1.
South Bank
The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district of Central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow, unequal strip of land within the London Borough of Lambeth. As with most central London districts its edges evolve and are informally defined however its central area is bounded by Westminster Bridge, both the County Hall and the Shell Centre contain major residential parts. South Bank is 800 metres southeast of Charing Cross, the pedestrianised embankment is The Queens Walk which is part of the Albert Embankment built not only for public drainage but to raise the whole tract of land and prevent flooding. In 1951 the Festival of Britain redefined the area as a place for arts and it now forms a significant tourist district in central London, stretching from the Blackfriars Bridge in the east to Westminster Bridge in the west. A series of central London bridges connect the area to the bank of the Thames Golden Jubilee. During the Middle Ages this area developed as a place of entertainment outside the regulation of the City of London on the north bank.
By the 18th century the more genteel entertainment of the gardens had developed. The shallow bank and mud flats were ideal locations for industry and docks, there was a shift in use when the London County Council required a new County Hall, which was built between 1917 and 1922 on the south bank near North Lambeths Lower Marsh. The construction of County Hall returned the first section of frontage to public use. This was extended eastwards in 1951 when the Festival of Britain caused a considerable area to be redeveloped and it was renamed South Bank as part of promoting the Festival. The South Bank stretches two miles along the southern bank of the River Thames. The western section is in the Bishops ward of the London Borough of Lambeth, there are significant amounts of public open space along the riverside. Between the London Studios and the Oxo Tower lies Bernie Spain Gardens, named after Bernadette Spain, the South Bank is a significant arts and entertainment district. The Southbank Centre comprises the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Royal National Theatre, the London IMAX super cinema and BFI Southbank adjoin to the east, but are not strictly part of the centre.
County Hall is non-administrative and has converted into The London Marriott Hotel County Hall, Sea Life London Aquarium. It contains the Jubilee Gardens, home to the Udderbelly Festival for 15 weeks in the summer, the OXO Tower Wharf is towards the eastern end of South Bank, and houses Gallery@Oxo and boutiques, and the OXO Tower Restaurant run by Harvey Nichols. The London Studios, the home of ITV faces the Thames
2.
Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman was an American theatrical producer. Frohman was producing plays by 1889 and acquired his first Broadway theatre by 1892 and he discovered and promoted many stars of the American theatre. In 1896, Frohman co-founded the Theatrical Syndicate, which grew to exert control over the U. S. theatre industry for nearly two decades. The American opening starred a Frohman favorite, Maude Adams, many of his London successes enjoyed runs in New York. At the height of his career, he died in the 1915 sinking of the RMS Lusitania, Charles Frohman was born in Sandusky, the youngest of three Frohman brothers, including Daniel and Gustave. The year of his date is generally erroneously reported as 1860, and his birthday is shown as July 16 on his tombstone. In 1864, Frohmans family moved to New York City, at the age of twelve, Frohman started to work at night in the office of the New York Tribune, attending school by day. In 1874, he work for the Daily Graphic and at night sold tickets at Hooleys Theatre.
In 1877, he took charge of the Chicago Comedy Co. with John Dillon as star in Our Boys and he next joined Haverlys United Mastodon Minstrels as manager, touring the U. S. and Europe. Then for a time he was associated with his brothers Daniel and Gustave in managing the Madison Square Theatre and he began to produce plays by 1886. Frohmans first success as a producer was with Bronson Howards play Shenandoah, Frohman founded the Empire Theatre Stock Company to acquire his first Broadway theatre, the Empire, in 1892. The following year, he produced his first Broadway play, Clyde Fitchs Masked Ball, in this piece, Maude Adams first played opposite John Drew, which led to many future successes. Soon Frohman acquired five other New York City theaters, including the Garrick, working with William Harris and Isaac B. Rich, he became owner of their theatres in Boston. In 1895, he produced the New York premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest, the same year, he produced The Shop Girl. Frohman was known for his ability to develop talent.
His stars included William Gillette, John Drew, Jr. Ethel Barrymore, Billie Burke, E. H. Sothern, Julia Marlowe, Maude Adams, Paul Gilmore, Evelyn Millard, Henry Miller and Walter E. Perkins. In 1896, Frohman, Al Hayman, Abe Erlanger, Mark Klaw, Samuel F. Nixon, in 1897, Frohman leased the Duke of Yorks Theatre in London, introducing plays there as well as in the United States
3.
The Beauty of Bath
Based loosely on the play David Garrick, the story concerns a young woman from a noble family, who falls in love with an actor. She meets a sailor who appears identical to the actor and her father objects to a marriage with the actor, but when it turns out that she really loves the sailor, all objections fall away. The piece was produced by Charles Frohman, opened at the Aldwych Theatre on 19 March 1906, moved on 26 December 1906 to the newly built Hicks Theatre and it starred Hicks and his wife, Ellaline Terriss. Zena Dare joined the cast, replacing Terriss, Betty Silverthorne - The Beauty of Bath - Ellaline Terriss Richard Alington - Lieutenant, R. N. Sir Timothy Bun, Lady Bun, and their family of adopted daughters. An actress, Miss Truly St. Cyr, is courted by a young lord, Mrs. Alington, a widow, is eagerly anticipating the return of her naval lieutenant son, whom she has not seen for ten years. The lovely Betty Silverthorne has fallen in love with the dashing Beverley during Act I, to the chagrin of her father, Lord Bellingham.
Six months before the present time, Mrs. Alington had sent her son a photograph of Betty, and it turns out that Lieutenant Richard Alington, R. N. is identical in appearance to the actor, Mr Beverley. Richard arrives at the theatre in his sailors undress uniform and he meets Betty and instantly recognises the girl he has loved since seeing her photograph. Betty recognises the man she loves, mistaking him for Beverley, Lord Bellingham next meets Richard, mistaking him for Beverly. Beverley creates a disturbance at the ball and does his utmost to draw Bettys ire. However, Betty outsmarts her father, having figured out the likeness. In addition, it happens that the man she loves is Dick. This is a thing, because her friend is already engaged to Beverly. Dick, has inherited five million pounds, and Lord Bellingham is delighted with the match, Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons. Cast list, review and other information Information about shows opening in London in 1906 Photos and information Review and info Cast and song information
4.
Company (musical)
Company is a 1970 musical comedy based on a book by George Furth with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards, originally titled Threes, its plot revolves around Bobby, the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends. Company was among the first musicals to deal with adult themes, as Sondheim puts it, Broadway theater has been for many years supported by upper-middle-class people with upper-middle-class problems. These people really want to escape that world when they go to the theatre, George Furth wrote eleven one-act plays planned for Kim Stanley as each of the separate leads. Anthony Perkins was interested in directing, and asked Sondheim to read the material, after Sondheim read the plays, he asked Harold Prince for his opinion, Prince thought the plays would make the basis for a musical. The theme would be New York marriages with a character to examine those marriages. Note, In the early 1990s, Furth and Sondheim revised the libretto and altering dialogue that had become dated and this synopsis is based on the revised libretto.
Robert is a single man living in New York City, whose friends are all married or engaged couples and Larry, Peter and Susan and Sarah, David and Jenny. It is Roberts 35th birthday and the couples have gathered to him a surprise party. What follows is a series of disconnected vignettes in no apparent chronological order, the first of these features Robert visiting Sarah, a foodie supposedly now dieting, and her husband Harry, an alcohol abuser supposedly now on the wagon. Sarah and Harry taunt each other on their vices, escalating toward karate-like fighting and thrashing that may or may not be playful. The caustic Joanne, the oldest, most cynical, and most-oft divorced of Roberts friends, Harry explains, and the other married men concur, that you are always Sorry-Grateful about getting married, and that marriage changes both everything and nothing about the way you live. Robert is next with Peter and Susan, on their apartment terrace, Peter is Ivy League, and Susan is a southern belle, the two seem to be a perfect couple, yet they surprise Robert with the news of their upcoming divorce.
At the home of the uptight Jenny and chic David, Robert has brought along some marijuana that they share, the couple turns to grilling Robert on why he has not yet gotten married. David tries to tell Robert privately that Jenny didnt like the marijuana, I married a square, he reminds his wife, demanding she bring him food. Robert meets his three girlfriends in a park on three separate occasions as Marta sings of the city, dirty, yet somehow wonderful. Robert first gets to know April, an airline flight attendant. Robert spends time with Kathy, they had dated previously and they laugh at this coincidence before Robert suddenly considers the idea seriously, however Kathy reveals that she is leaving for Cape Cod with a new fiancé
5.
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is an Inner London borough which holds city status. It occupies much of the area of Greater London including most of the West End. It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon creation, Westminster was awarded city status, which had previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. Aside from a number of parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are in the borough, including St. Jamess Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, much of the borough is residential, and in 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000. The local authority is Westminster City Council, the current Westminster coat of arms were given to the city by an official grant on September 2,1964. Westminster had other arms before, which had an identical to the chief in the present arms.
The symbols in the two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington. The original arms had a portcullis as the charge, which now forms the crest. The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England, in the mid-11th Century king Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct, Westminster briefly became a city in 1540 when Henry VIII created the short-lived Diocese of Westminster. Following the dissolution of Westminster Abbey, a court of burgesses was formed in 1585 to govern the Westminster area, Strand, Pimlico and Hyde Park. The Westminster Metropolitan Borough was itself the result of an amalgamation which took place in 1900. Sir John Hunt O. B. E was the First Town Clerk of the City of Westminster, the boundaries of the City of Westminster today, as well as those of the other London boroughs, have remained more or less unchanged since the Act of 1963.
On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place on Westminster Bridge, Bridge Street and Old Palace Yard, five people - three pedestrians, one police officer, and the attacker - died as a result of the incident. More than 50 people were injured, an investigation is ongoing by the Metropolitan Police. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors, Westminster City Council is currently composed of 44 Conservative Party members and 16 Labour Party members
6.
Leicester Square tube station
Leicester Square is a station on the London Underground, located on Charing Cross Road, a short distance to the east of Leicester Square itself. The station is on the Northern line between Charing Cross and Tottenham Court Road, and the Piccadilly line between Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden and it is in Travelcard Zone 1. Like other stations on the sections of the Piccadilly and Northern lines. New station entrances were constructed to a new ticket hall. As with the similar sub-surface ticket hall previously built at Piccadilly Circus this was excavated partially under the roadway, from there banks of escalators were provided down to both sets of platforms. The redundant lifts were removed but the lift shaft remains in use as a ventilation shaft hidden behind a door on the first landing of the Cranbourn street entrance stairs. The redeveloped station opened in 1935, the building, known as Transad House, was in its early years, occupied by the publishers of the Wisden Cricketers Almanack and an image of cricket stumps appears above a door way.
On all four platforms, film sprockets are painted down the length and on the top and bottom of the display area. The station is featured briefly during the video sequence of the 2009 film Harry Potter. London Buses routes 14,19,24,29,38 and 176 and night routes N5, N20, N29, N38, N47, leslie Green – architect of original station building Charles Holden – architect of new ticket hall and entrances Photographic Archive. Archived from the original on 2008-03-18, archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Underground Journeys, Leicester Square, Design drawing and history, archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07
7.
Seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area.
Seating capacity of venues plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat.
Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
8.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway and he has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. In 2001 the New York Times referred to him as the most commercially successful composer in history, ranked the fifth most powerful person in British culture by The Telegraph in 2008, the lyricist Don Black stated Andrew more or less single-handedly reinvented the musical. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and his company, the Really Useful Group, is one of the largest theatre operators in London. Producers in several parts of the UK have staged productions, including national tours, Lloyd Webber is the president of the Arts Educational Schools London, a performing arts school located in Chiswick, West London. He is involved in a number of activities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Nordoff Robbins, Prostate Cancer UK.
His younger brother, Julian Lloyd Webber, is a solo cellist. Lloyd Webber started writing his own music at a young age and he put on productions with Julian and his Aunt Viola in his toy theatre. Later, he would be the owner of a number of West End theatres and his aunt Viola, an actress, took him to see many of her shows and through the stage door into the world of the theatre. He had set music to Old Possums Book of Practical Cats at the age of 15. Lloyd Webbers first collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice was The Likes of Us, although composed in 1965, it was not publicly performed until 2005, when a production was staged at Lloyd Webbers Sydmonton Festival. In 2008, amateur rights were released by the National Operatic and Dramatic Association in association with the Really Useful Group, the first amateur performance was by a childrens theatre group in Cornwall called Kidz R Us. In this respect, it is different from the composers work, which tends to be either predominantly or wholly through-composed.
Joseph began life as a cantata that gained some recognition on its second staging with a favourable review in The Times. For its subsequent performances and Lloyd Webber revised the show and this culminated in a two-hour-long production being staged in the West End on the back of the success of Jesus Christ Superstar. In 1969 Rice and Lloyd Webber wrote a song for the Eurovision Song Contest called Try It and See, with rewritten lyrics it became King Herods Song in their third musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. The planned follow-up to Jesus Christ Superstar was a comedy based on the Jeeves. Tim Rice was uncertain about this venture, partly because of his concern that he not be able to do justice to the novels that he
9.
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, CH, DBE, known as Maggie Smith, is an English actress. She has had an extensive, varied career in stage, Smith has appeared in over 50 films and is one of Britains most recognisable actresses. Smith began her career on stage at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952 and she received Tony Award nominations for Private Lives and Night and Day, before winning the 1990 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Lettice and Lovage. Other stage roles include Stratford Shakespeare Festival productions of Antony and Cleopatra and Macbeth, on screen, Smith first drew praise for the crime film Nowhere to Go, for which she received her first BAFTA Award nomination. She has won two Academy Awards, winning Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite and she is one of only six actresses to have won in both categories. She has won a record four BAFTA Awards for Best Actress, a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress, a six-time Oscar nominee, her other nominations were for Othello, Travels with My Aunt, A Room with a View, and Gosford Park.
Smith played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series and her honorary awards include the BAFTA Special Award, the BAFTA Fellowship, and the Special Olivier Award. She received the Stratford Shakespeare Festivals Legacy Award in 2012, Smith was born in Ilford, but moved with her family to Oxford when she was four years old. She is the daughter of Nathaniel Smith, a Newcastle-born public health pathologist who worked at Oxford University, and Margaret, as a child, her parents used to tell Smith the romantic story of how they had met on the train from Glasgow to London via Newcastle. She has older twin brothers and Ian, who went to architecture school and she attended Oxford High School until age sixteen, when she left to study acting at the Oxford Playhouse. In 1952, aged 17, under the auspices of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, in 1954, she appeared in the television programme Oxford Accents produced by Ned Sherrin. In 1957, she starred opposite Kenneth Williams in the musical comedy Share My Lettuce, in 1958, she received the first of her 18 BAFTA Film and TV nominations for her role in the film Nowhere to Go.
In 1962, Smith won the first of a record five Best Actress Evening Standard Awards for her roles in Peter Shaffers plays The Private Ear and The Public Eye, again opposite Kenneth Williams. She appeared opposite Olivier in Ibsens The Master Builder and played roles in The Recruiting Officer. Her other films at this time included Go to Blazes, The V. I. P. s, The Pumpkin Eater, Hot Millions and Oh. Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the role of the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Vanessa Redgrave had originated the role on stage in London and Zoe Caldwell won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, the role won Smith her first BAFTA Award. In 1970, she played the role in Ingmar Bergmans London production of the Ibsen play Hedda Gabler
10.
Daisy Pulls It Off
Daisy Pulls It Off is a comedy play by Denise Deegan. It is a parody of adventure stories about life in a 1920s girls English boarding school. The original production of the opened at the Nuffield Theatre in 1983. Energetic Daisy Meredith, a girl from a background, is forced to face and overcome snobbish prejudice. She and her best friend, zany Trixie Martin, search for the treasure that could save the fortunes of the exclusive Grangewood School for Young Ladies. Along the way, Daisy overcomes false accusations, saves the lives of her enemies, as in the series of St Trinians films, the schoolgirls are played by older actresses, and the headmistress frequently is played by a man. It ran for 1,180 performances and toured for two years, the play launched the careers of Kate Buffery, Lia Williams, Gabrielle Glaister and Samantha Bond. The production won an Olivier Award and the Drama Theatre Award for Best Comedy, Kate Buffery was nominated for an Olivier as Best Supporting Actress. Dewsbury Arts Groups 1989 production of the play was the scene of Victoria OKeefes last-ever stage role, a 2002 revival at the Lyric Theatre was directed by Gilmore and produced by Lloyd Webber.
There was a 2008 UK tour, the family-friendly piece is a popular choice for school productions. The very first American production of play was staged at Woodland Hills High School in Pittsburgh. It was directed by John Lloyd and starred Caryn Mehalik, Shelby Schnieder, Craig Gyergyo, Lesley Dave, Gretchen Cleevely, Chris Burkett, a revived London production ran at the Arts Theatre in the West End from 19 January -6 February 2010. It was directed by Nadine Hanwell, Daisy Pulls It Off, A Comedy. Daisy Pulls It Off is based on the novel The Testing Of Tansy by Winifred Norling written in 1939, a review of the 2002 revival Albemarle archive site
11.
Listed building
A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing.
Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category.
Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
12.
Cosmo Hamilton
Cosmo Hamilton, born Henry Charles Hamilton Gibbs, was an English playwright and novelist. He was the brother of writers A. Hamilton Gibbs and Sir Philip Gibbs and he took his mothers maiden name when he began to write. Hamilton was married twice, first to Beryl Faber, née Crossley Smith, Hamilton married Julia Bolton, the former wife of playwright Guy Bolton. His London musicals include The Catch of the Season, The Belle of Mayfair, during the First World War Hamilton was a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Air Service. He wrote a number of Broadway shows and many screenplays, Hamilton died, aged 72, in Guildford, England. He had written dozens of novels, averaging a novel per year most of his adult life. His novels include, Plain brown A Plea for the Younger Generation The Door that Has No Key The Miracle of Love The Sins of the Children Two Kings and Howard Haycraft, New York, The H. W. Wilson Company,1942. Works by Cosmo Hamilton at Project Gutenberg Who Cares
Leicester Square; Piccadilly Circus
