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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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The first documentation of a musical performed in what was then the American colonies was Flora, or Hob in the Well, which occurred on February 18, 1735 in Charleston. Flora was also the first identifiable music drama to be performed in Philadelphia, in 1754 at the College of Philadelphia. This is significant because, at the time, Philadelphia was second only to London as the largest English-speaking city in the world. Both of these early productions of Flora were produced by amateurs. Flora was a British ballad opera, then the rage in England, the first of which (The Beggar's Opera) was introduced by John Gay in 1728 at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London). Two hundred years later, in 1928 Berlin, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill based their Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) on Gay's work. Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill collaborated to bring Knickerbocker Holiday to the lyric stage; it opened in October of 1938. One hit song written by the pair and introduced in the show became a hit that is still occasionally heard today: "September Song." The annual Tony Award ceremony is the creation of The American Theatre Wing (ATW). The ATW was established in 1917, just before America entered World War I. Seven ladies of the theatre (Rachel Crothers, Louise Closser Hale, Dorothy Donnelly, Josephine Hull, Minnie Dupree, Bessie Tyree and Louise Drew) met to discuss the creation of an organization to aid in war relief. The Stage Women's War Relief organization was born and began operation within the next few weeks; it became one of the most significant and active relief organizations in the world. The Theatre Wing established the Tony Awards as a memorial to actor/director Antoinette Perry (1888 - 1946). The first awards ceremony took place in April of 1947. The first Tonys went to the following individuals (the musical winners appear in bold type):
An unusual set of circumstances occurred in March of 1954. The show was a revival of The Threepenny Opera, which had first seen the Broadway boards in 1933 and was originally written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. The revival was a collaboration between Weill's widow, Lotte Lenya and Marc Blitzstein, who provided a new translation of the original German. Although the show only ran until May, critics and the public demanded that it re-open. While this demand was going on, Louis Armstrong recorded one of the newly translated songs titled "Mack The Knife," which had a huge public reception. As a result, the show re-opened in September of 1955 and ran for more than 2600 performances. Film star Meryl Streep appeared in one Broadway musical, Happy End. Though it was not Streep's Broadway debut, it was her Broadway musical debut and the only one she has performed in to date. The same is true for film and television star Christopher Lloyd, who also appeared in Happy End. Lloyd was injured during rehearsals and could not appear onstage until after he had healed. The show, by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, lasted only 75 performances after its opening in May of 1977.
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The first documentation of a musical performed in what was then the American colonies was Flora, or Hob in the Well, which occurred on February 18, 1735 in Charleston. Flora was also the first identifiable music drama to be performed in Philadelphia, in 1754 at the College of Philadelphia. This is significant because, at the time, Philadelphia was second only to London as the largest English-speaking city in the world. Both of these early productions of Flora were produced by amateurs. Flora was a British ballad opera, then the rage in England, the first of which (The Beggar's Opera) was introduced by John Gay in 1728 at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London). Two hundred years later, in 1928 Berlin, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill based their Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) on Gay's work.