- Jan 8 "Make Mine Manhattan" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 429 performances
- Jan 8 "My Romance" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 95 performances
- Jan 8 "Small Wonder" closes at Coronet Theater NYC after 134 performances
- Jan 13 "Along 5th Avenue" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 180 performances
- Jan 16 "Rape of Lucretia" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 23 performances
- Jan 22 "All for Love" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 121 performances
- Feb 1 RCA releases 1st single record ever (45 rpm)
Theater Premiere
Feb 10 Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman" opens at Morosco Theater, NYC
Arthur Miller
Music Single
Feb 11 "Lovesick Blues" single released by Hank Williams (Cashbox "Best Hillbilly Record of the Year", Billboard Song of the Year 1949)
Hank Williams
- Feb 12 "Annie Get Your Gun" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1147 performances
Event of Interest
Feb 15 Dmitri Shostakovich' "Song of the Woods" premieres in Leningrad
Dmitri Shostakovich
- Feb 19 "Inside USA" closes at Century Theater NYC after 339 performances
- Apr 7 "South Pacific" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 1928 performances
- May 14 "Love Life" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 252 performances
- Jun 18 "Along Fifth Avenue" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 180 performances
- Jul 2 "High Button Shoes" closes at Century Theater NYC after 727 performances
- Jul 7 "Cabatgata (A Night in Spain)" opens at Broadway NYC for 76 performances
- Jul 9 Benjamin Britten's Jump Symphony premieres
- Jul 15 "Miss Liberty" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 308 performances
- Aug 7 "All after Love" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 121 performances
- Aug 18 Ralph Flanagan & his orchestra records "You're Breaking My Heart"
- Sep 10 "Cabatgata (A Night in Spain)" closes at Broadway NYC after 76 performances
- Oct 9 English ballerina Margot Fonteyn debuts in America with her performance of Sleeping Beauty at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York
- Oct 13 "Touch & Go" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 176 performances
Event of Interest
Oct 30 "Lost in the Stars" by Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill, based on the novel "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 281 performances
Alan Paton
- Oct 30 Kurt Weill & Maxwell Anderson's musical premieres in NYC
- Oct 31 "Regina" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 86 performances
- Nov 25 "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" appears on music charts
- Nov 28 "Texas, Li'l Darlin'" opens at Mark Hellinger NYC for 293 performances
- Dec 8 Jule Styne's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 740 performances
Film Release
Dec 8 "On the Town", the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen, is released
Vera-Ellen
Frank Sinatra
- Dec 17 "Regina" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 86 performances