The Walnut Street Theatre
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The Walnut Street Theatre
The Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1809 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. The venue is operated by the Walnut Street Theatre Company, a non-profit organization, and has three stages: the Mainstage, for the company's primary and larger productions, the Independence Studio on 3, a studio located on the building's third floor for smaller productions, and the Studio 5 on the fifth floor, which is rented out for independent productions. In May 2019, the Walnut Street Theatre announced a major expansion, to begin in 2020. History The Walnut Street Theatre was built by the Circus of Pepin and Breschard, which toured the United States from 1807 until 1815. Pepin and Breschard constructed numerous venues in cities along the East Coast of the United States, which often featured, along with performances of their circus, classical plays as well as horse ...
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Walnut Street (Philadelphia)
Walnut Street is located in downtown Philadelphia and extends from the city's Delaware River waterfront through Center City and West Philadelphia. Walnut Street has been characterized as "the city's premier shopping district". A portion of the street commonly called Rittenhouse Row was ranked 12th in 2005 by ''Women's Wear Daily'' among its list of the most expensive retail streets in North America, with rents of $90 per square foot, and is home to several "upscale dining, retail and cultural" establishments. In 2013 rents had risen to an average of $107 a foot, a growth of 34% over 2012 and the largest percentage growth of any retail corridor in the country. Running parallel to Walnut Street, one or two blocks to the north (depending on whether the side street Sansom Street is counted), is Chestnut Street. Pennsylvania Route 3 westbound follows Walnut Street from 38th Street (U.S. Route 13) to its western terminus at the Cobbs Creek Parkway. Route description It is most kn ...
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Orchestra Pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incidental music is required. The conductor is typically positioned at the front of the orchestral pit facing the stage. Construction In the pit, the walls are specially designed to provide the best possible acoustics, ensuring that the sound of the orchestra flows through the entire venue without overwhelming the performance on stage. Many orchestra pits are also designed to have reasonably low decibel levels, allowing musicians to work without fears of damaging their hearing. Typically, a small platform in the pit accommodates the conductor, so that he or she can be seen by all of the musicians, who may sit in chairs or on bleachers, depending on the design of the pit. All sorts of musicians sit here, from the conductor to the bass player. ...
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Gigi (play)
''Gigi'' (1951) is a popular play, written by Anita Loos. It is based on Colette's 1944 novel of the same name, and was produced on Broadway, where it starred Audrey Hepburn in the title role. Plot The play's plot generally follows that of the original story, focusing on a young 19th century Parisian girl being groomed for a career as a courtesan. Gigi lives with her mother and grandmother, and takes lessons at the home of her aunt. Her lessons include social manners, conversation, and personal relationships. The family has significant social connections, and have been great friends with the rich playboy Gaston. Gaston is bored with his life, and his only joy seems to be in the company of Gigi and her family. Aunt Alicia decides that the time is right for Gigi's entry into society. After dressing her up, she is presented to Gaston as a young woman. He is, at first, dismayed at the change. Gradually he realizes that he is attracted to Gigi, and takes her out on the town. ...
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Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and raised in Nebraska, Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor and made his Hollywood film debut in 1935. He rose to film stardom with performances in films like ''Jezebel'' (1938), '' Jesse James'' (1939), and ''Young Mr. Lincoln'' (1939). His career further progressed with his portrayal of Tom Joad in ''The Grapes of Wrath'' (1940), receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1941, Fonda starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the screwball comedy classic ''The Lady Eve''. Book-ending his service in WWII were his starring roles in two highly regarded Westerns: ''The Ox-Bow Incident'' (1943) and '' My Darling Clementine'' (1946), the latter directed by John Ford, and he also starred in Ford's Western '' Fort Apache'' ( ...
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Mister Roberts (play)
''Mister Roberts'' is a 1948 play based on the 1946 Thomas Heggen novel of the same name. The novel began as a collection of short stories about Heggen's experiences aboard and in the South Pacific during World War II. Broadway producer Leland Hayward acquired the rights for the play and hired Heggen and Joshua Logan for the adaptation. ''Mister Roberts'' opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on February 18, 1948, starring Henry Fonda, David Wayne, Robert Keith, and Jocelyn Brando, who replaced Eva Marie Saint before the show opened. Logan's brother-in-law, William Harrigan, played the Captain. The original production also featured Harvey Lembeck, Ralph Meeker, Steven Hill, Lee Van Cleef, and Murray Hamilton. Fonda got out of a Hollywood film contract to star in the Broadway theatre stage production. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. The production ran for 1,157 performances. Fonda later reprised his role of Lieutenant Roberts in the 1955 film of the same nam ...
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Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, one Cannes Film Festival Award and three British Academy Film Awards. Brando was also an activist for many causes, notably the civil rights movement and various Native American movements. Having studied with Stella Adler in the 1940s, he is credited with being one of the first actors to bring the Stanislavski system of acting, and method acting, to mainstream audiences. He initially gained acclaim and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for reprising the role of Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', a role that he originated successfully on Broadway. He received further praise, and a first Academy Award ...
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A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her once-prosperous situation to move into a shabby apartment in New Orleans rented by her younger sister and brother-in-law. Williams' most popular work, ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is one of the most critically acclaimed plays of the twentieth century.Williams, Tennessee (1995). ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. Introduction and text. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers. It still ranks among his most performed plays, and has inspired many adaptations in other forms, notably a critically acclaimed film that was released in 1951.Production notesDecember 3, 1947—December 17, 1949IBDb.com Plot After the loss of her family home to creditors, Blanche DuBois travels from Laurel, Mississippi, to the New Orleans French Q ...
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Broadway Theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names (12 others used neither), with many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also using the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, are the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats, located in the Theater District and the Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the thoroughfare is eponymous with the district and its collection of 41 theaters, and it is also closely identified with Times Square, only three of the theaters are located on Broadway itself (namely the Broadwa ...
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The Shubert Organization
The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters in New York and across the country. Since then it has gone through changes of ownership, but is still a major theater chain. History The Shubert Organization was founded by the Shubert brothers, Sam S. Shubert, Lee Shubert, and Jacob J. Shubert of Syracuse, New York – colloquially and collectively known as "The Shuberts" – in the late 19th century in upstate New York, entering into New York City productions in 1900. The organization produced a large number of shows and began acquiring theaters. Sam Shubert died in 1905; by 1916 the two remaining brothers had become powerful theater moguls with a nationwide presence. In 1907, the Shuberts tried to enter vaudeville with the United States Amusement Co. In the spring of 1920 they made a ...
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John Sleeper Clarke
John Sleeper Clarke (September 3, 1833 – September 24, 1899) was a 19th-century American comedian and actor. Life He was born in Baltimore, Maryland to George W. Sleeper and Georgianna Sleeper (née Clarke), and was educated for the law. In his boyhood he was a schoolmate of Edwin Booth who was born in the same year as he, and with whom he engaged in amateur dramatic readings as members of the Baltimore Thespian Club. He made his first appearance in Boston as Frank Hardy in ''Paul Pry'' in 1851, at the Howard Athenæum. The next year he went to Philadelphia. Clarke's first appearance in New York City was made at the Metropolitan Theatre – afterward called the Winter Garden – on May 15, 1855, as Dickory in ''The Spectre Bridegroom'', but it was not until he returned in 1861–1862 to the same theatre that he made a conspicuous mark. In 1859 he became part of the Booth family when he married Asia Booth, daughter of Junius Brutus Booth, and sister of John Wilkes Booth. Cl ...
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Edwin Forrest
Edwin Forrest (March 9, 1806December 12, 1872) was a prominent nineteenth-century American Shakespearean actor. His feud with the British actor William Macready was the cause of the deadly Astor Place Riot of 1849. Early life Forrest was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Rebecca (''née'' Lauman) and William Forrest. His father, a Scottish merchandise peddler, moved from Dumfriesshire to Trenton, New Jersey in 1791. His mother was a member of an affluent German-American family. A business setback led William to relocate to Philadelphia, where he married Rebecca and was able to secure a position with a local branch of the United States Bank. As boys, Forrest and his brother William joined a local juvenile thespian club and participated in theatrical performances staged in a sparsely decorated woodshed. At the age of 11, Forrest made his first appearance on the legitimate stage at Philadelphia's South Street Theatre, playing the female role Rosalia de Borgia in the ...
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The Rivals
''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick episodes, episode of the TV series ''Maverick (TV series), Maverick'' (see below) starring James Garner and Roger Moore, with attribution. History Production ''The Rivals'' was Sheridan's first play. At the time, he was a young newlywed living in Bath, Somerset, Bath. At Sheridan's insistence, upon marriage his wife Eliza (born Elizabeth Ann Linley, Elizabeth Linley) had given up her career as a singer. This was proper for a gentleman's wife, but it was difficult because Eliza would have earned a substantial income as a performer. Instead, the Sheridans lived beyond their means as they entertained the gentry and nobility with Eliza's singing (in private parties) and Richard's wit. Finally, in need of funds, Richard turned to the only ...
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