Calendar: December
compiled by John Kenrick
(Copyright 2000, Revised 2003)

 

1

2

  • Actor/singer William Gaxton born (1893)
  • Friml's The Firefly opened on Broadway (1912)
  • Lyricist/librettist Adolph Green born (1915)
  • Romberg's The Student Prince in Heidelberg opened on Broadway (1923)
  • Oscar Hammerstein II's Carmen Jones opened on Broadway (1943)
  • Hello Dolly! starring Mary Martin opened in London (1965)
  • Buck White starring Muhammad Ali opened on Broadway (1969)
  • The Mystery of Edwin Drood moved to Broadway (1985)
  • Marie Christine opened on Broadway (1999)

3

4

5

6

7

  • British actress/singer Violet Cameron born (1862)
  • Gilbert& Sullivan's The Gondoliers opened in London (1889)
  • Ziegfeld's Mam'selle Napoleon starring Anna Held opened on Broadway (1903)
  • Walk a Little Faster starring Bea Lillie opened on Broadway (1932)
  • The Seven Lively Arts opened on Broadway (1944)
  • Librettist Mark Bramble born (1950)
  • Harold Arlen's Saratoga starring Keel & Lawrence opened on Broadway (1959)
  • How Now Dow Jones opened on Broadway (1967)

8

  • Composer Rudolph Friml born (1879)
  • Actor/singer/dancer Sammy Davis, Jr. born (1925)
  • Jule Styne's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes opened on Broadway (1949)
  • Noel Coward's The Girl Who Came To Supper opened on Broadway (1963)
  • Nick and Nora opened on Broadway (1991)
  • Baz Luhrmann's production of La Boheme opened on Broadway (2002)

9

  • Actor/singer George Grossmith born (1847)
  • Lyricist/librettist Edgar Smith born (1857)
  • Revival of The Pajama Game opened on Broadway (1973)
  • Revival of My Fair Lady starring Richard Chamberlain opened on Broadway (1993)
  • Swing opened on Broadway (1999)
  • Dance of the Vampires starring Michael Crawford opened on Broadway (2002)

10

  • Offenbach's Les Brigands premieres in Paris (1869)
  • Lyricist Lew Brown born (1893)
  • John Murray Anderson's Almanacopened on Broadway (1953)
  • The Yearling opened on Broadway (1965)
  • Flaherty & Ahrens's My Favorite Year opened on Broadway (1992)
  • Jane Eyre opened on Broadway (2000)

11

  • Librettist Joe Masteroff born (1919)
  • Actress/singer/dancer Rita Moreno born (1931)
  • Actress/singer Judy Kaye born (1948)
  • Cy Coleman & David Zippel's City of Angels opened on Broadway (1989)

12

  • Victor Herbert's Mlle. Modiste opened on Broadway (1905)
  • Actor/singer Frank Sinatra born (1915)
  • West Side Story opened in London (1958)
  • Nunsense opened off-Broadway (1985)

13

  • Revival of Oklahoma opened on Broadway (1979)
  • Revival of Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby opened on Broadway (1990)

14

  • British director Edward Royce born (1870)
  • Actor/singer/dancer Dan Dailey born (1914)
  • La Strada opened and closed on Broadway (1969)
  • Michael Bennett's Ballroom starring Dorothy Loudon opened on Broadway (1978)
  • Onward Victoria opened & closed on Broadway (1980)

15

  • Two's Company starring Bette Davis opened on Broadway (1952)
  • I Had A Ball starring Buddy Hackett opened on Broadway (1964)
  • Charlie Girl opened in London (1965)
  • A Joyful Noise starring John Raitt on Broadway (1966)

16

  • Composer Lew Henderson born (1896)
  • Composer/lyricist/playwright/actor/singer/director Noel Coward born (1899)
  • Lend An Ear opened on Broadway (1948)
  • Wildcat starring Lucille Ball opened on Broadway (1960)
  • Jule Styne's short-lived The Red Shoes opened on Broadway (1993)

17

18

  • British composer Lionel Monckton born (1891)
  • Librettist/director Abe Burrows born (1910)
  • Actress/singer/dancer Betty Grable born (1916)
  • Composer Galt MacDermot born (1928)
  • Coco starring Katherine Hepburn opened on Broadway (1969)
  • Herman's Jerry's Girls opened on Broadway (1985)
  • Sondheim's Assassins opened in an Off-Broadway workshop (1990)

19

20

  • Actress/singer Bertha Belmore born (1882)
  • Actress/singer Irene Dunne born (1901)
  • Dames at Sea opened off-Broadway (1968)
  • George Abbott's production of Music Is opened on Broadway (1976)
  • Comin' Uptown opened on Broadway (1979)
  • Michael Bennett's production of Dreamgirls opened on Broadway (1981)
  • Wind In The Willows starring Nathan Lane opened on Broadway (1985)

21

  • Ziegfeld's production of Sally starring Marilyn Miller opened on Broadway (1920)
  • Actor/dancer Harold Lang born (1923)
  • Jerome Robbins's production of Billion Dollar Baby opened on Broadway (1945)
  • Cole Porter's Out of This World opened on Broadway (1950)
  • Revival of Very Good Eddie opened on Broadway (1975)
  • A Broadway Musical opened on Broadway (1978)
  • The Tap Dance Kid opened on Broadway (1983)
  • The Wind in the Willows opened on Broadway (1985)

22

  • Whoop-Up opened on Broadway (1958)
  • Your Arms Too Short to Box With God opened on Broadway (1976)

23

  • Librettist Adrian Ross born (1859)
  • Jerome Kern's Very Good Eddie opened on Broadway (1915)
  • Revival of Good News starring Alice Faye opened on Broadway (1974)

24

25

26

  • The Gershwins' Of Thee I Sing starring Gaxton & Moore opened on Broadway (1933)
  • Beggar's Holiday opened on Broadway (1946)
  • Do, Re, Mi starring Phil Silvers & Nancy Walker opened on Broadway (1960)
  • Legs Diamond starring Peter Allen opened on Broadway (1988)

27

  • Actress/singer Marlene Dietrich born (1901)
  • Actor/musician Oscar Levant born (1906)
  • Lyricist Sheldon Harnick born (1924)
  • Kern & Hammerstein's Show Boat opened on Broadway (1927)
  • Sing Out Sweet Land opened on Broadway (1944)
  • Jule Styne's Subways Are For Sleeping opened on Broadway (1961)

28

  • Lyricist/librettist Harry B. Smith born (1860)
  • Bernstein's On The Town opened on Broadway (1944)
  • How To Be A Jewish Mother opened on Broadway (1967)
  • Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentleman opened on Broadway (1970)
  • Revival (1st) of Fiddler On The Roof starring Zero Mostel opened on Broadway (1976)

30

  • Chicago's Iroquois Theatre destroyed by fire, killing over 600 (1903)
  • Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate starring Drake & Morison opened on Broadway (1948)
  • Harold Arlen's House of Flowers opened on Broadway (1954)

31