Dandy Dick (play)
''Dandy Dick'' is a three-act farce by Arthur Wing Pinero, first performed in London in 1887. It depicts the complications arising when a respectable clergyman is persuaded to bet on a horse race to subsidise building works on his church. The play has been revived several times and has been adapted for the cinema, radio and television. Background and first production In 1883 the actors Arthur Cecil and John Clayton took over the management of the Court Theatre in London. After an uncertain start, with a succession of unprofitable productions, they commissioned Arthur Wing Pinero to write a farce, '' The Magistrate'' (1885). It was a considerable success, running for 363 performances, and its successor at the Court, Pinero's ''The Schoolmistress'' (1886), also ran well.Dawick, p. 406 Cecil and Clayton commissioned a third farce from the author. This, ''Dandy Dick'', opened at the Court on 27 January 1887 and ran for 171 performances there, transferring to Toole's Theatre in July, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Nigel Playfair
Sir Nigel Ross Playfair (1 July 1874 – 19 August 1934) was an English actor and director, known particularly as actor-manager of the Lyric Hammersmith, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in the 1920s. After acting as an amateur while practising as a lawyer, he turned professional in 1902 when he was 28. After a time in Frank Benson (actor), F. R. Benson's company he made steady professional progress as an actor, but the major change in his career came in 1918, when he became managing director of the Lyric, a run-down theatre on the fringe of central London. He transformed the theatre's fortunes, with a mix of popular musical shows and classic comedies, some in radically innovative productions, which divided opinion at the time but which have subsequently been seen as introducing a modern style of staging. Life Family background Playfair was born in the parish of St George Hanover Square, Westminster, on 1 July 1874, the younger son of the five children of the obstetric physician W ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Richmond, London
Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commission for England defines it as being in South London or the South Thames sub-region, pairing it with Kingston upon Thames for the purposes of devising constituencies. However, for the purposes of the London Plan, Richmond now lies within the West London region. west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is on a meander of the River Thames, with many parks and open spaces, including Richmond Park, and many protected conservation areas, which include much of Richmond Hill. A specific Act of Parliament protects the scenic view of the River Thames from Richmond. Richmond was founded following Henry VII's building of Richmond Palace in the 16th century, from which the town derives its name. (The palace itself was named after Henry's earldom of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
West End Theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Famous screen actors, British and international alike, frequently appear on the London stage. There are a total of 39 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre – built as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan – was entirely lit by electricity in 1881. Opening in October 2022, @sohoplace is the first new West End theatre in 50 years. The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Patricia Hodge
Patricia Ann Hodge, OBE (born 29 September 1946) is an English actor. She is known on-screen for playing Phyllida Erskine-Brown in ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' (1978–1992), Jemima Shore in ''Jemima Shore Investigates'' (1983), Penny in '' Miranda'' (2009–2015) and Mrs Pumphrey in '' All Creatures Great and Small'' (2021–present). Hodge made her West End debut in 1972 and the next year starred in the West End production of '' Pippin'' directed by Bob Fosse. Hodge has received two nominations for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and in 2000, she won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the play ''Money''. Her other screen credits include the 1983 film '' Betrayal'', the 1986 TV adaptation of '' The Life and Loves of a She-Devil'', and the TV film '' Hotel du Lac'' (1986). For her role in ''Hotel du Lac'', Hodge received a nomination for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. Early life Hodge was born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Nicholas Le Prevost
Nicholas Le Prevost (born 18 March 1947) is an English actor. Early life Le Prevost was born in Wiltshire. He was educated at Shaftesbury Grammar School, Shaftesbury, Dorset from 1957 to 1961 and at Kingswood School, Bath from 1961 to 1964. At school, he studied Ecclesiastical Architecture, and has said that, had he not become an actor, he would have liked to be an architect. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Acting career His TV and radio credits include ''Coronation Street'', '' The Imitation Game'', '' It Takes a Worried Man'', '' The Jewel in the Crown'', '' HR'', '' Brideshead Revisited'', '' The Camomile Lawn'', ''Harnessing Peacocks'', ''Babblewick Hall'', '' The Ghosts of Motley Hall'', '' Up the Garden Path'', '' The Marlowe Inquest'', '' Inspector Morse'', ''Midsomer Murders'', '' Foyle's War'', '' Agatha Christie's Poirot'', '' The Vicar of Dibley'' and '' A Man for All Seasons''. He was nominated for a 2002, Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, '' The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith'', was an early success at the theatre. In its early years, the Garrick appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama. The theatre later became associated with comedies, including '' No Sex Please, We're British'', which played for four years from 1982 to 1986. History There was previously another theatre that was sometimes called the Garrick in London, in Leman Street, opened in 1831 and demolished in 1881.Allingham, Philip V"Theatres in Victorian London" The Victorian Web, 29 November 2015 The new Garrick Theatre was financed in 1889 by the playwright W. S. Gilbert, the author of over 75 plays, including the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. It was designed by Walter Emden, with C. J ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Chichester Festival
Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. The smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989. The inaugural Artistic Director was Sir Laurence Olivier, and it was at Chichester that the first National Theatre company was formed. Chichester's productions would transfer to the NT's base at the Old Vic in London. The opening productions in 1962 were: '' The Chances'' by John Fletcher (first production 1638) which opened on 3 July; '' The Broken Heart'' (1633), by John Ford, opened 9 July; ''Uncle Vanya'' (1896), by Anton Chekov, opened 16 July. Among the actors in the opening season were: Lewis Casson, Fay Compton, Joan Greenwood, Rosemary Harris, Kathleen Harrison, Keith Michell, André Morell, John Neville, Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Michael R ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Patricia Routledge
Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge, (; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress, singer and broadcaster. For her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom '' Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance in 1992 and 1993. Her film appearances include ''To Sir, with Love'' (1967) and ''Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River'' (1968). Routledge made her professional stage debut at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1952 and her Broadway debut in ''How's the World Treating You'' in 1966. She won the 1968 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in '' Darling of the Day'', and the 1988 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for ''Candide''. On television, Routledge came to prominence during the 1980s in monologues written by Alan Bennett and Victoria Wood; appearing in Bennett's ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1982), as Kitty in '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'' (1985–1986), and being ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Alistair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his death in 1976. Starting in 1935, he also appeared in more than fifty British films, including an iconic adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novella '' A Christmas Carol'', released in 1951 as ''Scrooge'' in Great Britain and as ''A Christmas Carol'' in the United States. Though an accomplished dramatic actor, he is often remembered for his comically sinister performances. After a series of false starts, including a spell as a jobbing labourer and another as a clerk in a local government office, Sim's love of and talent for poetry reading won him several prizes and led to his appointment as a lecturer in elocution at the University of Edinburgh in 1925. He also ran his own private elocution and drama school, from which, with the help of the p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sonia Dresdel
Sonia Dresdel (5 May 1909 – 18 January 1976) was an English actress, whose career ran between the 1940s and 1970s. Life She was born Lois Obee in Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, and was educated at Aberdeen High School for Girls and RADA. Career Her performance in the lead role of Ibsen's ''Hedda Gabler'' at the Westminster Theatre in 1942 "was legendary. It was the performance on which her reputation was founded. James Agate was ecstatic..."N. de J., 'Obituary: Sonia Dresdel', ''The Guardian'', 19 January 1976 For a decade Dresdel was regarded as one of England's foremost stage actresses. Her leading role in the 1947 film ''While I Live'' also gained her a great deal of acclaim. In the film she plays Julia Trevelyan, a spinster living in a lonely cliff top house in Cornwall and haunted by the death of her sister 25 years earlier. Her best remembered role is as Mrs. Baines in the film version of Graham Greene's '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), which starred Ralph Ri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Robert Eddison
Robert Leadam Eddison, OBE (10 June 1908 – 14 December 1991) was an English actor, who despite his lengthy career as a classical stage actor, is probably most widely remembered in the role of the Grail Knight in '' Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''. He also played Merlin in the BBC television series '' The Legend of King Arthur'', and the tragic ferryman in '' The Storyteller'' episode "The Luck Child". Eddison was an award-winning actor, known for his mellifluously resonant, baritone voice and long, lean 6' 3" figure. Throughout his 60-year career he was constantly in demand as an actor and worked with many of Britain's greatest stage actors, often during the early formative years of their careers including Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Maggie Smith. Early life Eddison was born in Yokohama, Japan, to Edwin Eddison and Hilda Muriel Leadham. He had a twin brother, Talbot Leadam Eddison, who later became a Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy and received the Distinguished Servi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |