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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, based on a book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley Middle School. Six quirky adolescents compete in the Bee, run by three equally quirky grown-ups. The 2005 Broadway production, directed by James Lapine and produced by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, Barrington Stage Company and Second Stage Theater, earned good reviews and box-office success and was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning two, including Best Book. The show has spawned various other productions in the United States, and other countries. An unusual aspect of the show is that four real audience members are invited on stage to compete in the spelling bee alongside the six young characters. During the 2005 Tony Awards, former presid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Finn
William Alan Finn (born February 28, 1952) is an American composer and lyricist. He is best known for his musicals, which include '' Falsettos'', for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical, ''A New Brain'' (1998), and '' The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' (2005). Early life Finn was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He is Jewish, raised in conservative Judaism, Hoffman, Wayne'' Tablet (magazine), Tablet'' October 26, 2016 and grew up in Natick, Massachusetts, with his parents and siblings, Michael and Nancy. He attended the Temple Israel in Natick, where his Rabbi was Harold Kushner. In Hebrew School, Finn wrote his first play, saying, "I don't think I ever told anyone this: The first play I ever wrote was in Hebrew. I have no idea what it was about. But it was horrible, I guarantee it. I couldn't write plays, and I couldn't really speak Hebrew, so how good could it be?" While attending Natick High School, Finn competed with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spelling Bee
A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty. To compete, contestants must memorize the spellings of words as written in dictionaries, and recite them accordingly. The concept is thought to have originated in the United States, and spelling bee events, along with variants, are now also held in some other countries around the world. Etymology Historically the word ''bee'' has been used to describe a get-together for communal work, like a husking bee, a quilting bee, or an apple bee. According to etymological research recorded in dictionaries, the word ''bee'' probably comes from dialectal ''been'' or ''bean'' (meaning "help given by neighbors"), which came from Middle English ''bene'' (meaning "prayer", "boon" and "extra service by a tenant to his lord"). History The earliest known evidence of the phrase ''spelling bee'' in print dates back to 1850, although an earlier name, ''sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the music industry worldwide. It was originally called the Gramophone Awards, as the trophy depicts a gilded gramophone. The Grammys are the first of the Big Three networks' major music awards held annually, and is considered one of the four major annual American entertainment awards, alongside the Academy Awards (for films), the Emmy Awards (for television), and the Tony Awards (for theater). The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, to honor the musical accomplishments of performers for the year 1958. After the 2011 ceremony, the Recording Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. History The Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sh-K-Boom Records
Sh-K-Boom Records is an independent record label and producer of recorded and live entertainment, which was founded in 2000 by Kurt Deutsch with the mission of bridging the gap between pop music and theater. In 2004 Sh-K-Boom created their second imprint, Ghostlight Records, dedicated to the preservation of traditional musical theater, spurred by the popular release of their first-ever show cast recording, Jason Robert Brown's ''The Last Five Years''. Together the two labels have over 200 albums in their catalogues. The company has also produced over 50 live concerts as part of their Sh-K-Boom Room Concert Series, and are currently developing new and innovative projects for the stage and screen. Sh-K-Boom & Ghostlight Records are twelve-time Grammy Award nominees and four-time Grammy winners in the Best Musical Theater Album category for ''In the Heights'', ''The Book of Mormon'' and '' Beautiful: The Carole King Musical''. Ghostlight's ''Book of Mormon'' album was the first Broa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghostlight Records
Sh-K-Boom Records is an independent record label and producer of recorded and live entertainment, which was founded in 2000 by Kurt Deutsch with the mission of bridging the gap between pop music and theater. In 2004 Sh-K-Boom created their second imprint, Ghostlight Records, dedicated to the preservation of traditional musical theater, spurred by the popular release of their first-ever show cast recording, Jason Robert Brown's ''The Last Five Years''. Together the two labels have over 200 albums in their catalogues. The company has also produced over 50 live concerts as part of their Sh-K-Boom Room Concert Series, and are currently developing new and innovative projects for the stage and screen. Sh-K-Boom & Ghostlight Records are twelve-time Grammy Award nominees and four-time Grammy winners in the Best Musical Theater Album category for ''In the Heights'', '' The Book of Mormon'' and '' Beautiful: The Carole King Musical''. Ghostlight's ''Book of Mormon'' album was the first Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cast Album
A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the show's original cast. A cast recording featuring the first cast to perform a musical in a particular venue is known, for example, as an "original Broadway cast recording" (OBCR) or an "original London cast recording" (OLCR). Cast recordings are (usually) studio recordings rather than live recordings. The recorded song lyrics and orchestrations are nonetheless identical (or very similar) to those of the songs as performed in the theatre. Like any studio performance, the recording is an idealized rendering, more glossily perfect than any live performance could be, and without audible audience reaction. Nevertheless, the listener who has attended the live show expects it to be an accurate souvenir of the experience. History The British were the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Improvisational Theatre
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, action, story, and characters are created collaboratively by the players as the improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already prepared, written script. Improvisational theatre exists in performance as a range of styles of improvisational comedy as well as some non-comedic theatrical performances. It is sometimes used in film and television, both to develop characters and scripts and occasionally as part of the final product. Improvisational techniques are often used extensively in drama programs to train actors for stage, film, and television and can be an important part of the rehearsal process. However, the skills and processes of improvisation are also used outside the context of performing arts. This practice, known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election. He hosts his own radio talk show, '' Keepin' It Real'', and he makes frequent appearances on cable news television. In 2011, he was named the host of MSNBC's '' PoliticsNation'', a nightly talk show. In 2015, the program was shifted to Sunday mornings. In October 2020, ''PoliticsNation'' was rescheduled to Saturdays and Sundays, airing at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time both days. Early life Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, to Ada (née Richards) and Alfred Charles Sharpton Sr. The family has some Cherokee roots. He preached his first sermon at the age of four and toured with gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. In 1963, Sharpton's fat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Awards
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Midtown Manhattan. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for regional theatre. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards were founded by theatre producer and director Brock Pemberton and are named after Antoinette "Tony" Perry, an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. The trophy consists of a spinnable medallion, with faces portraying an adaptation of the comedy and tragedy masks, mounted on a black base with a pewter swivel. The rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art. Some events invite overt audience participation and others allow only modest clapping and criticism and reception. Media audience studies have become a recognized part of the curriculum. Audience theory offers scholarly insight into audiences in general. These insights shape our knowledge of just how audiences affect and are affected by different forms of art. The biggest art form is the mass media. Films, video games, radio shows, software (and hardware), and other formats are affected by the audience and its reviews and recommendations. In the age of easy internet participation and citizen journalism, professional creators share space, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Midtown Manhattan. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for regional theatre. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards were founded by theatre producer and director Brock Pemberton and are named after Antoinette "Tony" Perry, an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. The trophy consists of a spinnable medallion, with faces portraying an adaptation of the comedy and tragedy masks, mounted on a black base with a pewter swivel. The rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara Whitman
Barbara Whitman is an American theatrical producer. She won a Tony Award for Best Musical for producing ''A Strange Loop'' (2022). Biography Whitman is the daughter of investment advisor Martin J. Whitman, namesake of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. She has two brothers: James Whitman, a professor at Yale Law School, and Thomas Whitman, a professor of music at Swarthmore College. Her aunt is judge Phyllis W. Beck, who served on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and was married to the University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Aaron Beck. Her cousin is psychologist Judith S. Beck, who co-founded the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Whitman attended the Dalton School and graduated from the Elizabeth Seeger School. She attended Bennington College and graduated from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 1988 and received an MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts in 2005. Whitman is a former t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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