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America's Sweetheart (musical)
''America's Sweetheart'' is a musical theater, musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields. Production ''America's Sweetheart'' premiered on Broadway theatre, Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on February 10, 1931, and closed on June 6, 1931, after 135 performances. It was produced by Laurence Schwab and Frank Mandel, directed by Monty Woolley, with choreography and production supervision by Bobby Connolly, with set design by Donald Oenslager and costume design by Charles Le Maire. The show starred Jack Whiting (actor), Jack Whiting, Ann Sothern (using her real name Harriet Lake), Inez Courtney, and Virginia Bruce. The show is a Hollywood satire. Two young lovers hitchhike to Hollywood to make their fortune. The girl hits it big and loses interest in her boyfriend, who hasn't fared as well. Later, the introduction of talking pictures reverses their fortunes, and the boyfriend's career eclipses the girlfriend's, but they make up. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music. Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including ''Pal Joey (musical), Pal Joey'', ''A Connecticut Yankee (musical), A Connecticut Yankee'', ''On Your Toes'' and ''Babes in Arms.'' With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Oklahoma!'', ''Flower Drum Song'', ''Carousel (musical), Carousel'', ''South Pacific (musical), South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for brin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Whiting (actor)
Jack Whiting (born Albert Draper Whiting, Jr.; June 22, 1901 – February 15, 1961) was an American actor, singer and dancer whose career ran from the early 1920s through the late 1950s, playing leading men or major supporting figures. He performed in 30+ musicals on Broadway, including ''Stepping Stones'' (1923–1924), ''Hold Everything!'' (1928–1929), '' Take A Chance'' (1932–1933), ''Hooray for What!'' (1937–1938), '' Hold On to Your Hats'' (1940–1941), ''Hazel Flagg'' (1953) and '' The Golden Apple'' (1954). As a dancer, his talent was likened to Fred Astaire's and Gene Kelly's. He starred in London's West End premieres of ''Anything Goes'' (1935–1936) and ''On Your Toes'' (1937), and recorded medleys from these shows while in England. As a singer, he enjoyed great success with a few hit songs, such as "You're the Cream in My Coffee" (1928), "I've Got Five Dollars" (1931), and "Every Street's A Boulevard In Old New York" (1953). Whiting acted in theatre plays ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Original Musicals
Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from replica, reproductions, clones, forgery, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion that is often called romantic originality.Smith (1924)Waterhouse (1926)Macfarlane (2007) The validity of "originality" as an operational concept has been questioned. For example, there is no clear boundary between "derivative" and "inspired by" or "in the tradition of." The concept of originality is both culturally and historically contingent. For example, unattributed reiteration of a published text in one culture might be considered plagiarism but in another culture might be regarded as a convention of veneration. At the time of Shakespeare, it was more common to appreciate the similarity with an admired classical work, and Shakespeare himself avoided "unnecessary invention".Royal Shakespeare Company (2007) ''The RSC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadway Musicals
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names (12 others used neither), with many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also using the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, are the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats, located in the Theater District and the Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End theatre, West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the thoroughfare is eponymous with the district and its collection of 41 theaters, and it is also closely identified with Times Square, only three of the theaters are located on Broadway itself (nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1931 Musicals
Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia. * January 25 – Mohandas Gandhi is again released from imprisonment in India. * January 27 – Pierre Laval forms a government in France. February * February 4 – Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gives a speech calling for rapid industrialization, arguing that only strong industrialized countries will win wars, while "weak" nations are "beaten". Stalin states: "We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they will crush us." The first five-year plan in the Soviet Union is intensified, for the industrialization and collectivization of agriculture. * February 10 – Official ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I've Got Five Dollars
"I've Got Five Dollars" is a 1931 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical '' America's Sweetheart'' (1931) where it was introduced by Harriette Lake (aka Ann Sothern) and Jack Whiting. Popular recordings in 1931 were by Ben Pollack (recorded March 2, 1931 for Perfect Records, No. 15431) and by Emil Coleman & his Orchestra (recorded January 23, 1931, Brunswick 6036) with Smith Ballew, vocal refrain. Note that this is a different song than the country and western song titled " I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night" written by Ted Daffan. Other notable recordings *Lee Morse & Her Bluegrass Boys (recorded February 20, 1931, Columbia 2417-D) (1931) *Lee Wiley - on Gala 78 (1940) *Bing Crosby - ''Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings'' (1956) *Ella Fitzgerald - ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook'' (1956) *Jeri Southern - included in her album ''Jeri Gently Jumps'' (1957) *Anita O'Day - recorded for her album ''Anita O'Day ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Bruce
Virginia Bruce (born Helen Virginia Briggs; September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer. Early life Bruce was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an infant she moved with her parents, Earil and Margaret Briggs, to Fargo, North Dakota. The city directory of Fargo documents that the Briggs family lived there at 421 14th Street South. After Virginia graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1928, she moved with her family to Los Angeles intending to enroll in the University of California, Los Angeles when a friendly wager sent her seeking film work. Career Bruce's first screen work was in 1929 as an extra for Paramount Pictures, Paramount in ''Why Bring That Up?'' In 1930, she appeared on Broadway in the musical ''Smiles'' at the Ziegfeld Theatre (1927), Ziegfeld Theatre, followed by the Broadway production ''America's Sweetheart (musical), America's Sweetheart'' in 1931. Bruce returned to Hollywood in 1932, where she began work in early August ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inez Courtney
Inez Courtney (October 12, 1897 – April 5, 1975) was an American actress on the Broadway stage and in films. Early years Born in Amsterdam, New York, Courtney came from a large Irish-American family. After her father's death when she was fifteen, she decided to go onto the stage. Career At age 16, Courtney was doing a specialty dance that earned her the nicknames of ''St Vitis'', ''Mosquito'' and ''Lightning''. Courtney's first role as a singer and dancer came in the musical ''The Little Whopper'' in 1919. She became known among New York theatrical audiences for her work in '' Good News'' (1927), a musical comedy about college life. Her other credits include ''Spring Is Here'' (1929) and '' America's Sweetheart'' (1931). In the early 1930s, she left Broadway and went to Hollywood. Courtney acted in 58 films between 1930 and 1940. She secured her first movie work by asking Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures for his assistance. She made her screen debut as Cousin Betty in ''Lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern (born Harriette Arlene Lake; January 22, 1909 – March 15, 2001) was an American actress who worked on stage, radio, film, and television, in a career that spanned nearly six decades. Sothern began her career in the late 1920s in bit parts in films. In 1930, she made her Broadway stage debut and soon worked her way up to starring roles. In 1939, MGM cast her as Maisie Ravier, a brash yet lovable Brooklyn showgirl. The character, based on the ''Maisie'' short stories by Nell Martin, proved to be popular and spawned a successful film series (''Congo Maisie'', ''Gold Rush Maisie'', ''Up Goes Maisie'', etc.) and a network radio series (''The Adventures of Maisie''). In 1953, Sothern moved into television as the star of her own sitcom ''Private Secretary''. The series aired for five seasons on CBS and earned Sothern three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. In 1958, she starred in another sitcom for CBS, ''The Ann Sothern Show'', which aired for three seasons. From ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Oenslager
Donald Oenslager (March 7, 1902 – June 11, 1975) was an American scenic designer who won the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design. Biography Oenslager was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and attended Harvard University, graduating in 1923. He became interested in design while studying in Europe and his first work as designer was for the ballet "Sooner or Later" in 1925. He had started as an actor in the 1920s at the Greenwich Village Theatre and the Harrisburg Playhouse.Donald Oenslager papers and designs, 1922-1982 held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, , retrieved March 5, 2010 He de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", and "My Funny Valentine". Life and career Hart was born in Harlem, New York City, the elder of two sons, to Jewish immigrant parents, Max M. and Frieda (Isenberg) Hart, of German background. Through his mother, he was a great-grandnephew of the German poet Heinrich Heine. His father, a business promoter, sent Hart and his brother to private schools. (His brother, Teddy Hart, also went into theatre and became a musical comedy star. Teddy Hart's wife, Dorothy Hart, wrote a biography of Lorenz Hart.) Hart received his early education from Columbia Grammar School and entered Columbia College in 1913, before switching to Columbia University School of Journalism, where he attended for two years. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monty Woolley
Edgar Montilion "Monty" Woolley (August 17, 1888May 6, 1963) was an American film and theater actor.Obituary ''Variety'', May 8, 1963, page 223. At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his role in the 1939 stage play ''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' and its 1942 film adaptation. His distinctive white beard was his trademark and he was affectionately known as "The Beard." Early life Woolley was born in New York City's Manhattan to William Edgar Woolley (1845-1927) and Jessie née Arms (1857-1927) and grew up in the highest social circles. Woolley received a bachelor's degree at Yale University, where Cole Porter was an intimate friend and classmate, and master's degrees from Yale and Harvard Universities. He eventually became an assistant professor of English and drama coach at Yale. Thornton Wilder and Stephen Vincent Benét were among his students. He served in World War I in the United States Army as a first lieutenant assigned to the general staff in Paris. Ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
