Courtesy Pinterest.
Okay, now I'm giving myself 90 minutes to play with ...
The Beauty Queen of Leenane, which opened at the Walter Kerr in 1998. After acclaim in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and off-Broadway, Leenane marked Martin McDonagh's Broadway debut. Dramatists Play Service: "This darkly comic tale is the story of Maureen Folan (played on Broadway by Marie Mullen, who won the Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Play; she was succeeded by Kate Burton), a plain and lonely woman in her early 40s, and Mag (played on Broadway by Anna Manahan, who won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play), her manipulative aging mother, whose interference in Maureen’s romantic life sets off a train of events leading to a terrifying dénouement." Leenane also scored Tonys for Garry Hynes' direction and Tom Murphy's performance as a featured actor. Tom won over costar Brian F. O'Byrne (as Maureen's would-be mate), while The Beauty Queen of Leenane itself lost Best Play to Art.
Courtesy YouTube.
The History Boys, which opened at the Broadhurst in 2006. Six Tonys, included for Alan Bennett's play, Richard Griffiths' lead performance, and Nicholas Hytner's direction, went to this hit British import. "An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form (senior) boys in a British boarding school are, as such boys will be, in pursuit of sex, sport, and a place at a good university – generally in that order," according to the Concord Theatricals summary. "In all their efforts, they are helped and hindered, enlightened and bemused, by a maverick English teacher (Hector, played by Griffiths) who seeks to broaden their horizons in sometimes undefined ways, and by a young history teacher (Irwin, played by Stephen Campbell Moore) who questions the methods, as well as the aim, of their schooling." I've never read or seen the play, so I don't feel comfortable weighing in on the matter of Hector groping his students. The young actors when Boys opened included Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Jamie Parker, and Russell Tovey. The History Boys' original Broadway cast and Hytner's work is preserved with the 2006 feature film.
The Trip to Bountiful, which opened at the Stephen Sondheim in 2013. Cicely Tyson won the Tony for this revival of Horton Foote's 1953 play, best remembered for the 1985 Oscar-winner starring Geraldine Page. Cecily acted opposite Condola Rashad, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Williams, and Tom Wopat.
The Visit, which opened at the Lyceum in 2015. Five Tony nominations and no wins went to the third of four posthumous Broadway shows to date for lyricist Fred Ebb. Ebb and composter John Kander once again wrote for Chita Rivera, in what ended up being her last Broadway show. Chita, who'd been with The Visit for various productions since 2001, lost the Tony to Kelli O'Hara for The King and I. An adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's play about a rich woman who will bail out her hometown if the population will agree to kill the townie who loved her and left her (Roger Rees, who left the show during its brief run and died a month after its June closing), The Visit had a book by Terrence McNally, who lost to Lisa Kron for Fun Home. To date, The Visit is the penultimate Broadway credit for director John Doyle, returning after seven years, and absent ever since the 2015 revival of The Color Purple.
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which opened at the Lunt-Fontanne in 2017. The Tonys completely ignored this Broadway premiere of a long-running West End musical. In New York, original songs by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman were performed along with Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory's two standards, "The Candy Man" and "Pure Imagination." To be fair, "Pure Imagination" was also sung in the original London production. Anyway, Broadway's Willy Wonka was Christian Borle, who also got to sing "The Candy Man."
Courtesy YouTube.
Summer, which opened at the Lunt-Fontanne in 2018. It's the life and music of Donna Summer, who had died nearly six years before. Donna was portrayed in three forms by three actresses: Storm Lever, as "Duckling Donna," Ariana DeBose, who scored a Tony nod, as "Disco Donna," and LaChanze, who also scored a Tony nod, as "Diva Donna." I forgot that Colman Domingo was among Summer's book writers.
Courtesy YouTube.
Tootsie, which opened at the Marquis in 2019. Santino Fontana and book writer Robert Horn scored the lone Tonys for this adaptation of the 1982 comedy This time around, it's the present day and Dorothy Michaels becomes a star on Broadway, in the musical Juliet's Curse, rather than through a soap opera. The score was by David Yazbeck, who lost to Anaïs Mitchell for Hadestown (well, no argument there).
Courtesy YouTube.
Prima Facie, which opened at the John Golden in 2023. Jodie Comer scored the Tony for this one-woman Suzie Miller play, previously acclaimed in Australia and the United Kingdom. A defense attorney for men accused of sexual assault gets assaulted herself and "(confronts) the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge," according to IMDB.
Notable April 30 openings include:
The Little Show, which opened at the Music Box in 1929. Composer Arthur Schwartz and lyricist Howard Dietz teamed up for this revue, launching a partnership that would last for the next 34 years. Back in 1929, Arthur & Howard created a standard with "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan," introduced by Clifton Webb.
Courtesy YouTube.
Pre-Honeymoon, which opened at the Lyceum in 1936 and closed later that year at what is now the Hayes. Anne Nichols, whose biggest claim to fame is Abie's Irish Rose, produced and co-wrote/co-directed (with Alford Van Ronkel) this bedroom farce involving a cheating senator, an innocent young couple, a "bubble dancer," a clever reporter, and "screams, misunderstandings, hotel dicks and hotel managers, a bop or two on the conk with a milk bottle, bandages and night shirts and a happy ending." That's according to Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times, who wasn't impressed. "Gradually the conviction is growing that Miss Nichols is not an intellectual."
Inside U.S.A., which opened at the now-demolished New Century in 1948 before spending the 1948-49 season at the Majestic. Schwartz & Dietz again, this time with a revue suggested by John Gunther's book about traveling the country. The cast included Jack Haley (his last time on Broadway) and Beatrice Lillie (who still had nearly 20 years of appearances left), plus young talent like Jack Cassidy and Carl Reiner.
Courtesy YouTube.
The Male Animal, which was revived at the New York City Center in 1952 before spending the rest of the year and part of January 1953 at the Music Box. James Thurber and Elliott Nugent's 1940 play about a college professor who winds up in the middle of a free speech free-for-all is yet another of those shows I'd be curious to see how a modern audience responds to. In 1952, the cast included Elliott Nugent himself as the lead, Martha Scott, who was established on Broadway, and a stage up-and-comer ... Robert Preston.
An Evening With Richard Nixon and ..., which opened at the Shubert in 1972. I'm cheating to include this short-lived play. It was Gore Vidal's last original show for Broadway, capping a 15-year run. "A single two-hour 'entertainment' [of] the thirty-seventh President's career, using his own words -- and those of others." The cast included George S. Irving as Nixon, Robert King as John F. Kennedy, Philip Sterling as Eisenhower, and Shephen D. Newman as George Washington. The ensemble included Susan Sarandon, who played Martha Mitchell and Tricia Nixon, among others.
I'll pick up again soon ...
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