1986 A revival of The Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed eight-and-a-half-hour production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby opens on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre, once again directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.
1989 Willard White becomes the first Black actor to play Othello for the Royal Shakespeare Company when it opens at The Other Place. A tin shed in Stratford, the venue served as one of the group’s most intimate and experimental venues. Joining White on stage was Ian McKellen as an especially dastardly Iago.
2001 Rex Smith and Rachel York begin their stint at Los Angeles’ Shubert Theatre in an extended-stay production of Kiss Me, Kate, based on the 1999 Tony-winning revival.
2008 The Phantom of the Opera puts down his mask for four performances at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway while technicians invade his lair and upgrade the sound system. Producers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh take the unusual step of temporarily closing down the longest-running show in Broadway history "to bring the production's sound design technology into the 21st century."
2016 The Flea presents Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptation of Euripides’ The Trojan Women, directed by Anne Cecelia Haney.
2017 Prince of Broadway, a musical retrospective that charts the life and legendary career of director-producer Harold Prince, opens on Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Prince and Susan Stroman co-direct a cast that includes Chuck Cooper, Emily Skinner, Tony Yazbeck, and Karen Ziemba. The production features biographical material and songs from many of the shows that earned Prince a record 21 Tony Awards, including The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Evita, Sweeney Todd, and The Phantom of the Opera.
2018 The New York premiere of Mark Chrisler’s drama Worse Than Tigers begins at the New Ohio Theatre. The production, directed by Emmy nominee Jaclyn Biskup, stars Braeson Herold and Shannon Marie Sullivan.
2019 Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me plays its final performance on Broadway. The Tony-nominated production had extended its run at the Hayes twice. Schreck received Tony nods for Best Play and Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. The play was also a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and nominated for the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Today's Birthdays: Max Beerbohm (1872–1956), Frank Craven (1881–1945), Nedda Harrigan Logan (1899–1989), Durward Kirby (1912–2000), Stephen Fry (b. 1957), Martine Allard (b. 1970), Jessica Boevers (b. 1972), Taylor Mac (b. 1973), Amy Spanger (b. 1971).
