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The Ritz (play)
''The Ritz'' is a comedic farce by Terrence McNally. Rita Moreno won a Tony Award for her performance as Googie Gomez in the 1975 Broadway production, which she and many others of the original cast reprised in a 1976 film version directed by Richard Lester. Plot The farce is set in a gay bathhouse in Manhattan, where unsuspecting businessman Gaetano Proclo, a heterosexual, has taken refuge from his homicidal brother-in-law Carmine Vespucci, a mobster. Gaetano stumbles across an assortment of oddball characters, including a rabid chubby chaser, go-go boys, a squeaky-voiced detective, and Googie Gomez, a third-rate entertainer with visions of Broadway glory who mistakes him for a famous producer and whom he mistakes for a man in drag. Further complications arise when Gaetano's wife, Vivian, tracks him down and jumps to all the wrong conclusions about his sexual orientation. Production history Original Broadway production McNally was playwright-in-residence at Yale Universi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," McNally was the recipient of five Tony Awards. He won the Tony Award for Best Play for ''Love! Valour! Compassion!'' and '' Master Class'' and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' and ''Ragtime,'' and received the 2019 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1996, and he also received the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the highest recognition of artistic merit in the United States. His other accolades included an Emmy Award, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, four Drama Desk Awards, two Luci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Collins
Stephen Weaver Collins (born October 1, 1947) is an American former actor and writer. He is known for playing Eric Camden on the television series '' 7th Heaven'' from 1996 to 2007. Afterwards, Collins played the roles of Dayton King on the ABC television series ''No Ordinary Family'' and Gene Porter in the television series ''Revolution'', father of Elizabeth Mitchell's character, Rachel Matheson. Before ''7th Heaven'', Collins was known for his role as Commander Willard Decker in the 1979 film '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' and the television series ''Tales of the Gold Monkey''. His career ended in 2014, the year that he confessed to sexual misconduct against multiple minors. Early life Stephen Collins was born on October 1, 1947, in Des Moines, Iowa, to mother Madeleine (née Robertson) and father Cyrus Stickney Collins, an airline executive. Collins was raised with his two older brothers in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual may not notice any symptoms, or may experience a brief period of influenza-like illness. Typically, this is followed by a prolonged incubation period with no symptoms. If the infection progresses, it interferes more with the immune system, increasing the risk of developing common infections such as tuberculosis, as well as other opportunistic infections, and tumors which are rare in people who have normal immune function. These late symptoms of infection are referred to as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This stage is often also associated with unintended weight loss. HIV is spread primarily by unprotected sex (including anal and vaginal sex), contaminated blood transfusions, hypodermic needles, and from mother to child duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryan Idol
Ryan Idol (born August 10, 1966) is an American gay pornographic film actor who performed in the 1990s and later onstage in mainstream theater. He has French, Irish, and Native American ancestry. Idol describes himself as "the creation of Marc Anthony Donais." Biography Idol was raised in a series of foster homes as a child. He never knew his father, and had little contact with his mother while growing up. After high school, Idol spent a brief period in the United States Navy, then worked as a construction worker. To generate income, he began stripping for women in nightclubs in New England. He was approached to do a nude layout for ''Playgirl'', and in February 1989 appeared as the "Man of the Month" centerfold under his birth name Marc Anthony Donais. This appearance launched his career in the adult film industry, in which he achieved notoriety and success under the name Ryan Idol. At the height of his career, he claimed to earn $50,000 per film, and made tens of thousands o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seth Rudetsky
Seth Dennis Rudetsky (born February 28, 1967) is an American musician, actor, writer and radio host. He currently is the host of ''Seth's Big Fat Broadway'' and ''Seth Speaks'' on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's '' On Broadway''. The show focuses on Rudetsky's knowledge of Broadway theatre history and trivia. In March 2020, Rudetsky and his husband created a daily live-streamed web series ''Stars in The House'' to benefit The Actors Fund in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Early life and education Rudetsky grew up in North Woodmere, New York. He graduated from Hewlett High School in Hewlett, New York, and Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in 1988 with a degree in Piano Performance. Career Acting He wrote and performed in a one-man show called ''Rhapsody in Seth'' in 2003. He often tours with variations on his one-man show. He appeared in the Series Finale of '' Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List''. From November 27 through December 10, 2006, he starred in an Off-Off-B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin Chamberlin
Kevin Chamberlin (born November 25, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for his theatre roles such as Horton in ''Seussical'' and Uncle Fester in ''The Addams Family''. For his theatre work, he received three Tony Award and three Drama Desk Award nominations. He also starred as Bertram Winkle in the Disney Channel Original Series sitcom '' Jessie'' from 2011 to 2015. From 2018 to 2019, he starred as The Wizard of Oz in ''Wicked'' on Broadway. Personal life Chamberlin was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and was raised in Moorestown, New Jersey. In elementary school, he starred as Huck Finn in the school's production of ''Tom Sawyer''. After he graduated from Moorestown High School in 1981, Chamberlin studied acting at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and graduated with a B.F.A. in acting in 1985. Chamberlin has since acted on Broadway, having been nominated for three Tony Awards, and has an extensive list of film and television ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosie Perez
Rosa Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress, choreographer, dancer, and activist. Her breakthrough came with her portrayal of Tina in the film ''Do the Right Thing'' (1989), followed by ''White Men Can't Jump'' (1992). Perez's performance in ''Fearless'' (1993) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, among other accolades. Her starring film roles since include '' It Could Happen to You'' (1994), ''The Road to El Dorado'' (2000), ''Pineapple Express'' (2008), and ''Birds of Prey'' (2020). Perez earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for ''In Living Color'' (1990–1994) and another Emmy nomination for her work in ''The Flight Attendant'' (2020–present). She has performed in stage plays on Broadway such as '' The Ritz'', ''Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune'', and '' Fish in the Dark''. She was also a co-host on the ABC talk show '' The View'' during the series' 18th season. Early life Perez was born on September 6, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Mantello
Joseph Mantello (born December 27, 1962) is an American actor and director known for his work on Broadway productions of ''Wicked'', '' Take Me Out'', and ''Assassins'', having gained notoriety in the 1993 cast of ''Angels in America''. Early life and education Mantello was born in Rockford, Illinois, the son of Judy and Richard Mantello, an accountant. His father is of Italian ancestry and his mother is of half Italian descent. He was raised Catholic. Mantello studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts; he started the Edge Theater in New York City with actress Mary-Louise Parker and writer Peter Hedges. He is a member of the Naked Angels theater company and an associate artist at the Roundabout Theatre Company. Career Mantello came to New York from Illinois in 1984 in the midst of the AIDS crisis, having overcome a youthful feeling, he admitted to a reporter in 2013, that "for some reason I was deeply ashamed of the theater early on. I think it had to do with this growin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Studio 54
Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was designed by Eugene De Rosa for producer Fortune Gallo and opened in 1927 as the Gallo Opera House. The current Broadway theater is named after a nightclub on the same site, founded by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, which operated within the theater's space in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Plans for the Gallo Opera House announced in 1926, and it opened on November 8, 1927, as a legitimate theater and opera house for the San Carlo Grand Opera Company. The theater went bankrupt within two years and was renamed the New Yorker Theatre in 1930. The Casino de Paree nightclub operated at the theater from December 1933 to April 1935, and the theater briefly hosted the Palladium Music Hall in early 1936. The Federal Music Project took over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roundabout Theatre Company
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizabeth Owens. Originally housed at a Chelsea, Manhattan, grocery store, on 26th Street, it moved to the nearby 23rd Street Theatre in 1972, performing there until their lease expired in 1984. The company now operates five theatres, all in Manhattan: the American Airlines Theatre (for classic Broadway plays and musicals); Studio 54 (for Broadway musicals and special events); the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (originally Henry Miller's Theatre, which was rebuilt in 2009 and incorporated the theater's original facade); the Laura Pels Theatre (for new off-Broadway works by established playwrights); and the Roundabout Underground Black Box Theatre (for new work of emerging writers and directors). The latter two theatres are located in the Harold and M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holly Woodlawn
Holly Woodlawn (October 26, 1946 – December 6, 2015) was a transgender Puerto Rican actress and Warhol superstar who appeared in the films ''Trash'' (1970) and '' Women in Revolt'' (1971). She is also known as the Holly in Lou Reed's hit glam rock song " Walk on the Wild Side". Early life Woodlawn was born in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, to a German-American father who was a soldier in the U.S. Army, and Aminta Rodriguez, a native Puerto Rican, and grew up in Miami Beach, where she came out at a young age. She adopted the name Holly from the heroine of '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', and in 1969 added the surname from a sign she saw on an episode of '' I Love Lucy''. After changing her name she began to falsely tell people she was the heiress to Woodlawn Cemetery. In 1962, at the age of fifteen, Woodlawn ran away from home, leaving Florida heading north. She recollected that "I hocked some jewelry and ... made it all the way to Georgia, where the money ran out and ... had to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casey Donovan (actor)
John Calvin Culver (November 2, 1943 – August 10, 1987), better known under his stage name Casey Donovan, was an American male pornographic film actor from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, appearing primarily in adult films and videos catering to gay male audiences, during the Golden Age of Porn. Following a brief career as a Latin teacher and a stint as a highly paid male model, Donovan appeared in '' Boys in the Sand'' (1971), the film that would cement his status as a gay icon. Attempts to build on his notoriety to achieve mainstream crossover success failed, but Donovan continued to be a bankable star in the adult industry for the next 15 years. He was briefly a mainstream actor, who appeared on stage, as well as a theatre producer and manager and appeared as himself in TV series ''Emerald City''. Early life Culver was born in East Bloomfield, New York, growing up there with his parents and older brother Duane. Culver attended the State University of New York at Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
