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Lady, Be Good (musical)
''Lady, Be Good!'' (title sometimes presented with an exclamation point) is a musical written by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson with music by George and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was first presented on Broadway in 1924; the West End production followed in 1926. The story of the musical is about a brother and sister who are out of money; both are eager to sacrifice themselves to help the other. This was the first Broadway collaboration of the Gershwin brothers, and the Astaire siblings play a brother-sister dance team. Productions ''Lady, Be Good'' premiered on Broadway at the Liberty Theatre on December 1, 1924 and closed on September 12, 1925, after 330 performances. The musical was staged by Felix Edwardes with musical staging by Sammy Lee and scenic design by Norman Bel Geddes. It starred brother and sister performers Fred and Adele Astaire. The musical opened in the West End at the Empire Theatre on April 14, 1926, again starring Fred and Adele Astaire. It played strongly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He starred in more than 10 Broadway and West End musicals, made 31 musical films, four television specials, and numerous recordings. As a dancer, he was known for his uncanny sense of rhythm, creativity, and tireless perfectionism. Astaire's most memorable dancing partnership was with Ginger Rogers, whom he co-starred with in 10 Hollywood musicals during the classic age of Hollywood cinema. Astaire and Rogers starred together in ''Top Hat'' (1935), '' Swing Time'' (1936), and ''Shall We Dance'' (1937). Astaire's fame grew in films like ''Holiday Inn'' (1942), '' Easter Parade'' (1948), '' The Band Wagon'' (1953), '' Funny Face'' (1957), and ''Silk Stockings'' (1957). The American Film Institute named Astaire the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fascinating Rhythm
"Fascinating Rhythm" is a popular song written by George Gershwin in 1924 with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was first introduced by Cliff Edwards, Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire in the Broadway musical '' Lady Be Good.'' The Astaires also recorded the song on April 19, 1926, in London with George Gershwin on the piano (English Columbia 3968 or 8969). Many recorded versions exist. One of the rarest recordings is by Joe Bari (a pseudonym of Anthony Dominick Benedetto, later better known as Tony Bennett) for Leslie Records in 1949 and issued as catalog number 919 with "Vieni Qui" as the flip side. Having rerecorded it as a duet with Diana Krall in 2018 for their duet album ''Love Is Here to Stay'', he currently holds the Guinness World Record for the "longest time between the release of an original recording and a re-recording of the same single by the same artist". "Fascinating Rhythm" inspired the riff to the 1974 Deep Purple song "Burn". The 1926 Astaire/Gershwin version and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady Be Good (1941 Film)
''Lady Be Good'' is an MGM musical film released in 1941. The film stars dancer Eleanor Powell, along with Ann Sothern, Robert Young, Lionel Barrymore, and Red Skelton. It was directed by Norman Z. McLeod and produced by Arthur Freed. This was the first of several films Powell made with Skelton. Powell received top billing, but Sothern and Young are the main stars. They play, respectively, Dixie Donegan, a would-be lyricist and Eddie Crane, a struggling composer. The film takes its title and theme song (" Oh, Lady be Good!") from the 1924 George and Ira Gershwin Broadway musical, '' Lady Be Good'', but otherwise has no connection to the play. According to film historian Robert Osborne in his introduction to a broadcast of the film on Turner Classic Movies in August 2006, MGM devised the film as a vehicle to launch Sothern as a musical star. However, since she and Young were known primarily as light comic stars, the studio brought in Powell for a supporting role, but gave her to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady Be Good (1928 Film)
''Lady Be Good'' was a 1928 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Richard Wallace. The film is based on the 1924 musical of the same name by George Gershwin and starred Jack Mulhall and Dorothy Mackaill. Cast * Jack Mulhall as "Mysterio" the magician * Dorothy Mackaill as his assistant * John Miljan as Murray * Nita Martan as Madison * Dot Farley as Texas West * James Finlayson as Trelawney West * Aggie Herring as Landlady * Jay Eaton as Dancer * Eddie Clayton as Dancer * Yola d'Avril as Assistant * Don Charno and His Martini Orchestra (uncredited) * Charlie Hall as Backstage Actor in Blackface (uncredited) Preservation status The film is now considered a lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char .... References External links * at silentera. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Ohman
Phil Ohman (October 7, 1896 – August 8, 1954) was an American film composer and pianist. He is most well known for his collaboration with fellow musician Victor Arden. Biography Ohman was born Fillmore Wellington Ohman in New Britain, Connecticut in 1896. He is remembered as being one half of one of the pre-eminent piano duos in the 1922-1932, paired with Victor Arden. They were the pit pianists in many of George Gershwin's musicals, and recorded hundreds of piano rolls and records. Starting in mid 1927, just as they signed to Victor Records, they developed a large studio orchestra specializing in Broadway show songs that became quite popular. These particular records employed a rather large, brassy powerful sound (it is not known who they used as arranger), always with a space for a twin piano duet section. Ohman died in Santa Monica, California on August 8, 1954. Partial filmography *''Try and Play It'' (1922) *''Up and Down the Keys'' (1922) *''Piano Pan'' (1922) *'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Arden
Victor Arden was the stage name for an American pianist named Lewis John Fuiks (8 March 1893 — 31 July 1962)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 14-15. who was best known as the piano duo partner of and co-orchestra leader with Phil Ohman from 1922 to 1932. He was the pianist in the All-Star Trio, who made several hits for Victor Records between 1919 and 1921. Early years Arden was born March 8, 1893, in Wenona, Illinois. Radio In 1935, Arden was described in a newspaper article as "well-known to music lovers and radio listeners." At the time, Arden's orchestra was featured on ''Musical Moments'', which was carried on over 300 stations weekly. Recording Before 1920, Arden was making piano rolls to be reproduced on player pianos manufactured by the American Piano Company. Death Arden died July 31, 1962, in New York City. Selected compositions 1909 * ''Safety P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Oliver Smith
Gerald Wilson Oliver Smith (June 26, 1892 – May 28, 1974) was an English-born actor who spent most of his career in the United States, both in New York City as a stage actor and in the Hollywood film industry. Born in Sidcup, Kent, England, Smith debuted as a music hall singer in London. He came to the United States as part of a London Gaiety Company production of ''To-night's the Night''. His Broadway career began in 1916, and he appeared in, among other productions, three George Gershwin musicals: '' Lady Be Good'' (1924), ''Oh, Kay!'' (1928) and ''Pardon My English'' (1933). He also had bit parts in silent films, such as ''The Mysterious Miss Terry'' (1917), and went on to appear in talkies and musicals in the 1930s and 1940s. He began working in Hollywood in 1937, and was frequently typecast as a genteel butler or pompous English gentleman. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cliff Edwards
Clifton Avon "Cliff" Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971), nicknamed "Ukulele Ike", was an American singer, musician and actor. He enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number one hit with "Singin' in the Rain (song), Singin' in the Rain" in 1929. He also did voices for animated cartoons later in his career, and he is best known as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney's ''Pinocchio (1940 film), Pinocchio'' (1940) and ''Fun and Fancy Free'' (1947), and Dandy (Jim) Crow in Walt Disney's ''Dumbo'' (1941). Early life and musical career Edwards was born in Hannibal, Missouri. He left school at age 14 and soon moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and Saint Charles, Missouri, where he entertained as a singer in Bar (establishment), saloons. As many places had pianos in bad shape or none at all, Edwards taught himself to play ukulele, ukulele to serve as his own accompanist (choosing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Catlett
Walter Leland Catlett (February 4, 1889 – November 14, 1960) was an American actor and comedian. He made a career of playing excitable, meddlesome, temperamental, and officious blowhards. Career Catlett was born on February 4, 1889, in San Francisco, California. He started out in vaudeville, teaming up with Hobart Cavanaugh at some point, with a detour for a while to opera, before breaking into acting. He debuted on stage in 1906 and made his first Broadway appearance in either ''The Prince of Pilsen'' (1910 or 1911) or ''So Long Letty'' (1916). His first film appearance was in 1912, but then he went back to the stage and did not return to films until 1929. He performed in operettas and musicals, including ''The Ziegfeld Follies of 1917'', the original production of the Jerome Kern musical ''Sally'' (1920) and the Gershwins' '' Lady, Be Good'' (1924). In the last, he introduced the song " Oh, Lady Be Good!" In 1918, he starred in, stage-managed and rewrote an Oliver Mor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Half Of It, Dearie' Blues
"The Half of it, Dearie' Blues" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced by Fred Astaire and Kathlene Martyn in the 1924 musical '' Lady be Good''. Recordings * Fred Astaire with George Gershwin at the piano - ''Fred Astaire - Complete London Sessions''. In this first ever recording of the number, on April 19, 1926, Astaire includes a short tap-dancing section and asks Gershwin: "How's that, George," to which Gershwin replies: "That's fine, Freddy, keep going." * Ella Fitzgerald - ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book'' is a box set by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald that contains songs by George and Ira Gershwin with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. It was produced by Norman Granz, Fitzgerald' ...'' (1959) References Songs with music by George Gershwin Songs with lyrics by Ira Gershwin Fred Astaire songs 1924 songs Songs from Lad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patti Murin
Patti Murin (born September 28, 1980) is an American actress, singer and dancer. On Broadway, she has originated the title role in ''Lysistrata Jones'' (2011) and Princess Anna in '' Frozen'' (2018). She also had a recurring role as Dr. Nina Shore in the NBC medical drama ''Chicago Med'' from 2016 to 2019. Early life Murin was born and raised in Hopewell Junction, New York, and graduated from Syracuse University in 2002, where she majored in musical theatre. Career Murin began her career in regional theatre, playing Polly in '' Crazy for You'' in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Her Off-Broadway debut was in 2005 in the staged concert of the Elizabeth Diggs- Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt stage musical '' Mirette'' with York Theatre Company. She next played Belle in a national tour of ''Beauty and the Beast'' (2006) Murin made her Broadway debut in the musical '' Xanadu'' in 2007–2008 as a swing, understudy and then replacement in the leading role of Clio/Kira. In her next Broadway a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Tune
Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Tune was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, to oil rig worker, horse trainer, and restaurateur Jim Tune and Eva Mae Clark along with his sister, Gracey. He attended Mirabeau B. Lamar High School, Houston and the Methodist-affiliated Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas. He studied dance under Patsy Swayze in Houston. He also studied dance with Kit Andree in Boulder, Colorado. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962 and his Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of Houston. Tune later moved to New York to start his career. Career Tune stands a lanky tall, and at first he found his height to be a disadvantage when auditioning for roles, as he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
