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The Alley Theatre
The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at Lincoln Center, toured more than 40 American cities, and played internationally in Berlin, Paris, and St. Petersburg. History Under the leadership of Nina Eloise Whittington Vance (1914–1980), the Alley Theatre was founded in 1947 in a "former dance studio with an opening on Main Street. A brick corridor led from Main to the back of the studio, hence the name Alley Theatre." In 1948, early paying members scouted Houston for a new location for the Alley, finally landing on an abandoned fan factory on Berry Avenue. The Alley re-opened on February 8, 1949, with a production of Lillian Helmann's '' The Children’s Hour''. In 1954, Ms. Vance brought in Albert Dekker to guest-star in ''Death of a Salesman''. The Alley then became a fully pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bayou Place
Bayou Place is a 130,000 square foot entertainment complex that houses multiple theaters, bars, and restaurants located in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The complex was the former Albert Thomas convention center located in the Houston Theater District at 500 Texas Street (originally built in the late 1960s). The convention center was made obsolete with the opening in 1987 of the much larger George R. Brown Convention Center on the eastern edge of downtown. After years of discussion (which included possibly turning the building into offices, or demolishing it altogether), Maryland-based developer David Cordish entered into an agreement with the city of Houston in 1991 to redevelop the site. After a few more years of discussions, delays, and construction, it was reopened to the public as an entertainment complex December 31 (New Year's Eve), 1997. At one time the complex had a scheduled completion date in the year 1996.Racine, Marty.Woodlands to add entertainment sites" ''H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical ''Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the #1 International hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for Whitney Houston. Early years Wildhorn was born in Harlem and spent his childhood in Queens before moving to Hollywood, Florida, at age 14. Soon after he taught himself how to play the piano, Wildhorn realized he wanted to compose music. During high school, he played in and wrote for various bands, ranging from rock and roll to Rhythm and blues to jazz. He attended Miami-Dade College for two years before transferring to the University of Southern California, where he studied history and philosophy. He started writing ''Jekyll & Hyde'' with Steve Cuden, who was working at USC when Frank was a student. He is Jewish. Career Popular music In the popular music arena, Wildhorn has worked with such artists as Stacy Lattisaw, Natalie Cole, Kenny Roge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Izenour
George Charles Izenour (pronounced I-zen-our), MPhys, AIEEE (July 24, 1912 – March 24, 2007) was an American designer and leading innovator in the field of theatrical design and technology, as well as an author and educator. He taught at Yale University from 1940 to 1977 (with time during World War II working on anti-submarine programs). In 1959 he established a consulting firm for theater design and acoustics. He is best known for creating one of the first electronic theatre lighting dimming systems. Over the course of his career, he invented and developed multiple technologies that are now part of the core of modern theatrical productions, and held numerous patents for his inventions. Biography Early life and education George Izenour was born in 1912 in New Brighton, Pennsylvania; his family moved to Ambridge in 1917. In 1918 Izenour's father moved the family to Mansfield, Ohio. The boy had a condition known as keratoconus, a non-spherical deformation of the corne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Internationally, it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain. Founded by Laurence Olivier in 1963, many well-known actors have performed at the National Theatre. Until 1976, the company was based at The Old Vic theatre in Waterloo. The current building is located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London. In addition to performances at the National Theatre building, the National Theatre tours productions at theatres across the United Kingdom. The theatre has transferred numerous productions to Broadway and toured some as far as China, Australia and New Zealand. However, touring productions to European cities was suspended in February 2021 over concerns about uncertainty over work permits, additional costs and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FBI Academy
The FBI Academy is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's law enforcement training and research center near the town of Quantico in Stafford County, Virginia. Operated by the bureau's Training Division, it was first opened for use on May 7, 1972 on of woodland, which is not available for public tours. The academy was opened for the purpose of training the new agents after FBI Agents were granted the power to arrest, and to possess a firearm, in 1933. As the newly armed agents needed somewhere to train, the Marine Corps granted them access to their firing ranges in Quantico, Virginia. After outgrowing the Marine Corps firing ranges the FBI was granted permission to build their own firing range and classroom on the base. Over time they added new sections such as a whole new wing, kitchen, and basement. But with the rapid growth it still wasn't enough for their needs. In 1965, the FBI received approval for a new complex at Quantico and construction began in 1969. The new facilit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boston City Hall
Boston City Hall is the seat of city government of Boston, Massachusetts. It includes the offices of the mayor of Boston and the Boston City Council. The current hall was built in 1968 to assume the functions of the Old City Hall. It is a controversial and prominent example of Brutalist architecture, part of the modernist movement. It was designed by the architecture firms Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles and Campbell, Aldrich & Nulty, with LeMessurier Consultants as engineers. Together with the surrounding plaza, City Hall is part of the Government Center complex. This project constituted a major urban redesign effort in the 1960s, as Boston demolished an area of substandard housing and businesses. The building has been subject to widespread public condemnation, and is sometimes called one of the world's ugliest buildings. Calls for the structure to be demolished have been regularly made even before construction was finished. Architects and critics considered it to be excellent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. It is a member of the Ivy League. Chartered by the Connecticut Colony, the Collegiate School was established in 1701 by clergy to educate Congregational ministers before moving to New Haven in 1716. Originally restricted to theology and sacred languages, the curriculum began to incorporate humanities and sciences by the time of the American Revolution. In the 19th century, the college expanded into graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first PhD in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887. Yale's faculty and student populations grew after 1890 with rapid expansion of the physical campus and scientific research. Yale is organized into fourteen constituent schools: the original undergraduate col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WMATA
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Congress as an interstate compact between Washington, D.C., the State of Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. WMATA provides rapid transit service under the Metrorail name, fixed-route bus service under the Metrobus brand, and paratransit service under the MetroAccess brand. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . The authority is also part of a public–private partnership that operates the DC Circulator bus system. WMATA has its own police force, the Metro Transit Police Department. The authority's board of directors consists of two voting representatives each from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and the U.S. federal government. Each jurisdiction also appoints two alternate representatives. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
L'Enfant Plaza
L'Enfant Plaza is a complex of four commercial buildings grouped around a large plaza in the Southwest section of Washington, D.C., United States. Immediately below the plaza and the buildings is the "La Promenade" shopping mall."The L'Enfant complex ... includes three private office buildings and one government-owned building ..." See: Spinner, Jackie. "Rooftop Residences at Hechinger Site." ''Washington Post.'' October 29, 2001.Swisher, Kara. "Feeling Powerless Under L'Enfant Plaza." ''Washington Post.'' February 20, 1992. The plaza is located south of Independence Avenue SW between 12th and 9th Streets SW (9th Street actually runs underneath the centers of the buildings on the easternmost side of the plaza). It was built perpendicular to L'Enfant Promenade, a north-south running street and pedestrian esplanade part of which is directly above 10th Street SW. The plaza is named for Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant, the architect and planner who first designed a street layout fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Béton Brut
''Béton brut'' () is a French term that translates in English to “raw concrete”. The term is used to describe concrete that is left unfinished after being cast, displaying the patterns and seams imprinted on it by the formwork.''Exposed concrete.'' In: Béton brut is not a material itself, but rather an architectural expression of concrete. History The use of béton brut was pioneered by modernist architects such as Auguste Perret and Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier coined the term ''béton brut'' during the construction of Unité d'Habitation in Marseille, France built in 1952. The term began to spread widely after the British architectural critic Reyner Banham associated it with Brutalism in his 1966 book, ''The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic?'', which characterized a recent cluster of new architectural designs, particularly in Europe. ''Béton brut'' became popular among modern architects, leading to the appreciation of the brutalist architecture style, which thrived i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brutalist Architecture
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the bare building materials and structural elements over decorative design. The style commonly makes use of exposed, unpainted concrete or brick, angular geometric shapes and a predominantly monochrome colour palette; other materials, such as steel, timber, and glass, are also featured. Descending from the modernist movement, Brutalism is said to be a reaction against the nostalgia of architecture in the 1940s. Derived from the Swedish phrase ''nybrutalism,'' the term "New Brutalism" was first used by British architects Alison and Peter Smithson for their pioneering approach to design. The style was further popularised in a 1955 essay by architectural critic Reyner Banham, who also associated the movement with the French phrases '' béton bru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulrich Franzen
Ulrich Joseph Franzen (January 15, 1921 – October 6, 2012) was a German-born American architect known for his "fortresslike" buildings and Brutalist style.Vitello, Paul (14 October 2012)Ulrich Franzen, Designer of Brutalist Buildings, Dies at 91 ''The New York Times'' Franzen was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, the son of Eric and Lisbeth Hellersberg Franzen. They emigrated to the United States in 1936. He lived with his mother and a younger brother once his parents divorced. He obtained an undergraduate degree from Williams College, and after one semester at the architectural school at Harvard University, joined the Army. After World War II ended, he obtained a master's degree from Harvard in 1950. By 1951, he was working for I. M. Pei. He left Pei and formed his own firm, Ulrich Franzen & Associates, in 1955. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
