Music History on December 19

"Hérodiade"

1881 Opera "Hérodiade" by Jules Massenet is produced in Brussels

"Pacific 1860"

1946 Noël Coward's musical "Pacific 1860" premieres in London

"Blue Suede Shoes"

1955 Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes" for Sun Records at Memphis Recording Service studio

  • 1957 Meredith Willson's musical "The Music Man", starring Robert Preston and Barbara Cook, opens at Majestic Theater, NYC; runs for 1375 performances, wins 5 Tony and a Grammy Award

"Ring-A-Ding-Ding"

1960 Frank Sinatra's 1st session with Reprise Records ("Ring-A-Ding-Ding")

  • 1969 Beatle's 7th Christmas fan-club single is released
  • 1971 Helen Miller and Eve Merriam's musical "Inner City" opens at Barrymore Theater, NYC; runs for 97 performances

Wood Joins Rolling Stones

1975 British guitarist Ron Wood joins the Rolling Stones

  • 1984 33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in Yale library [1]
  • 1985 "Wind in the Willows" opens at Nederlander Theater NYC for 4 performances
  • 1991 "A Christmas Carol" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 14 performances

"Alice"

1992 Robert Wilson, Tom Waits, and Kathleen Brennan's avant garde opera "Alice", based on the life and work of Lewis Carroll, premieres at the Thalia Theater, Hamburg, Germany

  • 1993 Marsha Norman, Bob Merrill, and Jule Styne's fairy tale musical "Red Shoes", directed by Stanley Donen, closes at Gershwin Theater, NYC, after 5 performances; loses nearly $8 million

:Once Upon a Mattress"

1996 Revival of Mary Rodgers and Marshall Barer's musical comedy "Once Upon a Mattress", starring Sarah Jessica Parker, opens at Broadhurst Theatre, NYC; runs for 188 performances