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Eric D. Schaeffer
Eric D. Schaeffer is an American theater director and producer based in Arlington, Virginia. He is the co-founder and former Artistic Director of Signature Theatre., and is well known nationally for his re-invention of large American musicals for small black box venues. He has produced many of the works of Stephen Sondheim, stating that the Signature production of ''Sweeney Todd'' in the 1990-1991 season "put us on the map". Under his leadership, Signature Theatre was chosen to receive the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award. Over its first 21 years, Schaeffer led the Theatre to 70 Helen Hayes Awards and 283 Helen Hayes nominations for outstanding excellence in the theater. He created The American Musical Voices Project and The American Musical Voices Project: The Next Generation, which has awarded over $500,000 in commissions to writers for new American musicals. He has directed on Broadway, West End in London, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and served as the Artistic Director of The S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is coextensive with the U.S. Census Bureau's census-designated place of Arlington. Arlington County is considered to be the second-largest "principal city" of the Washington metropolitan area, although Arlington County does not have the legal designation of independent city or incorporated town under Virginia state law. In 2020, the county's population was estimated at 238,643, making Arlington the sixth-largest county in Virginia by population; if it were incorporated as a city, Arlington would be the third most populous city in the state. With a land area of , Arlington is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the U.S., and by reason of state law regarding population density, it has no incorporated towns within its borders ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assassins (musical)
''Assassins'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by John Weidman, based on an original concept by Charles Gilbert Jr. Using the framing device of an all-American, yet sinister, carnival game, the semi-revue portrays a group of historical figures who attempted (successfully or not) to assassinate Presidents of the United States, and explores what their presence in American history says about the ideals of their country. The score is written to reflect both popular music of the various depicted eras and a broader tradition of "patriotic" American music. The musical opened Off-Broadway in 1990 to many mixed and negative reviews, and ran for 73 performances; in 2004, the show was produced on Broadway to highly favorable notices and won five Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. Background and productions Background In 1979, as a panelist at producer Stuart Ostrow's Musical Theater Lab, Sondheim read a script by playwright Charles G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Overtures
''Pacific Overtures'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by John Weidman, with "additional material by" Hugh Wheeler. Set in 19th-century Japan, it tells the story of the country's westernization starting in 1853, when American ships forcibly opened it to the rest of the world. The story is told from the point of view of the Japanese, and focuses in particular on the lives of two friends who are caught in the change. Sondheim wrote the score in a quasi-Japanese style of parallel 4ths and no leading-tone. He did not use the pentatonic scale; the 4th degree of the major scale is represented from the opening number through the finale, as Sondheim found just five pitches too limiting. The music contrasts Japanese contemplation ("There Is No Other Way") with Western ingenuousness ("Please Hello") while over the course of the 127 years, Western harmonies, tonality and even lyrics are infused into the score. The score is generally conside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Follies
''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Follies''). The evening follows a reunion of the Weismann Girls who performed during the interwar period. Several of the former showgirls perform their old numbers, often accompanied by the ghosts of their younger selves. The score offers a pastiche of 1920s and 1930s musical styles, evoking a nostalgic tone. The original Broadway production, directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett (theater), Michael Bennett, with choreography by Bennett, opened April 4, 1971. The musical was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won seven. The original production, among the most costly on Broadway, ran for over 500 performances but ultimately lost its entire investment. The musical has had a number of major revivals, and several of its song ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sweeney Todd (musical)
''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (often referred to simply as ''Sweeney Todd'') is a musical play with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler. It is based on the 1973 play of the same name by Christopher Bond. The character of Sweeney Todd first appeared in a Victorian penny dreadful titled '' The String of Pearls'' (1846-7). ''Sweeney Todd'' opened on Broadway in 1979 and in the West End in 1980. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Olivier Award for Best New Musical. It has been revived in many productions as well as inspiring a film adaptation. The original logo for the musical is a modified version of an advertising image from the 19th century, with the sign replaced by a straight razor. There is also a woman wearing a blood-stained dress and holding a rolling pin next to the man. Background The character Sweeney Todd originated in serialized Victorian popular fiction, known as penny dreadfuls. A story called '' The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Company (musical)
''Company'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The original 1970 production was nominated for a record-setting 14 Tony Awards, winning six. ''Company'' was written in a style without a chronological linear path. Its story depicts the internal observations of its lead character, Robert. ''Company'' is a concept musical composed of short vignettes linked by Robert's 35th birthday. ''Company'' was among the first book musicals to deal with contemporary dating, marriage and divorce.''Broadway: the American musical'', episode 5: "Tradition (1957–1979)", 2004. Background George Furth wrote 11 one-act plays planned for Kim Stanley. Anthony Perkins was interested in directing and gave the material to Sondheim, who asked Harold Prince for his opinion. Prince said the plays could be a good basis for a musical about New York marriages with a central character to examine those marriages. Synopsis In the early 1990s, Furth and Sondheim revi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passion (musical)
''Passion'' is a one-act musical, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. The story was adapted from Ettore Scola's 1981 film '' Passione d'Amore'', and its source material, Iginio Ugo Tarchetti's 1869 novel '' Fosca''. Central themes include love, sex, obsession, illness, passion, beauty, power and manipulation. ''Passion'' is notable for being one of the few projects that Stephen Sondheim himself conceived, along with ''Sweeney Todd'' and '' Road Show''. Set in Risorgimento-era Italy, the plot concerns a young soldier and the changes in him brought about by the obsessive love of Fosca, his Colonel's homely, ailing cousin. Background and history The story originally came from a 19th-century novel by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti, an experimental Italian writer who was prominently associated with the Scapigliatura movement. His book ''Fosca'' was a fictionalized recounting of an affair he'd once had with an epileptic woman when he was a soldier. Sondheim fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unidentified Human Remains And The True Nature Of Love
''Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love'' is a 1989 stage play written by Canadian playwright Brad Fraser. Set in Edmonton, Alberta, the comedy-drama follows the lives of several sexually frustrated "thirty-somethings" who try to learn the meaning of love — during a time in which a serial killer is terrorizing the city. ''Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love'' was published in 2006 by Playwrights Canada Press as ''Love and Human Remains''. Characters Candy, a heterosexual woman trying to meet the perfect man but who along the way finds herself experimenting with lesbianism; David, her homosexual roommate, who no longer believes that love exists; Kane, a sexually confused teenager who idolizes David; Bernie, David's troubled best friend; Jerri, a lesbian who falls in love with Candy. Benita, a prostitute with psychic abilities. Robert, a bartender who takes an interest in Candy Sal, a past friend of David's. An actor. Plot Using and su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Lady Suite
''First Lady Suite'' is a chamber musical by Michael John LaChiusa. The musical contains four separate segments about four of the First Ladies of the United States of America and the people surrounding them. They are: Eleanor Roosevelt, Mamie Eisenhower, Bess Truman, and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. It premiered Off-Broadway in 1993. Productions The chamber musical was produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Public Theater from November 30, 1993 through December 26, 1993, running for 32 performances. Directed by Kirsten Sanderson, it featured Alice Playten (Lady Bird Johnson and Mamie Eisenhower), Debra Stricklin (Margaret Truman), Carolann Page (Eleanor Roosevelt), Maureen Moore (Amelia Earhart, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy), and David Wasson (Dwight Eisenhower, Bess Truman). The production received the Obie Award, Performance (Playten) and Special Citation (LaChiusa). The Blank Theatre, Los Angeles, California, presented a revised version of the musical from March 7, 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabaret (musical)
''Cabaret'' is a 1966 musical theatre, musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff. The musical was based on John Van Druten's 1951 play ''I Am a Camera'' which was adapted from ''Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical novel by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood which drew upon his experiences in the poverty-stricken Weimar Republic and his intimate friendship with nineteen-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. Set in 1929–1930 Berlin during the twilight of the Jazz Age as the Nazi Party, Nazis are ascending to power, the musical focuses on the hedonistic nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub and revolves around American writer Clifford Bradshaw's relations with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles. A subplot involves the doomed romance between German boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider and her elderly suitor Herr Schultz, a Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany, Jewish fruit vendor. Overseeing the action ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rink (musical)
''The Rink'' is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander, the tenth Kander and Ebb collaboration. The musical focuses on Anna, the owner of a dilapidated roller skating rink on the boardwalk of a decaying seaside resort, who has decided to sell it to developers. Complicating her plans are her prodigal daughter Angel, who returns to town seeking to reconnect with the people and places she long ago left behind. Through a series of flashbacks, revelations, and minimal forward-moving plot development, the two deal with their pasts in their attempt to reconcile and move on with their lives. Production history Background The musical began as a small off-Broadway musical with music by Kander and Ebb, the book by Albert Innaurato, and direction by Arthur Laurents, focusing on an Italian-American mother and her estranged daughter. As the project was not doing well, Terrence McNally was brought in to write the book and Laurents left. In place ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Working (musical)
''Working'' is a musical with a book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, music by Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, and James Taylor, and lyrics by Schwartz, Carnelia, Grant, Taylor, and Susan Birkenhead. The musical is based on the Studs Terkel book '' Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do'' (1974), which has interviews with people from different regions and occupations. Productions The musical was first staged at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago from December 1977 through February 1978. It then was produced on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre, opening on May 14, 1978 where it ran for 24 performances and 12 previews. It was directed by Schwartz and choreographed by Onna White, with a cast featuring Patti LuPone, Bob Gunton, Joe Mantegna, Lynne Thigpen, David Patrick Kelly, Robin Lamont, Steven Boockvor, Rex Everhart, Bobo Lewis, Lenora Nemetz, Brad Sullivan, Matt Landers, David Smyrl, Terri Treas, Matt McGrath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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