Remember me to Herald Square.

November 6, 2003 1:55 AM

The Internet Broadway Database From The Prisoner of Zenda, which opened Sep. 4, 1895, to (well) Urinetown, due to close in January, a comprehensive hyperlinked database of official Broadway performances through the years.
posted by dhartung (10 comments total)

Data courtesy the League of American Theaters and Producers, who should know (and partners, such as NY State). Years ago, as a sometime participant in the rec.arts.movies newsgroup which hatched the "Actors List" and others that became the nucleus of the Internet Movie Database, I suggested that theater credits would be a useful addition. Their reply was experienced: "Wonderful idea. Put together a list and start posting it." Needless to say....

Actually, I've beaten my own sleuthing already, finding less comprehensive credits dating back to Griffith Gaunt, a production which debuted 137 years ago tomorrow.
posted by dhartung at 2:01 AM on November 6, 2003

Of course, before posting, I should have checked that most prolific playwright for his first trans-Atlantic (equity) production. And the theater where it played shows up even earlier. Ah, enough of this game.
posted by dhartung at 2:52 AM on November 6, 2003

Absolutely terrific, dhartung - many, many thanks.

I have a substantial little library of expensive theatre reference books and - not as typical a reaction to the Web as you'd think - I now wish I'd, er, waited a little more.

On a frivolous note, the shows which opened on my birthday are better than yours. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 3:45 AM on November 6, 2003

An excellent resource, thanks. Of course, as a (former) musical comedy queen (but still serious admirer of American musicals), I'd find it so much more valuable if it went one level deeper - to list and allow searching of individual songs from musicals... It would also be interesting to have access to "who played what" over the run of a show. Right now, there's history for individual actors, and indicators if an actor left a show during the run, but no link from character names back to a list of actors that played that part. Again, this would probably be more useful from the musical side than the play side, since the musicals tend to run longer and change casts more frequently.
posted by JollyWanker at 5:39 AM on November 6, 2003

The Prisoner of Zenda is my favorite Nintendo game ever.
posted by emptybowl at 7:02 AM on November 6, 2003

I just saw Avenue Q the other day (my review). By far one of the funniest things I've ever seen ever.

Any child of the Muppet generation needs to see this.
posted by KnitWit at 7:47 AM on November 6, 2003

Excellent link! Now we just have to wait for the much more extensive and complicated IOBDB.

"Wonderful idea. Put together a list and start posting it." Needless to say....

Wait a minute. So you're saying this is essentially a self-link?

Anyway, thanks. This is a great resource.
posted by soyjoy at 8:06 AM on November 6, 2003

[this is good]
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:03 AM on November 6, 2003

Excellent link! Now we just have to wait for the much more extensive and complicated IOBDB.

Ta-da! (Not nearly as complete, however.)
posted by thomas j wise at 11:41 AM on November 6, 2003

Not forgetting the Internet Theatre Database and its ~evil twin~, the Internet Theater Database, which claims in the tradition of the ol' IMDb, to be "for the fans by the fans". Necessarily incomplete, but aspires to include professional theatre outside New York.

What? Pish! Of course it exists!
posted by bradlands at 2:24 PM on November 6, 2003