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The Committee (improv Group)
The Committee was a San Francisco-based improvisational comedy group founded by Alan Myerson and Jessica Myerson (formerly known as Irene Ryan and Irene Riordan, later known as Latifah Taormina). The Myersons were both alums of The Second City in Chicago. The Committee opened April 10, 1963 at 622 Broadway in a 300-seat Cabaret theater that used to be an indoor bocce ball court in San Francisco's North Beach. Garry Goodrow, Hamilton Camp, Larry Hankin, Kathryn Ish, Scott Beach and Ellsworth Milburn were the cast. Jerry Mander handled the group's PR, and Richard Stahl, who later joined the improv troupe, was its first company manager. Jessica Myerson joined the company in May. Arthur Cantor took the company to Broadway in New York in 1964 for a limited engagement at the Henry Miller Theater. This occasioned a second group to hold the fort in San Francisco. Morgan Upton, Peter Lane, Leigh French, Chris Ross, Howard Hesseman (who was then using the name Don Sturdy), Nancy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th most populous in the United States, with 815,201 residents as of 2021. It covers a land area of , at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City, and the fifth most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. Among the 91 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco was ranked first by per capita income (at $160,749) and sixth by aggregate income as of 2021. Colloquial nicknames for San Francisco include ''SF'', ''San Fran'', ''The '', ''Frisco'', and ''Baghdad by the Bay''. San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are a global center of economic activity and the arts and sciences, spurred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Bowen
Roger Wendell Bowen (May 25, 1932 – February 16, 1996) was an American comedic actor and novelist, best known for his portrayal of Lt. Col. Henry Blake in the 1970 film ''M*A*S*H''. Bowen considered himself a writer who only moonlighted as an actor. He wrote eleven novels (including ''Just Like a Movie'') as well as sketches for Broadway and television. He was also one of the co-founders of Chicago's comedy and acting troupe The Second City. Life and career A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Bowen majored in English at Brown University, then attended graduate school at the University of Chicago. While writing theater reviews for ''The Chicago Maroon'', he was asked to pen material for an improvisational troupe that included Alan Arkin and Mike Nichols. The troupe, Compass Players, evolved into The Second City. Bowen spent most of the 1960s playing "preppie" types on a number of TV & radio commercials. His first film role was 1968's ''Petulia'', but his big movie break came ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Claude Van Itallie
Jean-Claude van Itallie (May 25, 1936 – September 9, 2021) was a Belgian-born American playwright, performer, and theatre workshop teacher. He is best known for his 1966 anti-Vietnam War play ''America Hurrah;'' ''The Serpent'', an ensemble play he wrote with Joseph Chaikin's Open Theatre; his theatrical adaptation of the ''Tibetan Book of the Dead''; and his translations of Anton Chekhov's plays. Early life and education Van Itallie was born in Brussels, Belgium on May 25, 1936, to Hugo Ferdinand van Itallie (an investment banker) and Marthe Mathilde Caroline Levy van Itallie. His family was Jewish. In 1940, when the Nazis invaded Brussels, he fled with his family to France, where they received visas to Portugal from the Portuguese consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes. They stayed in Estoril, at the Pensão Royal, between 8 July and 28 September 1940. On the same day, they boarded the ''S.S. Hakozaki Maru'' headed for New York City, arriving on 10 October. Van Itallie grew up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
America Hurrah
''America Hurrah'' is a satirical play by Jean-Claude van Itallie, which premiered at the Pocket Theatre in New York City on November 7, 1966. Directed by Jacques Levy and Joseph Chaikin, the play was an early expression of the burgeoning 1960s counterculture, expressing discontent with American consumerism and involvement in the Vietnam War. ''America Hurrah'' consists of three one-act plays: "Interview"; "TV"; and "Motel". Production history New York City Two of the one-acts were first presented at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1964 and 1965. ''Interview'' was directed by Peter Feldman, and ''Motel'' was directed by Michael Kahn. ''Interview'' had begun as an exercise at Chaikin's Open Theater. When the trilogy premiered in 1966, ''Interview'' was directed by Chaikin, and ''TV'' and ''Motel'' were directed by Levy. Stephanie Sills produced the trilogy, and incidental music was composed by Marianne de Pury and Fred Cantor. Ken Glickfeld was the stage manager, techn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara Garson
Barbara Garson (born July 7, 1941, Brooklyn) is an American playwright, author and social activist, perhaps best known for the play '' MacBird!'' Education and personal life Garson attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a B.A. specializing in Classical History in 1964. She was active in the Free Speech Movement, as the editor of ''The Free Speech Movement Newsletter'', which was printed on an offset press that she herself had restored. She was one of 800 arrested on December 2, 1964 at a sit-in at Sproul Hall, Berkeley, following the "Machine Speech" by Mario Savio. In 1968, Garson had a child, Juliet, and in 1969 she went to work at The Shelter Half, an anti-war GI coffee house near Fort Lewis Army base in Tacoma, Washington. In the early 1970s, she moved to Manhattan, publishing short, humorous essays and theater reviews primarily for ''The Village Voice'' as well as plays. ''MacBird!'' Garson's most famous work, '' MacBird!'', a 1966 counterc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MacBird!
''MacBird!'' is a 1966 satire by Barbara Garson. It was self-published ('Grassy Knoll Press') as a pamphlet, and the full text appeared in the December, 1966 issue of ''Ramparts'' magazine. It was staged in February, 1967. The play superimposes the John F. Kennedy assassination onto the plot of Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''. Plot The play burlesques Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'', with lines drawn from other plays such as ''Hamlet'', and ''Richard III'', with Texas and Boston accents. The plot follows MacBird from the 1960 Democratic National Convention, when he becomes John Ken O'Dunc's Vice President ("Hail, Vice-President thou art!"), to Ken O'Dunc's assassination, at the urging of Lady MacBird. Robert Ken O'Dunc then defeats MacBird at the 1968 convention. In the play, Kennedy becomes "John Ken O'Dunc", Lyndon Johnson becomes "MacBird", Lady Bird Johnson becomes "Lady MacBird", etc. As Macbeth assassinates Duncan, so MacBird assassinates Ken O'Dunc. As Macbeth is defeated by Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porklips Now
''Porklips Now'' is a short, low budget parody film, made in 1980 by the American director Ernie Fosselius, based on the 1979 motion picture ''Apocalypse Now''. It chronicles the journey of Dullard (played by William "Billy" Gray, most famous as "Bud" in the ''Father Knows Best'' TV series), a gardener and handyman, sent to Chinatown by two butchers to meet a business rival, Fred "Madman" Mertz, and "take care of business". The film cleverly and humorously incorporates references to signature elements of the film on which it is based, albeit in a somewhat conspicuously low-budget manner. Echoing a widely held if erroneous belief about ''Apocalypse Now'', the film features several alternate endings. The film was included on the compilation VHS release '' Hardware Wars, and Other Film Farces'' from Warner Home Video and is currently available on VHS and DVD from Pyramid Direct Films. Complete credited cast * Billy Gray – Dullard (credited as William Gray) * Ernie Fosseliu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steelyard Blues
''Steelyard Blues'' is a 1973 American comedy crime film directed by Alan Myerson and starring Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda and Peter Boyle. Plot A group of misfits tries to find a happier life against the norms of society. Donald Sutherland plays an ex-con with a passion for demolition derbies. He has wrecked almost every possible car. He violates his parole when confronted by a 1950 Studebaker. This embarrasses his brother, a politically ambitious district attorney played by Howard Hesseman in an unlikely respectable role. Jane Fonda plays a prostitute engaging in an off-again/on-again relationship with Sutherland's character. The plot hilariously thickens when this gang of merry misfits tries to repair an old Consolidated PBY Catalina airplane, and get it flying again. Cast * Mel Stewart – Black Man in Jail *Donald Sutherland – Jesse Veldini *Howard Hesseman – Frank Veldini *Morgan Upton – Police Capt. Bill *Peter Boyle – Eagle Thornberry * Jessica Myerson – Sava ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky, written by Mazursky and Larry Tucker, who also produced the film, and starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, and Dyan Cannon. The original music score was composed by Quincy Jones. The cinematography for the film was by Charles Lang. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including ones for Gould and Cannon. Patricia Welles wrote the paperback novel from Mazursky and Tucker's screenplay. Plot After a weekend of emotional honesty at an Esalen-style retreat, Los Angeles sophisticates Bob and Carol Sanders return home determined to embrace complete openness. They share their enthusiasm and excitement over their new-found philosophy with their more conservative friends Ted and Alice Henderson, who remain doubtful. Soon after, filmmaker Bob has an affair with a young production assistant on a film shoot in San Francisco. When he returns home, he admits his liaison ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
More American Graffiti
''More American Graffiti'' is a 1979 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Bill L. Norton, produced by Howard Kazanjian. It is the sequel to the 1973 film ''American Graffiti''. Whereas the first film followed a group of friends during the summer evening before they set off for college, this film shows where they end up a few years later on New Years Eve. Most of the main cast members from the first film returned for the sequel, including Candy Clark, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Bo Hopkins, and Harrison Ford. Richard Dreyfuss was the only principal cast member from the original film not to appear in the sequel. It was the final live-action theatrical film in which Ron Howard would play a credited, named character. Plot The film, set over the course of four consecutive New Year's Eves from 1964 to 1967, depicts scenes from each of these years, intertwined with one another as though events happen simulta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Graffiti
''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny Howard), Paul Le Mat, Harrison Ford, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Bo Hopkins, and Wolfman Jack. Suzanne Somers, Kathleen Quinlan, Debralee Scott, and Joe Spano also appear in the film. The film is the first movie to be produced by George Lucas's company Lucasfilm. Set in Modesto, California, in 1962, the film is a study of the cruising and early rock 'n' roll cultures popular among Lucas's age group at the time. Through a series of vignettes, it tells the story of a group of teenagers and their adventures over the course of a night. While Lucas was working on his first film, '' THX 1138'', Coppola asked him to write a coming-of-age film. The genesis of ''American Graffiti'' took place in Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catch-22 (film)
''Catch-22'' is a 1970 American satirical black comedy war film adapted from the 1961 novel of the same name by Joseph Heller. In creating a black comedy revolving around the "lunatic characters" of Heller's satirical anti-war novel set at a fictional Mediterranean base during World War II, director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry (also in the cast) worked on the film script for two years, converting Heller's complex novel to the medium of film. The cast included Alan Arkin, Bob Balaban, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Italian actress Olimpia Carlisi, French comedian Marcel Dalio, Art Garfunkel (his acting debut), Jack Gilford, Charles Grodin, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Austin Pendleton, Paula Prentiss, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight, and Orson Welles. Plot Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Force B-25 bombardier, is stationed on the Mediterranean base on Pianosa during World War II. Along with his squadron members, Yossarian is committed to flying danger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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