Jo Sullivan Loesser
Elizabeth Josephine Sullivan Loesser (née Sullivan; August 28, 1927 – April 28, 2019) was an American actress and high lyric soprano singer. She became a musical theatre star with her performance in the original production of ''The Most Happy Fella'', for which she was nominated for a Tony Award in 1957. Early years She was the daughter of Hessie Boone Sullivan and Eileen Celeste Woods Sullivan, who worked for a lumber-distributing company and sold cosmetics, respectively. She was born in Mounds, Illinois, on August 28, 1927, and attended Cleveland High School. After studying singing in St. Louis, in the late 1940s, she studied music at Columbia University after failing to be accepted at Juilliard School and working at Lord & Taylor department store in New York to support herself. She competed on the ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' radio program but lost to a pair of harmonica players. Career Sullivan played Polly Peachum in Marc Blitzstein's English-language adaptation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mounds, Illinois
Mounds is a city in Pulaski County, Illinois, United States. The population was 810 in the 2010 census, a decline from 1,117 in 2000. Geography Mounds is located at (37.114838, -89.199030). According to the 2010 census, Mounds has a total area of , of which (or 99.26%) is land and (or 0.74%) is water. History The town was named for the prehistoric monumental earthwork mounds in the area. Demographics As of the 2000 census, there were 1,117 people, 407 households, and 264 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 504 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 36.53% White, 60.61% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.45% from other races, and 2.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.07% of the population. There were 407 households, out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.1% were married couples living together, 24.6% had a female house ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a playwright in Munich and moved to Berlin in 1924, where he wrote ''The Threepenny Opera'' with Kurt Weill and began a life-long collaboration with the composer Hanns Eisler. Immersed in Marxist thought during this period, he wrote didactic ''Lehrstücke'' and became a leading theoretician of epic theatre (which he later preferred to call "dialectical theatre") and the . During the Nazi Germany period, Brecht fled his home country, first to Scandinavia, and during World War II to the United States, where he was surveilled by the FBI. After the war he was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Returning to East Berlin after the war, he established the theatre company Berliner Ensemble with his wife and long-time collaborator ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs generally restrict access to people in terms of age, attire, personal belongings, and inappropriate behaviors. Nightclubs typically have dress codes to prohibit people wearing informal, indecent, offensive, or gang-related attire from entering. Unlike other entertainment venues, nightclubs are more likely to use bouncers to screen prospective patrons for entry. The busiest nights for a nightclub are Friday and Saturday nights. Most nightclubs cater to a particular music genre or sound for branding effects. Some nightclubs may offer food and beverages (including alcoholic beverages). History Early history In the United States, New York increasingly became the national capital for tourism and entertainment. Grand hotels were built for upsca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Painted Smiles Records
Painted Smiles is the name of a small record label run by Ben Bagley (1933-1998) and based in New York City. The first of this set of stereo albums were of the songs of his often satirical Shoestring Revues which were performed off-Broadway starting in the late 1950s. The main series of albums were anthologies of the songs of the top Broadway musical lyricists and composers from the 1920s through the 1940s, though the albums were produced during the 1960s and 1970s. Many of them are now available on CD. All these albums were artistically of a series, being white with watercolors of showgirls on the cover - and notes filled with double-entendres beside the small photographs of the performers on the back. Some of the artists featured on the Painted Smiles record label include Bobby Short, Blossom Dearie, Kaye Ballard, Cab Calloway, Barbara Cook, Richard Chamberlain, Anthony Perkins, Rex Reed, Dorothy Loudon, Katharine Hepburn, Elaine Stritch, Jerry Stiller, Chita Rivera, Ann Mill ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ben Bagley
Ben Bagley (October 18, 1933 – March 21, 1998) was an American musical producer and record producer. Career Born in Burlington, Vermont, Bagley moved to New York during the early 1950s, and in 1955, at age 22, he produced his first hit, ''Shoestring Revue'', starring (among others) Beatrice Arthur and Chita Rivera (and, later, Jane Connell), and with songs by Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, June Carroll, and Sheldon Harnick.Botto, Loui"Ben Bagley -- Revisited" playbill.com, August 15, 1997 The glowing notices from ''Shoestring'' enabled him to mount a more lavish and sophisticated revue, ''The Littlest Revue'' Off-Broadway in 1956."'The Littlest Revue' Listing" Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed July 4, 2011 This revue featured the young, unknown [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Starlight Theatre (Kansas City)
Starlight Theatre is a 7,958-seat outdoor theater (building), theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, United States that presents Broadway theatre, Broadway shows and concerts. It is one of the two major remaining self-producing outdoor theatres in the U.S. and Starlight's Cohen stagehouse also permits it to present many national Broadway touring shows. History Starlight Theatre’s story dates back to 1925, the year Romania’s Marie of Romania, Queen Marie paid a visit to Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City. To celebrate her arrival, the Kansas City Federation of Music organized a showcase of local talent for the Queen that was also open to the public. Profits from the showcase were then placed in the city trust and proposals for the location of Kansas City’s outdoor theatre began. One suggested site was where Kansas City Art Institute now stands, but area residents disapproved of building such a large structure in their neighborhood. Another possible location was just north of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after. Sitting on Missouri's western boundary with Kansas, with Downtown near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the city encompasses about , making ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wicked Witch Of The West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is the principal villain; the Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after her death in the first book. The witch's most popular depiction was in the classic 1939 film based on Baum's novel, where she was portrayed by Margaret Hamilton. Hamilton's characterization introduced green skin and this has been continued in later literary and dramatic representations, including Gregory Maguire's revisionist ''Oz'' novel '' Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West'' (1995) and its musical stage adaptation ''Wicked'' (2003), the 2013 film '' Oz the Great and Powerful'', and the television series '' Once Upon a Time'' and ''Emerald City''. In Baum's books The Wicked Witch of the West is the malevolent ruler of th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Margaret Hamilton (actress)
Margaret Brainard Hamilton (December 9, 1902 – May 16, 1985) was an American actress. She was best known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West, and her Kansas counterpart Almira Gulch, in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's film '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). A former schoolteacher, she worked as a character actress in films for seven years before she was offered the role that defined her public image. In later years, Hamilton appeared in films and made frequent cameo appearances on television sitcoms and commercials. She also gained recognition for her work as an advocate of causes designed to benefit children and animals and retained a lifelong commitment to public education. Early life Hamilton was born in Cleveland, Ohio and practiced her craft doing children's theater while she was a Junior League of Cleveland member. Hamilton made her debut as a "professional entertainer" on December 9, 1929, in a "program of 'heart rending songs'" in the Charles S. Brooks Theater at the C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Wizard Of Oz (1942 Musical)
''The Wizard of Oz'' is a musical commissioned by the St. Louis Municipal Opera (The Muny) based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 film, '' The Wizard of Oz'', using the film's songs by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. The book of the musical is by Frank Gabrielson, who would later write an adaptation of ''The Marvelous Land of Oz'' for Shirley Temple (1960). The musical was first presented in 1942 at The Muny and has been revived many times since, both by The Muny and by other companies. Background ''The Wizard of Oz'' was first turned into a musical extravaganza by L. Frank Baum himself. It was a loose adaptation of Baum's 1900 novel that had no Wicked Witch, Toto, magic slippers or yellow brick road, but had several new characters and subplots. It first played in Chicago in 1902 and was a success on Broadway the following year. It then toured for seven years. Other early stage and film adaptations of the novel followed, includi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Muny
The St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (commonly known as The Muny) is an amphitheater located in St. Louis, Missouri. The theatre seats 11,000 people with about 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first come, first served basis. The Muny seasons run every year from mid-June to mid-August. It is run by a nonprofit organization. The current president and chief executive is Kwofe Coleman. The current artistic director and executive producer is Mike Isaacson. History In 1914, Luther Ely Smith began staging pageant-masques on Art Hill in Forest Park. In 1916, a grassy area between two oak trees on the present site of The Muny was chosen for a production of '' As You Like It'' produced by Margaret Anglin and starring Sydney Greenstreet with a local cast of "1,000 St. Louis folk dancers and folk singers" in connection with the tercentenary of Shakespeare's death. The audience sat in portable chairs on a gravel floor. Soon after, the Convention Board of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its sequels. In addition, she is the main character in various adaptations, notably the classic 1939 film adaptation of the novel, '' The Wizard of Oz''. In later novels, the Land of Oz steadily becomes more familiar to her than her homeland of Kansas. Dorothy eventually goes to live in an apartment in the Emerald City's palace but only after her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry have settled in a farmhouse on its outskirts, unable to pay the mortgage on their house in Kansas. Dorothy's best friend Princess Ozma, ruler of Oz, officially makes her a princess of Oz later in the novels. Appearances In literature In the Oz books, Dorothy is raised by her aunt and uncle in the bleak landscape of a Kansan farm. Whether Aunt Em or Uncle Henry is Dorothy's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |