We're Finally Caught Up With Notable Opening Nights and Your Own Thursday Headlines!

 

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I just have five entries today, so I'm giving myself 45 minutes to write this.

Notable May 28 openings include:
Adrienne, which opened at the now-demolished George M. Cohan's Theatre in 1923. A musical by Albert Von Tilzer and A. Seymour Brown, Adrienne starred Vivienne Segal in the title role. According to Time, a band of crooks pretend to be Hindu mystics to swindle Vivienne out of her jewels. She scored a rave from the magazine, noted for having "one of the best voices in light opera and (using) it with effectiveness and precision."

Louisiana Purchase, which opened at the Imperial in 1940. Irving Berlin wrote the score to this musical featuring the team of William Gaxton and Victor Moore. "An honest U.S. senator (Moore) travels to Louisiana to investigate corruption in the Louisiana Purchase Company," according to Wikipedia. "The company's lawyer (Gaxton) attempts to divert him via the attentions of two beautiful women (Vera Zorina and Irène Bordoni), but the senator maintains his integrity and ends up marrying one of them (Vera, if I'm reading the summary right)." You could always count of Irving for at least one hit.

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Icetime of 1948, which opened at the now-demolished Center Theatre in 1947. This was the sixth of eight consecutive skating shows co-produced by Sonja Henie between 1940-50. In between the ice shows, the Center hosted the San Carlo Opera Company.

Me and Juliet, which opened at the Majestic in 1953. Unlike most Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals, this wasn't an adaptation. Hammerstein's book concerned the backstage goings-on at a Broadway show, which just also happens to be called Me and Juliet. The cast included Isabel Bigley, in her second and last show after the original run of Guys and Dolls, plus Bill Hayes, a year-and-a-half before "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and nearly 20 years before his long run on Days of Our Lives, Joan McCracken (then-married to Bob Fosse), and Ray Walston (two years away from Damn Yankees). There was also a dancing ensemble with ladies including Thelma Tadlock (Miss Design for Dreaming herself!) and Shirley MacLaine. Me and Juliet included a standard, "No Other Love," but I'm more fond of "Intermission Talk." It proves that snarking about Broadway was already well-established by the '50s.

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The Magic Show, which opened at what is now the James Earl Jones Theatre in 1974. Doug Henning rose to fame with this musical featuring a score by Stephen Schwartz and book by Bob Randall. The show went zero for two at the 1975 Tonys, with featured actor Doug and director Grover Dale losing to a pair from The Wiz: Ted Ross as the Cowardly Lion and director Geoffrey Holder. Doug didn't sing, leaving that to costars like Grover's wife, Anita Morris, and Dale Soules.

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There are no notable opening nights for June 4. I'll give you a choice for next week's essay topic: either what appears to be the first American performance of Twelfth Night (1804), or the gender-flipped 1985 production of The Odd Couple, starring Rita Moreno as Olive and Sally Struthers as Florence.