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Theatrical Superstitions
Theatrical superstitions are superstitions particular to actors or the theatre. ''Macbeth'' William Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth'' is said to be cursed, so actors avoid saying its name when in the theatre (the euphemism "The Scottish Play" is used instead). Actors also avoid even quoting the lines from ''Macbeth'' before performances, particularly the Witches' incantations. Outside a theatre and after a performance, the play can be spoken of openly. If an actor speaks the word "Macbeth", or quotes the play, in a theatre other than in performance, they must perform a ritual to remove the curse. The ritual may vary according to local custom: one is to leave the theatre building or at least the room occupied when the name was mentioned, spin around three times, spit, curse, and then knock to be allowed back in. This particular iteration of the ritual is documented in the play ''The Dresser'' and its film adaptations. One version of this legend claims that it was the actor who pl ...
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Superstition
A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, amulets, astrology, fortune telling, Spirit (animating force), spirits, and certain paranormal wikt: entity, entities, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events. The word ''superstition'' is also used to refer to a religion not practiced by the majority of a given society regardless of whether the prevailing religion contains alleged superstitions or to all religions by the antireligion, antireligious. Contemporary use Definitions of the term vary, but they commonly describe superstitions as irrational beliefs at odds with scientific knowledge of the world. Stuart Vyse proposes that a superstition's "presumed mechanism of action is inc ...
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Manure
Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that are utilised by bacteria, fungi, and other organisms in the soil. Higher organisms then feed on the fungi and bacteria in a chain of life that comprises the soil food web. Types There are in the 21st century three main classes of manures used in soil management: Animal manure Most animal manure consists of feces. Common forms of animal manure include farmyard manure (or farm slurry ( liquid manure). Farmyard manure also contains plant material (often straw), which has been used as bedding for animals and has absorbed the feces and urine. Agricultural manure in liquid form, known as slurry, is produced by more intensive livestock rearing systems where concrete or slats are used instead of straw bedding. M ...
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Belasco Theatre
The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre, it was built in 1907 and designed by architect George Keister for impresario David Belasco. The Belasco Theatre has 1,016 seats across three levels and has been operated by The Shubert Organization since 1948. Both the facade and interior of the theater are New York City landmarks. The main facade on 44th Street is made of red brick in Flemish bond, with terracotta decorative elements. The ground floor contains the entrance, while the upper stories are asymmetrical and topped by a pediment. Belasco and his company had their offices in the western wing of the theater. A ten-room duplex penthouse apartment occupies the top of the eastern wing and contained Belasco's collection of memorabilia. The interior features Tiffany lighting and ceiling p ...
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The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, as an animation studio, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it later operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film ''Steamboat Willie.'' The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon. After becoming a success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation sector, ...
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Olive Thomas
Olive Thomas (born Olive R. Duffy; October 20, 1894 – September 10, 1920) was an American silent-film actress, art model, and photo model. Her birth certificate appears to list her name as Oliva but this is widely thought to be an error. In the 1900 census, she is listed as Olive R. Duffy. Thomas began her career as an illustrator's model in 1914, and moved on to the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' the following year. During her time as a Ziegfeld girl, she also appeared in the more risqué show ''The Midnight Frolic''. In 1916, she began a successful career in silent films and would appear in more than 20 features over the course of her four-year film career. That year, she married actor Jack Pickford, the younger brother of fellow silent-film star Mary Pickford. On September 10, 1920, Thomas died in Paris five days after ingesting mercury bichloride, which brought on acute nephritis. Although her death was ruled accidental, news of her hospitalization and subsequent death were the sub ...
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Ziegfeld Follies
The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air''. Founding and history Inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris, the Ziegfeld Follies were conceived and mounted by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., reportedly at the suggestion of his then-wife, the actress and singer Anna Held. The shows' producers were turn-of-the-twentieth-century producing titans Klaw and Erlanger. The Follies were a series of lavish revues, something between later Broadway shows and the more elaborate high-class vaudeville and variety show. The first follies, '' The Follies of 1907'', was produced that year at the '' Jardin de Paris'' roof theatre. During the Follies era, many of the top entertainers, including W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Josephine Baker, Fanny Brice, Ann Pennington, Bert Williams, Ev ...
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New Amsterdam Theatre
The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 214 West 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. One of the first Broadway venues to open in the Times Square neighborhood, the New Amsterdam was built from 1902 to 1903 to designs by Herts & Tallant. The theater is operated by Disney Theatrical Productions and has 1,702 seats across three levels. Both the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts exterior and the Art Nouveau interior of the building are Lists of New York City landmarks, New York City landmarks, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places. The theater's main entrance is through a 10-story wing facing north on 42nd Street, while the auditorium is in the rear, facing south on 41st Street. The facade on 42nd Street is made of gray limestone and was originally ornamented with sculptural detail; the rest ...
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Samuel Roxy Rothafel
Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel (July 9, 1882 – January 13, 1936) was an American theatrical impresario and entrepreneur. He is noted for developing the lavish presentation of silent films in the deluxe movie palace theaters of the 1910s and 1920s. Life and career Samuel Rothafel (originally Rothapfel, meaning ‘‘Red Apple’’, the modern German spelling is: Rotapfel) was born in Bromberg, Province of Posen, Prussia, Germany, (now Bydgoszcz, Poland), and was the son of Cecelia (née Schwerzens) and Gustav Rothapfel. In 1886, at the age of three, he and his mother boarded the S/S Rugia, sailing from Hamburg to the Port of New York on May 24, 1886.Samuel Rothapfel, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, S/S ''Rugia'', 24 May 1886 In that same year, Rothafel and his parents moved to Stillwater, Minnesota. In 1895 at the age of thirteen, Rothafel moved to New York with his family. He became estranged from his father when he lost interest in his studies and nearly two years after ...
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Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for the Rockettes. Radio City Music Hall was designed by Edward Durell Stone and Donald Deskey in the Art Deco style. Radio City Music Hall was built on a plot of land that was originally intended for a Metropolitan Opera House, although plans for the opera house were canceled in 1929. It opened on December 27, 1932, as part of the construction of Rockefeller Center. The 5,960-seat Music Hall was the larger of two venues built for Rockefeller Center's "Radio City" section, the other being the RKO Roxy Theatre (later the Center Theatre (New York City), Center Theatre); the "Radio City" name came to apply only to Radio City Music Hall. It was largely successful until the 19 ...
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Playbill
''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's Programme (booklet), program. ''Playbill'' was first printed in 1884 for a single theater on 21st Street in New York City. The magazine is now used at nearly every Broadway theatre as well as many Off-Broadway productions. Outside New York City, ''Playbill'' is used at theaters throughout the United States. its Magazine circulation, circulation was 4,073,680. History What is known today as ''Playbill'' started in 1884, when Frank Vance Strauss founded the New York Theatre Program Corporation specializing in printing theater programs. Strauss reimagined the concept of a theater program, making advertisements a standard feature and thus transforming what was then a leaflet into a fully designed magazine. The new format proved popu ...
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In Bocca Al Lupo (idiom)
(; "into the wolf's mouth") is an Italian idiom originally used in opera and theatre to wish a performer good luck prior to a performance. The standard response is (; "may the wolf die") or, more commonly, simply ("may it die"). Equivalent to the English actor's idiom "break a leg", the expression reflects a theatrical superstition in which wishing a person "good luck" is considered bad luck. The expression is commonly used in Italy off stage, as superstitions and customs travel through other professions and then into common use, and it can sometimes be heard outside of Italy. Origin Its use originated with hunters wishing each other to be in dangerous situations. The superstitious use of wishing a negative or dangerous situation as a way of wishing good luck is common in other languages. Indeed, the general image of the wolf in the common language, both in Italy and in the Western culture, is that of a dangerous, hungry and violent creature (e.g. ''wolf in sheep's clot ...
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Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as List of islands of Italy, nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares land borders with France to the west; Switzerland and Austria to the north; Slovenia to the east; and the two enclaves of Vatican City and San Marino. It is the List of European countries by area, tenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering , and the third-most populous member state of the European Union, with nearly 59 million inhabitants. Italy's capital and List of cities in Italy, largest city is Rome; other major cities include Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, and Venice. The history of Italy goes back to numerous List of ancient peoples of Italy, Italic peoples—notably including the ancient Romans, ...
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