Playbill Vault’s Today in Theatre History: June 2 | Playbill

Playbill Vault Playbill Vault’s Today in Theatre History: June 2 The musical Far From Heaven, starring Kelli O'Hara, opens Off-Broadway in 2013.
Kelli O'Hara in Far From Heaven. T. Charles Erickson

1954 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel is revived for a 10-week run at New York City Center. In the cast are Barbara Cook and Jo Sullivan.

1955 Michael Redgrave heads the cast of Tiger at the Gates. Christopher Fry’s adaptation of Jean Giraudoux’s La Guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu describes the Trojan hero Hector and his determination to avoid war with Greece. The play runs for 13 weeks at London’s Apollo Theatre.

1982 Conceiver-director Sheldon Epps adds a touch of blue to the Great White Way as his Blues in the Night opens on Broadway. The cast at the Rialto Theatre features Leslie Uggams, Debbie Shapiro, Jean Du Shon, and Charles H. Coleman. The musical centers on the three women’s woes, featuring 24 songs from various blues artists.

1999 Actor, composer, playwright, and concert artist Hershey Felder opens George Gershwin Alone. His one-man show (with music) premieres at the Tiffany Theatre in West Hollywood. The production about George Gershwin opens on Broadway two years later, on April 30, 2001, under the direction of Joel Zwick.

2008 Legally Blonde enters the world of reality casting when MTV debuts Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods. The series follows ten contestants, selected from a nationwide casting call, as they audition to star in the Broadway musical.

2013 Shadows close in on a Connecticut family as the world premiere of Far From Heaven, starring Kelli O’Hara, Steven Pasquale, and Isaiah Johnson, opens Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. Based on Todd Haynes’ 2002 film, the musical has a book by Richard Greenberg, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie.

Today’s Birthdays: Max Showalter (1917–2000); Milo O’Shea (1926–2013); Lenore Lonergan (1928–1987); Sally Kellerman (b. 1937); Stacy Keach (b. 1941); Marvin Hamlisch (1944–2012); Joanna Gleason (b. 1950); Norm Lewis (b. 1963); Zachary Quinto (b. 1977).

Watch highlights from the 2013 Off-Broadway production of Far From Heaven:

 
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