|
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in the newly built Aldwych as a pair with the Waldorf Theatre, now known as the Novello Theatre. Both buildings were designed in the Edwardian Baroque style by W. G. R. Sprague. The Aldwych Theatre was funded by Seymour Hicks in association with the American impresario Charles Frohman, and built by Walter Wallis of Balham. The theatre opened on 23 December 1905 with a production of ''Blue Bell'', a new version of Hicks's popular pantomime ''Bluebell in Fairyland''. In 1906, Hicks's ''The Beauty of Bath'', followed in 1907 by '' The Gay Gordons'', played at the theatre. In February 1913, the theatre was used by Serge Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky for the first rehearsals of ''Le Sacre du Printemps'' before its première in Paris during May. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aldwych
Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the List of areas of London, area immediately surrounding it in central London, England, within the City of Westminster. The street starts Points of the compass, east-northeast of Charing Cross, the conventional map centre-point of the city. The street's semi-circular design arises from its function, making navigable the gradient of the fall in levels between the roads connected by the street: the south end of Kingsway, London, Kingsway, and the Strand, London, Strand. It forms part of the A4 road (England), A4 road from London to Avonmouth, Bristol. The Aldwych area forms part of the Northbank business improvement district. It is known for hotels, restaurants, two theatres, the India House, London, High Commissions of India and High Commission of Australia, London, Australia. It gives its name to the now-closed Aldwych tube station, Underground station on the related section of the Strand, London, Strand (the return of the cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreographer cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. Born in Kiev to Polish parents, Nijinsky grew up in Imperial Russia but considered himself to be Polish. He was celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations. He could dance ''en pointe'', a rare skill among male dancers at the time, and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. Nijinsky was introduced to dance by his parents, who were senior dancers with the travelling Setov opera company, and his early childhood was spent touring with the company. His elder brother Stanislav and younger sister Bronislava "Bronia" Nijinska also became dancers; Bronia also became a choreographer, working closely with him for much of his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Das Dreimäderlhaus
''Das Dreimäderlhaus'' (''House of the Three Girls''), adapted into English-language versions as ''Blossom Time'' and ''Lilac Time'', is a Viennese pastiche operetta with music by Franz Schubert, rearranged by Heinrich Berté (1857–1924), and a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and . The work gives a fictionalized account of Schubert's romantic life, and the story was adapted from the 1912 novel ''Schwammerl'' by Rudolf Hans Bartsch (1873–1952). Originally the score was mostly Berté, with just one piece of Schubert's ("Ungeduld" from ''Die schöne Müllerin''), but the producers required Berté to discard his score and create a pasticcio of Schubert music. The original production opened at the Raimundtheater in Vienna on 15 January 1916 and ran for over 650 performances in its original run in Austria and for hundreds more in Germany, followed by many successful revivals. It starred Fritz Schrödter as Schubert and Anny Rainer as Hannerl. Schrödter was already 60 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Tauber
Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theatre, and Richard Anton Tauber, an actor; his parents were not married and his father was reportedly unaware of the birth as he was touring North America at the time. The child was given the name Richard Denemy; he was sometimes known as arlRichard Tauber, and also used his mother's married name, Seiffert; but the claim by the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' that he was ever known as Ernst Seiffert has no support from any of the 12 published books and monographs about him listed in Daniel O'Hara's comprehensive Richard Tauber Chronology. After he was adopted by his father in 1913, his legal name became Richard Denemy-Tauber. Tauber accompanied his mother on tour to theatres, but she found it increasingly difficult to cope, and left him with fos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robertson Hare
John Robertson Hare, OBE (17 December 1891 – 25 January 1979) was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by more recent audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the popular BBC sitcom, ''All Gas and Gaiters''. Short in stature and of unheroic appearance, Hare made his stage career in character roles. From his early days as an actor he was cast as older men. One of his favourite parts, which he played in the provinces before achieving West End success, was "Grumpy", a retired lawyer, in which he toured before the First World War. After war service in the army, Hare got his big break. He was cast in a long-running farce with Ralph Lynn and Tom Walls. His meek and put-upon character was repeated in various incarnations in the eleven Aldwych farces presented by Walls between 1923 and 1933. He also appeared in film versions of most of the farces. After the Aldwych series came to an end, Hare continued to be cast in similar roles in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winifred Shotter
Winifred Florence Shotter (5 November 1904 – 4 April 1996) was an English actress best known for her appearances in the Aldwych farces of the 1920s and early 1930s. Initially a singer and dancer in the ensembles of musical comedies, Shotter was spotted by the comedian and producer Leslie Henson. He recommended her to his colleague Tom Walls, who was in search of a leading lady to succeed Yvonne Arnaud in his series of farces at the Aldwych Theatre, London. From 1926 to 1932, Shotter played in eight of the farces, in a regular company headed by Walls and Ralph Lynn. She appeared in several films during the 1930s, including adaptations of four of the Aldwych plays. After the Aldwych series ended, Shotter appeared in numerous West End shows, worked briefly in Hollywood, and continued to appear in British films. During the Second World War she joined the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), performing for troops in Europe and Asia. An example is French Leave, a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Brough
Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blessed Virgin Mary * Mary Magdalene, devoted follower of Jesus * Mary of Bethany, follower of Jesus, considered by Western medieval tradition to be the same person as Mary Magdalene * Mary, mother of James * Mary of Clopas, follower of Jesus * Mary, mother of John Mark * Mary of Egypt, patron saint of penitents * Mary of Rome, a New Testament woman * Mary, mother of Zechariah and sister of Moses and Aaron; mostly known by the Hebrew name: Miriam * Mary the Jewess one of the reputed founders of alchemy, referred to by Zosimus. * Mary 2.0, Roman Catholic women's movement * Maryam (surah) "Mary", 19th surah (chapter) of the Qur'an Royalty * Mary, Countess of Blois (1200–1241), daughter of Walter of Avesnes and Margaret of Blois * Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon James (actor)
Gordon James (22 July 1877 – 3 February 1949) was an English actor who became known as the "heavy" in the Aldwych farces, between 1923 and 1933. He also appeared in some twenty films between 1929 and 1942. Born in Manchester as Sydney Lynn, he was the brother of Ralph Lynn, who co-starred in the Aldwych farces with Tom Walls. James appeared alongside his brother in all twelve of the farces. They were two of only three performers to appear in every one of the Aldwych series; the other was Robertson Hare. James's roles were: George McChesney in '' It Pays to Advertise'' (1923, under his real name); Noony in ''A Cuckoo in the Nest'' (1925); Admiral Juddy in '' Rookery Nook''; Death in '' Thark'' (1927); Simon Veal in ''Plunder'' (1928); Nicholas Ramsbotham in '' A Cup of Kindness'' (1929); Knee in '' A Night Like This'' (1930); Luke Meate in '' Turkey Time'' (1931); Toom in '' Dirty Work'' (1932); Francis in '' Fifty-Fifty'' (1932); and Old Dale in ''A Bit of a Test'' (1933). He m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Coleridge
Ethel Coleridge (14 January 1883 – 15 August 1976) was an English actress, best known for her roles in the original Aldwych farces in the 1920s and 1930s. Life and career Coleridge was born Ethel Coleridge Tucker in South Molton, Devonshire, and educated at Bristol University. At the age of 22 she appeared onstage for the first time as a member of the chorus in ''Carmen''.Miss Ethel Coleridge, ''The Times'', 18 August 1976, p. 14 Over the next fifteen years she acted in a wide range of touring companies, and finally made her West End debut in a cast led by Gladys Cooper, in a revival of ''My Lady's Dress'' by Edward Knoblock; she played several roles in the piece, including Mrs Moss, "a stout, elderly, motherly type". Following this she was cast as Nancy Sibley in a revival of Knoblock and Arnold Bennett's ''Milestones''. Over the next six years she played character roles in plays ranging from earnest drama to farce, and in 1926 she was recruited by Tom Walls for what became v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Walls
Thomas Kirby Walls (18 February 1883 – 27 November 1949) was an English stage and film actor, producer and director, best known for presenting and co-starring in the Aldwych farces in the 1920s and for starring in and directing the film adaptations of those plays in the 1930s. Walls spent his early years as an actor, from 1905, mostly in musical comedy, touring the British provinces, North America and Australia and in the West End. He specialised in comic character roles, typically flirtatious middle aged men. In 1922 he went into management in partnership with the comic actor Leslie Henson. They had an early success in the West End with a long-running farce, '' Tons of Money'', after which Walls commissioned and staged a series of farces at the Aldwych Theatre that ran almost continuously over the next decade. He and his co-star Ralph Lynn were among the most popular British actors of their time. In addition to his work in the theatre, Walls directed and acted in more than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Lynn
Ralph Clifford Lynn (8 March 1882 – 8 August 1962) was an English actor who had a 60-year career, and is best remembered for playing comedy parts in the Aldwych farces first on stage and then in film. Lynn became an actor at the age of 18 and very soon began to be cast in knut or "silly ass" roles. He played such parts as a supporting actor for more than two decades until 1922, when he was cast in the lead of a new West End farce, '' Tons of Money'', in which he achieved immediate stardom. After the success of this play, its co-producer, the actor-manager Tom Walls, leased the Aldwych Theatre in London, where for the next ten years he and Lynn co-starred in a series of successful farces, most of which were written for them by Ben Travers. Many of the Aldwych farces were made into films starring Lynn and Walls, and the two were ranked among the most popular British film actors of the 1930s. He continued his stage career during and after the Second World War, scoring anothe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Travers
Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is best remembered for his long-running Aldwych farce, series of farces first staged in the 1920s and 1930s at the Aldwych Theatre. Many of these were made into films and later television productions. After working for some years in his family's wholesale grocery business, which he detested, Travers was given a job by the publisher John Lane (publisher), John Lane in 1911. After service as a pilot in the First World War, he began to write novels and plays. He turned his 1921 novel, ''The Dippers'', into a play that was first produced in the West End theatre, West End in 1922. His big break came in 1925, when the actor-manager Tom Walls bought the performing rights to his play ''A Cuckoo in the Nest'', which ran for more than a year at the Aldwych. He followed this success with eight more farces for Walls and his te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_photographed_at_Krasnoe_Selo%2C_summer_1907.jpg "Click for more on -> Vaslav Nijinsky")
