Allegro is a musical by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics), their third collaboration for the stage, which premiered on Broadway on October 10, 1947. After the immense successes of the first two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel, the pair sought a subject for their next play. Hammerstein had long contemplated a serious work that would deal with the problems of an ordinary man in the fast-moving modern world. Rodgers and he sought to create a work that would be as innovative as their first two stage musicals. To that end, they created a play with a large cast, including a Greek chorus. After a disastrous tryout in New Haven, Connecticut, the musical opened on Broadway to a large advance sale of tickets and very mixed reviews. The Broadway run, directed by Agnes de Mille, ended after nine months; it had no West End production and has rarely been revived.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegro_(musical)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1780:
One of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes on record struck the Caribbean Sea, killing at least 22,000 people over the next several days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hurricane_of_1780
1911:
The Xinhai Revolution began with the Wuchang Uprising, marking the beginning of the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuchang_Uprising
1933:
In the first proven act of air sabotage in the history of commercial aviation, a United Airlines Boeing 247 exploded in mid-air near Chesterton, Indiana, US, killing all seven people aboard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_United_Airlines_Boeing_247_mid-air_explosion
1964:
The opening ceremony of the 1964 Summer Olympics took place in Tokyo, the first to be telecast live internationally via satellite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Summer_Olympics
1982:
Maximilian Kolbe (pictured), who had volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz in Poland, was canonized by the Catholic Church. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
beefcake: 1. (informal) Imagery of one or more muscular, well-built men. 2. (informal) A muscular, well-built, desirable man. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beefcake
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials. --Lin Yutang https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lin_Yutang