George C. Wolfe
George Costello Wolfe (born September 23, 1954) is an American playwright and director. His accolades include two Tony Awards for directing the play '' Angels in America: Millennium Approaches'' and the musical '' Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk''. He served as Artistic Director of The Public Theater from 1993 until 2004. Early life and education Wolfe was born into an African-American family in Frankfort, Kentucky, the son of Anna (née Lindsey), an educator, and Costello Wolfe, a government clerk. He attended an all-black public school (a Rosenwald school) where his mother taught. He is interviewed in the documentary film '' Rosenwald'', discussing his time at the school. After a family move, he began attending the integrated Frankfort public schools. Wolfe attended Frankfort High School where he began to pursue his interest in the theatre arts, and wrote poetry and prose for the school's literary journal. After high school, Wolfe enrolled at Kentucky State Universi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland South. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 28,602, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, 13th largest city in Kentucky and 4th smallest U.S. state capital by population. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the principal city of the Frankfort, Kentucky micropolitan area, which includes all of Franklin and Anderson County, Kentucky, Anderson counties. Before Frankfort was founded, the site was a Ford (crossing), ford across the Kentucky River, along one of the great buffalo trails used as highways in Colonial history of the United States, colonial America. English explorers first visited the area in the 1750s. The site evidently received its name after an incident in 1780, when pioneer Stephen Fra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Claremont, California
Claremont () is a suburban city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of Los Angeles. It lies in the Pomona Valley at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had a population of 34,926, and in 2020 the population was 37,266. Claremont is home to the seven Claremont Colleges and several other educational institutions and is known for its tree-lined streets with numerous historic buildings. Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as "The City of Trees and Ph.Ds." It was named the best suburb in the West by ''Sunset Magazine'' in 2016, which described it as a "small city that blends worldly sophistication with small-town appeal." In 2018, Niche (company), Niche rated Claremont as the 17th best place to live in the Los Angeles area out of 658 communities it evaluated, based on crime, cost of living, job opportunities, and local amenities. The city is primarily residential, with a significant por ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaimed HBO Angels in America (miniseries), miniseries of the same name. At the turn of the 21st century, he became known for his numerous film collaborations with Steven Spielberg. He received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2013. Kushner is among the few playwrights in history nominated for an EGOT, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. Kushner made his Broadway debut in 1993 with both ''Angels in America, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches'' and ''Angels in America, Angels in America: Perestroika''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. He then adapted the acclaimed Angels in America (miniseries), 2003 miniseries directed by Mike Nichols for which Kushner received a Primetime ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Drama Desk Award For Outstanding Book Of A Musical
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. It was first presented at the 1969 ceremony, under the shorter name Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book, changing to its current name as of the 1988 ceremony. For two years, in addition to the award for Outstanding Book, an award was presented to the writers of the Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Book. In 1972, that award went to Melvin Van Peebles for '' Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death'', while the 1973 award went to Ron House and Diz White for ''El Grande de Coco-Cola''. Winners and nominees 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins ; 3 wins * James Lapine * Thomas Meehan * Hugh Wheeler ; 2 wins * Rupert Holmes Multiple nominations ; 5 nominations *Terrence McNally ; 4 nominations *James Lapine * Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Manhattan. The ceremony is usually held in June. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for regional theatre. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards were founded by theatre producer and director Brock Pemberton. They are named after Antoinette "Tony" Perry, an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. The trophy consists of a spinnable medallion, with faces portraying an adaptation of the comedy and tragedy masks, mounted on a black base with a pewter swivel. The rules for the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 Broadway theaters, extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names. Many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also use the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional Theater (structure), theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End theatre, West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( Lemott, later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential characteristics when notated. His composition " Jelly Roll Blues", published in 1915, was one of the first published jazz compositions. He also claimed to have invented the genre. Morton also wrote " King Porter Stomp", " Wolverine Blues", " Black Bottom Stomp", and "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say", the last being a tribute to New Orleans musicians from the turn of the 20th century. Morton's claim to have invented jazz in 1902 was criticized. Music critic Scott Yanow wrote, "Jelly Roll Morton did himself a lot of harm posthumously by exaggerating his worth ... Morton's accomplishments as an early innovator are so vast that he did not really n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, marches, vaudeville song, and dance music. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. However, jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jelly's Last Jam
''Jelly's Last Jam'' is a musical with a book by George C. Wolfe, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and music by Jelly Roll Morton and Luther Henderson. Based on the life and career of Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, known as Jelly Roll Morton and generally regarded as one of the primary driving forces behind the introduction of jazz to the American public in the early 20th century, it also serves as a social commentary on the African-American experience during the era. LaMothe was born into a Louisiana Creole family that was established and free before the Civil War. Plot The musical opens with the recently deceased Morton in a state of limbo, looking back on his life. He is reluctantly guided by the mysterious 'Chimney Man,' who forces him to recall the more painful moments of his life when he attempts to ignore or embellish them. Born into an old and wealthy mixed-race Creole family in New Orleans, the young Morton rebels against his upbringing by going into the streets and absorbi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-20th-century American South and published research on Hoodoo and Caribbean Vodou. The most popular of her four novels is '' Their Eyes Were Watching God'', published in 1937. She also wrote more than 50 short stories, plays, an autobiography, ethnographies, and many essays. Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama, and moved with her family to Eatonville, Florida, in 1894. She later used Eatonville as the setting for many of her stories. In her early career, Hurston conducted anthropological and ethnographic research as a scholar at Barnard College and Columbia University. She had an interest in African-American and Caribbean folklore, and how these contributed to the community's identity. She also wrote about contemporary issues in the black community and became a central figure of the Harlem Re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spunk (play)
''Spunk'' is a play by American playwright George C. Wolfe and is an adaptation of three stories by Zora Neale Hurston: "Sweat," "Story in Harlem Slang" and " The Gilded Six Bits." Wolfe won a 1989 Obie award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ... for best off-Broadway director for Spunk. References External links * {{OBIE Plays Plays by George C. Wolfe 1989 plays Obie Award–winning plays Adaptations of works by Zora Neale Hurston ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after the 2014 ceremony, the American Theatre Wing became the joint presenter and administrative manager of the Obie Awards. The Obie Awards are considered off-Broadway's highest honor, similar to the Tony Awards for Broadway productions. Background The Obie Awards were initiated by critic Jerry Tallmer and Edwin (Ed) Fancher, publisher of ''The Village Voice,'' who handled the financing and business side of the project. They were first given in 1956 under the direction of Tallmer. Initially, only off-Broadway productions were eligible; in 1964, off-off-Broadway productions were made eligible. The first Obie Awards ceremony was held at Helen Gee's cafe.Aletti, Vince"Helen Gee 1919–2004" ''Village Voice'' (New York City), 12 October 2004, ac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |