Over the years, the Imperial has witnessed a distinguished roster of hits. Its inaugural production was
Mary Jane McKane (1923) followed by Broadway’s biggest grosser of the 1920s, the operetta
Rose-Marie (1924). Next was George and Ira Gershwin’s
Oh, Kay! (1926) starring Gertrude Lawrence, which included the now-classic “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Successes of the 1930s included two George and Ira Gershwin tuners,
Of Thee I Sing (1933) and
Let ‘Em Eat Cake (1933), Moss Hart and Cole Porter’s
Jubilee (1935), which featured premieres of “Begin the Beguine” and “Just One of Those Things”, and Rodgers and Hart’s
On Your Toes (1936). Mary Martin debuted on Broadway in Cole Porter’s
Leave It to Me (1938), singing “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”, and backed up by a chorus boy named Gene Kelly.
Many of the 20th century’s most respected and successful composers and musical theatre stars played the Imperial Theatre. Irving Berlin had four hits here in the 1940s:
Louisiana Purchase (1940),
Miss Liberty (1949),
Annie Get Your Gun (1946) and
Call Me Madam (1950). Cole Porter had his collaboration with Herbert and Dorothy Fields
Let’s Face It (1941), and
Silk Stockings (1955).
Frank Loesser’s
The Most Happy Fella (1956) led a new generation of hits, followed by
Carnival (1960),
Oliver! (1963) and the history-making
Fiddler on the Roof (1964) starring Zero Mostel, which went on to become the longest running musical of its time in Broadway history. When
Fiddler transferred to the Majestic to finish its run, two John Kander and Fred Ebb musicals moved in:
Cabaret (1967) and
Zorba (1968).
The most successful shows of the 1970s were Bob Fosse’s production of Stephen Schwartz’s
Pippin (1972) starring Ben Vereen, and back-to-back Neil Simon hits:
Chapter Two (1977) and
They’re Playing Our Song (1979). Michael Bennett’s
Dreamgirls (1981) was followed by two Shubert-produced musicals:
Chess (1988) and
Jerome Robbins' Broadway (1989). In 1990,
Les Misérables moved to the Imperial from the Broadway, and completed its 6,680 performance run.
The Imperial welcomed Australian heartthrob Hugh Jackman in the Peter Allen musical biography,
The Boy From Oz in 2003, followed by the award-winning musical
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), Tracy Lett's acclaimed
August: Osage County (2007), the Tony Award-winning Best Musical
Billy Elliot (2008) and
Nice Work if You Can Get It (2012) with Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara, the revival of
Les Miserables (2014) and Josh Groban's Broadway debut in
The Great Comet of 1812 (2016).
Visit the Internet Broadway Database for a complete list.
