1.
Royal Albert Hall
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The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, which holds the Proms concerts annually each summer since 1941. It has a capacity of up to 5,272 seats, the Hall is a registered charity held in trust for the nation and receives no public or government funding. A further 400 events are each year in the non-auditorium spaces. In 1851, the Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park, the Exhibitions Royal Commission bought Gore House and its grounds on the advice of the Prince. Progress on the scheme was slow and in 1861 Prince Albert died, however, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite. The proposal was approved and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition, the Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers and built by Lucas Brothers. The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum. The recently opened Cirque dHiver in Paris was seen in the press as the design to outdo. The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs, the dome on top was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was an assembly made of the iron framework of the dome in Manchester, then it was taken apart again and transported to London via horse. When the time came for the structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch, the Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870 and the Queen visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect. The official opening ceremony of the Hall was on 29 March 1871, a welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak. At some point, the Queen remarked that the Hall reminded her of the British constitution, a concert followed, when the Halls acoustic problems became immediately apparent. Engineers first attempted to solve the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome, in July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from the Faust by Charles Gounod, The Orchestra described his performance as an exceptional and distinguished performer. Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a system where its thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888, during an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times declaring it to be a very ghastly and unpleasant innovation. In May 1877, Richard Wagner himself conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival
2.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
3.
Joanna Lumley
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Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE FRGS is an English actress, voice-over artist, former model, author and activist. In 2013, she received the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards, Lumleys other television credits include The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, Sensitive Skin, and Jam & Jerusalem. Lumley is an advocate and human rights activist for Survival International and she supports charities and animal welfare groups such as Compassion in World Farming and Vegetarians International Voice for Animals. She is also patron of the Farm Animal Sanctuary, since 2012, Lumley has been planning, in collaboration with the designer Thomas Heatherwick, a controversial pedestrian Garden Bridge across the Thames in London. Lumley was brought up in Kent, England, where she attended Mickledene School in Rolvenden as a boarder, the family spent time in Hong Kong and Malaya. Lumley spent three years as a model, notably for Brian Duffy, by whom she was photographed with her son. She also worked as a model for Jean Muir. Over forty years later, she participated in another photoshoot – again with her son – for Duffy as part of a retrospective of the photographers work, Lumley appeared in an early episode of the Bruce Forsyth Show in 1966. She appeared in a British television advertisement for Nimble bread first screened in 1969, Lumley did not receive any formal training at drama school. Lumley went on to have a brief but memorable role as Elaine Perkins in Coronation Street, in 1973, she made another big screen appearance as Jessica Van Helsing in The Satanic Rites of Dracula, the last Hammer Dracula film to star Christopher Lee. She has worked with Tim Burton on two projects, in James and the Giant Peach and Corpse Bride. She has also appeared alongside Hugh Laurie in the British romantic comedy Maybe Baby and she has appeared twice as Mrs. Dolly Bantry in Agatha Christies Marple, in the episodes, The Body in the Library & The Mirror Crackd from Side to Side. In 2010, she appeared in a 4-episode guest arc on the BBC drama, in 2013, she appeared in the Martin Scorsese crime drama, The Wolf of Wall Street. Throughout her career, she has specialised in playing upper class parts, Lumleys first major role was as Purdey in The New Avengers, a revival of the secret agent series The Avengers. Although critical reaction to the series was lukewarm, the casting of Lumley was seen as inspired and following the tradition of Avengers actresses Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, in 1979 she appeared in another series which acquired a cult following, Sapphire & Steel, with David McCallum. Conceived as ITVs answer to Doctor Who, Lumley played an elemental being who, with her collaborator, Steel. Absolutely Fabulous, The Movie was released in 2016, in 1994 and 1995 Lumley starred alongside Nadine Garner and John Bowe in the British television show Class Act, playing the part of Kate Swift an upper class lady who had fallen on hard times. In 1995, she provided the voice of Annie the rag doll in the animated series The Forgotten Toys, in 1999, she also provided the voice for Sims the chicken in the BAFTA award winning animated series The Foxbusters
4.
Gary Oldman
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Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, filmmaker, musician and author who has performed in theatre, film and television. He is known for his big acting style and on-screen diversity, Oldman began acting on stage in 1979, and gained his first starring film role in Meantime. Identified in the late 1980s with the Brit Pack, he was described by critic Roger Ebert as the best young British actor around and he meanwhile gave a critically acclaimed reading of Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved. Motion pictures in which he has starred have grossed over $10.6 billion, in 2011, Empire readers voted Oldman the recipient of the Empire Icon Award. He will portray Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, Oldman was born in New Cross, London, the son of Leonard Bertram Oldman, a former sailor who also worked as a welder, and Kathleen Cheriton. He has stated that Leonard was an alcoholic who left the family when Oldman was seven years old, Oldman attended West Greenwich School in Deptford, leaving school at the age of 16 to work in a sports shop. He was a pianist as a child, and later a singer, in a 1995 interview with Charlie Rose, Oldman said, Something about Malcolm just arrested me, and I connected, and I said, I wanna do that. Growing up in south London, Oldman supported his local football club Millwall, and I knew that my dad was involved somehow with the reserve team. But two weeks ago my mum said, Oh yeah, your dad played for Millwall, when he was young he had a couple of first team games. He later won a scholarship to attend the Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, Southeast London, Oldman describes himself as shy although a diligent worker during his time at Rose Bruford, where he performed roles such as Puck in the performance of Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream. After leaving school, Oldman was the first in his class to receive professional work, Oldman stated on The South Bank Show that it had nothing to do with being better than someone else, rather his diligence and application. When asked by Charlie Rose if he had reminded RADA of this and he made his professional stage debut in 1979 as Puss, alongside Michael Simkins and Peter Howitt, in Dick Whittington and His Cat, at Yorks Theatre Royal. The play then ran in Colchester, then with Glasgows Citizens Theatre, Oldmans work ethic, from 1980 to 1981, he appeared in The Massacre at Paris, Desperado Corner, and Robert David MacDonalds plays Chinchilla and A Waste of Time. He performed in a 6-month West End run of MacDonalds Summit Conference, opposite Glenda Jackson, also that year, Oldman made his film debut in Colin Greggs Remembrance, and would have starred in Don Boyds Gossip if that film had not collapsed. The following year, he landed a role as a skinhead in Mike Leighs film Meantime. Afterwards, he went to Westcliffe to star in Saved, Saved proved to be a major breakthrough for Oldman. Max Stafford-Clark, artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre, had seen Oldmans performance and cast him as Scopey, Oldman was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1985 to 1986. The 1984 production of The Popes Wedding had been seen by director Alex Cox and he twice turned down the role before accepting it, because, in his own words, I wasnt really that interested in Sid Vicious and the punk movement
5.
Frances McDormand
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Frances Louise McDormand is an American actress. McDormand is one of the few performers who have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, in 1997, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Fargo. She returned to Broadway for the first time in 20 years to star in the 2008 revival of The Country Girl and her work in the films Mississippi Burning, Almost Famous and North Country, earned her Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominations. Her other films include Short Cuts, Primal Fear, Wonder Boys, Somethings Gotta Give, and The Good Dinosaur. McDormand was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was adopted by an originally from Canada – Noreen E. a registered nurse and receptionist, and Vernon W. McDormand. She has said that her mother may have been one of the parishioners at Vernons church. McDormand attended Bethany College in West Virginia, earning a Bachelor of Arts in theater in 1979, in 1982, she earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama. She was a roommate of Holly Hunter at the time, mcDormands first professional acting job was in Trinidad and Tobago, performing in a play written by Derek Walcott and funded by the MacArthur Foundation. Her film debut was in the 1984 Coen brothers first film, in 1985, Frances, Holly Hunter and director Sam Raimi shared a house in The Bronx. In 1987, she appeared as the wacky friend Dot in the hit film Raising Arizona, starring Holly Hunter, in addition to her early film roles, McDormand played Connie Chapman in the fifth season of the television police drama Hill Street Blues. In 1988, she played Stella Kowalski in a production of Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire. McDormand is a member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group. McDormand appeared in theatrical and television roles during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. She has gained renown and critical acclaim for her dramatic work, in 1988, she was nominated for a Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Mississippi Burning. In 1996, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as police chief Marge Gunderson in Fargo. For her role in Wonder Boys, she won Best Supporting Actress from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Florida Film Critics Circle, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. In 2006, McDormand received her nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 2005s North Country. She also had a role in the film Friends with Money, a dark comedy co-starring Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keener, and Joan Cusack and she received an Independent Spirit Award for her role in Friends with Money
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