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Mel Gussow
Melvyn Hayes "Mel" Gussow (; December 19, 1933 – April 29, 2005) was an American theater critic, movie critic, and author who wrote for ''The New York Times'' for 35 years. Biography Gussow was born in New York City and grew up in Rockville Centre, Long Island. He attended South Side High School. and Middlebury College, where he served as editor of ''The Campus'', and graduated in 1955 with a BA in American literature. He earned an MA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1956. Gussow was a writer for the Army newspaper in Heidelberg, Germany, where he was stationed for two years. He was hired by ''Newsweek'', where he became a movie and theater critic. His first Broadway play review was of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' in 1962. This review began a lifelong relationship with the play's author, Edward Albee, that included Gussow's 1999 biography of the playwright entitled ''Edward Albee: A Singular Journey''. Gussow joined the ''New York Tim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid digital subscribers. It also is a producer of popular podcasts such as '' The Daily''. Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, it was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. The ''Times'' has won 132 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any newspaper, and has long been regarded as a national " newspaper of record". For print it is ranked 18th in the world by circulation and 3rd in the U.S. The paper is owned by the New York Times Company, which is publicly traded. It has been governed by the Sulzberger family since 1896, through a dual-class share structure after its shares became publicly traded. A. G. Sulzberger, the paper's publisher and the company's chairman, is the fifth generation of the family to head the pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenwich Village Townhouse Explosion
The Greenwich Village townhouse explosion occurred on March 6, 1970, in New York, New York, United States. Members of the Weather Underground (Weathermen), an American leftist militant group, were making bombs in the basement of 18 West 11th Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood, when one of them exploded. The resulting series of three blasts completely destroyed the four-story townhouse and severely damaged those adjacent to it, including the then home of actor Dustin Hoffman and theater critic Mel Gussow. Three Weathermen—Ted Gold, Diana Oughton and Terry Robbins—were killed in the blast, while two survivors, Kathy Boudin and Cathy Wilkerson, were helped out of the wreckage and subsequently fled. Responding firefighters initially believed the blast to have been an accidental gas explosion, but police suspicions were aroused by the two survivors' apparent disappearances, and by that evening other bombs the Weathermen had built were found. They had been meant for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass (liturgy), Mass, requiem and sacred cantata, or the story line of a ballet. ''Libretto'' (; plural ''libretti'' ), from Italian, is the diminutive of the word ''wiktionary:libro#Italian, libro'' ("book"). Sometimes other-language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, ''livret'' for French works, ''Textbuch'' for German and ''libreto'' for Spanish. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. Some ballet historians also use the word ''libretto'' to refer to the 15 to 40 page books which were on sale to 19th century ballet audiences in Paris and contained a ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Shaffer
Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (; 15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He wrote numerous award-winning plays, of which several were adapted into films. Early life Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in Liverpool, the son of Reka (née Fredman) and estate agent Jack Shaffer. He grew up in London and was the identical twin brother of fellow playwright Anthony Shaffer. He was educated at the Hall School, Hampstead, and St Paul's School, London, and subsequently he gained a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, to study history. Shaffer was a Bevin Boy coal miner during World War II, and took a number of jobs including bookstore clerk, and assistant at the New York Public Library, before discovering his dramatic talents. Theatrical career Shaffer's first play, ''The Salt Land'' (1955), was presented on ITV on 8 November 1955. Encouraged by this success, Shaffer continued to write and established his reputation as a playwright in 1958, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack O'Brien (director)
Jack O'Brien (born June 18, 1939) is an American director, producer, writer and lyricist. He served as the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California from 1981 through the end of 2007. O'Brien has won three Tony Awards and been nominated for seven more, and won five Drama Desk Awards. He has directed and produced musicals, including ''The Full Monty'' and ''Hairspray'', contemporary dramas such as ''The Piano Lesson'', ''The Invention of Love'' and ''The Coast of Utopia'', Shakespeare classics, including ''Hamlet'' and ''Henry IV'' (a combination of '' Part 1'' and '' Part 2''), and operas, including ''Il trittico'' at the Metropolitan Opera''. He has also been associated with some notorious Broadway failures. In 1972, he wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for ''The Selling of the President'', which closed after five performances. The Old Globe also co-produced the stage adaptation of ''Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All'', which closed af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dana Ivey
Dana Robins Ivey (born August 12, 1941) is an American actress. She is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, and won the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her work in both ''Sex and Longing'' and ''The Last Night of Ballyhoo''. Her film appearances include ''The Color Purple'' (1985), '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' (1988), ''The Addams Family'' (1991), '' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' (1992), ''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993), ''Addams Family Values'' (1993), ''Two Weeks Notice'' (2002), ''Rush Hour 3'' (2007), and ''The Help'' (2011). Early life and family Ivey was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Her mother, Mary Nell Ivey Santacroce ( née McKoin), was a teacher, speech therapist, and actress who appeared in productions of ''Driving Miss Daisy'' and taught at Georgia State University; Mary Nell was considered by John Huston to be "one of the three or four greatest actresses in the world." Her father, Hugh Daugherty Ivey, was a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lois Smith
Lois Arlene Smith (née Humbert; born November 3, 1930) is an American character actress whose career spans eight decades. She made her film debut in the 1955 drama film '' East of Eden'', and later played supporting roles in a number of movies, including ''Five Easy Pieces'' (1970), ''Resurrection'' (1980), '' Fatal Attraction'' (1987), ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991), ''Falling Down'' (1993), ''How to Make an American Quilt'' (1995), ''Dead Man Walking (film), Dead Man Walking'' (1995), ''Twister (1996 film), Twister'' (1996), ''Minority Report (film), Minority Report'' (2002), ''The Nice Guys'' (2016), ''Lady Bird (film), Lady Bird'' (2017), and ''The French Dispatch'' (2021). In 2017, Smith received critical acclaim for her leading performance in the science-fiction drama film ''Marjorie Prime'', for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards and Saturn Award, and won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, Satellite Awa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Cullum
John Cullum (born circa 1930) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in many stage musicals and dramas, including '' Shenandoah'' (1975) and ''On the Twentieth Century'' (1978), winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for each. In 1966 he gained his first Tony nomination as the lead in ''On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'', in which he introduced the title song, and more recently received Tony nominations for ''Urinetown The Musical'' (2002) ( Best Actor in a Musical) and as Best Featured Actor in the revival of '' 110 in the Shade'' (2007). Some of his other notable roles included tavern owner Holling Vincoeur in the television drama series '' Northern Exposure'', gaining an Emmy Award nomination (Best Supporting Actor in a Drama). He was featured in fifteen episodes of the NBC television series '' ER'' as Mark Greene's father. He also played the farmer, Jim Dahlberg, in the landmark television drama ''The Day After''. He has made multiple guest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in ''Torch Song Trilogy'' and ''Hairspray'' and movie roles in ''Mrs. Doubtfire'', '' Independence Day'', and as the voice of Yao in ''Mulan'' and ''Mulan II''. Fierstein won two Tony Awards, Best Actor in a Play and Best Play, for ''Torch Song Trilogy''. He received his third Tony Award, Best Book of a Musical, for the musical '' La Cage aux Folles'' and his fourth, the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, for playing Edna Turnblad in ''Hairspray''. Fierstein also wrote the book for the Tony Award-winning musicals '' Kinky Boots, Newsies,'' and Tony Award-nominated, Drama League Award-winner ''A Catered Affair.'' He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. For his role on the television show ''Cheers'', he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Early life and educ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Theater Hall Of Fame
The American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the organization's Executive Committee. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the Uris Theatre (then under construction, now the Gershwin). James M. Nederlander and Gerard Oestreicher, who leased the theater, donated the space for the Hall of Fame; Arnold Weissberger was another founder. Blackwell noted that the names of the first honorees would "be embossed in bronze-gold lettering on the theater's entrance walls flanking its grand staircase and escalator." The first group of inductees was announced in October 1972. Eligible inductees come from disciplines including actors, playwrights, songwriters, designers, directors, and producers who have had a career in American theater for at least twenty-five years and at least five major production credits on Broadway. Selections are made each year by voting members of the Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only writer to win the National Book Award for Fiction three times, and he received the National Book Foundation's lifetime Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 1990."Distinguished Contribution to American Letters" National Book Foundation. Retrieved 12 March 2012. In the words of the Swedish , his writing exhibited e mixture of r ... |
Charles McGrath
David Charles McGrath (10 November 1872 – 31 July 1934) was an Australian politician. Originally a member of the Australian Labor Party, he joined Joseph Lyons in the 1931 Labor split that led to the formation of the United Australia Party. Early life McGrath was born at Newtown, Victoria to David McGrath, an Irish-born miner, and Evelyn, née Horsefield, an Englishwoman. He attended Newtown State and Creswick Grammar schools before working at the family store at Allendale. He was a member of the South Ballarat football team during the 1890s. He married Elizabeth Johnstone Gullan in Ballarat on 24 May 1898; the couple moved to Pitfield Plains in 1900 to expand the family business. State politics In 1904, McGrath was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Labor, representing the seat of Grenville. He became known as a spokesman for the mining industry, and earned the nickname "Bull" for his promotion of Labor in country areas; with Frank Anstey, he travelled e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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