Superbia (musical)
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Superbia (musical)
''Superbia'' is an unproduced musical with book, music, and lyrics by Jonathan Larson. Stemming from an earlier attempt at writing a musical based on ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' by George Orwell, Larson spent a six-year period from 1985 to 1991 working on ''Superbia'', which for numerous reasons never went beyond the workshop stage of development. Eventually, Larson set aside ''Superbia'' for other projects, including ''Rent'', and passed away in 1996 before he could return to working on it. ''Superbia'' was a science fiction musical set in the year 2064 in a world dominated by TVs and cameras. The overall message Larson pursued, which remained to his final draft, was a cautionary tale about media desensitization. He described it as a futuristic fairy tale along the lines of ''Cinderella'' and ''The Emperor's New Clothes''. Larson wanted to blend the inherent theatricality of 1980s pop with musical theater storytelling. To that end, he composed the musical largely on a synthesizer, ...
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Jonathan Larson
Jonathan David Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright most famous for writing the musicals ''Rent'' and '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'', which explored the social issues of multiculturalism, substance use disorder, and homophobia. He received three posthumous Tony Awards and a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for Drama for ''Rent''. Early years Larson was born in Mt. Vernon, New York to Nanette ( Notarius) and Allan Larson of White Plains, New York, on February 4, 1960. His family was Jewish. His grandfather, Bernard Isaac Lazarson, who was born in Russia, changed the family surname from Lazarson. At an early age, Larson played the trumpet and tuba, sang in his school's choir, and took piano lessons. His early musical influences and his favorite rock musicians included Elton John, The Doors, The Who, and Billy Joel, as well as the classic composers of musical theatre, especially Stephen Sondheim. He also loved Pete Townshend, The Po ...
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Planned Obsolescence
In economics and industrial design, planned obsolescence (also called built-in obsolescence or premature obsolescence) is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life or a purposely frail design, so that it becomes obsolete after a certain pre-determined period of time upon which it decrementally functions or suddenly ceases to function, or might be perceived as unfashionable. The rationale behind this strategy is to generate long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases (referred to as "shortening the replacement cycle"). It is the deliberate shortening of a lifespan of a product to force people to purchase functional replacements. Planned obsolescence tends to work best when a producer has at least an oligopoly. Before introducing a planned obsolescence, the producer has to know that the customer is at least somewhat likely to buy a replacement from them (see brand loyalty). In these cases of planned obsolescence ...
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Stephen Sondheim - Smoking
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first martyr (or " protomartyr") of the Christian Church. In English, Stephen is most commonly pronounced as ' (). The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is often shortened to Steve or Stevie. The spelling as Stephen can also be pronounced which is from the Greek original version, Stephanos. In English, the female version of the name is Stephanie. Many surnames are derived from the first name, including Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, and Stevenson, all of which mean "Stephen's (son)". In modern times the name has sometimes been given with intentionally non-standard spelling, such as Stevan or Stevon. A common variant of the name used in English is Stephan ; related names that have found some curr ...
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Roger Bart
Roger Bart (born September 29, 1962) is an American actor and singer. He won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Snoopy in the 1999 revival of ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''. Bart received his second Tony Award nomination for playing Carmen Ghia in the original production of '' The Producers''. His other accolades include a SAG Award and three Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. Bart performed the song "Go the Distance" from the 1997 animated film ''Hercules'', which was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Early life and education Bart was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of a teacher and a chemical engineer, and grew up in Bernardsville, New Jersey. His uncle is journalist Peter Bart. He graduated from Bernards High School in 1980 and was inducted into the school's hall of fame. He earned his BFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 1985. Bart was close friends with Jona ...
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Yamaha DX7
The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980s, the synthesizer market was dominated by analog synthesizers. Frequency modulation synthesis, FM synthesis, a means of generating sounds via frequency modulation, was developed by John Chowning at Stanford University, California. FM synthesis created brighter, "glassier" sounds, and could better imitate acoustic sounds such as brass. Yamaha licensed the technology to create the DX7, combining it with very-large-scale integration chips to lower manufacturing costs. With its complex menus and lack of conventional controls, few learned to program the DX7 in depth. However, its preset sounds became staples of 1980s pop music, used by artists including A-ha, Kenny Loggins, Kool & the Gang, Whitney Houston, Chicago (band), Chicago, Phil Collin ...
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Casio
is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It was founded in 1946, and in 1957 introduced the world's first entirely compact electronic calculator. It was an early digital camera innovator, and during the 1980s and 1990s, the company developed numerous affordable home electronic keyboards for musicians along with introducing the world's first mass-produced digital watches. History Casio was established as Kashio Seisakujo in April 1946 by Tadao Kashio ( 樫尾忠雄 1917–1993), an engineer specializing in fabrication technology. Kashio's first major product was the yubiwa pipe, a finger ring that would hold a cigarette, allowing the wearer to smoke the cigarette down to its nub while also leaving the wearer's hands free. Japan was impoverished immediately following World War II, so ...
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Area (nightclub)
Area was a themed nightclub that operated from 1983 to 1987 at 157 Hudson Street in Manhattan, New York City. It was a hot spot for celebrities and luminaries of the New York art scene. The club was known for its unusual invitations and changing themes.Kornbluth, Jesse"Inside Area: The Wizardry of New York's Hottest Club" ''New York Magazine'', pp. 32-41, March 11, 1985. Area was founded by brothers Eric Goode and Christopher Goode, Shawn Hausman and Darius Azari. The life of the club is chronicled in the book ''Area: 1983-1987'' (2013) by Eric and Jennifer Goode. History The brick building housing Area was originally built in 1866 to house the stables of American Express. From its inception, the club became known for its creative invitations. 5,000 invitations were sent in capsules for the September 1983 opening. They sent champagne-bottle crackers for New Year's Eve, hollowed-out eggs for Natural History, and black handkerchiefs for Halloween. The club was opened on Mondays ...
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Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 Film)
''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', also known as ''1984'', is a 1984 British dystopian dark drama film written and directed by Michael Radford, based upon George Orwell's 1949 novel of the same name. Starring John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, and Cyril Cusack, the film follows the life of Winston Smith, a low-ranking civil servant in a war-torn London ruled by Oceania, a totalitarian superstate. Smith (Hurt) struggles to maintain his sanity and his grip on reality as the regime's overwhelming power and influence persecutes individualism and individual thinking on both a political and personal level. The film, which was Burton's last screen appearance, is dedicated to him. The film was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Art Direction, and won two Evening Standard British Film Awards for Best Film and Best Actor. Plot In a dystopian 1984, Winston Smith endures a squalid existence in the totalitarian superstate of Oceania under the constant surveillance of the Thought Police ...
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Ministries Of Nineteen Eighty-Four
The Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty are the four ministries of the government of Oceania in the 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', by George Orwell. The use of contradictory names in this manner may have been inspired by the British and American governments; during the Second World War, the British Ministry of Food oversaw rationing (the name "Ministry of Food Control" was used in World War I) and the Ministry of Information restricted and controlled information, rather than supplying it; while, in the U.S., the War Department was abolished and replaced with the "National Military Establishment" in 1947 and then became the Department of Defense in 1949, right around the time that ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' was published. Ministry of Truth The Ministry of Truth (Newspeak: Minitrue) is the ministry of propaganda. As with the other ministries in the novel, the name ''Ministry of Truth'' is a misnomer because ...
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Julia (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
Julia is a fictional character in George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. Her last name is not revealed in the novel but she is called Dixon in the 1954 BBC TV production. Julia was born in 1958 in Oceania, the super-state combining North America, South America, Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the British Isles (renamed ''Airstrip One''). Her knowledge of events before the revolution is inaccurate as her grandfather, the only close source to her with that knowledge, disappeared when she was eight. Julia integrated herself into the daily life of Oceania early, becoming an especially zealous propagandist for the Junior Anti-Sex League, the Two Minutes Hate and Community Centre. She secretly despises the Party and wants to join the Brotherhood, purportedly an outlawed organization founded by Emmanuel Goldstein. She had her first affair with a Party member at the age of sixteen. Fictional character history Julia first appears in ''Nineteen Eight ...
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Winston Smith (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
Winston Smith is a fictional character and the main protagonist of George Orwell's dystopian 1949 novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. The character was employed by Orwell as an everyman in the setting of the novel, a "central eye ... he readercan readily identify with." Character overview Winston Smith works in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth, where his job is to rewrite historical documents so they match the constantly changing current party line. This involves revising newspaper articles and doctoring photographs—mostly to remove " unpersons", people who have fallen afoul of the party. Because of his proximity to the mechanics of rewriting history, Winston Smith nurses doubts about the Party and its monopoly on truth. Whenever Winston appears in front of a telescreen, he is referred to as "6079 Smith W". Winston meets a mysterious woman named Julia, a fellow member of the Outer Party who also bears resentment toward the party's ways; the two become lovers. W ...
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Adelphi University
Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher education in suburban Long Island. It enrolls 7,520 undergraduate and graduate students. History Adelphi College Adelphi University began with the Adelphi Academy, founded in Brooklyn, New York, in 1863. The academy was a private preparatory school located at 412 Adelphi Street, in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, but later moved to Clinton Hill. It was formally chartered in 1869 by the board of trustees of the City of Brooklyn for establishing "a first class institution for the broadest and most thorough training, and to make its advantages as accessible as possible to the largest numbers of our population." One of the teachers at the Adelphi Academy was Harlan Fiske Stone, who later served as the Chief Justice of the United St ...
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