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Breezeblock Park
William Russell (born 23 August 1946) is an English dramatist, lyricist and composer. His best known works are ''Educating Rita'', ''Shirley Valentine'', '' Blood Brothers'' and ''Our Day Out''. Early life Russell was born in Whiston, Lancashire (which is now Merseyside). On leaving school, aged 15, he became a ladies' hairdresser, eventually running his own salon, until the age of 20 when he decided to go back to college. This led to him qualifying as a teacher. During these years, Russell also worked as a semi-professional singer, writing and performing his own songs in folk clubs. At college, he began writing drama and, in 1972, took a programme of two one-act plays to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where they were seen by writer John McGrath, who recommended Russell to the Liverpool Everyman, which commissioned the adaptation, ''When The Reds…'', Russell's first professional work for theatre. Career Russell's first play was ''Keep Your Eyes Down'' (1971), written while ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whiston, Merseyside
Whiston is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Previously recorded within the historic county of Lancashire, it is located east of Liverpool. The population was 13,629 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 14,263 at the 2011 Census. A new village, Halsnead Garden Village, was approved with government support in 2017 and will be located in the Halsnead area of the town. The new village will contain over 1,500 houses, a primary school, a country park, and various community and leisure facilities. Construction is estimated to cost around £270 million. History The first record of Whiston comes in 1245, being rendered as "Quistan" and being within the West Derby Hundred in Lancashire. Archeological evidence such as a neolithic polished hand-axe and mesolithic tool fragments suggest that the region was host to pre-historic settlement up to 12,000 years, ago while other archaeological finds include remnants of a Roman tile worksh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One Summer
''One Summer'' is a 1983 British television drama serial written by Willy Russell and directed by Gordon Flemyng. It stars David Morrissey and Spencer Leigh as two 16-year-old Liverpool boys from broken homes who escape from their grim lives by running away to Wales one summer. It also starred James Hazeldine and Ian Hart (credited in the series as Ian Davies). The five-part series was shown on Channel 4 from 7 August to 4 September 1983. It was repeated on ITV in April 1985. Synopsis Sixteen-year-old Billy Rizley (Morrissey) comes from a broken home in Liverpool. His father is absent, his older sister despises him, and his mother suffers from depression and is uncaring towards him. Billy and his slightly dimwitted friend Icky (Leigh) have truanted from school for some time and have fallen into a life of delinquency, regularly stealing, fighting with local gangs, and getting into trouble with the police. Billy is already on probation and it seems only a matter of time before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rebecca Storm
Rebecca Storm is a British singer and musical theatre actress. Her 1985 hit single "The Show" was the theme to the ITV television series ''Connie''. Early career Rebecca Storm found her passion for singing when she was 11, although she began singing nine years earlier. After studying Music and Drama at Leeds University, Storm toured the United Kingdom and mainland Europe with her own band singing folk and rock songs. At 24, she auditioned for and landed a role in '' Blood Brothers'', her first musical show. Although a little young to play the character of Mrs. Johnstone, the Catholic Liverpudian mother of seven, author Willy Russell was captivated by her voice and gave her the role, aided by wardrobe and make-up. An album of songs from the show, ''Rebecca Storm Sings Blood Brothers'', was released by CBS Ireland. She went on to play the role for several years. Musical theatre Her role as Mrs. Johnstone gained rave reviews which catapulted her into the world of Musical theatre. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Hutchinson (screenwriter)
Ron Hutchinson (born 8 November 1946) is a Northern Irish screenwriter, playwright, and author. He is a four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, winning once for writing the screenplay for the television film '' Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story'' (1989). Career Among his other productions were ''Slave of Dreams'' (directed by Robert M. Young), the play ''Moonlight and Magnolias'', and the 2004 miniseries ''Traffic''. He has written extensively for theatre. In 2004, Hutchinson wrote ''Moonlight and Magnolias''. The play at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for the 2004 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work. ''The Irish Play'' was performed in a Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Royal Shakespeare Company Warehouse Theatre in London, England with Ron Cook, Brenda Fricker, and P.G. Stephens in the cast. Barry Kyle was director. Writing in ''Variety'' in 2005, David Rooney found the Manhattan Theatre Club's production of ''Moonlight and Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connie (TV Series)
''Connie'' is a 1985 British television drama series. Produced by Central Television for the ITV Network, it starred Stephanie Beacham in the title role. 13 episodes were made which were shown throughout the summer of 1985. Series history Written by Ron Hutchinson as a dry commentary on Thatcherite values in the 1980s, the series was set in the East Midlands garment industry and tells the story of a woman returning to the United Kingdom from Greece after eight years in self-imposed exile. She is determined to claw back control of her chain of high street clothes shops that are now controlled by her stepsister, and also get her foot back into the "House of Bea", a family-owned garment factory run by her father and stepmother, which is now losing money. The series is chiefly memorable for the high-octane performance of Stephanie Beacham as the eponymous Connie, snarling her way through such camp, metaphorical 1980s capitalistic dialogue as "My spoon is going into the gravy, my sn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film icon. He has received various awards including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. As of February 2017, the films in which Caine has appeared have grossed over $7.8 billion worldwide. Caine is one of only five male actors to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting in five different decades. He has appeared in seven films that featured in the British Film Institute's 100 greatest British films of the 20th century. In 2000, he received a BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to cinema. Often playing a Cockney, Caine made his breakthrough in the 1960s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shirley Valentine (film)
''Shirley Valentine'' is a 1989 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert. The screenplay by Willy Russell is based on his 1986 one-character play of the same title, which follows middle-aged Shirley Valentine in an unexpected discovery of herself, and rekindling of her childhood dreams and youthful love of life. Pauline Collins reprises the title role as middle-aged housewife Shirley, which she had previously played in the stage production in London's West End and on Broadway, and Tom Conti plays Costas Dimitriades, the owner of a Greek tavern with whom she has a holiday romance. Plot Shirley Valentine is a bored 42-year-old working class Liverpool, Liverpudlian housewife whose life and initially enriching marriage has settled into a narrow and unsatisfying rut, leaving few real friends and her childhood dreams unaccomplished and she feels as if her husband and children treat her more like a servant. When her flamboyant friend Jane wins a trip for two to G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Educating Rita (film)
''Educating Rita'' is a 1983 British comedy-drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert with a screenplay by Willy Russell based on his 1980 stage play. The film stars Michael Caine, Julie Walters, Michael Williams and Maureen Lipman. It won multiple major awards for best actor and best actress and was nominated for three Academy Awards. Caine and Walters both won BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for best actor and actress. The British Film Institute ranked ''Educating Rita'' the 84th greatest British film of the 20th century. Plot Susan (who initially calls herself Rita), a 26-year-old working-class hairdresser, is dissatisfied with the routine of her work and social life; she is reluctant to have a child, fearing it will permanently tie her to the same monotonous routine for life, and she yearns to escape to something more profound, without exactly knowing what that is. She seeks to better herself by signing up for and attending an Open University course in English Literature. Susan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Midtown Manhattan. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for regional theatre. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards were founded by theatre producer and director Brock Pemberton and are named after Antoinette "Tony" Perry, an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. The trophy consists of a spinnable medallion, with faces portraying an adaptation of the comedy and tragedy masks, mounted on a black base with a pewter swivel. The rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadway Theatre
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 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 (namely the Broadwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pauline Collins
Pauline Collins (born 3 September 1940) is a British actress who first came to prominence portraying Sarah Moffat in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971–1973) and its spin-off, ''Thomas & Sarah'' (1979). In 1992, she published her autobiography, titled ''Letter to Louise''. Collins played the title role in the play ''Shirley Valentine'' for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress, and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She reprised the role in the 1989 film adaptation of the play, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also starred in the television dramas ''Forever Green'' (1989–1992) and '' The Ambassador'' (1998–1999). Her other film appearances include ''City of Joy'' (1992), '' Paradise Road'' (1997), ''Albert Nobbs'' (2011), ''Quartet'' (2012), and ''The Time of Their Lives'' (2017). Early life and career Collins was born in Exmouth, Devon, the daughte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olivier Award
The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards, but they were renamed in honour of the British actor of the same name in 1984. The awards are given to individuals involved in West End productions and other leading non-commercial theatres based in London across a range of categories covering plays, musicals, dance, opera and affiliate theatre. A discretionary non-competitive Special Olivier Award is also given each year. The Olivier Awards are recognised internationally as the highest honour in British theatre, equivalent to the BAFTA Awards for film and television, and the BRIT Awards for music. The Olivier Awards are considered equivalent to Broadway's Tony Awards and France's Molière Award. Since inception, the awards have been held at var ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
