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Louise Gunning
Louise Gunning (April 1, 1878 – July 24, 1960) was an American soprano popular on Broadway in Edwardian musical comedy and comic opera from the late 1890s to the eve of the First World War. She was perhaps best remembered as Princess Stephanie of Balaria in the 1911 Broadway production of ''The Balkan Princess''. During the war years Gunning began to close out her career singing on the vaudeville circuit. Early life and career Gunning was born on April 1, 1878, in Boston, Massachusetts, and later lived in Brooklyn, New York, where her father was a Baptist minister. Her mother, Mary Gunning, was a choir director who, besides her daughter, also trained the silent film actress Lucille Lee Stewart. Gunning made her first stage appearances as a chorus singer in a Frank Daniels show and later as a solo act singing Scottish ballads. In 1897 (around the time of her parents' divorce) she appeared in a New York production of ''The Circus Girl'', followed in rapid succession by perform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a population of 675,647 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Northeastern United States after New York City and Philadelphia. The larger Greater Boston metropolitan statistical area has a population of 4.9 million as of 2023, making it the largest metropolitan area in New England and the Metropolitan statistical area, eleventh-largest in the United States. Boston was founded on Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by English Puritans, Puritan settlers, who named the city after the market town of Boston, Lincolnshire in England. During the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, Boston was home to several seminal events, incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pickwick Papers
''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was the Debut novel, first novel serialised from March 1836 to November 1837 by English author Charles Dickens. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to supply descriptions to explain a series of comic "cockney sporting plates" by illustrator Robert Seymour (illustrator), Robert Seymour, and to connect them into a novel. The book became a publishing phenomenon, with bootleg copies, theatrical performances, Sam Weller (character), Sam Weller joke books, and other merchandise. On its cultural impact, Nicholas Dames in ''The Atlantic'' writes, "'Literature' is not a big enough category for ''Pickwick''. It defined its own, a new one that we have learned to call 'entertainment'." Published in 19 issues over 20 months, the success of ''The Pickwick Papers'' popularised Serial (literature), serialised fiction and cliffhan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcelle (musical)
''Marcelle'' is a musical theatre, musical in two acts with music by Gustav Luders and both book and lyrics by Frank S. Pixley, Frank Pixley. While billed by its creators as a musical, it was in reality more of an operetta. It was created as a starring vehicle for Louise Gunning who portrayed the title role in the original Broadway production. The role of the Parisian barmaid Marcelle required Gunning to masquerade as her character's brother, a young male soldier; making the part a partial trouser role. Plot Set at Castle Berghof in Germany near the French border, the musical's plot centers around the Baron von Berghof who will lose his castle if he cannot produce a male heir to his estate's executer, the lawyer Klug. If he fails to provide proof of a son his home will be taken from him and given over to his nephew Lieutenant Karl von Berghof. Childless and afraid of being evicted, Baron von Berghof sends his dimwitted servant Dumm to procure a male actor to masquerade as his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astor Theatre, New York City
The Astor Theatre was located at 1537 Broadway, at the corner with 45th Street, on Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It opened on September 21, 1906, with Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and continued to operate as a Broadway theatre until 1925. It then operated as a movie theater, showing first runs of films, until it closed in 1972. History The Astor was first managed by Lincoln A. Wagenhals and Collin Kemper, then by George M. Cohan and Sam Harris, and later by the Shubert Organization. The theater was designed by architect George W. Keister. Among the plays that debuted at the Astor were Cohan's '' Seven Keys to Baldpate'' (1913) and '' Why Marry?'' (1917) by Jesse Lynch Williams, the first winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 1925, Loew's Theatres bought the Astor and converted it into a movie house in order to have a Times Square " road show" showcase for first-run films from the MGM film studio. '' The Big Parade'' (1925) was the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Jones (Edward German)
''Tom Jones'' is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon Henry Fielding's 1749 novel, ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor. After a run in Manchester, England, the opera opened in London at the Apollo Theatre on 17 April 1907 for an initial run of 110 performances. It starred Ruth Vincent as Sophia and Hayden Coffin as Tom Jones. The piece also had a provincial tour and a popular Broadway run in 1907. It then disappeared from the professional repertory but eventually became very popular with amateur groups. Background and productions The impresario Robert Courtneidge, noting the bicentennial of Fielding's birth in 1907, decided to adapt Fielding's novel as a comic opera. He commissioned Thompson and Taylor to collaborate on the libretto and German to write the music. The eroticism of the novel was reduced for Edwardian audiences. The influences of German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Véronique (operetta)
''Véronique'' is an opéra comique in three acts with music by André Messager and words by Georges Duval (journalist), Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo. The opera, set in 1840 Paris, depicts a dashing but irresponsible aristocrat with complicated romantic affairs, eventually paired with the resourceful heroine. ''Véronique'' is Messager’s most enduring operatic work. After its successful premiere in Paris in 1898, it was produced across continental Europe, Britain, the US and Australia. It remains part of the operatic repertoire in France. Background and first production After a fallow period in the mid-1890s, Messager had an international success with ''Les p'tites Michu'' (1897). In 1898 his improved fortunes continued when he was appointed musical director of the Opéra-Comique in Paris. His work as a conductor left him little time for composition, and ''Véronique'' was his last stage work for seven years, despite its being his most successful work thus far.Wagstaff, Joh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casino Theatre (Broadway)
The Casino Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 1404 Broadway and West 39th Street in New York City. Built in 1882, it was a leading presenter of mostly musicals and operettas until it closed in 1930."Casino Theatre (Built: 1882 Demolished: 1930 Closed: 1930)" ''Internet Broadway Database'' (Retrieved on December 31, 2007) The theatre was the first in New York to be lit entirely by electricity, popularized the chorus line and later introduced white audiences to African-American shows. It originally seated approximately 875 people, however the theatre was enlarged in 1894 and again in 1905, after a fire, when its capacity was enlarged to 1,300 seats. It hosted a number of long-running comic operas, operettas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roderic C
Roderic (also spelled Ruderic, Roderik, Roderich, or Roderick; Spanish and , ; died 711) was the Visigothic king in Hispania between 710 and 711. He is well known as "the last king of the Goths". He is actually an extremely obscure figure about whom little can be said with certainty. He was the last Goth to rule from Toledo, but not the last Gothic king, a distinction which belongs to Ardo. Roderic's election as king was disputed and he ruled only a part of Hispania with an opponent, Achila, ruling the rest. He faced a rebellion of the Basques and the Umayyad invasion. He was defeated and killed at the Battle of Guadalete. His widow Egilona is believed to have married Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, the first Muslim governor of Hispania. Early life According to the late '' Chronicle of Alfonso III'', Roderic was a son of Theodefred, himself a son of king Chindaswinth, and of a woman named Riccilo. Roderic's exact date of birth is unknown but probably was after 687, estimated from his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gustave Kerker
Gustave Adolph Kerker, sometimes given as Gustav or Gustavus Kerker, (February 28, 1857 – June 29, 1923) was a Kingdom of Prussia-born composer and conductor who spent most of his life in the United States. He became a musical director for Broadway theatre productions and wrote the music for a series of operettas and musical theatre, musicals produced on Broadway and in the West End theatre, West End. His most famous musical was ''The Belle of New York (musical), The Belle of New York'' (1897). Life and career Kerker was born in Herford, Kingdom of Prussia, and began to study the cello at the age of seven. His family emigrated to the U.S. in 1867, settling in Louisville, Kentucky. Kerker played in pit orchestras at local theatres and then began to conduct. His early operetta, ''Cadets'', toured the South in 1879. Kerker then moved to New York City, where he was engaged as the principal conductor at the Casino Theatre (Broadway), Casino Theatre. There, he began to add his own ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The White Hen (musical)
''The White Hen'' (originally titled '' The Girl from Vienna'') is a musical in two acts with music by composer Gustav Kerker, a book by Roderic C. Penfield, and lyrics co-authored by Penfield and Paul West. Set in Tyrol, Austria, the story takes place at an inn, 'The White Hen', owned by Hensie Blinder. The musical begins after Blinder returns from a trip to Vienna in which he engaged a matrimonial agency to help him find a wife. Upon his return to the inn, several women arrive in response to the advertisement placed by the agency and a comedy of errors ensues; including Blinder mistakenly believing he has committed the crime of bigamy.Dietz, p. 412 Performance history ''The White Hen'' was initially performed outside of New York City for tryout performances during which time adjustments were made to the work by its creators. This included a change to the title which was initially ''The Girl from Vienna''. The name was changed after the original production's male lead, Louis M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian Edwards
Julian Edwards (December 11, 1855 - September 5, 1910) was an English composer of light operatic music, who composed many successful Broadway theatre, Broadway shows in the Progressive Era. He attempted to introduce new levels of musical sophistication to the genre. Some of his songs achieved popularity at the time. Early life Edwards was born in Manchester, England, and studied in Edinburgh and London. He became conductor of the Carl Rosa Opera Company. He also conducted at the Royal English Opera House, where he met his wife, ''prima donna'' Philippine Siedle."Honor Roll of Popular Song Writers, no 27, Julian Edwards", ''The Billboard'', July 9, 1949. p.38. He composed a grand opera entitled ''Victorian'', first performed at the Theatre Royal, Sheffield on 6 April 1883, which was also performed at Covent Garden Opera House on 19 January 1884. The libretto, by J F Reynolds-Anderson, was based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's play ''The Spanish Student''. Broadway career He soon t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Stanislaus Stange
Hugh Stanislaus Stange (1894–1966) was an American playwright and screenwriter known for what was once described as a "drab realism" in melodramas and crime stories in the 1920s and 1930s. Several of his plays were adapted for the cinema. Early life Born in New York, Stange was the son of the Broadway musical theatre writer and director Stanislaus Stange. Hugh followed in his father's footsteps, creating and adapting works for the popular theatre. From 1917, he served in the army in World War I. During his military service, he helped to put on entertainments. His first major success as a playwright was with '' Seventeen'' in 1918, which he co-wrote with Stannard Mears. The play was based on the novel by Booth Tarkington. 1920s By the 1920s, Stange was increasingly interested in social realism. According to ''Theatre Magazine'', Stange's plays at this time were influenced by the early work of Eugene O'Neill. His play ''Tin Pan Alley'' (1924) was a melodrama about infideli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
