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Speed The Plow
''Speed-the-Plow'' is a 1988 play by David Mamet that is a satirical dissection of the American movie business. As stated in ''The Producer's Perspective'', "this is a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films ''Wag the Dog'' (1997) and ''State and Main'' (2000)". As quoted in ''The Producer's Perspective'', Jack Kroll of ''Newsweek'' described ''Speed-the-Plow'' as "another tone poem by our nation's foremost master of the language of moral epilepsy." The play sets its context with an epigraph (not to be recited in performance) by William Makepeace Thackeray, from his novel ''Pendennis'', contained in a frontispiece: It starts: "Which is the most reasonable, and does his duty best: he who stands aloof from the struggle of life, calmly contemplating it, or he who descends to the ground, and takes his part in the contest?" The character of Bobby Gould finds himself on both sides of this dilemma, and at times in the play he "stands aloof", and at other times he "takes part" in l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained critical acclaim for a trio of off-Broadway 1970s plays: '' The Duck Variations'', ''Sexual Perversity in Chicago'', and '' American Buffalo''. His plays '' Race'' and '' The Penitent'', respectively, opened on Broadway in 2009 and previewed off-Broadway in 2017. Feature films that Mamet both wrote and directed include '' House of Games'' (1987), ''Homicide'' (1991), '' The Spanish Prisoner'' (1997), and his biggest commercial success, '' Heist'' (2001). His screenwriting credits include '' The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1981), '' The Verdict'' (1982), '' The Untouchables'' (1987), '' Hoffa'' (1992), ''Wag the Dog'' (1997), and ''Hannibal'' (2001). Mamet himself wrote the screenplay for the 1992 adaptation of ''Glengarry Glen Ross'', and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Meredith
George Meredith (12 February 1828 – 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. At first his focus was poetry, influenced by John Keats among others, but he gradually established a reputation as a novelist. '' The Ordeal of Richard Feverel'' (1859) briefly scandalized Victorian literary circles. Of his later novels, the most enduring is '' The Egoist'' (1879), though in his lifetime his greatest success was ''Diana of the Crossways'' (1885). His novels were innovative in their attention to characters' psychology, and also took a close interest in social change. His style, in both poetry and prose, was noted for its syntactic complexity; Oscar Wilde likened it to "chaos illumined by brilliant flashes of lightning". He was an encourager of other novelists, as well as an influence on them; among those to benefit were Robert Louis Stevenson and George Gissing. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. Life Early years, education an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raúl Esparza
Raúl Eduardo Esparza (born October 24, 1970) is an American stage, screen, and voice actor. Considered one of Broadway's leading men since the 2000s, he is best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance as Bobby in the 2006 Broadway revival of ''Company'' and for his television role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', where he had a recurring role in Season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in Seasons 15 to 19. He made his Broadway debut in 2000 as Riff Raff in the revival of ''The Rocky Horror Show.'' Subsequently, he starred as Jonathan in the original Off-Broadway production of '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'' and Caractacus Potts in the original Broadway production of '' Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' in 2005. He received Tony nominations for his roles as Philip Salon in the Boy George musical ''Taboo'' in 2004; Bobby in the musical comedy '' Company'' in 2006; Lenny in Harold Pinter's play ''The Homecoming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series '' Entourage'', for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also starred in the British period drama '' Mr Selfridge'', which tells the story of the man who created the English department store Selfridges, and portrayed Spence Kovak on Ellen DeGeneres's sitcom ''Ellen''. Early years Piven was born in Manhattan and raised in a Reconstructionist Jewish family of Ukrainian Jewish descent. His parents are Byrne Piven (1929–2002) and Joyce Hiller Piven (née Goldstein), both of whom were actors and drama teachers. His elder sister is director Shira Piven, whom he has described as one of his first acting teachers; his brother-in-law is director Adam McKay. He grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated from Evanston Township High School. As a teenager, he attended Harand Theater Camp in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles for the Shubert family. The theater, named in honor of actress Ethel Barrymore, has 1,058 seats and is operated by the Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The ground-floor facade is made of rusticated blocks of terracotta. The theater's main entrance consists of two archways and a doorway shielded by a marquee. The upper stories contain an arched screen made of terracotta, inspired by Roman baths, which is surrounded by white brick. The auditorium contains ornamental plasterwork, a sloped orchestra level, a large balcony, and a coved ceiling with a dome. The balcony level contains box seats topped by decorative arches. The theater was also designed with a basement lounge and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlantic Theatre Company
Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their acting students from New York University, inspired by the historical examples of the Group Theatre and Stanislavski. Atlantic believes that the story of a play and the intent of its playwright are at the core of the creative process. The company operates two theaters in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. There is the 199-seat mainstage Linda Gross Theater, which is located at 336 West 20th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, in the parish hall of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, built in 1854 and renovated in 2012. Additionally, the 99-seat black-box theater, Stage 2, is located at 330 West 16th Street, also between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, in the former Port Authority building. Stage 2, which opened in June 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Midtown Manhattan. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for regional theatre. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards were founded by theatre producer and director Brock Pemberton and are named after Antoinette "Tony" Perry, an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. The trophy consists of a spinnable medallion, with faces portraying an adaptation of the comedy and tragedy masks, mounted on a black base with a pewter swivel. The rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. She has pushed the boundaries of artistic expression in mainstream music, while continuing to maintain control over every aspect of her career. Her works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A prominent cultural figure crossing both the 20th and 21st centuries, Madonna remains one of the most "well-documented figures of the modern age", with a broad amount of scholarly reviews and literature works on her, as well as an academic mini subdiscipline devoted to her named Madonna studies. At 20 years old, Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Silver
Ronald Arthur Silver (July 2, 1946 – March 15, 2009) was an American actor/activist, director, producer, and radio host. As an actor, he portrayed Henry Kissinger, Alan Dershowitz and Angelo Dundee. He was awarded a Tony in 1988 for Best Actor for '' Speed-the-Plow,'' a satirical dissection of the American movie business. Early life Silver was born on July 2, 1946, in Manhattan, the son of May (''née'' Zimelman), a substitute teacher, and Irving Roy Silver, a clothing sales executive. Silver was raised Jewish on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and attended Stuyvesant High School. Silver went on to graduate from the State University of New York at Buffalo, with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Chinese, and received a master's degree in Chinese History from St. John's University in New York and the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. He also attended Columbia University's Graduate School of International Affairs (SIPA) and studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jefferson Award for portraying Richard Roma in the first American productions of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize–winning play ''Glengarry Glen Ross'', the first of many collaborations with Mamet. His long-standing association with Mamet includes the premieres of ''A Life in the Theatre'', ''The Disappearance of the Jews'' and '' Speed-the-Plow'' on Broadway. Mantegna also directed a highly lauded production of Mamet's '' Lakeboat'', which enjoyed a successful theatrical run in Los Angeles. He later directed the film version of '' Lakeboat''. In addition to theatrical appearances directed by Mamet, Mantegna appeared in Mamet's films '' House of Games'' (1987), '' Things Change'' (1988), ''Homicide'' (1991), and ''Redbelt'' (2008). In film and o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 million visitors annually. It houses internationally renowned performing arts organizations including the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet, and the Juilliard School. History Planning A consortium of civic leaders and others, led by and under the initiative of philanthropist John D. Rockefeller III, built Lincoln Center as part of the "Lincoln Square Renewal Project" during Robert Moses's program of New York's urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s."Rockefeller Philanthropy: Lincoln Center" ( < ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royale Theatre
The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre and the John Golden Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 242 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish style and was built for real-estate developer Irwin S. Chanin. It has 1,100 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The facade is designed in a Spanish style with golden brick, terracotta, and stone and is divided into two sections. The western portion of the facade contains the theater's entrance, with five double-height arched windows and a curved pediment above. The eastern portion is the stage house and is topped by a loggia. The auditorium contains Spanish-style detailing, a large balcony, and an expansive vaulted ceiling. The auditorium's interior features murals by Willy Pogany as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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