1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (musical) 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (musical) 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is a 1976 musical with music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. It is considered to be a legendary Broadway flop, running only seven performances. It was Bernstein's last original score for Broadway. The musical opened on May 4, 1976, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre and closed on May 8, 1976, after 7 performances and 13 previews. It was co-directed and co-choreographed by Gilbert Moses and George Faison. The musical examined the establishment of the White House and its occupants from 1800 to 1900. Primarily focusing on race
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site in 1837. The city blocks where the National Gallery of Art now stands became a fashionable residential area in the 1830s. In the 1860s, the area saw significant deterioration despite continuing improvements to Pennsylvania Avenue itself. Pennsylvania Avenue was lit with coal gas streetlights in 1851. The avenue was one of the few fully lit streets in the entire city of Washington. In July 1862, a horse-drawn trolley line was built along the street between the Capitol and White House. But despite these many improvements, much of the Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Site south of Pennsylvania Avenue had become a disreputable