Top hat worn by impresario P.T. Barnum (born #otd 1810) c. 1830. Via the Barnum Museum and Connecticut Collections: ctcollections.org/index.php/De...

Sarah Siddons (born #otd 1755) as Lady Macbeth. Siddons' Lady M was perhaps the definitive interpretation of the role during her era. Print by Robert Cooper via @folger.edu: digitalcollections.folger.edu/img28940

Today's #america250 post w/ @cmcanning.bsky.social is about George M. Cohan, who was born #otd 1878 & became one of the most successful American entertainers of the 1st half of the 20th century. Autographed photo of Cohan, autographed "Yankee doodlefully yours."

Tyrone Guthrie (born #otd 1900) addressing a reception in Stratford, Ontario in 1953, the inaugural year of @stratfest.bsky.social. Pic by Walter Curtin via @library-archives.canada.ca: central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?ap...

Charles Laughton (born #otd 1899) as Lear and Ian Holm as The Fool in Glen Byam Shaw's 1959 production of KING LEAR at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford. Pic Angus McBean via @the-rsc.bsky.social

As part of the summer 2026 print issue, serving as our counter programming to America 250, Charlotte Canning considers the theatrical nature of America's early founding and governance through its intersection with early American itinerant theatre troupes. www.americantheatre.org/2026/06/30/w...

Wow, how have I never heard of this show? Written by Yip Harburg & Harold Arlen. DIrected by Bobby Lewis, produced by David Merrick. Orig cast not only featured Horne, but Ossie Davis, Ricardo Montalban, and--as "lead dancer"--one Alvin Ailey! And not a flop, ran for over a year.

Lena Horne (born #otd 1917) w/ Josephine Premice & Ossie Davis in JAMAICA, 1957. Pic by the Friedman-Abeles studio via Museum of the City of New York.

Costume design by Willa Kim (born #otd 1917) for one of the fairies of Oberon's court in the 1964 NY Shakespeare Festival production of MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Via NY Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Jo Mielziner design sketch for the set of GUYS AND DOLLS, 1950. Composer & lyricist Frank Loesser was born #otd 1910. Via NY Public Library for the Performing Arts: digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/4e6118...

Set for a 1924 production of Luigi Pirandello's (b. #otd 1867) ENRICO IV, a play about a man who may or may not believe he is a medieval Holy Roman Emperor. Pic Cecil Beaton via the Victoria & Albert Museum: collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O132540...

Richard Rodgers (@ C, born #otd 1902) w/ director Joshua Logan & producers Dwight Deere Wiman & Richard Kollmar during rehearsals for BY JUPITER, his last collaboration w/ Lorenz Hart. Pic via NY Public Library for the Performing Arts: digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/b0f38f...

Catching up on this Lorna Wallace piece from @contingent-mag.bsky.social on Shakespeare and conspiracy theories: contingentmagazine.org/2026/06/18/h...

Larry Kramer (@ L, b. #otd 1935) w/ Joel Grey, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, & Joe Papp during the original off-Broadway run of THE NORMAL HEART, 1985. Pic Martha Swope via NY Public Library for the Performing Arts: digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/b99498...

New episode! @pgagliardi.bsky.social joins us to talk about ALL PLAY AND NO WORK, his book from @templeunivpress.bsky.social on comedy in the Federal Theatre Project: youtu.be/4blt5wmTV20

Joseph Papp (@ C in hat, b. #otd 1921) leads protest against demolition of the Helen Hayes and Morosco theatres, 1982. Today's #america250 post w/ @cmcanning.bsky.social is about these protests. Pic Martha Swope via NY Public Library for Performing Arts: digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/fac6c9...

In 1988, Don Shewey wrote an incisive piece analyzing how comtemporary gay theatre of the time had “grown up,” exploring its history, impact, and future. www.americantheatre.org/.../01/gay-t...

Today's #america250 post w/ @cmcanning.bsky.social is about Adah Isaacs Menken, born #otd 1835. Menken's talents & understanding of the emerging phenomenon of celebrity culture helped her become one of the most prominent and scandalous performers of the middle of the 19th century.

Today's #america250 post w/ @cmcanning.bsky.social is about a production of OTHELLO in 1943-4 that was a landmark in casting practices on Broadway. This pic via @yale.edu's Beinecke Library shows Uta Hagen (born #otd 1919) and Paul Robeson as Desdemona & Othello.

New episode! @pollackpelzner.bsky.social joins the show to talk about his recent biography of a little-known theatrical figure named "Lin-Manuel Miranda": theatrehistorypodcast.net/episode-114/

Page from Nicholas Burgh's c. 1650 commonplace book recording an anecdote of playwrights Ben Jonson (possibly born #otd 1572) & William Shakespeare "being merry at a tavern." Via @bodleian.ox.ac.uk & @folger.edu's Shakespeare Documented project: shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/file/ms-ashm...

Playwright Athol Fugard (born #otd 1932) w/ Danny Glover, Lonny Price, & Zakes Mokae on the set of the Broadway premiere of "MASTER HAROLD"...AND THE BOYS, 1982. Pic by Martha Swope via NY Public Library for the Performing Arts. More here: digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0c7d57...

Finally, another entry for the #america250 series: There's a story behind this photo of Mrs. Leslie Carter in the title role of ADREA, 1905. (Pic by the Byron Company via Museum of the City of New York) Born Caroline Louise Dudley, she gained her professional name from her 1st marriage.

Cover of script for PANAMA HATTIE, written by Cole Porter (born #otd 1891) & starring Ethel Merman, 1940. Via the Beinecke Library at @yale.edu

Really enjoyed catching up with @theatrehistory.bsky.social earlier this year to talk about my book - can't believe it was 3y/o this month that the armed women were unleashed! #theatrehistory #18thC #womenshistory #feministhistory #frenchrevolution #Napoleonicwars

Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca was born #otd 1898. You can find English translations of some of his best-known plays at @archive.org: archive.org/details/iiit...

Members of the American Negro Theatre, including Sidney Poitier and Robert Earl Jones, 1940s. Founded #otd in 1940 to support and develop Black theatre in NYC, the ANT was a key early step in the careers of luminaries such as Poitier, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, and Alice Childress.

Happy birthday Rosalind Russell! 🎂 Rehearsing Wonderful Town with Betty Comden, Adolph Green, George Abbott, Lehman Engel, & Leonard Bernstein at the piano 📷 Vandamm studio, 1953 NYPL digital collection

This month in theatre history, we look back on the birth of the Presidential Task Force on the Arts and Humanities, the rebirth of queer theatre The Other Side of Silence, the 2016 ‘Hamilton’ Tonys sweep, and more. 

Learn about Zelda Fichandler and the history of Arena Stage in DC in our latest episode! Pics of Fichandler and Arena spaces courtesy of Arena Stage. theatrehistorypodcast.net/episode-113-...

Chita Rivera & Gwen Verdon in the original Broadway production of the musical CHICAGO, which opened #otd 1975. Pic by Martha Swope via NY Public Library for the Performing Arts. #theatre #theater #broadway

New episode! (at last!): learn about Zelda Fichandler and the origins of Arena Stage in D.C. and the regional theatre movement. Todd London joins us to talk about Fichandler's legacy and THE LONG REVOLUTION, which collects her writings: theatrehistorypodcast.libsyn.com/episode-113-...

A Philadelphia #theatre #history tour thread! I walked around Philly today to check out spots where some of America’s first theatres once sat (and still sit, in one case). Let me show you what I found! And hopefully I make @aithpodcast.bsky.social proud. First up…

In honor of a certain immortal bard's birthday (& death day--they are observed on the same date, though his exact bday is not known for sure), give yourself the treat of listening to Sir Patrick read three of his favorite Shakespeare sonnets. He has a new audiobook out in which he reads all of them.

This is my birthday

Evidently the high cost of tickets has been killing live theater for the last 350 years.

This Week in Literary History: Mae West is Sentenced to Ten Days in Jail for Obscenity “She seemed to go to extremes in order to make the play as obscene and immoral as possible.” lithub.com/this-week-in... #theater

We have a farces poster! So excited to see it going up, to invite actors to come drop in for some fun reading characters, & audiences to watch some joyful silliness, in a beautiful medieval building! #frenchfarces

My conversation with Dr. E. Maggie Solberg about representations of Mary in medieval drama is out now on The Pageant Wagon Podcast!

Right, we're looking at the backstage dramas behind masques - anyone have good starting points for targets to dig into? Ideally a masque that we have a reasonable amount of data for the show itself (script/household accounts etc) as well as juicy BTS stuff. Suggestions? #EarlyModernSky #masque

🔊Not only did we drop our live recording of Arden of Faversham yesterday, we also added it to this handy playlist of all our work on the play. More to come on Arden, we haven't yet done a Spoilerific overview, and... well... you can't really expect us to stop now. audioboom.com/playlists/46...

This month in theatre history: April anecdotes include drama between American playwright Clyde Fitch and Oscar Wilde, Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer rescinded amidst a rule change, Steppenwolf's new location, and more. 

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Tune in for the inaugural episode of the Pageant Wagon Podcast!

Shakespeare Gardens Around the World Honor the Playwright—and Hold Their Own Storied History by Mary Randolph www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/shake... Flowers from Shakespeare's Garden at PG: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64102 #books #literature

2 new books on Stephen Sondheim reveal the revered composer/lyricist as a nuanced and complex man—and as a master puzzle maker and solver. www.americantheatre.org/2026/04/03/s...

Introducing…The Pageant Wagon Podcast! I talk to scholars, historians, and practitioners of #medieval and #earlymodern theatre. We discuss new perspectives, staging techniques, and pedagogical strategies. Launching April 1st!

South Africa's iconic Market Theater, born in the darkest days of apartheid and a force for change, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. n.pr/4lRCEeo

In 1936, the Federal Theatre Project produced a play about an authoritarian demagogue with a faintly ridiculous last name becoming president of the United States. Our latest #america250 post w/ @cmcanning.bsky.social explores this show. Pic via @librarycongress.bsky.social