1918 Birthday of composerLeonard Bernstein, who bridged the worlds of classical and Broadway, both as conductor for the New York Philharmonic and as composer of classic scores includingOn the Town,West Side Story,Wonderful Town, andCandide.

1936 Broadway sees its first new comedy of the season asPhilip Barry'sSpring Dance opens at the Empire Theatre.Louise Platt andRichard 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. Also in the cast, playing the role of a know-it-all named "The Lippincott," is a youngJosé Ferrer.

1980 A Broadway-sized mix of tragedy and triumph as the Great White Way's new musical smash,42nd Street, opens at the Winter Garden Theatre.42nd Street, based on the 1930sBusby Berkeley film musical of the same name, starsJerry Orbach,Tammy Grimes,Wanda Richert, andLee Roy Reams. At the curtain call of the opening night performance, producerDavid Merrick announces that the musical's director and choreographer,Gower Champion, died that afternoon. Among Champion's finest musical credits were the original Broadway productions ofBye Bye Birdie,Hello, Dolly!, andSugar.

2001 The Tony-winning musical revueFosse closes after 1,093 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre.

2015 Benedict Cumberbatch returns to the stage asHamlet at the Barbican Centre in London.

More of Today's Birthdays:Ruby Keeler (1910-1993).Van Johnson (1916-2008).Mel Ferrer (1917-2008).Sean Connery (b. 1930).Marshall Brickman (b. 1941). Simon McBurney (b. 1957). Blair Underwood (b. 1964). Jessica Boevers (b. 1972). Katie Rose Clarke (b. 1984). Ato Blankson-Wood (b. 1984).

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Look Back at 42nd Street on Broadway

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• Busby Berkeley
• Bye Bye Birdie (Broadway 1960)
• Fosse (Broadway 1998)
• Marshall Brickman
• Van Johnson