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[0:05] Mark Peikert: Good morning, theater lover. Happy summer. I'm Mark Peikert, editor-in-chief of Playbill, and you are listening to Today in Theatre History for the week of June 29th through July 5th.

[0:19] Mark Peikert: A star is born, June 29th, 1954, when Carol Haney's understudy in The Pajama Game goes on in place of the ailing actor and is discovered by theater critic George Friedley.

[0:30] Mark Peikert: Writes Friedley in his review of the musical, "It was one of the most accomplished and completely professional performances I've had the pleasure of enjoying."

[1:02] Mark Peikert: Patti LuPone stars as a headstrong community theater diva in the 2015 world premiere of Douglas Carter Beane's semi-autobiographical play Shows for Days at Lincoln Center Theatre's Mitzi E. Newhouse. Michael Urie co-stars as Carr, the playwright's impressionable and wide-eyed alter ego.

[1:22] Mark Peikert: Scott McPherson's Marvin's Room makes its Broadway debut in 2017 at the Roundabout Theater Company's American Airlines. Janine Garofalo, Lily Taylor, and Celia Weston star in the play about two sisters who are reunited when one is diagnosed with leukemia.

[1:45] Mark Peikert: According to Bruce J. Friedman’s new comedy, opening June 30, 1970, at the Truck Warehouse Theater, Anthony Perkins stars in and directs the production, which also features Hector Elizondo as a Puerto Rican bath attendant who turns out to be God. It became a five-episode Showtime series in 1983.

[2:07] Mark Peikert: Nothing says musical theater like Naked Boys Singing, the review conceived and directed by Robert Schrock, which begins performances in 1999 at the Actors' Playhouse off-Broadway. With songs like "Perky Little Porn Star," "Muscle Addiction," and "Nothing But the Radio On," the show's biggest draw is not Carl D. White's costume design.

[2:31] Mark Peikert: The Shakespeare in the Park production of The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino as Shylock, opens at the Delacourt Theater in 2010. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, it co-stars Lily Rabe as Portia and transfers to Broadway a few months later for a limited engagement.

[2:50] Mark Peikert: On July 1st, 1930, comedian Jack Benny appears on Broadway in Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1930. The review also features Patsy Kelly, Jimmy Savo, and the Colette Sisters.

[3:04] Mark Peikert: New York Shakespeare Festival's The Taming of the Shrew opens at Central Park's Delacourt Theater in 1999. Alison Janney and J. O. Sanders star as Kate and Petruchio in the music-infused production, directed by Mel Shapiro.

[3:20] Mark Peikert: In 2013, Mary Zimmerman directs the world premiere stage adaptation of the 1967 Disney film, The Jungle Book, opening at Chicago's Goodman Theater. The Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman score includes "The Bare Necessities" and "Trust in Me," as well as additional unused songs written for the film.

[3:42] Mark Peikert: In 2015, original Little Shop of Horrors star Ellen Greene returns to the role of Audrey for a series of concerts at New York City Center, presented as part of the Encores! Off-Center series. Jake Gyllenhaal co-stars as Seymour.

[4:00] Mark Peikert: The new musical Showgirl, starring Ruby Keeler and Jimmy Durante, and with a score by George and Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn, opens at the Ziegfeld Theater on July 2, 1929.

[4:14] Mark Peikert: Singin' in the Rain, the musical based on the 1952 MGM film, opens at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway in 1985. Betty Comden and Adolph Green adapted their screenplay for the stage, with music by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. Twyla Tharp directs and choreographs the production, which runs 367 performances.

[4:36] Mark Peikert: In 2002, movie star Ann Heche takes over the leading role in Broadway's Proof, opposite Lynn Cohen. Manhattan Theatre Club presents the American premiere of Terrell Alvin McCraney's Choir Boy, opening off-Broadway in 2013. Jeremy Pope, Chuck Cooper, and Austin Pendleton star in the play about one student's desire to take his place as the leader of its prep school's legendary gospel choir. Five years later, Pope, Cooper, and Pendleton reprise their roles in the play's Broadway debut.

[5:11] Mark Peikert: Something special must happen in October because celebrating July 3rd birthdays are George M. Cohan, Tom Stoppard, Betty Buckley, and Audra McDonald. And those born on July 4th include Gertrude Lawrence and Neil Simon.

[5:28] Mark Peikert: On July 4th, 1942, This Is the Army, Irving Berlin's sequel to his World War I era hit Yip Yip Yaphank, opens at the Broadway Theater. Featuring a cast of 300 soldiers, the review includes Berlin himself singing, "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning." Proceeds from ticket sales are used to benefit the Army Emergency Relief Fund, leading Kate Smith to reportedly send a check for $10,000 to pay for her two $27.50 opening night tickets.

[6:03] Mark Peikert: Celebrating its 40-year anniversary as a theater group in 1999, the San Francisco Mime Troupe presents Division Street, a musical about the urban housing crisis in parks across the San Francisco area. The troupe was founded in 1959 by R. G. Davis, and in 1987 won the Regional Theatre Tony Award for Sustained Excellence.

[6:28] Mark Peikert: July 5th, 1962. Aspiring playwright Lanford Wilson arrives in New York, determined to start a career but with nowhere to stay; he finds himself sleeping in Central Park. Fortunately, he does not remain homeless forever, as Wilson soon becomes a highly successful Pulitzer-winning playwright. He immortalizes the date of his New York arrival as the title of his 1978 play, 5th of July.

[6:54] Mark Peikert: Alan Cumming is a psychiatric patient reliving the story of Macbeth in a 2012 one-man adaptation of the Shakespeare tragedy, presented at the Rose Theatre as part of the 2012 Lincoln Center Festival. John Tiffany and Andrew Goldberg direct the National Theatre of Scotland production, which returns to New York the following year for a limited Broadway run.

[7:16] Mark Peikert: For more theatre history, visit Playbill.com. And for more great podcasts, visit BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com.