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Russ Abbot
Russell Allan Abbot (born Russell Allan Roberts; 18 September 1947) is an English musician, actor and comedian. Born in Chester, he first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, later forging a prominent solo career as a television comedian with his own weekly show on British television. Continuing his musical career as a solo artist, Abbot released several charting singles and albums. His career has continued with a shift into more mainstream serious acting in television shows, series, and stage productions. Career As a drummer/backing singer, Abbot joined the Black Abbots (founded by Robert Turner) in Chester during the mid-1960s and they released several singles to modest chart success on minor labels in the early 1970s. The band only signed their first major recording contract in 1977, putting out a series of comedy singles and one live album (Abbot now taking lead vocals) before disbanding in 1980. Su ...
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The Russ Abbot Show
''The Russ Abbot Show'' is a British television sketch comedy series which in 1980 onwards stars Russ Abbot and ran for 17 years on television before moving over to Radio 2 for a further five years. History The series originated as ''The Freddie Starr Variety Madhouse''; with Russ Abbot, Mike Newman, Toni Palmer, Norman Collier and Bella Emberg. After one series in 1979, Freddie Starr left and the show was repackaged as ''Russ Abbot's Madhouse'' premiering on 12 April 1980, with Liz Smith, Dustin Gee, Nicky Croydon and Billy Hartman joining the cast. From the 1981 series there was a major cast upheaval, with many of the cast being replaced, with the new lineup being Dustin Gee, Bella Emberg, Susie Blake, Sherrie Hewson, Jeffrey Holland, Patti Gold, and Michael Barrymore. Les Dennis joined in Series 3 and Michael Barrymore left in Series 4. In 1986 the series was transferred over to the BBC, where it was renamed ''The Russ Abbot Show'', and featured Dennis, Emberg, Hewson ...
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Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the built up area had a population of 65,430. The town was originally established on the River Mersey at the entrance to the Ellesmere Canal. As well as a service sector economy, it has retained large industries including Stanlow Refinery, Stanlow oil refinery, a chemical works and the Vauxhall Motors car factory. There are also a number of tourist attractions including the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, National Waterways Museum, the Blue Planet Aquarium and Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet. History The town of Ellesmere Port was founded at the outlet of the never-completed Ellesmere Canal, named after the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire. The canal (now renamed) was designed and engineered by Wil ...
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Roger De Bris
The following are fictional characters from the 1967 film '' The Producers'', the Broadway musical based on it, and the 2005 film adaptation of the musical. Leopold "Leo" Bloom Leopold "Leo" Bloom is a timid and mild-mannered accountant, prone to panic attacks and who keeps a fragment of his childhood blue blanket in his pocket to calm himself. Towards the end of the film, when Leo tries to turn himself in and use his accountant books as evidence, Max stops Leo on the way out the door and steals Leo's books, causing Leo to lose his temper and attack Max in a fit of rage, demanding the books back and repeatedly calling him "fat fatty." Nevertheless, it is Leo who first comes up with the idea of how to make money from a failed play. The character is named after the protagonist in James Joyce's '' Ulysses'', Leopold Bloom. Wilder's costar Zero Mostel had portrayed Joyce's Bloom on stage in the play ''Ulysses in Nighttown''. Maximilian "Max" Bialystock Maximilian "Max" Bialyst ...
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Oliver!
''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the West End, where it enjoyed a record-breaking long run. ''Oliver!'' ran on Broadway, after being brought to the U.S. by producer David Merrick in 1963. Major London revivals played from 1977 to 1980, 1994 to 1998, 2008 to 2011 and on tour in the UK from 2011 to 2013. Additionally, its 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, won six Academy Awards including Best Picture. ''Oliver!'' received thousands of performances in British schools, becoming one of the most popular school musicals. In 1963 Lionel Bart received the Tony Award for Best Original Score. Many songs are well known to the public, such as " Food, Glorious Food", " Consider Yourself" and " I'd Do Anything". Background ''Oliver!'' was the first musical adaptation of a ...
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Fagin
Fagin () is the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a " receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates among them) whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing and other criminal activities, in exchange for shelter. A distinguishing trait is his constant and insincere use of the phrase "my dear" when addressing others. At the time of the novel, he is said by another character, Monks, to have already made criminals out of "scores" of children. Nancy, who is the lover of Bill Sikes (the novel's lead villain), is confirmed to be Fagin's former pupil. Fagin is a confessed miser who, despite the wealth that he has acquired, does very little to improve the squalid lives of the children he guards, or his own. In the second chapter of his appearance, it is shown (when talking to himself) that he cares less for their welfare, than that t ...
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London Palladium
The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many with televised performances. Between 1955 and 1969 '' Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' was staged at the venue, produced for the ITV network. The show included a performance by the Beatles on 13 October 1963; one newspaper's headlines in the following days coined the term " Beatlemania" to describe the hysterical interest in the band. While the theatre hosts resident shows, it is also able to host one-off performances, such as concerts, TV specials and Christmas pantomimes. It has hosted the Royal Variety Performance 43 times, most recently in 2019. Architecture Walter Gibbons, an early moving-pictures manager, intended for the Palladium, in 1910, to compete with Sir Edward Moss's London Hippodrome and Sir Oswald Stoll's London ...
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical)
''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a musical with music and lyrics written by Richard and Robert Sherman and a book by Jeremy Sams. It is based on the 1968 film of the same name with screenplay by Roald Dahl, Ken Hughes, and Richard Maibaum. The 1968 film was based in turn on the book of the same name by Ian Fleming. The musical's world premiere was staged the London Palladium on April 16, 2002, directed by Adrian Noble before the show opened on Broadway in 2005. Synopsis ;Act One The junkyard manager Coggins recounts the last race of the British champion race car, the Paragon Panther, which was contested against the Vulgarian Vulture in the 1910 British Grand Prix, but the Panther crashed after Vulgarian spies sabotaged it. ("Opening") Years later, the Panther sits in a junkyard, forgotten by all save the young siblings Jeremy and Jemima Potts, who are enamored with Coggins' tales and the car's history. They are shocked when Coggins tells them he plans to scrap it, but he pro ...
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The Rocky Horror Show
''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 1930s to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and coming to the home of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr Frank-N-Furter, unveiling his new creation, Rocky, a sort of Frankenstein's monster, Frankenstein-style monster in the form of an artificially made, fully grown, physically perfect Strongman (strength athlete), muscle man complete "with blond hair and a tan". The show was produced and directed by Jim Sharman. The original London production of the musical was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre (Upstairs) on 19 June 1973 (after two previews on 16 and 18 June 1973). It later moved to several other locations in London and closed on 13 September 1980. The show ran for a total of 2,96 ...
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Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drury Lane. The present building, opened in 1812, is the most recent of four theatres that stood at the location since 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. According to the author Peter Thomson, for its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre". For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of Legitimate theater, "legitimate" drama English drama, in London (meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music). The first theatre on the site was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early 1660s, when theatres were allowed to reopen during the Stuart Rest ...
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Amy Nuttall
Amy Abigail Nuttall (born 7 June 1982) is an English actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Chloe Atkinson in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' (2000–2005), housemaid Ethel Parks in the ITV/ PBS period drama ''Downton Abbey'' (2011–2012), and "Little" Jane Butterfield in '' Beetlejuice Beetlejuice''. Early life Nuttall was born in Blackburn, Lancashire. She was educated at Bury Grammar School for Girls and trained at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. She performed with the National Youth Music Theatre, notably playing the lead role of Princess Ismene in ''Aurelius'' at the Tyne Opera House, Newcastle and the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh in August 1997. Career Nuttall is credited as the youngest actress to understudy and play the lead role of Christine in '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (at age 17) (National Tour), she has sung at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Old Trafford and won an edition of ''Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes'' as S ...
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My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film adaptation of the play, concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. Despite his cynical nature and difficulty understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her. The musical's 1956 Broadway theater, Broadway production was a notable critical and popular success, winning six Tony Awards, including Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Musical. It set a record for the Long-running musical theatre productions, longest run of any musical on Broadway up to that time and was followed by a hit London production. Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews starred in both productions. Many revivals have followed, and the 1964 My Fair Lady (film), film version ...
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The Krankies
The Krankies are a Scottish comedy duo who enjoyed success as a cabaret act in the 1970s and on television in the 1980s, featuring in their own television shows and making pop records. Since this period, they have also regularly appeared in pantomime. The duo comprises Janette Tough (née Anderson) and her husband Ian. As the Krankies they portray schoolboy Wee Jimmy Krankie (Janette), and paternal figure Ian Krankie (Ian), though in their comedy act they also portray other characters. Beginning in the 1990s, they regularly appeared as the Krankies in episodes of the BBC comedy series '' French and Saunders''. Wee Jimmy Krankie often used the catchphrase exclamation " Fandabidozi!" Biographies Janette Anderson was born on 16 May 1947 in Queenzieburn, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, and Ian Tough on 26 March 1947 in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire. The two met in 1966, and were married in 1969. Career The Krankies began their career as a comedy duo performing as various characters and w ...
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