Bill Kenwright
William Kenwright, CBE (born 4 September 1945) is an English West End theatre producer and film producer. He has also been the chairman of Everton Football Club since 2004. Kenwright was born in Liverpool and attended Booker Avenue County Primary School, and then Liverpool Institute High School from 1957 to 1964. He appeared in school productions (including Shylock in ''The Merchant of Venice'') on the stage in the Mount Street building (predecessor to LIPA). He was also treasurer of the Christian Union at school. Kenwright was a judge in the 2007 BBC1 television series '' Any Dream Will Do''. Theatre Kenwright is one of the UK's most successful theatre producers, best known for the long-running West End hit '' Blood Brothers'' and the record-breaking UK tour of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''. Other productions have included West End runs of '' Whistle Down the Wind'' at the Palace Theatre, ''Festen'' in London, on a UK tour and on Broadway, '' The Big Life' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Order Of The British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were originally made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire (later Commonwealth) and the Viceroy of India. Nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most Commonwealth countries ceased recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire when they ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Scrooge (musical)
''Scrooge: The Musical'' is a 1992 stage musical with book, music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. Its score and book are closely adapted from the music and screenplay of the 1970 musical film '' Scrooge'' starring Albert Finney and Charles Dickens' 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. Bricusse was nominated for an Academy Award for the song score he wrote for the film, and most of those songs were carried over to the musical. Synopsis Act One The musical opens with the company singing a Christmas carol medley as the city of London begins to reminisce over the coming of Christmas ("Sing A Christmas Carol"). Meanwhile, Scrooge and his clerk Bob Cratchit are visited by Scrooge's nephew Harry, who in contrast to his uncle, is excited for Christmas and deplores how he is making Cratchit still work at 7pm on Christmas Eve. Scrooge asks him to leave. After work, Bob Cratchit, his disabled son Tiny Tim and his daughter Kathy go Christmas shopping on the streets of London ("Christmas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Love Never Dies (musical)
''Love Never Dies'' is a romantic musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and a book by Lloyd Webber, Ben Elton, Frederick Forsyth, and Slater. It is a sequel to the long-running 1986 musical ''The Phantom of the Opera'' and was loosely adapted from Forsyth's 1999 novel '' The Phantom of Manhattan''. The plot is not based on the storyline in the original 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux. Lloyd Webber stated, "I don't regard this as a sequel—it's a stand-alone piece." He later clarified, "Clearly, it is a sequel, but I really do not believe that you have to have seen ''Phantom of the Opera'' to understand ''Love Never Dies''." Glenn Slater subsequently explained that Lloyd Webber "didn’t view it as a sequel as much as 'a second story with these characters'". The musical is set in 1907, which Lloyd Webber states is "ten years roughly after the end of the original ''Phantom''", although the events of the original actually took place in 1881. In the show ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. Several of his songs have been widely recorded and were successful outside of their parent musicals, such as "Memory" from '' Cats,'' "The Music of the Night" and " All I Ask of You" from ''The Phantom of the Opera'', "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from ''Evita'', and " Any Dream Will Do" from '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.'' In 2001, ''The New York Times'' referred to him as "the most commercially successful composer in history". ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him the "fifth most powerful person in British culture" in 2008, lyricist Don Black writing "Andrew more or less single-ha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Marc Sinden
Marcus Andrew Sinden (born 9 May 1954) is an English actor and film & theatre director and producer. Sinden has worked in film and theatre (mainly in London's West End) as both actor and producer and directed the documentary series ''Great West End Theatres'', detailing the history of the 40 major playhouses in London. He was artistic director of the Mermaid Theatre and inaugurated the British Theatre Season in Monaco, which was awarded a Royal Warrant by Prince Albert of Monaco. His first West End production was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment and another won the Stage Award for Best Ensemble work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He is also the director and co-author of the touring anthology ''Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners'' and was nominated for a Sony Award for his voice-overs for the Apple Computers TV advertisements. In 1968 he and his older brother, actor Jeremy Sinden, were part of the "Na-Na" chorus on "Hey Jude" by the Beatles ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sheila Hancock
Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress, singer, and author. Hancock trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before starting her career in repertory theatre. Hancock went on to perform in plays and musicals in London, and her Broadway debut in ''Entertaining Mr Sloane'' (1966) earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in Play. Hancock won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role in ''Cabaret'' (2007) and was nominated at the Laurence Olivier Awards five other times for her work in ''Annie'' (1978), ''Sweeney Todd'' (1980), ''The Winter's Tale'' (1982), ''Prin'' (1989) and ''Sister Act'' (2010). Early life Sheila Cameron Hancock was born in Blackgang on the Isle of Wight, the daughter of Enrico Cameron Hancock and Ivy Louise (née Woodward). Enrico Hancock was the son of a Thomas Cook employee, and grew up in Milan. He worked for Vickers, and was previously a publican and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
James Dreyfus
James Dreyfus (born 9 October 1968) is an English actor most notable for roles on television sitcoms ''The Thin Blue Line (British TV series), The Thin Blue Line'' as Constable Kevin Goody, and ''Gimme Gimme Gimme (TV series), Gimme Gimme Gimme'' as Tom Farrell. Dreyfus is most recently known for a role as Reverend Roger in ''Mount Pleasant (TV series), Mount Pleasant''. Early life Born in London, Dreyfus was educated at Harrow School. He then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His parents divorced when he was very young.Fletcher, Mary, ''Why life's looking Goody for James'', TV Times, pg 31. Career In 1998, Dreyfus won the Best Supporting Performance in a Musical Olivier Award for his work in ''The Lady in the Dark'' at the Royal National Theatre, National Theatre. In the same year, Dreyfus was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for a performance as Cassius in Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'' at the Birmingham Rep. Dreyfus's first television break came with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Anna Maxwell Martin
Anna Maxwell Martin (born Anna Charlotte Martin; 27 May 1977),Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984–2006 listed birth name as ''Anna Charlotte Martin''; Registration year 1977; Registration District Beverley, Yorkshire sometimes credited as Anna Maxwell-Martin, is a British actress. She won two British Academy Television Awards, for her portrayals of Esther Summerson in the BBC adaptation of ''Bleak House'' (2005) and N in the Channel 4 adaptation of '' Poppy Shakespeare'' (2008). She is also known for her roles as DCS Patricia Carmichael in BBC One crime drama '' Line of Duty'' (2019–present) and Kelly Major in ''Code 404'' (2020–present). Since 2016, Maxwell Martin has starred in the BBC comedy ''Motherland'', for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance. Her theatre work includes the role of Lyra Belacqua in the production of ''His Dark Materials'' (2003–2004) at the National Theatre. Early life and educatio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Cabaret (musical)
''Cabaret'' is a 1966 musical theatre, musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff. The musical was based on John Van Druten's 1951 play ''I Am a Camera'' which was adapted from ''Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical novel by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood which drew upon his experiences in the poverty-stricken Weimar Republic and his intimate friendship with nineteen-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. Set in 1929–1930 Berlin during the twilight of the Jazz Age as the Nazi Party, Nazis are ascending to power, the musical focuses on the hedonistic nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub and revolves around American writer Clifford Bradshaw's relations with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles. A subplot involves the doomed romance between German boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider and her elderly suitor Herr Schultz, a Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany, Jewish fruit vendor. Overseeing the action ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tell Me On A Sunday
''Tell Me on a Sunday'' is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black. A one-woman show, it has been performed by a number of female singers/actors, most notably Marti Webb and Bernadette Peters. A one-act song cycle, it tells the story of an ordinary English girl from Muswell Hill, who journeys to the United States in search of love. Her romantic misadventures begin in New York City, lead her to Hollywood, and eventually take her back to Manhattan. Background The musical is based on an idea originally conceived by Tim Rice, who intended to develop it as a cycle of television shows with songwriting partner Andrew Lloyd Webber. The two relished working on a small-scale project following ''Evita''. Shortly after they began working, however, Lloyd Webber realized Rice was writing specifically for Elaine Paige, with whom the married father of two young children was having a blatant affair. Lloyd Webber felt that allowing Paige to appear in the series would ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tommy (rock Opera)
''Tommy'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band The Who, a double album first released on 17 May 1969. The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, and is a rock opera that tells the story of Tommy Walker. Tommy is traumatized from witnessing his father murder his mother's lover. Tommy's parents compound his trauma by denying the experience. In reaction, Tommy becomes dissociative ("deaf, dumb and blind"). Tommy then experiences the trauma of being sexually abused. As a way of coping with his trauma, Tommy dissociates further through playing pinball. He gains a following because of his skill at playing pinball. After numerous misguided attempts to heal Tommy, a doctor prescribes him a mirror so he can confront himself and his experience. Instead, Tommy becomes self-absorbed and comes to think of himself as a messianic figure. When the mirror is eventually broken, Tommy comes out of his dissociative state. Tommy then tries to lead his followers to b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jesus Christ Superstar
''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with much of the plot centered on Judas, who is dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus is steering his disciples. Contemporary attitudes, sensibilities and slang pervade the rock opera's lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the depiction of political events. Stage and film productions accordingly contain many intentional anachronisms. Initially unable to get backing for a stage production, the composers released it as a concept album, the success of which led to the show's Broadway on-stage debut in 1971. By 1980, the musical had grossed more than worldwide. Running for over eight years in London between 1972 and 1980, it held the record for longest-running West End musical before it was overtaken by '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |