Defying Gravity (song)
"Defying Gravity" is a song from the musical ''Wicked'', composed by Stephen Schwartz. It was originally recorded on November 10, 2003, by American actresses Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who portrayed Elphaba and Glinda in the musical respectively. The song was released as part of the accompanying cast recording on December 16, 2003. It is mostly a solo sung by the main character of the show, Elphaba, with two small duets at the beginning and the middle of the song between Elphaba and her friend Glinda, and a chorus part at the end in which the citizens of Oz sing. The song serves as the climax of the musical's first act, in which Elphaba realizes the truth about the Wizard of Oz and vows to fight him, beginning her evolution into the "Wicked Witch of the West". It has been covered and reinterpreted numerous times, including by the cast of ''Glee'' and for the 2024 film adaptation of the musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Context and sequence In ''Wicke ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Picture Disc
Picture discs are gramophone record, gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at least partly into the actual playable grooved area, distinguishing them from picture label discs, which have a specially illustrated and sometimes very large label, and picture back discs, which are illustrated on one unplayable side only. The beginnings A few seven-inch black shellac records issued by the Canadian Berliner Gramophone Company around 1900 had the "His Master's Voice" dog-and-gramophone trademark lightly etched into the surface of the playing area as an anti-piracy measure, technically qualifying them as picture discs by some definitions. Apart from those debatable claimants for the title of "first", the earliest picture records were not discs, strictly speaking, but rectangular postcard, picture postcards ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cynthia Erivo
Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo ( ; born 8 January 1987) is a British actress and singer. Known for her work on both stage and screen, she is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Cynthia Erivo, several accolades and one of few individuals nominated for EGOT, an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award (EGOT), winning all but the Oscar. Erivo made her West End (theatre), West End debut in the stage musical ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (2011). She later made her Broadway theatre, Broadway debut playing Celie in the musical revival of ''The Color Purple (musical), The Color Purple'' (20152017). Erivo's work for the production won her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, as well as a Daytime Emmy Award. She expanded to films in 2018 with the crime thrillers ''Widows (2018 film), Widows'' and ''Bad Times at the El Royale''. Erivo earned nominations for the Academy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger
Dorothy Marie "Dottie" Metcalf-Lindenburger (born May 2, 1975) is a retired American astronaut. She was a science teacher at Hudson's Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington when she was selected in 2004 as an educator mission specialist. She was the first Space Camp alumna to become an astronaut. Early life and career Dorothy Metcalf was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado to Joyce and Keith Metcalf. Metcalf graduated from Fort Collins High School, Fort Collins, Colorado. She went on to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where she studied geology. As an undergrad, she undertook research with the KECK Consortium for two summers. In 1995, she worked in Wyoming mapping the last glaciations of Russell Creek, and in 1996 she mapped and determined the petrology of the rocks in the Wet Mountain region of Colorado. She graduated from Whitman College in 1997. She received her teaching certification at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington in 1999. M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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STS-131
STS-131 ( ISS assembly flight 19A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). launched on April 5, 2010, at 6:21 am from LC-39A, and landed at 9:08 am on April 20, 2010, on runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. The mission marked the longest flight for Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' and its 38th and penultimate flight. The primary payload was a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module loaded with supplies and equipment for the International Space Station. The mission also removed and replaced an ammonia tank assembly outside the station on the S1 truss. STS-131 furthermore carried several on-board payloads; this mission had the most payloads since STS-107. It is also the last shuttle mission with a crew of 7. Crew Crew seat assignments Mission payload Multi-Purpose Logistics Module ''Leonardo'' The primary payload of STS-131 was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) ''Leonardo''. The MPLM was filled with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aerial Work Platform
An aerial work platform (AWP), also an aerial device, aerial lift, boom lift, bucket truck, cherry picker, elevating work platform (EWP), mobile elevating work platform (MEWP), or scissor lift, is a mechanical device used to provide temporary access for people or equipment to inaccessible areas, usually at height. There are various distinct types of mechanized access platforms. They are generally used for temporary, flexible access purposes such as maintenance and construction work or by firefighters for emergency access, which distinguishes them from permanent access equipment such as elevators. They are designed to lift limited weights — usually less than a ton, although some have a higher safe working load (SWL) — distinguishing them from most types of cranes. They are usually capable of being set up and operated by a single person. Regardless of the task they are used for, aerial work platforms may provide additional features beyond transport and access, inc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vocal Cords
In humans, the vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through Speech, vocalization. The length of the vocal cords affects the pitch of voice, similar to a violin string. Open when breathing and vibrating for speech or singing, the folds are controlled via the recurrent laryngeal nerve, recurrent laryngeal branch of the vagus nerve. They are composed of twin infoldings of mucous membrane stretched horizontally, from back to front, across the larynx. They vibration, vibrate, modulating the flow of air being expelled from the lungs during phonation. The 'true vocal cords' are distinguished from the 'false vocal folds', known as vestibular folds or ''ventricular folds'', which sit slightly superior to the more delicate true folds. These have a minimal role in normal phonation, but can produce deep sonorous tones, screams and growls. The length of the vocal fold at birth is approximately six to eight millimeters and grows t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leitmotifs
A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial anglicization of the German '' Leitmotiv'' (), literally meaning "leading motif", or "guiding motif". A musical motif has been defined as a "short musical idea ... melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic, or all three", a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition: "the smallest structural unit possessing thematic identity". In particular, such a motif should be "clearly identified so as to retain its identity if modified on subsequent appearances" whether such modification be in terms of rhythm, harmony, orchestration or accompaniment. It may also be "combined with other leitmotifs to suggest a new dramatic condition" or development. The technique is not ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a difference in pitch between two sounds. An interval may be described as horizontal, linear, or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or harmonic if it pertains to simultaneously sounding tones, such as in a chord. In Western music, intervals are most commonly differences between notes of a diatonic scale. Intervals between successive notes of a scale are also known as scale steps. The smallest of these intervals is a semitone. Intervals smaller than a semitone are called microtones. They can be formed using the notes of various kinds of non-diatonic scales. Some of the very smallest ones are called commas, and describe small discrepancies, observed in some tuning systems, between enharmonically equivalent notes such as C and D. Intervals can be arbitrarily small, and even imperceptible to the human ear. In physical terms, an interval is the ratio between two sonic fr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Syncopation
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn't normally occur". It is the correlation of at least two sets of time intervals. Syncopation is used in many musical styles, such as electronic dance music. According to music producer Rick Snoman, “All dance music makes use of syncopation, and it’s often a vital element that helps tie the whole track together”. Syncopation can also occur when a strong harmony is simultaneous with a weak Beat (music), beat, for instance, when a 7th chord, 7th-chord is played on the second beat of a measure or a dominant chord is played at the fourth beat of a measure. The latter occurs frequently in tonal cadences for 18th- and early-19th-century music and is the usual conclu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Key Signature
In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef at the beginning of the first line. If the piece contains a section in a different key, the new key signature is placed at the beginning of that section. In a key signature, a sharp or flat symbol on a line or space of the staff indicates that the note represented by that line or space is to be played a semitone higher (sharp) or lower (flat) than it would otherwise be played. This applies through the rest of the piece or until another key signature appears. Each symbol applies to comparable notes in all octaves—for example, a flat on the fourth space of the treble staff (as in the diagram) indicates that all notes notated as Es are played as E-flats, including those on the bottom line of the staff. Most of this article addres ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vulture (website)
''Vulture'' is an American entertainment news website. It is the standalone pop culture section of ''New York'' magazine. Its tagline is "Devouring Culture". History ''Vulture'' debuted in April 2007 as an entertainment blog on nymag.com, the website of ''New York Magazine''. Melissa Maerz and Dan Kois were the founding editors. The initial focus was television and film news, especially recaps of recent television episodes. Over time, it expanded to publish news and criticism in other areas of high and low culture, such as music, books, comedy, and podcasts. In the process of spinning off from ''New York Magazine'', ''Vulture'' website was redesigned in 2010 from a blog format to look more like a "full-fledged" online magazine. ''Vulture'' subsequently moved to an independent URL/ domain (Vulture.com) in February 2012. The first Vulture Festival, an annual two-day event featuring celebrities from various pop culture fields, took place in New York City in 2014. ''Vulture'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Special Effects
Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. It is sometimes abbreviated as SFX, but this may also refer to ''sound effects''. Special effects are traditionally divided into the categories of mechanical effects and optical effects. With the emergence of digital filmmaking a distinction between special effects and visual effects has grown, with the latter referring to digital post-production and optical effects, while "special effects" refers to mechanical effects. Mechanical effects (also called practical or physical effects) are usually accomplished during the live-action shooting. This includes the use of mechanised props, scenery, scale models, animatronics, pyrotechnics and atmospheric effects: creating physical wind, rain, fog, snow, clouds, making a car appear to drive by i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |