Richard Rodgers Theater
nee 46th Street Theater
226 W 46th Street
between Broadway & 8th Avenue
Completed 1924
Architect Herbert J Krapp
Irwin Chanin's first foray into
Broadway was the Chanin 46th Street Theater in 1924. The Herbert J
Krapp design incorporated the first version of Chanin's democrat
'stadium plan' seating: Instead of separate entrances into the
orchestra and balcony, the orchestra was steeply raked leading up
to the balcony. Audiences entered the hall through the same
entrances then headed down the aisle to their orchestra seats, or
did a u-turn up the stairs to their seats in the balcony. The
premiere production at the Chanin 46th Street Theater was The
Greenwich Village Follies on Dec 24, 1924. The Depression
years severely damaged Broadway theater going and Chanin was
forced to give up control in 1932, though as the just-plain-old
46th Street Theater it has continually operated as a legitimate
venue. The theater was renamed in honor of the great Broadway
composer Richard Rodgers on March 27, 1990
1929 Button up your overcoat on this
wintry January evening to go see Jack Haley and Eleanor Powell in
the Ray Henderson-Buddy De Sylva-Lew Brown musical Follow Tru
1934 The light-hearted comedy The
Farmer Takes a Wife only runs for 104 performances, but it
does star Henry Fonda
1938 Hellzapoppin and a poppin' and
a poppin' and a poppin' . . . 1,404 times Ole Olsen and Chic
Johnson take to the stage in this riotous revue
1939 Well, didja' evah hear Grable when
she sang? You could have heard Betty, along with Ethel Merman and
Bert Lahr in Cole Porter's DuBarry Was a Lady
1940 Ethel Merman is back. Cole Porter is
back. This time along with Arthur Treacher, Betty Hutton, June
Allyson, Rags Ragland, Vera Ellen and a young Pat Harrington in
501 performances of Panama Hattie
1947 Somewhere, over the . . . sorry,
wrong rainbow. The Yip Harburg-Burton Lane musical Finian's
Rainbow earns an outstanding musical performance Tony
for star David Wayne and a Tony
for choreographer Michael Kidd
1950 Luck is a lady when Guys and
Dolls, the classic Broadway tale (when Broadway was in the
Tenderloin District), takes five Tony
awards. Starring Sam Levine, Robert Alda, Isabel Bigley, Vivian
Blane and Stubby Kaye, the show wins Tony
honors as outstanding musical, George S Kaufman for direction,
Michael Kidd for choreography and Alda and Bigley for their
performances
1954 Alfred Lunt's name is most always
paired with that of Lynn Fontanne, but when he directs Audrey
Hepburn and Mel Ferrer in Jean Giraudoux's Ondine he comes
away with a Tony,
as does Hepburn
1954 Nancy Kelly stars opposite Patty
McCormack's homicidal youth in Maxwell Anderson's The Bad Seed.
Kelly earns a Tony
for her terror
1955 Damn Yankees are going to make
me do a lot of typing. 1,019 performances. Tony
as outstanding musical. Tonys
to Ray Walston, Gwen Verdon and Russ Brown. A Tony
to Bob Fosse.
1957 Gwen Verdon scores another Tony,
this time with Thelma Ritter, for their performances in the George
Abbott-Bob Merrill musical New Girl in Town
1961 Did you know that Donna McKechnie was
a seasoned actress long before Chorus Line? Yep. She makes
her Broadway debut opposite Robert Morse in How to Succeed in
Business Without Really Trying and shares the boards with Rudy
Vallee and Charles Nelson Reilly. Tonys
go to Morse, Reilly, director Abe Burrows and book team
Burrows-Jack Weinstock-Willie Gilbert. Oh! And the show wins a
Pulitzer Prize and runs for 1,417 performances
1966 Mary Martin and Robert Preston star
in the Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt musical I Do I Do. Preston
walks away with a Tony
1969 Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards
collaborated on the Tony
award winning musical 1776. The show stars Howard Da Silva,
William Daniels, Ken Howard, Ron Holgate and newcomer Betty
Buckley. Tonys
also go to Holgate and director Peter Hunt
1971 Helen Gallagher, Bobby Van, Jack
Gilford, Patsy Kelly and Ruby Keeler star in No No Nanette.
Gallagher and Kelly take Tonys
for their performances and choreographer Donald Saddler wins for,
uh, well, choreography
1973 Raisin, the Lorraine Hansberry-Judd
Woldin-Robert Brittan musical version of A Raisin in the Sun,
is the Tony's
best musical and has the best musical actress in Virginia Capers
1975 All that jazz and all that Broadway
talent. Take a book by Maurice Watkins, through in John Kander's
music and Fred Ebb's lyrics, hold it all together with direction
and choreography by Bob Fosse. Then give it to a cast headed by
Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera and Jerry Orbach and you have all that Chicago
1978 Carlin Glynn and Henderson Forsythe
headline and win Tonys
for their performances in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
1982 Husbands suddenly don't mind going to
the theater when Liliane Montevecchie starred opposite Raul Julia
in the Maury Yeston musical Nine. The show takes the Tony
as best musical, Tommy Tune earns a Tony
for his direction, Yeston for his score and Montevecchi for her
legs, er, performance
1987 August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize and Tony
Award winning Fences stars Tony
award winning James Earl Jones and Tony
award winning Mary Alice with direction by Tony
award winning Lloyd Richards
1990 We've got to get a flop in here. Take
the George and Ira Gershwin musical Oh Kay! Put producer
David Merrick's name on it. Move the setting to Harlem. Watch it
run out of town after 77 shows
1991 Neil Simon is all Broadway, all the
time. He wins a Pulitzer Prize and Tony
for Lost in Yonkers. Mercedes Ruehl, Irene Worth and Kevin
Spacey star and win Tonys
for their performances
1993 Fool Moon, the comedy revue
starring Bill Irwin and David Shiner runs for 1,098 performances
1995 Is Matthew Broderick the next Robert
Morse? Like Morse he seems to be perennially young-looking. Will
he ever grow up? He fills Morse's shoes for 548 performances of How
to Succeed . . .
1996 Broadway audiences are hungry for
good Broadway musicals. How to do it? Revive it! Chicago
is back on the boards and takes the Tony
as best revival. Ann Reinking dances and wins a Tony
for re-creating Bob Fosse's choreography. Director Walter Bobbie
wins a Tony.
Bebe Neuwirth wins a Tony
for her heat and James Naughton for his flair. Joel Grey adds his
presence. The show is currently playing at the Shubert Theater
1997 John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote the
score. Karen Ziemba stars. Steel Pier sinks after 77 shows
1998 Footloose
isn't a hit with critics, but audiences keep it going. It's still
strong in Sep '99
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