About Us
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Years ago, while teaching college courses in the History of American Musical Theatre, my research exposed numerous instances of innovation in the art form (“this was the first time…”) as theatrical technologies, along with musical styles and forms, evolved. I began to “collect” such phrases, which later included people, theatrical venues and other occasional oddities, into the collection and organized the data chronologically. |
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At this site, we focus on historical firsts. Innovation creates history, and this is a collection of innovative events, decisions and inventions. Among other things, the collection includes initial appearances of popular shows, songs and performers. Here, you’ll find descriptions of theatrical firsts in America from 1665 to 2000. Each “historical first” appears in bold type. |
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Generally, the New York opening is considered the finished form of any work (even if subsequent changes occur during the New York run). For the sake of maintaining some historical perspective, this site covers events through the 1999-2000 season. |
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Ongoing additions to the site include textual entries and pictures of people and theatrical venues. One project will soon offer links to audio files of songs in the public domain; other improvements may occur as they are invented or suggested. |
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We owe much to those who have assisted in the development and presentation of this material. Please see our “Cast & Crew” page. To everyone who appears there, I offer my deepest thanks. |
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Perhaps you will find something here that will initiate your own research. You might want to have an item considered for inclusion at the site (if so, please contact me). You might wish to correct an error that you find here (if so, by all means contact me). You may even find items that will pique your curiosity and motivate you to seek answers. We hope that this site will bring you closer to the theatrical art form that has proven time and again to be our most beloved: the musical. |
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Wayne Hamilton, MFA 2009 |
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Thank you for visiting FirstOnStage.com, a web site that was literally decades in the making. We hope you find the information here useful in your classes, in your research or in exercising your intellectual curiosity. If so, we hope you’ll make a donation to help support FirstOnStage. This information comes to you quickly and easily without the cost of expensive textbooks or hours of searching for the proverbial needle in the digital haystack. Your gift will enable site developers to provide ongoing enhancements, including additional textual content, pictures and audio files. PayPal will safely and securely process the transaction. Thanks for your interest and your generous support! |
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000078673 |
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March of 1954 brought a Broadway musical debut within the context of a very old story. The debut was for the famous French dancer Zizi Jeanmarie. The story was about the circumstances that brought about an earlier (1866) landmark production of the lyric stage: The Black Crook. The new production called the story The Girl In Pink Tights. Herbert Fields and Jerome Chodorov wrote the libretto for Sigmund Romberg's music. Unfortunately, Romberg was not present for his last Broadway score; he had died three years earlier. Also unfortunately, Romberg's last music was unremarkable and the show had a short run. However, two young men bound for future fame also had their Broadway debuts in this show: brothers Gregory Hines and Maurice Hines. Maurice was eleven years old and Gregory was eight. Future stage, film and television star Marni Nixon also debuted in The Girl In Pink Tights. March of 1956 brought Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady to the Broadway stage. Its long run set a new record over the next six years: 2,717 performances. The title My Fair Lady, one of musical theatre's most popular and successful shows, was almost used as the name for a George Gershwin show that opened in April of 1925: Tell Me More. Apparently, the title was not considered "commercial" enough to generate interest. Anyone who has seen the stage or film version of My Fair Lady once (and many who have never seen it) could probably hum the melodies of most of the show's songs because they are ingrained in American culture. The show introduced songs like "I Could Have Danced All Night," "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," "On The Street Where You Live," "Get Me To The Church On Time" and "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face." During the original run, Sally Ann Howes made her Broadway debut as a replacement player. My Fair Lady won the Outer Critics Circle Best Musical award and the Drama Critics Circle citation for Best Musical in 1956. It won nine Tony awards, including Best Musical, in 1957. Columbia Records was one of the backers of My Fair Lady, and the company was repaid handsomely. The show was a tremendous hit and the original cast album became the best-selling record of its kind to that date. Its principal players, Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, became stars of the first magnitude as My Fair Lady pleased audiences worldwide. When the musical was filmed, however, Julie Andrews lost her role to film star Audrey Hepburn, who was not a singer. Marni Nixon was brought in to sing the songs for Hepburn in a process called "dubbing." Nixon made a career for herself dubbing her voice for actresses who were not able to sing the roles they were playing. Nixon has been the singing voice of film stars Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood, Jeanne Crain and Marilyn Monroe. She has also appeared in films herself. Nixon played the role of Sister Sophia in the film version of The Sound of Music and sang the song "Maria." In that film, the role of Maria was, of course, played by Julie Andrews. What goes around comes around.
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March of 1954 brought a Broadway musical debut within the context of a very old story. The debut was for the famous French dancer Zizi Jeanmarie. The story was about the circumstances that brought about an earlier (1866) landmark production of the lyric stage: The Black Crook. The new production called the story The Girl In Pink Tights. Herbert Fields and Jerome Chodorov wrote the libretto for Sigmund Romberg's music. Unfortunately, Romberg was not present for his last Broadway score; he had died three years earlier. Also unfortunately, Romberg's last music was unremarkable and the show had a short run. However, two young men bound for future fame also had their Broadway debuts in this show: brothers Gregory Hines and Maurice Hines. Maurice was eleven years old and Gregory was eight. Future stage, film and television star Marni Nixon also debuted in The Girl In Pink Tights.