1980-2004: Second Century

On the August 25 opening night of "42nd Street," producer David Merrick announces that the show's director/choreographer Gower Champion died that morning; the front-page headlines help the musical run nearly 3,500 performances.

Richard Burton revives "Camelot."

Frank Rich becomes THE NEW YORK TIMES daily theater critic.

Gilbert and Sullivan are reinvented with the hit version of "The Pirates of Penzance," which earns Kevin Kline a Tony Award.

"Dreamgirls," Michael Bennett's final show, brings the world of Motown to Broadway.

The Sondheim-Prince partnership dissolves after the failure of "Merrily We Roll Along."

Three beloved Broadway theaters are demolished to make room for the new Marriott Marquis Hotel, despite numerous celebrity protests.

Director/choreographer Tommy Tune burnishes his reputation with "Nine," based on a Fellini film and starring Raul Julia; it wins the Tony for Best Musical.

Producer Cameron Mackintosh brings Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats" to Broadway from the West End, inaugurating a series of unprecedented successes. Barbra Streisand's rendition of the show's hit song "Memory" makes the pop charts before the musical opens on Broadway.

Tommy Tune stars in, directs, and choreographs the Gershwin "revisal" "My One and Only."

"La Cage aux Folles" is the first musical in history to feature a mature gay couple as its romantic leads; it wins the Tony for Best Musical.

"A Chorus Line" becomes the longest-running show in Broadway history; it will eventually run 6,137 performances.

Ethel Merman dies.

Sondheim teams up with a new collaborator, James Lapine, on "Sunday in the Park with George." It transfers from Off Broadway and wins the Pulitzer Prize.

The average cost of a new musical production reaches $3 million.

The possible competitors for the Tony Award in the Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Choreographer categories are so few that these awards are dropped altogether.

Ticket prices reach an average of $33; the number of Broadway shows is at an all-time low of 31.

"Singin' in the Rain," one of many original movie musicals reconstituted as stage shows, opens.

Alan Jay Lerner dies.

A British import, "Me and My Girl," itself a revival of a 1937 London hit, is Broadway's only musical success.

"Les Misérables," the epic adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel, arrives on Broadway via Cameron Mackintosh. A much-needed phenomenon, it will run for 6,680 performances.

The two great director/choreographers of their time, Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse, die within months of each other: Bennett of AIDS, Fosse of a heart attack.

Patti LuPone achieves a huge success in Lincoln Center's revival of "Anything Goes," directed by Jerry Zaks.

The third jewel in the Cameron Mackintosh crown, "The Phantom of the Opera," opens with Michael Crawford as the eponymous ghoul in Lloyd Webber's musical.

Entertainer/singer Peter Allen's musical debut, "Legs Diamond," for which he wrote the score, opens. The Mark Hellinger Theatre closes after the show flops and becomes the Times Square Church.

Jerome Robbins returns to Broadway after an absence of 25 years for "Jerome Robbins' Broadway," a compendium of his greatest dances. Although it is eagerly awaited and wins a Tony, it closes after a year and a half, in the red.

A sequel to "Annie" called "Annie 2" is eagerly awaited, but flops out of town.

Irving Berlin dies at age 101.

"City of Angels," a spoof of Hollywood in the '40s, wins the Tony with a jazzy score by composer Cy Coleman.

The 46th Street Theatre is renamed in honor of Richard Rodgers.

"A Chorus Line" finally closes, 15 years after it opened.

Actors' Equity refuses to let Jonathan Pryce, the West End star of "Miss Saigon," reprise his role on Broadway because he is Caucasian and would be taking a role away from an Asian-American actor. Producer Cameron Mackintosh threatens not to bring the show to Broadway at all.

Rex Harrison and Mary Martin die.

Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's controversial "Assassins" opens Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. It doesn't make it to Broadway until 2004.

With a record-breaking $36 million advance, "Miss Saigon" makes it to Broadway with Jonathan Pryce in the lead role. He wins a Tony for his performance, but Best Musical goes to the homegrown "Will Rogers Follies."

Joseph Papp dies.

The Gershwins' "Girl Crazy" makes it back to Broadway in a "revisal," "Crazy for You." At 1,622 performances, it runs four times longer than the Gershwins' longest-running original show, "Of Thee I Sing."

Nathan Lane and Faith Prince become musical stars in the highly successful Jerry Zaks revival of "Guys and Dolls."

Gregory Hines wins a Tony as Jelly Roll Morton in George C. Wolfe's Broadway debut as director, "Jelly's Last Jam." Savion Glover appears as the young Jelly.

Julie Andrews returns to New York in an Off-Broadway Sondheim revue, "Putting It Together."

Rock music finds a match on Broadway in the stage adaptation of "The Who's Tommy."

Frank Rich steps down as NEW YORK TIMES drama critic to write political opinion pieces.

Among the revivals on Broadway this year: "Carousel," "Damn Yankees," and "Show Boat."

The Walt Disney Co. makes its first foray onto Broadway: a stage adaptation of the animated film BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Although panned, it will become the longest-running American musical since "A Chorus Line." Disney also commits to renting a restored New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street.

Film star Glenn Close replaces Patti LuPone as the lead in Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard"; she wins the Tony.

Top ticket price on Broadway: $75 for a revival of "Show Boat."

Legendary director George Abbott dies at 107.

Both Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews return to Broadway, Burnett in the play "Moon Over Buffalo" and Andrews in "Victor/Victoria," a stage musical version of the film.

George C. Wolfe and Savion Glover team up again for "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk," a politically charged revue of African-American dancing. It opens at the Public Theatre, which Wolfe now runs, and moves to Broadway in April.

The New Victory Theatre, a former burlesque and porno house, is the first theater renovated on 42nd Street in 50 years.

"Rent," with book, music, and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, opens downtown at the New York Theatre Workshop. Tragically, Larson dies on the night of the final dress rehearsal and does not see his rock musical make it on Broadway. "Rent" eventually moves uptown and wins the Tony and the Pulitzer Prize; it is still playing.

"The King and I" is revived on Broadway, this time with the Siamese roles played by an all-Asian-American cast. Donna Murphy wins a Tony as Mrs. Anna.

A concert version of "Chicago," revived by City Center's Encores! series, proves so successful that it is transferred to Broadway. It runs more than three times longer than the original.

"Titanic" is a surprise Tony winner; Rosie O'Donnell promotes the show frequently on her TV program.

Paul Simon makes his Broadway debut composing the score to "The Capeman"; its controversial subject dooms it to close after two months at a cost of $11 million.

"The Lion King" opens at the renovated New Amsterdam Theatre and is a phenomenal hit for Disney. The show's director/designer Julie Taymor is the first woman to win the Tony for Best Director.

Broadway sees five revivals of classic shows: "Little Me," "Peter Pan," "On the Town," "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," and "Annie Get Your Gun."

The classic work of Bob Fosse appears again in a revue of his best dances: "Fosse," supervised by Gwen Verdon. It wins the Tony.

The defunct Empire Theatre becomes a 25-screen AMC movie theater.

"Contact," directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, is a trio of dances set to prerecorded versions of classic songs; despite its lack of dialogue, a live orchestra, or an original score, it wins the Tony for Best Musical.

Elton John and Tim Rice write an original musical for Disney, "Aida," suggested by the Verdi opera. It makes a star of its lead, Heather Hedley.

"The Full Monty," an original American musical based on a British film, engages audiences with its five middle-class male strippers.

Mel Brooks' "The Producers," a musical about the making of a Broadway musical, charges into town with a $17 million advance. It earns a record 12 Tony Awards and is the first must-see musical comedy in almost a decade.

The 9/11 attacks close the theater district for two days. A second TKTS booth in the lobby of Tower Two of the World Trade Center is obliterated, but the staff evacuates safely.

Harvey Fierstein stars as Edna Turnblad, the mother of Tracy Turnblad, the teenaged heroine of the hit "Hairspray." He wins the Tony for Best Actor.

Billy Joel's music makes it to Broadway via Twyla Tharp's choreographic tour de force "Movin' Out."

International matinee idols conquer Broadway: Antonio Banderas appears in a revival of "Nine" and Hugh Jackman makes his debut as Peter Allen in the musical biography "The Boy from Oz."

A $14 million epic about life in Oz and its two most famous witches, "Wicked" captures audiences (but not the Tony). However, Idina Menzel as the young wicked witch, Elphaba, will capture the Best Actress Tony.

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick make Broadway history (and six figures a week) by returning to their starring roles in "The Producers" for a sold-out four-month engagement.

"Avenue Q," a Fringe transfer and satirical look at the values (and puppets) of SESAME STREET, is a surprise Tony winner for Best Musical. Instead of touring, the intimate and risqué show will appear exclusively in Las Vegas.