Written by famed playwright, Eugene O'Neill, More Stately Mansions was an unfinished work that was never supposed to be produce on stage. Even though O'Neill clearly stated in his will that the play was to be destroyed after his death, his widow authorized the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre to turn the work into an producable show that opened on Broadway on Halloween night, 1967. The legend of this play states the production was plagued with difficulties from the beginning due to the angry ghost of O'Neill. The play received mixed reviews, and it remains one of Broadway's most painful plays to sit through. Sources Internet Broadway Database. "More Stately Mansions." 2001-2026. www.ibdb.com. Accessed 22 October 2026. New York Theatre Workshop. "More Stately Mansions." 1997. www.nytw.org. Accessed 22 October 2026. Willis, J. (1968). Theatre World: Season 1967–1968 (Vol. 24). New York: Crown Publishers.
In September of 1918, Irving Berlin's bizarre musical, Yip! Yip! Yaphank!, opened on Broadway. It featured a cast of 350 actual soldiers that sang, danced, dressed as chorus girls, and tried to convince audiences that the life of a soldier was not so bad. A report issued on September 11th of that year applauded the show, and Berlin himself sang the featured song, "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning." Berlin's classic, "God Bless America," was originally written for the production, but Berlin removed it. That song did not surface again until 1938, when Kate Smith introduced it to her radio audiences. Sources Don's American Songbook. "Irving Berlin's Musical Yip, Yip, Yaphank! Premieres in 1918." 2020. www.facebook.com/DonsAmericanSongbook. Accessed 12 September 2026. Sears, Benjamin. "American Classics: Yip! Yip! Yaphank!" 2010. www.americanclassics.benandbrad.com. Accessed 12 September 2026. The Longwood Alliance. "Do...
