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Fortune Theatre
The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre in Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. From 1989 until 2023 the theatre hosted the long running play '' The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by author, playwright and impresario Laurence Cowen, and had previously been the location of the old Albion Tavern, a public house that was frequented by Georgian and Victorian actors. The theatre is situated next to Crown Court Church, and dwarfed by the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on the opposite side of the road. Cowen commissioned architect Ernest Schaufelberg to design the theatre in an Italianate style. Constructed from 1922 to 1924, it was the first theatre to be built in London after the end of the First World War. One of the first buildings in London to experiment with concrete, its façade is principally made of bush hammered concrete, with brick piers supporting the roof. Since the demolition of the original Wembley Stadium, the th ...
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The Woman In Black (play)
''The Woman in Black'' is a 1983 gothic horror novel by English writer Susan Hill, about a mysterious spectre that haunts a small English town. A television film based on it, also called '' The Woman in Black'', was produced in 1989, with a screenplay by Nigel Kneale. In 2012, another film adaption was released starring Daniel Radcliffe. The book has also been adapted into a stage play by Stephen Mallatratt. The original London production ran 13,232 performances and is the second longest-running play in the history of the West End, after ''The Mousetrap''. Plot The novel is narrated by Arthur Kipps, who formerly worked for Mr. Bentley. One Christmas Eve he is at home with his second wife Esmé and four stepchildren who are sharing ghost stories. When he is asked to tell a story, he becomes irritated, leaves the room and decides to write the following horrific experiences from his past in the hope that doing so will exorcise them from his memory. Many years earlier, whil ...
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Wembley Stadium (1923)
Wembley Greyhounds, Wembley Stadium (; originally known as the Empire Stadium) was a Association football, football stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its Wembley Stadium, successor. Wembley hosted the FA Cup final annually, the first in 1923 FA Cup final, 1923, which was the stadium's inaugural event, the EFL Cup, League Cup final annually, five UEFA Champions League, European Cup finals, the 1966 FIFA World Cup final, 1966 World Cup final, and the UEFA Euro 1996 final, final of Euro 1996. Brazilian footballer Pelé once said of the stadium: "Wembley is the cathedral of football. It is the capital of football and it is the heart of football", in recognition of its status as the world's best-known football stadium. The stadium also hosted many other sports events, including the 1948 Summer Olympics, rugby league's Challenge Cup final, and the 1992 Rugby League World Cup final, 1992 and 1995 R ...
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Beyond The Fringe
''Beyond the Fringe'' was a British comedy Play (theatre), stage revue written and performed by Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore. It debuted at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival and went on to play in London's West End theatre, West End and then in America, both on tour and on New York City, New York's Broadway theatre, Broadway in the early 1960s. Hugely successful, it is widely regarded as seminal to the "satire boom", the rise of Satire, satirical comedy in 1960s Britain. The show The idea for ''Beyond the Fringe'' came from Robert Ponsonby, who was the director of the Edinburgh International Festival from 1956 to 1960. Ponsonby's idea was to bring together the best parts of the revues staged by the Cambridge Footlights and The Oxford Revue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe in previous years. He said that the Festival should put on a late-night revue "to beat The Fringe at its own game." By 1960, the Festival was so firmly established th ...
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Flanders And Swann
Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo and musicians. Michael Flanders (1922–1975) was a lyricist, actor, and singer. He collaborated with Donald Swann (1923–1994), a composer and pianist, in writing and performing comedy music, comic songs. They first worked together in a school revue in 1939 and eventually wrote more than 100 comic songs together. Flanders and Swann performed their songs, interspersed with comic monologues, in their long-running two-man revues ''At the Drop of a Hat'' (1956-1959) and ''At the Drop of Another Hat'' (1963-1967), which they toured in Britain and abroad. Both revues were recorded in concert (by George Martin). The duo also made several studio recordings. Musical partnership Flanders and Swann both attended Westminster School (where in July and August 1940 they staged a revue called ''Go To It'') and Christ Church, Oxford, two institutions linked by ancient tradition. The pair went their separate ways during World War II, but a chance me ...
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Maureen Lipman
Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, columnist and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was made a dame in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts. Lipman has been nominated for seven Olivier Awards across categories commending acting in plays, musicals and comedy, winning in 1984 for ''See How They Run''. On film, Lipman was BAFTA nominated for ''Educating Rita'' (1983) and has also appeared in ''The Wildcats of St Trinian's'' (1980), ''Carry On Columbus'' (1992), ''Solomon & Gaenor'' (1999) and ''The Pianist'' (2002). On television, Lipman had prominent roles in ''Agony'' (1979–1981), ''Smiley's People'' (1982), ''Eskimo Day'' (1996) and ''Ladies of Letters'' (2009–2010). Since 2018, she has starred in ''Coronation Street'' as Evelyn Plummer. ...
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Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House (film), Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Organisation, he later acted in Art film, art house films, evolving from "heartthrob to icon of edginess". In a second career, Bogarde wrote seven best-selling volumes of memoirs, six novels, and a volume of collected journalism, mainly from articles in ''The Daily Telegraph''. He saw active military duty during World War II, and over the course of five years reached the rank of major and was awarded seven medals. His poetry has been published in war anthologies, and a grey ink brush drawing, "Tents in Orchard. 1944", is in the collection of the British Museum. Having come to prominence in films including ''The Blue Lamp'' in the early 1950s, Bogarde starred in the successful ''Doctor (film series), Doctor'' film s ...
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Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage. Dench has garnered List of awards and nominations received by Judi Dench, various accolades throughout a career that spans seven decades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards, and seven Olivier Awards. Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she performed in several of Shakespeare's plays, in such roles as Ophelia in ''Hamlet'', Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'' and Lady Macbeth in ''Macbeth''. Although most of Dench's work during this period was in theatre, she also branched out into film work and won a BAFTA Film Award for Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, BAFTA Award as Most Promisin ...
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Receiving House
A receiving house (sometimes called a roadhouse) is a theatre which does not produce its own repertoire but instead receives touring theatre companies, usually for a brief period such as three nights or an entire week. The incoming company may receive a share of the box office takings or a minimum guaranteed payment. West End theatres in London and most Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...s in New York are also receiving houses, as the venue solely provides facilities to the incoming show even though the production may stay for many years. Theatres which produce their own shows are known as producing houses, and some regional theatres will do both. Stage terminology Theatrical management {{Theat-stub ...
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Entertainments National Service Association
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes. In 1946 it was re-named to Combined Services Entertainment (CSE) operating under the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), until 2 March 2020, when the SSVC re-branded to the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), with the CSE likewise re-branding as BFBS Live Events. The first big wartime variety concert organised by ENSA was broadcast by the BBC to the Empire and local networks from RAF Hendon in north London on 17 October 1939. Among the entertainers appearing on the bill were Adelaide Hall, The Western Brothers and Mantovani. A newsreel of this concert showing Hall singing " We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line" accompanied by Mantovani and His Orchestra exists. ...
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Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Listed building, listed ruins, and architecturally notable English country houses. The charity states that it uses these properties to "bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year". Within its portfolio are Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Tintagel Castle, and the "best-preserved" parts of Hadrian's Wall. English Heritage also manages the London blue plaque scheme, which links influential historical figures to particular buildings. When originally formed in 1983, English Heritage was the operating name of an executive non-departmental public body of the Her Majesty's Government, British Government, officially titled the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, that ran the national system of heritage prot ...
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Listed Building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. The classification schemes differ between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland (see sections below). The term has also been used in the Republic of Ireland, where buildings are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000, although the statutory term in Ireland is "Record of Protected Structures, protected structure". A listed building may not be demolished, extended, or altered without permission from the local planning authority, which typically consults the relevant central government agency. In England and Wales, a national amenity society must be notified of any work to ...
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