Pipe Dream is the seventh musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Premiering on Broadway on November 30, 1955, it was a flop and a financial disaster. It is based on John Steinbeck's short novel Sweet Thursday, which he wrote in the hope of having it adapted into a musical. Set in Monterey, California, the musical tells the story of the romance between Doc, a marine biologist, and Suzy, who in the novel is a prostitute; her profession is only alluded to in the stage work. Rodgers and Hammerstein signed operatic diva Helen Traubel to play Fauna, the house madam. They had concerns about featuring a prostitute as female lead and setting part of the musical in a bordello and as the show progressed through tryouts, Hammerstein repeatedly revised it, obscuring Suzy's profession and the nature of Fauna's house. Pipe Dream met with poor reviews, and rapidly closed once it exhausted its advance sale. It had no national tour or London production, and has rarely been presented since. There was no film at the time; the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization once hoped for a film version featuring the Muppets with Fauna played by Miss Piggy.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_Dream_(musical)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1572:

Nineteen Catholic friars and clerics were hanged in Gorkum during the 16th century religious wars in the Low Countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Gorkum

1745:

War of the Austrian Succession: The French victory in the Battle of Melle made their subsequent capture of Ghent possible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Melle

1868:

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, including the Citizenship Clause and the Equal Protection Clause, was ratified by the minimum required twenty-eight U.S. states. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

1943:

World War II: The Allies began their invasion of Sicily, a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Sicily

1981:

Nintendo released the arcade game Donkey Kong (pictured), which featured the debut of Mario, one of the most famous characters in video game history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

penitent: 1. Feeling pain or sorrow on account of sins or offenses; repentant; contrite; sincerely affected by a sense of guilt, and resolved on amendment of life. 2. Doing penance. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/penitent

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The way we see things is constantly changing. At the moment the way we see things has been left a lot to the camera. That shouldn't necessarily be.   --David Hockney https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Hockney