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Jolson
''Jolson'' is a musical with a book by Francis Essex and Rob Bettinson and a score composed of tunes by some of the all-time greatest songwriters of Tin Pan Alley. Premise Based on the life of singer Al Jolson, one of America's most popular entertainers, it spans thirty years of his career. Out of the limelight, the plot emphasizes his personal faults as much as it does his professional successes. Other major characters include his wife Ruby Keeler and his longtime friend and agent Louis Epstein. Productions The West End production, directed by Bettinson, opened on October 26, 1995 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, where it ran for seventeen months. The cast included Brian Conley as Jolson, Sally Ann Triplett as Keeler, John Bennett as Epstein, Julie Armstrong, Alison Carter & Helen McNee as The Rooney Sisters. An original cast album was recorded live during the performances of February 29, March 1, and March 2, 1996 and released by First Night Records. ''Jolson - The Mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Jolson
Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, as well as the first openly Jewish man to become an entertainment star in the United States. He was known for his "shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach" towards performing, along with popularizing many of the songs he sang. According to music historian Larry Stempel, "No one had heard anything quite like it before on Broadway." Stephen Banfield wrote that Jolson's style was "arguably the single most important factor in defining the modern musical." Jolson has been referred to by modern critics as "the king of blackface performers". Although best remembered today as the star of the first talking picture, ''The Jazz Singer'' (1927), he starred in a series of successful musical films during the 1930 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swanee (song)
"Swanee" is an American popular song from 1919 composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Irving Caesar. It is most often associated with singer Al Jolson. The song was written for a New York City revue called ''Demi-Tasse'', which opened in October 1919 at the Capitol Theater. Caesar, who was then aged 24, claimed to have written the song in about ten minutes riding on a bus in Manhattan, finishing it at Gershwin's apartment. It was partly inspired by Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home", including that phrase in its lyrics. It was originally used as a big production number, with 60 chorus girls dancing with electric lights in their slippers on an otherwise darkened stage. Jolson versions The song had little impact in its first show, but not long afterwards Gershwin played it at a party where Al Jolson heard it. Jolson then put it into his show ''Sinbad'', already a success at the Winter Garden Theatre, and recorded it for Columbia Records in January 1920. "After t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jolson Tonight
''Jolson Tonight'' is a musical with a book by Nicholas Dante. The musical is based on the life of Al Jolson. Background Nicholas Dante was hired by producer Jeff Britton to write ''Jolson Tonight'' after his previous Al Jolson musical, ''Joley'', failed in spring 1979. The show was written in a similar fashion to ''A Chorus Line'', Dante's previous musical, by having a series of recorded conversations with star Larry Kert about the public and private life of Al Jolson.''Al Jolson Tonight'' ovrtur.com, retrieved June 8, 2019Lawson, Carol ''The New York Times'', July 25, 1979 The show was doing a pre-Broadway trial in five cities in the 1980 in prep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Spaniard That Blighted My Life
"The Spaniard That Blighted My Life" is a comic song which was composed and first performed by English music-hall performer Billy Merson. It starts It was performed by Al Jolson in his show ''The Honeymoon Express'' and he recorded it for Victor Records on March 7, 1913 (catalog No. 17318). It became a major hit, selling over a million copies. Merson sued Jolson for copyright infringement, forcing removal of the song from the movie, ''The Singing Fool'' in the UK. Renditions * Al Jolson, '' The Jolson Story'' (1946) and ''Jolson Sings Again'' (performed by Larry Parks), dubbed by Al Jolson) * Bing Crosby and Al Jolson, recorded March 25, 1947. * Roy Hudd on ''Those Music Hall Days'' * Seamus Kennedy on ''Party Pieces'', 2005. * The song was featured in Season 32, Episode 1 of The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruby Keeler
Ethel Ruby Keeler (August 25, 1909 – February 28, 1993) was a Canadian and American actress, dancer, and singer who was paired on-screen with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros., particularly '' 42nd Street'' (1933). From 1928 to 1940, she was married to actor and singer Al Jolson. She retired from show business in the 1940s, but made a widely publicized comeback on Broadway in 1971. Early life Keeler was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1909 to Ralph Hector and Nellie (''née'' Lahey) Keeler, one of six siblings in an Irish Catholic family. Two sisters, Helen and Gertrude, had brief performing careers. Her father was a truck driver. When Ruby was three years old, her family moved to New York City, where her father could get better pay. Although Keeler was interested in taking dance lessons, the family could not afford to send her. Keeler attended St. Catherine of Siena on New York's East Side, and one period each week, a dance teach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Conley
Brian Paul Conley (born 7 August 1961) is an English actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Conley has been the host of '' The Brian Conley Show'', as well as presenting the Royal Variety Performance on eight occasions. In his 40+-year television career, he has starred in award-winning television sitcoms including '' Time After Time'' and '' The Grimleys''. In the West End, he has played the lead role in musicals such as '' Me and My Girl'', ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'', '' Hairspray'', '' Oliver!'', '' The Music Man'', '' Barnum'' and '' Jolson'' for which he was nominated for a prestigious Laurence Olivier Award. As a musician, he has released five albums, including ''Brian Conley Sings'', ''Let the Good Times Roll'', and ''Stage to Stage''. He has won numerous awards in his career, including The National Television Award for Most Popular Comedy Performer, Best Live Performer in '' Manchester Evening News'' and a British Comedy Award. From 2021 to 2023, Conl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Bennett (actor)
John David Bennett (8 May 1928 – 11 April 2005) was an English actor. Early life Bennett was born in Beckenham, Kent, to Alfred Bennett and Bessie Bennett (née Rudnidsky). He was educated at Bradfield College in Berkshire, then trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, followed by a wide repertory theatre experience including Bromley, Bristol Old Vic, Dundee, the Edinburgh Festival and Watford before going to London's West End. He was Jewish. Career Often cast as a villain, Bennett had many roles on television including '' Market in Honey Lane'', ''Porridge'', '' Survivors'', '' The Avengers'', '' Strange Report'', '' Bergerac'', '' The Professionals'' and four episodes of '' The Saint''. He guest-starred in two ''Doctor Who'' serials. He is also well remembered as Philip Bosinney in the BBC's adaptation of '' The Forsyte Saga'' (1967), but also appeared in over three hundred TV productions including ''God's Architect''; ''Blake's 7''; '' I, Claudius''; ''R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Royal Alexandra Theatre, commonly known as the Royal Alex, is an historic performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario. The theatre is located at 260 King Street West, in the downtown Toronto Entertainment District. Owned and operated by Mirvish Productions, the theatre has approximately 1,244 seats across three levels. Built in 1907, the Royal Alexandra Theatre is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America. History The Royal Alex is a 1,244-seat, beaux-arts style, proscenium-stage theatre, with two balcony levels, built in the style typical of 19th century British theatres. Construction began in 1905 and was completed in 1907. Since 1963, it has been owned by Ed Mirvish Enterprises, a company established by Toronto department store owner Edwin Mirvish. Since 1986, the theatre has been managed and operated by Mirvish Productions, the theatre production company headed by Ed's son, David Mirvish. The theatre, commonly known as the "Royal Alex", "th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Essex
Francis Essex (24 March 1929 – 5 March 2009) was a British television and stage producer, author and composer. Essex's career spanned several decades during which he worked for several TV production companies. His jobs included: Light Entertainment Producer for the BBC channel in the UK from 1954 to 1960; Senior Producer for the ATV (Associated Television) Network from 1960 to 1965; Controller of Programmes at Scottish Television from 1965 to 1969; Network Production Controller at ATV from 1969 to 1976; Member of the ATV Board of Directors from 1974; Director of Production at ATV from 1976 to 1981 and Chairman of the ITV (TV network), ITV Children's Network Committee from 1976 to 1981. Essex's numerous works for the theatre include ''Bells of St Martins'' at the St Martin's Theatre in 1953, which he wrote and presented. He also devised and directed ''Six of One'' at the Adelphi Theatre in 1964, and was the author of ''Jolson The Musical'' at the Victoria Palace Theatre in 1995. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Palace Theatre
The Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham in 1911 and was the last London theatre he designed before his retirement. The building was designated as a Grade II* listed building by Historic England in 1972. It has been the West End home of the musical ''Hamilton'' since 2017. History Origins The theatre began life as a small concert room above the stables of the Royal Standard Hotel, a small hotel and tavern built in 1832 at what was then 522 Stockbridge Terrace, on the site of the present theatre – not, as sometimes stated, on land where the train station now stands. The proprietor, John Moy, enlarged the building, and by 1850 it became known as Moy's Music Hall. Alfred Brown took it over in 1863, refurbished it, and renamed it the Royal Standard Music Hall. The hotel was demolished in 1886, by which time the main line terminus, Victoria Station and its new Grosvenor Hotel, had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sally Ann Triplett
Sally Ann Triplett (born 15 April 1962, London, England) is a British singer and actress. She participated in two editions of the Eurovision Song Contest and West End productions. Career Triplett first represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 as the lead female vocals of the six-piece band Prima Donna. Prima Donna finished third with their pop-ballad " Love Enough for Two" but the song was a flop in the charts, and the group disbanded after their second single. Two years later, she again represented United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, this time as part of a duo, Bardo. Their song, " One Step Further", was a frantic pop number with a complex dance routine. The vigorous choreography noticeably affected the vocals, and not helped by a backing track but instead a live orchestra, the song finished seventh. Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in his ''The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History'' that Sally-Ann Tripl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biographical Musicals About Musicians
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of their life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality. Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Works in diverse media, from literature to film, form the genre known as biography. An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An unauthorized biography is one written without such permission or participation. An autobiography is written by the person themselves, sometimes wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
