42 Balloons
42 Balloons is a musical (or rock opera) by Jack Godfrey. The show is based on the true life story of Larry Walters, AKA Lawnchair Larry, who fulfilled a lifelong dream on July 2, 1982, of flying up to 16,000 feet in his lawnchair carried by 42 weather balloons. Development Jack Godfrey was working as a part time teacher in England when he came across Walters' story. An aspiring writer, he connected to the story of someone who had a dream that others thought was foolish. He began writing the musical, and was introduced to a member of the creative team behind the Broadway musical Six, which led to a connection with producer Kevin McCollum, who coordinated the show's first staging in Manchester. Synopsis Act I The show opens with actual audio from Larry's flight, then introduces the ensemble, who sets the stage for the show itself, confirming that this actually happened. They then ask the question everyone asks: why? Specifically: What makes somebody want to fly in a lawnchair? ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Musical Theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the light opera works of Jacques Offenbach in France, Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and the works of Edward Harrigan, Harrigan and Tony Hart (theater), Hart in America. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is a non-profit, professional theater company located at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. Its more than six hundred annual performances performed 48 weeks of the year include its critically acclaimed Shakespeare series, its World's Stage touring productions, and youth education and family oriented programming. The theater had garnered 77 Joseph Jefferson awards and three Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2008, it was the winner of the Regional Theatre Tony Award. Founded in 1986 in a pub, in 1999 the CST moved to a purpose-built seven-story theater complex on Navy Pier, where it has a main 500 seat space called the Courtyard, and the 200 seat Theater Upstairs. In 2017, it expanded on the pier into a connected three-theater-campus with the addition of The Yard, a flexible space that allows for versatile arrangements from 150 seats to 850 seats and from proscenium to in-the-round. Background The company's founding artistic director Barbara Gaines f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago Tribune''. The ''Sun-Times'' resulted from the 1948 merger of the Marshall Field III owned ''Chicago Sun'' and the '' Chicago Daily Times'' newspapers. Journalists at the paper have received eight Pulitzer Prizes, mostly in the 1970s; one recipient was the first film critic to receive the prize, Roger Ebert (1975), who worked at the paper from 1967 until his death in 2013. Long owned by the Marshall Field family, since the 1980s ownership of the paper has changed hands several times, including twice in the late 2010s. History The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' has claimed to be the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city. That claim is based on the 1844 founding of the '' Chicago Daily Journal'', which w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chris Jones (drama Critic)
Christopher or Chris Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film, TV, theatre * Chris Jones (filmmaker) (born 1967), British filmmaker, author, film director, screenwriter and educator * Christopher Jones (actor, born 1941) (1941–2014), American actor * Christopher Jones (actor, born 1982), American actor and dancer Gaming * Chris Jones (Access Software) (born 1955), co-creator of the ''Tex Murphy'' detective adventure game series * Chris Jones (game developer), founder of Obsidian Entertainment, a computer game company Music * Christopher Michael Jones (born 1969), American hip hop and R&B record producer * Chris Jones (British singer) (born 1985), British singer and songwriter * Chris Jones (American musician) (1958–2005), American musician and composer *Chris Jones (bluegrass musician), American singer/guitarist, leader of the Night Drivers Writing * Chris Jones, editor of the Australian newspaper ''The Courier-Mail'' * Christopher Jones (comics) (born 1969), Americ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Times Of London
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821), are published by Times Media, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' were founded independently and have had common ownership only since 1966. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. ''The Times'' was the first newspaper to bear that name, inspiring numerous other papers around the world. In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as or , although the newspaper is of national scope and distribution. ''The Times'' had an average daily circulation of 365,880 in March 2020; in the same period, ''The Sunday Times'' had an average weekly circulation of 647,622. The two newspapers also had 600,000 digital ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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WhatsOnStage
WhatsOnStage is a UK-based theatre website providing news, reviews, interviews, and a comprehensive listings database of performances across the country. The platform claims to list over 5,000 performances at any given time and also operates a ticketing service through commercial partnerships. It serves a large online theatregoing community and has positioned itself as a leading and trusted source of theatre information in the UK. History WhatsOnStage was founded in 1996 by the media corporation EMAP, with Carol Dukes playing a key role in its initial development. In 1999, it was acquired by Terri Paddock and David Dobson, who managed the company for the following 13 years. The site was subsequently purchased by Time Out (magazine), Time Out in 2012 and then acquired by TheaterMania in January 2013. In 2017, WhatsOnStage became part of the AudienceView portfolio, which offers ticketing and marketing solutions across the live events industry globally. WhatsOnStage Awards In 2000, t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. 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 its 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. S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lawnchair Larry Flight
On July 2, 1982, Larry Walters (April 19, 1949 – October 6, 1993) made a 45-minute flight in a homemade aerostat made of an ordinary lawn chair and 42 helium-filled weather balloons. The aircraft rose to an altitude of about , drifted from the point of liftoff in San Pedro, California, and entered controlled airspace near Long Beach Airport. During the final descent, the aircraft became entangled in power lines, but Walters was able to climb down safely. The flight attracted worldwide media attention and inspired a movie ('' Danny Deckchair''), a musical and numerous imitators. Background Lawrence Richard "Larry" Walters had often dreamed of flying, but was unable to become a pilot in the United States Air Force because of his poor eyesight. Therefore, he became a truck driver. He first thought of using weather balloons to fly at age 13, after seeing them hanging from the ceiling of a military surplus store. In 1982, he decided to try his flying idea. His intention was to fl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Stage Debut Awards
The Stage Debut Awards are theatre awards recognising individuals making their professional debuts in the performing arts in the UK. The annual ceremony was launched in 2017 by The Stage and include accolades for Best Performer in a Play, Best Writer, Best Designer and the Best West End Debut Performer. Recipients of these awards have gone on to star in West End shows, television series and films. The awards ceremony is held annually at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London. In 2019, the awards relocated to a new venue, The Brewery, London. In 2020, the Best Actor in a Play and Best Actress in a Play awards were updated to Best Performer in a Play and the Best Actor in a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical awards were updated to Best Performer in a Musical. Judging process Eligible nominees must be aged 16 or over, and making their professional debut in a named role in a production reviewed by The Stage. For acting roles this should be a first named role. The Stage's nationwide n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rock Opera
A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been adapted as rock musicals. The use of various character roles within the song lyrics is a common storytelling device. The success of the rock opera genre has inspired similar works in other musical styles, such as rap opera. History A number of rock artists became interested in the idea of creating a rock opera in the 1960s. Early use of the terms rock opera and teenage opera date from 1963, when Frank Zappa used both phrases to describe a work in progress, ''I Was a Teenage Malt Shop''. Zappa can be heard discussing his rock opera in a radio program: a recording of a which is included on the album '' Joe's Xmasage'', on the track ''The Uncle Frankie Show''. Don Van Vliet was to be cast as a character named “Captain Beefheart”. Zappa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Lowry
Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England. The complex opened on 28 April 2000 and was officially opened on 12 October 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II. History Background To redevelop the derelict Salford docks, Salford City Council developed a regeneration plan in 1988 for the brownfield site highlighting the leisure, cultural and tourism potential of the area, and included a flagship development that would involve the creation of a performing arts centre. The initial proposals were for two theatres and an art gallery on a prominent site on Pier 8. Between 1990 and 1991 a competition was launched and architects James Stirling Michael Wilford Associates was selected. After the death of James Stirling in June 1992 Michael Wilford continued the project. The city council bid for Millennium and other Bri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Darwin Awards
The Darwin Awards are a rhetorical tongue-in-cheek honor that originated in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly Culling, contributed to human evolution by natural selection, selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying or becoming sterilization (medicine), sterilized by their own actions. The project became more formalized with the creation of a website in 1993, followed by a series of books starting in 2000 by Wendy Northcutt. The criterion for the awards states: "In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival." Accidental self-sterilization also qualifies, but the site notes: "Of necessity, the award is usually bestowed posthumously." The candidate is disqualified, though, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |