Pick a Day

Music History Events: Musicals

July 26, 2018 The Broadway musical Head Over Heels, an Elizabethan farce inspired by the music of The Go-Go's, premieres at the Hudson Theatre in New York City.More

May 5, 2018 The musical Jagged Little Pill, based on Alanis Morissette's 1995 album of the same name, debuts at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.More

April 17, 2018 Tina Turner's life story, already depicted in the 1993 film What's Love Got To Do With It, is adapted for the stage as Tina: The Musical, opens in London's West End. It opens on Broadway the following year.

April 24, 2016 Waitress, a musical about a pregnant woman trying to escape an abusive marriage by winning a pie-baking contest, opens on Broadway. The most popular number is "She Used To Be Mine," which inspires covers from several fans.More

December 9, 2014 Sting joins the Broadway cast of his musical The Last Ship, which is based on the shipbuilding community where he grew up.

January 12, 2014 Beautiful: The Carole King Musical opens on Broadway. It wins a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and is nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical.

April 24, 2011 American Idiot: The Musical, based on Green Day's 2004 album, closes after 422 performances.

December 14, 2006 The stage production of Lou Reed's 1973 album Berlin - the story of a doomed, drug addicted couple - opens at St. Ann's Warehouse in New York City.

March 21, 1982 Little Johnny Jones, with Donny Osmond in the lead role, opens on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre and closes after just one heavily panned performance. Osmond's career withers, but is revived in 1989 with the hit "Soldier Of Love" and in 1992 with a six-year run starring in the touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

March 10, 1975 The Rocky Horror Show, which started in London in 1973, opens on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre with Meat Loaf playing both Eddie and Dr. Scott. It's later made into a movie with Meat Loaf reprising his role as the motorcycle-riding Eddie.

June 19, 1973 The Rocky Horror Show musical debuts at London's Royal Court Theatre. Two years later, it starts a brief Broadway run and is adapted into the cult classic film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

August 27, 1970 The sci-fi musical Toomorrow, starring newcomer Olivia Newton-John as a pop singer whose band gets abducted by aliens, debuts in theaters. The film is meant to be a vehicle for the title group, but flops, pushing Newton-John towards a solo career.

December 1, 1968 Promises, Promises, a musical adapted from the Billy Wilder film The Apartment, debuts at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. The first and only Broadway production with music from Burt Bacharach and Hal David, it yields hits for Dionne Warwick and Bobbie Gentry.More

September 19, 1968 Barbra Streisand transitions from Broadway to the big screen in her first film role as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. The singer, who originated the part on stage, wins the Oscar for Best Actress, sharing the title with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter.

December 23, 1966 Eighteen-year-old Olivia Newton-John makes her film debut in the Australian musical comedy Funny Things Happen Down Under, about a group of kids who stumble upon a formula to make rainbow-colored sheep's wool. Olivia has a minor role but sings "Christmas Time Down Under."

April 5, 1965 "Chim Chim Cher-ee," composed by The Sherman Brothers for the Disney musical Mary Poppins, wins the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

June 23, 1960 Dean Martin and Judy Holliday sing "Just In Time" in the romantic comedy Bells Are Ringing, an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical.

November 12, 1951 The musical Paint Your Wagon opens at the Shubert Theater, New York City. In 1969, it's turned into a movie musical starring Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin.

March 27, 1948 The film musical April Showers is released, starring Jack Carson and Ann Sothern; it includes the 1921 song of the same name.

June 5, 1942 The musical film Yankee Doodle Dandy is released. Starring James Cagney, the film features the song "The Yankee Doodle Boy," based upon "Yankee Doodle," a long-time standard American anthem.

November 7, 1928 This Year Of Grace opens at the Selwyn Theatre in New York, with Noël Coward playing the lead.

October 6, 1927 The first talking picture is released: The Jazz Singer, a musical starring Al Jolson. Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" is one of the first songs heard by talkie audiences.

April 30, 1925 The musical On With The Dance opens at the London Pavilion.