70 Years Ago (1944)
Piano prodigy, songwriter and composer Marvin Hamlisch is born. One of the few artists to successfully glide between stage and screen, Hamlisch will score such shows as A Chorus Line, They’re Playing Our Song and Sweet Smell of Success and the films The Way We Were, The Sting and Sophie’s Choice.

60 Years Ago (1954)
Bob Fosse’s first choreography for a Broadway show is featured in The Pajama Game. Fosse goes on to choreograph/direct Sweet Charity, Pippin and Chicago.

50 Years Ago (1964)
The Eugene O’Neill Center is founded by George C. White. The O’Neill and its National Playwrights Conference will go on to foster and develop the work of numerous playwrights, including August Wilson, John Patrick Shanley, Wendy Wasserstein, Lee Blessing and John Guare. The Center also launches such initiatives as the National Theater Institute, the National Critics Institute, the National Music Theater Conference, the National Puppetry Conference and the Cabaret & Performance Conference.

45 Years Ago (1969)
Oh! Calcutta! opens Off Broadway at the Eden Theatre. Conceived by Kenneth Tynan, the show featured a slew of eclectic, sex-themed sketches written by various writers, including Samuel Beckett, Sam Shepard and John Lennon.