Past Shows - 1950 - 1999
CHRONOLOGY of THE NATIONAL THEATRE
1950 - 1999
This record is a work in progress.
1835
- 1864
1865 - 1899
1900 -1924
1925
- 1949
2000
- the present
Click
here for the Memory Page: Audience Members Reminisce
Abbreviations
SN refers to Stage for a Nation, Lee, Meersman,
Murphy, 1985, the official history of The National.
HNNT refers to History of the New National Theatre
by Alexander Hunter and J. H. Polkinhorn, November, 1954
ON refers to a series of orange notebooks containing
information taken from the files of the Washington Historical Society
on productions at the National beginning in 1835. Information culled
from The Intelligencer newspaper files of the Martin Luther King
Library. There are no program files for these entries.
Rapley Files - William W. Rapley was an owner and manager of the
theatre in the 1860's and the 1870's. He was later succeeded by
his son, Harry W. Rapley.
LINKS - For shows presented since 1997, when this
website was inaugurated, promotional pages exist. These pages
may include photos, some cast names, and other information about
the shows. Click
here for a list of links to these pages.
1950
1951
Building was owned by The Munsey Realty Co., a subsidiary of The
Munsey Trust Co., which was the Munsey estate, represented by Christopher
H. Pope.
March 30, 1951
Howard S. Cullman of New York tried unsuccessfully to buy the National
and convert it back to an integrated playhouse.
November 8, 1951
NEW LEASE - Richard Aldrich and Richard Meyers (Myers?), with Robert
Dowling's City Investment Company and money from Julius Fleischmann
took a ten-year lease, effective May 4, 1952. They pledge to open
as an integrated theatre, operated by Louis Lotito.
1952
Edward Plohn continued as theatre manager.
Scott Kirkpatrick became assistant manager.
May 5 through May 31, 1952 – SEGREGATION ENDED
CALL ME MADAM – The National Theatre re-opened as an unsegregated
legitimate theatre with Ethel Merman in Irving Berlin's Call Me
Madam. With Richard Eastham, Alan Hewitt, Russell Nype, Alan Hewitt,
Pat Harrington, Galina Talva, Jay Velie, Robert Chambers, E. A.
Krumschmidt. Directed by George Abbott. Musical numbers staged by
Jerome Robbins. Elaine Stritch played the lead in a matinee on May
30. "Conchita del Riviero" in the company became the star,
Chita Rivera. Rivera was a native Washingtonian.
June 2 through June 21, 1952
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES - musical comedy based on the book by Joseph
Fields and Anita Loos, music by Jule Styne; lyrics by Leo Robin;
dances and music ensemble by Agnes de Mille. Starring Carol Channing,
Jack McCauley, Shirl Conway, Eric Brotherson, Kazimer Kokic, Mary
Finney, Robert Chisholm, Reta Shaw, Honi Coles, Cholly Atkins, Dorothy
Etheridge, Morley Meredith, Jerry Jarrett, Frank Milton, Doug Rogers,
Irving Mitchell. Production staged by John C. Wilson.
June 23 through July 19, 1952 – DARK
July 21 through August 2, 1952
GOOD NITE LADIES – Comedy adapted by Cyrus Wood from the stage
hit “Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath” by Avery Hopwood.
Starring Dolores Cross, Joyce Savage, Patricia Stedman, Bob Ball,
Ervil Kay Hart, Elsie Kerben, Neal Thorpe, Jack Mathiesen, Josephine
Raciti, Denise Milan, Monie May, Nalima Esined and Tom Carlin. Directed
by Harry Minturn.
August 4 through August 30, 1952
PORGY AND BESS -- music by George Gershwin, lyrics by DuBose Heyward
and Ira Gershwin. Starring William Warfield, Leontyne Price, Cab
Calloway, Urylee Leonardos and LeVern Hutcherson. Cast includes
Georgia Burke, Helen Colbert, Joseph James, William Veasey, Leslie
Scott, Helen Dowdy, John McCurry, Howard Roberts, Moses LaMarr,
Kenneth Hibbert, Helen Thigpen, Catherine Ayers, Jerry Laws, Joseph
Crawford, Ray Yeates and Joseph Attles. Directed by Robert Breen.
October 6 through October 11, 1952
BERNARDINE – comedy by Mary Chase. Cast includes Johnny Stewart,
Alney Alba, Beverly Lawrence, John Kerr and Michael Wager. Staged
by Guthrie McClintic.
October 13 through October 25, 1952
THE CLIMATE OF EDEN – new comedy by Moss Hart, based on Edgar
Mittelholzer’s novel “Shadows Move Among Them.”
Starring John Cromwell, Isobel Elsom, Penelope Munday, Lee Montague,
Rosemary Harris. Directed by Moss Hart.
October 27 through November 1, 1952
THE DEEP BLUE SEA – by Terence Rattigan. Starring Margaret
Sullavan, with Alan Webb, Herbert Berghof, James Hanley, Betty Sinclair,
John Merivale, Stella Andrew, and Felix Deebank. Directed by Frith
Banbury.
November 3 through November 15, 1952
TOP BANANA – musical comedy with words and music by Johnny
Mercer, book by Hy Kraft. STarring Phil Silvers, with Kaye Ballard,
Jack Albertson, Judy Lynn, Johnny Coy, Joey Faye, Walter Dare Wahl,
Herbie Faye, Bradford Hatton, Dick Dana, Johnny Trama, Gloria Smith,
George Marci, “Flach” Hogan, Danny Scholl. Directed
by Jack Donohue.
November 17 through November 30, 1952
THE SHRIKE -- Pulitzer prize winning drama by Joseph Kramm. Starring
Van Heflin, Doris Dalton, and Kendall Clark. Direction by Jose Ferrer
December 1 through December 13, 1952
POINT OF NO RETURN – new play by Paul Osborn, based on a novel
by John Marquand. Starring Henry Fonda with Leora Dana, Frank Conroy,
Paul Huber, Colin Keith-Johnston, Robert Ross, Patricia Smith, Phil
Arthur, William Le Massena, and James MacDonald. Directed by H.C.
Potter. Presented by Leland Hayward.
December 29, 1952 through January 4, 1953
BALLET THEATRE – starring Alicia Alonso, Igor Youskevitch,
Mary Ellen Moylan and John Kriza. Music conducted by Joseph Levine.
Repertoire includes: Les Sylphides, The Harvest According, Pas de
Deux, Graduation Ball, Design with Strings, Fall River Legend, Fancy
Free, La Fille Mal Gardee, Princess Aurora, Giselle, Interplay,
Swan Lake and Les Patineurs.
1953
January 12 through January 24, 1953
THE FOURPOSTER -- Comedy by Jan de Hartog. Starring Hume Cronyn
and Jessica Tandy in the Jose Ferrer Production. Staged by Jose
Ferrer for The Playwrights' Company.
January 27 through February 14, 1953
GIGI -- a new comedy by Anita Loos, based on the novel by Collette.
Starring Audrey Hepburn. With Margaret Bannerman, Michael Evans,
Josephine Brown, Bertha Belmore, Doris Patston and Ronald Telfer.
Directed by Raymond Rouleau.
February 16 through February 28, 1953
BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE -- comedy by John Van Druten. Starring Joan
Bennett and Zachary Scott, with Dorothy Sands, James O’Rear
and William Windom. Staged by Shepard Traube.
March 2 through March 21, 1953
MRS. McTHING -- a comic fantasy by Mary Chase. Starring Helen Hayes
with Jules Munshin, Enid Markey, Iggie Wolfington, Paula Trueman,
Lydia Reed, Robert Mariotti, Bethel Leslie, Guy Raymond. Directed
by Joseph Buloff.
March 23 through April 18, 1953
OKLAHOMA! -- music by Richard Rodgers. Book and Lyrics by Oscar
Hammerstein, II, based on Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs. Starring
Florence Henderson, Mary Marlo and Ralph Lowe, with Jacquelin Daniels,
Victor Griffin, Alfred Cibelli, Jr., Charles Hart, Charles Scott,
John Addis, Jerry Mann, Judy Rawlings, Margery Reilley, Davie Gladstone,
Jean Bledsoe, Marquita Living, Anita Berman, Owen Martin, Victor
Reilley, Bob Lord. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Dances by Agnes
DeMille.
March 31, 1953 marked the 10th Anniversary of Oklahoma! A gala
backstage party was planned by The Theatre Guild for that night,
and "in addition to Washington dignitaries," the program
announced, attendees would include "the Messrs. Rodgers and
Hammerstein, Rouben Mamoulian and Agnes DeMille" as well as
Alfred Drake, Celete Holm and others of the original cast.
April 19 through April 26, 1953
TUMULTIME -- musical revue with "that Yiddish flavor."
With the Barton Brothers, Lou Saxon, Marty Drake, Rickie Layne,
Kathryn Chang, Jennifer Marshall, Florence Shore, The Rivieras,
Hy Sands. Vocal and Choral Direction by Marty Drake. Production
supervised by Paul Barton.
April 27 through May 9, 1953
AN EVENING WITH WILL SHAKESPEARE -- Starring Eva LeGallienne, Faye
Emerson, John Lund, Betty Field, Basil Rathbone, Viveca Lindfors,
and Margaret Webster. Narrated and directed by Margaret Webster.
Produced by Mary Hunter for the American Shakespeare Festival Foundation.
May 11 through May 23, 1953
STALAG 17 -- comedy by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski. Cast includes
George Tobias, Douglas Watson, Laurence Hugo, Lothar Rewalt, Edward
Platt, Jerry Jarrett, Robert Lansing, Vincent Donahue and Jason
Robards. Directed by Jose Ferrer.
May 25 through May 30, 1953
THE FOURPOSTER -- comedy by Jan de Hartog. Starring Jessica Tandy
and Hume Cronyn. Directed by Jose Ferrer.
June 29 through August 22, 1953
GUYS AND DOLLS -- Musical based on a story and characters by Damon
Runyan. Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser; book by Jo Swerling and
Abe Burrows; staged by George S. Kaufman. Starring Iva Withers,
Julie Oshins, Norwood Smith and Pat Rooney, with Susan Hight, B.S.
Pully, Jack Prince, Dell Markee, Al Nesor, Tom Ahearne and Netta
Packer. Dances and musical numbers staged by Michael Kidd. Vocal
Arrangements and Direction by Herbert Greene. Among the dancers:
Peter Gennnaro (who also played “A Drunk”), Oona White
and Gretchen Wyler.
September 21 though September 26, 1953
TEA AND SYMPATHY - drama by Robert Anderson. Starring Deborah Kerr,
with John Kerr and Leif Erickson, Florida Friebus, Richard Midgley,
Alan Sues, Richard York, Arthur Steuer, Richard Franchot, John McGovern
and Yale Wexler. Directed by Elia Kazan.
September 28 through October 3, 1953
THE DUBLIN PLAYERS -- present Shadow and Substance (by Paul Vincent
Carroll), Playboy of the Western World by (John Millington Synge),
and three one-act plays, In the Shadow of the Glen (by John Millington
Synge), The Workhouse Ward (by Lady Augusta Gregory), Riders to
the Sea (by John Millington Synge). Cast includes Phyllis Ryan,
James Neylin, Aileen Harte, Harry Webster, Charles Blair, Ronald
Ibbs, Maureen Halligan, James Kenny, Brian Vincent, Gervaise Mathews,
Ken Huxham, Ann Elgsden and David Clark.
October 5 through October 17, 1953
THE SOLID GOLD CADILLAC -- a comedy by Howard Teichmann and George
S. Kaufman. Starring Josephine Hull and Loring Smith, with Geoffrey
Lumb, Wendell K. Phillips, Reynolds Evans, Henry Jones, Mary Welch,
Jack Ruth, David F. Perkins, Charlotte Van Lein, Vera Fuller Mellish,
Carl Judd, Al McGranary, Howard Adelman, Georgiana Spelvin, Henry
Norell, Mark Allen and Lorraine MacMartin. Staged by George S. Kaufman.
October 19 through October 31, 1953
KIND SIR -- by Norman Krasna. Starring Mary Martin and Charles Boyer,
with Dorothy Stickney, Margalo Gillmore, Frank Conroy, Curtis Thalman
and Robert Ross. Presented and directed by Joshua Logan.
November 2 through November 14, 1953
THE LOVE OF FOUR COLONELS -- new comedy by Peter Ustinov. Starring
Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer, with George Voskovec, Robert Coote,
Stephen Schnabel, Edward Andrews, Maureen Hurley, and Reginald Mason.
Directed by Rex Harrison.
November 16 through November 21, 1953
SLAVENSKA-FRANKLIN BALLET -- principal dancers Mia Slavenska and
Frederic Franklin. Repertoire includes Concerto Romantica, A Streetcar
Named Desire, I Laughed at Spring, The Nutcracker Suite, Symphonic
Variations, Don Quijote Pas de Deux, Swan Lake, Portrait of a Ballerina,
Black Swan Pas de Deux.
November 23 through November 28, 1953
AMERICAN SAVOYARDS GILBERT AND SULLIVAN REPERTOIRE -- presented
by Patrick Hayes and Charles E. Green, produced and directed by
Dorothy Raedler. Productions include The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance
and Patience.
November 30 through December 12, 1953
THE PRESCOTT PROPOSALS – by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse.
Starring Katherine Cornell, with Felix Aylmer, Lorne Greene, Ben
Astar, Roger Dann, Bartlett Robinson, Minoo Daver and Robert B.
Culp. Directed by Howard Lindsay. Presented by Leland Hayward.
December 21, 1953 through January 16, 1954
PORGY AND BESS – Opera: music by George Gershwin; libretto
by DuBose Heyward; lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. Based
on the play, “Porgy,” by Dorothy and DuBose Heyward.
Starring LeVern Hutcherson or Leslie Scott or Irving Barnes as Porgy.
Bess played by Leontyne Price or Urylee Leonardos or Elizabeth Foster.
With Cab Calloway as Sporting Life, John Curry as Crown, Helen Thigpen
as Serena, Helen Colbert as Clara, Jerry Laws as Mingo, Joseph James
as Jake. Directed by Robert Breen.
1954
Theatre "remodeled" - Wash Star 2-3-1963
Edward Plohn retired as theatre manager.
Scott Kirkpatrick became manager.
January 18 through January 23, 1954
OKLAHOMA! – musical: music by Richard Rodgers; lyrics by Oscar
Hammerstein, II, based on the play “Green Grow the Lilacs”
by Lynn Riggs. Starring Florence Henderson, Ridge Bond, Mary Marlo,
Barbara Cook, David LeGrant, Alfred Cibelli, Jr., Harris Hawkins,
Owen Martin, Judy Rawlins, Charles Hart, George Lawrence, and Maggi
Nelson. Choreography by Agnes de Mille. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian.
January 25 through February 6, 1954
THE CONFIDENTIAL CLERK – a comedy by T.S. Eliot. Starring
Ina Claire, Claude Rains, and Joan Greenwood, with Aline MacMahon,
Newton Blick, Douglas Watson and Richard Newton. Directed by E.
Martin Browne. Presented by Henry Sherek and the Producers’
Theatre, Roger L. Stevens, Robert Whitehead, Robert W. Dowling.
February 8 through February 13, 1954
THE ROYAL WINNIPEG BALLET OF CANADA – Guest Artist: Alicia
Markova. With Arnold Spohr, Eva von Gensey, Jean Stoneham, Carlu
Carter and Bill McGrath. Musical director, Eric Wild. Artistic Director
Gweneth Lloyd. Ballet Mistress, Betty Farally and R. Jasinski Sponsored
by the English-Speakig Union. Repertoire includes: Ballet Premiere,
Shadow on the Prairie, Intermede, The Shooting of Dan McGrew, Visages,
Don Quixote pas de deux, Rondel, Concerto, Finishing School, Les
Sylphides, The Dying Swan, Black Swan pas de deux, Bolero.
February 15 through February 27, 1954
THE BURNING GLASS – drama by Charles Morgan. Starring Sir
Cedric Hardwicke; with Walter Matthau, Isabelle Elsom, Scott Forbes,
Maria Riva, William Roerick, Ralph Clanton, Basil Howes, Roderick
Walker. Directed by Luther Kennett.
April 12 through April 17, 1954
AZUMA KABUKI DANCERS AND MUSICIANS – presented by Sol Hurok
with the cooperation of HIH Prince Takmatsu and the Japanese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.
April 19 through May 1, 1954
PICNIC – the Pulitzer Prize Drama by William Inge. Starring
Ralph Meeker, with Sandra Church, Louise Larabee, Elizabeth Wilson,
John C. Becher, Ruth McDevitt, Fred Eisley and Daryl Grimes. Directed
by Joshua Logan. Presented by The Theatre Guild and Joshua Logan.
May 2 through May 5, 1954
BALLET THEATRE – Starring Alicia Alonzo, Igor Youskevitch,
John Kriza, Melissa Hayden, Ruth Ann Koesun, Eric Braun. Co-directors
Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith. Repertoire includes: Les Sylphides,
The Capital of the World, Black Swan pas de deux, Gala Performance,
Interplay, Swan Lake, The Combat, Graduation Ball, Constantia, Aleko,
Fancy Free, Theme and Variations, Fall River Legend.
May 17 through August 31, 1954
SOUTH PACIFIC – musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein,
II. Starring Webb Tilton and Jeanne Bal. Cast includes Stanley Grover,
Mari Young, Benny Baker, Dorothy Franklin, Alan Baxter, Russ Brown.
Directed by Joshua Logan.
September 6 through September 18, 1954
ALL SUMMER LONG – a new play by Robert Anderson, adapted from
a novel by Donald Wetzel. Starring John Kerr, Ed Begley and June
Walker, with Clay Hall, Carroll Baker, John Randolph and Daniela
Boni. Directed by Alan Schneider.
September 20 through October 2, 1954
SAINT JOAN – by G. Bernard Shaw. Starring Jean Arthur with
Sam Jaffe and George Macready. Cast includes Frank Silvera, Paul
Richards, Larry Ward, George Lloyd, Robert Goodier and Wyndham Goldie.
Staged by Harold Clurman.
October 4 through October 9, 1954
BALLET RUSSE DE MONTE CARLO – Starring Maria Tallchief and
Frederic Franklin, Nina Novak, Leon Danielian, Gertrude Tyven, Yvonne
Chouteau, Irina Borowska, Alan Howard, Victor Moreno. Productions
include Swan Lake, Cirque de Deux, The Mikado, Gaite Parisienne,
The Nutcracker, Le Beau Danube, Scheherazade, Les Sylphides, Coppelia
October 18 through October 24, 1954
BALLETS ESPAGNOLS – Starring Carmen Aracena, Amparo Bauset,
Gloris Goma, Mercedes Molina and Maria Roman.
November 1 through November 13, 1954
WEDDING BREAKFAST – written by Theodore Reeves. Starring Lee
Grant, Harvey Lembeck, Anthony Franciosa and Virginia Vincent. Directed
by Herman Shumlin.
November 15 through November 21, 1954
TEA AND SYMPATHY -- drama by Robert Anderson. Starring Deborah Kerr;
with Alan Baxter and Don Dubbins. Directed by Elia Kazan.
November 23 through December 4, 1954
PORTRAIT OF A LADY - a new play by William Archibald, based on the
novel by Henry James. Starring Jennifer Jones. With Robert Flemyng,
Cathleen Nesbitt, Douglas Watson and Barbara O’Neil. Also
Halliwell Hobbes, Eva Leonard-Boyne, Jan Farrand. Directed by Jose
Quintero. Presented by Lyn Austin and Thomas Noyes and The Producers
Theatre.
December 13, 1954 through January 2, 1955
WONDERFUL TOWN - a musical comedy: book by Joseph Fields and Jerome
Chodorov; music by Leonard Bernstein; lyrics by Betty Comden and
Adolph Green. Starring Carol Channing. With George Gaynes, Betty
Gillett, Dort Clark, Paul Lipson, Don Barton, Isabella Hoopes, Ted
Beniades, Carole Cole and Jordan Bentley. Directed by George Abbott.
1955
January 24 through February 5, 1955
THE DARK IS LIGHT ENOUGH – by Christopher Fry. Starring Katherine
Cornell, Tyrone Power. Cast includes Arnold Moss, John Williams,
Marian Winters, Eva Condon, Christopher Plummer, Paul Roebling,
Sydney Pollack, Jerome Gardino, William Podmore, Donald Harron Ted
Sunther, Charles Macaulay and Dario Barri.. Directed by Guthrie
McClintic.
February 7 through February 12, 1955
TONIGHT IN SAMARKAND -- romantic drama by Jacques Deval and Lorenzo
Semple Jr. Starring Louis Jourdan, with Jan Farrand, Michael Gorrin,
Joyce Lear, Halliwell Hobbes, Alexander Scourby, Theodore Bikel,
Sylvia Daneel. Directed by Alan Schneider.
February 14 through February 19, 1955
DEAR CHARLES -- a comedy by Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon and Frederick
Jackson; adapted by Alan Melville. Starring Tallulah Bankhead. With
Robert Coote and Patsy Kelly, Theodore Newton, Werner Klemperer,
William Roerick, Norah Howard, Larry Robinson, Tom Raynor, Grace
Raynor and Peter Pell. Directed by Edmund Baylies. Presented by
Richard Aldrich and Richard Myers.
March 14 through March 19, 1955
VINCENTE ESCUDERO AND CARMITA GARCIA – with Maria Marquez
and "The Bailete," with Rosario Escudero, Maria Amaya,
Mario Escudero. Singer: Pepe La Matrona; Pianist: Pablo Miquel.
Presented by Maruice Attias.
March 29 through April 23, 1955
THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH – romantic comedy by George Axelrod. Starring
Tom Ewell, with Louise King, Rita Morley, Robert Emhardt, William
Woodson. Directed by John Gerstad. Presented by Courtney Burr and
Elliott Nugent.
June 20 through June 26, 1955
INHERIT THE WIND – a new play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert
E. Lee. Starring Paul Muni. With Ed Begley, and Tony Randall. Cast
includes Murial Kirkland, Bethel Leslie, Staats Cotsworth, Louis
Hector, Karl Light. Directed by Herman Shumlin. Presented by Herman
Shumlin in association with Margo Jones.
June 28 through July 10, 1955
CAN-CAN – musical by Cole Porter; choreography by Michael
Kidd. Book and direction by Abe Burrows. Starring Rita Dimitry,
John Tyers, George S. Irving, Ronnie Cunningham and Ferdinand Hilt.
July 18 through July 30, 1955
THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH – by Thornton Wilder. Starring Helen
Hayes, Mary Martin, George Abbott and Florence Reed. Cast includes
Frances Sternhagen and Alice Fay. Directed by Alan Schneider.
August 1 through September 3, 1955
THE KING AND I – a new musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar
Hammerstein II. Based on the book, “Anna and the King of Siam,”
by Margaret Landon. Starring Patricia Morison and Leonard Graves.
With Fairfax Burgher, Jeff Hall, Bob Held, Alfred Cibelli, Jr.,
Hubert Bland, Ken Remo, Suzanne Lake, Norma Larkin, Patrick Adiarte,
and Dorethea De Arco. Directed by John van Druten. Choreography
by Jerome Robbins.
September 19 through October 1, 1955
THE HEAVENLY TWINS – a comedy by Louis Kronenberger. Starring
Jean Pierre Aumont and Faye Emerson, with Gaby Rodgers, Marcel Hillaire,
Drew Thompson, Earl Montgomery, Lucille Patton. Directed by Cyril
Ritchard.
October 3 through October 15, 1955
ANASTASIA – a new romantic drama by Marcelle Maurette, adapted
from the French by John Bolton. Starring Dolly Haas, Eugenie Leontovich,
John Emery, Robert Duke. Directed by Alan Schneider.
October 18 through November 5, 1955
THE VAMP – musical based on a book by John Latouche and Sam
Locke. Starring Carol Channing. With David Atkinson and Bibi Osterwald.
November 7 through November 19, 1955
JANUS -- romantic comedy by Carolyn Green. Starring Margaret Sullavan,
Robert Preston, Claude Dauphin, with Robert Emhardt and Mary Finney.
Directed by Reginald Denham.
November 21 through December 3, 1955
THE GREAT SEBASTIANS – a melodrama by Howard Lindsay and Russell
Crouse. Starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, with Ben Astar and
Simon Oakland. Directed by Bretaigne Windust.
December 5 through December 12, 1955
VALOUR WILL WEEP -- a new play by Henry Denker and Ralph Berkey.
Starring Arthur Kennedy, co-starring Richard Kiley. With Harvey
Stephens, Allyn McLerie, Thomas Carlin, Frank Aletter, Arthur Storch
and Patricia Benoit. Staged by Windsor Lewis.
December 26 through December 31, 1955
A QUIET PLACE – a new play by Julian Claman. Starring Tyrone
Power and Leora Dana. Cast includes Halliwell Hobbes, Susan Kohner,
Ernestine Perrie and Dino Terranova. Directed by Delbert Mann. Occasional
music by Leonard Bernstein.
1956
January 9 through January 21, 1956
THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY – presenting Trial by Jury,
H.M.S. Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe, The Mikado. Ensemble
cast is headed by Peter Pratt, Ann Drummond-Grant, Fisher Morgan,
Donald Adams, and Muriel Harding.
January 31 through February 4, 1956
THE AZUMA KABUKI DANCERS AND MUSICIANS
February 6 through March 31, 1956
DAMN YANKEES – musical based on the novel by Douglas Wallop:
book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop; music and lyrics by Richard
Adler and Jerry Ross; dances and musical numbers staged by Bob Fosse.
Starring Bobby Clark and Sherry O’Neil, with Allen Case, Rosemary
Kuhlman, Sid Stone, Jo Hurt, Harry P. Stanton, Lucy Greeno and Al
Checco. Directed by George Abbott.
April 9 through April 28, 1956
PLAIN AND FANCY – a musical about the Amish: book by Joseph
Stein and Will Glickman; lyrics by Arnold B. Horwitt; music by Albert
Hague. Starring Dran Sietz, David Daniels, Stephan Schnabel, Daniel
Nagrin, James Nichols, Faye Winfield, Harry Fleer, Sammy Smith,
Will B. Able, Evelyn Page and Nancy Andrews. Directed by Morton
DaCosta.
May 6 through May 19, 1956
CAN-CAN – musical by Cole Porter; choreography by Michael
Kidd; directed by Abe Burrows. With Rita Dimitry, John Tyers, George
S. Irving, Ronnie Cunningham, Ferdinand Hilt, Richard Purdy, Jon
Silo, Clarence Hoffman, Robert Eckles.
May 21 through July 7, 1956
TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON – comedy by John Patrick based
on the novel by Vern Sneider. Starring Eli Wallach with Gene Blakely,
Howard St. John and James Arenton, Mariko Niki. Directed by Robert
Lewis. Presented by Maurice Evans in association with George Schaefer.
July 16 through August 25, 1956
THE PAJAMA GAME – musical comedy: book by George Abbott and
Richard Bissell; music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross;
choreography by Bob Fosse. Starring Larry Douglas, Betty O’Neil,
Buster West, with Barbara Bostock. Directed by George Abbott and
Jerome Robbins.
According to the theatre playbill for The Pajama Game, the house
was to be “refurbished and modernized” for the next
attraction, Li’l Abner. Yellow/white decor: walls yellow,
trim white. Eagle and stars installed over the proscenium; a mosaic
panel above proscenium was removed and fell into pieces.
September 17 through September 29, 1956
LI'L ABNER – musical: book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank,
based on comic strip characters created by Al Capp; lyrics by Johnny
Mercer and music by Gene de Paul (the team which collaborated on
the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers). Starring Peter Palmer
in his stage debut, Edith Adams, Howard St. John, Stubby Kaye, and
Charlotte Rae. Direction and choreography by Michael Kidd. With
Tina Louise. Presented by Norman Panama, Melvin Frank and Michael
Kidd. Mr. Palmer had just one the All-Army Talent Contest.
October 1 through October 6, 1956
DOUBLE IN HEARTS – a comedy written by Paul Nathan. Starring
Julia Meade, William Redfield, Laurence Hugo, Neva Patterson. Directed
by John Gerstad.
October 16 through October 28, 1956
AUNTIE MAME – a new comedy by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E.
Lee based on the novel by Patrick Dennis. Premiere starring Rosalind
Russell, with Polly Rowles, Marian Winters, Dorothy Blackburn, Walter
Klavan, Robert Smith, James Monks, John O;Hare, Peggy Cass, Joyce
Lear, Jan Handzlik, Robert Allen, Adelaide Klein, Particia Jenkins,
Robert Higgins, Yuki Shimoda, Grant Sullivan and Beulah Garrick.
Directed by Morton DaCosta.
October 29 through November 10, 1956
CHILD OF FORTUNE – by Guy Bolton, adapted from “Wings
of the Dove” by Henry James. Starring Edmund Purdom, Mildred
Dunnock, with Bert Bertram, Pippa Scott, Nancy Wickwire, Peter Pagan,
Norah Howard, Dennis Houy and Stafford Dickens. Directed by Jed
Harris.
November 12 through November 17, 1956
EVERYBODY LOVES ME – a comedy by Mannie Manheim and Arthur
Marx. Starring Jack Carson, Pat Harrington, Temple Texas, Conrad
Janis, Robert Pastene, Marion Randall, Matt Crowley, Truman Smith,
Ralph Purdum, Harry Worth and Emory Richardson. Staged by Robert
B. Sinclair.
November 19 through December 8, 1956
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF – drama by Tennessee Williams. Starring
Thomas Gomez, Marjorie Steele and Alex Nicol. Production by Elia
Kazan.
December 10 through December 22, 1956
THE LARK – by Jean Anouilh, adapted by Lillian Hellman. Starring
Julie Harris, Sam Jaffe, Leo Ciceri, George Macready, Bruce Gordon,
James O’Rear, and Edward Binns. Directed by Joseph Anthony.
Occasional music composed by Leonard Bernstein.
December 24, 1956 through January 12, 1957
INHERIT THE WIND – drama by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E.
Lee. Starring Melvyn Douglas, James Westerfield, William Woodson,
with Perry Fiske, John Randolph, Viola Frayne, Susan Brown and Arthur
Peterson. Produced and Directed by Herman Shumlin.
1957
January 14 through January 26, 1957
THE CHALK GARDEN – by Enid Bagnold. Starring Judith Anderson
and Cathleen Nesbitt. Cast includes Fredric Worlock, Deirdre Owens,
Rosemary Murphy, and Stanley Bell. Staged by Albert Marre.
January 28 through February 9, 1957
OLD VIC COMPANY IN PLAYS BY SHAKESPEARE – principals include:
Paul Rogers, Claire Bloom, John Neville, Coral Rogers, Jeremy Brett,
Rosemary Harris in Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet; Troilus and Cressida;
Richard II. Directors include Michael Benthall; Robert Helpmann;
Tyrone Guthrie.
February 11 through February 23, 1957
ZIEGFELD FOLLIES – Starring Beatrice Lillie, Billy de Wolfe,
Harold Lang and Jane Morgan. Cast includes Helen Wood, Micki Marlo,
John Philip, Carol Lawrence, Bab and Larry Leslie, Jay Marshall,
Tony Franco. Directed by John Kennedy.
February 25 through March 9, 1957
THE APPLE CART – comedy by George Bernard Shaw. Starring Maurice
Evans and Signe Hasso, with Charles Carson, Mercer McLeod, Hazel
Jones, Margot Stevenson and Pat Nye. Presented by Charles Adams
and Joseph Neebe. Directed by George Schaefer.
March 16 through April 6, 1957
HOTEL PARADISO – a farce by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallieres;
adapted and directed by Peter Glenville. Starring Bert Lahr, Angela
Lansbury, Arthur Treacher, Vera Pearce and Douglas Byng, with Carleton
Carpenter, Sondra Lee and Leopold Badia. Cast includes James Coco.
April 8 through May 4, 1957
FANNY – musical play by S.N. Behrman and Joshua Logan; music
and lyrics by Harold Rome. Starring Italo Tajo, Billy Gilbert; with
June Roselle, Jack Washburn, and Nejla Ates. Cast includes Alan
Carney, Ted Beniades, Edna Preston, Don McHenry. Directed by Joshua
Logan.
May 6 through May 25, 1957
THE MATCHMAKER – by Thornton Wilder. Starring Ruth Gordon,
Loring Smith, Pat Cutts. Cast includes Arthur Hill, Ethel Griffies,
Peter Bayliss, Patrick McAlinney, Mari Lynn, Diana Rivers, Robert
Morse, Taylor Graves. Directed by Tyrone Guthrie.
July 24 through August 3, 1957
MORAL REARMAMENT – Philosophical/Religious Movement Meetings
August 19 through September 7, 1957
WEST SIDE STORY – world premier of the musical conceived,
choreographed and directed by Jerome Robbins; book by Arthur Laurents;
music by Leonard Bernstein; lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard
Bernstein. Produced by Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince,
by arrangement with Roger L. Stevens. Starring Larry Kert, Carol
Lawrence, Chita Rivera, Art Smith. Cast includes Mickey Calin, Ken
Le Roy, Lee Becker, David Winters, Tony Mordente, Eddie Roll. [Chita
Rivera is a Washingtonian.]
September 16 through September 28, 1957
NATURE'S WAY -- comedy by Herman Wouk. Starring Orson Bean, Betsy
Von Furstenberg, Audry Christie, Scott McKay, Robert Emhardt, and
Edmon Ryan. Cast includes Bea Arthur, Godfrey Cambridge. Directed
by Alfred de Liagre, Jr.
September 30 through October 5, 1957
THE EGGHEAD – comedy by Molly Kazan. Starring Karl Malden
and Phyllis Love, with Eduard Franz, Biff McGuire, Lloyd Richards,
Nicholas Pryor, Helen Shields, Marion Sweet, Richard Robbins and
Graham Jarvis. Directed by Hume Cronyn. Presented by Hope Abelson.
Pre-Broadway engagement.
October 8 through October 19, 1957
TIME REMEMBERED – romantic comedy by Jean Anouilh. Starring
Helen Hayes, Richard Burton and Susan Strasberg. Cast includes Glenn
Anders and Sig Arno. Directed and produced by Albert Marre.
October 21 through November 9, 1957
SEPARATE TABLES – two plays by Terrence Rattigan. Starring
Eric Portman and Geraldine Page, with Ann Shoemaker, Laura Pierpont
and Beryl Measor. Directed by Peter Glenville.
November 11 through November 23, 1957
THE COUNTRY WIFE – comedy by William Wycherley. Starring Julie
Harris, Laurence Harvey and Pamela Brown. Cast includes Ernest Thesiger,
John Moffatt, Maureen Quinney, Richard Easton, Paul Witsun-Jones,
Ludi Claire and Peter Donal. Directed by George Devine.
November 25 through December 7, 1957
A SHADOW OF MY ENEMY – by Sol Stein. Starring Ed Begley and
Gene Raymond. Cast includes William Harrigan and Leon Janney, with
Mason Adams, Howard Wierum, William Zuckert, John McGovern, Anne
Hegira, Alma Hubbard, Ulla Kazanova and Tom Gorman. Directed by
Daniel Petrie. (“Messrs. Wierum and Zuckert are former residents
of Washington who began their acting careers a the Roadside Theatre,
a semi-professional in the Maryland suburbs of the capital.”)
December 9 through December 21, 1957
MISS ISOBEL -- a new play by Michael Plant and Denis Webb. Starring
Shirley Booth; with Nancy Marchand, Robert Duke, Edith King, Peter
Lazer, John Randolph and Kathleen Maguire. Directed by Cedric Hardwick.
December 30, 1957 through January 18, 1958
MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT – a love story by Paddy Chayefsky. Starring
Edward G. Robinson; with Mona Freeman. Cast includes Nellie Burt,
Martin Landau, June Walker, Nancy Pollock, Doris Belack, Ethel Britton,
Peg Shirley, Phyllis Wynn, Ruth Masters, Sylvia Davis and Norman
Feld. Directed by Joshua Logan.
1958
The Munsey Building (to the west of the theatre) and the National
is bought by a syndicate headed by Frank J. Luchs (Wash Star 2-3-63)
Senator John F. Kennedy holds four Theatre Guild Subscription orchestra
seats in Row G.
Date unknown
Warren Beatty worked as National Theatre stage doorman.
January 20 through February 1, 1958
INTERLOCK – written by Ira Levin. Starring Celeste Holm, Rosemary
Harris and Maximillian Schell, with Georgia Burke and John Marriott.
Directed by Philip Burton.
February 10 through February 22, 1958
THE WALTZ OF THE TOREADORS – comedy by Jean Anouilh. Starring
Melvyn Douglas, Betty Field, and Lili Darvas. Cast includes George
Macready, John Stewart, Robert Geiringer, Miriam Phillips, Patricia
Falkenhain, Martha Orrick, Mary Grace Canfield, Patricia Fay. Directed
by Harold Clurman.
February 24 through March 8, 1958
AUNTIE MAME – a new comedy by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E.
Lee based on the novel by Patrick Dennis. Starring Constance Bennett,
with Mark O’Daniels, Kendall Clark, Jane Van Duser, Douglas
Watson, Blaine Cordner and Robert Lindner. Directed by Morton da
Costa.
March 10 through March 15, 1958
AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE -- performing Billy the Kid, Les Patineurs,
Giselle, Les Sylphides, Rodeo, Fall River Legend; Offenbach in the
Underworld. Featured dancers include Nora Kaye, John Kriza, Erik
Bruhn.
March 17 through March 22, 1958
LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT – by Eugene O'Neill. Starring
Fay Bainter and Anew McMaster; with Roy Poole, Chet Leaming and
Liz Thackston. Directed by Jose Quintero.
March 24 through May 3, 1958
NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS – comedy by Ira Levin, adapted from
the novel by Mac Hyman. Starring Myron McCormick, James Holden,
Cliff Hall, Louis Beachner, Anthony Marcus, Harry Holcombe, Roy
Fant. Directed by Morton Da Costa.
May 19 through June 14, 1958
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK – drama by Albert and Frances Hackett,
based on the World War II diary. Starring Francis Lederer; Maria
Palmer, Gilbert Green, Nan McFarland, Lou Gilbert, Otto Hulett and
Abigail Kellogg. Directed by Garson Kanin.
THE CROWNING EXPERIENCE – religious performance, perhaps
presented by the Moral Rearmament movement
August 11 through August 23, 1958
AUNTIE MAME – a new comedy by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E.
Lee based on the novel by Patrick Dennis. Starring Constance Bennett
with Kendall Clark, Jane Van Duser, Douglas Watson, Tom Tyrrell,
Fred Miller and Arthur Barnett, Otis Bigelow, Fayne Blackburn, Charles
Carlson, Dulcie Cooper, Dorrit Kelton, Robert Lindner, Yoji Matsuoka,
Bernice McLaughlin, Helen Seamon, Dorothy Sefton, Ann Sullivan,
Michael Thomas. Entire Production Directed by Morton DaCosta.
September 1 through September 13, 1958
HANDFUL OF FIRE – world premiere of a love story by N. Richard
Nash. Starring Roddy McDowell, Piper Laurie, James Daly, with Kay
Medford and Joan Copeland. Directed by Robert Lewis.
September 15 through September 27, 1958
THE GIRLS IN 509 – comedy by Howard Teichmann. Starring Peggy
Wood and Imogene Coca, with King Donovan, Robert Emhardt and James
Millhollin. Directed by Bretaigne Windust.
September 29 through October 11, 1958
THE MAN IN THE DOG SUIT – a comedy by Albert Beich and William
H. Wright. Starring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, with Cathleen
Nesbitt, Carmen Mathews, Roland Winters. Cast includes Clinton Sundberg,
John McGovern, John Griggs, Tom Carlin, Arthur Hughes and Nancy
Cushman. Directed by Ralph Nelson.
October 13 through October 25, 1958
ROMANOFF AND JULIET - written and starring Peter Ustinov; with Henry
Lascoe. Cast includes Marianne Deeming, Edward Atienza, Humphrey
Davis, Louise Collins, Suzanne Cloutier, Alexander Davion, Carl
Don, William Greene, Wood Romoff, Sy Travers and Bess Winburn. Staged
by George S. Kaufman.
November 3 through November 15, 1958
THE WARM PENINSULA – comedy/drama by Joe Masteroff. Starring
Julie Harris; with Josephine Brown, Steve Holland, Carol Brooks
and Peter Baldwin. Directed by Warren Enters.
November 24 through December 6, 1958
J.B. – drama by Archibald MacLeish. Starring Pat Hingle, Christopher
Plummer, Raymond Massey; with Nan Martin. Production by Elia Kazan.
December 15 through December 28, 1958
LOOK BACK IN ANGER – written by John Osborne. Starring Kenneth
Haigh; with Diana Hyland, Jack Livesey, Elizabeth Hubbard, Al Muscari.
Directed by Tony Richardson.
December 30, 1958 through January 10, 1959
REDHEAD – a new musical: book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields,
Sidney Sheldon and David Shaw; music by Albert Hague; lyrics by
Dorothy Fields. Starring Gwen Verdon and Richard Kiley. Cast includes
Leonard Stone, Doris Rich, Cynthia Latham, William Le Messena, Ralph
Sumpter, Patrick Horgan, Buzz Miller, Pat Ferrier, Joy Nicols. Directed
and choreographed by Bob Fosse.
1959
National Theatre Building and The Munsey building bought by J.H.
Tenney Company of New York for $4,250,000.
January 17 through January 31, 1959
JUNO – musical version of Sean O’Casey’s Juno
and the Paycock: book by Joseph Stein; music and lyrics by Marc
Blitzstein; dances and musical numbers staged by Agnes DeMille.
Starring Shirley Booth and Melvin Douglas, with Jack MacGowran.
Cast includes Jean Stapleton, Sada Thompson. Directed by Vincent
J. Donehue.
February 2 through February 14, 1959
THE OLD VIC COMPANY – performing Hamlet, Twelfth Night and
Henry V. Cast includes Laurence Harvey, John Neville, Barbara Jefford,
John Humphry and Judi Dench, Joss Ackland.
Major and Mrs. John Eisenhower attended a performance. A photo appears
in the March 1959 issue of The Diplomat Magazine. -–Scott
Kirkpatrick, Manager of the National Theatre, from the theatre playbill
of the week of 23 March 1959.
February 17 through February 21, 1959
GOD AND KATE MURPHY – by Kieran Tunney and John Synge. Starring
Fay Compton, with Mike Kellin, John McGiver, Larry Hagman, Maureen
Delany, Lois Nettleton. Directed by Burgess Meredith.
March 10 through April 11, 1959
BELLS ARE RINGING – a new musical: book and lyrics by Betty
Comden and Adolph Green; music by Jule Styne. Entire production
directed by Jerome Robbins. Starring Judy Holliday, Hal Linden and
Alice Pearce; with Eddie Lawrence, Dort Clark, Bernie West, Paul
Lipson, Ralph Roberts, Frank Aletter, Frank Derbas, Barbara Newman,
Steve Roland, Donna Sanders, Vincent Beck, Sally Brown, and Michelle
Reiner. Dances and musical numbers staged by Jerome Robbins and
Bob Fosse. Presented by The Theatre Guild.
May 18 through May 24, 1959
LES BALLETS AFRICAINS DE KEITA FODEBA
June 1 through July 11, 1959
SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO – written by Dore Schary. Starring Ralph
Bellamy, with Mary Fickett, Russell Collins, Ann Shoemaker, Micheale
Myers, Lanna Saunders and Alan Bunce. Directed by Vincent J. Donehue.
Cast includes James Earl Jones.
August 31 through September 12, 1959
HEARTBREAK HOUSE – by G. Bernard Shaw. Starring Maurice Evans,
Pamela Brown, Sam Levene, Diana Wynyard, Alan Webb, Diane Cilento
and Dennis Price. Directed by Harold Clurman. Produced by Maurice
Evans and Robert L. Joseph.
September 21 through October 3, 1959
CHERI – based on the novel of Collette, adapted by Anita Loos.
Starring Kim Stanley and Horst Buchholz, with Lili Darvas, Edith
King, Joan Gray,John Granger, Frieda Altman and Lucy Landau. Directed
by Robert Lewis. Presented by Playwrights’ Company & Robert
Lewis.
October 5 through October 27, 1959
FLOWERING CHERRY – drama by Robert Bolt. Starring Eric Portman
and Wendy Hiller, with Andrew Ray, Phyllis Love, and Roy Poole.
Directed by Frith Banbury.
October 29 through November 14, 1959
A LOSS OF ROSES – by William Inge. Starring Shirley Booth,
with Warren Beattu, Robert Webber, Michael J. Pollard, James O’Rear
and Carol Haney. Directed by Daniel Mann.
November 16 through November 28, 1959
FIVE FINGER EXERCISE – new play by Peter Shaffer. Starring
Jessica Tandy and Roland Culver. Cast includes Michael Bryant, Juliet
Mills, and Brian Bedford. Directed by John Gielgud.
December 7 through December 19, 1959
THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY – comedy by Samuel Taylor. Starring
Cyril Ritchard and Cornelia Otis Skinner, with Leo G. Carroll and
Conrad Nagel. Directed by Mr. Ritchard. Presented by Frederick Brisson
and the Playwrights’ Company.
December 28, 1959 through January 2, 1960
DEAR LIAR – comedy by Jerome Kilty, based on letters of Mrs.
Patrick Campbell and G. Bernard Shaw. Starring Katharine Cornell
and Brian Aherne. Directed by Jerome Kilty. Presented by Guthrie
McClintic and Sol Hurok.
1960
The National Theatre Building was "roughly as it was in 1917,
except for certain remodelings" (Wash Star August 26, 1960)
January 4 through January 16, 1960
THE WORLD OF SUZY WONG – new play by Paul Osbourne, based
on the novel by Richard Mason. Starring Ron Randell, Jeri Miyazaki
and James Olson. Also John Mamo, Alan Young, Bernard Wu, Parke Perine,
Linda Ho, Dolores Dicen, Flavia Hsu Kingman, Nancy Kwan, Mary Mon
Toy, Irene Tsu, Wayne Wilson, Chase Crosley, George Latchford, Andrea
Loa and Douglas Gordon. Directed by Joshua Logan. Presented by David
Merrick, Seven Arts Productions, Inc., and Mansfield Productions.
January 18 through January 30, 1960
MARY STUART – drama by Friedrich Schiller. Starring Eva LeGallienne
and Signe Hasso. Cast includes Staats Cotsworth, Patrick Waddington,
Bruno Gerussi, Paul Ballantyne and Robert Goodier. Directed by Tyrone
Guthrie. Produced by Sol Hurok.
February 1 through February 13, 1960
THE VISIT – drama by Friedrich Durrenmatt. Starring Alfred
Lunt and Lynne Fontanne. Cast includes Thomas Gomez, Glenn Anders,
John Wyse, William Hansen, Miles Eason, David Clarke, Michael Lewis,
William Callan. Directed by Peter Brook.
February 15 through February 27, 1960
THE GOOD SOUP – by Felicien Marceau. Starring Ruth Gordon,
Sam Levene, Ernest Truex, Diane Cilento, Mildred Natwick and Jules
Munshin. With Morgan Sterne, George S. Irving, John Myhers, Sasha
von Scherler, Michael Lord and Lou Antonio. Also Bill Becker, Dorothy
Whitnet and Barbara Lou Mattes, Hilda Brawner and Pat Harrington.
Adapted and directed by Garson Kanin from the Original Paris Production
by Andre Barsacq. Produced by David Merrick.
February 29 through March 12, 1960
ONE MORE RIVER – by Beverly Cross. Starring Lloyd Nolan and
Alfred Ryder, with Harry Guardino. Also John McLiam, Al Lewis, John
Barracuda, David Winters and Robert Drivas, Louis Guss, Stephen
Bolster, Don Gantry, Buck Kartalian and Alfred Ryder. Directed by
Windsor Lewis. Produced by Mary K. Frank by arrangement with Laurence
Olivier.
March 14 through March 26, 1960
LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL – based on the novel by Thomas Wolfe;
dramatized by Ketti Frings. The play won the Pulitzer Prize. Starring
Miriam Hopkins, with Gilbert Green and Michael Ebert, Florence Sundstrom,
Barbara Stanton and Lee Richardson. Directed by David Pressman.
Presented by Theatrical Plan, Inc., Ted Ritter Executive Producer
March 28 through April 9, 1960
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE – by Arthur Miller. Starring Luther
Adler, with Alan Mixon, Kathleen Widdoes, Louis Zorich, Paul Haney
and Pearl Pearson. Staged by Mr. Adler. Presented by I.L. Kamens
and Paul Stoudt.
April 11 through April 23, 1960
THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS – drama by William Inge,
from the original production by Elia Kazan. Starring Joan Blondell,
with Mark Miller, Peggy Richards. Cast includes Reid Hammond, Jada
Rowland, Henry Garrard, Carol Olsen, James Cahill and Phillip Fox.
Directed by Burry Fredrik. Produced by C. Edwin Knill and Martin
Tahse.
April 25 through May 7, 1960
MARY STUART – by Friedrich Schiller. Starring Eva LeGallienne
and Signe Hasso. With Staats Cotsworth, Patrick Waddington, Bruno
Gerussi, Paul Ballantyne, Robert Goodier. Directed by Tyrone Guthrie.
May 9 through May 21, 1960
SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH – new play by Tennessee Williams. Starring
Geraldine Page, Sidney Blackmer and Rip Torn. With John Karlen,
Logan Ramsey, Martine Bartlett, Elizabeth Farley, Kip McArdle and
Duke Farley. Also Milton J. Williams, Anne Ramsey, Earl Sydnor,
Glenn Stensel, Don Weagle, Patricia Sales, Francesca Trantum, Hack
Rightor, Norman Burton, Ron Harper, Kenneth Blake and Robin Narke.
Directed by Elia Kazan. Produced by Cheryl Crawford.
May 31 through June 11, 1960
HOFFNUNG – written and acted by Miners from the German Ruhr
(with simultaneous English translation). Presented by Moral Rearmament.
June 20 through September 3, 1960
MY FAIR LADY– musical adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s
“Pygmalion.” Starring Michael Evans and Diane Todd.
Also starring Charles Victor and Hugh Dempster, with Margaret Bannerman,
Katherine Hynes, Reid Shelton, John Cunningham, Eric Brotherson,
Charles Penman, Marie Paxton and Velma Royton. Production staged
by Moss Hart. Choreography and musical numbers by Hanya Holm. Production
designed by by Oliver Smith. Musical Arrangements by Robert Russell
Bennett & Phil Lang. [The program incorrectly credits Mr. Smith
with “Musical Arrangements” and Bennett & Lang with
the design] Costumes by Cecil Beaton. Lighting by Feder. Musical
Director Anton Coppola. Presented by Herman Levin
September 8 through September 24, 1960
IRMA LA DOUCE – a new musical comedy: music by Marguerite
Monnot; original book and lyrics by Alexandre Breffort; English
book and lyrics by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman.
Starring Elizabeth Seal, Keith Michell and Clive Revill. Cast includes
George S. Irving, Stuart Damon, Zack Matalon, Aric Lavie, Fred Gwynne,
Osborne Smith. Directed by Peter Brook. Scenery and Costumes by
Rolf Gerard. Choreography by Oona White. Produced by David Merrick.
October 3 through October 15, 1960
DUEL OF ANGELS – by Jean Giraudoux. Starring Vivien Leigh,
with Peter Wyngarde, John Merivale, Alan MacNaughtan and Sally Home.
Directed by Robert Helpmann.
October 17 through October 29, 1960
ADVISE AND CONSENT – drama by Loring Mandel, based on the
book by Allen Drury. Starring Ed Begley, Richard Kiley, Chester
Morris, Henry Jones and Otto Kruger. Cast includes Staats Cotsworth
and Richard Carlyle. Directed by Franklin Schaffner. Produced by
Robert Fryer and Lawrence Carr.
October 31 through November 12, 1960
UNDER THE YUM-YUM TREE – comedy by Lawrence Roman. Starring
Gig Young, Sandra Church, Nan Martin and Dean Jones. Directed by
Joseph Anthony. Produced by Frederick Brisson and Roger L. Stevens.
November 14 through November 26, 1960
LITTLE MOON OF ALBAN – by James Costigan. Starring Julie Harris,
John Justin, with Robert Redford and Barbara O’Neil. Directed
by Herman Shumlin.
November 29 through December 10, 1960
THE CONQUERING HERO – a new musical: book by Larry Gelbart;
music by Moose Charlap; lyrics Norman Gimbel. Starring Tom Poston,
with Lionel Stander, Cherry Davis, Jane Mason, Fred Stewart, Elizabeth
Kerr, John McMartin, William Guske. Produced by Robert Whitehead
and Roger L. Stevens. Choreographed by Bob Fosse.
December 26, 1960 through January 7, 1961
THE ANDERSONVILLE TRIAL – drama by Saul Levitt. Starring Brian
Donlevy and Martin Brooks, with Sam Gray and Owen Pavitt. Cast includes
Charles Durning. Directed by Jedediah Horner. Produced by Lee Gruber
- Frank Ford - Shelly Gross.
1961
January 10 through January 21, 1961
MIDGIE PURVIS – a new comedy by Mary Chase. Starring Talullah
Bankhead with Audrey Christie, Willliam Redfield, Alice Pearce,
Clinton Sundberg, Nydia Westman, John Cecil Holm and Kip McArdle.
Directed by Burgess Meredith. Cast includes Pia Zadora. Produced
by Robert Whitehead and Roger L. Stevens.
January 23 through January 28, 1961
BALLETS AFRICAINS, DE LA REPUBLIQUE DE GUINEE - Produced by Luben
Vichey
January 30 through February 11, 1961
ONCE THERE WAS A RUSSIAN – a new comedy by Sam Spewak. Starring
Walter Matthau, Francoise Rosay, Albert Salmi and Julie Newmar,
with Sig Ruman, Eric Christmas, Marvin Silbersher, Carol Grace and
Michael Lewis. Directed by Douglas Seale. Produced by Lenoard Key,
Morton Segal, Kenneth Schwartz and Mel Howard.
February 13 through February 25, 1961
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM – by William Shakespeare. Starring
Bert Lahr, with Mitchell Agruss, Clayton Corzatte, Will Geer, John
Harkins, Mariette Hartley, William Hickey, Patrick Hines, Margaret
Phillips, Richard Waring and Douglas Watson. Presented by the American
Shakespeare Festival Acting Company. Directed by Jack Landau.
February 28 through March 4, 1961
THE THEATRE GUILD AMERICAN REPERTORY COMPANY presents The Skin of
Our Teeth (Thornton Wilder), The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams)
and The Miracle Worker (William Gibson). Starring Helen Hayes, Leif
Erickson, June Havoc and Helen Menken. The company included Nancy
Coleman, James Broderick, Barbara Barrie, Dorothy Sands, Romney
Brent and Rona Gale. Each play produced under the personal supervision
of the author. The productions subsequently toured to Europe, Central
America and South America until October 1961.
March 9 through March 25, 1961
CARNIVAL! – new musical: music and lyrics by Bob Merrill;
book by Michael Stewart. Starring Anna Maria Alberghetti (based
on the Film “Lili”), with Kaye Ballard, James Mitchell,
Pierre Olaf, Jerry Orbach, and Henry Lascoe. Directed and choreographed
by Gower Champion.
March 27 through April 18, 1961
A MAJORITY OF ONE – comedy by Leonard Spigelgass. Starring
Gertrude Berg and Sir Cedric Hardwicke, with Berta Gersten, Maurice
Ottinger, Joyce Flynn. Directed by Dore Schary. Produced by The
Theatre Guild and Dore Schary
April 10 through April 15, 1961
BECKET – drama by Jean Anouilh. Starring Laurence Olivier
and Arthur Kennedy, with Marie Powers. Produced by David Merrick.
Directed by Peter Glenville.
May 2 through May 13, 1961
DONNYBROOK! – new musical: book by Robert E. McEnroe; music
and lyrics by Johnny Burke. Starring Eddie Foy, Art Lund, with Susan
Johnson, Philip Bosco, and Joan Fagan. Directed and choreographed
by Jack Cole. Produced by Fred Ebert and David Kapp.
May 17 through May 27, 1961
ONCE UPON A MATTRESS – new musical comedy: book by Jay Thompson,
Marshall Barer and Dean Fuller; music by Mary Rodgers; lyrics by
Marshall Barer. Starring Imogene Coca and Buster Keaton, with King
Donovan, Paul Cambeilh, Pat Foley, David Starkey, Joe Young, Bill
Yule and Ann Mitchell. Staged by Jack Sydow. Produced by Michael
Dewell and Frances Ann Hersey.
May 29 through June 10, 1961
A RAISIN IN THE SUN – drama by Lorraine Hansberry. Starring
Claudia McNeil, with Douglas Turner, Diana Sands, Frances Foster,
Nathan Caldwell Jr., Edward Hall, Bobby D. Hooks, Howland Chamberlain,
Tyrone Cooper, Walter Mason and Robert Jackson. Directed by Lloyd
Richards.
June 12 through September 9, 1961
THE MUSIC MAN – new musical with book, music and lyrics by
Meredith Wilson. Starring Forrest Tucker with Joan Weldon, Cliff
Hall, Lucie Lancaster, The Frisco Four, Jane Lillig, Hal Norman,
Art Wallace, Earl George, Howie Robinson, Patrick Cummings, Jean
Lyons, Joan Lombardo, Capri Hermany and Kay Cole. Staged by Morton
Da Costa. Produced by Kermit Bloomgarden with Herbert Greene.
September 11 through September 23, 1961
A TASTE OF HONEY – a new play by Shelagh Delaney. Starring
Hermione Baddeley, Frances Cuka, with Frederick Combs, Roy Shuman
and Billy Dee Williams. Directed by Tony Richardson and George Devine.
Produced by David Merrick.
September 26 through October 7, 1961
THE TENTH MAN – drama by Paddy Chayevsky. Starring Jacob Ben-Ami,
Risa Schwartz, Michael Lipton, Anatole Winogradoff, Truman Gaige,
Maurice Shrog, Gene Gross and David Vardi. Directed by Tyrone Guthrie.
Produced by Saint Subber and Arthur Cantor.
October 9 through October 21, 1961
TOYS IN THE ATTIC – drama by Lillian Hellman. Starring Constance
Bennett, Anne Revere, Scott McKay and Patricia Jessel, with Elwood
Smith. Staged by Adrian Hall. Produced by Kermit Bloomgarden.
October 23 through November 4, 1961
ELIZABETH THE QUEEN (by Maxwell Anderson) and MARY STUART (by Friedrich
Schiller) -- Starring Eva LeGallienne, Faye Emerson, with Scott
Forbes and Frederick Worlock. Cast includes Paul Ballantyne, Dalton
Dearborn, Claude Horton, Geddeth Smith, Dorothy Dee Victor and Sydney
Walker. Directed by Jack Sydow. Produced by The American Repertory
Theatre.
November 6 through November 18, 1961
SUNDAY IN NEW YORK – a new comedy by Norman Krasna. Starring
Robert Redford, Conrad Janis, Pat Stanley, with Pat Harrington Sr.,
Sondra Lee and Ron Nicholas. Directed by Garson Kanin. Produced
by Norman Krasna.
November 20 through December 2, 1961
A THURBER CARNIVAL -- a revue based on the writing of James Thurber.
Starring Imogene Coca, Arthur Treacher and King Donovan, with Walter
Klavun, Elaine Swann and Vince Harding. Directed by Peter Turgeon.
Produced by Lee Gruber, Frank Ford and Shelly Gross.
December 4, 1961 through January 6, 1962
FIORELLO! – musical by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott. Starring
Bob Carrol, Paul Lipson, Arthur Bartow, Rudy Bond, Charlotte Fairchild,
Jayme Mylroie, Jen Nelson, Alan North and Rosemary O’Reilly.
Directed by George Abbott. Produced by Ed. Edwin Knill and Martin
Tahse.
1962
January 8 through January 20, 1962
THE BEST MAN – a new play by Gore Vidal. Starring Frank Lovejoy,
Kent Smith and James Westerfield, with Edith Atwater, Kathleen Maguire,
Laura Peirpont, Carl Low, Philip Robinson and Gordon B. Clarke.
Directed by Joseph Anthony. Produced by Roger L. Stevens.
January 23 through February 3, 1962
THE OLD VIC COMPANY – performing Macbeth ; Shaw’s Saint
Joan ; Romeo and Juliet. Starring John Clements, Barbara Jefford,
William Sylvester, John Stride and Joanna Dunham. Directors include
Michael Benthall; Douglas Seale; Franco Zeffirelli.
February 5 through March 3, 1962
BYE BYE BIRDIE – a musical based on the book by Michael Stewart;
lyrics by Lee Adams; music by Charles Strouse. Starring Gretchen
Wyler, Dick Patterson, Kay Medford, with Dick Gautier. Directed
and choreographed by Gower Champion.
March 5 through March 17, 1962
THE MIRACLE WORKER – drama by William Gibson. Starring Eileen
Brennan, with C.M. Gampel, Laurinda Barrett, Thomas Connolly and
Donna Zimmerman. Directed by Arthur Penn.
March 19 through April 7, 1962
LA PLUME DE MA TANTE – musical revue: written and devised
by Robert Dhery; music by Gerard Calvi. Starring Robert Clary and
Liliane Montevecchi, with Maurice Baquet, Jacques Legras, Frederic
O’Brady, Pierre Tornade and Roger Saget. Musical direction
by Carmen Coppola. Presented by David Merrick and Joseph Kipness.
April 10 through April 28, 1962
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM – pre-Broadway
try-out of the musical: book by Bert Shavelove and Larry Gelbart;
music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; choreography by Jack Cole.
Starring Zero Mostel, Raymond Walburn, and John Carradine, with
Jack Guilford, David Burns and Ruth Kobart. Directed by George Abbott.
The opening number “Comedy Tonight” was written and
added to the show in response to Washington Post critic Richard
L. Coe’s complaint that the musical needed a more vital opening.
May 1 through June 2, 1962
MY FAIR LADY – musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe,
based on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. Starring Ronald Drake
and Caroline Dixon with Charles Victor, Margaret Bannerman and Hugh
Dempster.
June 4 through June 16, 1962
IRMA LA DOUCE – musical: music by Marguerite Monnot; book
and lyrics by Alexandre Breffort; English book and lyrics by Julian
More, David Heneker and Monty Norman. Starring Taina Elg and Denis
Quilley, with Joseph Bova. Directed by Peter Brook.
July 16 through August 11, 1962
COME BLOW YOUR HORN – comedy by Neil Simon. Starring Keefe
Brasselle, Fred Clark, Benay Venuta, with Dran Seitz, Anthony Roberts,
Janis Hansen and Charlotte Jones. Directed by Stanley Prager. Gene
Rayburn took over from Keefe Brasselle for the final two weeks of
the show.
August 14 through September 1, 1962
CARNIVAL! – musical: music and lyrics by Bob Merrill; book
by Michael Stewart; based on material by Helen Heutsch. Starring
Carla Alberghetti and Ed Ames. Cast includes Jonathan Lucas, JoAnne
Worley, Johnny Haymer. Directed and choreographed by Gower Champion.
September 6 through September 22, 1962
BEYOND THE FRINGE – British comedy revue with Peter Cook,
Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller.
September 25 through October 13, 1962
MR. PRESIDENT – world premier of a musical comedy: music and
lyrics by Irving Berlin; book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.
Starring Robert Ryan and Nanette Fabray, with Anita Gillette, Jack
Haskell and David Brooks. Directed by Joshua Logan.
President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy attended the opening night,
a benefit for the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, followed by
a gala party at the British Embassy.
October 15 through October 27, 1962
D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY -- performing the Mikado, Gondoliers,
Iolanthe, and Pirates of Penzance. Ensemble cast is headed by John
Reed, with Donald Adams, Mary Sansom, and Kenneth Sandford.
November 5 through November 24, 1962
HAROLD – a comedy by Herman Raucher. Starring Anthony Perkins,
with Don Adams, Nathaniel Frey, John Fiedler, Rochelle Oliver, Sudie
Bond, Joe E. Marks, Sidney Armus, Stephen Cheng and Joey Heatherton.
Directed by Larry Blyden.
December 10 through December 22, 1962
A SHOT IN THE DARK -- a new suspense comedy. Starring Elizabeth
Seal and Zack Matalon. Cast includes Rene Paul, Valerie French,
Bram Nossen, James Coco and Edith Lebok. Directed by Harold Clurman.
December 24, 1962 through January 5, 1962
A FAR COUNTRY – drama by Henry Denker, based on the life of
Sigmund Freud. Starring Viveca Lindfors, Mark Lenard and Jacob Ben-Ami,
with Berta Gersten. Directed by Alfred Ryder.
1963
The National Theatre was bought for more than $5 million by a three-person
partnership headed by Jerry Wollman, Silver Spring developer, and
builders Stanley Reines and Sidney Teplin.
January 8 through January 12, 1963
THE HOLLOW CROWN – selections from Shakespeare presented by
the Royal Shakespeare Company. Cast includes Dorothy Tutin, Max
Adrian, Paul Hardwick and John Barton. Production devised by John
Barton.
January 16 through January 26, 1963 [xerox only]
NATURAL AFFECTION – pre-Broadway run of a new play by William
Inge. Starring Kim Stanley, Harry Guardino and Tom Bosley. Directed
by Tony Richardson.
February 5 through February 23, 1963
HOT SPOT – pre-Broadway run of a new musical comedy by Joseph
Campanella; book by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert; music by
Mary Rodgers; lyrics by Martin Charnin. Starring Judy Holliday,
(in her last role), with Joseph Bova, Howard Freeman, Arny Freeman.
Production staged by Morton Da Costa.
February 25 through March 30, 1963
MARY, MARY – a new comedy by Jean Kerr. Starring Martha Wright,
Biff McGuire and Michael Evans. With Alan Bunce and Elizabeth St.
Clair. Directed by Joseph Anthony. Production designed by Oliver
Smith.
April 1 through April 13, 1963
THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL – by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Starring
Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Geraldine McEwan, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies,
Merial Forbes, Laurence Naismith, Malcolm Keen, Rechard Easton.
Directed by John Gielgud. Presented by Alexander H. Cohen. Direct
from the Royal Haymarket, London
April 22 through May 11, 1963
MILK AND HONEY – musical: music and lyrics by Jerry Herman;
book by Don Appell. Starring Molly Picon and Robert Weede, with
Terry Saunders and Tommy Rall. Cast includes Marc Hertsens, Monte
Amundsen, Diane Goldberg, Frances Spanier and Reuben Singer. Choreography
by Donald Saddler. Staged by Albert Marre.
May 28 through June 15,1963
TAKE HER, SHE'S MINE – comedy by Phoebe and Henry Ephron.
Starring Tom Ewell and Audra Lindley, with Joanna Pettet and Fred
Burrell. Directed by George Abbott.
June 17 through August 24, 1963
THE SOUND OF MUSIC – musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein; book
by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Starring Barbara Meister and
John Myherswith Katherine Hilgenberg, Jack Collins and Marthe Errolle.
Directed by Vincent J. Donehue.
August 27 through September 14, 1963
HERE'S LOVE – musical: music, book and lyrics by Meredith
Wilson. Starring Janis Paige, Craig Stevens, and Laurence Naismith.
Cast includes Fred Gwynne, Paul Reed, Cliff Hall and David Doyle.
Directed by Stuart Ostrow. Musical staging by Michael Kidd.
September 16 through September 28, 1963
A THOUSAND CLOWNS – comedy by Herb Gardener. Starring Dane
Clark and Margaret O’Brien, with Barry Gordon, Paul E. Richards,
Marc London and Conrad Fowkes. Directed by Fred Coe.
September 30 through October 19, 1963
BAREFOOT IN THE PARK – comedy by Neil Simon. Starring Elizabeth
Ashley, Robert Redford, Mildred Natwick, Kurt Kaszner and Herb Edelman.
Directed by Mike Nichols.
October 21 through November 9, 1963
STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF! – musical: book, music
and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Starring Kenneth
Nelson and Lesley Stewart, with Janet Allman and Jennifer Allman.
Directed by Anthony Newley.
November 11 through November 23, 1963
SEIDMAN AND SON – by Elick Moll. Starring Sam Levene, with
Elizabeth Fleming, Chet London, Janet Ward. Directed by Sam Levene.
November 26 through December 14, 1963
NATIONAL REPERTORY THEATRE present The Seagull (Anton Chekov), Ring
Around the Moon (Jean Anouilh), The Crucible (Arthur Miller). Company
is headed by Eva LeGallienne, Farley Granger, Denholm Elliott and
Anne Meacham.
December 19, 1963 through January 11, 1964
HELLO, DOLLY! – musical by Jerry Herman; book by Michael Stewart.
Starring Carol Channing, David Burns, Charles Nelson Reilly, Eileen
Brennan, and Sondra Lee. Directed and choreographed by Gower Champion.
A David Merrick production.
1964
January 13 through January 25, 1964 [no program file]
CONVERSATIONS IN THE DARK – pre-Broadway run of a drama by
William Hanley. Starring Jack Warden, Sandra Church, Jon Cypher
and Barbara Barrie. Sets designed by Ming Cho Lee; costumes by Michael
Travis.
February 3 through February 8, 1964
STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF! – British musical: book,
music and lyrics by Anthony Newley. Starring Kenneth Nelson and
Joan Eastmam. Directed by Anthony Newley.
February 10 through February 22, 1964
NEVER TOO LATE – comedy by Sumner Arthur Long. Starring William
Bendix, Nancy Carroll and Will Hutchins. Cast includes Janis Young,
Larry Fletcher, Kate Wilkinson, Royal Beal, Robert Carraway and
Robert Fitzsimmons. Directed by George Abbott. Incidental Music
by John Kander.
February 24 through March 14, 1964
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS – new play by Robert Bolt. Starring
William Roderick and Bruce Gordon. Cast includes Albert Dekker,
Richard A. Dysart, Sarah Burton, Frederic Warriner, Michael Lewis
and Edgar Daniels. Directed by Noel Willman.
March 16 through March 21, 1964
JOSEPHINE BAKER AND HER COMPANY – Black musical revue. Starring
Josephine Baker, with Geoffrey Holder and Aviv Dancers.
March 30 through April 11, 1964
LUTHER – by John Osborne. Starring John Heffernan, with George
Mathews, Hugh Franklin, Lionel Stander, Alan Bergmann and Frank
Shelley. Directed by Tony Richardson.
April 14 through April 25, 1964
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY present King Lear (directed by Peter Brook)
with Paul Scofield and The Comedy of Errors (directed by Clifford
Williams). Actors John Neville and Paul Rogers were given keys to
the city.
April 27 through May 16, 1964
WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF – by Edward Albee. Starring
Nancy Kelly and Shepperd Strudwick, with Ken Kercheval and Barbara
Dana. Directed by Alan Schneider. For the Matinees, the leads were
played by Michaele Myers and Kende\all Clark.
May 19 through August 1, 1964
CAMELOT – musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe. Anne
Jeffreys as Guinevere, George Wallace as Arthur, Robert Peterson
as Lancelot and Arthur Treacher as Pellinore. Production staged
by Moss Hart.
August 26 through September 12, 1964
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF – pre-Broadway run of the new musical:
book by Joseph Stein; music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick.
Starring Zero Mostel, Maria Karnilova, Bea Arthur. Cast includes
Joanna Merlin, Austin Pendleton, Berty Convy, Julia Magenes, Michael
Joseph Sullivan, Tanya Everett, and Robert Berdeen. Directed and
choreographed by Jerome Robbins.
September 21 through October 3, 1964
THE PHYSICISTS – comedy/drama by Friedrich Durrenmatt. Starring
Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, with Robert Shaw, George Voskovec
and Martyn Green. Directed by Peter Brook.
October 5 through October 17, 1964
ZIZI –French revue conceived and staged by Roland Petit. Starring
Jeanmarie. Choreography by Roland Petit. Costumes by Yves St. Laurent.
October 19 through October 31, 1964
I WAS DANCING – a new comedy by Edwin O’Connor. Starring
Burgess Meredith, Orson Bean, Eli Mintz and Pert Kelton. Directed
by Garson Kanin.
November 2 through November 7, 1964
D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY present Iolanthe, Pirates of Penzance,
Trial by Jury, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado. Ensemble cast is headed
by John Reed
November 16 through November 28, 1964
AFTER THE FALL – drama by Arthur Miller. Starring Charles
Aidman and Judi West, with Rudy Bond, Sylvia Gassell, Linda Geiser,
Robert Gerriger, and Patricia Falkenhain. Directed by Edward Parone.
November 30 through December 12, 1964
ALFIE – pre-Broadway run of the new comedy by Bill Naughton.
Starring Terence Stamp (in his American debut), with Juliet Mills.
Cast includes George S. Irving and Margaret Courtenay. Directed
by Gilchrist Calder.
December 14, 1964 through January 2, 1965
110 IN THE SHADE – a new musical based on the play The Rainmaker:
music by Harvey Schmidt; lyrics by Tom Jones. Starring Jeannie Carson,
Biff McGuire, and John Carter. Cast includes Will Geer, Leslie Warren,
Scooter Teague, Charles Scott, and George Church. Directed by Joseph
Anthony.
1965
January 4 through January 23, 1965
ANY WEDNESDAY – comedy by Muriel Resnik. Starring Larry Parks,
Monica Moran, Patricia Cutts, Richard Roat. Directed by Henry Kaplan.
January 25 through February 6, 1965
DIAMOND ORCHID – pre-Broadway production, written by Jerome
Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Starring Jennifer West, Bruce Gordon,
Finlay Currie, Mario Alcalde, Helen Craig, and Margery Maude. Directed
by Jose Quintero.
February 8 through February 20, 1965
THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT AND THE SMELL OF THE CROWD – musical:
book, music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Starring
Anthony Newley and Cyril Ritchard, with Sally Smith. Directed by
Anthony Newley.
February 22 through March 6, 1965
THE ODD COUPLE -- comedy by Neil Simon. Starring Art Carney and
Walter Matthau with Nathaniel Frey, Paul Dooley, Carole Shelley,
Monica Evans, Sidney Armus and John Fiedler. Directed by Mike Nichols.
March 8 through March 13, 1965
BEYOND THE FRINGE – British musical revue, with Robert Cessna,
Donald Outlaw, Joel Fabiani and James Valentine.
March 16 through March 27, 1965
A SIGN OF AFFECTION -- new comedy by Carolyn Green. Starring John
Payne and Nan Martin, with Lesley Ann Warren. Directed by Ron Winston.
March 29 through April 17, 1965
DEAR ME, THE SKY IS FALLING – comedy by Leonard Spigelglass.
Starring Gertrude Berg and Roger Koven. Directed by Herman Shumlin.
April 19 through June 5, 1965
HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING – musical
by Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows. Starring Ronnie Welsh and Jeff
de Benning, with Maureen Arthur, Suzanne Menke and William Major.
Musical staging by Bob Fosse. Directed by Abe Burrows.
June 7 through July 31, 1965
OLIVER! – musical: based on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twistl
music and lyrics by Lionel Bart Starring Robin Ramsay, Maura K.
Wedge, Alan Crofoot, Danny Sewell, George Piolo and Ronnie Kroll
as Oliver. Directed by Peter Coe.
September 7 through September 25, 1965
PICKWICK – British musical based on Charles Dickens' "Pickwick
Papers." Starring Harry Secombe, Roy Castle, A. Rodgers, Peter
Bull. Directed by Peter Coe.
September 27 through October 9, 1965
KISMET – musical: book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis;
music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest. Starring Anne
Jeffreys and Alfred Drake, with Henry Calvin, Richard Banke, Patricia
Welting, Don Beddoe, Truman Gaige and Beatrice Kraft. Directed by
Edward Greenberg.
October 18 through October 30, 1965
THE PORCELAIN YEAR – by Reginald Rose. Starring Barbara Bel
Geddes, Arthur Hill, and Martin Balsam, with Kim Darby and John
Megna. Directed by Alex Segal.
November 4 through November 20, 1965
CACTUS FLOWER – comedy, written and directed by Abe Burrows.
Starring Lauren Bacall and Joseph Campanella. Directed by Abe Burrows.
November 23 through November 28, 1965
ANTONIO AND THE BALLETS DE MADRID
November 29 through December 11, 1965
THE NATIONAL REPERTORY THEATRE present The Madwoman of Chaillot
(Jean Giraudoux), The Rivals (Richard Brinsley Sheridan), and The
Trojan Women (Euripides). Company includes Eva LeGalliennne, Sylvia
Sidney, Leora Dana, James B. Douglas, John Eames, herbert Foster,
Diana Frothingham, Alan Oppenheimer and G. Wood..
December 13 through December 25, 1965
CAROUSEL – musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Starring Eileen
Christy, Dran Seitx, Katherine Hilgenberg, Jerry Orbach, Reid Shelton,
Benay Venuta, and Edward Everett Horton. Choreography by Agnes de
Mille. Directed by Edward Greenberg.
December 27, 1965 through January 8, 1966
THE WAYWARD STORK -- comedy by Harry Tugend. Starring Robert Cummings
and Lois Nettleton, with Art Lund, Arlene Golonka, Bernie West,
Gary Pillar. Directed by Dan Levin.
1966
January 10 through January 29, 1966
LUV – comedy by Murray Schisgal. Starring Tom Bosley, Dorothy
Loudon and Herbert Edelman. National company staged by Jack Sydow.
January 31 through February 12, 1966
HOSTILE WITNESS -- drama by Jack Roffey. Starring Ray Milland, with
Michael Allinson, Anthony Cooper, Geoffrey Lumsden. Directed by
Reginald Denham.
February 14 through February 26, 1966
BASCOM BARLOW – comedy by Jerome Chodorov, based on a play
by Claude Magnier. Starring Paul Ford, Nancy Marchand, Joe Ponazecki
and April Shawhan. Directed by Gower Champion.
February 28 through March 19, 1966
THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT -- comedy by Bill Manhoff. Starring Eartha
Kitt and Russell Nype. Directed by Leonard Auerbach.
March 21 through April 9, 1966
THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES – new play by Frank D. Gilroy. Starring
Jack Albertson, Martha Scott (later Bella Jarrett) and Martin Sheen.
Directed by Ulu Grosbard.
April 11 through April 23, 1966
IVANOV -- by Anton Chekhov. Starring John Gielgud and Vivien Leigh,
with John Merrivale., Roland Culver, Jennifer Hilary, Ronald Radd,
Dillon Evans. Directed by John Gielgud.
April 24 through April 30, 1966
PINOCCHIO, designed and created by Bobby Clark.
May 2 through May 7, 1966
METROPOLITAN OPERA NATIONAL COMPANY performing Madame Butterfly,
Susannah, Carmen, and Cinderella.
May 16 through May 21, 1966
THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT – comedy by Bill Manhoff. Starring
Eartha Kitt and Russell Nype. Directed by Leonard Auerbach. [See
Playbill for February, 1966 run]
May 23 through July 30, 1966
BAREFOOT IN THE PARK -- comedy by Neil Simon. Starring Myrna Loy
with Sandor Szabo, Beverly Penberthy and Phillip Clark. Directed
by Mike Nichols.
August 10 through August 27, 1966
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN – musical by Irving Berlin. Starring Ethel
Merman, with Bruce Yarnell, Harry Bellaver, Benay Venuta and Jerry
Orbach. Directed by Jack Sydow.
September 12 through September 24, 1966
HELP STAMP OUT MARRIAGE – comedy by Keith Waterhouse and Willis
Hall. Starring Roddy Maude-Roxby, Ann Bell, Francis Mathews. Directed
by George Abbott.
September 28 through October 15, 1966
WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE – by Hugh Wheeler, based
on the novel by Shirley Jackson. Starring Shirley Knight and Alan
Webb, with Heather Menzies, Phillip Clark, Doris Rich, Murial Williams,
William Sims. Directed by Garson Kanin.
October 18 through November 5, 1966
I DO! I DO! – musical based on The Fourposter by Jan de Hartog:
book and lyrics by Tom Jones; music by Harvey Schmidt. Starring
Mary Martin and Robert Preston. Directed by Gower Champion.
November 7 through November 12, 1966
D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY – performing Pirates of Penzance,
Mikado, Ruddigore, HMS Pinafore.
November 14 through November 26, 1966
AT THE DROP OF ANOTHER HAT – an evening of songs and stories
with Michael Flanders and Donald Swann.
November 28 through December 17, 1966
PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME – by Brian Friel. Starring Donal
Donnelly and Patrick Bedford, with Eamon Kelly, Mairin D. O’
Sullivan, Violet Dunn. Directed by Hilton Edwards.
December 22, 1966 through January 7, 1967
THE ASTRAKHAN COAT – pre-Broadway production drama by Pauline
McCaulay. Starring Roddy McDowell, Brian Bedford, with James Coco,
Job Stewart and Carole Shelly. Directed by Donald McWhinnie. Presented
by David Merrick.
1967
January 9 through January 28, 1967
GENERATION – comedy by William Goodhart. Starring Don Porter
and Jerome Cowan, with John Luce, Charlotte Glenn, Paul Collins,
and John Stewart. Directed by Fred Hebert.
January 30 through February 11, 1967
BRISTOL OLD VIC COMPANY – Starring Richard Pasco, Madge Ryan,
Barbara Leigh-Hunt and Jane Asher, John Franklyn Robbins, Dawn Grainger,
Frank Middlemass, Frank Barrie, Christopher Burgess and Arthur Blake
in Measure for Measure, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet
February 13 through February 18, 1967
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA NATIONAL COMPANY performing La Boheme, La
Traviata, The Marriage of Figaro
February 21 through March 18, 1967
MAN OF LA MANCHA – musical: play by Dale Wasserman; music
by Mitch Leigh; lyrics by Joe Darion. Starring Jose Ferrer with
Harvey Lembeck, David Atkinson, and Maura Wedge.
March 20 through April 1, 1967
THE ODD COUPLE – comedy by Neil Simon. Starring George Gobel
and Phil Foster. Cast includes Mark Dawson, Carmine Caridi, Gloria
Bleezarde, Laura May Lewis, Thomas Ruisinger and Walt Wanderman.
Directed by Harvey Medlinsky.
April 3 through April 15, 1967
THE NATIONAL REPERTORY THEATRE presents The Imaginary Invalid by
Moliere, A Touch of the Poet by Eugene O'Neill, Tonight at 8:30:
Still Life, and Fumed Oak by Noel Coward
April 17 through April 22, 1967
A DELICATE BALANCE – by Edward Albee. Starring Jessica Tandy,
Hume Cronyn and Rosemary Murphy, with Philip Bourneuf, Dortha Duckworth,
and Kathleen Magure. Directed by Alan Schneider.
April 24 through June 3, 1967
HALF A SIXPENCE - British musical based on Kipps by H.G. Wells:
book by Beverley Cross; music and lyrics by David Heneker. Starring
Dick Kallman, with William le Massena, Ann Shoemaker and Anne Wakefield.
Directed by Gene Saks.
June12 through June 17, 1967
BUDDY HACKETT AND EDDIE FISHER in person.
June 19 through June 24, 1967
THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT – comedy by Bill Manhoff. Starring
Pat Suzuki and Richard Vath. Directed by Philip Rose.
June 26 through July 8, 1967
ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER – musical: book and lyrics
by Alan Jay Lerner; music by Burton Lane. Starring Howard Keel and
Barbara Lang, with Lester James, Cy Young, Carl Esser, Francine
Beers, Rowan Tudor, Leon Benedict, William J. Coppola and Jodi Perselle.
Directed by Milton Katselas.
July 10 through July 29, 1967
LES BALLETS AFRICAINS
July 31 through August 26, 1967
WAIT A MININ – musical devised and directed by Leon Gluckman;
musical arrangements by Andrew Tracey. Starring Andrew Tracey, Paul
Tracey, Kendrew Lascelleo, Michel Martel, Nigel Pegram, April Olrich,
Lelene Ireland and Barbara Quaney..
September 5 through September 16, 1967
CACTUS FLOWER – comedy by Abe Burrows, based on the play by
Barillet and Gredy. Starring Hugh O’Brian and Elizabeth Allen,
with Ethelyne Dunfee and Gene Lindsey. Directed by Abe Burrows.
September 20 through October 7, 1967
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD -- by Tom Stoppard. Starring
Robert Eddison, Brian Murray and John Wood. Directed by Derek Goldby.
October 11 through November 8, 1967
HELLO, DOLLY! – musical based on the play by Thornton Wilder:
book by Michael Stewart; music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Starring
Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway, with Emily Yancy, Jack Crowder, Chris
Calloway, Winston deWitt Hemsley, Sherri Peaches Brewer, Mabel King,
Richard Kie-Wye Khan and Roger Lawson. Staged by Lucia Victor.
President and Mrs. Johnson sat in folding chairs in the aisle
to see Cab Calloway and native Washingtonian Pearl Bailey in Hello
Dolly!
November 17 through December 9, 1967
MATA HARI -- musical: book by Jerome Coopersmith; lyrics by Martin
Charnin; music by Edward Thomas. Starring Pernell Roberts and Marisa
Mell. Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Produced by David Merrick.
The opening night, a grand benefit performance, was a great disaster,
as scenery failed to operate properly, and Mata Hari, having been
gunned down by a firing squad, rose to exit before the lights were
down.
1968
January 2 through January 13, 1968
THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE – comedy by Frank Marcus. Starring
Claire Trevor, Natalie Schafer, with Patricia Sinnott and Polly
Rowles. Directed by Warren Crane.
January 15 through February 3, 1968
WHITE LIES AND BLACK COMEDY - two one-act comedies by Peter Schaffer.
Starring Jeremy Clyde, Angela Wood, Jennifer Tilston, Byron Webster,
Barry Boys, Monica Evans, Charles Mayer. Directed by Randall Brooks.
February 5 through February 17, 1968
THE IMPOSSIBLE YEARS – comedy by Bob Fisher and Arthur Marx.
Starring Sam Levene, Elizabeth Fleming. Cast includes David Selby,
Judith Tillman, Alexander Cort, Abe Vigoda, Donald Moore, Kipp Osborne,
Trudy Van, Phillip Bonnell, Horton Willis and Madeleine Fisher.
Directed by Sam Levene.
February 19 through March 2, 1968
WEEKEND – comedy by Gore Vidal. Starring John Forsythe, Rosemary
Murphy and Kim Hunter. Cast includes Marco St.John, Staats Cotsworth,
Eleanor Wilson, Graham Brown, Zaida Coles, John Marriott, Gene Blakely,
and Carol Cole. Directed by Joseph Anthony.
March 4 through March 16, 1968
THE HOMECOMING – by Harold Pinter. Starring Carolyn Jones
and William Roerick. Cast includes John Church, Denis Holmes, Jerry
Mickey and Danny Sewell. Directed by Rosemary Beattie.
March 18 through April 13, 1968
CABARET – musical based on the Christopher Isherwood novella;
music by John Kander; lyrics by Fred Ebb. Starring Signe Hasso,
Leo Fuchs and Melissa Hart. Cast includes Robert Salvio, Catherine
Gaffigan, David Rounds and Gene Rupert. Directed by Harold Prince.
April 16 through April 28, 1968
LES BALLETS AFRICAINS -- Ensemble Artistique et Culturel de la Republique
de Guinea.
April 29 through May 25, 1968
YOU KNOW I CAN'T HEAR YOU WHEN THE WATER'S RUNNING -- comedy by
Robert Anderson. Starring Eddie Bracken. Cast includes Robert Ellston,
Susan Bracken, Jack Murdock and Ruth Manning. Directed by Alan Schneider.
May 27 through July 13, 1968
Theatre dark
July 15 through August 10, 1968
MAN OF LA MANCHA – musical: play by Dale Wasserman; music
by Mitch Leigh; lyrics by Joe Darion. Starring Keith Andes, Natalie
Costa and Tony Martinez (Tony returned to the National reprising
his role in 1992). Cast includes Earle MacVeigh, Norman Kelly, with
Robert Gibbons, Nadine Lewis, Timothy Jerome, Borah Silver, Sarah
Wilson, Ian Sullivan and Tamara Long.
August 12 through September 28, 1968
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF -- musical: book by Joseph Stein; music by Jerry
Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Starring Paul Lipson and Mimi Randolph.
Cast includes Merwin Goldsmith, Susan Lehman, Peter Marklin, Virgil
Curry, Jennie Ventriss, Barbara Coggin, Marsha Meyers, Fyv Finkel,
Baruch Lumet, James Hobson, Clarence Hoffman, Maurice Brenner, Ross
DiVito and James McDonald.
September 30 through October 12, 1968
ROCKEFELLER AND THE RED INDIANS – comedy by Ray Galton and
Alan Simpson. Starring Frankie Howerd. Cast includes Peter Bayliss,
Joyce Grant and Simon Oates. Directed by Burt Shevelove
October 14 through October 26, 1968
DON'T DRINK THE WATER – comedy by Woody Allen. Starring Vivian
Blaine and Phil Foster. Cast includes Gary Krawford Directed by
Sam Levene.
October 29 through November 23, 1968
PROMISES, PROMISES -- musical comedy based on the film The Apartment.
Music by Burt Bacharach; lyrics by Hal David. Starring Jerry Orbach,
Jill O'Hara, Edward Winter. Cast includes A. Larry Haines, Norman
Shelly, Marian Mercer, and Donna McKechnie. Directed by Robert Moore.
November 25 through December 7, 1968
FORTY CARATS -- comedy adapted by Jay Allen from a play by Barillet
and Gredy. Starring Julie Harris (3rd Tony Award). With Glenda Farrell,
Murray Hamilton, Marco St. John, Polly Rowles, Franking Cover. Cast
includes Nancy Marchand and Michael Nouri. Directed by Abe Burrows.
December 9 through December 21, 1968
HALLELUJAH BABY! – musical: book by Arthur Laurents; music
by Jules Styne; lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Starring
Julius LaRosa, Adam Wade and Kim Weston, with Theresa Merrit, Bobbi
Baird and Barbara Shannon. Directed by David Eliscu.
December 23, 1968 through January 1, 1969
THE SHOW-OFF -- comedy by George Kelly. Starring Helen Hayes, Alexander
Clark, Clayton Corzatte, Alan Fudge, Gordon Gould, James Greene,
Suzanne Grossman, Jennifer Harmon, George Pentecost. Presented by
the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company. At the final curtain call Miss
Hayes announced, prematurely as it turned out, that this had been
her final stage performance.
1969
January 9 through January 25, 1969
PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM -- comedy by Woody Allen. Starring Woody Allen,
Diane Keaton and Anthony Roberts. Directed by Joseph Hardy.
January 27 through February 15, 1969
THE SECOND CITY – Chicago comedy revue troupe with David Arkin,
Peter Boyle, Sandy Holt, Sid Grossfeld, and Paul Mooney.
February 18 through March 8, 1969
1776 -- Tony Award-winning musical. Starring Howard DaSilva, William
Daniels, Paul Hecht, Clifford David, and Roy Poole. Directed by
Peter Hunt.
March 10 through March 22, 1969
JEREMY TROY -- new comedy by Jack Sharkey. Starring Will Hutchins,
Murvyn Vye, and Charles Braswell. Cast includes Ann Willis and Beverly
Ballard. Directed by Ronny Graham.
March 24 through March 31, 1969
THEATRE DARK
April 1 through April 5, 1969
HARKNESS BALLET -- Featuring Lone Isaksen, Elisabeth Carroll, Brunilda
Ruiz, Lawrence Rhodes, Helgi Tomasson, and Finis Jhung.
April 7 through April 19, 1969
MAN OF LA MANCHA – musical play by Dale Wasserman; music by
Mitch Leigh; lyrics by Joe Darion. Starring Jose Ferrer, with Maura
K. Wedge, Tony Martinez, George Wallace, and Norman Kelley. Cast
includes Robert Gibbons, Nadine Lewis, Timothy Jerome, Borah Silver,
Sarah Wilson, Michael Bradshaw, Ben Vargas, Victor Helou, Richard
Reece, and Jana Robbins.
April 29 through May 17, 1969
YOUR OWN THING -- musical: book by Donald Driver; music and lyrics
by Hal Hester and Danny Apolinar. Starring Paula Kelly, with Stellar
Bennett, Gerry Burkhardt, Gerry Glasier, Bruce Jacobs, Priscilla
Lopez, Alan Martin, Gregg Smith and John Ventantonio. Staged by
Donald Driver.
May 19 through June 14, 1969
CABARET – musical based on the Christopher Isherwood novella;
music by John Kander; lyrics by Fred Ebb. Starring Signe Hasso,
Leo Fuchs and Melissa Hart. Cast includes Robert Salvio, Catherine
Gaffigan, Davies Rounds and Gene Ruppert.
June 16 through June 28, 1969
LOVERS – written by Brian Friel. Starring Art Carney. Cast
includes Anna Manahan, Eamon Morrissey, Fionnuala Flanagan, Mairin
D. O’Sullivan and Grania O’Malley. Directed by Hilton
Edwards.
June 30 through July 26, 1969
THE BOYS IN THE BAND – by Mart Crowley. Starring Jere Admire;
Christopher Carroll, Alan Castner, Robert Christian, Bill Moor,
George Pentecost, Nicholas Pryor, Rex Robbins, and Paul Rudd. Directed
by Robert Moore.
August 12 through August 31, 1969
THERE'S A GIRL IN MY SOUP – written by Terence Frisby. Starring
Lyle Talbot. Cast includes Betty Connor, C. Gordon Howard, George
McDaniel, Rachel Stephens, Don McArt, and Connie Benson. Directed
by Oliver Cliff.
September 15 through September 27, 1969
A PATRIOT FOR ME – written by John Osborne. Starring Maximillian
Schell, Dennis King, Salome Jens. Directed by Peter Glenville.
September 29 through October 11, 1969
THE PENNY WARS – written by Elliott Baker. Starring George
Voskovec, Kim Hunter, Kristoffer Tabori. Directed by Barbara Harris.
October 13 through October 25, 1969
IN THE MATTER OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER – drama written by
Heinar Kipphardt. Starring Paul Sparer, with Frank Schofield, William
Myers, Whitfield Connor, W.B. Brydon, Robert Phalen, Philip Sterling,
Walter Abel, Sandor Szabo, Ray Fry. Directed by Julius Irving.
October 27 through November 8, 1969
THE PRICE -- written and directed by Arthur Miller. Starring Michael
Strong, Betty Field, Harold Gary, Shepperd Strudwick.
November 10 through November 15, 1969
Theatre dark
November 17 through November 29, 1969
PRIVATE LIVES -- comedy by Noel Coward. Starring Tammy Grimes, Brian
Bedford, David (Wm.) Glover and Suzanne Grossman. Directed by Stephen
Porter.
December 1 through December 27, 1969
PLAZA SUITE – by Neil Simon. Starring Howard Keel, Larry Parks
(for part of the run) and Betty Garrett, with Mark Hampton, Paulette
Sinclair, and Emil Belasco. Directed by Robert V. Straus.
December 30 through January 11, 1970
NEW MUSIC HALL OF ISRAEL – revue: directed and choreographed
by Jonathan Karmon. Starring Geula Gill, the Leah Forly Trio, Yoel
Dan, Almonznino, Elisheva and Michael Boas and the Karmon Dancers.
1970
January 19 through February 7, 1970
GEORGE M! – musical comedy about George M. Cohan: music and
lyrics by George M. Cohan; book by Michael Stewart and John and
Fran Pascal. Starring Darryl Hickman, Linda Larson, and Ted Pritchard.
Produced, directed and choreographed by Joe Layton.
February 9 through February 28, 1970
MAN OF LA MANCHA – musical: play by Dale Wasserman; music
by Mitch Leigh; lyrics by Joe Darion. Starring Bob Wright, Maura
K. Wedge, Sammy Smith, Marvin Brody and Dale Malone. Book and musical
staging by Albert Marre.
March 2 through March 21, 1970
HADRIAN VII – by Peter Luke. Starring Hume Cronyn and members
of the Stratford National Company of Canada. Directed by Jean Gascon.
March 23 through April 11, 1970
CANTERBURY TALES – musical: book by Martin Starkie and Nevill
Coghill; music by Richard Hill and John Hawkins; lyrics by Nevill
Coghill. Starring Ray Walston, Constance Carpenter and Martyn Green.
Choreography by Tommy Tune. Directed by James Hammerstein.
April 13 through April 18, 1970
Theatre dark
April 20 through May 2, 1970
DYLAN – based on the life of Dylan Thomas, by Sidney Michaels.
Starring Jack Aranson, Mary Rose McMaster, William Whitman, Sally
Kemp, Oren Curtis, Jim Nolan, Karen Kondan, Coralie Persse, Terry
Moore, Jay Moreno, Veleka Gray, Eve Porter and Richard Spare. Directed
by Phillip Pruneau.
May 4 through May 23, 1970
SHEEP ON THE RUNWAY – comedy by Art Buchwald. Starring Martin
Gabel, David Burns, Elizabeth Wilson, Richard Castellano, and Barnard
Hughes. Directed by Gene Saks.
May through September, 1970
THEATRE DARK
September through September 26, 1970
THE BOYFRIEND – musical comedy by Sandy Wilson. Starring Anna
Maria Alberghetti, with Marthe Errolle, Ronald Young, and Leon Shaw.
Directed by Gus Schirmer.
September 28 through October 17, 1970
LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS -- comedy by Neil Simon. Starring Jack
Weston, Rosemary Prinz, Ginger Flick, Marge Redmond. Directed by
Robert Moore.
October 22 through November 7, 1970
SLEUTH – pre-Broadway production of the thriller by Anthony
Shaffer. Starring Anthony Quayle, Keith Baxter, with Philip Farrar,
Harold K. Newman and Roger Purnell. Directed by Clifford Williams.
November 9 through November 21, 1970
FOUR ON A GARDEN – pre-Broadway production of a new comedy
adapted by Abe Burrow from a play by Barillet and Gredy. Starring
Carol Channing, Barry Nelson, George S. Irving. Directed by Abe
Burrows.
November 23 through December 12, 1970
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF-- musical: book by Joseph Stein; music by Jerry
Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Starring Bob Carroll with Fritzi
Burr. Cast includes Lila Teigh, Ronald Coralian, Sidney Ben-Zali,
Mary Ann Chinn, Doreen Dunn, Stacy McAdams, Lewis Jacobson, Sanford
Seeger, Gerald E. McGonagill, Joel Fredrick, Alexandra Stoddart
and Art Vestry. Directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins.
December 22, 1970 through January 2, 1971
ARI – pre-Broadway musical based on Exodus: music by Walt
Smith; book and lyrics by Leon Uris. Starring David Cryer and Constance
Towers, Martin Ross, and C.K. Alexander, Norwood Smith, Mark Zeller,
Jack Gwillim, Jamie Ross, Joseph Della Sorte and John Savage, Jacqueline
Mayro. Directed by Lucia Victor. Presented by Ken Gaston and Leonard
Goldberg.
1971
January 4 through January 9, 1971
DEAR LOVE – by Jerome Kilty, based on the letters of Elizabeth
Barrett and Robert Browning. Starring Jerome Kilty and Myrna Loy.
Directed Burry Fredrik.
January 12 through January 23, 1971
PINOCCHIO – created and designed by Bobby Clark, featuring
life-sized puppets. Music by Arnold Miller; lyrics by Arnold Miller
and Bobby Clark.
January 25 through February 6, 1971
AND MISS REARDON DRINKS A LITTLE – tragicomedy by Paul Zindel.
Starring Julie Harris, Estelle Parsons, Nancy Marchand, Rae Allen
and Bill Macy. Directed by Melvin Bernhardt.
February 8 through February 20, 1971
BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE – comedy by Leonard Gershe. Starring
Gloria Swanson, David Huffman, Kristina Callahan and Michael Shannon.
Directed by Milton Katselas.
February 22 through March 6, 1971
HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES – comedy by Alan Ayckbourn. Starring
Phil Silvers, Sandy Dennis, Richard Mulligan, Tom Aldredge, Bernice
Massi, Jeanne Hepple. Directed by Gene Saks.
March 12 through May 16, 1971
HAIR – musical by Gerome Ragni, with Steve Menkin, Patricia
Keene, Sue Allanson, Sara Blumenthal, Ynez Anthony, and Kathleen
Shearer.
August 1971
theatre dark
October 18 through November 6, 1971
THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE - comedy by Neil Simon. Starring Peter
Falk, Lee Grant, Vincent Gardenia. Cast inlcudes Florence Stanley,
Tresa Hughes, Dena Dietrich. Directed by Mike Nichols.
November 8 through November 20, 1971
MAN OF LA MANCHA – musical: play by Dale Wasserman; music
by Mitch Leigh; lyrics by Joe Darion. Starring Allan Jones, Gerriane
Raphael and Edmond Varrato. Cast includes Rowan Tudor, Taylor Reed
and Leon Shaw. Musical direction by Joseph Klein.
November 24 through December 18, 1971
FUN CITY – new comedy by Lester Colodny, Joan Rivers and Edgar
Rosenberg. Pre-Broadway; starring Joan Rivers, Gabriel Dell, Rose
Marie and Paul Ford. Directed by Jerry Adler.
December 20, 1971 through January 1, 1972
PROMISES, PROMISES -- musical comedy based on The Apartment: music
by Bert Bachrach; lyrics by Hal David. Starring Ted Pugh, Ilene
Graff, Bob Holiday, and Barney Martin. Directed by Robert Moore.
1972
January 1972
MAROTTES DE PARIS DE LA COMPAGNIE ANDRE TAHON - marionettes
January 17 through February 5, 1972
THE GINGERBREAD LADY – comedy by Neil Simon. Starring Nancy
Kelly, Michael Lombard, Betsy von Furstenberg. Directed by Jeremiah
Morris.
March 13 through April 29, 1972
PURLIE – musical comedy based on the play "Purlie Victorious,"
by Ossie Davis. Starring Robert Guillaume, Patti Jo, Art Wallace,
Carol Jean Lewis, and Sherman Hemsley Directed by Philip Rose.
May 2 through May 20, 1972
COMPANY – musical comedy: music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim;
book by George Furth. Starring Gary Krawford, Julie Wilson, with
Barbara Broughton, J.T. Cromwell, Tandy Cronyn, Rolly Fanton, Louisa
Flaningam, Joy Franz, Del Hinkley, Jane A. Johnston, Bernie McInerney,
Donna McKechnie, Nolan Van Way and George Wallace. Produced and
directed by Harold Prince.
May 11, 1972
The Nederlander Organization of Detroit "assumed control of
operations." Scott Kirkpatrick was retained as manager, with
Thomas Luck as his assistant who would later succeed him. Liz McCann
came down from New York to get the operation set up. Discovering
a closet full of material in an alcove off Mr. Kirkpatrick's office,
she told him "I want all that crap out of here when I get back
from lunch." Kirkpatrick invited ushers and others present
to take whatever they wanted from the treasure trove of photographs,
old playbills, posters, etc. "After lunch" the artifactual
history of the National Theatre had virtually vanished, except for
items which Mr. Kirkpatrick had already conserved at his home. The
"N.A." Corporation (?) replaced the Theatre Guild Subscription
with its own Playgoer's Series.
May 23 through July 8, 1972
1776 – patriotic musical: music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards;
book by Peter Stone. Starring Patrick Bedford, Rex Everhart and
Edmund Lyndeck. Directed by Peter Hunt.
July 12 through August 19, 1972
APPLAUSE – musical based on the film All About Eve: book by
Betty Comden and Adolph Green; music by Charles Strouse; lyrics
by Lee Adams. Starring Eleanor Parker, with George McDaniel; Norwood
Smith, Beverly Dixon, Ted Pritchard and Janice Lynde. Directed and
choreographed by Ron Field.
September 19 through September 24, 1972
ANTONIO GADES SPANISH DANCE COMPANY
October 3 through October 21, 1972
THE ROTHSCHILDS – musical: music by Jerry Bock; lyrics by
Sheldon Harnick; book by Sherman Yellen, based on the book by Frederic
Morton. Starring Theodore Bikel, with Reid Shelton, C. David Colson,
Carol Fox Prescott, Sandra Thornton and David Murphy. Directed and
choreography by Michael Kidd.
October 23 through November 4, 1972
SLEUTH – by Anthony Shaffer. Starring Michael Allinson and
Curt Dawson; with Philip Farrar, Harold Newman and Roger Purnell.
Directed by Clifford Williams.
November 6 through November 25, 1972
DON JUAN IN HELL -- by Bernard Shaw. Starring Ricardo Montalban,
Paul Henreid, Edward Mulhare, and Agnes Moorehead. Directed by John
Houseman.
November 27 through December 16, 1972
THE SUNSHINE BOYS – by Neil Simon. Starring Sam Levene and
Jack Albertson. Directed by Alan Arkin.
December 18, 1972 through January 6, 1973
TWIGS – new comedy by George Furth. Starring Sada Thompson,
with Herbert Nelson, Jack Murdock, Mark Dawson, Dan Travanty, Joe
Mantell, Joseph Boland and Stacy McAdams. Incidental music by Stephen
Sondheim. Directed by Michael Bennett.
1973
January 8 through January 27, 1973
NO SEX PLEASE, WE'RE BRITISH -- comedy by Anthony Marriott and Alistair
Foot. Starring Maureen O’Sullivan and Tony Tanner, with Stephen
Collins, J.J. Lewis and Ronald Drake. Directed by Christopher Hewett.
February 1 through February 24, 1973
IRENE – a pre-Broadway musical comedy: book by Hugh Wheeler;
music by Harry Tierney; lyrics by Joseph McCarthy. Starring Debbie
Reynolds, with Patsy Kelly, Monte Markham, George S. Irving and
Ruth Warrick. Carrie Fisher, daughter of Debbie Reynolds was in
the chorus. President Nixon attends a performance. Directed by John
Gielgud.
March 5 through March 24, 1973
GREASE – musical: book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and
Warren Casey. With John Travolta in the company.
April 24 through May 13, 1973
NO, NO, NANETTE – musical: book by Otto Harback and Frank
Mandel; music by Vincent Youmans; lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto
Harbach. Starring Don Ameche, Evelyn Keyes, Ann B. Davis, Sven Svenson
and Elaine Nelson, with the Busby Berkeley Girls. Adapted and directed
by Burt Shevelove.
May 15 through June 2, 1973
LORELEI – musical comedy based on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes:
new music by Jule Styne; new lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
Starring Carol Channing, with Dody Goodman, Tamara Long, Peter Palmer,
Lee Roy Reams, Brandon Maggart, Brooks Morton, and Jean Bruno. Staged
by Joe Layton.
June 3 through June 15, 1973
NORMAN, IS THAT YOU? – comedy by Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick.
Starring Billy Daniels, with Kyle Johnson, Royce Wallace, Kim Allen
and Charlene Jones. Directed by Danny Simon.
September 25 through October 13, 1973
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA - musical by John Guare. Starring Larry
Kert - L. Marshall, J. O’Hara, M. Ramsey
October 16 through November 3, 1973
BUTLEY – by Simon Gray. Starring Brian Bedford, with Paul
Jott, Barbara Lester, Sharon Laughlin, James Hummert, Saylor Creswell
and Linda Charet. Directed by James Hammerstein..
November 6 through December 16, 1973
THE RIVER NIGER – drama by Joseph Walker. Presented by the
Negro Ensemble Company: Robin Braxton, Charles Brown, Carl Gordon,
Charles Grant-Greene, Hilda Haynes, Albert F. Laveau, Gilbert Lewis,
Amandina Lihamba, Les Roberts, Sylvia Soares and Kim Sullivan. Directed
by Douglas Turner Ward.
December 18 through January 6, 1974
LEMMINGS -- satirical revue: music composed and arranged by Paul
Jacobs, Christopher Guest and Zal Yanovsky; lyrics by Sean Kelly,
John Belushi and Zal Yanovsky. Starring John Belushi, Chevy Chase,
Rhonda Coullet, Paul Jacobs, Tony Scheuren and Zal Yanovsky. Directed
by John Belushi. Presented by National Lampoon Magazine.
1974
Scott Kirkpatrick, manager of the National for 20 years, retired,
and was replaced by his assistant, Thomas Luck. Some years earlier
(?) the Nederlander Organization assumed management. Tradition has
it that Liz McCann, later a Broadway producer in her own right,
was working for Jimmy Nederlander at that time and came down to
the National on his behalf. Scott Kirkpatrick had collected a store
of posters and other memorabilia in a small closet at the back of
his office. After a morning meeting with Scott Kirkpatrick, Ms.
McCann gestured to the bulging closet and said, "I'm going
to lunch, Scotty. When I get back I want all that crap out of here."
Over the lunch hour, the legacy of the National was parceled out
to box-office personnel, ushers, and anyone else at hand who wanted
old posters and playbills.
January 15 through February 2, 1974
A COMMUNITY OF TWO – comedy by Jerome Chodorov. Starring Claudette
Colbert, Peter Adams and George Gaynes. Cast includes Lou Gilbert,
Sylvia Daneel, Peter Adams, Mary Case, David Winn. Directed by Jerome
Chodorov.
February 5 through February 23, 1974
IN TWO KEYS – by Noel Coward. Starring Anne Baxter, Hume Cronyn
and Jessica Tandy, with Thom Christopher. Directed by Vivian Matalon.
The American premiere.
February 25 through March 9, 1974
CLARENCE DARROW – written by David Rintels, based on the novel
by Irving Stone. Starring Henry Fonda. Directed by John Houseman.
March 12 through March 24, 1974
MY FAT FRIEND – by Charles Laurence. Starring Lynn Redgrave
and George Rose, with John Lithgow and James Ray Weeks. Directed
by Robert Moore.
April 4 through April 27, 1974
THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON – by Jason Miller. Starring Forrest
Tucker, with Phillip Allen, Joseph Mascolo, George Dzundza and Bernie
McInerney. Directed by A. J. Antoon
May 20 through June 8, 1974
GREASE -- musical: book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren
Casey. Return engagement with Jerry Barkoff, C. Costa K. Dille and
L. Horowitz.
June 16, 1974 [no program file]
TUMULTIME -- an English-Yiddish musical revue,
June 24, through September 30, 1974
GODSPELL – musical based upon the Gospel According to St.
Matthew. Music and New Lyrics by Stephen Schwarz. Directed by John-Michael
Tebelak. With The Company: Zenobia Conkerite, Nedra Dixon, George-Paul
Fortuna, Michael Hoit, Lynn Humphrey, Peter Jurasik, Rune Kaptur,
Nancy McCall, Tom Rolding and Naomi Wexler. Lighting by Spencer
Mosse, Costumes by Susan Tsu. Produced by Edgar Lansbury/Stuart
Duncan/Joseph Beruh. Associate Producer Charles Haid.
Fall, 1974
James Nederlander approached Roger Stevens, Chairman of The Kennedy
Center, with a proposal for Stevens or The Kennedy Center to assume
the National Theatre lease, which Nederlander held. Due to the deterioration
of the downtown area, Nederlander has had difficulty operating the
theatre profitably.
November, 1974
At an invitational meeting in the Georgetown home of Roger Stevens,
a group of citizens was asked to become directors of a non-profit
board set up by Mr. Stevens to assume the lease of The National
Theatre from The Nederlander Organization, which wished to withdraw
from management of the theatre. The downtown area had become increasingly
deserted over the past years as a result of the riots prompted by
the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and the general competition
of suburban malls. Mr. Stevens had been advised by his attorneys
that The Kennedy Center was not empowered to assume the management
of another theatre. Among those present: Joan and Maurice Tobin,
Donn B. Murphy, Gerson Nordlinger, Martin Feinstein and Mr. Stevens.
November 13, 1974
The New National Theatre Corporation received its certification
of incorporation from the Office of Recorder of Deeds of the District
of Columbia and assumed the lease from The Nederlander Organization.
Tom Luck became manager, to be replaced later by Rick Schneider.
December 18, 1974
The non-profit "New National Theatre Corporation" was
incorporated. By acclamation, Maurice B. Tobin was made president,
Donn B. Murphy Secretary, Gerson Nordlinger Treasurer.
November 23-through December 14, 1974
ALL OVER TOWN – pre-Broadway comedy written by Murray Schisgal.
Starring Clevon Little and Barnard Hughes. Cast includes Jill Eikenberry.
Directed by Dustin Hoffman.
December 23, 1974 through January 4, 1975
THE RITZ -- comedy by Terence McNally. Starring Rita Moreno, Jack
Weston, Jerry Stiller. Cast includes F. Murray Abraham, Christopher
J. Brown, Stephen Collins, George Dzundza, John Everson, Ruth Jaroslow
and Paul B. Price. Directed by Robert Drivas.
1975
NATIONAL THEATRE ARCHIVE - About this time, Theatre Manager Richard
Schneider established an Archive for the National Theatre
January 7 through February 2, 1975
WHAT THE WINESELLERS BUY – by Ron Milner. All-Black cast headed
by Gilbert Lewis, Herb Rice, Loretta Greene, Jean Dushon, Joe Fields.
Directed by Woody King Jr.
February 4 through February 15, 1975
GOOD EVENING – a comedy with music, written by and starring
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Directed by Jerry Adler.
February 17 through March 15, 1975
BIG BAD MOUSE – British comedy by Philip King and Falkland
Cary. Starring Eric Sykes and Jimmy Edwards, with Sheila Haney,
Patrick Brymer, Judy Johnson, Anne-Francis Thom and Joyce Campion.
March 26 through April 19, 1975
THE PHILANTHROPIST – by Christopher Hampton. Starring Brian
Murray, with Swoozie Kurtz and Richard Clarke. Cast includes David
Leary, Veronica Castang, Jarlath Conroy, Judith Ivey. Directed by
Michael Montel.
April 22 through May 3, 1975
HEDDA GABLER – by Henrik Ibsen. Starring Glenda Jackson, Timothy
West and Patrick Stewart. Directed by Trevor Nunn. Presentation
of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
May 6 through June 1, 1975
THE MAGIC SHOW – devised by Doug Henning, with Peter de Paula,
Pippa Pearthree, Hester Lewellen and Paul Keith.
June 3 through June 29, 1975
PURLIE – musical comedy based on the play Purlie Victorious:
book by Ossie David, Philip Rose and Peter Udell. Starring Patti
Jo and Robert Guillaume, Norma Donaldson and Barry Smith. Directed
by Stockton Briggle.
July 1 through August 3, 1975 [show cancelled]
THE RED DEVIL BATTERY SIGN – by Tennessee Williams. Starring
Anthony Quinn, Claire Bloom, and Katy Jurado. Play closed “forever”
due to a theatrical dispute, at the end of the Boston run just prior
to opening in Washington.
August 6 through September 28, 1975
BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR - musical revue: book by Loften Mitchell, based
on a concept by Rosetta LeNoire. Starring Avon Long, Thelma Carpenter,
Vivian Reed and Joseph Attles.
Date unknown - President Ford saw Bubbling Brown Sugar.
September 30 through October 11, 1975
SABRINA FAIR – comedy by Samuel Taylor. Starring Arlene Francis,
Robert Horton, Katherine Houghton, Sam Levene, Russel Nype and Maureen
O’Sullivan. Directed by Harold Kennedy.
October 13 through October 25, 1975
THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE – by George Bernard Shaw. Starring Paul
Hecht, Elizabeth Shepherd, Neil Vipond, Paxton Whitehead. Presented
by The Shaw Festival of Canada.
October 28 through November 9, 1975
WHAT THE WINESLELLERS BUY – Return engagement of the play
by Ron Milner. Starring Gilbert Lewis, wish Ron Trice, Debbie Morgan,
Juanita Clark, Bill Cobbs. Directed by Woodie King, Jr.
November 17 through December 13, 1975
A MATTER OF GRAVITY – by Enid Bagnold. Starring Katherine
Hepburn, with Charlotte Jones, Paul Harding, Christopher Reeve,
Elizabeth Lawrence, Wanda Bimson, Daniel Tamm and Robert Moberly.
Directed by Noel Willman.
December 14, 1975 through January 18, 1976 - DARK
1976
THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING ?? Date unknown. [no program in file]
January 20, 1976 through February 14, 1976
BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR – musical revue: book by Loften Mitchell,
based on a concept by Rosetta LeNoire. Starring Avon Long, Josephine
Premice, Vivian Reid and Joseph Attles.
February 16 through March 14 - DARK
March 17 through April 17, 1976
1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE – pre-Broadway musical with music
by Leonard Bernstein. Washington-bred choreographer George Faison
was the last of several directors. With Patricia Routledge, Ken
Howard, Gilbert Price.
April 20 through May 2, 1976
IT'S SHOWDOWN TIME – comedy by Don Evans. Starring Charles
Brown, Lynn Whitfield, with Gloria Edwards. Directed by Shaunelle
Perry.
May 5 through July 4, 1976
GUYS AND DOLLS – musical; music and lyrics by Frank Loesser;
book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, based on the stories of Damon
Runyon. All-African-American cast. Starring Norma Donaldson, Ernestine
Jackson, James Randolph and Robert Guillaume. Directed and choreographed
by Billy Wilson.
July 7 through July 31, 1976 - DARK
August 3 through September 11, 1976
SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR – comedy by Bernard Slade. Starring Barbara
Rush and Tom Troupe. Directed by Gene Saks.
September 14 through November 6, 1976
EQUUS – psychological drama by Peter Shaffer. Starring Douglas
Campbell and Keith McDermott, with Dalton Dearborn, Catherine Byers,
Jillian Lindig and Roxanne Hart. Directed by
John Dexter.
November 11 through November 21, 1976
ALADDIN – a musical version of the story told with puppets.
A Ruben Budrow production.
November 22 through December 5, 1976
THE ROYAL FAMILY – written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber.
Starring Eva LeGallienne, Sam Levene, Carole Shelley and Leonard
Frey. Directed by Ellis Rabb.
December 7, 1976 through January 1, 1977
HELLZAPOPPIN' – a musical chorus: written by Abe Burrows,
Bill Heyer and Hank Beebe; music by Jule Styne and Hank Beebe; lyrics
by Carolyn Leigh and Bill Heyer. Starring Jerry Lewis and Lynn Redgrave,
with Herb Edelman, Joey Faye, Brandon Maggart and Jill Choder. Directed
by Jerry Adler.
1977
January 2 through January 29, 1977
OTHERWISE ENGAGED – by Simon Gray. Starring Tom Courtenay.
Cast includes Nicholas Coster, John Horton, John Christopher Jones,
Carolyn Lagerfelt, Michael Lombard and Lynn Milgrim. Directed by
Harold Pinter. Presented by James Nederlander, Frank Milton and
Michael Codron.
February 1 through February 13, 1977
GREASE – musical: book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and
Warren Casey. Ensemble cast. Directed by Tom Moore.
February 14 through March 12, 1977
BULLY: AN ADVENTURE WITH TEDDY ROOSEVELT – one-man show by
Jerome Alden. Starring James Whitmore. Directed by Peter H. Hunt.
March 14 through April 9, 1977
ANNA CHRISTIE – by Eugene O’Neil. Starring Liv Ullmann,
co-starring John Lithgow, Mary McCarty and Robert Donley. Directed
by Jose Quintero.
*NOTE: On March 9, 1977, twelve gunmen, members of a terrorist
group called the Hanafi Muslims, stormed the District Building,
directly across from the National. The Wednesday matinee audience
attending ANNA CHRISTIE that day was ushered to safety through a
side alley to F Street. Heavily armed with shotguns and machetes,
the Hanafis maintained a 39-hour siege in which a reporter for WHUR-FM
radio was killed. Dozens more, including Marion Barry, then a D.C.
Council member and later mayor of the District, were injured. The
Thursday evening performance was cancelled.
April 11 through April16, 1977
PILOBOLUS DANCE THEATRE
April 18 through July 24, 1977 - DARK
June 7 through July 17, 1977 [no program in the file]
RAISIN – musical based on Lorraine Hansberry’s A RAISIN
IN THE SUN.
July 25 through August 6, 1977
LILY TOMLIN APPEARING NITELY – one-woman show. Staged by George
Boyd. Written and directed by Jane Wagner and Lily Tmlin.
August 12 through September 10, 1977
MAN OF LA MANCHA – musical: play by Dale Wasserman; music
by Mitch Leigh; lyrics by Joe Darion. Starring Richard Kiley with
Emily Yancy, Tony Martinez and Bob Wright. Directed by Albert Marre.
September 13 through October 9, 1977
BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR – musical revue: book by Loften Mitchell,
based on a concept by Rosetta LeNoire. Starring Charles “Honi”
Coles, Marilyn Johnson, Jay Flash Riley, and introducing Bettye
Lavette. Directed by Robert M. Cooper.
October 12 through November 6, 1977
FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE /WHEN THE RAINBOW
IS ENUF – by Ntozake Shange. Starring Barbara Alston, Beverly
Anne, Trazana Beverley, Gloria Calomee, Brenda J. David, Paula Larke
and Jonette O’Kelley. Arranged and directed by Oz Scott. A
New York Shakespeare Festival production.
November 8 through December 4, 1977
FDR, – one man show written by Dore Schary. Starring Robert
Vaughn. Directed by Jeff Bleckner.
December 5 through December 31, 1977
PAUL ROBESON -- by Phillip Hayes Dean. Starring James Earl Jones,
with Burt Wallace. Directed by Lloyd Richards.
1978
January 7 through February 5, 1978
SPOTLIGHT – pre-Broadway musical: book by Richard Seff; music
by Jerry Bresler; lyrics by Lyn Duddy; based on a story by Leonard
Starr. Starring Gene Barry, with D’Jamin Bartlett, Polly Rowles,
Marc Jordan, David-James Carroll and Lenora Nemetz. Directed by
David Black.
February 7 through February 19, 1978
GREASE – musical: books, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and
Warren Casey. Ensemble cast. Directed by Tom Moore.
May 16 through September 23, 1978
ANNIE – musical: book by Thomas Meehan; music by Charles Strouse;
lyrics by Martin Charnin. Starring Kathy-Jo Kelly, Norwood Smith
and Ruth Kobart, with Kathryn Boule, Jan Pessano, Gary Beach, Lisa
Raggio and Sam Stoneburner. Directed by Martin Charnin.
September 26 through November 11, 1978
HELLO, DOLLY! – musical: book by Michael Stewart; music and
lyrics by Jerry Herman, based on the play by Thornton Wilder. Starring
Carol Channing and Eddie Bracken, with Lee Roy Reams, Joy Franz,
Leonard John Crofoot, K.T. Baumann, Ruth Berger, James Beard, Michael
C. Booker, and P.J. Nelson. Directed by Lucia Victor
November 15 through November 20, 1978
THE PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY – contemporary dance company
featuring Bettie De Jong, Carolyn Adams, Monica Morris, Elie Chaib,
Lila York, Ruth Andrien, Linda Kent, Victoris Uris, Christopher
Gillis, Susan McGuire, Thomas Evert, David Parsons. [in files under
P]
November 21 through November 26, 1978
BALLET INTERNACIONAL DE CARACAS -- Artistic Director: Vicente Nebrada.
With Zhandra Rodriguez. A Washington Performing Arts Society presentation.
November 27, 1978 through March 18, 1979
A CHORUS LINE – musical: book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas
Dante; music by Marvin Hamlisch; lyrics by Edward Kleban. Ensemble
cast. Conceived, choreographed and directed by Michael Bennett.
1979
(A Chorus Line continues through March 18)
March 21 through May 26, 1979
THE WIZ – new musical, with an all-African-American cast.
Starring Renee Harris, Charles Valentino, Clyde Jacque Beret, Ron
Taylor and Kamal, as the Wiz.
May 27 through August 12, 1979 -- DARK
August 13 through September 2, 1979
TIMBUKTU! – musical fable based on “Kismet”. Music
and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest; book by Luther Davis.
Starring Eartha Kitt and Melba Moore and introducing Ira Hawkins.
With George Bell, Bruce A. Hubbard, Eleanor McCoy, Daniel Barton.
Directed by Geoffrey Holder.
September 3 through September 9, 1979 - DARK
September 12 through October 7, 1979
DADDY GOODNESS – musical based on the play by Richard Wright
and Louis Sapin; lyrics by Ron Miller, music by Ken Hirsch. Starring
Clifton Davis, Freda Payne, and Ted Ross (as Daddy Goodness). Cast
includes Rod Perry, Carol-Jean Lewis, Arthur French, Dan Strayhorn,
Sandra Reaves-Phillips, Ann Duquesnay, Clebert Ford and Stefanie
Showell. Directed by Israel Hicks.
October 9 through October 11, 1979
PILOBOLUS DANCE THEATRE – featuring Robby Barnett, Moses Pendleton,
Alison Chase, Michael Tracy, Jamey Hampton, Jonathan Wolken, Georgiana
Holmes and guest artists Kammy Brooks and Daniel Ezralow. A Washington
Performing Arts Society presentation.
October 12 through October 14, 1979
LES BALLETS TROCADERO DE MONTE CARLO – a transvestite ballet
company. A WPAS presentation.
October 15 through December 9, 1979 - DARK
December 12, 1979 through January 20, 1980
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS – produced by The Walt Disney
Company for Radio City Music Hall
1980
January 21 through February 17, 1980 - DARK - (3 weeks)
February 18 through March 15, 1980
THE KINGFISHER -- comedy by William Douglas Home. Starring Rex Harrison,
Claudette Colbert and George Rose. Directed by Lindsay Anderson.
March 18 through April 19, 1980
DANCIN' – conceived by Bob Fosse. Featuring 17 top Broadway
dancer-singer-actors. Production supervised by Gwen Verdon and Christopher
Chadman.
April 23 through May 10, 1980
A CHORUS LINE – musical: book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas
Dante; music by Marvin Hamlisch; lyrics by Edward Kleban. Ensemble
cast. Conceived, choreographed and directed by Michael Bennett.
May 12 through June 1, 1980 - DARK
June 3 through July 6, 1980
SHOWBOAT – musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, based
on the Novel by Edna Ferber. Starring Eddie Bracken and Lainie Kazan.
Cast includes Ron Holgate, Pamela Kalt, Robert Mosley, Grace Keagy,
David Eric, D’Jamin Bartlett and Theresa Merritt. Directed
by Stone Widney. Produced in conjunction with Wolf Trap Farm Park
for the Performing Arts
July 3 through July 27, 1980
AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' – Fats Waller musical show. Starring Evan
Bell, Loretta Bowers, Ms. Heaven, Lonnie McNeil, Roz Ryan. Conceived
and directed by Richard Maltby, Jr.
September 9 through October 5, 1980
BRIGADOON – musical: book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner; music
by Frederick Loewe. Starring Martin Vidnovic, Meg Bussert and John
Curry. Directed by Vivian Matalon.
October 6 through October 19, 1980
TRICKS OF THE TRADE – a romantic thriller by Sidney Michaels.
Starring George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere, with Lee Richardson
and Geoffrey Pierson. Directed by Gilbert Cates.
October 20 through December 7, 1980
AMADEUS – by Peter Shaffer. Starring Ian McKellen and Tim
Curry, Jane Seymour. Cast includes Gordon Gould, Paul Harding, Patrick
Hines, Nicholas Kepros, Louis Turenne and Edward Zang. American
Premiere. Directed by Sir Peter Hall. A gala opening night party
was held at the Corcoran Museum.
December 8 through December 21, 1980 - DARK
December 25, 1980 through March 21, 1981
THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG – book by Neil Simon; music by Marvin
Hamlisch; lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager. Starring Victor Garber and
Marsha Skaggs. Directed by Robert Moore.
1981
February 2, 1981
STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE - concert of performance poetry
by Chasen Gaver.
March 30 through May 10, 1981
CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD – by Mark Medoff. Starring Peter
Evans and Linda Bove. Cast includes Deanna Dunagan, Nanci J. Kendall,
Richard Kendall, Ken Letner, Stanja Lowe. Directed by Gordon Davidson.
May 12 through May 31, 1981
I OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES – comedy by Neil Simon. Starring
Bill Macy, Alexa Kenin and Patricia Harty. Directed by Frank Marino.
May 11 through July 14, 1981
ONE MO’ TIME – a musical revue: written and directed
by Vernel Bagneris; music performed by The New Orleans Blue Serenaders.
Starring Alan Weeks and Sandra Reaves-Phillips, with Deborah Burrell,
Jackee Harry, James “Red” Wilcher and special guest
artist, Jabbo Smith.
July 26 through August 9, 1981
DANCIN' – conceived by Bob Fosse. Choreography recreated by
Gail Benedict.
July 29, 1981
THE WEDDING OF CHARLES AND DIANA -- The National Theater and the
Washington Post sponsored a free, large screen telecast coverage
of the Royal Wedding. Participants were invited to toast the Royal
couple with punch and wedding cake.
August 24 to September 20, 1981 - DARK
September 21, 1981 through February 6, 1982
EVITA – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice.
Starring Valerie Perrine, A Crivello, Robb Alton, with local performer
Beebe Gribble as a child in the cast. Directed by Hal Prince.
1982
February 24 through March 14, 1982
MORNING'S AT SEVEN – comedy by Paul Osborn. Starring Maureen
O’Sullivan, Teresa Wright, Kate Reid, Elizabeth Wilson, and
Russell Nype. Cast includes Maurice Copeland, King Donovan, Robert
Moberly and Charlotte Moore. Directed by Vivian Matalon.
March 18 through May 2, 1982
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE – by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.
Starring James Belushi, Peter Noone, with Marsha Bagwell, Leo Leyden
and introducing Caroline Peyton. Directed by Wilford Leach.
1983
April 1983 through January 18, 1984, theatre closed for renovations.
RENOVATION - New air-conditioning was installed and much of the
auditorium stage-lighting wiring replaced. New windows were installed,
and two flagpoles canted at 45 degrees were placed on the face of
the building. A new marquee with translucent lighted panels was
installed, and the glass doors replaced. An elevator running from
the first floor outer lobby to the to the fourth floor lobby was
installed. The old dressing-room building was razed and a new building,
four stories and basement, erected. Replacing the previous situation
of one shower per floor, the new dressing rooms featured a bathroom
and shower between each pair of rooms. Space for a rehearsal room,
a stage-hands lounge, and an archive in dressing rooms on the top
floor. A wardroom with double-door entry was created on the ground
floor, along with a stagehand office and a new electrical room.
Two additional floors are added to the property. On the new third
floor a suite of offices was developed from space previously leased
to other concerns as the "National Theatre Building."
On the third floor, offices were constructed for reception, General
Manager, theatre manager, director of public relations, public relations
assistant and group sales, company manager and a kitchen. New audience
restrooms were created at this level. Space taken over on the fourth
floor was used to create additional rest rooms and a lobby with
a bar for balcony patrons, as well as facilities for the National
Theatre Corporation, including a large office, an accounting office,
and a kitchen. Stores on either side of the lobby, as well as the
Curtain Call Cafe site were abandoned to create a greatly expanded
lobby, as well as space for a "One Shubert Alley theatre souvenir
gift shop to the west. On the second floor, the old manager's office
and Corporate office were replaced with a grandly expanded lobby,
including a small stage at its east end over the box-office. This
space was eventually renamed The Helen Hayes Gallery, and the official
national portrait of Miss Hayes from the National Portrait Gallery
was received on permanent loan from that Gallery to hang in the
space. Oliver Smith superintended the installation of new crystal
chandeliers throughout the public space, (replacing colonial brass
chandeliers hung only a few years earlier) with two great chandeliers
added in the auditorium. Several of the brass chandeliers were given
to Georgetown Visitation Convent and hung in the main hallway of
the school (which burned some ten years later). Smith replaced the
red walls and carpeting with a totally new color scheme. Seats were
re-upholstered in teal blue, with matching carpet and velvet drapes.
Walls were painted in a peach-melon color similar to that of the
drawing room at Mount Vernon, with accents of the blue. A new $30,000
satin curtain in melon colored satin with pale blue accents and
heavy fringe was woven and installed. Rental of the fifth through
seventh floors, accessed by a separate elevator and lobby to the
west of the theatre, were renovated and continued as commercial
rental not part of the theatre operation.
March
Donn B. Murphy was elected President to succeed Harry Teter, Jr.,
who became General Manager.
August 3, 1983
CORPORATION NAME CHANGE - The New National Theatre Corporation was
legally changed to The National Theatre Corporation.
1984
January 17 through April 22, 1984
42ND STREET – musical by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, based
on the book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble. Starring Dolores
Gray and Barry Nelson, with Jim Walton, Bibi Osterwar, Barry Preston
and Clare Leach. Choreography by Gower Champion. Directed by Lucia
Victor.
The renovated National re-opened with 42ND STREET. President and
Mrs. Reagan were present for the gala opening night, seated in the
front box on the right side of the auditorium. Outside, mini search-lights
cast beams into the sky. An elaborate black-tie dinner-party at
the Departmental Auditorium followed the performance.
January
MARTIN LUTHER KING TRIBUTE I – One performance of an upbeat
musical vaudeville produced by the National Theatre Corporation
with local talent, dedicated to the memory of Dr. King.
March 4, 1984
The first narrated performance for the visually impaired. Narrations
by the Washington Ear Listening Service will be provided twice a
month. The National is the first theatre to build a booth specifically
dedicated to this purpose.
March 29, 1984
The first ever signed performance for the hearing impaired, coordinated
with Galludet College. About 100 people watched two narrators stationed
on a small platform just in front of the side right orchestra seats.
May 8 through November 25, 1984
CATS – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on “Old Possum’s
Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. Ensemble cast. Presented by
Cameron Mackintosh.
December 11 1984 through January 6, 1985
BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS – by Neil Simon (post-Broadway). Starring
Skye Bassett, Patrick Dempsey, Brian Drillinger, Richard Greene,
Lynn Milgrim, Rocky Parker and Lisa Waltz. Directed by Gene Saks.
December 17 (Monday), 1984
PETER PAN – by J.M. Barrie, in a version by John Caird and
Trevor Nunn. Fourth annual holiday performance for the benefit of
the Capital Area Community Food Bank. A staged reading featuring
Marilyn Caskey, Richard Bauer, Ronnie Gilbert and Lady Wright.
1985
January
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TRIBUTE II
January 18 and 19, 1985
THE ARMY SOLDIER SHOW: ALL YOU CAN BE AND MORE! - musical presented
in honor of the 50th Presidential inaugural. Presented by the United
States Army and the National Theatre. Produced by Lawrence J. Krauska,
Army Entertainment Program Manager. Featuring the winners of the
1984 Army Performing Arts Festival and The Army Blues.
January 22 through February 16, 1985
THE ODD COUPLE – new version of the comedy by Neil Simon.
Starring Rita Moreno and Sally Struthers. Cast includes Marilyn
Cooper, Kathleen Doyle, Jenny O’Hara, Tony Shalhoub, Lewis
J. Stadlen and Mary Louis Wilson. Directed by Danny Simon.
February 27 through May 4, 1985
42nd STREET – music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin, based
on the book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble. Starring Dolores
Gray and Barry Nelson, with James Mellon, Denise Lor, Barry Preseton
and Gail Benedict. Choreography by Gower Champion, Directed by Lucia
Victor.
May 13, 1985
THE HELEN HAYES AWARDS
May 15, 1985 (Saturday)
“BROADWAY OUR WAY” – special performance of the
Children’s Urban-arts Ensemble. Directed by Mischelle Fonville
Johnson; concept and script developed by Keith and Mischella Johnson;
choreography by LaVerne Reed Young; musical direction and additional
vocal arrangements by Tony Booker.
May 21 through June 16, 1985
THE REAL THING – by Tom Stoppard. Starring Brian Bedford and
Sara Botsford. Directed by Mike Nichols.
July 9 through August 25, 1985
BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS – by Neil Simon. Starring Skye Bassett,
Patrick Dempsey, Brian Drillinger, Richard Greene, Lynn Milgrim,
Rocky Parker and Lisa Waltz. Directed by Gene Saks.
September 11, 1985
QUESTION AND ANSWER COLLOQUIUM WITH JASON ROBARDS AND BARNARD HUGHES
- an afternoon program in the Helen Hayes Gallery.
September 10, 1985 through January 11, 1986
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES – musical comedy: music and lyrics by Jerry
Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein. Starring Peter Marshall and Keene
Curtis. Cast includes Le Clanche du Rand; Peter Reardon, Bob Carroll,
Juliette Kurth, Ronald Dennis, Pamela Hamill, Mace Barrett, Joseph
L. Taylor. Directed by Arthur Laurents.
1986
January 18, 1986
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TRIBUTE - Performances at 1:00 and 4:30.
A birthday vaudeville celebration honoring Dr. King. A Saturday
Morning at the National event.
January 27 through February 16, 1986
ZORBA – musical based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis; book
by Joseph Stein; lyrics by Fred Ebb; music by John Kander. Starring
Anthony Quinn, with Lila Kedrova. Cast includes Paul Harman, Angelina
Fiordellisi and Donna Theodore. Production supervised by Joel Grey.
March 4 through March 22, 1986
SOCIAL SECURITY – pre-Broadway production of a new comedy
by Andrew Bergman. Starring Marlo Thomas and Ron Silver. Cast includes
Joanna Gleason, Kenneth Welsh, Olympia Dukakis, Stefan Schnabel.
Directed by Mike Nichols.
March 24 through April 13, 1986
LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT – drama by Eugene O'Neill. Starring
Jack Lemmon. Cast includes Bethel Leslie, Peter Gallagher, Jodie
Lynne McClintock and Kevin Spacey. Directed by Jonathan Miller.
March 31, 1986
GLIMPSES OF PAKISTAN – Musical pageant of arts and tradition.
Shameem Butt director. Rosen Cowan narrates.
March 31, 1986
PAKISTAN NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATION - A celebration of the 39th anniversary
of the founding of Pakistan featured a fashion show and reception
in the Helen Hayes room.
April 22 through June 7, 1986
DREAM GIRLS - a new musical: book and lyrics by Tom Eyen; music
by Henry Krieger. Starring Sharon Brown, Deborah Burrell, Lawrence
Clayton, LueCinda RamSeur, Herbert L. Rawlings, Jr., Larry Stewart,
Weyman Thompson and Arnetia Walker. Director and choreographer:
Michael Bennet.
April 28, 1986
THE HELEN HAYES AWARDS
May 12, 1986
SAMARITAN with Martin Sheen - made-for-television film based on
the work of Washingtonian Mitch Snyder, advocate for the homeless.
Snyder hung himself in the D.C. Shelter in 198? An invited audience
attended the single showing which was followed by a catered party
under a tent erected on the street in front of the Willard Hotel,
then under restoration after being closed for many years.
SANKAI JUKU a Japanese experimental theatre company of the Bhuto
school, appearing at The Warner Theatre, performed a demonstration
in front of the National. The five members of the company all-males)
were lowered head-downward on ropes from the roof and down the facade
of the National Theatre. The performers wore only white loin-cloths.
Their heads were shaven and their bodies powered white. They held
a virtually inscrutable press conference in the National's Helen
Hayes Gallery following the event. Members of the press and of the
Washington theatre community attended the event.
June 10 through August 3, 1986
BILOXI BLUES – comedy by Neil Simon. Starring William Ragsdale,
with John Finn, Andrew Polk, Kathy Danzer, Marita Geraghty, John
C. Mackenzie, Michael McNeill, David Warshofsky and John Younger.
Directed by Gene Saks.
August 12 through August 31, 1986
LEGENDS – new comedy by James Kirkwood. Starring Carol Channing
and Mary Martin, with Gary Beach and Annie-Joe. Directed by Clifford
Williams.
October 3, 1986 [Friday]
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE – two free showings of the film, starring
James Dean. Sponsored by the National Theatre and The Satellite
Foundation. Part of the Darkness Film Noir Festival.
October 21 through November 22, 1986
BROADWAY BOUND -- comedy by Neil Simon. Starring Jason Alexander,
Linda Lavin, Phyllis Newman, John Randolph, Jonathan Silverman,
Philip Sterling. Directed by Gene Saks.
December 10 and 11, 1986
ROMEO AND JULIET - by William Shakespeare. Performed by the National
Players.
December 11 (morning) 1986
ROMEO AND JULIET - Performance for high school students, with a
special performance on December 12 for visually-impaired youngsters.
Each student used a special receiver; trained volunteer from Washington
Ear radio reading service gave descriptions of the sets, costumes
and action. Presented by the National Players (founded by Father
Gilbert Hartke in 1949).
December 12, 1986
AMADEUS - by Peter Shaffer. Performed by the National Players.
1987
January
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TRIBUTE IV
March 3 through March 22, 1987
IAN MCKELLEN ACTING SHAKESPEARE - one-man recitation
March 31 through April 19, 1987
I'M NOT RAPPAPORT – comedy by Herb Gardner. Starring Judd
Hirsch and Cleavon Little, with Richmond Hoxie, Tom Stechschulte,
Catherine Christianson, Kevin M. Moccia and Cheryl Giannini. Directed
by Daniel Sullivan.
July 8 through September 13, 1987
CATS – musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the poems
of T.S. Eliot. Ensemble cast. Directed by Trevor Nunn.
September 22 through October 17, 1987
SWEET CHARITY – musical: choreography by Bob Fosse; book by
Neil Simon; music by Cy Coleman; lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Starring
Donna McKechnie.
September 23, 1987
CHOREOGRAPHER/DIRECTOR BOB FOSSE DIED IN WASHINGTON following a
rehearsal of the revival of Sweet Charity on the day of the press
opening (following one preview the night before). Fosse collapsed
at 6:30 p.m. on Pennsylvania Avenue, while walking from The National
to The Willard Hotel with his ex-wife Gwen Verdon, co-director of
the revival. He died at George Washington Hospital at 7:23 p.m.
The curtain went up at 7 p.m. and the cast was not told of his death
until about 10 p.m., after the final curtain call. See The Washington
Post, 24 September 1992, p. 1.
1988
January 8, 1988
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TRIBUTE V - Performers include Stevie Wonder,
Marla Gibbs. Hosted by LeVar Burton.
February 6 through March 6, 1988
M. BUTTERFLY – by David Henry Hwang. Starring John Lithgow,
with John Getz, Rose Gregorio, George N. Martin, and B.D. Wong.
Directed by John Dexter.
April 12 through June 26, 1988
CATS – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on “Old Possum’s
Book of Practical Cats” by T.S. Eliot. Ensemble cast. Directed
by Trevor Nunn.
June 28 through August 7, 1988
AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' – the Fats Waller Musical Show. Starring
Nell Carter, with Andre DeShields, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page, Charlaine
Woodard. Conceived and directed by Richard Maltby, Jr.
August 16 through October 2, 1988
ME AND MY GIRL – British musical: book and lyrics by L. Arthur
Rose and Douglas Furber; music by Noel Gray; book revised by Stephen
Fry. Starring Tim Curry, with Donna Bullock and Barrie Ingham, with
Lenka Peterson, Susan Cella, David Cromwell, Erick Devine, Keith
Perry, and Louis S. Crume.
October 25 through November 12, 1988
BORN YESTERDAY – comedy by Garson Kanin. Starring Ed Asner
and Madeline Kahn, with Jack Gilpin and Franklin Cover. Directed
by Josephine R. Abady. Pre-Broadway.
November 21 through January 14, 1988
ANYTHING GOES – musical: music and lyrics by Cole Porter,
original book by Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay and
Russel Crouse. Starring Leslie Uggams, Rex Smith and Rip Taylor,
with Paul V. Ames, Rebecca Baxter, Gordon Connell, Julie Kurnitz
and Susan Terry. Directed by Jerry Zaks.
1989
January 16, 1989
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TRIBUTE
February 7, 1989
MAYOR MARION BARRY delivered his State of the District Message on
the main-stage of the National.
February 14, 1989
A Valentine Tea in the Helen Hayes Gallery honored Roger L. Stevens,
just retired from his long Chairmanship of The John F. Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts.
February 20, 1989
"Kids on the Block," a puppet show with disabled puppets,
gave a special performance in the Helen Hayes Gallery.
February 28 through March 5, 1989
DONETSK BALLET OF THE USSR present Paquita, Gopak, excerpts from
The Flames of Paris, The Sleeping Beauty, Diana and Acteon, Le Corsaire,
Walpurgis Night, and Don Quixote, and Giselle. A Washington Performing
Arts Society production.
March 13, 1989
200 YEARS IN CONGRESS - A special film by Ken Burns, presented in
the main auditorium by the Ameritech Corporation for members of
Congress. Congresswoman Lindy Boggs introduced it. Many members
of Congress attended. Sarah Cooper Associates handled the elaborate
affair which involved the erection of carpeted, heated tenting from
the theatre to the J.W. Marriott Hotel next door, 50 state flags
arrayed in the boxes on either side of the stage, a color-guard
marching down the aisle and up ramps to the stage, and a bank of
chrysthemums across the front of the stage.
April 14, 1989
Mr. Ladislau Quaresma Frederico D'Almeida and Mr. Armindo Vaz Rodriges
Aguiar from Africa were guests for a tour of the National Theatre
and Archive arranged by the African-American Institute for the United
States Information Agency International Visitor Program. Mr. D'Almeida
is Director of International Cooperation and Projects, and General
Secretary Representative for Sao Tome to UNESCO. Mr. Aguiar is National
Director in charge of Cultural Policy Execution for the Democratic
Republic of Sao Tome and Principe. He is the former Director of
the National Museum and Historical Archives of his country. Sao
Tome and Principe are two islands, part of an extinct volcanic mountain
range, about 90 miles distant from each other in the Gulf of Guinea
about 125 miles off the coast of West Africa. The two-island nation
of Sao Tome and Principe has a population of about 100,000 people.
It emerged from Portuguese colonial status in 1975.
May 8, 1989
THE HELEN HAYES AWARDS honoring Washington theatre were held on
the Main Stage with Miss Hayes in attendance.
June 1 through July 8, 1989
PENN AND TELLER – a rarefied comedy magic act played the main-stage.
September 9 through October 7, 1989
3 PENNY OPERA – musical: book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht;
music by Kurt Weill. Starring Sting, Maureen McGovern, Alvin Epstein
and Georgia Brown. Directed by John Dexter, (Equus, M. Butterfly),
Music directed by Julius Rudel; choreographed by Peter Gennaro;
produced by Jerome Hellman. Pre-Broadway.
September 14, 1989
President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush attended the official press
opening night performance of 3 PENNY OPERA and met Sting and the
company backstage after the show.
October 31 through December 4, 1989
RUMORS – by comedy by Neil Simon. Starring Peter Marshall
and Patty McCormack. Cast includes Kandis Chappell, Gibby Brand,
Heather Mac Rae, Reno Roop, Michael Minor, Lynnda Ferguson, L. Kenneth
Richardson and Nancy Hillner. Directed by Peter Lawrence.
December 11, 1989
Film premiere benefitting Food for All Seasons. Warner Brothers'
Film DRIVING MISS DAISY. Stars Dan Aykroyd, Morgan Freeman, Patti
Lupone and Jessica Tandy all of whom were present for the premiere,
and for a gala party afterwards in the ballroom on the lower level
of The Willard Hotel.
1990
February 2, 1990
SARAFINA! a musical from South Africa, was tentatively booked, but
the producers accepted from The Kennedy Center an agreement to guarantee
the company against all losses, and the show went to The Eisenhower
Theatre.
The PRESIDENT OF EL SALVADOR stayed at The J.W. Marriott Hotel
next door and the streets were filled with dozens of police vehicles
and scores of police, due to the fear of a demonstration.
March 20 through April 8, 1990
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF – musical: book by Joseph Stein; music
by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Starring Topol, with Rosalind
Harris. Cast includes Ruth Jaroslow, Ron Bohmer, Jack Kenny, Joel
Kramer, Sharon Lawrence, Jerry Matx, Jennifer Prescott, Tia Riebling
and Gary Schwartz. Directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins.
May 8 through May 27, 1990
CATS – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on “Old Possum’s
Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. Ensemble cast. Presented by
Cameron Mackintosh.
May 22, 1990
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION helds its
General Session at the National. Congressman Rostenkowski and Lieutenant
Governor Bier of Virginia were the two key speakers during the session.
May 30 through June 7, 1990
NBC ANNUAL AFFILIATES MEETING took over the National for a week.
Vice-President Quayle, Members of Congress, and numerous television
stars appeared during a daytime session and a gala.
July 6 through October 13, 1990
LES MISERABLES – musical: book by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel
Schonberg, based on the novel by Victor Hugo; music by Claude-Michel
Schonberg; lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer; orchestral score by John
Cameron. Starring J. Mark McVey, Robert DuSold; Susan Dawn Carson;
Peter Gunther and Kimberly Behlmann.
July 24, 1990
MS. SNAOLI GHOST, a highly respected actress from India, met with
Dr. Murphy and tours the theatre under the auspices of the United
States Information Agency.
August 1, 1990
DAVID RICHARDS, longtime reviewer at The Washington Post, departed
for The New York Times. Some months later he was replaced by Ms.
LLoyd Rose, former dramaturg at Arena Stage and advisor at New Playwrights'
Theatre.
September 6, 1990, Thursday
MRS. MUBARAK, wife of the president of Egypt, attended a performance
of Les Miserables. Mrs. Mubarak arrived under tight security and
without public announcement due to the current conflict in the Middle
East, where Sadam Hussein had called for the murder of President
Mubarak as part of Holy Jihad war.
September 24, 1990
PRESIDENT TURGUT OZAL OF TURKEY and Mrs. Ozal were received at the
theatre by Dr. Murphy and Mr. Teter for a performance of Les Miserables.
The presidential party of a dozen included military attaches and
security personnel, as well as representative from the Turkish Embassy.
At the intermission Theatre General Manager Harry Teter, Jr., entertained
the guests with sandwiches and libations in his office. After the
performance the Ozal's went backstage where they presented bouquets
of flowers to the principal members of the cast. President Ozal
died in 1993.
October 19, 1990
LUNCHEON FOR CHINESE CULTURAL Delegation - The National Theatre
Trustees hosted a luncheon for a quasi-official cultural delegation
from the CHCPICE of China. The delegation was on the last day of
a week-long visit during which attempts were made to arrange the
visit to the United States of fine and performing arts companies
and exhibits. Members of the Delegation included Ms. Du Yanrong,
Secretary General of CHCPICE; Mr. Xu Chentai, Deputy Secretary General;
Mr. Shu Zhang, Director of Cultural Exchange, CHCPICE; Wang Jianguo,
Member, CHCPICE.
Representing the Embassy of the People's Republic of China were
Mr. Pen Zan-Dong, Consul, Mr. Cai Chuan, 1st Secretary; Tao Xue-Shang,
1st Secretary; Mr. Yang Heyun, First Secretary.
Other guests from the Chinese community included Mr. Nelson Cheng;
Ms. Bessie Chao; Mr. and Mrs. (Emily) Shu; Mr. David Wei, former
publisher of the Chinese-American Newspaper; Ms. Lily Ting.
Other guests included Mr. Kenneth Sparks, President of the International
Trade and Cultural Center to be built across the street from the
National; Mr. Ernest Helfenstein, Assistant Headmaster of Episcopal
High School; Ms. Betty Garber; Ms. Joann Myers; Mr. Richard Howarth,
formerly on the State Department China Desk; Mr. and Mrs. Dean Stevens
Mr. Arthur Panousis from New York, and trustees of the national
theatre.
NTC staff attending were Mrs. Joan Langer and Ms. Tracie Powell.
C rustees in attendance were Trustees Mr. Patrick Hayes, Mr. Jack
Ryan and Mr. Sterling Tucker. Mrs. Julia Heflin represented the
National Theatre Circle.
The National Theatre presented books and cararra marble paperweights
(made of marble from the National Theatre lobby) to the delegation.
October 31 through December 9, 1990
LOVE LETTERS - by A.R. Gurney - First two weeks starring Colleen
Dewhurst and E.G. Marshall, then Blythe Danner
December 11 through December 31, 1990
THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER was presented by 12 soloists and
an on-stage orchestra of 32 performers. The singers wore formal
clothes, with a few costume touches (and a fully costumed Evita).
The show was very popular and generally well reviewed.
1991
January 12, 1991
One performance Rat in the Skull was presented in the Helen Hayes
Gallery by a student troupe from Great Britain is well received.
The play deals in a non-partisan way with the Irish political turmoil.
January 15 through February 10, 1991
LOST IN YONKERS -- by Neil Simon. Starring Irene Worth, Kevin Spacey
and Mercedes Ruehl. A pre-Broadway try-out here, the play went on
to win the Tony Award for Best Play of the year.
February 14, 1991
CATHERINE FILENE SHOUSE was honoree at the Trustees Annual Valentine
Tea. Among the friends who gathered in the Helen Hayes Gallery to
honor Mrs. Shouse were Zelda Fichandler, Patrick Hayes, Esther Coopersmith,
White House Curator Rex Scouten, Carol Hartford and others. Past
Valentine Honorees Patrick Hayes and Richard L. Coe, along with
Wolf Trap spokes-person Matt Hessburg, Trustee France Humphrey Howard
and President Donn B. Murphy, offered tributes to Kay.
March 3 through March 24, 1991
ONE MONKEY DON'T STOP NO SHOW – by Donald T. Evans, directed
by Ron Milner, produced by Quentin Perry and Barry Hankerson. Starring
Kim Fields, Lewis Dix and Chip Fields (Kim's mother). Also starring
Marvin Wright-Bey, with Keely Neal, Harold Moore, Judi Williams
and Desiree Lynn Coleman. Associate Producer Kim Fields. Set Design:
Rolfe S. Bergsman Lighting Design: Victor M.U. Tan. Costume Design:
Victoria Schauffer.
March 8, 1991
THE MAYOR VISITS - Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon made her first official
visit to the National to host a Friday Morning breakfast meeting
in the Helen Hayes Gallery. Guests were representatives of District
Arts organizations, with whom the Mayor discussed arts funding and
budget cuts. Among those present: Martin Feinstein of the Washington
Opera, Patrick Hayes and Doug Wheeler of Washington Performing Arts
Society, Joy Zinoman of Studio Theatre, Michael Kahn of Shakespeare
at the Folger, Brian Tate of the Committee to Promote Washington,
Bill Warrell of District Curators, Lyn McClain of the D.C. Youth
Orchestra, The Founder of the Women's Museum, Elvi Moore of the
Washington Ballet, Patricia Sheehy of Source Theatre and the D.C.
Commission on the Arts. Others from the Commission included Pamela
Holt, Jan Darcie and Dr. Barbara Nicholson.
March 14, 1991
HELEN HAYES HONORED
Miss Hayes, Honorary Chairman of the National Theatre, came to Washington
to receive an honor from the National Conference of Christians and
Jews. On March 13 she met at Richard L. Coe's apartment with Dr.
Donn Murphy and Mr. Stephen P.A. Moore, who were writing a book
about her.
March 26 through March 31, 1991
THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER
Return Engagement. (See 12 December 1990 for description of the
attraction.).
March 27, 1991
PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH with his daughter Doro, his son Neil, and
Neil's wife Sharon attended a performance of The Music of Andrew
Lloyd Webber. (Mrs. Bush is out of town.)
April 1, 1991
HONG KONG VISITOR Ms. Mandy Tong, visited for a tour and discussion
of our theatre. Ms. Tong is the Senior Assistant Manager of the
Sha Tin Town Hall, No. 1, in Hong Kong.
April 9, 1991
HELEN HAYES GALLERY SEMINAR Introduction to the Smithsonian Institution
Archive Collection in the Performing Arts - Rob Harding
April, May, June, July, August, September 1991
DARK SIX MONTHS
Asbestos Fire Curtain was replaced with a new, flexible, lightweight,
state-of-the-art protection drape.
May 6, 1991
THE HELEN HAYES AWARDS - Miss Hayes was present, as were Ann Jackson
and Eli Wallach, Jose Ferrer and others. Pat Carroll was one again
Mistress of Ceremonies.
May 13, 1991
ARCHIVE PROGRAM: "Warner Theatre: A Case in Historic Preservation"
Archivist Tom Shorebird organized a panel which met in the Helen
Hayes Gallery at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the ongoing renovation of
the Warner Theatre. Panelists included: Byrne Murphy, Project manger
and Vice President, Kaempfer Company, moderator; David Maloney,
D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board; John Fondersmith, D.C.
Office of Planning; Gary Martinez, Project Architect, Shalom Baranes,
Ind.; Patricia Wilson, Executive Director, D.C. Preservation League;
Samuel J. L'Hommedieu, Warner Theatre Management and Production.
Introductions were made by Doria Grimes, President, District of
Columbia Library Association, and Dr. Donn B. Murphy, National Theatre.
June 11, 1991
HELEN HAYES GALLERY AFTERNOON SEMINAR produced by Tom Shorebird
The Joshua Logan Collection at the Library of Congress, presented
by Alice Burney
May 21, 1991
HELEN HAYES GALLERY AFTERNOON SEMINAR produced by Tom Shorebird
Introduction Film, Television and Video - Katherine Loughney
October 29, 1991 - November 10, 1991
THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER WITH MICHAEL CRAWFORD
Dorothy LaBlanc, daughter of President Bush, attended the opening
performance with a small group of friends. A cast party was hosted
by The Old Ebbitt Grill following the performance.
November 2, 1991: QUEEN SIRIKIT OF THAILAND attended the performance
with her daughter, the Princess, and an entourage of about 50. She
was entertained by General Manager Harry Teter, Jr., and President
Donn B. Murphy in Mr. Teter's office during the intermission.
November 10, 1991 PRESIDENT AND MRS. BUSH, with Senator Alan Simpson
and Mrs. Simpson attended the evening performance, and last performance,
of THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER.
November 12, 1991
Stage preparations began for the pre-Broadway run of CRAZY FOR YOU.
A 20' x 40' staging deck was built out over the orchestra seats
so that scenery pieces and equipment could be managed as the sets
were put together for the first time.
December 10, 1991 through January 18, 1992
CRAZY FOR YOU – music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin,
book by Ken Ludwig. Starring Harry Groener and Jodi Benson, with
John Hillner, Michele Pawk and Bruce Adler. Directed by Mike Ockrent.
Choreography by Susan Stroman.
The show tightened up enormously during the run and looked like
a sure-fire winner when it headed to New York.
December 21, 1991
PRESIDENT AND MRS. BUSH, leading a party of ten, including two sons,
grandchildren, and new Chief of Staff Samuel Skinner, attended the
performance of CRAZY FOR YOU. The Presidential parry used the three
front boxes on stage left. At the intermission they met author Ken
Ludwig, choreographer Susan Stroman and director Mike Ockrent in
the lower house left hallway, and after the show they met with the
cast onstage.
1992
January 21 through February 2, 1992
PRIVATE LIVES - by Noel Coward. Starring Joan Collins and Simon
Jones, with Edward Duke and Jill Tasker, and Margie Rynn. Directed
by: Arvin Brown.
February 3 through March 1, 1992
MAN OF LA MANCHA the 25th Anniversary Tour. Starring Raul Julia
and Sheena Easton. Mr. Julia made a pitch for the Actors' Fund of
America after the final performance and $800 was contributed in
baskets as the audience left the theatre.
February 14, 1992
MARY DAY, FOUNDER OF THE WASHINGTON BALLET, HONORED AT THE NATIONAL
THEATRE VALENTINE TEA. Since a play was in the house, the ceremony
and reception were held at The Arts Club of Washington. Ms. Day
continued as Artistic Director of the Ballet until 1997.
March 10 through March 22, 1992
A CHORUS LINE the 10th Anniversary Tour
April 27, 1992
THE EIGHTH HELEN HAYES AWARDS - For the first time since the inception
of the awards, Miss Hayes was unable to attend. Ms. Tyne Daley,
who had recently starred in "Gypsy" in New York, sang
"Everything's Coming Up Roses." Jason Robards was honored.
Kelly McGillis and Karen Akers were presenters, and Pat Carroll
was M.C. once again.
May 12 through June 6, 1992
LETTICE AND LOVAGE - by Peter Shaffer. Starring Julie Harris and
Roberta Maxwell.
June 9 through July 5, 1992
CITY OF ANGELS - musical. Starring Barry Williams with Jordan Leeds,
Betsy Joslyn, Sandy Edgerton & Ronnie Farer. Book by: Larry
Gelbart. Music by: Cy Coleman. Lyrics by: David Zippel.
July 21 through August 15, 1992
CATS – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on “Old Possum’s
Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. Ensemble cast. Presented by
Cameron Mackintosh.
December 3 through December 16, 1993
A TUNA CHRISTMAS – by Jaston Sears, Joe Sears & Ed Howard.
Starring Jaston Williams & Joe Sears. Directed by Ed Howard.
1993
March 15 through April 4, 1993
SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION – by John Guare. Starring Marlo
Thomas, Ned Schmidtke and Ntare Mwine. Directed by Jerry Zaks
April 13 through April 25, 1993
A CHORUS LINE – the musical’s Broadway tour: book by
James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante; lyrics by Edward Kleban; music
by Marvin Hamlisch. Ensemble cast.
May 5 through May 29, 1993
MY FAIR LADY – musical based on Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion:
book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner; music by Frederick Loewe. Starring
Richard Chamberlain with Melissa Errico as Eliza.
July 13 through July 31, 1993
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN - musical. Starring Cathy Rigby with Brent Barrett.
Music and lyrics by: Irving Berlin. Book by: Herbert & Dorothy
Fields.
August 16 through December 6, 1993
DARK SIX WEEKS
November 30, 1993 through January 8, 1994
CATS – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on “Old Possum’s
Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. Ensemble cast. Presented by
Cameron Mackintosh.
1994
February 15 through March 12, 1994
GREASE – musical: book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and
Warren Casey. Starring Rosie O'Donnell, stand-up comedian featured
on MTV. Also, Ricki Paull Goldin, Susan Wood, Sam Harris, Marcia
Lewis and Billy Porter. Directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun.
Produced by Tommy Tune. President and Mrs. Clinton with their daughter,
Chelsea and a dozen of her friends, attended one of the performances.
March 12, 1994 through March 16, 1995
MAINSTAGE DARK ONE YEAR
April 16, 1994 - Saturday, 11:00 a.m.
THE TRAVELING YOUNG PLAYERS from the John F. Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts in "Footsteps in the Sky" gave a free
performance in the Hayes Gallery.
May 23, 1994 - Monday
KAREN AKERS was hostess for a Dedicated Seat Reception in the Helen
Hayes Gallery, attended by 125 people. Some 40 people received plaques
commemorating their seat plates in the theatre
September 10, 1994
BASEBALL -- premier of the first segment of the Ken Burns film shown
on Public Television WETA TV.
September 17-18 1994
SMITHSONIAN JAZZ FESTIVAL, Sat - 2 pm & 8 pm, Sun - 2 pm &
8 pm. Free performances.
October 26, 1994
"City at Peace" brought 100 teens from all over the country
to the theatre for one day of workshops and meetings.
1995
March 16 through April 9, 1995 [no program; only newpaper clippings]
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN - musical: book by Terrence McNally; music
by John Kander; lyrics by Fred Ebb. Starring Chita Rivera with Juan
Chioran & John Dossett.
May 5, 1995
NETHERLANDS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE -- commemoration of the 50th Anniversary
of World War II
May 21 and 22 1995
Smithsonian Jazz - Big Band in Transition
May 8, 1995
THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL HELEN HAYES AWARDS
May 7 through December 4, 1995
MUSIC OF THE NIGHT -- the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Starring
Colm Wilkinson with Janet Metz & Laurie Williamson. Conceived
by: David Thompson. Orchestrations by William David Brohn and David
Cullen. Directed by Scott Ellis
December 5, 1995 through December 17, 1995
A TUNA CHRISTMAS – by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears & Ed
Howard. Starring Jaston Williams and Joe Sears. Directed by Ed Howard
1996
February 8 through April 28, 1996
LES MISERABLES – musical based on the novel by Victor Hugo,
adapted by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg: music by Claude-Michel
Schonberg; lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. Starring Ivan Rutherford,
David McDonald & Lisa Capps. Presented by Cameron MacKintosh.
May 1 through May 19, 1996
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT – musical: music
by Andrew Lloyd Webber; lyrics by Tim Rice. Starring Brian Lane
Green with Kristine Fraelich, Steve Pudenz & Jeffrey Scott Watkins.
Directed by Steven Pimlott.
December 6, 1996 through February 9, 1997
WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND – new musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber;
book by Patricia Knop; lyrics by Jim Steinman. Starring Irene Molloy,
Davis Gaines, Steve Scott Springer, Timothy Nolen & Candy Buckley.
1997
April 9 through July 5, 1997
CHICAGO – musical: book by Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse; music
by John Kander; lyrics by Fred Ebb. Starring Charlotte d’Amboise,
Jasmine Guy & Obba Babatunde. Also starring Ron Orbach, Carol
Woods & M.E. Spencer.
August 20 through November 2, 1997
RENT – an American musical: book, music and lyrics by Jonathan
Larson. Starring Manley Pope as Roger and Simone as Mimi. Simone
is the daughter of Nina Simone. Mr. Larson died unexpectedly of
an aortic aneurysm on January 25, 1996 - 10 days before his thirty-sixth
birthday.
November 5 through November 30, 1997
BRING IN ‘DA NOISE/BRING IN ‘DA FUNK “ –
dance extravaganza from Savion Glover, the original Tap Dance Kid,
and George C. Wolf, visionary director of new York’s famed
Public Theatre. Together, they have fused a remarkable history of
the black American experience, as depicted through song, percussion,
and dance.”
December 1, 1997
First Lady Hilary Rodham Clinton attended a special performance
in the Helen Hayes Gallery sponsored by the Pediatric AIDS Foundation
of California, marking “World AIDS Day.” COMING TO TERMS,
a dramatic presentation derived from the words of young people with
AIDS, and composed by NICK OLCOTT, was presented by Washington actors
Steve Cupo (who worked in the National Theatre box office), Steve
Dawn, Monica Laufer, Ariane Nalty and Brenden Varma. Donn B. Murphy,
President of the National, directed. The Foundation presented an
Award to Mrs. Clinton. Cast members from BRING IN 'DA NOISE, BRING
IN 'DA FUNK completed the event with a high-energy tap number. The
whole event was staged on a platform erected in front of the portrait
of Helen Hayes.
1998
February 10 through February 22, 1998
DEIN PERRY’S TAP DOGS -- a tap-dance show which originated
in Australia. Featuring Sheldon Perry, Lathaniel Cooper, Christopher
Erk, Jeremy Fullam, Janes Guasto, Jeremy Kiesman, and Anthony Locasio.
Designed and directed by Nigel Triffitt. Music composed by Andrew
Wilkie. Lighting Design by David Murray. Sound Designer Darryl Lewis.
Produced by Back Row Productions/Peter Holmes a Court, Columbia
Artists Management Inc. in association with Richard Frankel, Mark
Routh by arrangement with Dein Perry and Nigel Triffit.
February 25 through March 14, 1999
THE WIZARD OF OZ – Starring Mickey Rooney as the Wizard, Liliane
Montiavecchi as the Wicked Witch and introducing Jessica Grove as
Dorothy. Directed by Robert Johanson. Produced by Radio City Entertainment.
Scenic Decisn by Michael Anania. Costume Design Gregg Barnes. Lighting
Design Steve Cochrane. Flying by Foy. Musical Staging by Jamie Rocco.
Production originally presented at the Paper Mill Playhouse, the
State Theatre of New Jersey.
April 14 through August 4, 1998
RAGTIME – a new musical based on the novel of the same name
by E.L. Doctorow. Produced by Livent, USA.
November 3 through November 8, 1998 [no program file]
BARRYMORE – a one-man show starring Christopher Plummer.
December 8, 1998 through January 10, 1999 [no program file]
CATS
1999
February 25 through March 14, 1999
THE WIZARD OF OZ – musical: music and lyrics by Harold Arlen
and E.Y. Harburg. Starring Mickey Rooney as the Wizard and introducing
Jessica Grove, as Dorothy.
April 12, 1999
MME. NADEJDHA PAVLOVA, premier ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet in
Moscow, danced “The Dying Swan” in the Helen Hayes Gallery
at an invitational performance arranged by the Russian-American
Cultural Society and the Russian Embassy. Ms. Pavlova, through an
interpreter, answered questions from young ballet students invited
to attend.
May 25 through July 3, 1999
LES MISERABLES – musical by Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel
Schonberg. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo; music by Claude-Michel
Schonberg; lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. Starring Ivan Rutherford,
Todd Alan Johnson, Joan Almedilla, J. P. Dougherty, Harley Adams,
Craig Ferrara, Tim Howar. Direction and adaptation by Trevor Nunn.
October 5 through October 10, 1999
SPIRIT – a Native American Celebration
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