|
London Assurance
''London Assurance'' (originally titled ''Out of Town'') is a five-act comedy by Dion Boucicault. It was the second play that he wrote but his first to be produced. Its first production was by Charles Matthews and Madame Vestris's company and ran from 4 March 1841 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. It was Boucicault's first major success. Characters *Sir Harcourt Courtly, cultured 57-year-old fop *Charles Courtly, his dissolute son *Dazzle, Charles's equally dissolute companion *Max Harkaway, country squire *Grace Harkaway, Max's 18-year-old niece, betrothed to Sir Harcourt *Lady Gay Spanker, horse-riding virago *Mr. Adolphus "Dolly" Spanker, her ineffectual husband *Mark Meddle, lawyer *Pert, Grace's maid *Cool, Charles's valet *James (Simpson) *Martin, servant to the Courtlys *Solomon Isaacs, moneylender, in pursuit of Charles Plot Act 1 Charles and Dazzle arrive at Sir Harcourt's London home after a night on the town and manage to avoid Harcourt with Cool's help; Harco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dion Boucicault
Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the English-speaking theatre. Although ''The New York Times'' hailed him in his obituary as "the most conspicuous English dramatist of the 19th century," he and his second wife, Agnes Robertson Boucicault, had applied for and received American citizenship in 1873. Life and career Early life Boucicault was born Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot in Dublin, where he lived on Gardiner Street. His mother was Anne Darley, sister of the poet and mathematician George Darley. The Darleys were an important Anglo-Irish Dublin family influential in many fields and related to the Guinnesses by marriage. Anne was married to Samuel Smith Boursiquot, of Huguenot ancestry, but the identi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Williams (actor)
Michael Leonard Williams (9 July 1935 – 11 January 2001) was a British actor who played both classical and comedy roles. He was best known for co-starring in the sitcom '' A Fine Romance'' with his wife Dame Judi Dench, and for voicing Dr. Watson in the long running Sherlock Holmes adaptations for BBC Radio. Early life and career Williams was born in Liverpool, Lancashire. Personal life Williams married Judi Dench on 5 February 1971, the same year that they co-starred in a stage production of John Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi''. They had one daughter, Tara Cressida Williams (b. 1972), known as Finty Williams, who is also an actress. Williams was also godfather to the actor Rory Kinnear. He was the President of the Roman Catholic Actors' Guild. Shortly before his death from lung cancer at the age of 65, Williams was appointed a Knight of St Gregory (KSG) by Pope John Paul II for his contribution to Catholic life in Britain. The honour was officially bestowed upo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Gray (actor)
Charles Gray (born Donald Marshall Gray; 28 August 1928 – 7 March 2000) was an English actor and voice artist who was well known for roles including the arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film '' Diamonds Are Forever''; Dikko Henderson in a previous Bond film, '' You Only Live Twice''; Sherlock Holmes's brother Mycroft Holmes in ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''; and The Criminologist in ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''. Early life Gray was born in Bournemouth, Hampshire, the son of surveyor Donald Gray (died 1975), who had served as a Captain in the Royal Engineers, and Maude Elizabeth (née Marshall). Gray attended Bournemouth School alongside Benny Hill, whose school had been evacuated to the same buildings, during the Second World War. Some of his friends remember that his bedroom walls were plastered with pictures of film stars. Stage career By his mid-twenties, Gray had left his first job as a clerk for an estate agent to become an actor. He b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Bree (actor)
James Rutherfoord Worsfold Thomson (20 July 1923 – 1 December 2008), known professionally as James Bree, was a British actor who appeared on stage, and played many supporting roles in both film and television. Bree was educated at Radley College near Abingdon, Oxfordshire and during the Second World War served in the RAF. He later trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He changed his surname to Thomson-Bree after inheriting land from his great-uncle, Archdeacon William Bree. On stage, Bree was in the original productions of Thornton Wilder's ''The Matchmaker'' in London's West End in 1954; and in John Arden's ''Sergeant Musgrave's Dance'' at the Royal Court in 1959. He was also one of the founder members of Peter Hall's Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford in 1960. On screen, he was cast as Blofeld's attorney Gumbold in the 1969 James Bond film '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', and for his role as Uncle Arthur in '' The Jewel in the Crown''. Bree perf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judy Cornwell
Judy Valerie Cornwell (born 22 February 1940) is an English actress and writer best known for her role as Daisy in the successful British sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995). She also played Anya Claus in '' Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985). In her later years she became known for playing Miss Marple in many stage productions, including ''A Murder Is Announced'' between 2014 and 2016. Biography Cornwell's father served in the RAF and she grew up in Britain, where she attended a convent school, with Penelope Keith. She later attended Saint Michael Boarding school in Heacham, Norfolk, before moving to Australia with her family. She has written about her childhood experiences in her autobiography ''Adventures of a Jelly Baby''. She later returned to Britain and became a professional dancer and comedian in her teens, working her act between the nudes at Dhurjati Chaudhury's Irving Theatre Club, on Irving Street, off Leicester Square, London., before becoming an actress. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Andrews
Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for an Emmy. His other lead roles include ''Operation Daybreak'' (1975), ''Danger UXB'' (1979), ''Ivanhoe'' (1982) and ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1982), and he played UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in ''The King's Speech'' (2010). Early life and career Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes (née Cooper), a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, an arranger and conductor for the BBC. He grew up in North Finchley, London. At the age of eight, he took dancing lessons, making his stage debut as the White Rabbit in a stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's ''Alice in Wonderland''. He attended the Royal Masonic School for Boys in Bushey, Hertfordshire. After a series of jobs that included catering, farming and journalism, he secured a po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Play Of The Month
''Play of the Month'' is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted regularly from October 1965 to May 1979, before returning for the summer seasons of 1982 and 1983. The producer most associated with the ''Play of the Month'' series was Cedric Messina. Thirteen productions were also shown previously or subsequently on BBC2 in the period 1971-73 under '' Stage 2''. Productions were broadcast in colour from November 1969. Of the 128 productions, 40 are missing from the archives (except for short sequences in several cases), having been junked in the 1960s and 1970s. One colour production exists only as a black & white telerecording. Productions Sourced according to the BBC Genome archive of ''Radio Times'' magaz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinsdale Landen
Dinsdale James Landen (4 September 1932 – 29 December 2003) was an English actor. His television appearances included starring in the shows ''Devenish'' (1977) and ''Pig in the Middle'' (1980). ''The Independent'' named him an "outstanding actor with the qualities of a true farceur." He performed in many Shakespeare plays at Stratford-upon-Avon and Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Early life Landen was born at Margate, Kent and educated at King's School, Rochester. Career Landen made his television debut in 1959 as the adult Pip in an adaptation of ''Great Expectations'' and made his film debut in 1960, with a walk-on part in ''The League of Gentlemen''. During the 1960s, he starred in the TV series ''Mickey Dunne'' and ''The Mask of Janus'', and its spinoff series '' The Spies''. In 1969, he starred as Chris Champers in the comedy series ''World in Ferment''. As a stage actor, he appeared as Richard Dazzle in the RSC's 1970 production of ''London Assurance''. He appeared in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Rees
Roger Rees (5 May 1944 – 10 July 2015) was a Welsh actor and director, widely known for his stage work. He won an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for his performance as the lead in ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby''. He also received Obie Awards for his role in ''The End of the Day'' and as co-director of ''Peter and the Starcatcher''. Rees was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in November 2015. He was widely known to American television audiences for playing the characters Robin Colcord in ''Cheers'' and Lord John Marbury in ''The West Wing''. Americans also know him as the Sheriff of Rottingham in Mel Brooks' '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights''. Early life Rees was born in Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, Wales, the son of Doris Louise (née Smith), a shop clerk, and William John Rees, a police officer. He and his parents moved to Balham, London, where he grew up. He studied art at the Camberwell College of Arts and the Slade School of Fine Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drama Desk Special Award ...
The Drama Desk Special Award is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements by an individual or an organization that has made a significant contribution to the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s See also * Society of London Theatre Special Award * Special Tony Award References * External links Drama Desk official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Drama Desk Award Special Special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award For Best Direction Of A Play
The Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: ''Dramatic'' and ''Musical''. In 1976 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play. For pre-1960 direction awards please reference Tony Award for Best Director. Winners and nominees 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Award records Multiple wins ; 6 Wins * Mike Nichols ; 3 Wins * Jerry Zaks ; 2 Wins * Peter Brook * Stephen Daldry * John Dexter * Marianne Elliott * Gerald Gutierrez * Peter Hall * Sam Mendes * Jack O'Brien * Gene Saks Multiple nominations ; 10 Nominations * Mike Nichols ; 8 Nominations * Peter Hall * Daniel J. Sullivan ; 6 Nominations * George C. Wolfe ; 5 Nominations * Joe Mantello * Marshall W. Mason * Lloyd Richards * Alan Schneider * Bartlett Sher * Matthew Warchus ; 4 Nominations * Michael Blakemore * David Leveaux * Grego ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palace Theatre (New York City)
The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theater at 1564 Broadway, facing Times Square, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Milwaukee architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theater was funded by Martin Beck and opened in 1913. From its opening to about 1929, the Palace was considered among vaudeville performers as the flagship of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II's organization. The theater had 1,743 seats across three levels . The modern Palace Theatre consists of a three-level auditorium at 47th Street, which is a New York City designated landmark. The auditorium contains ornately designed plasterwork, boxes on the side walls, and two balcony levels that slope downward toward the stage. When it opened, the theater was accompanied by an 11- or 12-story office wing facing Broadway, also designed by Kirchoff & Rose. The Palace was most successful as a vaudeville house in the 1910s and 1920s. Under RKO Theatres, it became a movie palace ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Palace Theatre (New York City)")