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'Sweat' opens on Broadway

Sweat is a play by American playwright Lynn Nottage. It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015; it was produced Off-Broadway and on Broadway a year later. The play is centered on the working class of Reading, Pennsylvania.

'Annie' is back on Broadway

Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and book by Thomas Meehan. A 20th anniversary Broadway revival, which played at the Martin Beck Theatre entitled Annie, the 20th Anniversary, starred Nell Carter as Miss Hannigan, but controversy surrounded the casting of the titular character.

'Fences' opens at the 46th Street Theatre

Fences is a play by American playwright August Wilson. Set in the 1950s, it is the sixth in Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle". Like all of the "Pittsburgh" plays, Fences explores the evolving African-American experience and examines race relations, among other themes. The play's first Broadway production was staged at the 46th Street Theatre and closed after 525 performances and 11 previews.

'Funny Girl' opens on Broadway

Funny Girl is a musical with a book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway star, film actress and comedian Fanny Brice featuring her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein. Its original title was My Man. After 17 previews, the Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre.

Poet Walt Whitman dies at 72

In his later years, Whitman's health significantly declined, which lead to his death in Camden, New Jersey. Due to bronchial pneumonia, his lungs diminished to one-eighth of their normal breathing capacity. More than 1000 people came to see his body, before the burial. He was buried in a tomb, at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden.

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven dies at 56

Beethoven's liver was significantly damaged, probably due to heavy alcohol consumption. This, along with other factors possibly lead to his death in Vienna. He died during a thunderstorm while being accompanied by his friend, Anselm Hüttenbrenner. Around 20,000 citizens of Vienna joined his funeral procession.

Anniversaries of the (in)famous

born 1931

Leonard Nimoy

born 1960

Jennifer Grey