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Jerome Lawrence
Jerome Lawrence (born Jerome Lawrence Schwartz; July 14, 1915 – February 29, 2004) was an American playwright and author. After graduating from the Ohio State University in 1937 and the University of California, Los Angeles in 1939, Lawrence partnered with Robert Edwin Lee to help create Armed Forces Radio. The two built a partnership over their lifetimes, and continued to collaborate on screenplays and musicals until Lee's death in 1994. Lawrence and Lee won acclaim for the 1955 play ''Inherit the Wind (play), Inherit the Wind'', based on the Scopes trial. Lawrence describes their plays as "shar[ing] the theme of the dignity of every individual mind, and that mind's life-long battle against limitation and censorship". The two deliberately avoided Broadway theatre, Broadway later in their careers and formed the American Playwrights Theater in 1963 to help promote their plays. After Lee's death, Lawrence continued to write plays in his Malibu, California, home. He died in Malibu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder (as in a wheelwright or cartwright). The words combine to indicate a person who has "wrought" words, themes, and other elements into a dramatic form—a play. (The homophone with "write" is coincidental.) The first recorded use of the term "playwright" is from 1605, 73 years before the first written record of the term "dramatist". It appears to have been first used in a pejorative sense by Ben Jonson to suggest a mere tradesman fashioning works for the theatre. Jonson uses the word in his Epigram 49, which is thought to refer to John Marston: :''Epigram XLIX — On Playwright'' :PLAYWRIGHT me reads, and still my verses damns, :He says I want the tongue of epigrams ; :I have no salt, no bawdry he doth mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Modern Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by the late 6th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenant that God established with the Israelites, their ancestors. It encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. The Torah, as it is commonly understood by Jews, is part of the larger text known as the ''Tanakh''. The ''Tanakh'' is also known to secular scholars of religion as the Hebrew Bible, and to Christians as the " Old Testament". The Torah's supplemental oral tradition is represented by later texts s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Herman
Gerald Sheldon Herman (July 10, 1931December 26, 2019) was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre. One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyricist for a number of hit musicals, starting in the 1960s, that were characterized by an upbeat and optimistic outlook and what Herman called "the simple, hummable showtune". His shows include '' Hello, Dolly!'' (1964), at one time the longest-running musical in Broadway history, which also produced the hit title song for Louis Armstrong; ''Mame'' (1966), a vehicle for Angela Lansbury; and '' La Cage aux Folles'' (1984), the first hit Broadway musical about a gay couple. In 2009, Herman received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. He was a recipient of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors. Early life Herman was born in Manhattan and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey, the only child of musically inclined, middle-class Jewish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mame (musical)
''Mame'' is a musical with the book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee Robert Edwin Lee (October 15, 1918 – July 8, 1994) was an American playwright and lyricist. With his writing partner, Jerome Lawrence, Lee worked for Armed Forces Radio during World War II; Lawrence and Lee became the most prolific writing pa ... and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Originally titled ''My Best Girl'', it is based on the 1955 novel ''Auntie Mame'' by Patrick Dennis and the 1956 Broadway play by Lawrence and Lee. A period piece set in New York City and spanning the Great Depression and World War II, it focuses on eccentric Bohemianism, bohemian Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death." Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when the young son of her late brother arrives to live with her. They cope with the Depression in a series of adventures. In 1958, a film titled ''Auntie Mame (film), Auntie M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shangri-La (musical)
''Shangri-La'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by James Hilton, Jerome Lawrence, and Robert E. Lee and music by Harry Warren. Based on Hilton's classic 1933 novel ''Lost Horizon'', it focuses on Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, who stumbles across a utopian lamasery high in the Himalayas in Tibet after surviving a plane crash in the mountainous terrain. When the dying High Lama asks him to take charge after his death, Conway must decide between embracing the inner peace, love, and sense of purpose he has discovered in this mysterious world or attempt to return to civilization as he knows it. The Broadway production, directed by Albert Marre and choreographed by Donald Saddler, opened on June 13, 1956 at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for only twenty-one performances. The cast included Dennis King, Shirley Yamaguchi, Martyn Green, Jack Cassidy, Alice Ghostley, Carol Lawrence, Berry Kroeger, Harold Lang, and Robert Cohan. Irene Sharaff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lost Horizon (novel)
''Lost Horizon'' is a 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton. The book was turned into a film, also called ''Lost Horizon'', in 1937 by director Frank Capra. It is best remembered as the origin of Shangri-La, a fictional utopian lamasery located high in the mountains of Tibet. Plot summary Overview Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, finds inner peace, love and a sense of purpose in Shangri-La, whose inhabitants enjoy unheard-of longevity. The prologue and epilogue are narrated by a neurologist. This neurologist and a novelist friend, Rutherford, are given dinner at Tempelhof, Berlin, by their old school-friend Wyland, a secretary at the British embassy. A chance remark by a passing airman brings up the topic of Hugh Conway, a British consul in Afghanistan, who disappeared under odd circumstances. Later in the evening, Rutherford reveals to the neurologist that, after the disappearance, he discovered Conway in a French mission hospital in C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Hilton (novelist)
James Hilton (9 September 1900 – 20 December 1954) was an English novelist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for his novels ''Lost Horizon'', ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' and ''Random Harvest'', as well as co-writing screenplays for the films '' Camille'' (1936) and ''Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), the latter earning him an Academy Award. Early life Hilton was born in Leigh, Lancashire, the son of John Hilton, the headmaster of Chapel End School in Walthamstow. He was educated at the Monoux School Walthamstow till 1914, then The Leys School, Cambridge, and then at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he wrote his first novel and was awarded an honours degree in English literature. He started work as a journalist, first for the '' Manchester Guardian'', then reviewing fiction for ''The Daily Telegraph''. Career Hilton's first novel, ''Catherine Herself,'' was published in 1920 when he was still an undergraduate. The next 11 years were difficult for him, and it was not until 1931 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jabberwock
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The book tells of Alice's adventures within the back-to-front world of Looking-glass world. In an early scene in which she first encounters the chess piece characters White King and White Queen, Alice finds a book written in a seemingly unintelligible language. Realising that she is travelling through an inverted world, she recognises that the verses on the pages are written in mirror-writing. She holds a mirror to one of the poems and reads the reflected verse of "Jabberwocky". She finds the nonsense verse as puzzling as the odd land she has passed into, later revealed as a dreamscape. "Jabberwocky" is considered one of the greatest nonsense poems written in English. Its playful, whimsical language has given English nonsense words and neol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Thurber
James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected in his numerous books. Thurber was one of the most popular humorists of his time and celebrated the comic frustrations and eccentricities of ordinary people. His works have frequently been adapted into films, including ''The Male Animal'' (1942), ''The Battle of the Sexes'' (1959, based on Thurber's " The Catbird Seat"), and ''The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'' (adapted twice, in 1947 and in 2013). Life Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio, to Charles L. Thurber and Mary Agnes "Mame" (née Fisher) Thurber on December 8, 1894. Both of his parents greatly influenced his work. His father was a sporadically employed clerk and minor politician who dreamed of being a lawyer or an actor. Thurber described his mother as a "born comedian" and "one o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail
''The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail'' is a two-act American play by Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence written in 1969. The play is based on the early life of the title character, Henry David Thoreau, leading up to his night spent in a jail in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau was jailed for refusing to pay a poll tax on the grounds that the money might be used to pay for the Mexican–American War, which he opposed. Writing in ''The New York Times'', Howard Taubman described the ideological relevance of the play to contemporary audiences, stating "this play and its protagonist, though they are of the 19th century, are speaking to today's concerns: an unwanted war in another land, civil disobedience, the interdependence of man and nature, education, the role of government and the governed." Plot The play does not present events in chronological order; rather, the play features Thoreau remembering earlier parts of his life, not necessarily in the order they occurred. The play opens w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Monday In October
''First Monday in October'' is a 1978 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. The title refers to the day on which the United States Supreme Court traditionally convenes following its summer recess. Productions The play premiered on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre on October 3, 1978. It transferred to the ANTA Playhouse on November 14, 1978, where it closed on December 9, for a total of 79 performances. Directed by Edwin Sherin, the cast starred Jane Alexander (as Judge Ruth Loomis) and Henry Fonda (as Associate Justice Daniel Snow), with Larry Gates (as Chief Justice James Jefferson Crawford). Alexander was nominated for the 1979 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The play had a pre-Broadway engagement at the Kennedy Center, starting in December 1977. The play originally was staged at the Cleveland Play House in 1975 and starred Jean Arthur and Melvyn Douglas in the lead roles. It opened Oct. 17 to poor reviews. After 11 performances, Arthur, suffering from a viral in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Incomparable Max
''The Incomparable Max'' is a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. It is based on the stories "Enoch Soames" and "A.V. Laider" in ''Seven Men'' by Max Beerbohm. Enoch Soames is a minor poet who makes a pact with the devil to spend a few hours in the library of the British Museum one hundred years in the future to learn how history will regard him. There he finds the only mention of his name is in a short story written by Max Beerbohm. A.V. Laider is a palmist who foretells the death of four people riding on a train - or does he? The play had its premiere at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia in 1969. The Broadway production, directed by Gerald Freedman, began the first of ten previews on October 9, 1971 at the Royale Theatre. It opened on October 19 and closed on November 6 after 23 performances. The cast included Richard Kiley in the dual roles of Soames and Laider and Clive Revill as Beerbohm. Constance Carpenter and Fionnula Flanagan appeared in supporting roles. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
