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Neil Simon Theatre
The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley. The original name was an amalgamation of Aarons's and Freedley's first names; the theater was renamed for playwright Neil Simon in 1983. The Neil Simon has 1,467 seats across two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The facade is divided into two sections: the six-story stage house to the west and the five-story auditorium to the east. The ground floor is clad with terracotta blocks and contains an entrance with a marquee. The upper stories of both sections are made of brick and terracotta; the auditorium facade has arched windows, niches, and a central pediment, while the stage house has a more plain design. Th ...
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The Cher Show (musical)
''The Cher Show'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Rick Elice that tells the story of the life and career of Cher, using songs that she performed throughout her career. The part of Cher is played by three actresses: one portraying her in the 1950s and 60s (nicknamed "Babe"), one for the 1970s (nicknamed "Lady"), and one for the 1980s and 90s (nicknamed "Star"). The three interact with each other and help each other out at various points. The musical had its world premiere at the Oriental Theatre (Chicago), Oriental Theatre, Chicago, on June 12, 2018, and opened on Broadway theatre, Broadway in December 2018. The Original Cast Album was released on digital platforms on April 12, 2019, and was released to physical CD on May 10, 2019. ''The Cher Show'' played its final Broadway performance on August 18, 2019. An overhauled production launched at the Curve (theatre), Leicester Curve in April 2022, before embarking on a UK tour. Original Broadway production ''The Cher Show'' made ...
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Pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pediment is sometimes the top element of a portico. For symmetric designs, it provides a center point and is often used to add grandness to entrances. The tympanum, the triangular area within the pediment, is often decorated with a pedimental sculpture which may be freestanding or a relief sculpture. The tympanum may hold an inscription, or in modern times, a clock face. Pediments are found in ancient Greek architecture as early as 600 BC (e.g. the archaic Temple of Artemis). Variations of the pediment occur in later architectural styles such as Classical, Neoclassical and Baroque. Gable roofs were common in ancient Greek temples with a low pitch (angle of 12.5° to 16°). History The pediment is found in classical Greek temples, Et ...
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Hairspray (musical)
''Hairspray'' is an American musical with music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, with a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on John Waters's 1988 film of the same name. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the production follows teenage Tracy Turnblad's dream to dance on ''The Corny Collins Show'', a local TV dance program based on the real-life '' Buddy Deane Show''. When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight, leading to social change as Tracy campaigns for the show's integration. The musical opened in Seattle in 2002 and moved to Broadway later that year. In 2003 ''Hairspray'' won eight Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical, out of 13 nominations. It ran for 2,642 performances, and closed on January 4, 2009. ''Hairspray'' has also had national tours, a West End production, and numerous foreign productions and was adapted as a 20 ...
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Annie (musical)
''Annie'' is a Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip ''Little Orphan Annie'' and loosely based on the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" written by James Whitcomb Riley. The musical includes music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a musical theater, book by Thomas Meehan (writer), Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, setting a record for the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre). It spawned numerous productions in many countries, as well as national tours, and won seven Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical's songs "Tomorrow (song from Annie), Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life" are among its most popular musical numbers. Background Charnin first approached Meehan to write the book of a musical about ''Little Orphan Annie'' in 1972. Meehan researched by rereading prints of the comic strip, but was unable to fin ...
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Shenandoah (musical)
''Shenandoah'' is a musical that was composed during 1974 with music by Gary Geld, lyrics by Peter Udell, and book by Udell, Philip Rose, and James Lee Barrett. The musical is based on Barrett's original screenplay for the 1965 film ''Shenandoah''. Plot Charlie Anderson, a widower, lives with his large family in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, during the American Civil War. Anderson does not wish to be involved with the war because he doesn't consider it "his" war, but he is forced to take action when his youngest son Robert is taken prisoner by Union soldiers. In the course of searching for Robert, Charlie, his daughter Jenny, and some of his sons rescue Sam (Jenny's newlywed Confederate soldier husband) from a Yankee POW train. After enduring the tragedy of losing his eldest son Jacob (to a sniper) and his second eldest son James and James' wife Anne (to deserters), Charlie and the rest of the family return home, defeated. In his despair, Charlie is reminded to return to ...
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Company (musical)
''Company'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The original 1970 production was nominated for a record-setting 14 Tony Awards, winning six. ''Company'' was written in a style without a chronological linear path. Its story depicts the internal observations of its lead character, Robert. ''Company'' is a concept musical composed of short vignettes linked by Robert's 35th birthday. ''Company'' was among the first book musicals to deal with contemporary dating, marriage and divorce.''Broadway: the American musical'', episode 5: "Tradition (1957–1979)", 2004. Background George Furth wrote 11 one-act plays planned for Kim Stanley. Anthony Perkins was interested in directing and gave the material to Sondheim, who asked Harold Prince for his opinion. Prince said the plays could be a good basis for a musical about New York marriages with a central character to examine those marriages. Synopsis In the early 1990s, Furth and Sondheim revi ...
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The Great White Hope
''The Great White Hope'' is a 1967 play written by Howard Sackler, later adapted in 1970 for a film of the same name. The play was first produced by Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and debuted on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre in October 1968, directed by Edwin Sherin with James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander in the lead roles. The play won the 1969 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Subsequent touring companies of the play featured Brock Peters and Claudette Nevins in the lead roles. The play is based on the true story of Jack Johnson and his fight against Jim Jeffries, Johnson's first wife, Etta Terry Duryea, the controversy over their marriage and Duryea's death by suicide in 1912. Background While the play is often described as being thematically about racism, this is not how Sackler viewed his work. Though not denying the racist issues confronted in the play, Sackler once said in an interview, "What interested me was not the topicality but th ...
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High Spirits (musical)
''High Spirits'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book, lyrics, and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play ''Blithe Spirit (play), Blithe Spirit'' by Noël Coward, about a man's problems caused by the spirit of his dead wife. Martin and Gray adhered closely to Coward's original text, although they expanded the Mediumship, medium's character to make it the star role. The playwright was delighted with their adaptation, then entitled ''Faster Than Sound'', and agreed to direct it himself. Productions Originally, Coward had mentally cast Keith Michell as Charles, Gwen Verdon as Elvira, Celeste Holm as Ruth, and Kay Thompson as Madame Arcati, with Bob Fosse as director. Coward's dream cast failed to materialize, but he continued with the project.Graham Payn, Payn, Graham. ''My Life with Noël Coward'', Applause Books, 1994. p. 174 The musical opened on Broadway theatre, Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre, Alvin Theatre on April 7, 1964, and closed on February ...
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A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specifically ''Pseudolus'', ''Miles Gloriosus'', and ''Mostellaria'', the musical tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of doors, cases of mistaken identity (frequently involving characters disguising themselves as one another), and satirical comments on social class. The title derives from a line often used by vaudeville comedians to begin a story: "A funny thing happened on the way to the theater". The musical's original 1962 Broadway run won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Author (Musical). ''A Funny Thing'' has enjoyed several Broadway and West End ...
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Something For The Boys
''Something for the Boys'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields. Produced by Mike Todd, the show opened on Broadway in 1943 and starred Ethel Merman in her fifth Cole Porter musical. Productions Out of town tryouts began on December 18, 1942 at the Shubert Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts."'Something for the Boys'"
sondheimguide.com, accessed January 10, 2011
The musical opened on Broadway at the on January 7, 1943 and closed on January 8, 1944 after 422 performances. It starred (Blossom Hart),
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Lady In The Dark
''Lady in the Dark'' is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fictional fashion magazine who is undergoing psychoanalysis. The musical ran on Broadway in 1941, and in the United Kingdom in 1981. A film version was released in 1944, and a live television special followed in 1954. Story Liza Elliot (Gertrude Lawrence) finds herself constantly plagued by indecision in her professional and personal life. She is courted by two men, the already-married publisher Kendall Nesbitt who is trying to divorce his wife for Liza, and her advertising manager Randy Curtis, and cannot decide who to choose. When she begins seeing a psychologist, she delves into her dreams and memories of her unhappy childhood. She illustrates a dream of being put on trial for her indecision in a circus setting, with her photographer Russel Paxton acting as prosecut ...
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Anything Goes
''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker is a stowaway in love with heiress Hope Harcourt, who is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and Public Enemy Number 13, "Moonface" Martin, aid Billy in his quest to win Hope. The musical introduced such songs as "Anything Goes", "You're the Top", and "I Get a Kick Out of You." Since its 1934 debut at the Alvin Theatre (now known as the Neil Simon Theatre) on Broadway, the musical has been revived several times in the United States and Britain and has been filmed three times. The musical has long been a popular choice for school and community productions. History The original idea for a musical set on board an ocean liner came from producer ...
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