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Rookery Nook (play)
''Rookery Nook'' is a farce by the English playwright Ben Travers based on his own 1923 novel. It was first given at the Aldwych Theatre, London, the third in the series of twelve Aldwych farces presented by the actor-manager Tom Walls at the theatre between 1923 and 1933. Several of the actors formed a regular core cast for the Aldwych farces. The play depicts the complications that ensue when a young woman, dressed in pyjamas, seeks refuge from her bullying stepfather at a country house in the middle of the night. The play was first performed in 1926 at the Aldwych Theatre in London, the third of the Aldwych farces, and ran for 409 performances."Mr. Ralph Lynn", ''The Times'', 10 August 1962, p. 11 In 1930 Walls directed a filmed version of the play, with most of the same performers, and the piece has been revived and adapted as a musical. Background The actor-manager Tom Walls, initially together with Leslie Henson, produced the series of Aldwych farces, nearly all written by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Cuckoo In The Nest
''A Cuckoo in the Nest'' is a farce by the English playwright Ben Travers. It was first given at the Aldwych Theatre, London, the second in the series of twelve Aldwych farces presented by the actor-manager Tom Walls at the theatre between 1923 and 1933. Several of the cast formed the regular core cast for the later Aldwych farces. The plot concerns two friends, a man and a woman, who are each married to other people. While travelling together, they are obliged by circumstances to share a hotel bedroom. Everyone else assumes the worst, but the two travellers are able to prove their innocence. The piece opened on 22 July 1925 and ran for 376 performances. Travers made a film adaptation, which Walls directed in 1933, with most of the leading members of the stage cast reprising their roles. Background The actor-manager Tom Walls, initially together with Leslie Henson, produced the series of Aldwych farces, nearly all written by Ben Travers, starring Walls and his co-star Ralph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terence Frisby
Terence Peter Michael Frisby (28 November 1932 – 22 April 2020) was a British playwright, actor, director and producer, best known as the author of the play ''There's a Girl in My Soup''. Early life Frisby was born in 1932 in New Cross, south-east London, the second son of William Frisby, who worked on the railways, and Kathleen (née Campbell), who was employed in a department store. He was educated at Dartford Grammar School leaving aged 16 becoming a tailor's apprentice. He remained in the occupation for six years before gaining a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama and training to become an actor. He worked in repertory theatre under the name Terence Holland from 1957 to 1966. Under his stage name, he was also a presenter on the BBC's children's series '' Play School'' during the 1960s.Here's A House: A Celebration of Play School, Volume 1, Paul R Jackson, 2010 Plays and other work ''There's a Girl in My Soup'' opened in 1966 at the Globe Theatre (now call ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicky Henson
Nicky Henson ( Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson; 12 May 1945 – 15 December 2019) was a British actor. Early life Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson was born in London, the son of Harriet Martha ( Collins) and comedian Leslie Henson. Adam Henson, a farmer and regular presenter on BBC TV's '' Countryfile'', is the son of Nicky's brother, Joe Henson. He attended St. Bede's Prep School, Eastbourne, and Charterhouse in Godalming. He trained as a stage manager at RADA, and first appeared on stage himself as a guitarist. As a member of the Young Vic Company he played Pozzo in Samuel Beckett's '' Waiting for Godot.'' Career Television Henson appeared in various television roles, including guest roles in '' Fawlty Towers'', '' Minder'', ''Boon'', '' Inspector Morse'', '' A Touch of Frost'', '' Heartbeat'', '' After You've Gone'', ''Lovejoy'' and '' Doctors''. In 1990 he played the doctor in the BBC’s adaptation of Kingsley Amis’ Ghost story The Green Man. He played the eponymous h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre. In the early decades of the 20th century, Tree produced spectacular productions of Shakespeare and other classical works, and the theatre hosted premieres by major playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw, J. M. Synge, Noël Coward and J. B. Priestley. Since the First World War, the wide stage has made the theatre suitable for large-scale musical productions, and the theatre has accordingly specialised in hosting musicals. The theatre has been home to record-setting musical theatre runs, notably the First World War sensation '' Chu Chin Chow''Larkin, Colin (ed). ''Guinness Who's Who of Stage Musicals'' (Guinness Publishing, 1994) and the current (June 2022) production of Andrew Lloyd Web ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Heneker
David William Heneker (31 March 1906 – 30 January 2001) was a writer and composer of British popular music and musicals, best known for creating the music and lyrics for ''Half a Sixpence''. Life and career Heneker was born in Southsea, England, in March 1906, the eldest son of the Canadian-born Lieutenant Colonel William Heneker, a notable military strategist and tactician, who would later serve with distinction in World War I, rising to the rank of General. Educated at Wellington and Sandhurst, Heneker followed his father into a military career. He served as a cavalry officer in the British Army from 1925 to 1937, and again in the War Office from 1939 to 1948, attaining the rank of Brigadier. He became drawn to a second career in music after becoming familiar with the score of Noël Coward's ''Bitter Sweet'' while recuperating from a riding accident in 1934. His first published song was performed by Merle Oberon in the film '' The Broken Melody''. Among his compositions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Addison
John Mervyn Addison (16 March 19207 December 1998) was a British composer best known for his film scores. Early life Addison was born in Chobham, Surrey to a father who was a colonel in the Royal Field Artillery, and this influenced the decision to send him to school at Wellington College, Berkshire. His grandfather was Lieut-Colonel George Addison, who played for the Royal Engineers in the 1872 and 1874 FA Cup Finals. At the age of sixteen he entered the Royal College of Music,''The Guardian'' obituary, 15 December 1998 where he studied composition with Gordon Jacob, oboe with Léon Goossens, and clarinet with Frederick Thurston. This education ended in 1939 with service in World War II. Addison served with the British XXX Corps in the 23rd Hussars. He was a tank officer in the Battle of Normandy and wounded at Caen, later participating in Operation Market Garden. Addison would later write the score for the film '' A Bridge Too Far'' about the operation. At the end of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Standing
Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934) is an English actor and baronet who is known as John Standing. He is the stepson of John Clements. Early life Standing was born in London, the son of Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherine Standing), an actress, and Sir Ronald George Leon, 3rd Baronet; a stockbroker descended from Sir Herbert Leon, the builder of Bletchley Park. He succeeded his father as the 4th baronet in 1964, but does not use the title. The Leon family were, until 1937, owners of Bletchley Park, the country house in Buckinghamshire used in the Second World War as a code-breaking centre. He was educated at Eton College and Millfield School, Somerset, later serving in the King's Royal Rifle Corps as a second lieutenant, before going to study at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London. Career He began his career in Peter Brook's 1955 production of ''Titus Andronicus'' starring Laurence Olivier and wife Vivien Leigh and later played leading parts in Osca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daniel Massey (actor)
Daniel Raymond Massey (10 October 193325 March 1998) was an English actor and performer. He is possibly best known for his starring role in the British TV drama ''The Roads to Freedom'', as Daniel, alongside Michael Bryant. He is also known for his role in the 1968 American film ''Star!'', as Noël Coward (Massey's godfather), for which he won a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination. Early life Massey was born in London in 1933. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge. He was a member of the noted Massey family, which included his father, Raymond Massey, his sister, Anna Massey and his uncle Vincent Massey, the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada. His mother was the actress Adrianne Allen. Living with his mother after his parents' divorce, Massey rarely saw his father through most of his adult life; however, they were cast as father and son in '' The Queen's Guards'' (1961). Career Massey made his film debut as a child in his godfather ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and opened on 27 December 1906 as the Hicks Theatre, named after Seymour Hicks, for whom it was built. The first play at the theatre was a hit musical called ''The Beauty of Bath'' co-written by Hicks. Another big success was ''A Waltz Dream'' in 1908. In 1909, the American impresario Charles Frohman became manager of the theatre and renamed the house the Globe Theatre, a name that it retained for 85 years. ''Call It a Day'' opened in 1935 and ran for 509 performances, a long run for the slow inter-war years. ''There's a Girl in My Soup'', opening in 1966, ran for almost three years, a record for the theatre that was not surpassed until ''Daisy Pulls It Off'' opened in April 1983 to run for 1,180 performances. Refurbished in 1987, the the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was founded by Arthur B. Sleigh in 1855 as ''The Daily Telegraph & Courier''. Considered a newspaper of record over '' The Times'' in the UK in the years up to 1997, ''The Telegraph'' generally has a reputation for high-quality journalism, and has been described as being "one of the world's great titles". The paper's motto, "Was, is, and will be", appears in the editorial pages and has featured in every edition of the newspaper since 19 April 1858. The paper had a circulation of 363,183 in December 2018, descending further until it withdrew from newspaper circulation audits in 2019, having declined almost 80%, from 1.4 million in 1980.United Newspapers PLC and Fleet Holdings PLC', Monopolies and Mergers Commission (1985), pp. 5–16. Its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Billington (critic)
Michael Keith Billington OBE (born 16 November 1939) is a British author and arts critic. He writes for ''The Guardian'', and was the paper's chief drama critic from 1971 to 2019. Billington is "Britain's longest-serving theatre critic" and the author of biographical and critical studies relating to British theatre and the arts. He is the authorised biographer of the playwright Harold Pinter (1930–2008). Early life and education Billington was born on 16 November 1939, in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, and attended Warwick School, an independent boys' school in Warwick. He attended St Catherine's College, Oxford, from 1958 to 1961, where he studied English and was appointed theatre critic of '' Cherwell''. He graduated with a BA degree. As a member of Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), in 1959, Billington played the Priest in '' The Birds'', by Aristophanes, his only appearance as an actor, and, in 1960, he directed a production of Eugène Ionesco's '' The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
