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Brownbrokers
Brownbrokers is a student-run theater group at Brown University. Together with Brown's Theatre Arts and Performance Studies faculty, Brownbrokers develops and produces a full-length, student-written musical every other year. Founded in 1935, it is one of the oldest undergraduate producing bodies devoted to new student-written musical theatre, both comedic and dramatic, in the United States. The group is run by The Brownbrokers Board, an organization of self-elected students from the Brown student body. In addition to the biennial full-scale production, Brownbrokers produces smaller events such as the annual miniMUSICAL Festival and staged readings of the musicals in consideration for production the following year. History Founded in 1935 Brownbrokers has been producing original student-written musicals on the Brown University Department stage for over 75 years. In 1934, a Pembroke College student and composer named Carolyn Troy '35 wrote a song titled “Patch Up Your Heart.†... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Shevelove
Burt Shevelove (September 19, 1915 – April 8, 1982) was an American musical theater playwright, lyricist, librettist, and director. Biography Born in Newark, New Jersey, he graduated from Brown University and Yale (Master's degree). At Brown in 1935, he acted in the first ever Brownbrokers musical titled ''Something Bruin''. After serving as a volunteer ambulance driver in World War II, he began working as a writer, director and producer for radio and television. At the time of his death he had lived in London for many years. His Broadway career started in 1948 with writing material, co-producing and directing for the revue ''Small Wonder.'' Among his successes were '' A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' and ''No, No, Nanette'', for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical. He died at his apartment in London, where he had been living for about 15 years, on April 8. 1982. He was survived by his mother and a sister. Work Libret ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Yazbek
David Norman Yazbek (born 1961) is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''The Full Monty'' (2000), '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' (2005), ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' (2010), ''The Band's Visit'' (2017), and ''Tootsie'' (2019). Early life Yazbek was born in New York City. His father is of Lebanese descent, and his mother was of half Italian and half Jewish ancestry. He began cello lessons in elementary school and took up the piano as a teenager. He attended Riverdale Country School. While attending Brown University as an undergraduate, he wrote an original musical with the production group Brownbrokers before graduating in 1982. He also directed a production of ''Hair'' with the student theatre group Production Workshop, for which he composed an original song to complement the classic score. After college he got a job writing for David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Uhry
Alfred Fox Uhry (born December 3, 1936) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has received an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing for ''Driving Miss Daisy''. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Early life Uhry was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Alene (Fox), a social worker, and Ralph K. Uhry, a furniture designer and artist. He was born into a German Jewish family with one sister, the author Ann Uhry Abrams. Uhry graduated from Druid Hills High School in 1954 and went on to graduate from Brown University in 1958 Harrison, Leah R"Real Life Inspired Uhry's Midlife Success"''Jewish Times'', December 1, 2015 where he wrote two original musicals with Brownbrokers. Druid Hills High School's Uhry Theater is named in honor of Uhry. During his first years in New York City, learning the craft of lyric-writing, Uhry received a stipend from Frank Loesser; after his eventual success, Uhry often praised Loesser's gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George M
''George M!'' is a Broadway musical based on the life of George M. Cohan, the biggest Broadway star of his day who was known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway." The book for the musical was written by Michael Stewart, John Pascal, and Francine Pascal. Music and lyrics were by George M. Cohan himself, with revisions for the musical by Cohan's daughter, Mary Cohan. The story covers the period from the late 1880s until 1937 and focuses on Cohan's life and show business career from his early days in vaudeville with his parents and sister to his later success as a Broadway singer, dancer, composer, lyricist, theatre director and producer. The show includes such Cohan hit songs as "Give My Regards To Broadway", "You're a Grand Old Flag", and "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Productions The musical opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on April 10, 1968 and closed on April 26, 1969 after 433 performances and 8 previews. The show was produced by David Black and directed and choreographed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (musical)
''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' is a 2004 comedy musical, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane; it is based on the 1988 film of the same name. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2005 and ran for 626 performances despite mixed reviews. It has since received tours and international productions. The Australian production opened in 2013 to rave reviews and was called the "best musical to hit Sydney this century" by the ''Sydney Morning Herald''. A West End production opened in 2014 to generally warm reviews. Productions Original production The musical premiered at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California on September 22, 2004, before moving to Broadway in January 2005 and officially opening in March at the Imperial Theatre. The show closed on Broadway on September 3, 2006 after a total of 626 performances. The director was Jack O'Brien, choreographer was Jerry Mitchell, with scenic design by David Rockwell, costume design by Gregg Barnes, and lightin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Full Monty (musical)
''The Full Monty'' is a musical with book by Terrence McNally and score by David Yazbek. In this Americanized musical stage version adapted from the 1997 British film of the same name, six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers, low on both cash and prospects, decide to present a strip act at a local club after seeing their wives' enthusiasm for a touring company of Chippendales. As they prepare for the show, working through their fears, self-consciousness, and anxieties, they overcome their inner demons and find strength in their camaraderie. Plot While relocated to Buffalo, New York, the musical closely follows the film. Act I In depressed Buffalo, New York, the once-successful steel mills have grown brown with rust, rolling equipment has been removed, and the lines are silent. Best friends Jerry Lukowski and Dave Bukatinsky, along with the other unemployed mill workers, collect unemployment checks and ponder their lost lives, describing themselves as "Scrap". Elsewhere, Dave's w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Robber Bridegroom (musical)
''The Robber Bridegroom'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry and music by Robert Waldman. The story is based on the 1942 novella by Eudora Welty of the same name, with a Robin Hood-like hero; the adaptation placed it in a late 18th-century American setting. The musical ran on Broadway in 1975 and again in 1976. Production history The show started with an early 1970s production at St Clements Theatre in producer Stuart Ostrow's Musical Theatre Lab, which invented the concept of the "workshop" development process for musicals. Raul Julia starred as Lockhart. Other cast members included Steve Vinovich (Clemment Musgrove), Rhonda Coullet (Rosamund), John Getz (Mike Fink), Bill Nunnery (Little Harp), Ernie Sabella (Little Harp), Trip Plymale (Goat), Cynthia Herman (Airie), Susan Berger (Salome), John Houseman bought the show for his group, The Acting Company and took it to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York with Kevin Kline replacing Ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Here's Where I Belong
''Here's Where I Belong'' is a musical with a book by Alex Gordon and Terrence McNally, lyrics by Alfred Uhry, and music by Robert Waldman. The musical closed after one performance on Broadway. Background Based on John Steinbeck's novel '' East of Eden'', the allegorical tale centers on the Trasks and the Hamiltons, two families drawn to the rich farmlands of Salinas, California, in the early 20th century. While Steinbeck traced the two clans through three generations, the musical limits the action to the period between 1915 and 1917 and focuses primarily on the Cain and Abel aspects of the work. Production McNally asked that his name be removed from the credits prior to opening night. The official opening on Broadway was postponed from February 20, 1968, to March 2, 1968, to allow time for rewrites to the book. The musical premiered on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theatre on March 3, 1968, and closed after one performance and twenty previews. Directed by Michael Kahn and chore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Waldman
Robert Waldman (born 1936) is an American composer, musical arranger, and orchestrator. Waldman has collaborated with Alfred Uhry twice, on ''Here's Where I Belong'', the disastrous 1968 adaptation of John Steinbeck's '' East of Eden'' that closed on opening night, and the considerably more successful '' The Robber Bridegroom'', which was produced on Broadway in both 1975 and 1976, enjoyed a year-long US national tour, and has become a staple of regional theatres. It garnered Waldman a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Music. Over the years he has composed, arranged, and orchestrated incidental music for the Broadway stagings of numerous dramatic plays, including ''The Rivals'', '' Dinner at Eight'', '' Ivanov'', ''The Last Night of Ballyhoo'', ''The School for Scandal'', ''The Heiress ''The Heiress'' is a 1949 American romantic drama film directed and produced by William Wyler, from a screenplay written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, adapted from their 1947 stage pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Driving Miss Daisy (play)
''Driving Miss Daisy'' is a play by American playwright Alfred Uhry, about the relationship of an elderly Southern Jewish woman, Daisy Werthan, and her African-American chauffeur, Hoke Coleburn, from 1948 to 1973. The play was the first in Uhry's '' Atlanta Trilogy'', which deals with Jewish residents of that city in the early 20th century. The play won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Synopsis The time: 1948, the place: Atlanta, Georgia. A crash is heard, and Daisy Werthan, age 72, is in her living room, with her son Boolie, age 40. She has crashed her car, and Boolie insists that she have a driver. Boolie is in his office and interviews Hoke Coleburn who is a black man of around 60. He is unemployed. Over the next 25 years Hoke drives "Miss Daisy". They are initially wary of each other, and Hoke puts up with the somewhat crotchety Miss Daisy with dignity. She teaches Hoke to read when she learns that he cannot, which comes naturally to her, having been a teacher. Ultimately, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Last Night Of Ballyhoo
''The Last Night of Ballyhoo'' is a play by Alfred Uhry that premiered in 1996 in Atlanta. The play is a comedy/drama, which is set in Atlanta, Georgia, in December 1939. Plot The play is set in the upper class German-Jewish community living in Atlanta, Georgia in December 1939. Hitler has recently conquered Poland, ''Gone with the Wind'' is about to premiere, and Adolph Freitag (owner of the Dixie Bedding Company), his sister Boo, and sister-in-law Reba, along with nieces Lala and Sunny – a Jewish family so highly assimilated they have a Christmas tree in the front parlor – are looking forward to Ballyhoo, a lavish cotillion ball sponsored by their restrictive country club. Adolph's employee Joe Farkas is an attractive eligible bachelor and an Eastern European Jew, familiar with prejudice but unable to fathom its existence within his own religious community. His presence prompts college student Sunny to examine intra-ethnic bias, her Jewish identity (or lack thereof), and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
