Built by the actor Richard Burbage in 1959, the Globe Theatre was a large, twenty-sided, thatched building, with a center open to the sky. The thatch caught fire in 1613, because of a cannon discharge during a performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII. Shakespeare had a share in the theatre and often performed there. The Globe was rebuilt in 1614, and demolished in 1644.

Horne took her first steps into show business as a dancer at Harlem's Cotton Club. After a brief marriage, during which had two children, she began singing with Noble Sissle's Society Orchestra. At a New York nightspot, an MGM talent scout saw her and arranged a screen test. She starred in two memorable black musicals: Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather. She became an international star, sharing the stage with the likes of Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Billy Eckstein, Vic Damone, and Harry Belafonte. She also starred in musical and television specials with Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra. In 1978, Horne returned to films as Glinda the Good Witch, in The Wiz.

After 904 performances, Kiss of the Spiderwoman—adapted from the film of the same name—closed at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. The play featured Broadway legend Chita Rivera as the "Spider Woman," a role for which she won the Tony Award® for Best Actress in a Musical, in 1993.

Coward penned a supernatural comedy about life and death in English society, at a time when Britain faced possible Nazi invasion. Coward began his career as an extra in a D.W. Griffith film. After a few parts in London musicals, and a brief tour in the English army, Coward traveled to America, where he saw several Broadways shows, the spirit of which he would inject into later works, such as Private Lives (1930) and Design for Living (1932). Coward's works are known for their satire and sophisticated wit, and his songs are known for their clever lyrics. Coward was knighted in 1970.

Hurt learned to play blues guitar at 10. In 1927, Hurt was "discovered" and signed with Okeh Records. Hurt traveled to Memphis, Tennessee in 1928 and recorded eight sides, only two of which were released. Hurt's personal vocal style was best suited for small intimate settings, thus he became of one of the first blues artists to rely largely on recordings. His best known songs include "Avalon Blues," "Big Leg Blues" and "Sack O'Lee Blues." In 1963 musicologist Tom Hoskins visited Hurt, and inspired him to return to performing. With a performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, Hurt's star again began to rise.

Simon grew up in Manhattan and briefly attended New York University and the University of Denver. He began his career in the mid 1950s, when he joined the staff of the landmark live television comedy series Your Show of Shows. By the 1960s, Simon focused on writing plays for Broadway, and achieved his first success with Come Blow Your Horn, followed by Barefoot in the Park. Throughout the 60s and 70s Simon produced hit after hit for both stage and screen, most based in New York and borrowing material from his own life. In the 80s he produced his landmark trilogy – Brighton Beach Memoir, Biloxi Blues, and Broadway Bound. Simon also has the distinction of being the only living playwright to have a Broadway theater named for him.

The year 1916 saw a large polio outbreak in the United States. In cities like New York, the number of cases was so staggering that extreme measures were taken to protect public health. As a result, children under 16 were banned from New York City theaters, and some 200 theaters shut for the duration of summer. Polio became less of a problem in the 1950s, when American physician Jonas Salk developed the first vaccine to prevent the spread of polio.