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Myra De Groot
Myra Tania De Groot (4 July 1937 – 4 April 1988) was a British-born theatre and television actress, and agent. She performed in the United Kingdom, United States, New Zealand and Australia. Professional career De Groot was born in Westminster, London, England, and performed as a child, from everything from a magician's assistant to a dancer, eventually appearing in West End comedy. Arriving in America from Britain in 1958 she appeared in roles for most of the 1960s there, appearing on TV series including ''Bewitched'', ''The Monkees'', ''Perry Mason'', and ''Here Come the Brides''. She performed at the noted New York cabaret "Upstairs at The Downstairs" in ''Ben Bagleys last review (''Seven Come Eleven'') in 1962 with Hal Buckley, Nancy Preiser and Cy Young. She left America and then resided in New Zealand between 1972–1980, where she appeared in many theatre roles and the 1978 film ''Angel Mine''. She also directed stage plays. Her latter career was based in Australia, afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and Daughters.'' Although successful in Melbourne, ''Neighbours'' underperformed in the Sydney market and was cancelled by Seven four months after it began airing. It was immediately commissioned by rival Network Ten for a second production season, which began screening on 20 January 1986. ''Neighbours'' went on to become the longest-running drama series in Australian television history. In 2005, it was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame. The storylines concern the lives of the people who live and work in Erinsborough, a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The series centres on the residents of Ramsay Street, a cul-de-sac, and its neighbouring area, the Lassiters complex, which includes a bar, hotel, café, police station, lawy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nunsense
''Nunsense'' (1985) is a musical comedy with a book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin. Originating as a line of greeting cards, Goggin expanded the concept into a cabaret show that ran for 38 weeks, and eventually into a full-length musical. The original Off-Broadway production opened December 12, 1985, running for 3,672 performances and becoming the second-longest-running Off-Broadway show in history. The show has since been adapted for television, starring Rue McClanahan, and has spawned six sequels and three spin-offs. History The ''Nunsense'' concept originated as a line of greeting cards featuring a nun offering tart quips with a clerical slant. The cards caught on so quickly that Goggin decided to expand the concept into a cabaret show called ''The Nunsense Story'', which opened for a four-day run at Manhattan's Duplex and remained for 38 weeks, encouraging its creator to expand it into a full-length theater production. The original production of ''Nunsense,'' directed by G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torch Song Trilogy
''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: ''International Stud'', ''Fugue in a Nursery'', and ''Widows and Children First!'' The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, drag queen, and torch singer who lives in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The four-hour play begins with a soliloquy in which he explains his cynical disillusionment with love. Characters * Lady Blues: a character who appears between scenes in ''International Stud''. According to Fierstein’s stage directions, she is to be “dressed in period, inginga torch song in the manner of Helen Morgan or Ruth Etting." * Arnold Beckoff: the central character of the play. In the stage directions, Fierstein playfully describes him as a " kvetch (someone who complains habitually) of great wit and want." * Ed Reiss: Arnold’s bisexual lover and friend. He is “thirty-five ndvery handsome.” * Young Stud: a young man who Arnol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mame (musical)
''Mame'' is a musical with the book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee Robert Edwin Lee (October 15, 1918 – July 8, 1994) was an American playwright and lyricist. With his writing partner, Jerome Lawrence, Lee worked for Armed Forces Radio during World War II; Lawrence and Lee became the most prolific writing pa ... and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Originally titled ''My Best Girl'', it is based on the 1955 novel ''Auntie Mame'' by Patrick Dennis and the 1956 Broadway play by Lawrence and Lee. A period piece set in New York City and spanning the Great Depression and World War II, it focuses on eccentric Bohemianism, bohemian Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death." Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when the young son of her late brother arrives to live with her. They cope with the Depression in a series of adventures. In 1958, a film titled ''Auntie Mame (film), Auntie M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pieces Of Eight (1959 Revue)
''Pieces of Eight'' was a British musical comedy revue with sketches written by Peter Cook, music by Laurie Johnson and starring Kenneth Williams and Fenella Fielding. The revue premiered at the Apollo Theatre, 23 September 1959 directed by Paddy Stone. Sets and costumes were designed by Tony Walton, lighting by Richard Pilbrow. Additional music was supplied by Sandy Wilson. The show also featured sketches written by Harold Pinter (unconnected to Pinter's later one-act play for a compendium of 8 plays by 8 playwrights also called ''Pieces of Eight'' which played in the US in 1982-1983), John Law and Lance Mulcahy.Plays and Players - Volume 7 1959 From the Apollo to the Fireside Pieces of Eight. An intimate revue with sketches by Peter Cook and additional material by Harold Pinter, Sandy Wilson, John Law and Lance Mulcahy. Directed by Paddy Stone. The full cast included Myra de Groot, Peter Reeves, Josephine Blake, Terence Theobald, Valerie Walsh, Peter Brett and the Frank Horrox Qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Here Comes The Brides
''Here Come the Brides'' is an American comedy Western series from Screen Gems that aired on the ABC television network from September 25, 1968 to April 3, 1970. It was loosely based on Asa Mercer's efforts in the 1860s to import marriageable women (the Mercer Girls) from the East Coast cities of the United States to Seattle, where there was a shortage. Backstory The producers said the show was inspired by the movie ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' in an interview with ''LA Times'' TV critic Cecil Smith. As a television western, set shortly after the end of the Civil War, the series rarely featured any form of gunplay, and violence was generally limited to comical fistfights. This was in keeping with the restrictions on television violence at the time. Stories highlighted the importance of cooperation, inter-racial harmony, and peaceful resolution of conflict. Plots were usually a mix of drama and humor. Being one of the first shows targeted at young women, most of the humor w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Far Country (novel)
''The Far Country'' is a novel by Nevil Shute, first published in 1952. In this novel, Shute has some harsh things to say about the new (British) National Health Service, as well as the socialist Labour government, themes he would later develop more fully in ''In the Wet''. He describes the lot of the 'New Australians'; refugees who are required to work for two years where they are placed, in return for free passage to Australia. Plot summary The story takes place partly in London and partly in Australia. It is set in 1950. Jennifer Morton, a young girl from Leicester but living in London, witnesses the death of her grandmother, the widow of a retired Indian civil servant. Her pension has ceased and she has literally starved to death, despite apparent prosperity. Before she dies, she leaves Jennifer a small sum of money sent by a niece in Australia, and asks that Jennifer use the money to visit Jane and Jack Dorman who own a prosperous sheep station in Merrijig Victoria. She do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palace Of Dreams
''Palace of Dreams'' is a 1985 Australian fictional mini series about a Jewish family running a hotel in working class inner city of Sydney in the 1930s.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p221 Sandra Levy conceived and produced the series, based on her experience of living in a similar hotel run by her Russian Jewish mother during the Great Depression. The main set of the series is Dundee Palace (formerly the Olympic Hotel), on the corner of Regent Street and Moore Park Road, Paddington). It was advertised in newspapers of the time as 'A story of belonging'. It included historical events such as the popularity of Donald Bradman and aviation achievements of Bert Hinkler and Charles Kingsford Smith. It also showed archival footage of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Fryer Library at the University of Queensland holds the show's manuscripts in the Hanger Collection of Australian Playscripts. Premise The series is bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carson's Law
''Carson's Law'' is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for the Ten Network between 1982-1984. The series was a period piece set in the 1920s and starred Lorraine Bayly as progressive solicitor Jennifer Carson. The episodes revolved around the cases taken on by Jennifer, and the various personal intrigues of her family.Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', AFTRS 1993 p 100 Brief Synopsis The series' premiere was billed as a 90-minute "movie-length" episode on 24 January 1983, with another two-hour episode in the same timeslot the following night, before settling into its twice-weekly 60-minute format the following week. ''Carson's Law'' was noted for its quality scripts and period production values. Despite being popular in Melbourne, where the series was based and filmed, it did not succeed in Sydney. Attempts to revamp the series to make it appeal more to Sydney audiences eventually alienated the programme's core audience, and it wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Squad (Australian TV Series)
''Special Squad'' is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for Network Ten in 1984. Overview The series focused on an elite division of the Victoria Police, which handled crimes either too sensitive or specialist for regular squads. The Special Squad was headed by Det. Insp. Don Anderson (Alan Cassell), with his main operatives being Det. Snr. Sgt. Greg Smith (Anthony Hawkins), and Det. Sgt. Joel Davis (John Diedrich). ''Special Squad'' was seen by many as an Australian answer to the British series ''The Professionals'' both for its focus on action and violence, and the fact that both series were produced by Raymond Menmuir. However, in reality the characters and plotlines were less developed than the British series. The series lasted for 43 episodes in total. Cast * Alan Cassell as Det. Insp. Don Anderson * Anthony Hawkins as Det. Snr. Sgt. Greg Smith * John Diedrich John Edwin Diedrich (born 25 February 1953 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airhawk
''Airhawk'', also known as ''Star of the North'', is a 1981 Australian television action film directed by David Baker and starring Eric Oldfield and Louise Howitt.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p4 It was based on the cartoon strip ''Air Hawk and the Flying Doctors'' by John Dixon. accessed 18 June 2013 Premise Outback pilot Jim Hawk investigates the murder of his brother, who had been involved in diamond mining in Queensland. He uncovers a plan to flood the market with diamonds.Cast * Eric Oldfield as Jim Hawk *Louise Howitt as Janet Grant *Phillip Ross ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
