56 Years Ago Today

[Big Magilla]

Fifty-six years ago in 1958, there were 15 shows on Broadway compared to 25 currently on the Great White Way.

Judy Holliday was still starring in Bells Are Ringing; Edward Mulhare and Sally Ann Howes had replaced Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady; Teresa Wright, Pat Hingle and Eileen Heckart were starring in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs ; Ed Begley had replaced Hugh Griffith in Look Homeward Angel and Sylvia Sidney had replaced Greer Garson who had replaced Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame. Ralph Bellamy was starring in Sunrise at Campobello; Robert Preston in The Music Man; Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalban in Jamaica and Anne Bancroft was now co-starring with Dana Andrews who had replaced Henry Fonda in Two for the Seesaw. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were bringing back The Visit that had been just as big a flop as a straight play as the now ten year-old musical version has been as a musical.

On the big screen, Gigi was continuing its reserved seat engagement at the Royale, normally a legitimate theatre. South Pacific was enjoying a reserved seat run at the Criterion. The Bridge on the River Kwai was at the Palace. Around the World in 80 Days was nearing the end of its second year at the Rivoli. The Cinerama extravaganza Windjammer was in its "last six weeks" at the Roxy.

Gervaise was "back by popular demand" at the Colony on 77th St. and 2nd Ave. The Goddess was in its third month at the 55th St. Playhouse. The Naked and the Dead was at the Capitol. The Vikings was at the Astor. The Victoria and the Plaza had Brigitte Bardot in La Parisienne. The Matchmaker was at the Little Carnegie. The Reluctant Debutante was at Radio City Music Hall.

Neighborhood theatres were playing Kings Go Forth; Proud Rebel; A Time to Love and a Time to Die; God's Little Acre; No Time for Sergeants; Vertigo and The Young Lions, all of them with a long-forgotten second feature except The Young Lions which at 167 minutes was too long to have a second feature playing with it.