Playbill Vault's Today in Theatre History: September 2 | Playbill

Playbill Vault Playbill Vault's Today in Theatre History: September 2 Happy birthday to three-time Tony nominee Joshua Henry.
Joshua Henry in the 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel Julieta Cervantes

1918 A stage adaptation of Booth Tarkington's popular Penrod stories proves a bust. Opening at the Punch and Judy Theatre, it runs just 48 performances.

1924 The operetta Rose-Marie opens at the Imperial Theatre. Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart wrote the music, and Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach the book and lyrics. It runs 557 performances and enjoys a long life in tours and regional productions.

1948 Don't Listen, Ladies opens at London's St. James Theatre. Constance Cummings and Denholm Elliott head the cast. It runs for nearly seven months.

1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill to establish a National Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Later, the Center is named The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

2000 Bernadette Peters, who won a Tony Award for the title role of Annie Oakley in the classic Irving Berlin musical, Annie Get Your Gun, hangs up her holster as she exits the role she has been playing since the revival opened March 4, 1999. Her leading man, Tom Wopat, steps down from the role of Frank Butler as well. They are replaced by Cheryl Ladd and Patrick Cassidy, then country singer Reba McEntire and Brent Barrett.

2003 The hit Paris/Monaco musical bio of artist Pablo Picasso, La Vie en Bleu, has its U.S. premiere at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Jeffrey Coon stars as Picasso.

2014 Andrea Martin, who won 2013 Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards for her performance as Berthe in the Tony Award-winning revival of Pippin, returns to the role for a limited engagement of 24 performances.

Today's Birthdays: Jean Dalrymple (1902-1998); Marge Champion (b. 1919); Dominic Chianese (b.1934); P.J. Benjamin (b. 1951); Caroline O'Connor (b. 1962); Chad Kimball 1976. Joshua Henry (b. 1984).

Watch highlights from Chad Kimball's Tony-nominated performance in Memphis:

 
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