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Liliom
''Liliom'' is a 1909 play by the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár. It was well known in its own right during the early to mid-20th century, but is best known today as the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1945 musical ''Carousel''. Plot The play takes place partly in Budapest, Hungary, and partly in a waiting area just outside Heaven. The story concerns Liliom, a tough, cocky carousel barker who falls in love with Julie, a young woman who works as a maid. When both lose their jobs, Liliom begins mistreating Julie out of bitterness—even slapping her once—although he loves her. When she discovers she is pregnant, he is deliriously happy, but, unbeknownst to Julie, he agrees to participate with his friend Ficsur, a criminal, in a hold-up to obtain money to provide for the child. Liliom is unwilling to leave Julie and return to his jealous former employer, the carousel owner Mrs. Muskat, and feels that the robbery is his only way left to obtain financial security. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carousel (musical)
''Carousel'' is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play ''Liliom'', transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Richard Rodgers later wrote that ''Carousel'' was his favorite of all his musicals. Following the spectacular success of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, ''Oklahoma!'' (1943), the pair sought to collaborate on anot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferenc Molnár
Ferenc Molnár ( , ; born Ferenc Neumann; 12 January 18781 April 1952), often anglicized as Franz Molnar, was a Hungarian-born author, stage-director, dramatist, and poet, widely regarded as Hungary’s most celebrated and controversial playwright. His primary aim through his writing was to entertain by transforming his personal experiences into literary works of art. He was never connected to any one literary movement but he did utilize the precepts of naturalism, Neo-Romanticism, Expressionism, and the Freudian psychoanalytical concepts, but only as long as they suited his desires. “By fusing the realistic narrative and stage tradition of Hungary with Western influences into a cosmopolitan amalgam, Molnár emerged as a versatile artist whose style was uniquely his own.” As a novelist, Molnár may best be remembered for ''The Paul Street Boys'', the story of two rival gangs of youths in Budapest. It has been translated into fourteen languages and adapted for the stage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "one of the most accomplished actors of the century". A lifetime member of the Actors Studio, he won several Emmys, was the first male actor to win the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, and was nominated for two Academy Awards. He established himself as a leading man in Hollywood with critically acclaimed performances as Mio Romagna in '' Winterset'' (1936), George Milton in ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939), and Ernie Pyle in ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945). Meredith was known later in his career for his appearances on ''The Twilight Zone'' and for portraying The Penguin in the 1960s TV series '' Batman'' and boxing trainer Mickey Goldmill in the ''Rocky'' film series. For his performances in ''The Day of the Locust'' (1975) and ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Schildkraut
Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film ''The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Otto Frank in the film ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and a Primetime Emmy for his performance as Rabbi Gottlieb in a 1962 episode of the television series ''Sam Benedict''. Early life Schildkraut was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Erna (née Weinstein) and stage (and later motion picture) actor Rudolph Schildkraut. His family was Jewish. In 1910, he accompanied his father on his tour to the U.S. and returned to Europe in 1913. He began stage training with Max Reinhardt in Berlin shortly afterward, began his career on the stages of Germany and Austria, then made the transition to film. Schildkraut moved to the U.S. in 1920 and appeared in many Broadway productions. Among the plays in which he starred was a no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
44th Street Theatre
The 44th Street Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 216 West 44th Street in New York City from 1912 to 1945. It opened and operated for three years as the Weber and Fields' Music Hall. Its rooftop theatre, the Nora Bayes Theatre, presented many productions of the Federal Theatre Project in the mid 1930s. Its basement club became the famed Stage Door Canteen during World War II. History The 44th Street Theatre was located at 216 West 44th Street in New York City. The architect was William Albert Swasey, who designed the theatre in an 18th Century Georgian style. Built by The Shubert Organization in 1912, it was first named Weber and Fields' Music Hall. The theatre was renamed on December 29th, 1913 when the comedy duo of Joe Weber and Lew Fields split with the Shuberts. A theatre on the roof of the building, Lew Fields' 44th Street Roof Garden, became the Nora Bayes Theatre in 1918. In the mid-1930s it presented Federal Theatre Project shows. In the basement of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benjamin Glazer
Benjamin Glazer (May 7, 1887 – March 18, 1956) was a screenwriter, producer, foley artist, and director of American films from the 1920s through the 1950s. He made the first translation of Ferenc Molnár's play ''Liliom'' into English in 1921. His translation was used in the original Broadway production, in the 1930 film version, and in every production in English of the play until recently. It also served as the basis for the libretto for Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Carousel'', as well as for Phoebe and Henry Ephron's screenplay for the 1956 film version of the classic musical. Glazer was born in Belfast, Ireland, into a Hungarian Jewish family. After moving to the United States, he studied at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and passed the bar exam to become a lawyer in 1906. Glazer was one of the founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is best known for his Oscar-winning writing for '' 7th Heaven'' (1927) and ''Arise, My Love'' (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical family, and his first successes were as a songwriter. His first big hit was " Keep the Home Fires Burning" (1914), which was enormously popular during the First World War. His 1917 show, ''Theodore & Co'', was a wartime hit. After the war, Novello contributed numbers to several successful musical comedies and was eventually commissioned to write the scores of complete shows. He wrote his musicals in the style of operetta and often composed his music to the libretti of Christopher Hassall. In the 1920s he turned to acting, first in British films and then on stage, with considerable success in both. He starred in two silent films directed by Alfred Hitchcock, '' The Lodger'' and ''Downhill'' (both 1927). On stage, he played the title charact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barker (occupation)
A barker, often a carnival barker, is a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events, such as a circus or funfair, by exhorting passing members of the public, announcing attractions of show, and emphasizing variety, novelty, beauty, or some other enticing feature of the show. A barker would often conduct a brief free show, introducing performers and describing acts to be given at the feature performance. Professional barkers strongly disliked the term and instead referred to themselves as "talkers". Perhaps the most famous fictional barkers are Billy Bigelow, the protagonist of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic stage musical ''Carousel'', and Tin Man, a supporting protagonist from the 1978 musical film ''The Wiz'' portrayed by Nipsey Russell. Bigelow, in turn was an Americanized version of Liliom, the protagonist of Hungarian author Ferenc Molnár's non-musical play ''Liliom'', on which ''Carousel'' is based. The term barker has been adapted in modern times to d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Westley
Helen Westley (born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney; March 28, 1875 – December 12, 1942) was an American character actress of stage and screen Early years Westley was born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney in Brooklyn, New York on March 28, 1875. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Career Westley's early career activities included performing in stock theater and in vaudeville around the United States. Her New York stage debut came on September 13, 1897, when she portrayed Angelina McKeagey in ''The Captain of the Nonesuch''. Westley was an organizer of the Washington Square Players, debuting with that group on February 19, 1915, as the Oyster in ''Another Interior''. She was a founding member of the original board of the Theatre Guild, and appeared in many of its productions, among them '' Peer Gynt'', and some of their productions of plays by George Bernard Shaw— '' Caesar and Cleopatra'', ''Pygmalion'', ''Heartbreak House'', ''Major Barbara'', '' T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death. He played a wide range of classical and modern parts, making an impact in Shakespeare at the Old Vic. His film career took him to Broadway and then Hollywood, but he also collaborated with Alexander Korda on notable British films of the era, including ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the title character. He portrayed everything from monsters and misfits to kings. Among Laughton's biggest film hits were ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'', ''Mutiny on the Bounty'', ''Ruggles of Red Gap'', ''Jamaica Inn'', ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', ''The Big Clock'', and ''Witness for the Prosecution''. Daniel D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sayre Crawley
John Sayer Crawley (8 March 1867 – 7 March 1948) was an English actor who, as Sayre Crawley, spent more than 40 years in American theatre playing roles on Broadway and at the Garden Theatre, among other venues. Crawley served briefly as an officer in the British army before marrying Constance Thompson in 1892 in England. Both he and his wife sought acting roles, which resulted in their coming to the United States in 1902 with the Ben Greet Players. They starred in Ben Greet productions on both coasts, with Constance, under her married name of Constance Crawley, gaining wide attention in the West as a Shakespearean actress, while Crawley, first under his stage name of J. Sayre Crawley, and later as simply Sayre Crawley, found his best success in the East playing supporting actor and character actor roles in Broadway theatre."S. Crawley dead; veteran of stage", ''The New York Times,'' 8 March 1948 As their careers took separate directions, Constance and Sayre separated, with C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dudley Digges (actor)
Dudley Digges (born John Dudley Digges, 9 June 1879 – 24 October 1947) was an Irish stage actor, director, and producer as well as a film actor. Although he gained his initial theatre training and acting experience in Ireland, the vast majority of Digges' career was spent in the United States, where over the span of 43 years he worked in hundreds of stage productions and performed in over 50 films."Dudley Digges, 68, Noted Actor Dead", ''The New York Times'', October 25, 1947, p. L19. ProQuest Historical Newspapers (Ann Arbor, Michigan); subscription access through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Early life and stage work in Ireland Digges was born in Ranelagh, Dublin in 1879, the child of James Digges and Catherine Forsythe. He became acquainted with theatre directors William and Frank Fay and took an interest in acting. He joined W. G. Fay's Irish National Dramatic Company, along with others such as Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh, James H. Cousins, Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
