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Donna McKechnie
Donna McKechnie (born November 16, 1942) is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, the character of Cassie in the musical ''A Chorus Line''. She earned the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for this performance in 1976. She is also known for playing Amanda Harris/Olivia Corey on the Gothic soap opera, ''Dark Shadows'' from 1969 to 1970. Early life McKechnie was born in 1940 in Pontiac, Michigan, the daughter of Donald Bruce McKechnie and Carolyn Ruth Johnson. She began ballet classes at age five. Her earliest influence was the classic British ballet film '' The Red Shoes'' (1948), which prompted her, at age eight, to plan a career as a ballerina. She studied for many years at the Rose Marie Floyd School of Dance in Royal Oak. Despite her parents' strong misgivings, she moved to New York C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Founded in 1818, Pontiac was the second European-American organized settlement in Michigan near Detroit, after Dearborn. It was named after Pontiac, a war chief of the Ottawa Tribe, who occupied the area before the European settlers. The city was best known for its General Motors automobile manufacturing plants of the 20th century, which were the basis of its economy and contributed to the wealth of the region. These included Fisher Body, Pontiac East Assembly (a.k.a. Truck & Coach/Bus), which manufactured GMC products, and the Pontiac Motor Division. In the city's heyday, it was the site of the primary automobile assembly plant for the production of the famed Pontiac cars, a brand that was named after the city. The Pontiac brand itself was di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (musical)
''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' is a 1961 musical by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name. The story concerns young, ambitious J. Pierrepont Finch, who, with the help of the book ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', rises from window washer to chairman of the board of the World Wide Wicket Company. The musical, starring Robert Morse and Rudy Vallée, opened at the 46th Street Theatre on Broadway in October 1961, running for 1,417 performances. The show won seven Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critics' Circle award, and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 1967, a film based on the musical was released by United Artists, with Morse, Vallee, Sammy Smith, and Ruth Kobart re-creating their stage roles. A 1995 revival was mounted at the same theatre as the original production (now named the Richard Rodgers Theatre). It ran for 548 performances and sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkey Lurkey Time
"Turkey Lurkey Time" is a song-and-dance number from Act 1 of '' Promises, Promises'', the Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical, with a book by Neil Simon. It was originally choreographed for the 1968 Broadway production by Michael Bennett. The dance takes place as part of an office Christmas party scene. The dance As conceived by Bennett "with stunning energy and inventiveness",Long, p. 227 "Turkey Lurkey Time" is a dance performed by three secretaries at an office Christmas party. Their infectious singing and gyrations build into a frenetic chorus dance, as the office staff copy the trio, climaxing with some atop the office desks. According to Neil Simon, "we were having some problems at the end of the first act ... the number ennettcame up with didn't just solve the problem, it was a sensation." Some of the dancers later claimed they had needed regular trips to the chiropractor, so severe was the strain of Bennett's relentless head-bopping choreography. The secretaries of the ori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margo Sappington
Margo Sappington (born July 30, 1947 in Baytown, Texas) is an American choreographer and dancer. She was nominated in 1975 for both a Tony Award as Best Choreographer and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography for her work on the play ''Where's Charley?''. In 1988, her ballet ''Virgin Forest'' was the subject of an award-winning documentary by PBS. In 2005 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award for choreography from the Joffrey Ballet. Career Sappington joined the Joffrey Ballet in 1965 at the personal invitation of founder Robert Joffrey. In 1969, she co-wrote, choreographed, and performed in the original off-Broadway revue ''Oh! Calcutta!'' , and, in 1971, she choreographed ''Weewis'', her first ballet. In 1975, in recognition of her work in the Broadway revival of ''Where's Charley?'', she received nominations for both a Tony Award for Best Choreographer and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography. In 1983, as the first American choreograp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baayork Lee
Baayork Lee (born December 5, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and author. Early life and career Lee was born in New York City's Chinatown, to an Indian mother and Chinese father. She started dancing at an early age, and she made her Broadway debut at the age of five as Princess Ying Yawolak in the original production of ''The King and I'' in 1951. In a 2004 interview, she stated that Yul Brynner, the original king, was like a second father to her. After she outgrew her role in ''The King and I'', she continued to study in ballet, modern, and afro-Cuban dance. She appeared in George Balanchine's original production of ''The Nutcracker,'' where she met ballerina Maria Tallchief, whom she idolized.Franklin, Nancy"Cinderella Story" ''The New Yorker'', November 22, 2004 While attending the High School for Performing Arts, she met fellow student Michael Bennett. Around the same time, she appeared in ''Flower Drum Song''. Although Lee aspi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Promises, Promises (musical)
''Promises, Promises'' is a musical with music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David and a book by Neil Simon. It is based on the 1960 film ''The Apartment'' written by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond. The story concerns a junior executive at an insurance company who seeks to climb the corporate ladder by allowing his apartment to be used by his married superiors for trysts. The musical premiered in 1968 on Broadway with choreography by Michael Bennett and direction by Robert Moore. It starred Jerry Orbach as Chuck Baxter and Jill O'Hara as Fran Kubelik. It closed after 1,281 performances. A West End production opened in 1969 featuring Tony Roberts and Betty Buckley. The cast album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, and two songs from the show (the title tune and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again") became hit singles for Dionne Warwick. Productions Broadway (1968–1972) After a tryout at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hal David
Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David was born in New York City, a son of Austrian Jewish immigrants Lina (née Goldberg) and Gedalier David, who owned a delicatessen in New York. He is the younger brother of American lyricist and songwriter Mack David. Career David is credited with popular music lyrics, beginning in the 1940s with material written for bandleader Sammy Kaye and for Guy Lombardo. He worked with Morty Nevins of The Three Suns on four songs for the feature film ''Two Gals and a Guy'' (1951), starring Janis Paige and Robert Alda. In 1957, David met composer Burt Bacharach at Famous Music in the Brill Building in New York. The two teamed up and wrote their first hit " The Story of My Life", recorded by Marty Robbins in 1957. Subsequently, in the 1960s and early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Academy Award winner, Bacharach's songs have been recorded by more than 1,000 different artists. , he had written 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits. He is considered one of the most important composers of 20th-century popular music. His music is characterized by unusual chord progressions, influenced by his background in jazz harmony, and uncommon selections of instruments for small orchestras. Most of Bacharach and David's hits were written specifically for and performed by Dionne Warwick but earlier associations (from 1957 to 1963) saw the composing duo work with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels and Jerry Butler. Following the initial success of these collaborations, Bacharach went on to write hits for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Education Of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N
''The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N'' is a musical with lyrics and music by Oscar Brand and Paul Nassau. The musical book by Benjamin Bernard Zavin is based on Leo Rosten's stories of the fictional character Hyman Kaplan. Productions The musical premiered on Broadway on April 4, 1968, at the Alvin Theatre. The show ran for 29 regular performances and 12 previews, closing on April 27, 1968. It was directed by George Abbott and the cast included Tom Bosley as Hyman Kaplan, Susan Camber as Sarah Moskowitz, Dorothy Emmerson as Eileen Higby, Nathaniel Frey as Sam Pinsky, David Gold as Reben Plonsky, Donna McKechnie as Kathy McKenna, Barbara Minkus as Rose Mitnick, Dick Latessa as Giovanni Pastora, Hal Linden as Yissel Fishbein, Maggie Task as Fanny Gidwitz, Beryl Towbin as Marie Vitale, Rufus Smith as Judge Mahon, Mimi Sloan as Mrs. Mitnick, Honey Sanders as Mrs. Moskowitz, Gary Krawford as Mr. Parkhill, Wallace Engelhardt as Officer Callahan, and Stephen Bolster as Jimmy. At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo Rosten
Leo Calvin Rosten (Yiddish: ; April 11, 1908 – February 19, 1997) was an American humorist in the fields of scriptwriting, storywriting, journalism, and Yiddish lexicography. Early life Rosten was born into a Yiddish-speaking family in Łódź, Russian Empire (now in Poland), but immigrated to the United States with his family in 1911 when he was three. His parents were Samuel Rosten and Ida Freundlich Rosten, both trade unionists. They opened a knitting shop in the Greater Lawndale area of Chicago, where Rosten and his younger sister grew up among other working-class Jewish families. Like their neighbors, the children spoke both English and Yiddish. Rosten showed an interest in books and language very early and began writing stories when he was only nine. During the Great Depression, when he was unable to find other work, he taught English for recent immigrants at night. These experiences eventually became the source of his most popular works, ''The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K* ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons. Early life Horton was born in Kings County, New York (now Brooklyn, New York City) to Edward Everett Horton, a compositor for ''The New York Times'', and his wife, Isabella S. ( Diack) Horton. His father had English and German ancestry, and his mother was born in Matanzas, Cuba to George and Mary ( Orr) Diack, natives of Scotland. He attended Boys' High School, Brooklyn and Baltimore City College, where he later was inducted into its Hall of Fame. He was a student at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he majored in German. However, he was asked to leave after he climbed to the top of a building and, after a crowd gathered, threw off a dummy, making them think he had jumped. He attended the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn for one year, until the school discontinued its arts cours ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hullabaloo (TV Series)
''Hullabaloo'' was an American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965, through April 11, 1966 (with repeats to August 1966). Similar to ABC's ''Shindig!'' and in contrast to ''American Bandstand'', it aired in prime time. Overview Directed by Steve Binder, who went on to direct Elvis Presley's 1968 "comeback" special, ''Hullabaloo'' served as a big-budget, quality showcase for the leading pop acts of the day, and was also competition for another like-minded television showcase, ABC's ''Shindig!'' A different host presided each week—among these were Sammy Davis, Jr., Jerry Lewis, Gary Lewis, Petula Clark, Paul Anka, Liza Minnelli, Jack Jones, David McCallum and Frankie Avalon—singing a couple of his or her own hits and introducing the different acts. Chart-topping acts who performed on the show included Simon and Garfunkel, The Mamas and The Papas, Dionne Warwick, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
