Pick a Day

Music History Events: Musicals

November 28, 1977 Elvis: the Musical, starring Shakin' Stevens, opens in London.

May 26, 1977 Beatlemania!, a Broadway tribute to the music of The Beatles, starring sound- and look-alikes, opens at the Winter Garden Theater to rave reviews.

February 26, 1975 Harry Chapin's Broadway revue featuring his songs, The Night That Made America Famous, opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. It closes in April.

March 1, 1973 Joffrey Ballet in New York debuts Deuce Coupe Ballet, which is set to the music of The Beach Boys.

February 14, 1972 The '50s tribute musical Grease opens off-Broadway at New York City's Eden Theatre, featuring Barry Bostwick and Adrienne Barbeau. The play is an instant hit, moving to Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre for a record 3,388 performances, and, not incidentally, spawning one of the most popular movies of all time.

May 17, 1971 The Christian musical Godspell opens at New York's Cherry Lane Theatre. It becomes the third-longest-running off-Broadway production of its day.

February 15, 1971 The Who debut a new rock opera called Lifehouse at the Young Vic Theatre in London. The project is shelved after a short run of shows, but some of the songs, including "Bab O' Riley," "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Behind Blue Eyes, become Who standards after being included on the album Who's Next.

February 17, 1970 Bee Gee Maurice Gibb opens in the London stage musical Sing A Rude Song.

April 29, 1968 Featuring the hippie anthem "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," the musical Hair opens on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre. The show is made into a movie in 1979.

March 5, 1968 Jerry Lee Lewis opens as Iago in Catch My Soul, a rock musical version of Shakespeare's Othello, in Hollywood.

October 17, 1967 The musical Hair, a celebration of hippie culture, debuts at the New York Shakespeare Festival. It comes to Broadway in 1968 and to the big screen in 1979.

November 20, 1966 The Kander-Ebb musical Cabaret, featuring Joel Grey and Bert Convy, opens on Broadway.

November 22, 1965 The musical Man Of La Mancha, starring Richard Kiley, opens on Broadway.

March 26, 1964 Barbra Streisand opens on Broadway in Funny Girl, two months after landing her first Top 10 hit with the show's number "People." More

September 29, 1962 After a wildly successful six-and-a-half-year run, the musical My Fair Lady closes on Broadway.

April 7, 1962 Bobby Rydell wins the role of Hugo in the movie version of Bye Bye Birdie.

March 22, 1962 Nineteen-year-old Barbra Streisand makes her Broadway debut, starring in the play I Can Get It For You Wholesale.

April 14, 1960 The musical Bye Bye Birdie, inspired by the drafting of Elvis Presley into the Army, opens on Broadway.

March 15, 1956 The musical My Fair Lady opens on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre.

September 30, 1954 Julie Andrews makes her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend.

November 24, 1950 The musical comedy Guys and Dolls premieres on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre. Two years later, it spawns a film adaptation starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.

December 30, 1948 Kiss Me Kate, Cole Porter's musical adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play The Taming Of The Shrew, opens on Broadway at the New Century Theatre.

November 28, 1944 The movie musical Meet Me in St. Louis, featuring Judy Garland, opens in theaters.

September 30, 1935 The Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess opens at Boston's Colonial Theatre. While not commercially successful, a revival in 1942 will turn it into one of the longest-running musicals in history.

November 21, 1934 The Cole Porter musical Anything Goes opens on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre.

November 29, 1932 The Broadway musical The Gay Divorce, featuring Cole Porter's classic "Night And Day," premieres in New York. Two years later, it reaches the big screen as The Gay Divorcee, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

November 8, 1932 Legendary songwriting team Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's first production, Music In The Air, opens on Broadway.

December 13, 1928 An American in Paris, a musical by George Gershwin, premieres in New York City. In 1951, it's turned into a movie starring Gene Kelly.

August 19, 1918 Songwriter Irving Berlin, still a Sergeant in the US Army, debuts his WWI-themed musical Yip Yip Yaphank, at New York's Century Theatre.

June 26, 2021 Bruce Springsteen performs Springsteen On Broadway at the St. James Theater, becoming the first person to perform a full-length show on Broadway since the pandemic hit in 2020. The audience is required to show proof of vaccination.