In the early 1960s, I saw my first Broadway musical, Destry Rides Again. Do I remember correctly that Andy Griffith was one of the leads?
—Matt Banovetz, Babbitt, Minn.
That was, indeed, Andy Griffith in Destry Rides Again, which played for 14 months on Broadway before ending its run in the summer of 1960. During one performance, a small fire broke out backstage. Although it was extinguished quickly, enough smoke drifted onstage that there could have been a panic had not Griffith and his co-star, Delores Gray, continued calmly with the scene. For keeping their cool—and the audience collected—the New York City fire commissioner gave them citations for heroism.
