WindyCityOperaman
Dan Soda (Windy City Operaman) is a Chicago native whose first visit to opera was at age 17 and Massenet’s Werther with Troyanos and Kraus. Nothing was ever the same. Opera and concert performances, recordings and video are an obsession. He prepares Parterre Box’s daily birthday and anniversary tributes. He also enjoys concerts, live theater and movies.
On this day in 1882 Richard Wagner‘s music drama Parsifal premiered at Bayreuth.
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On this day in 1946 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis staged their first show as a comedy team.
On this day in 1983 a revival of Mame starring Angela Lansbury opened at the Gershwin Theater, to run only 41 performances.
On this day in 1904 the first ice cream cone, created by Charles E. Menches, was served during the St. Louis World Fair.
On this day in 1933, soprano Caterina Jarboro performed the title role of Aida at the New York Hippodrome.
On this day in 1983 a storm cut short Diana Ross‘s free concert in Central Park.
Born on this day in 356 BC Macedonian king Alexander the Great.
On this day in 1951 the revue Two on the Aisle opened at the Mark Hellinger Theater for 276 performances.
On this day in 1907, Florenz Ziegfeld‘s Follies of 1907, first in the impresario’s legendary series of lavish revues, premiered at the Jardin de Paris in New York City.
On this day in 1762 Catherine II became tsarina of Russia upon the murder of Peter III.
On this day in 1782 Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail premiered in Vienna.
On this day in 1971 President Nixon announced he would visit the People’s Republic of China.
On this day in 1789 the French Revolution began with the fall of the Bastille.
On this day in 1987 a federal judge threw out Bette Midler‘s $10 million suit against Ford Motor Co, who used a sound-alike voice for their TV commercials.
On this day in 1912 Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth premiered in New York City, the first foreign film to be exhibited in the United States.
On this day 1804 a duel transpired in which Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
On this day in 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called “Monkey Trial” began with John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
Born on this day in 19o7 actress Clara Bow.
On this day in 1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama departed on his first voyage.
On this day in 1956 the Douglas Moore/John Latouche opera The Ballad of Baby Doe premiered.
Happy Birthday to American singer Della Reese!
On this day in 1865, the first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published.
On this day in 1954 the musical Wonderful Town closed at Winter Garden Theater after 559 performances.
On this day in 1941 Noël Coward‘s Blithe Spirit premiered in London.
