February 14 marks the anniversary of the original Broadway production of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, which opened in 1939 at the National Theatre (now the Nederlander). The original production starred Tallulah Bankhead in the leading role of Regina Hubbard Giddens, with Patricia Collinge as her sister-in-law, Birdie.
The play follows Southern belle Regina and her brothers as they scheme to outwit Regina's husband Horace, who opposes their attempts to profit from a cotton factory in partnership with a Chicago businessman.
In 1967, director Mike Nichols revived The Little Foxes at Lincoln Center with a later transfer to Broadway; the production starred Anne Bancroft as Regina and Margaret Leighton as Birdie. Its next revival, this time in 1981, served as the long-awaited Broadway debut of Elizabeth Taylor, who starred as Regina opposite Maureen Stapleton's Birdie. Stockard Channing was next to take on the role of Regina in director Jack O'Brien's 1997 Lincoln Center revival, featuring Frances Conroy as Birdie.
Most recently, Manhattan Theatre Club presented the play's fourth revival in 2017, with Tony winner Cynthia Nixon and Tony nominee Laura Linney alternating in the roles of Regina and Birdie under the direction of Daniel Sullivan, with Nixon earning a Tony Award for her performance as Birdie.
