Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra Theatre was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts, opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years for a circus ring to be added, and reopened in April 1858 as the Alhambra. The name was also adopted by many other British music hall theatres located elsewhere: the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, the Alhambra Theatre Glasgow, etc. The name comes from association with the Moorish splendour of the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. The building was demolished in 1936. History Origins The Alhambra was originally known as the Royal Panopticon and was a landmark building at 23–27 Leicester Square, completed in 1854 by T. Hayter Lewis as a venue for showcasing the finest in the arts and for scientific demonstrations and popular education. This lasted for two years, and then the decision to add a circus ring was taken. When it reopened on 3 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leicester Square
Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, Westminster, Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester. The square was originally a gentrification, gentrified residential area, with tenants including Frederick, Prince of Wales and the artists William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds. It became more down-market in the late 18th century as Leicester House was demolished and retail developments took place, becoming a centre for entertainment. Major theatres were built in the 19th century, which were converted to cinemas towards the middle of the next. Leicester Square is the location of nationally significant cinemas such as the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square and Empire, Leicester Square, which are often used for film premieres. The nearby Prince Charles C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Europe and the fourth-most populous European Union member state. Spanning across the majority of the Iberian Peninsula, its territory also includes the Canary Islands, in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Balearic Islands, in the Western Mediterranean Sea, and the Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in mainland Africa. Peninsular Spain is bordered to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; to the east and south by the Mediterranean Sea and Gibraltar; and to the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. Spain's capital and List of largest cities in Spain, largest city is Madrid, and other major List of metropolitan areas in Spain, urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dion Boucicault
Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the English-speaking theatre. ''The New York Times'' hailed him in his obituary as "the most conspicuous English dramatist of the 19th century,"; he and his second wife, Agnes Robertson Boucicault, applied for and received American citizenship in 1873. Life and career Early life Boucicault was born Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot in 1820 Dublin, where his family lived on Gardiner Street. His mother was Anne Maria Laura Beresford, sister of the poet and mathematician George Darley. The Darleys were an important Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish Dublin family influential in many fields and related to the Guinnesses by marriage. Anne was married to Samuel Smith Boursiquot, of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fanny By Gaslight (novel)
''Fanny by Gaslight'' is a 1940 novel by the English author Michael Sadleir. Sadleir's best-known work, it is a fictional exploration of prostitution in Victorian London. It has been adapted several times, most notably in a 1944 Gainsborough Pictures film of the same name starring Phyllis Calvert, and a 1981 four-part BBC television series with Chloe Salaman in the title role. Story ''Fanny By Gaslight'' is written in the narrative form of alternating person. Initially set in France (in the fictional Ile de France village of Les Yvelines-la-Carriére) in the 1930s, and written in the third person, it tells of an encounter between a middle-aged book publisher, Gerald Warbeck, and an elderly lady whom he first assumes is called Mme Oupére, but discovers is English, and called Hooper. He becomes intrigued by how she ended up in a provincial French backwater, and persuades her to tell him her story. The narrative then moves to the first person of Fanny Hooper. It begins with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Sadleir
Michael Sadleir (25 December 1888 – 13 December 1957), born Michael Thomas Harvey Sadler, was a British publisher, novelist, book collector, and Bibliography, bibliographer. Biography Michael Sadleir was born in Oxford, Oxford, England, the son of Michael Ernest Sadler, Sir Michael Ernest Sadler and Mary Sadler.Michael Sadleir Papers, 1797–1958 unc.edu. Retrieved 15 July 2017. He adopted the older variant of his surname to differentiate himself from his father, a historian, educationist, and Chancellor (education), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds."Monopolising the Kicks", ''Yorkshire Evening Post'', 6 April 1923, p. 8. British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Sadleir was initially taught by Eva Gilpin in Ilkley before he was educa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Can-Can
The can-can (also spelled cancan as in the original French /kɑ̃kɑ̃/) is a high-energy, physically demanding dance that became a popular music-hall dance in the 1840s, continuing in popularity in French cabaret to this day. Originally danced by couples, it is now traditionally associated with a chorus line of female dancers. The main features of the dance are the vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, along with high kicks, splits, and cartwheels. History The can-can is believed to have evolved from the final figure in the quadrille, a social dance for four or more couples. The exact origin of the dance is obscure, but the steps may have been inspired by a popular entertainer of the 1820s, Charles-François Mazurier (1798–1828), well known for his mime and acrobatic dance, including the grand écart or jump splits—both popular features of the can-can; his greatest success was in ''Jocko, or The Brazilian Ape'' (1825). The dance was considered scandalou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Corps De Ballet
In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French language, French for "body of the little dance") is the group of ballet dancer, dancers who are not principal dancers or Soloist (ballet), soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a Theatrical scenery, backdrop for the principal dancers. A ''corps de ballet'' works as one, with synchronized movements and corresponding positioning on the stage. Well-known uses of the ''corps de ballet'' include the titular swans of ''Swan Lake'' and ''The Nutcrackers snow scene and the Waltz of the Flowers sequence. Function The ''corps de ballet'' sets the mood, scene, and nuance of the ballet, builds connection and camaraderie among the members of a ballet company, and creates large stage pictures through ensemble movement an choreography. Beyond the physical world-building provided by the ''corps de ballet'', it also serves as a vital stepping stone for younger, incoming dancers, where they learn about company ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Hollingshead
John Hollingshead (9 September 1827 – 9 October 1904) was an English theatrical impresario, journalist and writer during the latter half of the 19th century. After a journalism career, Hollingshead managed the Alhambra Theatre and was later the first manager of the Gaiety Theatre, London. Hollingshead also wrote several books during his life. An innovative producer, Hollingshead brought Gilbert and Sullivan together in 1871 to produce their first joint work, a musical extravaganza called ''Thespis (opera), Thespis''. Among other theatrical works that he produced, he mounted a long series of popular Victorian burlesques at the Gaiety, engaging Meyer Lutz to compose original scores for them. He also produced operettas, plays and other works. These productions made stars of Nellie Farren and several others. At the Gaiety, in 1878, Hollingshead was the first theatre manager to light his auditorium with electric lights. Life and career Hollingshead was born in Hoxton, Greater Lon ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretto, librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, Theatrical scenery, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conducting, conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of Western culture#Music, Western classical music, and Italian tradition in particular. Originally understood as an sung-through, entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include :Opera genres, numerous ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the English overseas possessions, overseas possessions and trading posts established by Kingdom of England, England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and colonisation attempts by Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the 17th century. At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it became the List of largest empires, largest empire in history and, for a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered , of the Earth's total land area. As a result, Westminster system, its constitutional, Common law, legal, English language, linguistic, and Culture of the United Kingdom, cultural legacy is widespread. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jules Léotard
Jules Léotard (; 1 August 183816 August 1870) was a French acrobatic performer and aerialist who developed the art of trapeze. He also created and popularized the one-piece gym wear that now bears his name and inspired the 1867 song " The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", sung by George Leybourne. Biography Léotard was born in Toulouse, France, the son of a gymnastics instructor who ran a swimming pool in Toulouse. Léotard would practice his routines over the pool. He went on to study law. After he passed his law exams, he seemed destined to join the legal profession, but at age 18 he began to experiment with trapeze bars, ropes, and rings suspended over a swimming pool. He later joined the Cirque Napoléon. On 12 November 1859, the first flying trapeze routine was performed by Jules Léotard on three trapeze bars at the Cirque Napoleon. The costume he invented was a one-piece knitted garment streamlined to suit the safety and agility concerns of trapeze performa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Emma Palladino
Emma Amalia Virginia Palladino (1861–13 April 1922) was an Italian ballet dancer who for seven years was the prima ballerina at the Alhambra Theatre in London where she danced to the ballet music of the theatre's resident composer and conductor Georges Jacobi. Early life Born in 1861 in Milan in Italy the daughter of Andrea Palladini, a dancer at the Teatro alla Scala who chose to change his surname.Ivor Guest, ''Ballet in Leicester Square'', Dance Books, (1992) pg. 52 She trained at La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan and from 1873 to 1876 danced in the same theatre, first as a pupil of the school in choreography by Antonio Pallerini including ''Le due twelle'' (1873), ''The Seven Deadly Sins'' (1873) and in Ferdinando Pratesi's ''La temptation'' (1874) before taking on larger roles. Dancing career In 1877 she moved to the United States where she made her début in New York in Offenbach's operetta ''Le voyage dans la lune'' while in 1878 she performed in the ballet '' Le pap ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |