Music History on December 11

Iolanthe

1882 Boston's Bijou Theatre, 1st American playhouse lit exclusively by electricity holds its 1st performance, W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's comic opera "Iolanthe"

Williams Records with Sterling

1946 Hank Williams begins to record on Sterling label

  • 1947 Bob Hilliard and Sigman's musical "Angel in the Wings" opens at Coronet Theater NYC for 308 performances

Hindemith's Concerto for Clarinet

1950 Paul Hindemith's Concerto for Clarinet premieres with Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, and Benny Goodman as soloist, at the Academy of Music

  • 1951 "The Wild Side of Life" single recorded by Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys (Billboard Song of the Year, 1952)

Wildcat

1960 Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's musical "Wildcat" with Lucille Ball premieres in New York City

Blue Hawaii

1961 Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 20 wks

  • 1961 Motown Records releases "Please, Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes; it is the group and the label's 1st #1 pop song, topping the charts for 13 weeks
  • 1965 Michael Leonard and Herbert Martin's musical "The Yearling" closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 3 performances
  • 1965 Robert Wright and George Forrest' musical "Anya" closes at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC, after 16 performances
  • 1967 Beatles' Apple Music signs its 1st group - Grapefruit
  • 1984 "Doug Henning & His World..." opens at Lunt-Fontanne NYC for 60 performances

Nuts

1987 Martin Ritt's dramatic film "Nuts", starring Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfus premieres

  • 1989 Cy Coleman and David Zippel's musical "City of Angels" opens at Virginia Theater, NYC; runs for 878 performances, wins 6 Tony Awards and 8 Drama Desk Awards

Movin' Out

2005 Twyla Tharp's rock ballet "Movin' Out", set to songs of Billy Joel, closes at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, NYC after 1,303 performances

  • 2022 Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's musical "Some Like It Hot", based on the 1959 feature film comedy, opens at the Shubert Theatre, NYC; garners 13 Tony Award nominations