On this day 9th October

On this day 9th October

1963 The Private Ear and The Public Eye

Two one-act plays in one bill by Peter Shaffer, The Private Ear and The Public Eye, open on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre. The plays, which deal with shyness, love, and infidelity, star Brian Bedford, Geraldine McEwan, and Moray Watson, who also appeared in the 1962 London production. Shaffer goes on to write the hit plays Equus and Amadeus.

1967 Rosencrants and Guildenstern

Tom Stoppard makes a splash in his Broadway debut, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which tells the story of Shakespeare's Hamlet entirely from the point of view of two of the most minor characters. Brian Murray and John Wood play the two would-be assassins who try to figure out what's going on around them before they themselves are killed. It wins the Tony Award as Best Play.

1986 Phantom Of The Opera

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical masterpiece "The Phantom Of The Opera" opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

The Phantom of the Opera is a gothic romance of mystery and murder. Far beneath the majesty and splendour of the Paris Opera House, hides the Phantom in a shadowy existence. Shamed by his physical appearance and feared by all, the love he holds for his beautiful protégée Christine Daae is so strong that even her heart cannot resist.

The multi-award winning musical is based on the 1910 French novel, Le Fantome de l’Opera, by Gaston Leroux. It features a mesmerising score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and additions from Richard Stilgoe; the latter also collaborated with Llloyd Webber on the show’s book. Add to that Gillian Lynne’s inspired choreography and staging and Maria Bjornson’s beautiful designs, not to mention the jaw-dropping special effects in the production, and Phantom is a show as close to musical theatre perfection as possible.

It made its world debut at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1986 with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in the lead roles of The Phantom and Christine, joined in the principal line-up by Steve Barton as Raoul, Rosemary Ashe as Carlotta, Mary Millar as Madame Giry, Janet Davenish as Meg Giry, John Savident as Monsieur Firmin, David Firth as Monsieur Andre and John Aron as Piangi. Crawford, Brightman and Barton all reprised their roles in the Broadway production, which opened at the Majestic Theatre on 26th January 1988.

2013 The Light Princess

The world premiere of Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson's musical The Light Princess opens at the National Theatre in London. Directed by Marianne Elliott, it stars Rosalie Craig as a princess who, when she finds herself unable to cry over her mother's death, becomes so light with grief that she floats.

2014 It's Only a Play

Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, Megan Mullally, and Rupert Grint eagerly await the reviews in Terrence McNally's comedy It's Only A Play, a spoof on what it takes to make a show a hit, opening at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Although originally announced as a limited 18-week engagement, the production extends multiple times, running until June of the following year.

2019 The Wrong Man 

The world premiere of The Wrong Man, a new musical by multi-platinum songwriter Ross Golan, officially opens Off-Broadway. Directed by Thomas Kail, the musical stars Joshua Henry as a man wrongly accused of murder in Reno, Nevada, and features Ciara Renée, Ryan Vasquez, Anoop Desai, Tilly Evans-Krueger, Malik Kitchen, Libby Lloyd, Amber Pickens, Kyle Robinson, Debbie Christine Tjong, and Julius Williams.