10/11 Birthdays

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 10/12/03 at 1:49am

Eleanor Roosevelt 10/11/1884 - 11/7/1964 First Lady: wife of 32nd U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; U.S. Delegate to the United Nations, source material

Jerome Robbins 10/11/1918 - Jul 29, 1998 Producer, Writer, Source Material, Choreographer, Director, Performer, Other, Cousin of Jean Handy, engaged to Nora Kaye (a wedding date of April 16, 1951 was announced, however the engagement was broken off), partner of Buzz Miller (broken off during "Bells Are Ringing"), partner of Tommy Abbott (? - ?), Jerome Robbins born today. The choreographer spent most of his early career moving easily between the worlds of classical ballet and Broadway, choreographing and/or directing classics - STARS IN YOUR EYES (Jimmy Durante, Ethel Merman, Tamara Toumanova); LOOK MA, I'M DANCIN' (Nancy Walker); CALL ME MADAM; THE KING & I; A TREE GROWS IN BKLYN; WONDERFUL TOWN; CALL ME MADAM; BELLS ARE RINGING; WEST SIDE STORY (Ran into JUDD JONES fr the orig cast on the M104 bus tonight as I left 6 DANCE LESSONS, he still has that gorgeous voice); GYPSY; A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM; FUNNY GIRL; ON THE TOWN; FIDDLER ON THE ROOF; just nine years before his death, his career was celebrated in the Tony-winning musical revue, Jerome Robbins' Broadway.

Ron Leibman 10/11/1937 performer, hjusband of Linda Lavin (1969 - 1981) divorced, husband of Jessica Walter (1983 - present) - DEAR ME, THE SKY IS FALLING (Howard Da Silva, Sylvia Mann); BICYCLE RIDE TO NEVADA (Franchot Tone, Richard Jordan); THE DEPUTY (Jeremy Brett, Emlyn Williams); WE BOMBED IN NEW NEW HAVEN (Jason Robards); COP OUT (Linda Lavin); I OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES (Joyce Van Patten, Dinah Manoff); DOUBLES (John Cullum, Tony Roberts, Austin Pendleton); RUMORS (Christine Baranski, Ken Howard); ANGELS IN AMERICA: MILLENIUM & PERESTROIKA; film's NORMA RAE

Jonathan Hadary 10/11/1948 performer - GEMINI (Danny Aiello ); replacement in TORCH SONG TRILOGY & 1992 GUYS & DOLLS; AS IS; 1989 GYPSY (Tyne Daly); 2000 GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN

Stephen Spinella 10/11/1956 performer - ANGELS IN AMERICA: MILLENIUM & PERESTROIKA; 1997 A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE; 1998 ELECTRA (Zoë Wanamaker, Claire Bloom, Michael Cumpsty [what were they thinking?]); JAMES JOYCE'S THE DEAD; 2003 OUR TOWN (Paul Newman)

Jane Krakowski 10/11/1968 peformer - STARLIGHT EXPRESS; GRAND HOTEL; FACE VALUE (Mark Linn-Baker, B.D. Wong); 1995 COMPANY (Jonathan Dokuchitz, Boyd Gaines, LaChanz); 1996 ONCE UPON A MATTRESS (Sara Jessica Parker, Lewis Cleale); NINE (Antonio Banderas, Chita Rivera)

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1948 Ray Bolger, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow in the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz, opens in Where's Charley? tonight at the St. James Theatre. The story, adapted by librettist George Abbott, is based on the 1892 Brandon Thomas play, Charley's Aunt, and is set to music by Guys and Dolls genius Frank Loesser. His score includes two well- known musical theatre songs, "My Darling, My Darling" and "Once in Love With Amy." George Balanchine, the well-known choreographer, stages the piece. Unfortunately, no Broadway cast album exists because of a musician's strike during the run. Although the show got mixed reviews, it ran 792 performances, and a film version was made in 1952 starring Bolger, who was singled out by some critics as the only reason the show stayed open as long as it did.

On Your Toes 10/11/1954 - Bobby Van, Elaine Stritch, Vera Zorina

Goldilocks 10/11/1958 - Elaine Stritch

The Most Happy Fella 10/11/1979 - Giorgio Tozzi, Sharon Daniels, Richard Muenz

1984 Charles Dutton and Theresa Merrit star tonight in August Wilson's first big Broadway success, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, opening at the Cort Theatre. This play takes place at a Ma Rainey recording session, during which she is having trouble with one of her musicians. Frank Rich, in the New York Times, states that "This play is a searing inside account of what white racism does to its victims." The show will run 275 performances, and then Wilson will go on to write the 1986 hit, Fences, which starred James Earl Jones, and The Piano Lesson. Both the latter win Pulitzer Prizes.

Dance of Death 10/11/2001 - Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren

ON THIS DATE IN:

1968 George White, who was most commonly known for his productions of Scandals, the vaudevillian revues that rivaled the Ziegfeld Follies of the Jazz Age, died today. His revues, which usually starred the legendary W.C. Fields, were staples of 1920s theatre.

1975 ''Saturday Night Live'' made its debut on NBC (I'll never forget it!)

1979 The New York Times adopts a policy of allowing reviews of major productions to be based on preview performances rather than opening nights. Broadway producers were in dismay about this and were outright furious when Walter Kerr (of the Times) had requested, and received, free preview tickets for shows of the season, while those same requests by critics for other major newspapers and magazines weren't honored.

(sources: IBDB, NYT's ON THIS DAY, 440.com’s Those Were The Days, Playbill.com)

Milla Updated On: 10/12/03 at 01:49 AM

[CJR]

Posted: 10/12/03 at 3:47am

Roxane Carrasco :) :)