LIGHTNIN’ PARADE . Eightnin’ was a play by Frank Bacon (also its star) and Winthrop Ames that opened at the Gaiety Theater on August 26, 1918. John Golden was the producer of what was to become at that time the longest-running play in Broadway history. Its run of 1,291 performances was not surpassed until Abie’s Irish Rose ran 2,327 performances in the early 1930s.
When Lightnin’ closed, the event was marked by a...