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 1778, at the sixth performance of the play Irène, the audience crowned playwright Voltaire with a laurel wreath.
On this day in 1917 Puccini’s La Rondine premiered in Monte Carlo.
On this day in 1976 the Washington DC Metro opened.
On this day in 1955 “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” became the #1 record in the United States.
On this say in 1961 Gypsy closed at the Broadway Theater after 702 performances.
On this day in 1913 the Palace Theater opened at 1564 Broadway in New York City.
On this day in 1901 Dame Nellie Melba revealed the recipe for her eponymous toast.
Born on this day in 1867 American director and producer Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
On this day in 1991, the Los Angeles County Superior Court awarded singer Peggy Lee $3.83 million in her lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company.
>Happy 100th birthday actress Patricia Morison.
On this day in 1963 the musical Tovarich opened at the Broadway Theater.
On this day in 1901 a showing of seventy-one Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, created a sensation.
On this day in 1792 King Gustav III of Sweden was shot by Count Anckarström at a masked ball at the Opera.
On this day in 1936 the first all-sound film version of Show Boat opened at Radio City Music Hall.
On this day 1781 William Herschel discovered Uranus.
Happy 87th birthday playwright Edward Albee.
On this day in 1867 Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Don Carlos premiered in Paris.
On this day in 1959 Tennessee Williams‘ Sweet Bird of Youth premiered at the Martin Beck Theatre.
On this day in 1562, kissing in public was banned and made punishable by death in Naples, Italy.
On this day in 1978 the first radio episode of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams was transmitted on BBC Radio 4.
On this day in 1946 at the 18th Academy Awards, Joan Crawford was named “Best Actress” for her performance in Mildred Pierce.
Born on this day in 1619 Cyrano de Bergerac, French author and playwright.
On this day in 1954 the musical The Girl in Pink Tights opened at the Mark Hellinger Theater.
On this day in 1869, the Booth Theater at 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue in New York City opened with a gala performance of Romeo and Juliet.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
