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Fiorello!
''Fiorello!'' is a musical about New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia, a reform Republican, which debuted on Broadway in 1959, and tells the story of how La Guardia took on the Tammany Hall political machine. The book is by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, drawn substantially from the 1955 volume ''Life with Fiorello'' by Ernest Cuneo,"Ernest L. Cuneo, 82; Owned Newspaper Service"
''The New York Times'', March 5, 1988. Accessed April 23, 2010.
with lyrics by , and music by . It ...
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Broadhurst Theatre
The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Broadhurst Theatre is named for British-American theatrical producer George Broadhurst, who leased the theater before its opening. It has 1,218 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The neoclassical facade is simple in design and is similar to that of the Schoenfeld (formerly Plymouth) Theatre, which was developed concurrently. The Broadhurst's facade is made of buff-colored brick and terracotta and is divided into two sections: a stage house to the west and the theater's entrance to the east. The entrance is topped by fire-escape galleries and contains a curved corner facing east toward Broadway. The auditorium contains an orchestra l ...
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Sheldon Harnick
Sheldon Mayer Harnick (born April 30, 1924) is an American lyricist and songwriter best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as ''Fiorello!'' and '' Fiddler on the Roof''. Early life Sheldon Mayer Harnick was born to American Jewish parents and grew up in the Chicago neighborhood of Portage Park. Musical career Harnick began writing music while still in Carl Schurz High School in Chicago. After his Army service, he graduated from the Northwestern University School of Music (1946–1949) with a Bachelor of Music degree, and worked with various orchestras in the Chicago area. He then moved to New York City and wrote for many musicals and revues. He was friends with Charlotte Rae from college, and he went to see her one night at the Village Vanguard where she was singing a revue. Yip Harburg, who was one of Harnick's idols, heard she was singing a song of his and decided to come. He told Harnick that he enjoyed his writing, and urged him to co ...
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Howard Da Silva
Howard Da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in more than two dozen television programs, and acted in more than fifty feature films. Adept at both drama and musicals on the stage, he originated the role of Jud Fry in the original 1943 run of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical '' Oklahoma!'', and also portrayed the prosecuting attorney in the 1957 stage production of '' Compulsion''. Da Silva was nominated for a 1960 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in ''Fiorello!'', a musical about New York City mayor LaGuardia. In 1961, Da Silva directed '' Purlie Victorious'', by Ossie Davis. Many of his early feature films were of the noir genre in which he often played villains, such as Eddie Harwood in ''The Blue Dahlia'' and the sadistic Captain Francis Thompson in ' ...
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George Abbott
George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. Early years Abbott was born in Forestville, New York, to George Burwell Abbott (May 1858 Erie County, New York – February 4, 1942 Hamburg, New York) and Hannah May McLaury (1869 – June 20, 1940 Hamburg, New York). He later moved to the city of Salamanca, which twice elected his father mayor. In 1898, his family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he attended Kearney Military Academy. Within a few years, his family returned to New York, and he graduated from Hamburg High School in 1907. In 1911 he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester, Sweeney, Louise"Director George Abbott"''Christian Science Monitor'', January 6, 1983 where he wrote his first play, ''Perfectly Harmless'', for the University Dramatic Club. Abbott then attended Harvard University, to take a ...
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The Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre (formerly Universal's Colony Theatre, B.S. Moss's Broadway Theatre, Earl Carroll's Broadway Theatre, and Ciné Roma) is a Broadway theater at 1681 Broadway (near 53rd Street) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, the theater was designed by Eugene De Rosa for Benjamin S. Moss, who originally operated the venue as a movie theater. It has approximately 1,763 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The Broadway Theatre is one of the few Broadway theaters that is physically on Broadway. The Broadway's facade was originally designed in the Italian Renaissance style and was made of brick and terracotta. The modern facade of the theater is made of polished granite and is part of the office building at 1675 Broadway, completed in 1990. The auditorium contains an orchestra level, one balcony, and box seats. The modern design of the auditorium dates to a 1986 renovation, when Oliver Smith redeco ...
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Jerry Bock
Jerrold Lewis Bock (November 23, 1928November 3, 2010) was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical ''Fiorello!'' and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical '' Fiddler on the Roof'' with Sheldon Harnick. Biography Born in New Haven, Connecticut, and raised in Flushing, Queens, New York, Bock studied the piano as a child. While a student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he wrote the musical ''Big As Life'', which toured the state and enjoyed a run in Chicago. After graduation, he spent three summers at the Tamiment Playhouse in the Poconos and wrote for early television revues with lyricist Larry Holofcener. One of their songs, the three-part "The Story of Alice," was performed by the Chad Mitchell Trio on their ''Blowin' in the Wind'' album of 1962. Career Bock made his Broadway debut in 1955 when he and Lawrence Holofcene ...
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Jerome Weidman
Jerome Weidman (April 4, 1913, New York City – October 6, 1998, New York City) was an American playwright and novelist. He collaborated with George Abbott on the book for the musical ''Fiorello!'' with music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. All received the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. Biography Weidman was born in Manhattan, New York City, and moved with his family to The Bronx after finishing high school at DeWitt Clinton. His parents were Jewish immigrants and his father Joseph worked in the garment trade. He also worked in the garment industry, which later provided him with book material, and attended City College of New York and New York University Law School, all the while writing stories and finally novels.Gussow, MeJerome Weidman Dies at 85; Author of Novels and Plays,"'The New York Times'', October 7, 1998 In his work he wrote about the "rough underside of business and politics -- and daily life -- in New York." ''The Independent'' obituary ...
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Ellen Hanley
Ellen Hanley (May 15, 1926 – February 12, 2007) was a musical theater performer best known for playing Fiorello H. LaGuardia's first wife in the Pulitzer Prize-winning ''Fiorello!''. She was related to the British writers James and Gerald Hanley, and the playwright, novelist, and scriptwriter William Hanley was her brother. Biography Ellen Hanley was born in Lorain, Ohio, one of three children of William Gerald and Anne Rodgers Hanley. William Hanley, Sr. was born in Liverpool, England in 1899, of Irish Catholic immigrants. He was a seaman prior to settling in the US, and then worked as a housepainter. In 1951, Hanley married Ronny Graham, a fellow actor. They adopted two children, Nora and Julian. The couple divorced in 1963. Ellen Hanley made her Broadway debut in '' Annie Get Your Gun'' in 1946 playing the part of Mary. The following year she appeared in ''Barefoot Boy With Cheek'' and won a Theater World award for her performance as Clothilde Pfefferkorn. in the ...
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Peter Gennaro
Peter Gennaro (November 23, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was an American dancer and choreographer. Biography Gennaro was born in Metairie, Louisiana. He made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of ''Make Mine Manhattan'' in 1948. He followed this with ''Kiss Me, Kate'' (1948) and ''Guys and Dolls'' (1950). He first drew notice from theatergoers as a member of the trio that danced the Bob Fosse number "Steam Heat" in ''The Pajama Game'' (1954), and continued to hold their attention with the "Mu Cha Cha" number with Judy Holliday in '' Bells Are Ringing'' (1956). A year later, he broke out of the chorus line and into choreography when he collaborated with Jerome Robbins on ''West Side Story'', notably choreographing (without credit) a majority of the "America" and "Mambo" dance sequences. In addition to his theater chores, Gennaro worked steadily in television, appearing in and/or choreographing such shows as ''Your Hit Parade'', ''The Polly Bergen Show'', Judy Garland's CBS v ...
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Sorrell Booke
Sorrell Booke (January 4, 1930 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He acted in more than 100 plays and 150 television shows, and is best known for his role as corrupt politician Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg in the television show ''The Dukes of Hazzard''. Early life and education Booke was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Sol Booke, a local physician. As a child, he entertained patients in his father's waiting room, and began acting on radio at nine. As a young radio actor he was known for his impersonations. He won a radio contest for mimicking the voice of Adolf Hitler, and appeared regularly as an actor on local radio stations WGR and WEBR. He attended Bennett High School and was valedictorian of the Class of 1946. Booke enrolled in Columbia University at 16, and performed in Shakespearean plays in Columbia's drama club. He graduated from Columbia at 19 in 1949, and received a Master of Fine Arts at the Yale Scho ...
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Fiorello La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945. Known for his irascible, energetic, and charismatic personality and diminutive, rotund stature, La Guardia is acclaimed as one of the greatest mayors in American history. A member of the Republican Party, La Guardia was frequently cross-endorsed by parties other than his own, including the Democratic Party, under New York's electoral fusion laws. He was born to Italian immigrants in New York City. Before serving as mayor, La Guardia represented Manhattan in Congress and on the New York City Board of Aldermen. As mayor, during the Great Depression and World War II, La Guardia unified the city's transit system; expanded construction of public housing, playgrounds, parks, and airports; reorganized the New York Police Dep ...
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Pulitzer Prize For Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were awarded that year."1917 Winners"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
(No Drama prize was given, however, so that one was inaugurated in 1918, in a sense.) It recognizes a theatrical work staged in the U.S. during the preceding calendar year. Until 2007, eligibility for the Drama Prize ran from March 1 to March 2 to reflect the Broadway "season" rather than the calendar year that governed most other Pulitzer Prizes. The drama jury, which consists of one academic and four critics, attends plays in