|
The Fabulous Invalid
''The Fabulous Invalid'' is a 1938 stage play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart following the oscillating fortunes of a fictitious Broadway theater, the Alexandria, in the period between 1900 and 1930. The play's title has since entered the vernacular as a synonym for the theater. Production history In 1937, Moss Hart conceived the notion for ''The Fabulous Invalid'' after acquiring hundreds of back issues of ''Theatre'' magazine and immersing himself in the magazine's documentation of a vanished theatrical era. With his frequent collaborator George S. Kaufman, Hart began to develop an historical pageant that traced the evolution of the American theater from the 1700s to the present, potentially starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. (When told of the project, Lunt was reportedly most excited about the prospect of wearing blackface in a section devoted to minstrel shows.) Kaufman and Hart soon scotched the project due to structural issues; upon further research, they also disco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George S
George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States * George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States * George V, King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 1910-1936 * George VI, King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 1936-1952 * Prince George of Wales * George Papagheorghe also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgio Moroder * George Harrison, an English musician and singer-songwriter Places South Africa * George, Western Cape ** George Airport United States * George, Iowa * George, Missouri * George, Washington * George County, Mississippi * George Air Force Base, a former U.S. Air Force base located in California Characters * George (Peppa Pig), a 2-year-old pig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lion And The Mouse (play)
The Lion and the Mouse is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 150 in the Perry Index. There are also Eastern variants of the story, all of which demonstrate mutual dependence regardless of size or status. In the Renaissance the fable was provided with a sequel condemning social ambition. The fable in literature In the oldest versions, a lion threatens a mouse that wakes him from sleep. The mouse begs forgiveness and makes the point that such unworthy prey would bring the lion no honour. The lion agrees and sets the mouse free. Later, the lion is netted by hunters. Hearing it roaring, the mouse remembers its clemency and frees it by gnawing through the ropes. The moral of the story is that mercy brings its reward and that there is no being so small that it cannot help a greater. Later English versions reinforce this by having the mouse promise to return the lion's favor, to its sceptical amusement. The Scottish poet Robert Henryson, in a version he included in his ''Morall Fabillis' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Norworth
John Godfrey Knauff (January 5, 1879 – September 1, 1959), known professionally as Jack Norworth, was an American songwriter, singer and vaudeville performer. Biography Norworth is credited as writer of a number of Tin Pan Alley hits. He wrote the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in 1908, his longest-lasting hit. It wasn't until 1940 that he witnessed a major league baseball game. The song placed at number 8 on the "Songs of the Century" list selected by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Industry Association of America. His "Shine On, Harvest Moon" was a bigger hit at the time. There is some disagreement about his involvement in its creation. Broadway historian John Kenrick credits Edward Madden and Gus Edwards, while the family of Follies songwriter Dave Stamper claims he wrote the song while working as the pianist for Nora Bayes, the officially credited co-writer with Norworth. Another possibility for the music could lie with George Gershwin, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Gordon (actor)
Richard Gordon was an American actor in vaudeville and films and on stage and radio. He was perhaps best known for portraying the title role in the radio version of ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. Early years A native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Gordon worked as a reporter on a newspaper there before he moved to New York City and became a reporter for the ''New York World''. His earnings paid for his studies at Yale and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Radio In addition to his work in ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' from 1931 to 1933, Gordon's roles on old-time radio included those shown in the table below: Gordon also was heard on ''The Biblical Hour'' and in Shakespearean productions. Stage and film After he turned down a producer's offer of $35 per week for a minor part in a play, Gordon spent 10 years with a theatrical touring company. Films in which Gordon appeared included ''Birth of a Baby'', ''13 Rue Madeleine ''13 Rue Madeleine'' is a 1947 A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elsie Janis
Elsie Janis (born Elsie Bierbower, March 16, 1889 – February 26, 1956) was an American actress of stage and screen, singer, songwriter, screenwriter and radio announcer. Entertaining the troops during World War I immortalized her as "Forces Sweetheart, the sweetheart of the AEF" (American Expeditionary Force). Early life Elsie Bierbower was born in Marion, Ohio, the daughter of Josephine Janis and John Eleazer Bierbower. She had a brother, Percy John. Stage Bierbower first took to the stage at age 2. By age 11, she was a headliner on the vaudeville circuit, performing under the name Little Elsie. As she matured, using the stage name Elsie Janis, she began perfecting her comedic skills. Acclaimed by American and British critics, Janis was a headliner on Broadway theatre, Broadway and London. On Broadway, she starred in a number of successful shows, including ''The Vanderbilt Cup'' (1906), ''The Hoyden'' (1907), ''The Slim Princess'' (1911), and ''The Century Girl'' (1916). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minnie Maddern Fiske
Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey; December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fight against the Theatrical Syndicate for the sake of artistic freedom. She was widely considered the most important actress on the American stage in the first quarter of the 20th century. Her performances in several Henrik Ibsen plays helped introduced American audiences to the Norwegian playwright. Career Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Minnie Maddern was the daughter of stage manager Thomas Davey and actress Lizzie Maddern. Coming from a theatrical family, she performed her first professional show at the age of three as the Duke of York in ''Richard III''. She debuted in New York as a four-year-old in the play ''A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing.'' She toured extensively as a child, and was educated in many convent schools. She was a child prod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarded as "The First Lady of the American Theatre". She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for '' None but the Lonely Heart'' (1944). Early life Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore (whose real name was Herbert Blythe) and Georgiana Drew. She was named for her father's favorite character—Ethel in William Makepeace Thackeray's ''The Newcomes.'' She was the sister of actors John and Lionel Barrymore, the aunt of actor John Drew Barrymore and grand-aunt of actress Drew Barrymore. She was also a granddaughter of actress and theater-manager Louisa Lane Drew (Mrs. John Drew), and niece of Broadway matinée idol John Drew Jr and ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Stallings
Laurence Tucker Stallings (November 25, 1894 – February 28, 1968) was an American playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, literary critic, journalist, novelist, and photographer. Best known for his collaboration with Maxwell Anderson on the 1924 play ''What Price Glory'', Stallings also produced a groundbreaking autobiographical novel, ''Plumes'', about his service in World War I, and published an award-winning book of photographs, ''The First World War: A Photographic History''. Life Stallings was born Laurence Tucker Stallings in Macon, Georgia, to Larkin Tucker Stallings, a bank clerk, and Aurora Brooks Stallings, a homemaker and avid reader who inspired her son's love of literature. He entered Wake Forest University in North Carolina in 1912 and became the editor of the campus literary magazine, the ''Old Gold and Black.'' He met Helen Poteat while at Wake Forest. She was the daughter of Dr. William Louis Poteat, the university president, and the sister of Stallings's classics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxwell Anderson
James Maxwell Anderson (December 15, 1888 – February 28, 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist. Background Anderson was born on December 15, 1888, in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to William Lincoln "Link" Anderson, a Baptist minister, and Charlotte Perrimela ('Premely') Stephenson, both of Scotch-Irish descent. His family initially lived on his maternal grandmother Sheperd's farm in Atlantic, then moved to Andover, Ohio, where his father became a railroad fireman while studying to become a minister. They moved often, to follow their father's ministerial posts, and Maxwell was frequently sick, missing a great deal of school. He used his time sick in bed to read voraciously, and both his parents and Aunt Emma were storytellers, which contributed to Anderson's love of literature. During a visit to his grandmother's house in Atlantic, at age 11, he met the first love of his life, Hallie Loomis, a slightly older girl from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What Price Glory? (play)
''What Price Glory?'', a 1924 comedy-drama written by poet/playwright Maxwell Anderson and journalist/critic/veteran Laurence Stallings was Anderson's first commercial success, with a long run on Broadway, starring Louis Wolheim. The play depicted the rivalry between two U.S. Marine Corps officers fighting in France during World War I. The play was notable for its profanity, "toot goddam sweet," etc., and for censorship efforts by military and religious groups. These efforts failed when the primary censorship authority, Rear Admiral Charles P. Plunkett, was revealed by columnist Heywood Broun to have written a far more vulgar series of letters to a General Chatelaine. The play's success allowed Anderson to quit teaching and journalism, and start his long and successful career as a professional playwright. It was included in Burns Mantle's ''The Best Plays of 1924-1925''. The play was filmed in 1926 and 1952. Further reading * * What Price Glory?' at HathiTrust Digital ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish playwright August Strindberg. The tragedy '' Long Day's Journey into Night'' is often included on lists of the finest U.S. plays in the 20th century, alongside Tennessee Williams's ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and Arthur Miller's ''Death of a Salesman''. O'Neill's plays were among the first to include speeches in American English vernacular and involve characters on the fringes of society. They struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations, but ultimately slide into disillusion and despair. Of his very few comedies, only one is well-known (''Ah, Wilderness!'').The Eugene O'Neill Foundation newsletter: "''Now I Ask You'', along with ''The M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Christie
''Anna Christie'' is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work. According to historian Paul Avrich, the original of Anna Christie was Christine Ell, an anarchist cook in Greenwich Village, who was the lover of Edward Mylius, a Belgian-born radical living in England who libeled the British king George V. Plot summary ''Anna Christie'' is the story of a former prostitute who falls in love, but runs into difficulty in turning her life around. ; Characters * Johnny the Priest * Two longshoremen * A postman * Larry — bartender * Chris C. Christopherson — captain of the barge ''Simeon Winthrop'' * Marthy Owen * Anna Christopherson — Chris's daughter * Mat Burke — a stoker * Johnson — deckhand on barge Act I The first act takes place in a bar owned by Johnny the Priest and tended by Larry. Coal-barge captain Old Chris receives a letter f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
