Alexandra Theatre (Birmingham)
The Alexandra, commonly known as the Alex, is a theatre on Suffolk Queensway in Birmingham, England. History Construction of the theatre commenced in 1900 and was completed in 1901. The architects were Owen & Ward and the theatre was opened on 27 May 1901 as the ''Lyceum Theatre'' on John Bright Street. Initially it attracted few theatre goers and it was decided to bring in a star. For ten weeks from the middle of June 1901 Harry Arthur Saintsbury trod the boards as the theatre's leading man, playing in costume dramas. As a result of disappointingly low returns the new theatre was sold to Lester Collingwood for £4,000, who renamed it the ''Alexandra Theatre'' on 22 December 1902. Collingwood was killed in a road traffic accident in 1910 and was succeeded by Leon Salberg, who died in his office at the theatre in 1938. His ghost is said to inhabit the theatre. Other ghostly sightings include that by a cleaner of a woman dressed in grey in 1987. The theatre was rebuilt with a fin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the List of English districts by population, largest local authority district in England by population and the second-largest city in Britain – commonly referred to as the second city of the United Kingdom – with a population of million people in the city proper in . Birmingham borders the Black Country to its west and, together with the city of Wolverhampton and towns including Dudley and Solihull, forms the West Midlands conurbation. The royal town of Sutton Coldfield is incorporated within the city limits to the northeast. The urban area has a population of 2.65million. Located in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England, Birmingham is considered to be the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midland ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dad's Army
''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC One, BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total; a Dad's Army (1971 film), feature film released in 1971, a Dad's Army (stage show), stage show and a Dad's Army#Radio series, radio version based on the television scripts were also produced. The series regularly gained audiences of 18 million viewers and is still shown internationally. The Home Guard consisted of local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, either because of age (hence the title ''Dad's Army''), medical reasons, or by being in Reserved occupation, professions exempt from conscription. Most of the platoon members in ''Dad's Army'' are over military age and the series stars seve ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Musical
''7s'' is an album by American musician Avey Tare. It was released on February 17, 2023, through Domino Recording Company Domino Recording Company, or simply Domino, is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called .... Track listing All tracks are produced by Adam McDaniel and Avey Tare. References 2023 albums Avey Tare albums Domino Recording Company albums {{2020s-album-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films '' Doctor Dolittle''; '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips''; '' Scrooge''; '' Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''; '' Tom and Jerry: The Movie''; the titular James Bond film songs " Goldfinger" and " You Only Live Twice"; "Can You Read My Mind? (Love Theme from ''Superman'')" (with John Williams) from ''Superman''; and " Le Jazz Hot!" (with Henry Mancini) from '' Victor/Victoria''. Early life and education Bricusse was born in Southfields, London on 29 January 1931, the son of Annie Mary (''née'' Mills) and Cedric Bricusse, who already had a daughter. His paternal grandfather was Belgian, whilst his mother's father came from Belfast in Northern Ireland. His father was employed by Kelmsley Newspapers for most of his working life. When Bricusse was t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Les Misérables (musical)
''Les Misérables'' ( , ), colloquially known as ''Les Mis'' or ''Les Miz'' ( ), is a sung-through musical theatre, musical with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, and a book by Schönberg and Boublil, based on the 1862 novel Les Misérables, of the same name by Victor Hugo. Set in early France in the long nineteenth century, 19th-century France, ''Les Misérables'' tells the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his desire for redemption. After stealing a loaf of bread for his sister's starving child, Valjean is imprisoned for 19 years and released in 1815. When a bishop inspires him with a tremendous act of mercy, Valjean breaks his parole and starts his life anew and in disguise. He becomes wealthy and adopts an orphan, Cosette. A police inspector named Javert pursues Valjean over the decades in a single-minded quest for "justice". The characters are swept into a June Rebellion, revolutionary period in France, where a group of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gary Wilmot
Harold Owen "Gary" Wilmot, MBE (born 8 May 1954) is a British actor who rose to fame as a contestant on ''New Faces''. As a television presenter, he is best known as the host of '' You and Me'', ''So You Want To Be Top'' and ''Showstoppers''. His West End credits include ''Me and My Girl'', ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'', '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'', ''The Prince of Egypt'', and ''Wicked''. Wilmot was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity. Early life Wilmot was born in Lambeth, London, into a mixed-race household; his mother was English, and his father, Harry, was Jamaican and arrived in Britain on the '' Empire Windrush'' in 1948. Harry was a member of vocal harmony group The Southlanders, but died in 1961, when his sons were still young. Despite these show business roots, Wilmot's upbringing was outside of the limelight; his mother suffered poor health and could only work part-time jobs, mean ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oliver!
''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the West End, where it enjoyed a record-breaking long run. ''Oliver!'' ran on Broadway, after being brought to the U.S. by producer David Merrick in 1963. Major London revivals played from 1977 to 1980, 1994 to 1998, 2008 to 2011 and on tour in the UK from 2011 to 2013. Additionally, its 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, won six Academy Awards including Best Picture. ''Oliver!'' received thousands of performances in British schools, becoming one of the most popular school musicals. In 1963 Lionel Bart received the Tony Award for Best Original Score. Many songs are well known to the public, such as " Food, Glorious Food", " Consider Yourself" and " I'd Do Anything". Background ''Oliver!'' was the first musical adaptation of a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cameron Mackintosh
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the ''New York Times''. He is the producer of shows including ''Les Misérables'', '' The Phantom of the Opera'', ''Cats'', ''Miss Saigon'', ''Mary Poppins'', '' Oliver!,'' and ''Hamilton.'' Mackintosh was knighted in 1996 for services to musical theatre. Two of his productions, ''Les Misérables'' and ''The Phantom of the Opera'', are the two longest-running musicals in West End history. In 2008, ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 7 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". In the '' Sunday Times Rich List'' of 2021, Mackintosh was estimated to have a net worth of £1.2 billion. Early life Mackintosh was born in Enfield, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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West Side Story
''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1950s in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, then a multiracial, Blue-collar worker, blue-collar neighborhood. The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnicity, ethnic backgrounds. The Sharks, who are recent migrants Stateside Puerto Ricans, from Puerto Rico, and the Jets, who are White Americans, white, vie for dominance of the neighborhood, and the police try to keep order. The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang's leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, tragic love st ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Summer Holiday (1963 Film)
''Summer Holiday'' is a 1963 British CinemaScope and Technicolor musical film starring singer Cliff Richard. The film was directed by Peter Yates (his directorial debut), produced by Kenneth Harper. The original screenplay was written by Peter Myers and Ronald Cass (who also wrote most of the song numbers and lyrics). The title sequence and first three minutes are in black and white before jumping to colour. The cast stars Lauri Peters, David Kossoff, Ron Moody and The Shadows and features Melvyn Hayes, Teddy Green, Jeremy Bulloch, Una Stubbs, Pamela Hart, Jacqueline Daryl, Madge Ryan, Lionel Murton, Christine Lawson, Wendy Barry and Nicholas Phipps. Herbert Ross choreographed the musical numbers. Plot Don and friends Cyril, Steve and Edwin are bus mechanics at the huge London Transport bus overhaul works in Aldenham, Hertfordshire. During a miserably wet British summer lunch break, Don arrives, having persuaded London Transport to lend him and his friends an AEC ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grease (musical)
''Grease'' is a 1971 Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics, and a book by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Named after the 1950s United States Working class, working-class youth subculture known as Greaser (subculture), greasers and set in 1959 at the fictional Rydell High School in Northwest Chicago (based on William Howard Taft High School (Chicago), Taft High School in Chicago, Illinois, and named after rock singer Bobby Rydell), the musical follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love.Woulfe, MollyGrease' has deep, dark Chicago roots"''NW Times'', January 2, 2009, retrieved January 10, 2017 The score borrows heavily from the sounds of early rock and roll. In its original production in Chicago, ''Grease'' was a raunchy, raw, aggressive, vulgar show. Subsequent productions toned down the more risqué content. The show mentions social issues such as teenage pregnancy, peer pressure, and gang vi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Great Expectations
''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''David Copperfield'', to be fully narrated in the first person.''Bleak House'' alternates between a third-person narrator and a first-person narrator, Esther Summerson, but the former is predominant. The novel was first published as a serial in Dickens's weekly periodical '' All the Year Round'', from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. In October 1861, Chapman & Hall published the novel in three volumes. The novel is set in Kent and London in the early to mid-19th century and contains some of Dickens's most celebrated scenes, starting in a graveyard, where the young Pip is accosted by the escaped convict Abel Magwitch. ''Great Expectations'' is full of extreme imagery—poverty, prison ships and chains, and fights to the death—and has a colour ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |