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[0:05] Mark Peikert: Good morning, theater lover, and happy August. It's almost over. Can you believe it? I can. I'm Mark Peikert, editor-in-chief of Playbill, and you are listening to Today in Theatre History for the week of August 24th through August 30th.

[0:23] Mark Peikert: On August 24th, 1986, a revival of the Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed eight and a half-hour production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby opens on Broadway at the Broadhurst. Once again directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, the play fails to catch on with audiences this time around and closes a month earlier than originally planned, after 29 performances.

[0:59] Mark Peikert: Prince and Susan Stroman co-direct a cast that includes Chuck Cooper, Emily Skinner, Tony Yazbeck, and Karen Ziemba.

[1:09] Mark Peikert: On August 25th, 1936, Broadway sees its first new comedy of the season as Philip Barry's Spring Dance opens at the Empire Theater. Louise Platt and Richard Kendrick star in the play about a woman determined to win the heart of a Yale man about to leave for a two-year trip to Russia.

[1:28] Mark Peikert: In 1980, it's a Broadway-sized mix of tragedy and triumph as the Great White Way's new musical smash, 42nd Street, opens at the Winter Garden. At the curtain call of the opening night performance, producer David Merrick announces that the musical's director and choreographer, Gower Champion, died that afternoon.

[1:48] Mark Peikert: On August 26th, 1918, Lightnin', billed as a live wire American comedy, opens a record-breaking Broadway run. Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon wrote the play about a wisecracking slop oak, with Bacon originating the title role of Lightnin' Bill Jones. He and his wife operate a hotel that's half in California, half in Nevada, to accommodate Californians looking for a quick divorce.

[2:11] Mark Peikert: But when Mary decides to take advantage of the situation to divorce Lightning, comedy ensues. Though largely forgotten today, Lightnin' was the first Broadway play to run more than a thousand performances and held the longest run record for two decades.

[2:40] Mark Peikert: Making her Broadway debut in the role of Princess Kitty is Melissa Errico.

[2:47] Mark Peikert: August 27, 1934, marks opening night of the revue Life Begins at 840, written by Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg, and Ira Gershwin. Stars include Luella Gere, Frances Williams, and future Wizard of Oz co-stars Ray Bolger and Bert Lahr.

[3:04] Mark Peikert: The score includes "You're a Builder Upper." Following a hit off-Broadway run and a national tour, Arthur Kopit's comedy, Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet, and I'm Feeling So Sad, opens on Broadway at the Morosco Theater for a six-week run, starring Hermione Gingold.

[3:25] Mark Peikert: On August 28th, 1917, Guy Bolton and P.J. Wodehouse open their romantic musical comedy, Leave It to Jane, at the Longacre Theater. The score includes "Just You Watch My Step," "The Sirens' Song," "Cleopaterer," and the title number.

[3:44] Mark Peikert: In 1939, dancer, producer, and director George White opens the 13th and last edition of his George White's Scandals reviews with an eclectic cast that includes Ann Miller, Ella Logan, and the Three Stooges. It runs 120 performances at the Alvin.

[4:04] Mark Peikert: August 29, 1934, George Abbott directs Harry Madden and Philip Denning's comedy Kill That Story, opening at the Booth Theater for a run of 117 performances. The play, about a reporter who foils a plot by two villainous publishers to buy an honest newspaper for a political boss, stars Buford Armitage, James Bell, Matt Briggs, William Foreign, William Lynn, and Claire Carleton.

[4:30] Mark Peikert: On August 30th, 1940, superstar performers Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier are married. Leigh, an Academy Award winner for the previous year's Gone with the Wind, and Olivier, a celebrated Broadway star and director, team up professionally on several occasions.

[4:46] Mark Peikert: Their work together includes a production of Anthony and Cleopatra and the London premiere of A Streetcar Named Desire. In the latter, Leigh stars as Blanche Dubois, and Olivier directs his wife in the role she later immortalizes on film.

[5:00] Mark Peikert: In 1982, following an extended run at the Kennedy Center, Arthur Kopit's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts opens on Broadway for a limited engagement at the Brooks Atkinson. The production stars Liv Ullmann as Mrs. Helen Alving.

[5:16] Mark Peikert: And in 2001, Terence Mann, once the uptight police inspector Javert, loosens up as the sweet transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, replacing Tony nominee Tom Hewitt.

[5:31] Mark Peikert: For more theater history, visit Playbill.com. And for more great podcasts, visit BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com.