Mr. Terrell booked Louis Armstrong right in the middle of the 1959 Musicals Season to perform for one week, July 7 thru July 12. He was testing the possibility and audience reaction of booking jazz artists, considering it would be a good match for Monday nights, a night that the theater had been dark since its inception.
Armstrong's appearance was a success, so the following year, 1960, Louis Armstrong and Paul Whiteman were each booked for a full week at the beginning of the season. Then he filled out the rest of the season's Monday nights with jazz greats.
As the popularity of these concerts grew, 4:00 PM Sunday afternoon concerts were added to the season schedule in 1961. First mostly Folk Singers were booked, but that gradually expanded to Rock and Contemporary/Pop performers.
In 1970, the Music Circus' last year, there were no musicals or plays produced—all performances were concerts.
The Dukes of Dixieland
The Modern Jazz Quartet
