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Paradise Island (musical)
The Legend of '' Paradise Island '' is a Hawaiian Musical Fantasy in two acts, with book, music, and lyrics by Carmen Lombardo and John Jacob Loeb. The book was adapted by Francis Swann. The show was produced by Guy Lombardo at the Jones Beach Marine Theater. The show opened on June 22, 1961.Mantle, Burns, Editor, "The Best Plays of 1961–1962", Dodd, Mead & Company, pp. 303-304. The book was directed by Francis Swann, and choreographed and staged by June Taylor, scenery designed by George Jenkins. Costumes by Winiford Morton. Lighting by Peggy Clark. The musical direction and vocal arrangements were by Pembroke Davenport. The orchestrations were by Joe Glover and the dance arrangements were by Milt Sherman. The entire production was under the supervision of Arnold Spector. It ran for 75 performances. The cast starred Elaine Malbin, Arthur Treacher, and William Gaxton and included Jack Washburn, Norman Atkins, Honey Sanders, Ralph Purdum, Harold Gary, Robert Penn, The Toy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carmen Lombardo
Carmen Lombardo (July 16, 1903 – April 17, 1971) was lead saxophonist and featured vocalist for his brother Guy Lombardo's orchestra. He was also a successful composer. In 1927, Carmen Lombardo was the vocalist of the hit record Charmaine, performed by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians. Early years Lombardo was born in London, Ontario, Canada. As a child, he took flute lessons, and later learned to play saxophone. He had three brothers who also became musicians: Guy, Lebert, and Victor. Career As a young man played in the Lombardo Brothers Concert Company with Guy on violin and another brother, Lebert, on trumpet or piano. As the band grew, Guy became conductor, and the band developed into The Royal Canadians in 1923, in which Carmen both sang and wrote music. He frequently collaborated with American composers and his music was recorded by Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and others. Many of his compositions have also been used in Woody Allen films. When singing songs lik ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Swann
Francis Swann (July 16, 1913 – August 27, 1983) was a playwright, novelist, and a film and television writer. He wrote several Broadway plays, most notable of which was ''Out of the Frying Pan''. He wrote a number of screenplays for Warner Bros. and other studios, including the screenplay for ''711 Ocean Drive'' (1950). Swann also wrote several books including ''The Brass Key'' and ''Royal Street''. He was one of the early writers for the television soap opera ''Dark Shadows''. Selected filmography * ''Belle of Old Mexico'' (1950) *''Force of Impulse '' Force of Impulse'' is a 1961 American drama film directed by Saul Swimmer and starring Robert Alda, Jeff Donnell and J. Carrol Naish.McCarty p.192 A high school student robs his own father's grocery store in order to raise the money to take h ...'' (1961) References External links * 1913 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American male screenwriters 20th-century American dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was an Italian-Canadian-American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer. Lombardo formed the Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and other musicians from his hometown. They billed themselves as creating "the sweetest music this side of Heaven." The Lombardos are believed to have sold between 100 and 300 million records during their lifetimes, many featuring the band's lead singer from 1940 onward, Kenny Gardner. Early life Lombardo was born in London, Ontario, Canada, to Italian immigrants Gaetano Alberto and Angelina Lombardo. His father, who had worked as a tailor, was an amateur singer with a baritone voice and had four of his five sons learn to play instruments so they could accompany him. Lombardo and his brothers formed their first orchestra while still in grammar school and rehearsed in the back of their father's tailor shop. Lombardo first performed in public with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jones Beach Marine Theater
Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater (commonly known as the Jones Beach Theater) is an outdoor amphitheatre at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York. It is one of two major outdoor arenas in the New York metropolitan area, along with PNC Bank Arts Center. The theater was designed to specifications provided by Robert Moses, who created Jones Beach State Park. History Opened in June 1952 as the New Jones Beach Marine Stadium, the venue originally had 8,200 seats and hosted musicals. Moses had several boxes designated for his own use, and Moses' friend Guy Lombardo performed often in the early years. The opening show was the operetta extravaganza '' A Night in Venice'' by Johann Strauss II, produced by film producer Mike Todd, complete with floating gondolas and starring Enzo Stuarti, Thomas Hayward, Norwood Smith and Nola Fairbanks. During one of these Lombardo performances, the early phonograph recording star Billy Murray died of a heart attack in 1954. Lomb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
June Taylor
Marjorie June Taylor (December 14, 1917 – May 16, 2004) was an American choreographer, best known as the founder of the June Taylor Dancers, who were featured on Jackie Gleason's various television variety programs. Early life and career Taylor was born in Chicago, the daughter of Percival Guy Taylor and Angela Taylor. She started taking dance lessons at age eight; by age 14, she lied about her age and became one of the dancers at the Chicago nightclub, Chez Paree. At age 19, she was touring the US and Europe as a dancer in various nightclubs. She returned from London and began performing again in Chicago. In 1938, at age 21, Taylor collapsed on stage, ill with tuberculosis; she spent the next two years in a sanitarium, after which she turned to choreography, founding her own dance troupe in 1942, which made its first professional appearance at Chicago's Blackhawk restaurant. In 1946, Taylor met Jackie Gleason at a Baltimore nightclub. The two became friends when Taylor helpe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elaine Malbin
Elaine Malbin (born May 24, 1929 in New York City) is an American soprano who had a prolific international career singing in operas, musicals, and concerts from the 1940s through the 1960s. She made her Town Hall debut at the age of 14. She appeared in a number of Broadway productions in the 1940s and 1950s and notably portrayed Marsinah in the original 1953 West End production of '' Kismet''. She starred on Broadway in the title role of My Darlin’ Aida & sang a season of Gilbert and Sullivan at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York. She was a regular at the New York City Opera during the 1950s and 1960s with leading roles in Love for Three Oranges, Carmen (Micaela), Turandot (Liù), La Bohème (Mimi) and Don Giovanni (Zerlina). She appeared with most of America's leading opera companies during this time as well, including the Houston Grand Opera and the San Francisco Opera. In San Francisco Malbin debuted in a staged version of Carmina Burnana and sang Mimi in La Bohème. She al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Treacher
Arthur Veary Treacher (, 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet character Jeeves (''Thank You, Jeeves'', 1936) and the kind butler Andrews opposite Shirley Temple in ''Heidi'' (1937). In the 1960s, he became well known on American television as an announcer/sidekick to talk show host Merv Griffin, and as the support character Constable Jones in Disney's ''Mary Poppins'' (1964). He lent his name to the Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips chain of restaurants. Personal life Treacher was the son of Arthur Veary Treacher (1862–1924), a Sussex solicitor; his mother was Alice Mary Longhurst (1865–1946). He was educated at a boarding school in Uppingham in Rutland. In 1936, he married Virginia Taylor (1898–1984). Acting career Treacher was a veteran of World War I, serving as an officer of the Royal Gar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Gaxton
William Gaxton (né Arthur Anthony Gaxiola, December 2, 1893 – February 2, 1963) was an American star of vaudeville, film, and theatre. Gaxton was president of The Lambs Club from 1936 to 1939, 1952 to 1953, and 1957 to 1961. He and Victor Moore became a popular theatre team in the 1930s and 1940s; they also appeared in a film together. Biography Gaxton was born Arthur Anthony Gaxiola. He was of Spanish ancestry and a cousin of actor Leo Carrillo. He attended Boone Military Academy, Lowell High School, Santa Clara College, and the University of California. Gaxton appeared on film and onstage. He debuted on Broadway in the '' Music Box Revue'' on October 23, 1922. On radio Gaxton starred in ''Broadway Showtime'', a 30-minute musical drama that ran on CBS from December 27, 1943 to June 26, 1944. In 1961 and 1962, he and Arthur Treacher starred in Guy Lombardo's production of the musical '' Paradise Island'' at Jones Beach Marine Theater. He died from cancer on February 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elsa Raven
Elsa Rabinowitz (September 21, 1929 – November 2, 2020), known professionally as Elsa Raven, was an American character actress, perhaps best known for her two years (1988–1990) on the sitcom ''Amen'' and playing the mother of Vincent Terranova (Ken Wahl) on the TV series '' Wiseguy''. Raven is also known for her small but memorable role in ''Back to the Future'' (1985) as the clock tower lady with her phrase "Save the clock tower!" while gathering local donations to preserve the clock, whose complimentary leaflet later proves invaluable in the past. She played Ida Straus in the 1997 film ''Titanic'' along with Lew Palter, who played Isidor Straus, and had a voice role in the 1981 animated film ''American Pop''. Raven adhered to Judaism. Raven died on November 2, 2020, in Los Angeles at the age of 91. Upon her death, she was cremated and her ashes returned to her family. Filmography Film appearances TV appearances * '' Million Dollar Infield'' (1982) – Dr. Isabel Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1961 Musicals
Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (Koivulahti air disaster): Douglas DC-3C OH-LCC of Finnish airline Finnair, Aero crashes near Kvevlax (Koivulahti), on approach to Vaasa Airport in Finland, killing all 25 on board, due to pilot error: an investigation finds that the Captain (civil aviation), captain and First officer (civil aviation), first officer were both exhausted for lack of sleep, and had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol at the time of the crash. It remains the deadliest air disaster to occur in the country. * January 5 ** Italian sculptor Alfredo Fioravanti marches into the U.S. Consulate in Rome, and confesses that he was part of the team that forged the Etruscan terracotta warriors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. ** After the 1960 Turkish coup d'état, 1960 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Musicals
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 wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
