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Dickie Valentine
Richard Bryce ( Maxwell; 4 November 1929 – 6 May 1971), known professionally as Dickie Valentine, was a British pop singer who enjoyed great popularity in Britain during the 1950s. In addition to several other Top Ten hit singles, Valentine had two chart-toppers on the UK Singles Chart with "Finger of Suspicion", featuring The Stargazers (1954) and the seasonal "Christmas Alphabet" (1955). Biography Early life Valentine was born Richard Maxwell in November 1929 (his birth father was Dickie Maxwell) in Marylebone, London. He was known as Richard Bryce after his mother married Bryce. Valentine's first acting job was at age only three when he appeared in the British comedy film ''Jack's the Boy'' starring Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge Music career He developed a flexible vocal style and skills as an impersonator of famous singers. Actor-singer Bill O'Connor overheard him singing as a call boy at Her Majesty's Theatre in London and paid for his voice lessons. He sang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metropolitan Borough Of St Marylebone
The Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone was a metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. It was based directly on the previously existing civil parishes in England, civil parish of St Marylebone, which was incorporated into the Metropolitan Board of Works area in 1855, retaining a parish vestry, and then became part of the County of London in 1889. It was that part of the current City of Westminster which is north of Oxford Street, and east of Maida Vale and Edgware Road. It included the areas Marylebone, Regent's Park, St John's Wood, and Lisson Grove, along with the western part of the district of Fitzrovia. In 1965 it was abolished and its former area was amalgamated with that of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington and the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster to form the City of Westminster. Origins and arms The name is derived from a chapel, dedicated to St Mary, and founded by Barking Abbey, the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Hulbert
John Norman Hulbert (24 April 189225 March 1978) was a British actor, director, screenwriter and singer, specializing primarily in comedy productions, and often working alongside his wife (Dame) Cicely Courtneidge. Biography Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, he was the elder and more successful son of Henry Harper Hulbert, a physician,Register of Marriages Solemnized at St Paul’s Church, Hampsteadp. 94(Marriage of J. N. Hulbert and Cecily Courtneidge on 14 February 1916, at ancestry.co.uk, accessed 7 May 2020 being the brother of the actor Claude Hulbert. He was educated at Westminster School and Caius College, Cambridge and appeared in many shows and revues, mainly with the Cambridge Footlights. He was one of the earliest famous alumni of the comedy club. After Cambridge, he earned recognition and fame performing in musicals and light comedies.D. Pepys-Whiteley‘Hulbert, John Norman (Jack) (1892–1978)’ rev., ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire (1931 song), That's My Desire" in 2005. Often billed as "America's Number One Song Stylist", his other nicknames include "Mr. Rhythm", "Old Leather Lungs", and "Mr. Steel Tonsils". His hits included "That's My Desire", "That Lucky Old Sun", "Mule Train", "Jezebel (Frankie Laine song), Jezebel", "High Noon (song), High Noon", "I Believe (1953 song), I Believe", "Hey Joe (1953 song), Hey Joe!", "The Kid's Last Fight", "Cool Water (song), Cool Water", "Rawhide (song), Rawhide", and "You Gave Me a Mountain". He sang well-known theme songs for many western (genre), Western film soundtracks, including ''3:10 to Yuma (1957 film), 3:10 To Yuma'', ''Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film), Gunfight at the O.K. Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnnie Ray
John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music, and his animated stage personality. Tony Bennett called Ray the "father of rock and roll", and historians have noted him as a pioneering figure in the development of the genre. Born and raised in Dallas, Oregon, Ray, who was partially deaf, began singing professionally at age fifteen on Portland radio stations. He gained a local following singing at small, predominantly African-American nightclubs in Detroit, where he was discovered in 1949 and subsequently signed to Okeh Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. He rose quickly from obscurity in the United States with the release of his debut album ''Johnnie Ray'' (1952), as well as with a 78 rpm single, both of whose sides reached the ''Billboard'' magazine's Top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Palladium
The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 and 1969 ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' was held at the venue, which was produced for the ITV network. The show included a performance by The Beatles on 13 October 1963. One national paper's headlines in the following days coined the term "Beatlemania" to describe the increasingly hysterical interest in the band. While the theatre has a resident show, it is also able to host one-off performances, such as concerts, TV specials and Christmas pantomimes. It has hosted the Royal Variety Performance 43 times, most recently in 2019. In March 2020, the venue closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on the theatre industry, but reopened over four months later on 1 August 2020. Architecture Walter Gibbons, an early moving-pictures m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Command Performance
A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commissioned theatrical performances, the first Royal Command Performance to bear that name was staged at Windsor Castle in 1848 by order of Queen Victoria. From then on, command performances were frequently staged, often calling upon the leading actors from the London theatres, until the death of Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert in 1861. There were no further command performances until they recommenced in 1881. These included plays, revues, comic operas and other musical theatre. King Edward VII called for several performances each year. In 1911 a Great "Gala" performance was given by the theatrical profession at Her Majesty's Theatre, His Majesty's Theatre in London in celebration of the Coronation of George V and Mary, coronation of King ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music, although this was not the only style of music played by big bands. Big bands started as accompaniment for dancing. In contrast to the typical jazz emphasis on improvisation, big bands relied on written compositions and arrangements. They gave a greater role to bandleaders, arrangers, and sections of instruments rather than soloists. Instruments Big bands generally have four sections: trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and a rhythm section of guitar, piano, double bass, and drums. The division in early big bands, from the 1920s to 1930s, was typically two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four saxo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Lotis
Dennis Lotis (born 8 March 1925) is a Union of South Africa, South African-born British singer, actor, and entertainer, whose popularity was greatest in the 1950s. He was described as having "a sophisticated style that was particularly attractive to the young female population". Life and career Lotis was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He trained as a boy soprano, and made his first stage appearances and radio broadcasts as a child. After leaving school at the age of 15 he worked as a bus conductor and electrician, as well as singing in clubs and cinemas in Johannesburg. He married and left South Africa with his wife at the start of the 1950s, moving to UK, Britain, where he was introduced to bandleader Ted Heath (bandleader), Ted Heath. He joined the Ted Heath Orchestra, singing alongside Lita Roza and Dickie Valentine. His first record was a cover version of Al Martino's hit "Here in My Heart", released in September 1952 on the independent Polygon Records, Polygon label. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lita Roza
Lilian Patricia Lita Roza (14 March 1926 – 14 August 2008) was an English singer best known for her 1953 recording "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?", which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. She was the first British woman to have a No. 1 hit in the UK chart. Early life and career Lilian Patricia Lita Roza was born in Liverpool on 14 March 1926, the eldest of seven children. She began work at an early age to support the family. She owed her sultry looks and passion to her father, an amateur accordionist and pianist of Filipino descent who played in Liverpool nightclubs. At the age of 12, she saw an advert in the local newspaper for juvenile dancers and passed the audition. She took to the stage at that age in a pantomime, and by the time she was 15, was working with the comedian and fellow Merseysider Ted Ray. When she was 16, she answered an advertisement and got a job as a singer in the "New Yorker" club in Southport for £5 per week. Soon afterwards she signed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ted Heath (bandleader)
George Edward Heath (30 March 1902 – 18 November 1969) was a British musician and big band leader. Heath led what is widely considered Britain's greatest post-war big band, recording more than 100 albums, which sold over 20 million copies. The most successful band in Britain during the 1950s, it remained in existence as a ghost band long after Heath died, surviving in such a form until 2000."Ted Heath" Jazz Professional, from the Internet Archive/Wayback Machine Musical beginnings After playing tenor horn at the age of six, encouraged by his father Bert, a trumpeter and the leader of the Wandsworth Town Brass Band, Heath later switched to trombone.Moira Heath, ''I Haven't Said Thanks: The Story of Ted and Moira Heath'' < ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stagecraft
Stagecraft is a technical aspect of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes constructing and rigging scenery; hanging and focusing of lighting; design and procurement of costumes; make-up; stage management; audio engineering; and procurement of props. Stagecraft is distinct from the wider umbrella term of scenography. Considered a technical rather than an artistic field, it is primarily the practical implementation of a scenic designer's artistic vision. In its most basic form, stagecraft may be executed by a single person (often the stage manager of a smaller production) who arranges all scenery, costumes, lighting, and sound, and organizes the cast. Regional theaters and larger community theaters will generally have a technical director and a complement of designers, each of whom has a direct hand in their respective designs. Within significantly larger productions, for example a modern Broadway show, effectively bringing a show to opening night requires the wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre. In the early decades of the 20th century, Tree produced spectacular productions of William Shakespeare, Shakespeare and other classical works, and the theatre hosted premieres by major playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw, J. M. Synge, Noël Coward and J. B. Priestley. Since the First World War, the wide stage has made the theatre suitable for large-scale musical productions, and the theatre has accordingly specialised in hosting musical theatre, musicals. The theatre has been home to record-setting musical theatre runs, notably the First World War sensation ''Chu Chin Chow''Larkin, Colin (ed). ''Guinness Who's Who of Stage Musicals'' (Guinness Publishing, 1994) and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
