Durang
Durang is a surname. People with that name include: * Charles Durang (1796–1870), American dancer and actor *Christopher Durang (b. 1949), American playwright *Edwin Forrest Durang (1829–1911), American architect *Ferdinand Durang (c. 1785–1831), American actor, first to publicly perform the "Star-Spangled Banner" *John Durang John Durang (January 6, 1768 – March 31, 1822) was the first native-born American to become known as a dancer. Said to be George Washington's favorite performer, he was famous for dancing the hornpipe, a lively, jiglike solo exhibition so ca ...

Christopher Durang
Christopher Ferdinand Durang (born January 2, 1949) is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in the late 1990s. ''Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You'' was Durang's watershed play as it brought him to national prominence when it won him—at the age of 32—the Obie Award for Best Playwright (1980). His play, ''Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike'' won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2013. The production was directed by Nicholas Martin, and featured Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen, Billy Magnussen, Shalita Grant and Genevieve Angelson. Durang is a former co-director of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard. Early life and education Durang was born in Montclair, New Jersey, the son of two WWII veterans, architect Francis Ferdinand Durang Jr. and Patricia Elizabeth Durang (née Mansfield), a ...
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Edwin Forrest Durang
Edwin Forrest Durang (April 17, 1829June 7, 1911) was an American architect. He kept offices in Philadelphia and specialized in ecclesiastical and theatrical design. Life and career Durang was born in New York City, into a distinguished theatrical family. His grandfather, John Durang (1768–1822), has been credited with being the first native-born American actor, and his parents, Charles Durang (1791–1870) and Mary White Durang (b. London, England, 1802), were also well known for their contributions to the stage. His father and uncle, Richard Ferdinand Durang, were the first to perform " The Star-Spangled Banner", and his father also worked as the director and prompter at both the Chestnut Street Theater and the American Theater in Philadelphia. After his retirement in 1853, Charles Durang taught dancing and wrote several books on dance and a history of the Philadelphia stage. In addition to her stage work, Edwin Durang's mother wrote six children's books. Durang was named fo ...
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Charles Durang
Charles Durang (December 4, 1794 – 1870) was an American actor, dancer, writer, and theater historian. Life Charles Durang was born in Philadelphia on December 4, 1794, the son of John Durang, the first native-born American professional dancer. Charles made his first appearance in the Chestnut Street Theater at the age of 7 in 1803, and subsequently performed in almost every theater in the United States. He was actor, author, stage manager, prompter, ballet master, and finally opened a dancing academy. He worked for many years as a dancing master and rehearsal repetiteur at the Chestnut Street Theatre, in the 1840s and 50s. A friend and admirer of his fellow Philadelphian Edwin Forrest, he named his son after the actor. Edwin Forrest Durang eventually became a prominent Philadelphia architect. Charles Durang was the author of a "History of the Philadelphia Stage from 1752 to 1854," which appeared serially in the Philadelphia ''Journal''. The totality of these newspapers colum ...
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Ferdinand Durang
Ferdinand Durang (c. 1785 – 1831) was an American actor, best known as the first person to sing publicly Francis Scott Key's "The Star-Spangled Banner". He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of John Durang of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, America's first native-born actor. He served in the Pennsylvania militia. It is disputed whether he actually matched Key's poem with the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven "The Anacreontic Song", also known by its incipit "To Anacreon in Heaven", was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Composed by John Stafford Smith, the tune was later used ...", a popular drinking song, but he is generally recognized as the first person to publicly sing it, at Captain McCauley's tavern in Baltimore in October 1814. He was a member of the Bowery Theatre Company. He died in 1831. External links York ''Daily Record'', 1814 1780s births 1831 deaths Male actors from Baltimore 19th-c ...
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Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Outer Baltimore Harbor Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facilities fo ... in the Patapsco River during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large U.S. flag, with 15 stars and 15 stripes, known as the Star-Spangled Banner (flag), Star-Spangled Banner, flying triumphantly above the fort during the U.S. victory. The poem was set to the tune of a popular Music of the United Kingdom, British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Socie ...
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