)
- Jonathan Larson (age 36) dies after a dress rehearsal of Rent (1995)
January 25
- Director/actor/librettist George Abbott born (1887)
- Actress/singer Florence Mills born (1895)
- Actress/singer Paula Laurence born (1916)
- Actor/singer Dean Jones born (1931)
- Jonathan Larson dies hours after final Off-Broadway rehearsal of Rent (1996)
January 26
- Vaudeville theatre owner B.F. Keith born (1846)
- Composer James Van Heusen born (1913)
- Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera opened on Broadway (1988)
- Black & Blue opened on Broadway (1989)
- Jonathan Larson's Rent opened Off-Broadway (1996)
January 27
- Composer Will Marion Cook born (1869)
- Composer Jerome Kern born (1884)
- Lyricist/librettist Buddy DeSylva born (1895)
- Lyricist Harry Ruby born (1895)
- Actress/singer Benay Venuta born (1911)
- Actress/singer Doretta Morrow born (1928)
- Romberg's Up In Central Park opened on Broadway (1945)
- Plain and Fancy opened on Broadway (1955)
- A Family Affair opened on Broadway (1962)
- Actor/singer Alan Cumming born (1965)
- Styne & Harburg's Darling of the Day opened on Broadway (1968)
- Lorelei starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway (1974)
- Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opened on Broadway (1982)
January 28
- Lyricist/librettist Dorothy Donnelly born (1880)
- Film director Ernst Lubitsch born (1892)
- Choreographer Robert Alton born (1897)
- Cole Porter's Mexican Hayride opened on Broadway (1944)
- Revival of The Five O'Clock Girl opened on Broadway (1981)
- Sarafina opened on Broadway (1988)
January 29
- Actor/comedian W. C. Fields born (1880)
- Ziegfeld showgirl Mary Eaton born (1901)
- Composer/lyricist Leslie Bricusse born (1931)
- Look Ma, I'm Dancin' starring Nancy Walker opened on Broadway (1948)
- Cy Coleman's Sweet Charity starring Gwen Verdon opened on Broadway (1966)
- Paul Simon's The Capeman opened on Broadway (1998)
January 30
- British actor Seymour Hicks born (1871)
- Lyricist Joe Darion born (1911)
- Actor/singer David Wayne born (1914)
- Composer/producer Mitch Leigh born (1928)
- Producer/director Hal Prince born (1928)
- Actress/singer Tammy Grimes born (1934)
- The Shubert-produced Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 opened on Broadway (1936)
- Actor/singer Norbert Leo Butz born(1967
January 31
- Actor/singer/dancer Jerry Cohan born (1848)
- Actor/singer Eddie Cantor born (1892)
- Actress/singer Carol Channing born (1921)
- Singer/actor Mario Lanza born (1921)
- Musical Harrigan and Hart opened on Broadway (1985)