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1926<\/b> Sex<\/i><\/a>. It’s a comedy. Mae West<\/a> plays a Canadian woman with no time for those mounties; it’s the British navy for her. It runs through one season, but the following it is raided as immoral. The cast is arrested and West, who also co-produced, is sentenced to 10 days in jail and is fined $500. A well-received Off-Off-Broadway revival in 2000 proved that the show still had laughs and a unique social point of view.<\/p>\n 1967<\/b> Betty Comden<\/a> and Adolph Green<\/a> supply the lyrics to Jule Styne<\/a>‘s music for Hallelujah, Baby!<\/a><\/i> Leslie Uggams<\/a> makes her Broadway debut as a woman who never grows old. Arthur Laurents<\/a> penned the book. Burt Shevelove<\/a> stages the 293 performances. It wins five Tony Awards, including Best Actress in a Musical for Uggams, and Best Musical.<\/p>\n 1970<\/b> There’s a book by George Furth<\/a>, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim<\/a>, Harold Prince<\/a> helming, Michael Bennett<\/a> on hand to choreograph, and Elaine Stritch<\/a> in the lead; who wouldn’t want to be in that Company<\/a><\/i>? There are 705 performances at Broadway’s Alvin Theatre. The production is nominated for 14 Tony Awards, and wins six, including Best Musical.<\/p>\n 1970<\/b> Actor and author Gypsy Rose Lee<\/a>, 56, dies in Los Angeles. She was immortalized along with her mother and sister, June Havoc<\/a>, in the musical Gypsy<\/a><\/i>. Arthur Laurents<\/a> based the book for the musical on her memoir.<\/p>\n 1992<\/b> The music and life of jazz legend Jelly Roll Morton<\/a> comes to life on stage as Jelly’s Last Jam<\/i><\/a> opens at Broadway’s Virginia Theatre. Savion Glover<\/a> and Gregory Hines<\/a> share the title role at different ages. George C. Wolfe<\/a> directs the production he wrote the book for.<\/p>\n 1995<\/b> Manhattan Theatre Club<\/a>‘s production of Richard Greenberg<\/a>‘s Night and Her Stars<\/i> opens Off-Broadway at the American Place Theatre. David Warren<\/a> directs a cast that includes Patrick Breen<\/a>, Keith Charles<\/a>, Peter Frechette<\/a>, and John Slattery<\/a>. The show follows the scandals of the late 1950s quiz show scandal. <\/p>\n 2001<\/b> Ken Ludwig<\/a> and Don Schlitz<\/a>‘s musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer<\/a><\/i>, based on the Mark Twain<\/a> novel, opens on Broadway. Unlike the Tony-winning Huckleberry Finn<\/i>-based Big River<\/a><\/i>, the new musical is treated by critics like a dead cat on a string, and lasts less than two weeks. The production stars Joshua Park<\/a> as Tom Sawyer, Jim Poulos<\/a> as Huckleberry Finn, and Kristen Bell<\/a> as Becky Thatcher. Making her Broadway debut in the supporting role of Sabina Temple is future Tony Award winner Nikki M. James<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2003<\/b> Peter Stone<\/a>, the Tony Award-winning librettist who wrote the books of the Broadway musicals Titanic<\/a>, My One and Only<\/a>, Sugar<\/a>, The Will Rogers Follies<\/a><\/i>, and 1776<\/a>,<\/i> dies at a Manhattan hospital.<\/p>\n 2004<\/b> Rapper Sean “P. Diddy” Combs<\/a> makes his Broadway debut in a revival of Lorraine Hansberry<\/a>‘s A Raisin in the Sun<\/a><\/i>. He plays Walter Lee Younger, the role originated by Sidney Poitier<\/a> in the 1959 Broadway original<\/a>. His co-stars are Phylicia Rashad<\/a> and Audra McDonald<\/a>, both of whom win Tony Awards for their performances.<\/p>\n 2009<\/b> Roundabout Theatre Company<\/a>‘s Broadway production of Christopher Hampton<\/a>‘s 1970 comedy, The Philanthropist<\/a><\/i>, directed by Tony Award nominee David Grindley<\/a> and starring Tony winner Matthew Broderick<\/a>, opens at the American Airlines Theatre.<\/p>\n 2010<\/b> The first Broadway revival of Fences<\/a><\/i>, the 1987 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play by August Wilson<\/a>, opens at the Cort Theatre. Denzel Washington<\/a> and Viola Davis<\/a> both win Tony Awards for their performances in the drama about a former Negro League baseball player who now struggles as a garbage man. Washington and Davis both repeat their performances in the 2016 film adaptation, directed by Washington.<\/p>\n 2012<\/b> Roundabout Theatre Company opens a revival of Marc Camoletti<\/a>‘s 1960-set sex farce Don’t Dress for Dinner<\/a>\u2014<\/i>a sort of sequel to Boeing-Boeing<\/a><\/i>, featuring the same randy male characters, Robert, and Bernard\u2014at Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre. Ben Daniels<\/a>, Patricia Kalember<\/a>, David Aron Damane<\/a>, Adam James<\/a>, Jennifer Tilly,<\/a> and Spencer Kayden<\/a> star under John Tillinger<\/a>‘s direction.<\/p>\n 2012<\/b> Leap of Faith<\/a><\/i>\u2014a musical based on the 1992 film about a con-man preacher who blows into a depressed, drought-plagued Kansas town\u2014opens on Broadway at the St. James Theatre. Featuring a gospel and country score by Alan Menken<\/a> and Glenn Slater<\/a>, the production stars Ra\u00fal Esparza<\/a> as preacher Jonas Nightingale. Despite receiving a Tony nomination for Best Musical, poor ticket sales force the show to close after only 19 performances.<\/p>\n 2016 <\/b>Tuck Everlasting<\/i><\/a>, the musical based on Natalie Babbitt<\/a>‘s best-selling 1975 novel about a love that could live literally forever, opens on Broadway. Claudia Shear<\/a> and Tim Federle<\/a> write the book, Chris Miller<\/a> the music, and Nathan Tysen<\/a> the lyrics. The cast includes Carolee Carmello<\/a>, Andrew Keenan-Bolger<\/a>, and Terrence Mann<\/a>. It runs 39 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre.<\/p>\n 2017<\/b> Laura Osnes<\/a> and Corey Cott<\/a> star in Bandstand<\/i><\/a>, opening on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The musical, directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler<\/a>, uses an original swing score by Rob Taylor<\/a> and Richard Oberacker<\/a> to tell the story of Donny Novitski (Cott), who assembles a band of fellow WWII veterans to enter a national radio contest searching for the next big band sensation. It runs 166 performances.<\/p>\n Today’s Birthdays:<\/b> Anita Loos<\/a> 1888. Bambi Linn<\/a> 1926. Carol Burnett<\/a> 1933. Howard Davies<\/a> 1945. Eugene Fleming<\/a> 1961. <\/p>\n Watch highlights from the 2012 Broadway production of Leap of Faith<\/i>, starring Ra\u00fal Esparza:<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n