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Beverley Cross
Alan Beverley Cross (13 April 1931 – 20 March 1998) was an English playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Early life Born in London into a theatrical family, and educated at the Nautical College Pangbourne, Cross started off by writing children's plays in the 1950s. He achieved instant success with his first play, ''One More River'', which dealt with a mutiny in which a crew puts its first officer on trial for manslaughter. The play premiered in 1958 at the New Shakespeare Theatre Liverpool, starring Robert Shaw, directed by Sam Wanamaker, and in 1959, still with Robert Shaw, directed by Guy Hamilton at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. Career Cross' second play, ''Strip the Willow'', was to make a star out of his future wife, Maggie Smith, though the play never received a London production. In 1962, he translated Marc Camoletti's French farce '' Boeing Boeing'', which had a lengthy run in the West End. In 1964, he directed the play in Sydney. Another success ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television commercials, video games, and the growing area of online web series. Terminology In the silent era, screenwriters were denoted by terms such as photoplaywright, photoplay writer, photoplay dramatist, and screen playwright.Maras, Steven. ''Screenwriting: History, Theory and Practice'', Wallflower Press, 2009, pp. 82–85. Screenwriting historian Steven Maras notes that these early writers were often understood as being the authors of the films as shown, and argues that they could not be precisely equated with present-day screenwriters because they were responsible for a technical product, a brief "Film scenario, scenario", "treatment", or "synopsis" that is a written synopsis of what is to be filmed. Profession Screenwriting is a contra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West End Theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre represents the highest level of Theatre of the United Kingdom, commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Prominent screen actors, Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and World cinema, international alike, frequently appear on the London stage. There are approximately 40 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre—built as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan—was entirely lit by electricity in 1881. Society of London Theatre, The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announced that 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Half A Sixpence (film)
''Half a Sixpence'' is a 1967 Cinema of the United Kingdom, British musical film directed by George Sidney starring Tommy Steele, Julia Foster and Cyril Ritchard. It was choreographed by Gillian Lynne. The screenplay by Beverley Cross is adapted from his Musical theatre#Definitions, book for the 1963 Half a Sixpence, stage musical of the same name, which was based on ''Kipps, Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul'', the 1905 novel by H. G. Wells. The music and lyrics are by David Heneker. This was the final film made by Sidney. Plot In Victorian England, a young orphan, Arthur Kipps ("Artie"), finds a sixpence as he walks along a river with his young friend, Ann. Artie is then sent to a nearby town, where he is to serve as apprentice to a draper. Several years later he meets up with Ann once again, and with the coin cut into two he gives one half to Ann as a symbol of their love. Artie grows up into a young man. Work at the draper's store is difficult. He becomes friends with Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clash Of The Titans (1981 Film)
''Clash of the Titans'' is a 1981 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Desmond Davis and written by Beverley Cross, loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Starring Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith and Laurence Olivier, the film features the final work of stop-motion visual effects artist Ray Harryhausen, who also co-produced the film alongside Charles H. Schneer. An international co-production between the United States and United Kingdom, ''Clash of the Titans'' was theatrically released on June 12, 1981, and grossed $41 million at the North American box office, making it the eleventh-highest grossing film of the year. A novelization by Alan Dean Foster was also published in 1981. A 3D remake of the same name was released by Warner Bros. on April 2, 2010. Plot King Acrisius of Argos imprisons his daughter Danaë, jealous of her beauty. When the god Zeus impregnates Danaë, Acrisius banishes her and her newborn son Perseus to sea in a w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genghis Khan (1965 Film)
''Genghis Khan'' is a 1965 biographical adventure film directed by Henry Levin and starring Omar Sharif, depicting a fictionalized account of the life and conquests of the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan. Distributed in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1965 by Columbia Pictures, the film also features James Mason, Stephen Boyd, Eli Wallach, Françoise Dorléac and Telly Savalas. A 70 mm version was released by CCC Film in West Germany. It was filmed in Yugoslavia with Technicolor and Panavision. Plot The young Temujin sees his father tortured and killed by a rival Mongol tribe led by Jamuga. He is yoked with a wheel around his neck and tormented by children. He meets the beautiful Bortai, but is punished by Jamuga. Temujin escapes and hides in the hills, followed by holy man Geen and mute warrior Sengal, who pledge their allegiance to him. He vows to unite all the Mongol tribes. Temujin liberates Salkit prisoners from a group of Merkits, who they then slaug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Long Ships (film)
''The Long Ships'' is a 1964 Anglo– Yugoslav adventure film shot in Technirama directed by Jack Cardiff and starring Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, Russ Tamblyn and Rosanna Schiaffino. Plot The story centres on an immense golden bell named the Mother of Voices, which may or may not exist. Moorish king Aly Mansuh is convinced that it does. Having collected all the legendary material about it that he can, he plans to mount an expedition to search for it. When a shipwrecked Norseman, Rolfe, repeats the story of the bell in the marketplace, and hints that he knows its location, he is seized by Mansuh's men and brought in for questioning. Rolfe insists that he does not know more than the legend itself and that the bell is most likely only a myth. He manages to escape by jumping through a window before the questioning continues under torture. After swimming back to return home, Rolfe reveals to his father Krok and his brother Orm that he did indeed hear the bell pealing on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jason And The Argonauts (1963 Film)
''Jason and the Argonauts'' ( working title: ''Jason and the Golden Fleece'') is a 1963 epic independent fantasy adventure film loosely based on the 3rd century BC Greek epic poem '' The Argonautica'' by Apollonius Rhodius. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, it was produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Don Chaffey, and stars Todd Armstrong, while co-starring Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman, and Gary Raymond. Shot in Eastman Color, the film was made in collaboration with stop-motion animation visual effects artist Ray Harryhausen and is known for its various legendary creatures, notably the iconic fight scene featuring seven skeleton warriors. Although it was a box-office disappointment during its initial release, the film was critically acclaimed and later considered a classic. The film score was composed by Bernard Herrmann, who had partnered with Harryhausen on '' The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958), '' The 3 Worlds of Gulliver'' (1960) and '' Mysterious Island'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rising Of The Moon (opera)
''The Rising of the Moon'' is an operatic comedy in three acts composed by Nicholas Maw to a libretto by Beverley Cross. It premiered on 19 July 1970 at the Glyndebourne Festival conducted by Raymond Leppard and directed by Colin Graham. The title comes from the Irish patriotic song of the same name. The opera was composed over a period from 1967 to 1970 while Maw was the artist-in-residence at Trinity College, Cambridge. It was Maw's second opera, and like his first, ''One Man Show'', is a comedy. However, while ''One Man Show'' was a farce, ''The Rising of the Moon'' is in the genre of romantic comedy with a plot about British soldiers stationed in 19th-century Ireland at the time of the Irish famines. Its premiere at Glyndebourne in 1970 during The Troubles, a period of intense ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland, was "felt to be tactless" by some critics, according to Maw's obituary in ''The Daily Telegraph''. Nevertheless, the opera ran at 90% capacity at Glyndebo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Maw
John Nicholas Maw (5 November 1935 – 19 May 2009) was a British composer. Among his works are the operas '' The Rising of the Moon'' (1970) and '' Sophie's Choice'' (2002). Biography Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Maw was the son of Clarence Frederick Maw and Hilda Ellen Chambers. He attended the Wennington School, a boarding school, in Wetherby in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was 14. He attended the Royal Academy of Music on Marylebone Road in London where his teachers were Paul Steinitz and Lennox Berkeley. He then studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Max Deutsch. From 1998 until 2008, Maw served on the faculty of the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where he taught music composition. He had previously served on the faculties of Yale University, Bard College, Boston University, the Royal Academy of Music, Cambridge University, and Exeter University. Personal life In 1960, Maw married Karen Graham, and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mines Of Sulphur
''The Mines of Sulphur'' is an opera in three acts by Richard Rodney Bennett, his first full-length opera, composed in 1963. Beverley Cross wrote the libretto, based on his play ''Scarlet Ribbons'', at the suggestion of Colin Graham, who eventually directed the first production in 1965. The opera is dedicated to Benjamin Britten, whose Aldeburgh Festival had originally commissioned the opera. ''The Mines of Sulphur'' was premièred on 24 February 1965 at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. It was also broadcast on BBC Radio Network Three on 5 March 1965, and produced in a version for BBC Television on 13 November 1966. It received numerous subsequent performances, including in Cologne, Marseille, Milan, Toronto, Los Angeles, and New York City (at the Juilliard School). Most productions were well received, except for one directed by John Huston at La Scala. After the mid-1970s, however, the work was mostly forgotten, until a popular revival by Glimmerglass Opera in 2004. The Gl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer and pianist. He was noted for his musical versatility, drawing from such sources as jazz, romanticism, and avant-garde; and for his use of twelve-tone technique and serialism. His body of work included over 200 concert works and 50 scores for film and television. He was also active in jazz, as a composer, a pianist, and an occasional vocalist. For his scoring work, Bennett was nominated for a total of 10 BAFTA Awards, winning once for Best Original Music for the film ''Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974). He was also nominated for three Academy Awards ( ''Far from the Madding Crowd'', 1967; '' Nicholas and Alexandra'', 1971; and ''Murder on the Orient Express'') and three Grammy Awards, among other accolades. He was the International Chair of Composition of the Royal Academy of Music, and was knighted in 1998. Life and career Bennett was born at Broadstairs, Kent, but was raised in Devo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award For Best Author
The Tony Award for Best Author is a now retired category once presented to playwrights, authors and librettists of theatrical plays and musicals Musical theatre is a form of 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 .... Only nine awards were presented from 1947 to 1965, and it is often grouped with the category Best Book of a Musical. Winners and nominees 1940s 1960s See also * Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical * Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical External links Tony Awards Official siteTony Awards at Internet Broadway database ListingTony Awards at broadwayworld.com {{Tony Awards Tony Awards Awards established in 1947 1947 establishments in the United States 1965 disestablishments in the United States ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
