Musical Theater
- Barnum London production opened at the London Palladium on June 11 and ran for 655 performances
- Bring Back Birdie Broadway production
- Cats (Andrew Lloyd Webber) – London production opened at the New London Theatre on May 11 and ran for 8949 performances
- Dreamgirls Broadway production opened on December 20 at the Imperial Theatre and ran for 1522 performances
- March of the Falsettoes off-Broadway production
- Merrily We Roll Along – Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 16 and ran for 16 performances
- The Pirates of Penzance Broadway revival
- Song and Dance London production
- Woman of the Year Broadway production opened at the Palace Theatre on March 29 and ran for 770 performances
Read more about this topic: 1981 In Music
Famous quotes containing the words musical and/or theater:
“If we cannot sing of faith and triumph, we will sing our despair. We will be that kind of bird. There are day owls, and there are night owls, and each is beautiful and even musical while about its business.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We all know that the theater and every play that comes to Broadway have within themselves, like the human being, the seed of self-destruction and the certainty of death. The thing is to see how long the theater, the play, and the human being can last in spite of themselves.”
—James Thurber (1894–1961)