This Day in History December 27, 1932

'Tis the season for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes!  And we can be grateful that on this date in 1932, Radio City Music Hall first opened.  Originally, the name was going to be International Music Hall, and its name is actually derived from some of the first tenants of Rockefeller Center (where you find the music hall)--Radio Corporation of America.

Opening night boasted a tremendous spectacle in this theater featuring Ray Bolger and Martha Graham, but due to the length and sporadic nature of the show, it was not a success.  So January 11, 1933, feature films with short spectacles became the staple of the theater.  This film plus stage spectacle continued until 1979.

Of course, it now houses the Radio City Christmas Spectacular amongst other spectacles.  I have never seen a show there, but maybe I will one day!

For more information, please check out these links:
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID061.htm
http://www.enotes.com/topic/Radio_City_Music_Hall

This Day in History November 25, 1952

This is truly an ironic post for me.  It was just tonight that I watched a film called Ten Little Indians based on the story by Agatha Christie.  I had seen this film before, but it had been years since I had.  My mom had not seen it, and she struggled to figure it out just like I had.  I told her that the film had been based on a play, but I knew that there was another play that was even better received that I had never seen nor read--The Mousetrap.  Amazingly, on this date in 1952, this was the play that opened in London.  It went on to become the world's longest continuously running play--more than 20,000 performances and more than 10 million attendees.

Originally, The Mousetrap  was a 30-minute radio play broadcast in honor of the queen's 80th birthday in 1947.  It was originally called Three Blind Mice.  It was later extended and renamed The Mousetrap.  It was on this date in 1952 that 453 people attended the opening of this play in the Ambassodor's Theatre in London.  While this play is certainly not her best (in fact some say it should be abolished), it is an audience-pleaser.  Agatha Christie, the play's author, died in 1976, and it is her grandson who owns the rights to the show.

There is a lot of trivia associated with this play, but I'll let you check out the links at the end.  Maybe one day I will see this.  It certainly sounds intriguing.

I wish I had seen it at Lakewood Playhouse.  Check out the promo:


And for more information, check these out:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.shishirk.com/2010/11/mousetrap-opens-in-london/
http://www.information-britain.co.uk/famdates.php?id=803