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Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916. It was designed to seat 759 patrons on three levels; later refurbishment increased this to four seating levels. The theatre was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in September 1960. History Wyndham had always dreamed of building a theatre of his own, and through the admiration of a patron and the financial confidence of friends, he was able to realise his dream. Wyndham's Theatre opened on 16 November 1899, in the presence of the Prince of Wales. The first play performed there was a revival of T. W. Robertson's ''David Garrick''. A number of successes followed, including Lena Ashwell playing the lead role in '' Mrs Dane's Defence'' in 1900, upon which Wyndham said that “''the a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (1969); Olenna Tyrell in ''Game of Thrones'' (2013–2017); and the title role in ''Medea'' in the West End in 1993 followed by Broadway a year later. Rigg made her professional stage debut in 1957 in ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959. She made her Broadway debut in ''Abelard & Heloise'' in 1971. Her role as Emma Peel made her a sex symbol. For her role in ''Medea'', both in London and New York, she won the 1994 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She was made a CBE in 1988 and a Dame in 1994 for services to drama. Rigg appeared in numerous TV series and films, playing Helena in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1968); Lady Holiday in ''The Great Muppet Cape ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lena Ashwell
Lena Margaret Ashwell, Lady Simson ( Pocock; 28 September 1872 – 13 March 1957) was a British actress and theatre manager and producer, known as the first to organise large-scale entertainment for troops at the front, which she did during World War I. After the war she created the Lena Ashwell Players. Biography She was born Lena Margaret Pocock' on the '' Wellesley'' while anchored in the River Tyne at North Shields, at the time under her father's 'command' as a home for “boys 'unconvicted of crime' but under suspicion”. Ashwell's father was Commander Charles Ashwell Boteler Pocock, Royal Navy (March 1829–February 1899), a nephew of Nicholas Pocock, and her mother was Sarah Margaret Stevens (December 1839–May 1887), who died as a result of an accident in Canada. Lena, the second youngest of seven siblings, had two brothers and four sisters. One of her siblings died as a child while the family was in New Zealand. She grew up in Canada, and studied music in both La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Players' Theatre
The Players' Theatre was a London theatre which opened at 43 King Street, Covent Garden, on 18 October 1936. The club originally mounted period-style musical comedies, introducing Victorian-style music hall in December 1937. The threat of World War II German bombing prompted a move in October 1940 to a basement at 13 Albemarle Street, Piccadilly and then after the cessation of hostilities, to Villiers Street, Charing Cross, opening on 14 February 1946. Other intermediate locations of the theatre include the Arts Theatre and the St John's Wood private residence of a member, Francis Iles (Anthony Berkeley). Overwhelmed by debt, the theatre closed in 2002, although the Players' Theatre Club continues to perform music hall shows in other venues. Appearing at the Players' Theatre were Leonard Sachs (who was often the chairman), Patricia Hayes, Hattie Jacques, James Robertson Justice, Peter Ustinov, Clive Dunn, Ian Carmichael, Joan Sterndale-Bennett, Vida Hope, and Denis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Boy Friend (musical)
''The Boy Friend'' (sometimes misrepresented ''The Boyfriend'') is a musical by Sandy Wilson. Its original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, briefly making it the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history (after '' Chu Chin Chow'' and '' Oklahoma!'') until they were all surpassed by '' Salad Days''. ''The Boy Friend'' marked Julie Andrews' American stage debut. Set in the carefree world of the French Riviera in the Roaring Twenties, ''The Boy Friend'' is a comic pastiche of 1920s shows, in particular early Rodgers and Hart musicals such as ''The Girl Friend''. Its relatively small cast and low cost of production makes it a continuing popular choice for amateur and student groups. Sandy Wilson wrote a sequel to ''The Boy Friend''. Set ten years later, and, appropriately, a pastiche of 1930s musicals, in particular those of Cole Porter, it was titled ''Divorce Me, Darling!'' and ran for 91 performances at London's old Globe Theatre in 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandy Wilson
Alexander Galbraith "Sandy" Wilson (19 May 1924 – 27 August 2014) was an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical '' The Boy Friend'' (1953). Biography Wilson was born in Sale, Cheshire, England, and was educated at Harrow School. In 1942 he won a State Scholarship for a wartime course at SOAS and was assigned to study Japanese. He was thus one of the so-called 'Dulwich Boys' who studied at SOAS and boarded at Dulwich College. While there he put together a satirical review titled 'A Matter of Course' based on his experiences on the Japanese course. He was one of the few not to complete the course and he subsequently served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in Great Britain, Egypt and Iraq. After the war he went to Oriel College, Oxford and while a student wrote revues for the Oxford University Experimental Theatre Club and then attended the Old Vic Theatre School on a production course. Most of his work for the stage was material for revues, such as Hermione G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Tutin
Dame Dorothy Tutin, (8 April 19306 August 2001) was an English actress of stage, film and television. For her work in the theatre, she won two Olivier Awards and two ''Evening Standard'' Awards for Best Actress. She was made a CBE in 1967 and a Dame (DBE) in 2000. Tutin began her stage career in 1949 and won the 1960 Best Actress ''Evening Standard'' Award for '' Twelfth Night''. Having made her Broadway debut in the 1963 production of ''The Hollow Crown'', she received a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1968 original Broadway production of '' Portrait of a Queen''. In the 1970s, she won a second Best Actress ''Evening Standard'' Award and won the Olivier Award (then the Society of London awards) for Best Actress in a Revival for '' A Month in the Country'' and ''The Double Dealer''. Her films included '' The Importance of Being Earnest'' (1952), '' The Beggar's Opera'' (1953), ''A Tale of Two Cities'' (1958), '' Savage Messiah'' (1972) and ''The Shooting Party'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Living Room (play)
''The Living Room'' is a 1953 play by Graham Greene Synopsis The play consists of two acts, each of two scenes and is set entirely in the living room of Rose Pemberton and her two elderly aunts who live with the aunts' brother James, a disabled Roman Catholic priest. The aunts have a long-running fear of death in the house, with any bedroom being locked away from further use following a death of its resident family member. The story revolves around the introduction of Rose's new lover, Michael Dennis, to the family. It later transpires that Michael is married when his suicidal wife arrives at the house. Premiere After premiering at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh it transferred to the West End where it ran for 308 performances at Wyndham's Theatre between 16 April 1953 and 9 January 1954. Original cast *Mary, the daily woman – Dorothy Dewhurst *Michael Dennis – John Robinson *Rose Pemberton – Dorothy Tutin *Miss Teresa Browne – Mary Jerrold *Miss Helen Browne – V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. He was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivien Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, at age 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery. Early years (1904–1922) Henry Graham Greene was born in 1904 in St John's Hous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dear Brutus
''Dear Brutus'' is a 1917 fantasy play by J. M. Barrie, depicting alternative realities for its characters and their eventual return to real life. The title is a reference to a line from Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'': "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves". First production The play ran for 363 performances at the Wyndham's Theatre in the West End between 17 October 1917 and 24 August 1918. Original cast *Mr Dearth – Gerald du Maurier *Mr Purdie – Sam Sothern *Mr Coade – Norman Forbes *Matey – Will West *Lob – Arthur Hatherton *Mrs Dearth – Hilda Moore *Mrs Purdie – Jessie Bateman *Mrs Coade – Maude Millett *Joanna Trout – Doris Lytton *Lady Caroline Laney – Lydia Bilbrook *Margaret – Faith Celli ::Source: ''The Times''."Dear Brutus", ''The Times'', 18 October 1917, p. 9 The play was revived in 1922 at the same venue for another 257 performance run, with du Maurier again in the cast along with Mabel Terry-Lewis, Alfred Drayt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Years Between (play)
''The Years Between'' is a play by the English writer Daphne du Maurier, better known as a novelist and particularly as the author of '' Rebecca'' (which she had adapted for the London stage in 1940). This is one of two original plays that she wrote. The other is'' September Tide'' (1948). Plot outline Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, ''The Years Between'' unfolds in the library/living room of an English country house. The man of the house, Colonel Michael Wentworth, MP, is presumed dead after his plane crashed into the sea on a flight to Europe in 1942. His wife Diana is persuaded to take over the Colonel's parliamentary seat, and she is supported in her endeavours by her neighbour Richard Llewellyn, a sympathetic farmer with whom she strikes up a romantic relationship. Llewellyn teaches the Wentworths' young son Robin how to fish, thus becoming his great friend. Three years later, as the war is about to come to an end, the Colonel returns. He has been play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daphne Du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was George du Maurier, a writer and cartoonist. Although du Maurier is classed as a romantic novelist, her stories have been described as "moody and resonant" with overtones of the paranormal. Her bestselling works were not at first taken seriously by critics, but they have since earned an enduring reputation for narrative craft. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels ''Rebecca'', '' Frenchman's Creek'', ''My Cousin Rachel'' and '' Jamaica Inn'', and the short stories " The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". Du Maurier spent much of her life in Cornwall, where most of her works are set. As her fame increased, she became more reclusive. Biography Early life Daphne du Maurier was born at 24 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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