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Michael Bennett (theater)
Michael Bennett (April 8, 1943 – July 2, 1987) was an American musical theatre director, writer, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for an additional eleven. Bennett choreographed '' Promises, Promises'', '' Follies'' and ''Company''. In 1976, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Choreography for the musical ''A Chorus Line''. Bennett, under the aegis of producer Joseph Papp, created ''A Chorus Line'' based on a workshop process which he pioneered. He also directed and co-choreographed ''Dreamgirls'' with Michael Peters. Early life and career Bennett was born Michael DiFiglia in Buffalo, New York, the son of Helen (née Ternoff), a secretary, and Salvatore Joseph DiFiglia, a factory worker. His father was Italian American and his mother was Jewish. He studied dance and choreography in his teens and staged a number of shows in his local high sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River on the Canada–United States border, Canadian border. With a population of 278,349 according to the 2020 census, Buffalo is the List of municipalities in New York, second-most populous city in New York State after New York City, and the List of United States cities by population, 82nd-most populous city in the U.S. Buffalo is the primary city of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 1.1 million in 2020, making it the List of metropolitan statistical areas, 49th-largest metro area in the U.S. Before the 17th century, the region was inhabited by nomadic Paleo-Indians who were succeeded by the Neutral Confederacy, Neutral, Erie people, Erie, and Iroquois nations. In the early 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Comden
Betty Comden (May 3, 1917 – November 23, 2006) was an American lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter who contributed to numerous Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership with Adolph Green spanned six decades: "the longest running creative partnership in theatre history." The musical-comedy duo of Comden and Green collaborated most notably with composers Jule Styne and Leonard Bernstein, as well enjoyed success with '' Singin' in the Rain'', as part of the famed " Freed unit" at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Early life Betty Comden was born Basya Cohen in Brooklyn, New York in 1917, the younger child of Leo Cohen (originally Astershinsky), a lawyer, and Rebecca ( Sadvoransky) Cohen, an English teacher. Both were Russian immigrants and observant Jews. She had an older brother, Nathaniel ("Nat"), born . Basya "attended Erasmus Hall High School and studied drama at New York University, graduating in 1938," according to ''The New York Times' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Starting in the 1950s, he composed hundreds of pop songs, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. Bacharach's music is characterized by unusual chord progressions and time signature changes, influenced by his background in jazz, and uncommon selections of instruments for small orchestras. He arranged, conducted, and produced much of his recorded output. More than 1,000 different artists have recorded Bacharach's songs. From 1961 to 1972, most of Bacharach and David's hits were written specifically for and performed by Dionne Warwick, but earlier associations (from 1957 to 1963) saw the composing duo work with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels, and Jerry Butler. Following the initial success of these collaborations, Bacharach w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comic songs, and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film roles, among them Inspector Clouseau, Chief Inspector Clouseau in ''The Pink Panther'' series. Born in Southsea, Sellers made his stage debut at the Kings Theatre, Southsea, when he was two weeks old. He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres. He first worked as a drummer and toured around England as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). He developed his mimicry and improvisational skills during a spell in Ralph Reader's wartime Gang Show entertainment troupe, which toured Britain and the Far East. After the war, Sellers made his radio debut in ''ShowTime'', and eventually became a regular perfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The World Of Henry Orient
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun '' the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry, Sweet Henry
''Henry, Sweet Henry'' is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. Based on the 1964 novel '' The World of Henry Orient'' by Johnson's daughter Nora and the subsequent film of the same name, the plot focuses on Valerie and Marian, two wealthy, love-struck teenagers who stalk an avant-garde composer and aging philanderer. Productions The musical premiered on Broadway on October 23, 1967 at the Palace Theatre, and closed on December 31, 1967 after 80 performances and twelve previews. It was directed by George Roy Hill and choreographed by Michael Bennett. The cast featured Don Ameche, Neva Small, Robin Wilson, Carol Bruce, Louise Lasser, Baayork Lee, Priscilla Lopez, Alice Playten, and Pia Zadora." 'Henry, Sweet Henry' Broadway" Playbill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Joyful Noise
''A Joyful Noise'' is a musical theatre, musical with a script by Edward Padula and music and lyrics by Oscar Brand and Paul Nassau. The 1966 Broadway theatre, Broadway production was a flop but introduced choreographer Michael Bennett (theater), Michael Bennett in his Broadway debut. Based on Southern literature, Mississippi author Borden Deal's 1959 novel ''The Insolent Breed'', the story centers on Shade Motley, a fiddler who arrives in a small Southern United States, Southern small town, town and shocks the stern community with his exuberant love of hillbilly music and life in general. Background and production The musical underwent significant changes, both in performers and creators, during the tryout period. The book, originally written by Edward Padula, was rewritten by Dore Schary, who took over as director. However, he quit, and PadulaGlover, William"A Joyful Noise's Lusty Song, Laughter Opens"''The Montreal Gazette'', December 19, 1966 and Michael Bennett became co-d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hullabaloo (TV Series)
''Hullabaloo'' is an American musical variety series that aired on NBC from January 12, 1965, to April 11, 1966 (with repeats to August 1966). Similar to ABC's '' Shindig!'' and in contrast to ''American Bandstand'', it aired in prime time. Overview Directed by Steve Binder, who went on to direct Elvis Presley's 1968 "comeback" special, ''Hullabaloo'' served as a big-budget, quality showcase for the leading pop acts of the day, and was also competition for another like-minded television showcase, ABC's '' Shindig!'' A different host presided each week—among these were Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Lewis, Gary Lewis, Petula Clark, Paul Anka, Liza Minnelli, Jack Jones, David McCallum and Frankie Avalon—singing a couple of his or her own hits and introducing the different acts. Chart-topping acts who performed on the show included Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas & the Papas, Dionne Warwick, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popular Music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia'' As a kind of popular art, it stands in contrast to art music. Art music was historically disseminated through the performances of written music, although since the beginning of the recording industry, it is also disseminated through sound recording, recordings. Traditional music forms such as early blues songs or hymns were passed along orally, or to smaller, local audiences. The original application of the term is to music of the 1880s Tin Pan Alley period in the United States. Although popular music sometimes is known as "pop music", the two terms are not interchangeable. Popular music is a generic term for a wide variety of genres of music that appeal to the tastes of a large segment of the populati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bajour (musical)
''Bajour'' is a musical with a book by Ernest Kinoy and music and lyrics by Walter Marks. The musical is based on the Joseph Mitchell short stories ''The Gypsy Women'' and ''The King of the Gypsies'' published in ''The New Yorker''. "'Bajour' cast, production, and plot listing" masterworksbroadway.com, retrieved December 26, 2010Gross, Mik "'Bajour' Misses, But Marks Makes Mark" 'Billboard'' (books.google.com), December 5, 1964, p. 20 The title is allegedly a wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Here's Love
''Here's Love'' is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson. An adaptation of the film '' Miracle on 34th Street'', the show is currently licensed under the film's name as ''Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical''. The musical, much like the film that inspired it, tells the tale of a skeptical young girl who doubts the existence of Santa Claus. When the real Kris Kringle is hired inadvertently to represent jolly St. Nick in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, he must convince the child and her cynical divorced mother (the department store's special events director) that he is the genuine article. Productions The Broadway production, directed by Stuart Ostrow and choreographed by Michael Kidd, opened on October 3, 1963, at the Shubert Theatre, and closed on July 25, 1964, after 334 performances and 2 previews. The cast included Laurence Naismith, Janis Paige, Craig Stevens, Lisa Kirk, Fred Gwynne, Kathy Cody, Michael Bennett, and Baayork Lee. The orig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meredith Willson
Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flautist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 1957 hit Broadway musical ''The Music Man'' and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" (1951). Willson wrote three other musicals, two of which appeared on Broadway, and composed symphonies and popular songs. He was twice nominated for Academy Awards for film scores. Early life Willson was born in Mason City, Iowa, to Rosalie Reiniger Willson and John David Willson. He had a brother two years his senior, John Cedrick, and a sister 12 years his senior, children's writer Dixie Willson. Willson attended Frank Damrosch's Institute of Musical Art (which later became The Juilliard School) in New York City. He married his high-school sweetheart, Elizabeth "Peggy" Wilson, on August 29, 1920; they were married for 26 years. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
