What Were Older Shows Like When They Opened? — Page 3

I remember you writing about Reed before, PJ. He must have been a wonderful man to hold just a large space in your heart so many years later.

Well, I grabbed the first old Playbill off the top of the stack and here's a bit out of it -

September 17, 1959 and “Much Ado About Nothing” is opening at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre. Starring (and directing) is the great John Gielgud and his costar, the wonderful Margaret Leighton.



Supporting cast includes Hurd Hatfield (The Picture of Dorian Gray), Nancy Marchand (Marty, The Sopranos, and about a million other things in between), Jean Marsh (Upstairs, Downstairs, Willow), and Mark Lenard (Star Trek).

We’ll analyze the show to death afterwards over dinner at The Russian Tea Room (from $3.50 up, ala carte from $2.25 up) and then enjoy the late show at the Copacabana with Joe E. Lewis!



Travel and transportation are big – big cars get you to your summer home and big ships give you the option of sailing to ‘the continent’. (Something I always wanted to do!)



(In the ad above you'll see young Broadway stars Bill Hayes (before he went on to a life in soap operas) and Florence Henderson (before she became mom to the Brady Bunch).

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The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby also got the cover of Time Magazine.

Pal Joey, What a touching story. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you everyone for sharing their special theatre memories. They're great fun to hear.