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We Were Dancing
''We Were Dancing'' is a short comic play in two scenes by Noël Coward. It is one of ten short plays that make up '' Tonight at 8.30'', a cycle written to be performed in groups of three plays across three evenings. The original production, starring Coward and Gertrude Lawrence played in a pre-London tour, and then the West End, and finally New York, in 1935–1937. ''We Were Dancing'' has been revived periodically and was adapted for the cinema in 1942. The play depicts a married woman who falls in love with a divorced man at a dance on a South Pacific island. They plan to go to Australia, but in the cold light of morning, they realise that they have nothing in common and go their separate ways, Background In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Coward wrote a succession of hits, ranging from the operetta '' Bitter Sweet'' (1929) and the epic '' Cavalcade'' (1931), requiring a large cast, gargantuan sets and a complex hydraulic stage, to the intimate comedies ''Private Lives' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fumed Oak
Ammonia fuming is a wood finishing process that darkens wood and brings out the grain pattern. It consists of exposing the wood to fumes from a strong aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide which reacts with the tannins in the wood. The process works best on white oak because of the high tannin content of this wood. Fumed oak is also called fumigated oak or smoked oak. Other species may also be fumed, but usually will not darken as much as white oak. In America, the introduction of the process is usually associated with the furniture maker Gustav Stickley at the beginning of the 20th century, but fuming was known in Europe before this. Process The wood to be fumed is placed in a sealed chamber with all the surfaces to be fumed exposed to freely circulating air. A large shallow container of ammonium hydroxide solution is placed on the floor of the chamber and the chamber is sealed. If the chamber is large or the fuming is to be done for a long time, more than one contain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Littler
Tom Littler is a British theatre director and the Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London. He was the founder of theatre company Primavera Productions, a former Associate Director of Theatre503 formerly Artistic Director of Jermyn Street Theatre, which he turned into a producing theatre. His West End credits include Stephen Sondheim's '' Saturday Night'' (for Primavera) which starred Helena Blackman, the runner-up of '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria''. Littler was also resident director of the 2009 revival of '' A Little Night Music'' at the Garrick Theatre and Menier Chocolate Factory. Littler directed the premiere of ''Dances of Death'' by Howard Brenton, a new version of '' The Dance of Death'' by August Strindberg at the Gate Theatre (London) in 2013, starring Michael Pennington. He also directed the premieres of Brenton's biographical play about August Strindberg, ''The Blinding Light'', at Jermyn Street Theatre, and his new version o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jermyn Street Theatre
Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated on Jermyn Street, in London's West End. It is an Off West End studio theatre. History Jermyn Street Theatre opened in August 1994. It was formerly the changing rooms for staff at a Spaghetti House restaurant and originally the cellar of the Kent & Sussex Tavern up until 1838. The space was transformed under the leadership of Howard Jameson and Penny Horner into a 70-seat studio theatre. They both remain the Chair of the Board and Executive Director respectively. In 1995, Neil Marcus became the first Artistic Director and Jermyn Street received their Lottery Grant in 1997. During this time, producer Chris Grady contributed to Jermyn Street Theatre's development. Princess Michael of Kent became the theatre's patron in 1995 and David Babani, later the founder of the Menier Chocolate Factory, took over as artistic director in 1998 until 2001. Jermyn Street Theatre has become a staple of London's Off-West End studio theatre. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Bond
Gary James Bond (7 February 1940 – 12 October 1995) was an English actor and singer. He is known for originating the role of Joseph in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', his performances in several high-profile West End theatre, West End plays and musicals, and his portrayal of protagonist John Grant in the Australian film ''Wake in Fright'' (1971). Early life Bond was born in the village of Liss (England), Liss, Hampshire, England. He was the first born child of his parents. He was born into a family in which the army was the destined career for any family member, with his father and numerous uncles being in the army. As a result, it was always assumed that he would follow in this tradition and was frequently persuaded by his family that this was his career path. Yet Bond from a young age had always harboured a love for acting. He was educated in Churcher's College in Petersfield and later Portsmouth College of Techno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Millicent Martin
Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satirical show ''That Was the Week That Was'' (known as TW3; 1962–1963), and won a BAFTA TV Award in 1964. For her work on Broadway, she received Tony Award nominations for '' Side by Side by Sondheim'' (1977) and '' King of Hearts'' (1978), both for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Other television roles include her recurring role as Gertrude Moon in the NBC sitcom ''Frasier'' (2000–04) and Joan Margaret in '' Grace & Frankie'' (2017–2022). Life and career Martin was born in Romford, Essex. Theatre Early clippings show Martin as one of the cast in the pantomime ''Dick Whittington'' starring Jimmy Hanley at the Granada Tooting in December 1949. The following year she was in ''Aladdin'' at the Pavilion Bournemouth in December 1950 and in May 1951 she appeared in ''The Happiest Days of Your Life'' at the Pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. History The original ''Hampstead Theatre Club'' was created in 1959, in Moreland Hall, a parish church school hall in Holly Bush Vale, Hampstead Village. James Roose-Evans was the founder and first Artistic Director, and the 1959–1960 season included ''The Dumb Waiter'' and '' The Room'' by Harold Pinter, Eugène Ionesco's ''Jacques'' and ''The Sport of My Mad Mother'' by Ann Jellicoe. In 1962, the company moved to a portable cabin in Swiss Cottage where it remained for nearly 40 years, before, in 2003, the new purpose-built Hampstead Theatre opened in Swiss Cottage. The main auditorium seats 373 people. The studio theatre, Hampstead Downstairs, seats up to 100 people and was turned into a laboratory for new writing in 2010. In 2022, Arts Council England removed the theatre's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Carten
Kenneth Hare Bicker-Caarten (29 August 1911 - 1980) was an English actor who worked under the name Kenneth Carten. Biography Kenneth Hare Bicker-Caarten was born on 29 August 1911 at Blomfield Road, Maida Vale, London, the son of middle-class parents Catherine and Edwin Hare Bicker-Caarten. His sisters were playwrights Waveney Carten and Audrey Carten. Tallulah Bankhead, a very close friend of his sister, Audrey, became a surrogate mother to Carten, who during the summer break from Eton College, went to live with them. In the late 1930s, with his sister, Audrey, he frequented the social circle of Elvira Mullens Barney. Appearances *1930: ''Charlot's Masquerade'' with Beatrice Lillie *1930: ''Wonder Bar'' with Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney. *1933: ''Gay Love'' by Waveney Carten and Audrey Carten, with Gwen Farrar *1933: ''Please'' with Beatrice Lillie. *1934: ''Streamline'' with Tilly Losch. *1935: ''Roulette'' *1935: ''Full House'' by Ivor Novello. *1936: as Edward Valanc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Pelissier
Harry Anthony Compton Pelissier (27 July 1912 – 2 April 1988) was an English actor, screenwriter, producer and director. Biography Pelissier was born in Barnet, north London, and came from a theatrical family. His parents were the theatre producer H. G. Pelissier (who presented ''Pelissier's Follies'') and the actress Fay Compton. His uncle was Compton MacKenzie, who wrote '' Whisky Galore''. He was barely a year old when his father died, and with his nineteen year-old widowed mother in pursuit of her acting career, was mostly raised by his grandmother Virginia Compton and a series of nannies. This background would inform one of his most successful films, ''The Rocking-Horse Winner'' with its plot of a neglected young boy desperate to please his worldly mother. Pelissier began acting in the 1930s. In 1935 and 1936, he was featured in Noël Coward's play cycle, '' Tonight at 8.30'', both in Britain and on Broadway. He also played in Coward's '' Set to Music'' (1939).T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moya Nugent
Moya Nugent (27 March 1901 – 26 January 1954) was a British actress and singer. She made a few broadcasts and three silent films but was chiefly known as a stage performer, and was particularly associated with the works of Noël Coward, appearing in twelve of his plays and two of his revues. Before that, she appeared early in her career in ''Peter and Wendy, Peter Pan'', and was cast in other children's plays and pantomimes. She was in the West End theatre, West End casts of revues by Cole Porter and others, and in Edwardian musical comedy, musical comedies such as ''Das Dreimäderlhaus#British version: Lilac Time, Lilac Time''. Her last stage role was in 1950; she died suddenly in 1954, aged 52. Life and career Nugent was born in Dublin. At the age of ten she made her first appearance on the stage, at the Playhouse Theatre, London on 21 September 1911, as Meenie in ''Rip Van Winkle''.Parker, pp. 1818–1819 Later that year she played the Baby Mermaid and Liza in ''Peter and We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Underdown
Charles Edward Underdown (3 December 190815 December 1989) was an English theatre, cinema and television actor. Early Life Underdown was the son of Harry Charles Baillie Underdown and Rachel Elizabeth Orr. Born in London, he was educated at Eton College. There his looks resulted in him being nominated 'Pop Bitch' – the prettiest boy available to the senior students of Pop, the Eton Society. Notable work Underdown's early theatre credits include: Noël Coward's '' Words and Music'' and '' Tonight at 8.30''; Cole Porter's '' Nymph Errant''; Moss Hart & Irving Berlin's '' Stop Press''; and ''Streamline''.University of Bristol Theatre Collection Database (2011). at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/theatrecollection, accessed 26 September 2011. His film credits include: '' They Were Not Divided'', '' Beat the Devil'', '' Wings of the Morning'', '' The Rainbow Jacket'', '' The Woman's Angle'', '' Her Panelled Door'', '' The Camp on Blood Island'', '' Dr. Terror's House of Horrors'', '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joyce Carey
Joyce Carey (30 March 1898 – 28 February 1993) was an English actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1987, and she was performing on television in her 90s. Although never a star, she was a familiar face both on stage and screen. In addition to light comedy, she had a large repertory of Shakespearean roles. Career Joyce Carey was born to Joyce Lilian Lawrence, the daughter of actor Gerald Lawrence, a matinée idol who had been a juvenile in Henry Irving's Shakespeare company, and his wife, actress Lilian Braithwaite,''Gaye'', pp 426–427 a major West End star."Obituary", ''The Times'', 3 March 1993, p. 17 Carey was educated at the Florence Etlinger Dramatic School. Carey made her stage debut in 1916, aged 18, as Princess Katherine in an all-female production of '' Henry V''. She joined Sir George Alexander's company at the St James's Theatre playing Jacqueline, a French countess, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
