1.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
2.
Vassar College
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Vassar College is a private, coeducational, liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the first degree-granting institution of education for women in the United States. It became coeducational in 1969, and now has a ratio at the national average. The college offers B. A. degrees in more than 50 majors, Vassar also offers many extracurricular organizations including student theater, a cappella groups, club sports, volunteer and service groups, and a circus troupe. Vassar Colleges varsity sports teams, known as the Brewers, play in the NCAAs Division III as members of the Liberty League. Vassar tied for the 12th best liberal arts college in the nation in the 2017 annual ranking of U. S. News & World Report, for the freshman class entering fall 2016, the college had an acceptance rate of 26. 9%. The total number of attending the college is around 2,450. The Vassar campus comprises over 1,000 acres and more than 100 buildings, a designated arboretum, the campus features more than 200 species of trees, a native plant preserve, and a 400-acre ecological preserve. Vassar was founded as a school under the name Vassar Female College in 1861. The college became coeducational in 1969, Vassar was the second of the Seven Sisters colleges, higher education schools that were formerly strictly for women, and historically sister institutions to the Ivy League. It was chartered by its namesake, brewer Matthew Vassar, in 1861 in the Hudson Valley, the first person appointed to the Vassar faculty was the astronomer Maria Mitchell, in 1865. However, immediately following World War II, Vassar accepted a small number of male students on the G. I. Because Vassars charter prohibited male matriculants, the graduates were given diplomas via the University of the State of New York and these were reissued under the Vassar title after the school formally became co-educational. In its early years, Vassar was associated with the elite of the Protestant establishment. E. Digby Baltzell writes that upper-class WASP families educated their children at such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale. A select and elite few of Vassars students were allowed entry into the secret society Delta Sigma Rho. Before becoming President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a Trustee, roughly 2,450 students attend Vassar, and 98% live on campus. About 60% come from high schools, and 40% come from private schools
3.
Home Alone
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Home Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a boy who is left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation. Kevin initially relishes being home alone, but soon has to contend with two would-be burglars played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, the film also features Catherine OHara and John Heard as Kevins parents. Culkin was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy and it is the highest grossing Christmas movie of all time at the North American box office. The McCallister family is preparing to spend Christmas in Paris, gathering at Peter, Peter and Kates youngest son, eight-year-old Kevin, is being ridiculed by his siblings and cousins. A fight with his brother, Buzz, results in Kevin getting sent to the third floor of the house for punishment. During the night, heavy winds cause damage to power lines, in the confusion and rush to get to the airport, Kevin is accidentally left behind. Kevin wakes up to find the empty and, thinking his wish has come true, is overjoyed with his new-found freedom. Kevin tricks the pair into thinking his entire family is home, Kate discovers mid-flight that Kevin is missing and, upon arrival in Paris, the family discovers that all flights are booked for the next two days. Peter and the rest of the go to his brother Robs apartment in the city while Kate manages to get a flight back to the United States only to get as far as Scranton. She attempts to book a flight to Chicago but again, everything is booked, meanwhile, Harry and Marv realize that Kevin is home alone. On Christmas Eve, Kevin overhears them discussing plans to breaking into his house that night, Kevin goes to church and watches a choir perform. He meets Marley, who sits with Kevin and they briefly speak and he learns that Marley is actually a nice man and that the rumors about him are false. He tells Kevin he is watching the choir because his granddaughter is singing, Kevin suggests that he try to reconcile with his son. Kevin returns home and rigs the house with booby traps. Harry and Marv break in, springing the traps and suffering various injuries, while the duo pursues Kevin around the house, he calls the police and flees the house, luring the duo into a neighboring vacant home. Harry and Marv manage to catch him and discuss how they will get their revenge, the police arrive and arrest Harry and Marv, having identified all the houses they burglarized due to the latters habit of flooding them. On Christmas Day, Kevin is disappointed to find that his family is still gone
4.
Jerry Maguire
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Jerry Maguire is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama sports film written, produced and directed by Cameron Crowe, and stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renée Zellweger. Produced in part by long time Simpsons producer James L. Brooks, it was inspired by sports agent Leigh Steinberg and it was released in North American theaters on December 13,1996, produced by Gracie Films and distributed by TriStar Pictures. The film received acclaim, with critics praising its acting and writing. The film was a success, bringing in more than $273 million worldwide. It was the ninth top-grossing film of 1996, the film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Tom Cruise, with Cuba Gooding Jr. winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film was nominated for three Golden Globes, with Tom Cruise winning for Best Actor, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, with Cuba Gooding Jr. winning Best Supporting Actor. Jerry Maguire is a glossy 35-year-old sports agent working for Sports Management International, in turn, SMI management decides to send Bob Sugar, Jerrys protégé, to fire him. Jerry and Sugar call all of Jerrys clients to try convincing them not to hire the services of the other, Jerry speaks to Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rod Tidwell, one of his clients who is disgruntled with his contract. Rod tests Jerrys resolve through a long telephone conversation while Sugar is able to convince the rest of Jerrys clients to stick with SMI instead. Leaving the office, Jerry announces that he start his own agency and asks if anyone is willing to join him. Meanwhile, Frank Cush Cushman, a quarterback prospect who expects to be the number one pick in the NFL Draft. However, Sugar is able to convince Cushman and his father to sign with SMI over Jerry the night before the draft, cushmans father implies they decided to sign with Sugar over Jerry when they saw Jerry attending to Tidwell, an African-American player, versus his son. After an argument, Jerry breaks up with his disgruntled fiancée Avery and he then turns to Dorothy, becoming closer to her young son, Ray, and eventually starts a relationship with her. Dorothy contemplates moving to San Diego as she has a job offer there, however she. Jerry concentrates all his efforts on Rod, now his only client, meanwhile, Jerrys marriage with Dorothy gradually deteriorates and they eventually separate. During a Monday Night Football game between the Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys, Rod plays well but appears to receive an injury when catching a touchdown. He recovers, however, and dances for the cheering crowd. Jerry then flies home to meet Dorothy
5.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
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Behind the Mask, The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a 2006 American mockumentary black comedy horror film directed by Scott Glosserman. It stars Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Robert Englund and Scott Wilson, the film is an homage to the slasher film genre and features cameos from several veteran horror actors, including Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein, and Kane Hodder. The film premiered at the 2006 South by Southwest film festival and was shown at other festivals. It received a release in the United States on March 16,2007. The film is shot as a set in a world where the killers depicted in famous slasher films are real. A female journalist named Taylor Gentry and her two cameramen, Doug and Todd, document the preparations of Leslie Vernon as he prepares to join the ranks of other slasher villains. Leslie takes his identity from a legend about a boy who killed his family and was cast into a river by angry townsfolk. He initially claims to be the spirit of the slain boy. Taylor and her crew film Leslies meticulous preparations to slaughter a number of teenagers in a house and then be confronted by a virginal survivor girl. Taylor and her crew come to share Leslies enthusiasm for his project and they beg Leslie to call off his killing spree, but Leslie is adamant, believing that his survivor girl will define herself by facing him. Taylor and her crew abandon their documentary and at point the film shifts from a documentary style to a traditional horror film presentation. Taylor attempts to warn and rally the remaining teens together to fight Leslie, the group looks to Kelly for leadership, but she unexpectedly dies. Taylor quickly realizes that, as a virgin herself, she was Leslies true survivor girl all along, Leslie continues picking off the group one-by-one until only Taylor remains. She faces Leslie and defeats him in the manner he had laid out for her. She then runs into Doug and Doc Halloran who survived their encounters with Leslie, however, Leslies preparations included learning to feign death and slathering himself with flame-retardant gel. Over the final credits, security camera footage reveals Leslies charred body sitting up on a table, still alive. Behind the Mask was filmed largely in Portland, Oregon and the towns of Troutdale, Banks, St. Helens, Estacada. The establishing shots of Glen Echo were filmed on Main Street in downtown Troutdale, filming took place in November 2004
6.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
Theatre
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The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence, the specific place of the performance is also named by the word theatre as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον, itself from θεάομαι. Modern theatre, broadly defined, includes performances of plays and musical theatre, there are connections between theatre and the art forms of ballet, opera and various other forms. The city-state of Athens is where western theatre originated, participation in the city-states many festivals—and mandatory attendance at the City Dionysia as an audience member in particular—was an important part of citizenship. The Greeks also developed the concepts of dramatic criticism and theatre architecture, Actors were either amateur or at best semi-professional. The theatre of ancient Greece consisted of three types of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play, the origins of theatre in ancient Greece, according to Aristotle, the first theoretician of theatre, are to be found in the festivals that honoured Dionysus. The performances were given in semi-circular auditoria cut into hillsides, capable of seating 10, the stage consisted of a dancing floor, dressing room and scene-building area. Since the words were the most important part, good acoustics, the actors wore masks appropriate to the characters they represented, and each might play several parts. Athenian tragedy—the oldest surviving form of tragedy—is a type of dance-drama that formed an important part of the culture of the city-state. Having emerged sometime during the 6th century BCE, it flowered during the 5th century BCE, no tragedies from the 6th century BCE and only 32 of the more than a thousand that were performed in during the 5th century BCE have survived. We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the origins of tragedy remain obscure, though by the 5th century BCE it was institution alised in competitions held as part of festivities celebrating Dionysus. As contestants in the City Dionysias competition playwrights were required to present a tetralogy of plays, the performance of tragedies at the City Dionysia may have begun as early as 534 BCE, official records begin from 501 BCE, when the satyr play was introduced. More than 130 years later, the philosopher Aristotle analysed 5th-century Athenian tragedy in the oldest surviving work of dramatic theory—his Poetics, Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods, Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the surviving plays of Aristophanes. New Comedy is known primarily from the papyrus fragments of Menander. Aristotle defined comedy as a representation of people that involves some kind of blunder or ugliness that does not cause pain or disaster. In addition to the categories of comedy and tragedy at the City Dionysia, finding its origins in rural, agricultural rituals dedicated to Dionysus, the satyr play eventually found its way to Athens in its most well-known form. Satyrs themselves were tied to the god Dionysus as his loyal companions, often engaging in drunken revelry
8.
Actor
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An actor is a person who portrays a character in a performance. Simplistically speaking, the person denominated actor or actress is someone beautiful who plays important characters, the actor performs in the flesh in the traditional medium of the theatre, or in modern mediums such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is ὑποκριτής, literally one who answers, the actors interpretation of their role pertains to the role played, whether based on a real person or fictional character. Interpretation occurs even when the actor is playing themselves, as in forms of experimental performance art, or, more commonly, to act, is to create. Formerly, in societies, only men could become actors. When used for the stage, women played the roles of prepubescent boys. The etymology is a derivation from actor with ess added. However, when referring to more than one performer, of both sexes, actor is preferred as a term for male performers. Actor is also used before the name of a performer as a gender-specific term. Within the profession, the re-adoption of the term dates to the 1950–1960s. As Whoopi Goldberg put it in an interview with the paper, Im an actor – I can play anything. The U. K. performers union Equity has no policy on the use of actor or actress, an Equity spokesperson said that the union does not believe that there is a consensus on the matter and stated that the. subject divides the profession. In 2009, the Los Angeles Times stated that Actress remains the term used in major acting awards given to female recipients. However, player remains in use in the theatre, often incorporated into the name of a group or company, such as the American Players. Also, actors in improvisational theatre may be referred to as players, prior to Thespis act, Grecian stories were only expressed in song, dance, and in third person narrative. In honor of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians, the exclusively male actors in the theatre of ancient Greece performed in three types of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans, as the Western Roman Empire fell into decay through the 4th and 5th centuries, the seat of Roman power shifted to Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. Records show that mime, pantomime, scenes or recitations from tragedies and comedies, dances, from the 5th century, Western Europe was plunged into a period of general disorder
9.
Broadway theatre
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Along with Londons West End theatres, Broadway theatres are widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Theater District is a popular tourist attraction in New York City, the great majority of Broadway shows are musicals. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggars Opera, in 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with The Merchant of Venice, the company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida. The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed in 1798, the Bowery Theatre opened in 1826, followed by others. Blackface minstrel shows, a distinctly American form of entertainment, became popular in the 1830s, by the 1840s, P. T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblos Garden opened, the 3, 000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmos Opera House opened and presented opera for four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burtons Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847, booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865, and would later revive the role at his own Booths Theatre. Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport, lydia Thompson came to America in 1868 heading a small theatrical troupe, adapting popular English burlesques for middle-class New York audiences. Thompsons troupe called the British Blondes, was the most popular entertainment in New York during the 1868–1869 theatrical season, the six-month tour ran for almost six extremely profitable years. Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, in 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square. Broadways first long-run musical was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857, New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keenes musical burletta The Seven Sisters shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keenes troupe of Our American Cousin in Washington, the production was a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a musical comedy, Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham. They starred high quality singers, instead of the women of repute who had starred in earlier musical forms. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits, as in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women
