"Prince of the Pagodas"
Jan 1 Benjamin Britten's only full-length ballet "Prince of the Pagodas," premieres at Covent Garden, London
Elvis's Final Ed Sullivan Show
Jan 6 Elvis Presley makes his 7th & final appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show"
Commissioner's Bing Crosby Decision
Jan 10 Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick rules Bing Crosby can keep token stock in Detroit Tigers, even though he owns part of Pittsburgh Pirates
- Jan 16 Cavern Club opens on Matthews Street in Liverpool, England, home of many performances by The Beatles
"Declaration"
Jan 20 Morton Gould's orchestral work "Declaration" premieres in Washington, D.C.
- Jan 26 Francis Poulenc's opera "Dialogue des Carmelites" premieres at La Scala, in Milan
- Feb 2 "Candide" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 73 performances
Shostakovich 2nd Piano Concert
Feb 5 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 2nd Piano Concert
Music History
Feb 23 Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener, and George David Weiss's musical "Mr Wonderful", with Sammy Davis Jr. and his father Sammy Davis Sr., closes at Broadway Theater, NYC, after 383 performances
Cricket Record
Feb 25 Buddy Holly and the Crickets record their smash hit "That'll Be the Day" in Clovis, New Mexico
- Mar 1 "Ziegfeld Follies of 1957" opens at Winter Garden NYC for 123 performances
- Mar 3 2nd Eurovision Song Contest: Corry Brokken for Netherlands wins singing "Net als toen" in Frankfurt
- Mar 8 David Diamond's 6th Symphony premieres with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch
- Mar 22 "All Shook Up" single released by Elvis Presley
Cinderella
Mar 31 Rodgers & Hammerstein's live television musical "Cinderella", starring Julie Andrews, with Kaye Ballard and Alice Ghostley, premieres on CBS-TV
- Apr 4 Heitor Villa-Lobos' 10th Symphony premieres French Radio National Orchestra, conducted by the composer, in Paris
Music History
Apr 9 Howard Hanson's "Song of Democracy" premieres in Washington, D.C.
- Apr 13 11th Tony Awards: "Long Day's Journey into Night" (play) & "My Fair Lady" (musical) win
- Apr 13 Musical "Shinbone Alley", starring Eartha Kitt, opens at Broadway Theater NYC; runs for 49 performances
- May 4 Alan Freed hosts "Rock n' Roll Show" 1st prime-time network rock show, cancelled after 4 episodes
- May 10 Dmitri Shostakovich's 2nd Piano concerto premieres, played by his son Maxim at his graduation concert at Moscow's conservatory
- May 14 Bob Merrill's musical "New Girl in Town" opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 432 performances
Copacabana Incident
May 16 NY Yankee players including Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Hank Bauer are involved in a brawl at the Copacabana nightclub while watching Sammy Davis Jr. perform, leads to Billy Martin trade
- May 25 "Shinbone Alley" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 49 performances
- May 27 Toronto's CHUM-AM, (1050 kHz) becomes Canada's first radio station to broadcast only top 40 Rock n' Roll music format
- Jun 15 "Ziegfeld Follies of 1957" closes at Winter Garden NYC after 123 performances
- Jun 17 "So Rare" by Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra peaks at #2
Music Concert
Jul 6 John Lennon (16) & Paul McCartney (15) meet for 1st time as Lennon's rock group Quarrymen perform at St. Peter's, Woolton's Parish Church in Liverpool, introduced by mutual friend Ivan Vaughn
- Jul 27 St James' Theatre in London closes
TV Show Appearance
Jul 28 Rock and roll piano player-singer Jerry Lee Lewis makes his 1st TV appearance with a raucous rendition of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" on the "Steve Allen Show"
Harmonie der Welt
Aug 11 Paul Hindemith's opera "Harmonie der Welt" premieres in Munich, German
Reet Petite
Sep 8 Jackie Wilson, releases his 1st solo single "Reet Petite"
- Sep 10 "Mask & Gown" opens at John Golden Theater, NYC; runs for 39 performances
Dialogues of the Carmelites
Sep 20 Leontyne Price makes her operatic stage debut singing Madame Lidoine in the US premiere of "Dialogues of the Carmelites" in San Francisco
- Sep 23 "That'll Be the Day" single by Buddy Holly and The Crickets reaches #1 in the US
Jailhouse Rock
Sep 24 "Jailhouse Rock" single released by Elvis Presley (Billboard Song of the Year 1957)
West Side Story
Sep 26 Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Jerome Robbins' musical "West Side Story" opens at the Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 732 performances, wins 2 Tony Awards
- Sep 28 "Honeycomb," by Jimmie F. Rodgers hits #1
- Sep 29 Buddy Holly & The Crickets release 2nd single "Oh Boy!"/"Not Fade Away"
- Oct 12 "Mask & Gown" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 39 performances
- Oct 12 "Simply Heavenly" closes at Playhouse Theater NYC after 62 performances
#1 in the Charts
Oct 14 Everly Brothers' single "Wake Up Little Susie" reaches #1
- Oct 17 "Copper & Brass" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 36 performances
- Oct 17 Musical film "Jailhouse Rock" starring Elvis Presley premieres in Memphis, Tennessee
The Frank Sinatra Show
Oct 18 "The Frank Sinatra Show" television variety/drama anthology series debuts on ABC; the singer-actor is given almost complete control of the program
- Oct 19 Richard Adler and Jerry Ross' musical "Damn Yankees" closes at 46th St Theater, NYCl after 1022 performances and 7 Tony Award wins
- Oct 30 Dmitri Shostakovich's 11th Symphony premieres in Moscow
Jamaica
Oct 31 Yip Harburg, Fred Saidy, and Harold Arlen's musical "Jamaica", starring Lena Horne, opens at Imperial Theater, NYC; runs for 558 performances
- Nov 6 Ernest G. Schweikert and Frank Reardo's musical "Rumple", starring Eddie Foy, Jr opens at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 45 performances
- Nov 11 Sun Record's release single "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis; sells a million copies in first ten day
- Nov 16 "Copper & Brass" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 36 performances
All Eyes on Birthplace of British Rock 'n' Roll
Nov 16 BBC’s 1st pop music show, the "Six-Five Special", is broadcast from the tiny 2i’s Coffee Bar in London
Rope Dancers
Nov 20 Morton Wishengrad's dramatic play "Rope Dancers", starring Art Carney, Siobhán McKenna, and Theodore Bikel, premieres at Cort Theatre, NYC; runs for 189 performances
Miles Davis Quintet
Nov 22 Miles Davis Quintet debuts a jazz concert at Carnegie Hall, NYC
Happy Hunting
Nov 30 Harold Karr and Matt Dubey's musical "Happy Hunting", starring Ethel Merman and Fernando Lamas, closes at Majestic Theater, NYC, after 413 performances
- Dec 1 Seminal rock band Buddy Holly & The Crickets make their "Ed Sullivan Show" debut, performing "That'll Be The Day" and "Peggy Sue"; singer Sam Cooke also performs after getting bumped due to time constraints on November 3rd - he sings "You Send Me" and “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons” [1] [2]
Sessions' 3rd Symphony
Dec 6 Roger Sessions' 3rd Symphony premieres in Boston with Charles Munch conducting the Boston Symphony
The Sound of Jazz
Dec 8 CBS broadcasts "The Sound of Jazz", live from NYC: an all-star program featuring swing era and contemporary jazz artists, including Count Basie, Red Allen, Ben Webster;, Thelonious Monk, and Gerry Mulligan; highlight is the final collaboration of Billie Holiday and Lester Young on "Fine and Mellow"
- Dec 14 "Rumple" musical closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 45 performances
The Most Happy Fella
Dec 14 Frank Loesser's musical "The Most Happy Fella", based on Sidney Howard's 1924 stage drama "They Knew What They Wanted", closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 678 performances
The Nat King Cole Show
Dec 17 Last episode of "The Nat King Cole Show" airs on NBC, cancelled due to lack of national sponsorship
- Dec 19 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
- Dec 20 Elvis Presley receives his draft notice to join the US Army for national service
Ringo's First Drum Set
Dec 25 Liverpudlian teenager Richard Starkey (later better known as Ringo Starr) receives his first drum set aged 17
"Christmas Show of Stars"
Dec 26 Alan Freed's "Christmas Show of Stars", featuring the Everly Brothers, Paul Anka; Fats Domino, and Jerry Lee Lewis, opens at the Paramount Theatre, NYC; runs for 14 performances
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
Rappers
Rockers