March 7, 1955: NBC Broadcasts "Peter Pan" Live

March 7, 1955: NBC airs the Broadway musical Peter Pan as an installment of their program Producers' Showcase. It is the 1st full-length Broadway show ever aired on color television, although very few Americans had color TV at the time, and only a black-and-white kinescope of the performance survives.

The production used most of the original cast, which had staged it at the Winter Garden Theatre at 1634 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, from October 20, 1954 until February 26, 1955, specifically closing to prepare for the TV broadcast. Mary Martin played Peter, and Australian actor Cyril Ritchard played Captain Hook.

Martin's starring role was not unusual: Since James M. Barrie's novel Peter Pan was published in 1904, it had usually staged with a woman in the part of Peter, including shortly after the book's publication, by English actress Nina Boucicault.

Martin had previously starred as Nellie Forbush in the original production of South Pacific, and would go on to play Maria von Trapp in the original production of The Sound of Music, although she didn't star in the film versions of any of these stories.

The broadcast attracted 65 million viewers, a record for American television that stood for nearly 9 years, until The Beatles played on The Ed Sullivan Show. The '55 version of Peter Pan had enough of an impact on its viewers that, 34 years later, Billy Joel mentioned it in his song "We Didn't Start the Fire." It was shown again on Producers' Showcase on January 9, 1956. Again, it was shown in color. But, again, only a black & white version survives.

And with Mitzi Gaynor having starred in the film version of South Pacific, and Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, when Mary Martin is remembered at all today, it is usually as the mother of actor Larry Hagman.

Built in 1911, the Winter Garden still stands. Since Peter Pan, it has staged the original Broadway productions of West Side Story, Funny Girl, Follies, Mamma Mia! and, from 1982 to 2001, Cats.

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March 7, 1955 was a Monday. Minnesota Vikings All-Pro quarterback Tommy Kramer and comic book writer Michael Jan Friedman were born on this day.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. And no games were scheduled in the NHL.

There were 2 games played in the NBA, a doubleheader at the Boston Garden. The New York Knicks lost to the Minneapolis Lakers, 97-96. Then, the Boston Celtics beat the Fort Wayne Pistons, 110-91.