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Make A Wish (musical)
''Make a Wish'' is a musical with a book by Preston Sturges and Abe Burrows, who was not credited, and music and lyrics by Hugh Martin. Based on Sturges' screenplay for the 1935 film '' The Good Fairy'', which in turn is based on the 1930 play of the same name by Ferenc Molnár as translated by Jane Hinton, the musical focuses on Janette, who experiences various adventures, including love with young artist Paul Dumont, when she abandons her tour group during a visit to Paris. Sturges' primary motivation for writing the book was financial, as he was deeply in debt at the time., p.319 The musical opened on Broadway on April 18, 1951 at the Winter Garden Theatre where it ran for a total of 102 performances until it closed on July 14, 1951. The production was produced by Harry Rigby, Jule Styne and Alexander H. Cohen; staged by John C. Wilson; and choreographed by Gower Champion. Raoul Pène Du Bois designed the sets, lights, and costumes for the production. The original cast in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garland sang three Martin songs, "The Boy Next Door (song), The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The last of these has become a Christmas season standard in the United States and around the English-speaking world. Martin became a close friend of Garland and was her accompanist at many of her concert performances in the 1950s, including her appearances at the Palace Theater (Broadway), Palace Theater. Early life Martin was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of Ellie Gordon (Robinson) and Hugh Martin Sr., an architect. He attended Birmingham-Southern College where he studied music. He was a member of the Beta Beta Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Career Martin wrote the music, and in so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gower Champion
Gower Carlyle Champion (June 22, 1919 – August 25, 1980) was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer. Early years Champion was born on June 22, 1919, in Geneva, Illinois, as the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice Carlisle. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from Fairfax High School. He studied dance from an early age and, at the age of fifteen, toured nightclubs with friend Jeanne Tyler billed as "Gower and Jeanne, America's Youngest Dance Team". In 1939, "Gower and Jeanne" danced to the music of Larry Clinton and his Orchestra in a Warner Brothers & Vitaphone film short-subject, "The Dipsy Doodler" (released in 1940). Career During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Champion worked on Broadway as a solo dancer and choreographer. After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, Champion met Marjorie Belcher, who became his new partner, and the two were married in 1947. In the early 1950s, Marge and Gower Champi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musicals Based On Plays
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the musical theatre w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadway Musicals
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names (12 others used neither), with many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also using the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, are the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats, located in the Theater District and the Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End theatre, West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the thoroughfare is eponymous with the district and its collection of 41 theaters, and it is also closely identified with Times Square, only three of the theaters are located on Broadway itself (nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1951 Musicals
Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United Kingdom announces abandonment of the Tanganyika groundnut scheme for the cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory, with the writing off of £36.5M debt. * January 15 – In a court in West Germany, Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment. * January 20 – Winter of Terror: Avalanches in the Alps kill 240 and bury 45,000 for a time, in Switzerland, Austria and Italy. * January 21 – Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea erupts catastrophically, killing nearly 3,000 people and causing great devastation in Oro Province. * January 25 – Dutch author Anne de Vries releases the first volume of his children's novel ''Journey Through the Night'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Wendell
Howard David Wendell (January 25, 1908 – August 11, 1975) was an American actor. Wendell's Broadway credits include ''Make a Wish'' (1951), ''The Curious Savage'' (1950), ''Arms and the Man'' (1950), ''The Show Off'' (1950), and ''The Great Campaign'' (1947). Between 1949 and 1970, Wendell made a number of film appearances but worked mostly on TV, in such programs as '' Dragnet'', ''Perry Mason'', ''Wagon Train'', ''Bonanza'', ''Batman (season 1, episodes 3 and 4)'', ''The Munsters'', ''The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet'', '' Leave it to Beaver'', ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', ''Hazel'', and ''The Big Valley''. His final appearance was in ''Adam-12 ''Adam-12'' is an American television police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol the stre ...''. Filmography References External links * * 1908 births 1975 death ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Leeds
Phil Leeds (April 6, 1916 – August 16, 1998) was an American character actor. He is best known for appearing in many movies and television series, including guest appearances in ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', '' Maude'', ''Friends'', ''Barney Miller'', ''The Golden Girls'', ''Everybody Loves Raymond,'' and more. Early life Leeds was born on April 6, 1916, in New York City, the son of a post office clerk. Raised in the Bronx, he was a peanut vendor for some time near Yankee Stadium and Manhattan's Polo Grounds. After serving in the US Army in World War II, he started his entertainment career. Career He began his career as a standup comedian and then went on to appear in several films and sitcoms, including '' Rosemary's Baby'', ''Beaches'', ''All in the Family'', ''Three's Company'', ''Night Court'', ''Wings'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', ''The Larry Sanders Show'' in three episodes as Hank Kingsley's agent, ''Barney Miller'' in seven episodes including in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Gallagher
Helen Gallagher (born July 19, 1926) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. She is the recipient of three Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Drama Desk Award. Early years Born in Brooklyn, she was raised in Scarsdale, New York, and the Bronx. Her parents separated and she was raised by an aunt. She suffered from asthma. Career Stage Gallagher was known for decades as a Broadway performer. She appeared in '' Make a Wish'', ''Hazel Flagg'', ''Portofino'', ''High Button Shoes'', and ''Sweet Charity'' (for which she received a 1967 Tony Award nomination for Featured Actress in a Musical), eventually assuming the title role, and closing the original Broadway run. She also appeared in '' Cry for Us All''. In 1952, she won a Tony Award for her work in the revival of '' Pal Joey''. In 1971, she won her second Tony for her role in the revival of the musical ''No, No, Nanette''. Her song-and-dance number with Bobby Van from that show, "You Can Dance with Any Girl", is preserved o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Douglass
Stephen Douglass (September 27, 1921 – December 20, 2011) was an American actor-singer. Born Stephen Fitch in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Douglass had a distinguished theatrical career and appeared occasionally on television. He was the last performer to play Billy Bigelow in the original Broadway production of ''Carousel'' and he created the role in the West End production in London. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor for his performance as Joe Hardy in ''Damn Yankees'', and he originated the role of Ulysses in Jerome Moross and John Latouche's '' The Golden Apple''. Other Broadway appearances included '' Make A Wish'', ''Destry Rides Again'', '' 110 in the Shade'', '' Rumple'', and ''I Do! I Do!''. He also portrayed Gaylord Ravenal in the 1966 Lincoln Center revival of ''Show Boat''. He retired to England in 1972, but continued working in musicals, most notably as Tevye in ''Fiddler on the Roof''. His final musical appearance was in a U.K. production of ''Oklahoma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melville Cooper
George Melville Cooper (15 October 1896 – 13 March 1973) was an English actor. His many notable screen roles include the High Sheriff of Nottingham in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), Mr. Collins in ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1940) and the wedding-rehearsal supervisor Mr. Tringle in ''Father of the Bride'' (1950). Biography George Melville Cooper was born on 15 October 1896 in Aston, Birmingham, Warwickshire to W.C.J. and Frances (''née'' Brennan) Cooper. He was brought up in Britain and attended public schools, including King Edward's School in Birmingham. He began to develop an interest in acting as a teenager. At the age of eighteen, he made his professional stage debut in a production at Stratford-upon-Avon. His budding acting career was interrupted by his military service in the Scottish regiment during the First World War, in which he was captured on the Western Front and held prisoner by the Germans for a brief time. After the war, Cooper resumed his stage car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Lang
Harold Lang (December 21, 1920 – July 26, 1985) was an American dancer, singer and actor. Life and career Lang began his professional career as a ballet dancer, making his professional debut with the San Francisco Ballet in 1938 and then going on to perform with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo two years later and American Ballet Theatre (then called Ballet Theatre) in 1943. While at ABT, he originated rôles in Jerome Robbins' ''Fancy Free'' and '' Interplay'', in addition to performing in ballets by George Balanchine, David Lichine, Léonide Massine and Antony Tudor. Beginning in the late 1940s, Lang moved from ballet to musical theater. He made his Broadway debut in the short-lived '' Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston'' (1945), then had more success as a soloist in '' Three to Make Ready'' (1946) and '' Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'!'' (1948). Lang's first major rôle, however, was as Bill Calhoun/Lucentio in the original production of ''Kiss Me, Kate'' (1948) — although he did not alwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanette Fabray
Nanette Fabray (born Ruby Bernadette Nanette Theresa Fabares; October 27, 1920 – February 22, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She began her career performing in vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ... as a child and became a musical-theatre actress during the 1940s and 1950s, acclaimed for her role in ''High Button Shoes'' (1947) and winning a Tony Award in 1949 for her performance in ''Love Life (musical), Love Life''. In the mid-1950s, she served as Sid Caesar's comedic partner on ''Caesar's Hour'', for which she won three Emmy Awards, as well as appearing with Fred Astaire in the film musical ''The Band Wagon''. From 1979 to 1984, she played Katherine Romano, the mother of lead character Ann Romano, on the TV series ''One Day at a Time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
