Trivia about Stage Musicals
- The origins of theater musicals began around 5th century BC in ancient Greece, where music and dance were part of both comedies and tragedies of the stage. Unfortunately these compositions have been lost to time.
- Music was included in the religious stage works of the Medieval Era, mainly church hymns and chants. Much of this has been lost as well, but by the late 14th and 15th centuries there were a larger number of plays and performances documented.
- Musical theater also traces its lineage to the ballad operas and comic operas of the 18th century, as well as vaudeville, British music hall, melodrama and burlesque.*
- The longest-running Broadway musical is The Phantom of the Opera, which opened in 1988 and is still being performed today at The Majestic. It has had 13,370 performances as of 2020.**
- The world's longest-running musical is The Fantastiks, which opened off-Broadway in 1960. By its 55th anniversary in 2015, it had run 20,672 performances in two city venues.***
*Information from New World Encyclopedia, "Musical Theater."
**Information from Playbill's "Longest-Running Shows on Broadway." 2020.
***Information from The Hollywood Reporter, "World's Longest-Running Musical 'The Fantasticks' To Close on 55th Anniversary." 2015.
Our 2019-2020 season is sponsored by Alan and Susan Becker
First Folio's programs are sponsored in part by grants from the Illinois Arts Council (a State agency) and the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.
First Folio Theatre is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
All performances take place on the grounds of the Mayslake Peabody Estate, which is owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. Indoor shows are presented in Mayslake Hall, a 30-room Tudor Revival style mansion originally built by coal baron Francis S. Peabody. Completed in 1922, the mansion is on the National Registry of Historic Places.
First Folio Theatre is fully accessible with reserved ADA seating available and assisted listening devices available for all indoor performances. To request ADA seating, please contact the Box Office at 630-986-8067.