40 Years Ago (1974)
The raunchy musical Let My People Come opens Off Broadway at the Village Gate, with plenty of onstage nudity and a message of sexual freedom. The show will play for two years, earning a Grammy nomination for its cast album. It will be revived at Chicago’s Stage 773 in 2011 and New York City’s Underground Theatre in 2013.
30 Years Ago (1984)
After 15 years in Europe, the Living Theatre returns to NYC to present four pieces in repertory at the Joyce Theatre. Co-founder Julian Beck will die in 1985, but his wife, Judith Malina, will continue to keep the company going. Her final directorial project with the company will be Here We Are in January 2013.
20 Years Ago (1994)
Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women makes its NYC premiere at the Vineyard Theatre, following runs at River Arts Repertory in Bearsville, N.Y., and a 1991 production, billed as a world premiere, at Vienna’s English Theatre. The play will win Albee his third Pulitzer Prize.
10 Years Ago (2004)
Chicago’s Goodman Theatre begins its New Stages series for the development of new plays. Originally six concert readings of new works, the series will lead to premieres from playwrights Lynn Nottage, Thomas Bradshaw and Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, among others.
