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Zip Goes A Million
''Zip Goes a Million'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by George Posford, based on the 1902 novel '' Brewster's Millions''. It premiered in London in 1951, starring George Formby, and ran for 544 performances. Synopsis Percy Piggott, a window cleaner, stands to inherit a fortune. To receive the money, however, he is required to spend a million dollars in a hurry without letting anyone know what he is doing. He decides to invest in a musical comedy, ''The Garter Girl'', starring Lilac Delaney, which he thinks will be a failure. Other spendthrift ideas include putting money in the stock market and betting on the ponies. Each of these dubious investments is a success, even though a shady banker, Van Norden, and his daughter try to separate Percy from his money and from Sally Whittle, Percy's innocent girlfriend. In the second act, on a South Seas island, Percy succeeds in wrecking a yacht, which is hugely expensive to salvage. After various complica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Posford
George Posford, born Benjamin George Ashwell (23 March 1906 – 24 April 1976), was an English composer and conductor. Early life Benjamin George Ashwell was born in 1906 in Folkestone, Kent. He was educated at Downside School in Somerset and Christ's College at Cambridge University. He studied law, but would become known for his musical achievements, after a song he co-wrote with Rodney Hobson was successfully interpolated in an early 1930s touring version of the show ''Lavender'', which pointed him towards a new career. After Cambridge, Ashwell studied composition and orchestration at the Royal College of Music in London. Career Ashwell became a professional composer in 1930, and would be known as George Posford. He initially specialised in BBC Radio work, before moving into theatre. He composed many songs, often with librettist-lyricist Eric Maschwitz. For radio, they wrote ''Goodnight Vienna'', which then became a 1932 film (the first British musical to be filmed), st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emile Littler
Sir Emile Littler (9 September 1903 – 23 January 1985), born Emile Richeux, was an English theatrical impresario, producer and author. Life and career Littler was born in Ramsgate, Kent, in the south east of England, the younger son in the family of five children of Jules Richeux (1863–1911), a cigar importer, and his wife, Agnes May, ''née'' Paisey (b. 1874). Richeux became a theatrical proprietor, leasing the Ramsgate Victoria Pavilion from 1906, while Agnes Richeux leased the Royal Artillery Theatre, Woolwich, from 1909. In 1914, three years after Richeux's death, his widow married the theatre manager Frank Rolison Littler (1879–1940), who adopted the five children, all of whom took his surname. Morley, Sheridan"Littler, Prince Frank (1901–1973)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, October 2009, retrieved 5 August 2014 The elder son Prince, and one of the daughters, Blanche, also went into theatrical management. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Tivoli Theatre, Sydney
The New Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, previously known as the Adelphi Theatre and the Grand Opera House, was a theatre and music hall at 329, Castlereagh Street, Sydney, Australia, which was long at the heart of the Tivoli circuit. It operated between 1911 and 1966 and from 1932 was often called the Tivoli Theatre. History Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre was built in 1911 on half of the site of Sydney's former Paddy's Markets, in the block formed by Campbell, Castlereagh, Hay, and Pitt streets, on land leased from the City of Sydney. It was one of four theatres built in the Haymarket area that year, the other three being picture theatres: the Lyric and New Colonial on George Street for J. D. Williams, and the Orpheum, which stood on the other half of the former Paddy's Markets. Designed by the architects Eaton & Bates, the Adelphi was built of reinforced concrete faced with white marble. The stage was , with a doorway to Pitt Street wide enough for carriages. Its audito ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tivoli Circuit
The Tivoli Circuit was a successful and popular Australian vaudeville entertainment circuit featuring revue, opera, ballet, dance, singing, musical comedy, old time black and white minstrel and even Shakespeare which flourished from 1893 to the 1950s, and featured local and international performers from the United States and the United Kingdom. The circuit suffered a catastrophic decline in popularity after the introduction of television in Australia in 1956, although embracing the new medium and feature live half hour broadcasts from Sydney. The last Tivoli show was staged in 1966 and the company briefly went into film exhibition in Melbourne. The Sydney building was leased out to various establishments until the building was demolished in 1969. The only original Tivoli theatre still standing is Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide. History The circuit was established by English music hall baritone and comedian Harry Rickards in 1893, following the success of his "New Tivoli Min ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chester
Charlie Chester MBE (26 April 1914 – 26 June 1997) was an English comedian, radio and television presenter and writer, broadcasting almost continuously from the 1940s to the 1990s. His style was similar to that of Max Miller. Life and career Chester was born Cecil Victor Manser in Eastbourne, Sussex. His first job after leaving education was as a grocer's errand boy, but he won talent competitions for his musical instrument playing and singing. Working as a travelling salesman for an embroidery company, Chester realised he had the gift of the gab and decided to become a professional comedian. Known as "Cheerful" Charlie Chester, he was popular with British audiences in the 1940s from his BBC radio show ''Stand Easy''. This show was adapted for television as ''The Charlie Chester Show'' in 1949 and became a stand-up and sketch show for the next 11 years. Frequent cast members included Edwina Carroll, Henry Lytton, Jr., Eric "Jeeves" Grier, Len Lowe, Deryck Guyler ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. Its red-brick facade dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus behind a small plaza near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road. The Palace Theatre seats 1,400. Richard D'Oyly Carte, producer of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, commissioned the theatre in the late 1880s. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and intended to be a home of English grand opera. The theatre opened as the Royal English Opera House in January 1891 with a lavish production of Arthur Sullivan's opera ''Ivanhoe''. Although this ran for 160 performances, followed briefly by André Messager's ''La Basoche'', Carte had no other works ready to fill the theatre. He leased it to Sarah Bernhardt for a season and sold the opera house within a year at a loss. It was then converted into a grand music hall and renamed the Palace Theatre of Varieties, managed successfully first by Sir Augustus Harris and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two cities and the surrounding towns form one of the United Kingdom's most populous conurbations, the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, which has a population of 2.87 million. The history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort ('' castra'') of ''Mamucium'' or ''Mancunium'', established in about AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Historically part of Lancashire, areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated into Manchester in the 20th century, including Wythenshawe in 1931. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palace Theatre, Manchester
The Palace Theatre, Manchester, is one of the main theatres in Manchester, England. It is situated on Oxford Street, on the north-east corner of the intersection with Whitworth Street. The Palace and its sister theatre the Opera House on Quay Street are operated by the same parent company, Ambassador Theatre Group. The original capacity of 3,675 has been reduced to its current 1,955. History The theatre, originally known as "the Grand Old Lady of Oxford Street", opened on 18 May 1891, having been designed by the architect Alfred Darbyshire at a cost of £40,500. The Palace Theatre was redecorated and altered in 1896 to the designs of the renowned theatre architect Frank Matcham, and he again worked on some improvements to the theatre in 1899, when he was commissioned to put in a pass door so that the manager did not have to go outside in the rain and snow to reach backstage, and at the same time he also proposed to carry out some minor alterations and to redecorate the theatre. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety Artistes' Federation
The Variety Artistes' Federation (VAF) was a trade union representing variety performers in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded on 18 February 1906, after discussions between the show business social club and charity the Grand Order of Water Rats (GOWR); the Music Hall Artists Railway Association, which negotiated concessions on rail fares for travelling performers; and the Terriers, another club for variety performers. It was formed in response to grievances by performers that some managers expected them to perform matinées, as well as two evening performances six days a week, without any additional payment, and that some performers were having to make long journeys without notice because of changes to schedules.Roger Wilmut, ''Kindly Leave the Stage: The Story of Variety 1919-1960'', Methuen, 1985, , p.49 Within weeks the union had 4,000 members. It launched a weekly newspaper, ''The Performer'', and in early 1907 staged its first industrial action, which becam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed by Coventry City Council. Historic counties of England, Formerly part of Warwickshire until 1451, Coventry had a population of 345,328 at the 2021 census, making it the tenth largest city in England and the 12th largest in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest city in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, after Birmingham, from which it is separated by an area of Green belt (United Kingdom), green belt known as the Meriden Gap, and the third largest in the wider Midlands after Birmingham and Leicester. The city is part of a larger conurbation known as the Coventry and Bedworth Urban Area, which in 2021 had a population of 389,603. Coventry is east-south-east of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippodrome
The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used in the modern French language and some others, with the meaning of "horse racecourse". Hence, some present-day horse-racing tracks also include the word "hippodrome" in their names, such as the Hippodrome de Vincennes and the Central Moscow Hippodrome. In the English-speaking world the term is occasionally used for theatres. Overview The Greek hippodrome was similar to the Roman version, the circus. (The hippodrome was not a Roman amphitheatre, which was used for spectator sports, executions, and displays, or a Greek or Roman semicircular amphitheater used for theatrical performances.) The Greek hippodrome was usually set out on the slope of a hill, and the ground taken from one side served to form the embankment on the other side. One en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
