|
On Your Toes
''On Your Toes'' (1936) is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939. While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Dolan III tries to persuade Sergei Alexandrovich, the director of the Russian Ballet, to stage the jazz ballet ''Slaughter on Tenth Avenue''. After becoming involved with the company's prima ballerina Vera Barnova, Junior is forced to assume the male lead in ''Slaughter''. Trouble ensues when he becomes the target of two thugs hired by Vera's lover and dance partner to kill him. ''On Your Toes'' marked the first time a Broadway musical made dramatic use of classical dance and incorporated jazz into its score. Films about ballet Background ''On Your Toes'' originally was conceived as a film, and as a vehicle for Fred Astaire. His refusal of the part, because he thought that the role clashed with his debonair image developed in his contempor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music. Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including ''Pal Joey (musical), Pal Joey'', ''A Connecticut Yankee (musical), A Connecticut Yankee'', ''On Your Toes'' and ''Babes in Arms.'' With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Oklahoma!'', ''Flower Drum Song'', ''Carousel (musical), Carousel'', ''South Pacific (musical), South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for brin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monty Woolley
Edgar Montilion "Monty" Woolley (August 17, 1888May 6, 1963) was an American film and theater actor.Obituary ''Variety'', May 8, 1963, page 223. At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his role in the 1939 stage play ''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' and its 1942 film adaptation. His distinctive white beard was his trademark and he was affectionately known as "The Beard." Early life Woolley was born in New York City's Manhattan to William Edgar Woolley (1845-1927) and Jessie née Arms (1857-1927) and grew up in the highest social circles. Woolley received a bachelor's degree at Yale University, where Cole Porter was an intimate friend and classmate, and master's degrees from Yale and Harvard Universities. He eventually became an assistant professor of English and drama coach at Yale. Thornton Wilder and Stephen Vincent Benét were among his students. He served in World War I in the United States Army as a first lieutenant assigned to the general staff in Paris. Ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George De La Peña
George de la Peña (born December 9, 1955) is an American ballet dancer, musical theatre performer, choreographer, actor, and teacher. He was born in 1955 in New York City, New York. Originally trained as a concert pianist, de la Peña switched to ballet while studying at the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City. He graduated from George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet. He joined American Ballet Theatre in the 1970s, rapidly rising to soloist. While at ABT, de la Peña danced in works choreographed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Agnes de Mille, Kenneth MacMillan, and Jerome Robbins. By 1985, de la Peña and his then-wife Rebecca Wright had both left ABT and moved to California. De la Peña and Wright had two children before they separated.) He and Ms. Wright can be seen in Baryshnikov's production of ''The Nutcracker'' on television and on DVD. De la Peña began acting when he was cast as Vaslav Nijinsky in Herbert Ross's film ''Nijinsky'' (1980), and for some t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonid Kozlov
Leonid Kozlov (born February 6, 1947 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a former principal dancer of Bolshoi Theatre, the Bolshoi and New York City Ballet. He is also a Choreography, choreographer, the founder and owner of Kozlov Dance International (KDI) and Youth Dance Festival of New Jersey. Biography Kozlov started his dance career by training at the Bolshoi Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet School at age 12.Mary VespaBallet's Kozlovs Leapt from the Bolshoi Straight into the Arms of a Suburban Mortgage ''People Magazine'', November 03, 1980 - accessed May 2, 2009 He later joined the Bolshoi company and became a principal dancer with performances in ''Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev), Romeo and Juliet'', ''Swan Lake'', ''Don Quixote (ballet), Don Quixote'', ''Giselle'', ''Le Corsaire'', ''The Tale of the Stone Flower (Prokofiev), The Stone Flower'', ''Spartacus (ballet), Spartacus'', ''The Sleeping Beauty (ballet), The Sleeping Beauty'', and ''La Bayadère''. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valentina Kozlova
Valentina Kozlova (born August 26, 1957) is a Soviet-born Russian American ballerina and founder of Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition. In 1979, while on tour as a young principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, Kozlova defected to the United States, where she became a principal dancer with New York City Ballet and later, opened her own ballet school. Perhaps best known as a lyrical and expressive ballerina, Kozlova is also renowned as a private coach, producing students who have gone on to garner prestigious prizes and positions in companies such as Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Washington Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Universal Ballet, and the Cuban National Ballet. Performing career USSR and early career Kozlova was born in Moscow to Russian parents. Encouraged by her mother, a technical supervisor for the phone company, Kozlova joined a children's ballet company at the age of seven and was accepted, at nine, into the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John F
John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Epistle of John, often shortened to 2 John * Third Epistle of John, often shortened to 3 John People * John the Baptist (died c. AD 30), regarded as a prophet and the forerunner of Jesus Christ * John the Apostle (lived c. AD 30), one of the twelve apostles of Jesus * John the Evangelist, assigned author of the Fourth Gospel, once identified with the Apostle * John of Patmos, also known as John the Divine or John the Revelator, the author of the Book of Revelation, once identified with the Apostle * John the Presbyter, a figure either identified with or distinguished from the Apostle, the Evangelist and John of Patmos Other people with the given name Religious figures * John, father of Andrew the Apostle and Saint Peter * Pope Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natalia Makarova
Natalia Romanovna Makarova (russian: Ната́лия Рома́новна Мака́рова, born 21 November 1940) is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. ''The History of Dance'', published in 1981, notes that "her performances set standards of artistry and aristocracy of dance which mark her as the finest ballerina of her generation in the West." Biography Makarova was born in Leningrad in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. At the age of 12, she auditioned for the Leningrad Choreographic School (formerly the Imperial Ballet School), and was accepted although most students join the school at the age of 9. Makarova was a permanent member of the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad from 1956 to 1970, achieving prima ballerina status during the 1960s. She defected to the West on 4 September 1970, while on tour with the Kirov in London. Soon after defecting, Makarova began performing with the American Ballet Theatre in New York City and the Royal Ballet in London. When she f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Saddler
Donald Edward Saddler (January 24, 1918 – November 1, 2014) was an American choreographer, dancer, and theatre director. Biography Born in Van Nuys, California, Saddler studied dance at an early age to regain his strength after a bout of scarlet fever. He spent his school vacations at the MGM studios, eventually dancing in the chorus of movie musicals such as ''The Great Ziegfeld'' (1936), '' Rosalie'' (1937), ''Broadway Melody of 1938'' (1937), ''Babes in Arms'' (1939), and '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) . Saddler was an original member of the American Ballet Theatre, appearing in ''Giselle'', ''Pillar of Fire'', and ''Fancy Free'' before heading overseas to serve in World War II. When he returned, he decided to forego ballet in favor of Broadway musicals, appearing in ''High Button Shoes'' (1947) and two 1950 revues, ''Dance Me a Song'' and ''Bless You All'', before winning his first assignment as a choreographer for ''Wonderful Town'' in 1953, for which he won the Tony Aw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You Took Advantage Of Me
"You Took Advantage of Me" is a 1928 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart, for the musical '' Present Arms'' (1928), where it was introduced by Joyce Barbour and Busby Berkeley as the characters Edna Stevens and Douglas Atwell. The characters were formerly married, but still have romantic feelings for each other. On opening night, Berkeley forgot the lyrics and had to scat and hum the entire second verse. Berkeley also claimed that his nonsense lyrics for the improvised second verse left Hart "almost apoplectic", but the audience was amused and Hart later forgave him. The song was subsequently included in the 1930 film ''Leathernecking'', an adaptation of ''Present Arms''. Rodgers described the song as a "sassy and unregretful number" which audiences liked far more than traditional contemporary love songs. In his book ''The Poets of Tin Pan Alley'', Philip Furia wrote that the song depicted a "...wittily self deprecating character who was perfectly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Winters (choreographer)
David Winters (April 5, 1939 – April 23, 2019) was an English-born American actor, dancer, choreographer, producer, distributor, director and screenwriter. At a young age, he acted in film and television projects such as ''Lux Video Theatre''; '' Naked City''; ''Mister Peepers''; '' Rock, Rock, Rock''; and ''Roogie's Bump.'' He received some attention in Broadway musicals for his roles in ''West Side Story'' (1957) and ''Gypsy'' (1959). In the film adaptation of ''West Side Story'' (1961) he was one of the few to be re-cast. It became the highest grossing motion picture of that year, and won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Winters became a dance choreographer. On films, he choreographed several projects with Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret starting with ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). Other dance choreography credits include ''T.A.M.I. Show'' (1964), ''Send Me No Flowers'' (1964), '' Billie'' (1965), '' A Star Is Born'' (1976), etc. On television, he was frequently seen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films and television series. Stritch was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995. She is often considered by critics as one of Broadway’s greatest female performers. Stritch made her Broadway debut in the 1946 comedy ''Loco'' and went on to receive four Tony Award nominations: for the William Inge play ''Bus Stop'' (1956); the Noël Coward musical '' Sail Away'' (1962); the Stephen Sondheim musical ''Company'' (1970), which included her performance of the song " The Ladies Who Lunch"; and for the revival of the Edward Albee play '' A Delicate Balance'' (1996). Her one-woman show ''Elaine Stritch at Liberty'' won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event. Stritch relocated to London in the 1970s and starred in sever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Van (actor)
Robert Jack Stein (December 6, 1928 – July 31, 1980), known by his legalized stage name Bobby Van, was a musical actor and dancer, best known for his career on Broadway, in films and television from the 1950s through the 1970s. He was also a game show host and panelist. Early life Van was born to Jewish vaudeville parents in The Bronx, New York City, and grew up backstage, witnessing many memorable Depression-era acts. Originally, Van took ''King'' as his stage name (after his father's stage name, from the trio "Gordon, Reed and King"). He finally opted for ''Van'', after seeing a Van Johnson poster hanging in his sister's bedroom. In a 1976 interview, Van said he had legalized his name change from 'Stein'. Career Van began his career as a musician, playing trumpet. When his band played a venue in the Catskills, Van was asked to fill in as a song and dance man for another act. His act drew rave reviews and gave Van a thrill performing live as a solo act. He went on to appe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
