The Beggar's Opera Premieres
January 29, 1728
John Gay's ballad opera, set among London's whores and thieves, opened at Lincoln's Inn Fields. Audiences recognized Walpole's ministry behind the highwayman Macheath. It ran for an unheard-of sixty-two nights. Gay made Rich gay and Gay rich, ran the quip about his producer. English theater had discovered the political musical.
In context
Also in 1728 (3 other events on record)
- Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I Rises · South Asia · War
- Bering Sails the Strait That Will Bear His Name · Europe · Exploration
- Pope's Dunciad · Europe · Culture
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.