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Kit Hesketh-Harvey
Christopher John Hesketh-Harvey (30 April 1957 – 1 February 2023) was a British musical performer, translator, composer, and screenwriter. Early life Born in Zomba, Nyasaland (now Malawi), Rhodesia and Nyasaland, into a Foreign Office family, Hesketh-Harvey was educated as senior chorister at Canterbury Cathedral and then at Tonbridge School in Kent. He gained an Exhibition in English Literature as well as a choral scholarship to Clare College, Cambridge, where he studied under John Rutter and joined the Footlights. Career Hesketh-Harvey worked as a staff producer for the BBC-TV Music and Arts Department, joining in 1980 and leaving to write the script for Merchant Ivory's '' Maurice'' (1987). He won the 1988 Vivian Ellis Award for musical-theatre writers and subsequently studied with Stephen Sondheim, who had been appointed to the Cameron Mackintosh visiting professorship in Contemporary Theatre at St Catherine's College, Oxford. Hesketh-Harvey worked on ''The Vicar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zomba, Malawi
Zomba is a city in southern Malawi, in the Shire Highlands. It is the former capital city of Malawi. It was the capital of first British Central Africa and then Nyasaland Protectorate before the establishment of Malawi in 1964. It was also the first capital of Malawi and remained so until 1974, when Lilongwe became the capital. The Parliament remained even longer, until 1994. The city is best known for its British colonial architecture and its location at the base of the dramatic Zomba Plateau. Zomba is also the home of Chancellor College of the University of Malawi. History The town's British colonial past is reflected in the architecture of its older buildings and homes. Zomba was once a hub for expatriates in Malawi. Its diverse cultural mix included British tobacco farmers and Dutch, German and U.S. emissaries. The British also established Sir Harry Johnston Primary School. The Zomba Gymkhana Club was once the focus for social activity in the expatriate community. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vivian Ellis
Vivian John Herman Ellis, CBE (29 October 1903 – 19 June 1996) was an English musical comedy composer best known for the song " Spread a Little Happiness" and the Paul Temple theme " Coronation Scot". Life and work Ellis was born in Hampstead, London in 1903 and educated at Cheltenham College. He began a musical career as a concert pianist, but became a composer and lyricist. His grandmother, Julia Woolf, had also been a concert pianist as well as composing an opera, ''Carina''. He had great success with the foxtrot song "Over My Shoulder" in the early 20s. This led to further contributions of pieces for several revues in the 1920s. Another hit song was his "Yale Blues" which had a dance step called the "Yale" and became a craze in 1927 both in the UK, Europe and the US. He became well known in the London West End theatre community for providing the music and collaborating in the production of a large number of musical shows, spanning from 1925 to 1958. Ellis dominated th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tomfoolery (musical)
''Tomfoolery'' (or ''Tom Foolery'') is a musical revue based on the songs of American satirist Tom Lehrer. Devised and produced by Cameron Mackintosh, it premiered in London at the Criterion Theatre, directed by Gillian Lynne, on 5 June 1980, where it had a successful run. It subsequently opened on December 14, 1981 Off-Broadway at the Top of the Gate in Greenwich Village, New York, where it ran for 120 performances.''Tomfoolery'' production and show information mtishows.com, accessed December 7, 2008 The cast included Jonathan Hadary.Rich, Fran [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. Opening in 1870, the theatre staged mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. The theatre was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous structure. The current building dates from 1926, and the capacity is now 690 seats. Early stage mechanisms, including rare thunder drums and lightning sheets, survive in the theatre. History Origins The theatre was designed by prolific architect C. J. Phipps, and decorated in a Romanesque style by George Gordon. It opened on 16 April 1870 with Andrew Halliday's comedy, ''For Love Or Money'' and a burlesque, ''Don Carlos or the Infante in Arms''. A notable innovation was the concealed footlights, which would shut off if the glass in front of them was broken. The owner, William Wybrow Robertson, had run a failing billiard hall on the site but saw more opportunity in theatre. He leased the new theatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salad Days (musical)
''Salad Days'' is a musical with music by Julian Slade, and with book and lyrics by Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade. The musical was initially performed in 1954 in the UK in Bristol and then in the West End, where it ran for 2,283 performances. Background Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds had been working together on writing musicals since 1952, writing the book, music and lyrics. Reynolds was also an actress. They wrote ''Salad Days'' as a "summer musical for the Bristol Old Vic's resident company." The title is taken from William Shakespeare's ''Antony and Cleopatra'': "My salad days, When I was green in judgment, cold in blood, To say as I said then!", and the phrase has come to be used generally to refer to one's days of youthful inexperience. The musical's enduring popularity lies in its light-hearted innocence and apparent simplicity, in sharp contrast to the many "hard-nosed" American musicals of the era, and its bright score including the songs "We Said We Wouldn't ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frome
Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest towns in Somerset until the Industrial Revolution. The town first grew due to the wool and cloth industry; it later diversified into metal-working and printing, although these have declined. The town was enlarged during the 20th century but retains a large number of listed buildings, and most of the centre falls within a conservation area. The town has road and rail transport links and acts as an economic centre for the surrounding area. It provides a centre for cultural and sporting activities, including the annual Frome Festival and Frome Museum. In 2014, Frome was named by ''The Times'' as the "sixth coolest town" in Britain. It was shortlisted as one of three towns in the country for the 2016 Urbanism Awards in the 'Great Town Award' c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rook Lane Chapel
Rook Lane Chapel was a place of worship, and is now an arts centre, in Frome, Somerset, England. Built in 1707 by James Pope the chapel was the place of worship for nonconformists. In 1717 there were a thousand ‘hearers’ in the congregation. In 1773, a split in the congregation of Rook Lane led to the establishment of another Congregational Church, Zion, in Whittox Lane. As other chapels opened, however, there was a gradual decline in attendees and in 1933 the pastor's salary was reduced by £20 to £205 (). In 1965 the chapel merged with the Zion Chapel and Rook Lane eventually closed in 1968. It was sold to developers but they were unable to secure planning permission for proposed future uses. Lead and tiles were stolen from the roof, vandals broke in, smashed all the memorials and brought down the gallery. The building was square with two pillars supporting the roof and a gallery around three sides. There are two tiers of seven windows, and a central pediment spanning fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wigmore Hall
The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals, and hosts over five hundred concerts each year, as well as a weekly concert broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Bechstein Hall The Bechstein Hall was built between 1899 and 1901 by C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik, the German piano manufacturer, whose showroom was next door. The British architect Thomas Edward Collcutt was commissioned to design the space. Collcutt was also responsible for the Savoy Hotel on Strand, London, The Strand (since modified) and the Palace Theatre, London, Palace Theatre on Cambridge Circus, London, Cambridge Circus (originally the Royal English Opera House), with which the Hall shares pale terracotta ornamentation. Bechstein Hall opened on 31 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stuart Hancock
Stuart Hancock (born 5 August 1975) is a British composer of film, TV and concert music. Hancock is known for having composed the original soundtracks to series 2 of the BBC fantasy series Atlantis, the animated TV adaptation of We're Going On A Bear Hunt and the Netflix comedy horror Crazyhead. He won the BASCA British Composer Award in 2015 for his community song-cycle, Snapshot Songs. Career Hancock attended Downing College, Cambridge University, earning a BA in Geography. He was the inaugural recipient of the Pomona-Downing Scholarship, studying for an academic year at Pomona College, Claremont, California, US, where he developed his interest in music composition and scored his first film. He subsequently gained a place on the Masters Course in Composition for Film and Television at the London College of Music, graduating with Distinction. In 1999, Hancock was the winner of the Silent Sounds nationwide competition to be commissioned to re-score music for the 1920s Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that was heavily self-deprecating and acerbic, especially towards celebrities and politicians, delivered in her signature New York accent. She is considered a pioneer of women in comedy. She received an Daytime Emmy Award, Emmy Award and a Grammy Award, as well as nomination for a Tony Award. Rivers started her career in comedy clubs in Greenwich Village alongside her peers George Carlin, Woody Allen and Richard Pryor. She then rose to prominence in 1965 as a guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show''. Hosted by her mentor, Johnny Carson, the show established Rivers's comedic style. In 1986, with her own rival program, ''The Late Show (1986 TV series), The Late Show with Joan Rivers'', Rivers became the first woman to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera (British Magazine)
''Opera'' is a monthly British magazine devoted to covering all things related to opera. It contains reviews and articles about current opera productions internationally, as well as articles on opera recordings, opera singers, opera companies, opera directors, and opera books. The magazine also contains major features and analysis on individual operas and people associated with opera. The magazine employs a network of international correspondents around the world who write for the magazine. Contributors to the magazine, past and present, include William Ashbrook, Martin Bernheimer, Julian Budden, Rodolfo Celletti, Alan Blyth, Elizabeth Forbes, and J.B. Steane among many others. Format ''Opera'' is printed in A5 size, with colour photos, and consists of around 130 pages. Page numbering is consecutive for a complete year (e.g. September 2009 covers pages 1033–1168). All issues since February 1950 are available online to current subscribers (through Exact Editions). His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles in the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and in the film series '' Johnny English'' (2003–present). Atkinson first came to prominence on the BBC sketch comedy show ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' (1979–1982), receiving the 1981 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. Atkinson has appeared in various films, including the James Bond film ''Never Say Never Again'' (1983), ''The Witches'' (1990), ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' (1994), '' Rat Race'', ''Scooby-Doo'' (both 2002), ''Love Actually'' (2003), and ''Wonka'' (2023). He played the voice role of Zazu in the Disney animated film ''The Lion King'' (1994). Atkinson portrayed Mr. Bean in the film adaptations ''Bean'' (1997) and '' Mr. Bean's Holiday'' (2007), and voiced the title character in '' Mr. Bean: The Animated Series'' (2002–present). H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
