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Under The Counter (musical)
''Under the Counter'' is a musical comedy composed by Manning Sherwin from a book by Arthur Macrae with lyrics by Harold Purcell. The plot is centred around shortages and black market activity during wartime rationing. After premiering at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, before transferring for a lengthy run of 665 performances at the Phoenix Theatre in London's West End between 22 November 1945 and 5 July 1947. It starred Cicely Courtneidge, who was replaced for a month by Florence Desmond before she returned to the role. It was produced by Courtneidge's husband Jack Hulbert. The cast also included Cyril Raymond, Thorley Walters, Hartley Power, Robert Dorning, Irene Handl and Jeanne Stuart. It then toured the British provincial theatres. In late 1947, the musical ran for 27 performances at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway, with Courtneidge and several other cast members reprising their roles alongside Ballard Berkeley Ballard Blascheck (6 August 1904 – 16 January 1988), known p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Macrae
William Arthur Schröpfer (17 March 1908 – 25 February 1962) known by the pen name and stage name Arthur Macrae was an English playwright and comic actor. He graduated from RADA in 1928; with acting work including the original West End productions of Noël Coward's ''Cavalcade'' (1931), and ''South Sea Bubble'' (1956). He wrote the book for the 1945 hit West End musical '' Under the Counter''. Selected written works *''Flat to Let'' - play (1931), produced at the Criterion Theatre with Lilian Braithwaite and Ann Todd *''She Shall Have Music'' - film (1935) *''Under Your Hat'' - musical play (1939) (filmed in 1940) *''Traveller's Joy'' - play (1948) (filmed in 1949) *''Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pres ...'' - film (1951) segment "Winter Cruise" *''Both Ends ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyril Raymond
Cyril William North Raymond MBE (13 February 1899 – 20 March 1973) was a British character actor. He maintained a stage and screen career from his teens until his retirement, caused by ill health, in the 1960s. His many stage, film and television roles include Fred Jesson, the husband of Celia Johnson's Laura Jesson in ''Brief Encounter'' (1945). Life and career Raymond was the son of Herbert Linton Raymond and his second wife, Rose ( Knowles). Herbert died in 1906 at the Grand Hotel, Broad Street, Bristol, which he and his wife ran. Raymond became a pupil at Sir Herbert Tree's Academy of Dramatic Art."Obituary: Mr. Cyril Raymond", ''The Times'', 22 March 1973, p. 20 He made his professional debut in 1914 at the Garrick Theatre, London, playing the Second Spanish Gentleman in ''Bluff King Hal''.Gayle, pp. 1099–1100 As Little Billee in ''Trilby'' he supported Tree's Svengali at His Majesty's Theatre in 1915. While still a boy actor he appeared in plays by Louis N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1945 Musicals
1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: ** Germany begins Operation Bodenplatte, an attempt by the ''Luftwaffe'' to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries. ** Chenogne massacre: German prisoners are allegedly killed by American forces near the village of Chenogne, Belgium. * January 6 – WWII: A German offensive recaptures Esztergom, Hungary from the Russians. * January 12 – WWII: The Soviet Union begins the Vistula–Oder Offensive in Eastern Europe, against the German Army. * January 13 – WWII: The Soviet Union begins the East Prussian Offensive, to eliminate German forces in East Prussia. * January 16 – WWII: Adolf Hitler takes residence in the '' Führerbunker'' in Berlin. * January 17 ** WWII: The Soviet Union occupies Warsa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilfred Hyde-White
Wilfrid Hyde-White (12 May 1903 – 6 May 1991) was a British character actor of stage, film and television. He achieved international recognition for his role as Colonel Pickering in the film version of the musical ''My Fair Lady'' (1964). Early life and career Wilfrid Hyde White was born in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, England in 1903 to the Rev. William Edward White, canon of Gloucester Cathedral, and his wife, Ethel Adelaide ( Drought). He was the nephew of actor J. Fisher White. He attended Marlborough College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, of which he said, "I learned two things at RADA - I can't act and it doesn't matter." He made his stage debut in the farcical play '' Tons of Money'' on the Isle of Wight in 1922 and appeared in the West End for the first time three years later in the play ''Beggar on Horseback''. He then gained steady work on the stage in a series of comedies produced at the Aldwych Theatre in London. He joined a tour of South Afric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballard Berkeley
Ballard Blascheck (6 August 1904 – 16 January 1988), known professionally as Ballard Berkeley, was an English actor of stage and screen. He is best remembered for playing Major Gowen in the British television sitcom ''Fawlty Towers''. Life and career The son of Joseph and Beatrice Blascheck, he was born in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent. He married Dorothy Long in 1929. During the 1930s he performed regularly in the so-called "quota quickies". One of his earliest roles was as the heroic lead in the 1937 film ''The Last Adventurers''. He served as a special constable with the Metropolitan Police during the Second World War, witnessing the Blitz at first hand, including the bombing of the Café de Paris nightclub. For his service he received the Defence Medal and the Special Constabulary Long Service Medal. He appeared in the film ''In Which We Serve'' (1942) and in the Hitchcock film ''Stage Fright'' (1950). He featured as Detective Inspector Berkeley in two episodes of Edgar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shubert Theatre (New York City)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 225 West 44th Street (Manhattan), 44th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance and Mannerist architecture, Italian Renaissance style and was built for the Shubert family, Shubert brothers. Lee Shubert, Lee and Jacob J. Shubert, J. J. Shubert had named the theater in memory of their brother Sam S. Shubert, who died in an accident several years before the theater's opening. It has 1,502 seats across three levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The facade and interior are List of New York City Landmarks, New York City landmarks. The Shubert's facade is made of brick and Architectural terracotta, terracotta, with sgraffito decorations designed in stucco. Three arches face south onto 44th Street, and a curved corner faces east toward Broadway (Manhattan), Broad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeanne Stuart
Jeanne Stuart (13 August 1908 – 12 February 2003), born Ivy Sweet, was a British stage and film actress. Using the stage name Jeanne Stuart, she performed on the London stage, on Broadway, and in motion pictures. She made her motion picture debut in 1931 and went on to perform and star in more than twenty films. Her West End stage appearances included Walter C. Hackett's '' Road House'' (1932), '' Afterwards'' (1933) and ''Espionage'' (1935). In 1945 she appeared in the hit musical '' Under the Counter'' alongside Cicely Courtneidge. She was married in 1933 to businessman Bernard Docker but their union lasted only a few months. Docker's disapproving father had her followed by private detectives; on discovering her association with actor David Hutcheson, allegedly involving 'circumstances which left no doubt of their adultery', Docker divorced her. After World War II, she moved to the United States, taking up residence on Long Island. She met Baron Eugène Daniel von Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irene Handl
Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father -- who came to England via Switzerland and started as a bank clerk working his way up into the stock exchange as a stockbroker, then became a private banker -- Friedrich (later Frederick) Handl (1874–1961), who became a naturalised British subject. Her German mother, Marie ( Schiepp or Schuepp; 1875–before 1924), was also a naturalised British subject. Theirs was a comfortable middle-class life, with a German cook and housekeeper living in the family home. From 1907 to 1915, Irene attended the Paddington and Maida Vale High School. In the 1920s, Handl travelled several times to New York with her father, with the ship's log listing her on each occasion as having no occupation and residing in the family home. Handl studied at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Dorning
Robert Dorning (13 May 1913 – 21 February 1989) was a musician, dance band vocalist, ballet dancer and stage, film and television actor. He is known to have performed in at least 77 television and film productions between 1940 and 1988. Origins Robert Dorning was born at 108 Croppers Hill in St Helens, Lancashire, England, on 13 May 1913. His father was Robert John Dorning who worked in a local pit as a coal miner haulier and his mother was Mary Elizabeth Dorning, formerly Howard. He was educated at Cowley Grammar School in St Helens, where he also learnt to play violin and saxophone. After leaving school, Dorning studied drama and dance in Liverpool with the intention of becoming a ballet dancer. During the 1930s he had a brief career as a musical comedian in theatre, before choosing acting as his profession. Film roles His first known film role was in the crime drama, ''They Came By Night'' (1940). However, his acting career was interrupted by World War II and Dorning serve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hartley Power
Hartley Power (14 March 1894 – 29 January 1966) was an American-born British film and television actor, who made his Broadway debut in ''Dolly Jordan'' in 1922. He is best remembered for two roles: "Sylvester Kee" the ventriloquist who is shot and almost killed by "Maxwell Frere" (Michael Redgrave) as a rival for his dummy's "affections" in ''Dead of Night'' and Mr. Hennessy, the chief of the news agency that Gregory Peck worked for in ''Roman Holiday ''Roman Holiday'' is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed and produced by William Wyler. It stars Audrey Hepburn as a princess out to see Rome on her own and Gregory Peck as a reporter. Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress f ...''. He died in a Brighton nursing home on 29 January 1966 aged 71. Filmography Film References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Hartley 1894 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American male actors American emigrants to the United Kingdom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thorley Walters
Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 – 6 July 1991) was an English character actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in ''Two-Way Stretch'' and '' Carlton-Browne of the FO''. Early life Walters was born in Teigngrace, Devon, the son of Prebendary Thomas Collins Walters of Silverton, Devon and his wife Mary née Swinstead. He was educated at Monkton Combe School, Somerset. Walters appeared in the West End in the 1942 naval play '' Escort'' by Patrick Hastings and the 1949 musical ''Her Excellency'' at the London Hippodrome. Career Films He featured in three of the St Trinian's films, starting as an army major in ''Blue Murder at St Trinian's''. He later appeared as Butters, assistant to Education Ministry senior civil servant Culpepper-Brown (Eric Barker) in ''The Pure Hell of St Trinian's'' and played the part of Culpepper-Brown in ''The Wildcats of St Trinian's''. From the 1960s onwards he also appeared in several Hammer horror films, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
