Music Box Theater

History

There have been a large number of LGBT-associated productions at the Music Box Theater that were big hits. The biggest by far was Deathtrap (1978-82), with scenic design by William Ritman, and with actor Victor Garber. Other hits included Cradle Snatchers (1925-26), with Edna May Oliver; Once in a Lifetime (1930-31), with Spring Byington; As Thousands Cheer (1933-34), with costume design by Irene Sharaff and Varady, and with actors Ethel Waters and Clifton Webb; The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939-41) with Monty Woolley; Star and Garter (1942-43), with costume design by Irene Sharaff; I Remember Mama (1944-46) by John Van Druten, and with actor Marlon Brando in his Broadway debut; Picnic (1953-54; Pulitzer Prize for Drama), Bus Stop (1955-56), and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1957-59), all by William Inge; The Pleasure of His Company (1959; opened at the Longacre Theater), with costume design by Edith Head, and with actor Cyril Ritchard; Any Wednesday (1964-66; Best Actress in a Play Tony Award) and Absurd Person Singular (1974-76), both with Sandy Dennis; and A Few Good Men (1989-91) with Tom Hulce.

Other shows at the Music Box by LGBT creators included Music Box Revue (1922-23), with choreography by Hubert Stowitts, who was also a performer; Paris (1928-29), with music by Cole Porter, and lyrics by Porter and E. Ray Goetz; Rain (1935), based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham, with actor Tallulah Bankhead; I’d Rather Be Right (1938, opened at the Alvin Theater), with lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and costume design by Irene Sharaff; Sing Out the News (1938-39), choreographed by Charles Walters and others, and with actor Will Geer and Musa Williams; From Vienna (1939) and The Land is Bright (1941-42), with costume design by Irene Sharaff; Set to Music (1939), with music, lyrics, and sketches by Noel Coward, and with actors Beatrice Lillie and Richard Haydn; Summer and Smoke (1948-49) by Tennessee Williams; Separate Tables (1956-57) by Terence Rattigan; Rashomon (1959), with scenic and costume design by Oliver Messel; Five Finger Exercise (1959-60) by Peter Shaffer, with scenic design by Oliver Smith, and with actor Brian Bedford; Invitation to a March (1960-61) by Arthur Laurents; Daughter of Silence (1961), with scenic design by Oliver Smith, and costume design by Smith and Helen Pons; Romulus (1962), adapted by Gore Vidal, with scenic design by Oliver Smith, and with actor Cyril Ritchard; Lovers (1968; opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater), with scenic design by William Ritman; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (revival, 1976) by Edward Albee, with scenic and lighting design by William Ritman; Side by Side by Sondheim (1977-78), with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and costume design by Florence Klotz; End of the World (1984), with costume design by William Ivey Long, and with actor Linda Hunt; The Octette Bridge Club (1985), with scenic design by John Lee Beatty; Hay Fever (revival, 1985-86) by Noel Coward, and with actor Robert Joy; Loot (revival, 1986) by Joe Orton, with scenic design by John Lee Beatty, and with actor Joseph Maher; Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1987), with scenic and costume design by Bob Crowley; Mail (1988), with music by Michael Rupert, choreography by Grover Dale, and costume design by William Ivey Long, and with Rupert appearing in the production; A Small Family Business (1992) and The Dinner Party (2000-2001), with scenic design by John Lee Beatty; The Diary of Anne Frank (revival, 1997-98), with costume design by Martin Pakledinaz; and Amadeus (revival, 1999-2000) by Peter Shaffer.

LGBT performers here included Sophie Tucker in Earl Carroll’s Vanities (1924); Clifton Webb and Libby Holman in The Little Show (1929-30); Beatrice Lillie in The Third Little Show (1931); Cesar Romero in Dinner at Eight (1932-33); Will Geer in Of Mice and Men (1937-38) and The Ponder Heart (1956); Marlon Brando in A Flag is Born (1946, opened at the Alvin Theater); Georgette Harvey in Lost in the Stars (1949-50); and George Grizzard in Inquest (1970).