Musical Theater
- Black Velvet London revue opened at the Hippodrome Theatre on November 14 and ran for 620 performances
- The Dancing Years London production opened at the Drury Lane Theatre on March 23 and ran for 187 performances
- Du Barry Was A Lady Broadway production opened at the 46th Street Theatre on December 6 and ran for 408 performances
- Folies Bergère Broadway revue opened at the Broadway Theatre on December 25 and ran for 121 performances
- George White's Scandals of 1939 Broadway revue opened at the Alvin Theatre on August 28 and ran for 120 performances
- Haw-Haw (Music: Harry Parr Davies Words: Phil Park Script: Max Miller & Ben Lyon) opened at the Holborn Empire on December 22. Starring Bebe Daniels, Ben Lyon and Max Miller.
- The Little Revue London revue opened at The Little Theatre on April 21 and ran for 415 performances
- Magyar Melody London production opened at His Majesty's Theatre on January 20 and ran for 105 performances
- New Pins And Needles Broadway revue (a renamed version of Pins and Needles which opened in 1937)
- Runaway Love opened at the Saville Theatre on November 3 and ran for 195 performances
- Shephard's Pie London revue opened at the Princes Theatre on December 21
- Stars in Your Eyes (Book: J. P. McEvoy Lyrics: Dorothy Fields Music: Arthur Schwartz) Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on February 9 and ran for 127 performances.
- The Straw Hat Revue opened at the Ambassador Theatre on September 29 and ran for 75 performances
- The Streets of Paris Broadway revue opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on June 19 and ran for 274 performances
- Swingin' the Dream Broadway production opened at the Center Theatre on November 29 and ran for 13 performances. A musical version of A Midsummer Night's Dream starring Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman & his Sextet and Maxine Sullivan.
- Too Many Girls Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on October 18 and ran for 249 performances.
- Very Warm for May Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 17 and ran for 59 performances
Read more about this topic: 1939 In Music
Famous quotes containing the words musical and/or theater:
“Then, bringing me the joy we feel when wee see a work by our favorite painter which differs from any other that we know, or if we are led before a painting of which we have until then only seen a pencil sketch, if a musical piece heard only on the piano appears before us clothed in the colors of the orchestra, my grandfather called me the [hawthorn] hedge at Tansonville, saying, “You who are so fond of hawthorns, look at this pink thorn, isn’t it lovely?””
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“The primary function of a theater is not to please itself, or even to please its audience. It is to serve talent.”
—Robert Brustein (b. 1927)