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Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil (musical)
''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and a book by Taylor Mac. Based on John Berendt's 1994 non-fiction novel of the same name, it premiered on July 8, 2024, at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. The musical follows an antiques dealer who is on trial for the murder of a male prostitute in Savannah, Georgia, U.S., based on the killing of Danny Hansford. A Broadway run has been announced for 2025. Development In 2012, it was reported that producer Anne Hamburger had enlisted playwright Alfred Uhry to adapt Berendt's novel into a stage musical, which would make use of music from Johnny Mercer's catalogue. In 2013, Rob Ashford was attached to direct the production, which aimed for a tryout either in the U.S. or London in late 2014, with a Broadway debut eyed for the first half of 2015. A reading took place in 2014, with Tony Goldwyn, Leslie Uggams, and Jessica Molaskey leading the cast. The adaptation was then sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jason Robert Brown
Jason Robert Brown (born June 20, 1970) is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for his work on ''Parade'' and ''The Bridges of Madison County''. Career Brown grew up in the suburbs of New York City, and attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York for 2 years, rooming with fellow student, and vocalist, Christopher Mooney.Weber, Bruc"If Only the Cool Kids Could See Him Now (at Least Hear His Songs)"'The New York Times'', October 1, 2008 During summer, he attended French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts in Hancock, New York. He said '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' and ''Sunday in the Park with George'' were two of his biggest influences, and had it not been for them, he would have joined a rock band and tried to be Billy Joel. He began his career in New York City as an arranger, conductor, and piani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tryout (theatre)
A tryout is the staging of performances of a theatrical production (i.e., a play or musical) at an out-of-town venue for evaluation and possible revision before the production premieres on Broadway or the West End (i.e., the highest level of live theater in the English-speaking world). A tryout is similar to a workshop production in that the point is to identify and eliminate embarrassing flaws before the production is put on before highly demanding New York or London audiences. Unlike a workshop, a tryout is usually much more developed, less rough, and close to the intended final product. If a tryout goes well and irons out the last few bugs, then that assures the project's investors of its eventual success—namely, when the production debuts on Broadway or the West End, it will already be fully polished and more likely to receive favorable reviews and play to sold-out houses for several years, so they can recoup their investment. Conversely, tryouts enable theatrical audi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Hansford
Danny Lewis Hansford (March 1, 1960 – May 2, 1981) was killed by his employer, historic preservationist and antiques dealer Jim Williams, at Williams' home in Savannah, Georgia, United States. His death was recounted in John Berendt's 1994 non-fiction book ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', its 1997 film adaptation, and its 2024 musical stage adaptation. After four trials, Williams was acquitted of Hansford's murder. Early life Danny Hansford was born in 1960 in Savannah, Georgia, to Emily Bannister. He was one of three sons, the others being John and William. Shooting In the early hours of May 2, 1981, Hansford and Jim Williams had an argument at Williams's residence at Mercer House, in Monterey Square, Savannah. According to police statements made by Williams, Hansford had resided in the home for two years and was playing a video game when the argument ensued. During the argument, Hansford, of whom Williams had been a sexual partner for about two years, [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lady Chablis
The Lady Chablis (March 11, 1957 – September 8, 2016), also known as The Grand Empress and The Doll, was an American actress, author, and transgender club performer. Through exposure in the bestselling nonfiction book '' Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', and its 1997 film adaptation, she became one of the first trans performers to be introduced to a wide audience. Early life Born Benjamin Edward Knox in 1957,The Lady Chablis Sassy Transgender Figure in Savannah Book, Movie Dies at-59." Washington Post, Sept. 9, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016. Knox grew up in |
James Arthur Williams
James Arthur Williams (December 11, 1930 – January 14, 1990) was an American antiques dealer and a historic preservationist based in Savannah, Georgia. He played an active role in the preservation of the Savannah Historic District for over 35 years. Williams is the main character in John Berendt's book ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', published four years after Williams's 1990 death. After four trials for an alleged murder that occurred in his house in 1981, he was acquitted in 1989. Life James Arthur Williams was born in 1930 in Gordon, Georgia, to Arthur Costlar, a barber, and Blanche Brooks Williams. He studied piano at Middle Georgia College and interior design at Ringling College in Sarasota, Florida. He dropped out of Ringling after the second of three years and enrolled at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. After serving briefly in the U.S. Air Force, in 1952 Williams moved to Savannah, where he began working for Klug's Furniture Company at the corner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercer House (Savannah, Georgia)
Mercer House (now the Mercer Williams House Museum) is located at 429 Bull Street in Savannah, Georgia. Completed in 1868, it occupies the southwestern civic block of Monterey Square. The house was the scene of the 1981 killing of Danny Hansford by the home's owner Jim Williams, a story that is retold in the 1994 John Berendt book ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil''. The house is also featured in the movie adaptation of the book, released three years later. Williams held annual Christmas parties at Mercer House, on the eve of the Savannah Cotillion Club's debutante ball, which were the highlight of many people's social calendars. Williams had an "in" box and an "out" box for his invitations, depending on whether or not the person was in Williams's favor at the time. After Williams's death in 1990, the house was owned by Dorothy Williams Kingery, Williams's sister. She died in 2023. The home is open, in restricted form, to the public for tours. Kingery's daughter a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Workshop Production
A workshop production is a form of theatrical performance, in which a play or musical is staged in a modest form which does not include some aspects of a full production. For example, costumes, sets and musical accompaniment may be excluded, or may be included in a simpler form. In contrast, tryout productions are usually presented as full productions, with performers in costume, on a set, and accompanied by an orchestra or band. Under the Actors' Equity Workshop Code, a workshop "can be produced for about one-eighth of what a Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ... production would cost, and for about one-twentieth of what a Broadway production would cost". A producer can develop works at less expense in the workshop format, and can present those works ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stratton Leopold
Stratton Leopold (born 1943)"100 Years of Delicious Memories" - ''South Mag'', October 9, 2020 is an American producer, director and actor who has been in the film business for more than forty years, producing major, large-budget films. Career Leopold has nearly 60 film and television credits to his name ranging from executive producer and producer to casting director and actor. He also served as an Executive Vice President at Paramount Pictures. Leopold launched his film career in 1974 as a location casting director and location manager for low-budget movies. He is best known for his work as a producer or executive producer of several high budget, commercially successful films, such as ''Blood In Blood Out, Bound by Honor'', ''The General's Daughter (film), The Gen ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Break The Fourth Wall
The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th century onward, the rise of illusionism in staging practices, which culminated in the realism and naturalism of the theatre of the 19th century, led to the development of the fourth wall concept. The metaphor suggests a relationship to the mise-en-scène behind a proscenium arch. When a scene is set indoors and three of the walls of its room are presented onstage, in what is known as a box set, the fourth of them would run along the line (technically called the proscenium) dividing the room from the auditorium. The ''fourth wall'', though, is a theatrical convention, rather than of set design. The actors ignore the audience, focus their attention exclusively on the dramatic world, and remain absorbed in its fiction, in a state that the theat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Savannah Morning News
The ''Savannah Morning News'' is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Gannett. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry". The paper serves Savannah, its Savannah metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and parts of South Carolina. History William Tappan Thompson, author of the ''Major Jones'' series of humorous stories, along with John McKinney Cooper as publisher and owner, founded the paper on January 15, 1850 as the ''Daily Morning News''. At the end of the American Civil War, Civil War in 1865, John Cooper was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson allowing him to retain ownership of the paper. Its name was changed to the ''Daily News and Herald'', though Thompson remained as editor. Thompson left the paper in 1867 to travel in Europe. In 1868, Thompson returned and the paper was renamed again to ''The Savannah Daily Morning News'' for one edition, then changed to the current name the following day. In 1870, Joel Chandler Harri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jessica Molaskey
Jessica Molaskey (born January 9, 1962) is an American professional actress and singer. Jessica most recently appeared in the Off Broadway production of ''The Connector'' at the MCC Theater Company for which she was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. She has appeared in almost a dozen Broadway shows, including ''Sunday in the Park with George'', ''Parade'', ''Dream'', ''Tommy'', ''Les Miserables'', '' Crazy for You'', ''Chess'', ''Oklahoma!'', ''Cats'', '' City of Angels'', and the first national tour of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''. In 2025, she's set to portray Miss Jane in the Broadway premiere of '' Floyd Collins'' opposite Jeremy Jordan. She recently created the role of Alma in the world premiere of the musical adaptation of ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' written by Jason Robert Brown and Taylor Mac at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. She has premiered theater pieces Off-Broadway, including the Jason Rober ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leslie Uggams
Leslie Marian Uggams (; born May 25, 1943) is an American actress and singer. After beginning her career as a child in the early 1950s, she garnered acclaim for her role in the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Hallelujah, Baby!'', winning a Theatre World Award in 1967 and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1968. Uggams gained wider recognition for portraying Kizzy Reynolds in the television miniseries ''Roots (1977 miniseries), Roots'' (1977), earning Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations for her performance. Later in her career, Uggams received renewed notice with appearances as Blind Al in the superhero films ''Deadpool (film), Deadpool'' (2016), ''Deadpool 2'' (2018), and ''Deadpool & Wolverine'' (2024). Her other prominent roles were as Leah Walker on the Fox musical drama series ''Empire (2015 TV series), Empire'' (2016–2020); as Agnes Ellison in the comedy-drama film ''American Fiction (film), American Fiction'' (2023); and as Betty Pearson in the List o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
