|
Wonderworld (musical)
''Wonderworld'' is a musical with lyrics by Stanley Styne and music by Jule Styne written specifically for presentation at the 1964 New York World's Fair's huge 11,000-seat amphitheatre. The large-scale "aqua-stage spectacle" used 250 performers and starred Chita Rivera. The expensive show filed for bankruptcy after two months. History The production was conceived and staged by Leon Leonidoff, a senior producer at Radio City Music Hall. With admission prices ranging from $1.00 to $3.00, the $2 million production was presented four times a day Monday through Thursdays and five times a day on Saturdays and Sundays in the 11,000-seat Art Deco amphitheatre constructed for the 1939 New York World's Fair. It used 250 performers, including Chita Rivera alternating with Gretchen Wyler, and Ted Scott. The choreographer and assistant director was Michael Kidd. Billed as an "aqua-stage spectacle", the 90-minute production opened in May 1964. It involved high divers, motorcycles, clowns, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musical Theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the musical theatre w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Kidd
Michael Kidd (August 12, 1915 – December 23, 2007) was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, strongly influenced by Charlie Chaplin and Léonide Massine, was an innovator in what came to be known as the "integrated musical", in which dance movements are integral to the plot. He was probably best known for his athletic dance numbers in ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'', a 1954 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical. Film critic Stephanie Zacharek called the barn-raising sequence in ''Seven Brides'' "one of the most rousing dance numbers ever put on screen". He was the first choreographer to win five Tony Awards, and was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1996 for advancing dance in film. Early life and dance career Kidd was born Milton Greenwald, in New York City on the Lower East Side, the son of Abraham Greenwald, a barber, and his wife Lillian, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Original Musicals
Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from replica, reproductions, clones, forgery, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion that is often called romantic originality.Smith (1924)Waterhouse (1926)Macfarlane (2007) The validity of "originality" as an operational concept has been questioned. For example, there is no clear boundary between "derivative" and "inspired by" or "in the tradition of." The concept of originality is both culturally and historically contingent. For example, unattributed reiteration of a published text in one culture might be considered plagiarism but in another culture might be regarded as a convention of veneration. At the time of Shakespeare, it was more common to appreciate the similarity with an admired classical work, and Shakespeare himself avoided "unnecessary invention".Royal Shakespeare Company (2007) ''The RSC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musicals By Jule Styne
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Edward Harrigan, Harrigan and Tony Hart (theater), Hart in America. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1964 Musicals
Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople meet in Jerusalem. * January 6 – A British firm, the Leyland Motors, Leyland Motor Corp., announces the sale of 450 buses to the Cuban government, challenging the United States blockade of Cuba. * January 9 – ''Martyrs' Day (Panama), Martyrs' Day'': Armed clashes between United States troops and Panamanian civilians in the Panama Canal Zone precipitate a major international crisis, resulting in the deaths of 21 Panamanians and 4 U.S. soldiers. * January 11 – United States Surgeon General Luther Terry reports that smoking may be hazardous to one's health (the first such statement from the U.S. government). * January 12 ** Zanzibar Revolution: The predominantly Arab government of Zanzibar is overthrown b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Rose's Aquacade
''Billy Rose's Aquacade'' was a music, dance and swimming show produced by Billy Rose at the Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland, Ohio during its second year, in 1937. The show featured Olympians Johnny Weissmuller, Eleanor Holm Jarret, Dick Degener, and other performers in a 5000-seat amphitheater that could seat 2000 diners. There was a 128 foot wide floating stage constructed on barges that could be moved to shore electrically for use as a dance floor. Dance bands such as Wayne King, Shep Fields, and Glen Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra performed there. Later ''Aquacade'' moved to the 1939 New York World's Fair where it was the most successful production of the fair (Lowe). The Art Deco 11,000 seat amphitheatre at the north end of Meadow Lake was designed by architects Sloan & Robertson. Shows were staged by John Murray Anderson to the orchestrations of Ted Royal. The pool and the 300 by stage could be hidden behind a lighted high curtain of water. In addition to Wei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erté
Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials (, EHR TEH). He was a 20th-century artist and designer in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theatre, and opera, and interior decor. Early life Tirtoff was born Roman Petrovich Tyrtov (Роман Петрович Тыртов) in Saint Petersburg, to a distinguished family with roots tracing back to 1548, to a Tatar khan named Tyrtov. His father, Pyotr Ivanovich Tyrtov, served as an admiral in the Russian Fleet. Career In 1907, he lived one year in Paris. He said about this time "I did not discover Beardsley until when I had already been in Paris for a year". ''Demoiselle à la balancelle'' is one of Erté's first sculptures, if not the first; it was made in 1907, at the age of 15 years, during a stay in Paris. This work is less pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvin Colt
Alvin Colt (July 5, 1916 – May 4, 2008) was an American costume designer. Colt worked on over 50 Broadway shows. His first job was in a theatrical fabric house, he also worked on painting scenery during the summer. '' On the Town'' was the first Broadway show he worked on in 1944. His major Broadway credits include ''Guys and Dolls'', '' Top Banana'', '' Fanny'', ''Finian's Rainbow'', ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'', ''Destry Rides Again'', ''Wildcat'', ''Here's Love'', ''The Crucible'', ''The Goodbye People'', ''Sugar'', ''Lorelei'', ''Jerome Robbins' Broadway'' and '' Waiting in the Wings'' for producer Alexander H. Cohen, with whom he had a long working relationship. Alvin won a Tony Award in 1955 for ''Pipe Dream''. He did the costumes for the 1957 show, Rumple. The last official show he worked on was in 2001 for ''If you ever leave me...I'm going with you!'' Colt also designed for TV and film. Among his screen credits are costume designs for the films '' Top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gretchen Wyler
Gretchen Wyler (born Gretchen Patricia Wienecke; February 16, 1932 – May 27, 2007) was an American actress and dancer. She was also an animal rights advocate and founder of the Genesis Awards for animal protection. Biography Early life Wyler was born Gretchen Patricia Wienecke in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter of Peggy ( née Highley) and Louis Gustave Wienecke, a petroleum engineer. She was raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and opened her own dancing school there before going to New York City to pursue a career as a professional actress and dancer. Acting career She appeared on Broadway in six original productions: * ''Guys and Dolls'' as a dancer and as understudy for "Miss Adelaide" (1950–1953) * '' Silk Stockings'' as "Janice Dayton" (1955–1956) * ''Damn Yankees'' as "Lola" as replacement for Gwen Verdon (1955–1957) * '' Rumple'' as "Kate Drew" (1957) * ''Bye Bye Birdie'' as "Rose Grant" as replacement for Chita Rivera (1960–1961) * ''Sly Fox'' as "Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jule Styne
Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became successful films: ''Gypsy,'' '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,'' and '' Funny Girl.'' Early life Styne was born to a Jewish family in London, England. His parents, Anna Kertman and Isadore Stein, were emigrants from Ukraine, the Russian Empire, and ran a small grocery. Even before his family left Britain, he did impressions on the stage of well-known singers, including Harry Lauder, who saw him perform and advised him to take up the piano. At the age of eight, he moved with his family to Chicago, where he began taking piano lessons. He proved to be a prodigy and performed with the Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit Symphonies before he was ten years old. Career Before Styne attended Chicago Musical College, he had already attracted the attention o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people attended its exhibits in two seasons. It was the first exposition to be based on the future, with an opening slogan of "Dawn of a New Day", and it allowed all visitors to take a look at "the world of tomorrow". When World War II began four months into the 1939 World's Fair, many exhibits were affected, especially those on display in the pavilions of countries under Axis occupation. After the close of the fair in 1940, many exhibits were demolished or removed, though some buildings were retained for the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair, held at the same site. Planning In 1935, at the height of the Great Depression, a group of New Yo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Through styling and design of the exterior and interior of anything from large structures to small objects, including how people look (clothing, fashion and jewelry), Art Deco has influenced bridges, buildings (from skyscrapers to cinemas), ships, ocean liners, trains, cars, trucks, buses, furniture, and everyday objects like radios and vacuum cleaners. It got its name after the 1925 Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) held in Paris. Art Deco combined modern styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, it represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in socia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> 1939 New York World's Fair")
_interior.jpg "Click for more on -> Art Deco")