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Jane Connell
Jane Sperry Connell (pronounced con-NELL, née Bennett; October 27, 1925 – September 22, 2013) was an American actress and singer. Connell is best known for originating the role of Agnes Gooch in the 1966 stage musical and 1974 film musical versions of '' Auntie Mame''. Early years Connell was born in Berkeley, California, to Louis Wesley and Mary (née Sperry) Bennett. She majored in drama at the University of California, where she met her future husband. Career Connell began her career with her husband Gordon, entertaining in San Francisco night clubs such as '' The Purple Onion'' and the '' Hungry I''. Eventually the couple moved to New York City, where Connell made her Off-Broadway debut in the 1955 revival of ''The Threepenny Opera'', a long-running hit at the Theatre de Lys. In the London production of ''Once Upon a Mattress'', Connell starred as Winifred, the role that Carol Burnett had originated in New York. Her Broadway debut came in the role of Mrs. Peachum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cesar Romero
César Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost 60 years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lover (stereotype), Latin lovers, historical figures in costume dramas, characters in light domestic comedies, and the Joker (comics), Joker on the live action ''Batman (TV series), Batman'' television series of the mid-1960s, which was included in ''TV Guide''s 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. He was the first actor to play the character. Early life César Julio Romero Jr. was born in New York City on February 15, 1907, the son of César Julio Romero Sr. (1872–1951) and María Mantilla (1880–1962). His mother was a concert singer and said to be the biological daughter of Cuban national hero José Martí.Handel, Charles (September 7, 1959)"A Look at TV: Gunther Plans Unusual Shows" ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. Retrieved April 2, 2019.Oliver, Myrna (January 4 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Herman
Gerald Sheldon Herman (July 10, 1931December 26, 2019) was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre. One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyricist for a number of hit musicals, starting in the 1960s, that were characterized by an upbeat and optimistic outlook and what Herman called "the simple, hummable showtune". His shows include '' Hello, Dolly!'' (1964), at one time the longest-running musical in Broadway history, which also produced the hit title song for Louis Armstrong; ''Mame'' (1966), a vehicle for Angela Lansbury; and '' La Cage aux Folles'' (1984), the first hit Broadway musical about a gay couple. In 2009, Herman received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. He was a recipient of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors. Early life Herman was born in Manhattan and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey, the only child of musically inclined, middle-class Jewish par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Full Monty (musical)
''The Full Monty'' is a musical with book by Terrence McNally and score by David Yazbek. In this Americanized musical stage version adapted from the 1997 British film of the same name, six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers, low on both cash and prospects, decide to present a strip act at a local club after seeing their wives' enthusiasm for a touring company of Chippendales. As they prepare for the show, working through their fears, self-consciousness, and anxieties, they overcome their inner demons and find strength in their camaraderie. Plot While relocated to Buffalo, New York, the musical closely follows the film. Act I In depressed Buffalo, New York, the once-successful steel mills have grown brown with rust, rolling equipment has been removed, and the lines are silent. Best friends Jerry Lukowski and Dave Bukatinsky, along with the other unemployed mill workers, collect unemployment checks and ponder their lost lives ("Scrap"). Elsewhere, Dave's wife Georgie and her fri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moon Over Buffalo
''Moon Over Buffalo'' is a 1995 comic play by Ken Ludwig set in Buffalo, New York in 1953. This play marked the return, after a 30-year absence, of Carol Burnett to the Broadway stage. Characters *George Hay, a traveling actor. *Charlotte Hay, George's wife and actress in his company. *Rosalind (Roz), George & Charlotte's daughter, who left the stage to lead a "normal" life. *Howard, a TV weatherman and Rosalind's fiancé. *Paul, stage manager for George's company, and Rosalind's ex-fiancé. *Ethel, Charlotte's nearly-deaf mother. *Richard, a love sick lawyer who is courting Charlotte. *Eileen, an actress in George's company who was George's "one-night stand." Overview ''Moon Over Buffalo'' relies heavily on situation comedy for its humor, as well as some sexual innuendo and a little slapstick. The actor who plays George, in particular, must be able to deliver a highly physical performance; George engages in a mock fencing match with Charlotte, a wrestling match with Howard, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crazy For You (musical)
''Crazy for You'' is a romance (love), romantic comedy musical theatre, musical with a book by Ken Ludwig, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Billed as "The New Gershwin Musical Comedy", it is largely based on the songwriting team's 1930 musical ''Girl Crazy'', but also incorporates songs from several other productions. It won the 1992 Tony Award (Broadway), the 1993 Olivier Award (London), and the 1994 Dora Award (Toronto) for Best Musical. Background Roger Horchow and Elizabeth Williams (producer), Elizabeth Williams had been wanting to produce a new version of ''Girl Crazy''. They engaged Ken Ludwig to write the book, Mike Ockrent to direct, and Susan Stroman to do the choreography, and obtained permission from the Gershwin family. Richard Godwin, and Valerie Gordon were the associate producers. The production soon changed to become a new show, using various Gershwin songs from different times. Six songs from ''Girl Crazy'' were selected: "Bidin' My Time", "C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angela Lansbury
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades were five Tony Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, 18 Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1997, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2000, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2013. Lansbury was born into an upper-middle-class family in central London, the daughter of Irish actress Moyna Macgill and English politician Edgar Lansbury. To escape the Blitz, she moved to the United States in 1940, studying acting in New York City. Proceeding to Hollywood in 1942, she signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Despite being largely seen as a B-list star, she received three Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dear World
''Dear World'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. With its opening, Herman became the first composer-lyricist in history to have three productions running simultaneously on Broadway. It starred Angela Lansbury, who won the Tony Award for Leading Actress in a Musical in 1969 for her performance as the Countess Aurelia. Based on '' The Madwoman of Chaillot'' by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, as adapted by Maurice Valency, the plot follows the eccentric Countess Aurelia and her struggles against the straitlaced authority figures in her life. She and her Chaillot cohort defend their Parisian neighborhood against scheming and corrupt developers. The forces of idealism, love, and poetry win over those of greed, materialism, and science. Productions and background The musical had a notably troubled preview period that included multiple changes to the script and score. Lucia Victor, Gower Champion's assistant an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drat! The Cat!
''Drat! The Cat!'' is a 1965 musical about a well-off Gilded Age catgirl who becomes a jewel thief and captures the heart of the police officer assigned to arrest her. Its Broadway run lasted just eight days. The musical's book and lyrics by Ira Levin with music by Milton Schafer. History Ira Levin got the idea for the show in 1957 and began writing in May 1961. The work was titled ''Cat and Mouse'' during its development until Gunter Grass put out a book of the same name, prompting Levin and crew to change the name. "I didn’t like it then, I don’t like it now," he wrote in 2005. "Several critics didn’t like it either. (More advice for young playwrights: Never use two exclamation points in a title. One, you can get away with; two, no.)" In September 1965 the show debuted at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia for an out-of-town try-out, and it ran for 11 previews. On October 10, the Broadway production at the Martin Beck Theatre, presented by Jerry Adler and Norman R ... [...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#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of Broadway theaters, extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names. Many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also use the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional Theater (structure), theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End theatre, West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Me And My Girl
''Me and My Girl'' is a musical with music by Noel Gay and its original book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined Cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, who learns that he is the 14th heir to the Earl of Hareford. The action is set in Hampshire, and in Mayfair and Lambeth in London. The musical had a successful original run in the West End in 1937, and was turned into a film in 1939, titled ''The Lambeth Walk'', named after one of the show's songs. "The Lambeth Walk" was also the subject of a news story in ''The Times'' of October 1938: "While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances – to The Lambeth Walk." The production also included the song " The Sun Has Got His Hat On". After returning to the West End briefly in 1952, the musical's book received a revision by Stephen Fry with Mike Ockrent in the 1980s. The show was revised again and revived in the West End in 1984, whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a 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 Manhattan. The ceremony is usually held in June. 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. They 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
