100 Years Ago (1914)

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is formed at the Hotel Claridge in New York City. ASCAP will become the only U.S. performing rights organization created and controlled by composers, songwriters and music publishers, and will go on to host an annual workshop for the development of new musical theatre.

75 Years Ago (1939)

Broadway hoofer Tommy Tune is born. As a performer, director and choreographer, Tune will go on to win nine Tony Awards for such notable productions as My One and Only, Seesaw, Grand Hotel and Nine.

50 Years (1964)

The U.S. Senate rejects a motion by New York state senator Jacob K. Javits to cut a 10-percent federal tax on tickets to live theatre productions. The tax will be eliminated by the end of 1965 as part of President Johnson’s Excise Tax Cut Bill.

25 Years Ago (1989)

Five years after being stripped of his citizenship and fired from his position as director of the Soviet Union’s Taganka Theater, world-renowned director Yuri Lyubimov is welcomed home by a standing ovation for his production of the previously banned play Living.