1.
Marc Shaiman
–
Marc Shaiman is a Grammy, Emmy, Tony winning, and multi Oscar nominated American composer and lyricist for films, television, and theatre. He is perhaps best known for writing the music and co-writing the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the John Waters film Hairspray, Shaiman was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Claire and William Robert Shaiman. He grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and he lives in both Los Angeles and New York City. Shaiman married Lieutenant Commander Louis Mirabal on March 26,2016, Shaiman started his career as a theatre/cabaret musical director. He then became vocal arranger for Bette Midler, eventually becoming her musical director and co-producer of many of her recordings, including The Wind Beneath My Wings and he helped create the material for her performance on the penultimate The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. His work with both Bette Midler and Billy Crystal led to his involvement on their films and his film credits include Broadcast News, Beaches, When Harry Met Sally. He frequently works on films by Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner and he has also appeared in many of these films. Shaiman has earned five Academy Award nominations, a Tony Award and a Grammy Award for his work on the musical Hairspray, and he is the first recipient of the Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Comedy Feature Film. He began his professional relationships with Billy Crystal and Martin Short during his tenure at Saturday Night Live and he wrote and sang the song Yes for his agents film Finding Kraftland. Shaiman co-produced and co-wrote cuts on Mariah Careys 2010 Christmas album Merry Christmas II You, Shaiman wrote original songs for the musical-based television show for NBC, Smash, as well as serving as Executive Producer. Shaiman and co-lyricist Wittman supplied the score for the new musical Charlie, the show has broken box-office house records at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and an Original West End Cast recording was released. Shaiman co-wrote Billy Crystals farewell to Jay Leno which featured Carol Burnett, Shaiman and Wittman were honored on April 28,2014, by The New York Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Shaiman produced Bette Midlers latest recording, Its the Girls, which had the highest debut of Midlers recording career on the Billboard Album charts, Shaiman appeared on The Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, having co-created Martin Short & Maya Rudolphs salute to musical sketch characters. Jennifer Hudson sang Shaiman and Wittmans Smash song I Cant Let Go at the 87th Academy Awards, after the amendment was passed, donor information became public. To protest the passage of California Proposition 8 in November 2008, the 3-minute video was distributed on the internet at FunnyOrDie. com, beginning on December 3,2008. It was written and produced in just a few days, the cast includes Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Allison Janney, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Margaret Cho, Rashida Jones, Shaiman plays the piano and appears briefly in the video. It received 1.2 million internet hits in its first day, † = Oscar nominee Prop 8 - The Musical 2009 Webby winner-Best Comedy, Short or Individual Episode
2.
Mark O'Donnell
–
Mark O’Donnell was an American writer and humorist. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1976 and he was a member of The Harvard Lampoon, where he held the position of Ibis. In 1974, he helped produce a popular Sports Illustrated Lampoon parody, in addition to writing for the parody, he and his twin brother Steve portrayed the Dromio twins, Siamese twins adept at football. He was the writer and librettist for three Hasty Pudding musicals for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals group, the pair also worked on another John Waters musical adaptation, Cry-Baby, for which they received a 2008 Tony nomination. His plays include Thats It, Folks, fables for Friends, The Nice and the Nasty, Strangers on Earth, Vertigo Park, and the book and lyrics for the musical Tots in Tinseltown. Along with Bill Irwin, he wrote Scapin, a 1997 play adapted from the original by Molière and his books include Elementary Education and Vertigo Park and Other Tall Tales, as well as two novels, Getting Over Homer and Let Nothing You Dismay. He contributed to all three issues of George Meyers Army Man, as well as to The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic and Spy. A1980 article he wrote for Esquire, ODonnells Laws of Cartoon Motion, was widely quoted and widely circulated by fans of cartoon physics. ODonnell was also a writer for the 1981-1982 season of Saturday Night Live, at Saturday Night Live, he wrote alongside Terry Southern. Although a proud Poonie, ODonnell was an editorial advisor to the Yale Record. O’Donnell was the twin of television writer Steve O’Donnell. He died in 2012 after collapsing at his apartment building in Manhattan, Mark O’Donnell at the Internet Movie Database Mark O’Donnell at Random House The Believer Magazine interview with Steve & Mark O’Donnell
3.
Hairspray (1988 film)
–
Hairspray was a dramatic departure from Waters earlier works, with a much broader intended audience. Hairsprays PG is the mildest rating a Waters film has received, Hairspray was only a moderate success upon its initial theatrical release, earning a modest gross of $8 million. However, it managed to attract an audience on home video in the early 1990s. Most critics praised the film, although some were displeased with the overall campiness, the film ranks #444 on Empire magazines 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. In 2002, the film was adapted into a Broadway musical of the same name, a second film version of Hairspray, an adaptation of the stage musical, was also released by New Line Cinema in 2007, which included many changes of scripted items from the original. Set in Baltimore, Maryland in the year 1962, Tracy Turnblad and her best friend, Penny Pingleton, audition for The Corny Collins Show, Penny is too nervous and stumbles over her answers, and another girl, Nadine, is cut for being black. Tracy steals Ambers boyfriend, Link Larkin, and competes against her for the title of Miss Auto Show 1963, Tracys growing confidence leads to her being hired as a plus-size model for the Hefty Hideaway clothing store owned by Mr. Pinky. She is also inspired to bleach, tease, and rat her big hair styles popular in the 1960s. The students introduce Tracy to Motormouth Maybelle, an R&B record shop owner and they teach Tracy, Penny, and Link dance moves and Penny begins an interracial romance with Motormouth Maybelles son, Seaweed. Fredrickson out of fear that Seaweed will hurt Penny, Seaweed later helps her break out of the house and run away. It is implied that she never return, as she has finally broken free from her parents. After a race riot at Tilted Acres results in Tracys arrest and they plot to sabotage the Miss Auto Show 1963 pageant by planting a bomb in Velmas bouffant hairdo. The plan literally blows up in Velmas face when the bomb detonates prematurely, Ricki Lake as Tracy Turnblad, an optimistic, aspiring teenager who hopes to dance on a TV show as well as promote desegregation. Divine as Edna Turnblad, Tracys kind, plus-sized mother who is ashamed of her obesity, debbie Harry as Velma Von Tussle, Franklins wife and Ambers mother. Sonny Bono as Franklin Von Tussle, Velmas husband and Ambers father, jerry Stiller as Wilbur Turnblad, Tracys loving, funny and encouraging father. Leslie Ann Powers as Penelope Penny Pingleton, Tracys shy Catholic best friend, colleen Fitzpatrick as Amber Von Tussle, snobby dancer on The Corny Collins Show. Michael St. Gerard as Lincoln Link Larkin, a teenage hearthrob, clayton Prince as Seaweed J. Stubbs, Motormouth Maybelles son who loves to dance. Seaweed is Pennys main love interest, ruth Brown as Motormouth Maybelle Stubbs, a friendly and strong-willed African American and mother of Seaweed J. Stubbs Shawn Thompson as Corny Collins, the eccentric host of The Corny Collins Show
4.
John Waters
–
Waterss 1970s and early 1980s films feature his regular troupe of actors known as the Dreamlanders—among them Divine, Mink Stole, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, and Edith Massey. Starting with Desperate Living, Waters began casting real-life convicted criminals, Waters dabbled in mainstream filmmaking with Hairspray, which introduced Ricki Lake and earned a modest gross of US$8 million in the United States market. In 2002, Hairspray was adapted to a long-running Broadway musical, Waters was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Patricia Ann and John Samuel Waters, who was a manufacturer of fire-protection equipment. His family were upper-middle class Roman Catholics, Waters grew up in Lutherville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. His boyhood friend and muse Glenn Milstead, later known as Divine, the film Lili inspired an interest in puppets in the seven-year-old Waters, who proceeded to stage violent versions of Punch and Judy for childrens birthday parties. Biographer Robrt L. Pela says that Waters mother believes the puppets in Lili had the greatest influence on Waters subsequent career, Waters was privately educated at the Calvert School in Baltimore. High School in Towson, Maryland, and Calvert Hall College High School in nearby Towson, in 1962, for his 16th birthday, Waters received an 8mm movie camera from his maternal grandmother, Stella Whitaker. Waters first short film was Hag in a Black Leather Jacket, according to Waters, the film was shown only once in a beatnik coffee house in Baltimore, although in later years he has included it in his traveling photography exhibit. Waters enrolled at New York University, the school, however, was not what Waters had in mind, NYU. I was there for about five minutes. I dont know what I was thinking about, I went to one class and they kept talking about Potemkin and that isnt what I wanted to talk about. I had just gone to see Olgas House of Shame and that was what I was more into. Extremely influential to his mind, Waters tells Robert K. Elder in an interview for The Film That Changed My Life, was The Wizard of Oz. I was always drawn to forbidden subject matter in the very, very beginning, the Wizard of Oz opened me up because it was one of the first movies I ever saw. It opened me up to villainy, to screenwriting, to costumes, I think the witch has great, great dialogue. Waters has further credited his influences as, among others, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Federico Fellini, William Castle and he has stated that he takes an equal amount of joy and influence from high-brow art films and sleazy exploitation films. In January 1966, Waters and some friends were caught smoking marijuana on the grounds of NYU, Waters returned to Baltimore, where he completed his next two short films Roman Candles and Eat Your Makeup. These were followed by the feature-length films Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs, Waters films would become Divines primary star vehicles. All of Waters early films were shot in the Baltimore area with his company of local actors, in addition to Divine, the group included Mink Stole, Cookie Mueller, Edith Massey, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Susan Walsh, and others
5.
Seattle
–
Seattle is a seaport city on the west coast of the United States and the seat of King County, Washington. With an estimated 684,451 residents as of 2015, Seattle is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In July 2013, it was the major city in the United States. The city is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the Canada–United States border, a major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2015. The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, the settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay and named Seattle in 1852, after Chief Siahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Logging was Seattles first major industry, but by the late-19th century, growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed as a technology center beginning in the 1980s, in 1994, Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District, to the Central District, the jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix and the alternative rock subgenre grunge, archaeological excavations suggest that Native Americans have inhabited the Seattle area for at least 4,000 years. By the time the first European settlers arrived, the people occupied at least seventeen villages in the areas around Elliott Bay, the first European to visit the Seattle area was George Vancouver, in May 1792 during his 1791–95 expedition to chart the Pacific Northwest. In 1851, a party led by Luther Collins made a location on land at the mouth of the Duwamish River. Thirteen days later, members of the Collins Party on the way to their claim passed three scouts of the Denny Party, members of the Denny Party claimed land on Alki Point on September 28,1851. The rest of the Denny Party set sail from Portland, Oregon, after a difficult winter, most of the Denny Party relocated across Elliott Bay and claimed land a second time at the site of present-day Pioneer Square, naming this new settlement Duwamps. For the next few years, New York Alki and Duwamps competed for dominance, david Swinson Doc Maynard, one of the founders of Duwamps, was the primary advocate to name the settlement after Chief Sealth of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The name Seattle appears on official Washington Territory papers dated May 23,1853, in 1855, nominal land settlements were established. On January 14,1865, the Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle with a board of managing the city
6.
Broadway theatre
–
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
7.
United States
–
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
8.
Toronto
–
Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. With a population of 2,731,571, it is the fourth most populous city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years, the city itself is situated on the southern terminus of an ancient Aboriginal trail leading north to Lake Simcoe, used by the Wyandot, Iroquois, and the Mississauga. Permanent European settlement began in the 1790s, after the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase of 1787, the British established the town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York, York was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario during the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history to its current area of 630.2 km2. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canadas major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Toronto is known for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto and this refers to the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, where the Huron had planted tree saplings to corral fish. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, in the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagonon the banks of the Humber River. By 1701, the Mississauga had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars, French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario, the new province of Upper Canada was in the process of creation and needed a capital. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto, in 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, instead naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York, the York garrison was constructed at the entrance of the towns natural harbour, sheltered by a long sandbar peninsula. The towns settlement formed at the end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the towns capture, the surrender of the town was negotiated by John Strachan. US soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation, the sacking of York was a primary motivation for the Burning of Washington by British troops later in the war
9.
Las Vegas
–
The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment and it is the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and it is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the worlds most visited tourist destinations. The citys tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated American city founded within that century, population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85. 2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to a 2013 estimate, perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo-Indians, who traveled there 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago, a young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera is credited as the first non-Native American to encounter the valley, in 1829. Trader Antonio Armijo led a 60-man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, the area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for the meadows, as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of John C, frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas Fremont Street is named after him, eleven years later members of the LDS Church chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward, the remainder of this Old Mormon Fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue. Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 110 acres of adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city,1931 was a pivotal year for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks and this year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. The construction work was completed in 1935, in 1941, the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Gunnery School was established. Currently known as Nellis Air Force Base, it is home to the team called the Thunderbirds
10.
Hairspray (2007 film)
–
Hairspray is a 2007 musical romantic comedy film based on the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John Waters 1988 comedy film of the same name. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation. The film began development in 2004, and Dixon reworked Meehan, in 2005, Shankman agreed to direct the film. Composer/lyricist Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman reworked their songs from the Broadway musical for the films soundtrack, recording sessions for the films songs and soundtrack took place in Los Angeles, California in the United States. Hairspray premiered on July 13,2007 at the Mann Village Theater and was released on July 20,2007 in the United States, available in a variety of formats, Hairsprays Region 1 home video release took place on November 20,2007. Tracy Turnblad is a high school student living in Baltimore. Along with her classmate Penny Pingleton, Tracy frequently watches The Corny Collins Show, the teenagers featured on the show attend Tracy and Pennys school, among them Amber von Tussle and her boyfriend Link Larkin, the lead male dancer. Amber’s mother, Velma, manages WYZT and makes sure Amber is prominently featured, Collins and the dancers on the show are white, and Velma only allows African-American kids on the show once a month on Negro Day, hosted by R&B disc jockey Motormouth Maybelle. One day, one of the dancers on the show takes a leave of absence, Tracy attends, but Velma turns her down for her overweight physique and for supporting integration. Tracy is sent to detention for skipping school and discovers the Negro Day kids practicing in the detention room, Tracy befriends Seaweed, the students best dancer and Motormouth Maybelles son, who teaches Tracy several dance moves. As Tracy leaves detention, she bumps into Link and dreams of a life with him. At a record hop, Tracy’s moves attract the attention of Collins, Tracy becomes one of Cornys most popular dancers, threatening Ambers chances of winning the shows yearly Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant and her relationship with Link, as he grows fonder of Tracy. Mr. Pinky suggests that Tracy be the spokesgirl for his Hefty Hideaway boutique, Tracy persuades her agoraphobic mother, Edna, to accompany her to the boutique as her agent. Tracy introduces Seaweed to Penny, and the two are smitten, later, when Tracy and Link are in detention, Seaweed invites the girls and Link to follow him and his sister Little Inez to a party at Maybelles store. Edna finds Tracy there and tries taking her home, but Maybelle convinces her to stay, at the party, Maybelle informs everyone that Velma has canceled Negro Day and Tracy suggests that they march for integration. Edna returns to her husband Wilburs shop, but Velma gets there first, after accusing Wilbur of infidelity, Edna forbids Tracy to be on the show. She changes her mind after she and Wilbur reconcile, the next morning, Tracy sneaks out of the house to join the protest, which is halted by a police roadblock. The protesters engage in a brawl, while Tracy runs to the Pingletons home, Pennys mother, Prudence, catches Tracy and calls the police before tying her daughter to her bed
11.
Buenos Aires
–
Buenos Aires is the capital and most populous city of Argentina. The city is located on the shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata. The city of Buenos Aires is neither part of Buenos Aires Province nor the Provinces capital, rather, in 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalized and removed from Buenos Aires Province. The city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Belgrano and Flores, the 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Its citizens first elected a chief of government in 1996, previously, Buenos Aires is considered an alpha city by the study GaWC5. Buenos Aires quality of life was ranked 81st in the world and one of the best in Latin America in 2012 and it is the most visited city in South America, and the second-most visited city of Latin America. Buenos Aires is a top tourist destination, and is known for its preserved Spanish/European-style architecture, Buenos Aires held the 1st Pan American Games in 1951 as well as hosting two venues in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Buenos Aires will host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2018 G20 summit, Buenos Aires is a multicultural city, being home to multiple ethnic and religious groups. Several languages are spoken in the city in addition to Spanish, contributing to its culture, the hill was known to them as Buen Ayre, as it was free of the foul smell prevalent in the old city, which is adjacent to swampland. During the siege of Cagliari, the Aragonese built a sanctuary to the Virgin Mary on top of the hill, in 1335, King Alfonso the Gentle donated the church to the Mercedarians, who built an abbey that stands to this day. In the years after that, a story circulated, claiming that a statue of the Virgin Mary was retrieved from the sea after it miraculously helped to calm a storm in the Mediterranean Sea, the statue was placed in the abbey. Spanish sailors, especially Andalusians, venerated this image and frequently invoked the Fair Winds to aid them in their navigation, a sanctuary to the Virgin of Buen Ayre would be later erected in Seville. Pedro de Mendoza called the city Holy Mary of the Fair Winds, mendoza’s settlement soon came under attack by indigenous people, and was abandoned in 1541. For many years, the name was attributed to a Sancho del Campo, a second settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay, who sailed down the Paraná River from Asunción. Garay preserved the name chosen by Mendoza, calling the city Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Aire. The short form Buenos Aires became the common usage during the 17th century, the usual abbreviation for Buenos Aires in Spanish is Bs. As. It is common as well to refer to it as B. A. or BA /ˌbiːˈeɪ/ bee-AY), while BA is used more by expats residing in the city, the locals more often use the abbreviation Baires, in one word. Seaman Juan Díaz de Solís, navigating in the name of Spain, was the first European to reach the Río de la Plata in 1516 and his expedition was cut short when he was killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay
12.
West End theatre
–
West End theatre is a common term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of Theatreland in and near the West End of London. Along with New York Citys Broadway theatre, West End theatre is considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London, in 2013, ticket sales reached a record 14.4 million, making West End the largest English speaking audience in the world. Famous screen actors frequently appear on the London stage, helen Mirren received an award for her performance as the Queen on the West End stage, and then stated, theatre is such an important part of British history and British culture. Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation, the first permanent public playhouse, known simply as The Theatre, was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage. It was soon joined by The Curtain, both are known to have been used by William Shakespeares company. In 1599, the timber from The Theatre was moved to Southwark and these theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would later influence the interregnum of 1649. After the Restoration, two companies were licensed to perform, the Dukes Company and the Kings Company, performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisles Tennis Court. The first West End theatre, known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal and it opened on 7 May 1663 and was destroyed by a fire nine years later. It was replaced by a new designed by Christopher Wren and renamed the Theatre Royal. Outside the West End, Sadlers Wells Theatre opened in Islington on 3 June 1683. Taking its name from founder Richard Sadler and monastic springs that were discovered on the property, it operated as a Musick House, with performances of opera, as it was not licensed for plays. In the West End, the Theatre Royal Haymarket opened on 29 December 1720 on a site north of its current location. The Patent theatre companies retained their duopoly on drama well into the 19th century, by the early 19th century, however, music hall entertainments became popular, and presenters found a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama. Melodrama did not break the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music, initially, these entertainments were presented in large halls, attached to public houses, but purpose-built theatres began to appear in the East End at Shoreditch and Whitechapel. The West End theatre district became established with the opening of small theatres and halls. South of the River Thames, the Old Vic, Waterloo Road, the next few decades saw the opening of many new theatres in the West End. It abbreviated its name three years later, the theatre building boom continued until about World War I
13.
Rio de Janeiro
–
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the second-most populous municipality in Brazil and the sixth-most populous in the Americas. The metropolis is anchor to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazils third-most populous state. Part of the city has designated as a World Heritage Site, named Rio de Janeiro. Founded in 1565 by the Portuguese, the city was initially the seat of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, later, in 1763, it became the capital of the State of Brazil, a state of the Portuguese Empire. Rio stayed the capital of the pluricontinental Lusitanian monarchy until 1822 and this is one of the few instances in history that the capital of a colonising country officially shifted to a city in one of its colonies. Rio de Janeiro has the second largest municipal GDP in the country, the home of many universities and institutes, it is the second-largest center of research and development in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national scientific output according to 2005 data. The Maracanã Stadium held the finals of the 1950 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, the city is divided into 33 administrative regions. Europeans first encountered Guanabara Bay on 1 January 1502, by a Portuguese expedition under explorer Gaspar de Lemos captain of a ship in Pedro Álvares Cabrals fleet, allegedly the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci participated as observer at the invitation of King Manuel I in the same expedition. The region of Rio was inhabited by the Tupi, Puri, Botocudo, in 1555, one of the islands of Guanabara Bay, now called Villegagnon Island, was occupied by 500 French colonists under the French admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. Consequently, Villegagnon built Fort Coligny on the island when attempting to establish the France Antarctique colony, Rio de Janeiro was the name of Guanabara Bay. Until early in the 18th century, the city was threatened or invaded by several, mostly French, pirates and buccaneers, such as Jean-François Duclerc, on 27 January 1763, the colonial administration in Portuguese America was moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro. The kingdoms capital was transferred to the city, which, thus, as there was no physical space or urban structure to accommodate hundreds of noblemen who arrived suddenly, many inhabitants were simply evicted from their homes. The first printed newspaper in Brazil, the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, from the colonial period until the first independent decades, Rio de Janeiro was a city of slaves. There was an influx of African slaves to Rio de Janeiro, in 1819. In 1840, the number of slaves reached 220,000 people, the Port of Rio de Janeiro was the largest port of slaves in America. As a political center of the country, Rio concentrated the political-partisan life of the Empire and it was the main stage of the abolitionist and republican movements in the last half of the 19th century. Rio continued as the capital of Brazil after 1889, when the monarchy was replaced by a republic, until the early years of the 20th century, the city was largely limited to the neighbourhood now known as the historic city centre, on the mouth of Guanabara Bay. Expansion of the city to the north and south was facilitated by the consolidation and electrification of Rios streetcar transit system after 1905, though many thought that it was just campaign rhetoric, Kubitschek managed to have Brasília built, at great cost, by 1960
14.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
15.
Melbourne
–
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in Australia and Oceania. The name Melbourne refers to an urban agglomeration spanning 9,900 km2, the metropolis is located on the large natural bay of Port Phillip and expands into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon mountain ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. It has a population of 4,641,636 as of 2016, and its inhabitants are called Melburnians. Founded by free settlers from the British Crown colony of Van Diemens Land on 30 August 1835, in what was then the colony of New South Wales, it was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837. It was named Melbourne by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, in honour of the British Prime Minister of the day, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. It was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria, to whom Lord Melbourne was close, in 1847, during the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the worlds largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as the interim seat of government until 1927. It is a financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region. It is recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature and a centre for street art, music. It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the main passenger airport serving the metropolis and the state is Melbourne Airport, the second busiest in Australia. The Port of Melbourne is Australias busiest seaport for containerised and general cargo, Melbourne has an extensive transport network. The main metropolitan train terminus is Flinders Street Station, and the regional train. Melbourne is also home to Australias most extensive network and has the worlds largest urban tram network. Before the arrival of settlers, humans had occupied the area for an estimated 31,000 to 40,000 years. At the time of European settlement, it was inhabited by under 2000 hunter-gatherers from three indigenous tribes, the Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung and Wathaurong. The area was an important meeting place for the clans of the Kulin nation alliance and it would be 30 years before another settlement was attempted. Batman selected a site on the bank of the Yarra River. Batman then returned to Launceston in Tasmania, in early August 1835 a different group of settlers, including John Pascoe Fawkner, left Launceston on the ship Enterprize
16.
Brazil
–
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
17.
Hollywood Bowl
–
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheater in Hollywood, California. The shell is set against the backdrop of the Hollywood Hills, the bowl refers to the shape of the concave hillside the amphitheater is carved into. The bowl is owned by the County of Los Angeles and is the home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It is at 2301 North Highland Avenue, north of Hollywood Boulevard, the Reeds selected a natural amphitheater, a shaded canyon and popular picnic spot known as Daisy Dell in Bolton Canyon. On 11 November 1921 the first Sunrise Service took place at the bowl, the Bowl officially opened on July 11,1922. At first, the Bowl was very close to its state, with only makeshift wooden benches for the audience. In 1926, a known as the Allied Architects was contracted to regrade the Bowl, providing permanent seating. For the 1927 season, Lloyd Wright, built a shell, with a vaguely Southwestern look. This was generally regarded as the best shell the Bowl ever had from a standpoint, unfortunately, its appearance was deemed too avant-garde. It did, however, get Wright a second chance, this time with the stipulation that the shell was to have an arch shape. For the 1928 season, Lloyd Wright built a shell in the shape of concentric 120-degree arches and it was designed to be easily dismantled and stored between concert seasons, apparently for political reasons this was not done, and it did not survive the winter. For the 1929 season, the Allied Architects built the shell that stood until 2003, sculptor George Stanley designed the Muse Fountain. He had previously done the Oscar statuette, shortly after the end of the 2003 summer season the 1929 shell was replaced with a new, somewhat larger, acoustically improved shell, which had its debut in the 2004 summer season. Preservationists fiercely opposed the demolition for many years, citing the shells storied history, however, even when it was built, the 1929 shell was only the third-best shell in the Bowls history, behind its two immediate predecessors. By the late 1970s, the Hollywood Bowl became a liability because of continued hardening of its transite skin. The new shell incorporates design elements of not only the 1929 shell, during the 2004 summer season, the sound steadily improved, as engineers learned to work with its live acoustics. This results in the audience in the rear sections hearing the audio, at the same level. This electronic processing includes sound level, frequency equalization, occasional special effects, the system is maintained by Rat Sound Systems, the same company that has provided audio for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival commonly known as the Coachella Festival, since its inception
18.
Merzig
–
Merzig is the capital of the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx,35 km south of Trier, and 35 km northwest of Saarbrücken. Merzig was created in 1974 as part of the reform in Saarland. The present-day city consists of the town of Merzig and 16 surrounding municipalities. Since 2012 Merzig stages musicals for two each year, starring famous German musical actors like Uwe Kröger. The venue is a marquee, called Zeltpalast
19.
St. Louis
–
St. Louis is an independent city and major U. S. port in the state of Missouri, built along the western bank of the Mississippi River, on the border with Illinois. Prior to European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. The city of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur traders Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, in 1764, following Frances defeat in the Seven Years War, the area was ceded to Spain and retroceded back to France in 1800. In 1803, the United States acquired the territory as part of the Louisiana Purchase, during the 19th century, St. Louis developed as a major port on the Mississippi River. In the 1870 Census, St. Louis was ranked as the 4th-largest city in the United States and it separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its own political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics, the economy of metro St. Louis relies on service, manufacturing, trade, transportation of goods, and tourism. This city has become known for its growing medical, pharmaceutical. St. Louis has 2 professional sports teams, the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the city is commonly identified with the 630-foot tall Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis. The area that would become St. Louis was a center of the Native American Mississippian culture and their major regional center was at Cahokia Mounds, active from 900 AD to 1500 AD. Due to numerous major earthworks within St. Louis boundaries, the city was nicknamed as the Mound City and these mounds were mostly demolished during the citys development. Historic Native American tribes in the area included the Siouan-speaking Osage people, whose territory extended west, European exploration of the area was first recorded in 1673, when French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette traveled through the Mississippi River valley. Five years later, La Salle claimed the region for France as part of La Louisiane. The earliest European settlements in the area were built in Illinois Country on the east side of the Mississippi River during the 1690s and early 1700s at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, migrants from the French villages on the opposite side of the Mississippi River founded Ste. In early 1764, after France lost the 7 Years War, Pierre Laclède, the early French families built the citys economy on the fur trade with the Osage, as well as with more distant tribes along the Missouri River. The Chouteau brothers gained a monopoly from Spain on the fur trade with Santa Fe, French colonists used African slaves as domestic servants and workers in the city. In 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, St. Louis was attacked by British forces, mostly Native American allies, the founding of St. Louis began in 1763. Pierre Laclede led an expedition to set up a fur-trading post farther up the Mississippi River, before then, Laclede had been a very successful merchant. For this reason, he and his trading partner Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent were offered monopolies for six years of the fur trading in that area
20.
Brisbane
–
Brisbane is the capital of and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbanes metropolitan area has a population of 2.35 million, the Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, about 15 kilometres from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite, one of the oldest cities in Australia, Brisbane was founded upon the ancient homelands of the indigenous Turrbal and Jagera peoples. A penal settlement was founded in 1824 at Redcliffe,28 kilometres north of the business district. The city was marred by the Australian frontier wars between 1843 and 1855, and development was set back by the Great Fire of Brisbane. Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a colony from New South Wales in 1859. During World War II, Brisbane played a role in the Allied campaign. Today, Brisbane is well known for its distinct Queenslander architecture which forms much of the built heritage. It also receives attention for its damaging flood events, most notably in 1974 and 2011. Several large cultural, international and sporting events have held at Brisbane, including the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo 88, the final Goodwill Games in 2001. Prior to white settlement, the Brisbane area was inhabited by the Turrbal and they knew the area that is now the central business district as Mian-jin, meaning place shaped as a spike. The Moreton Bay area was explored by Matthew Flinders. On 17 July 1799, Flinders landed at what is now known as Woody Point, in 1823 Governor of New South Wales Sir Thomas Brisbane instructed that a new northern penal settlement be developed, and an exploration party led by John Oxley further explored Moreton Bay. Oxley discovered, named, and explored the Brisbane River as far as Goodna,20 kilometres upstream from the Brisbane central business district, Oxley recommended Red Cliff Point for the new colony, reporting that ships could land at any tide and easily get close to the shore. The party settled in Redcliffe on 13 September 1824, under the command of Lieutenant Henry Miller with 14 soldiers and 29 convicts. However, this settlement was abandoned after a year and the colony was moved to a site on the Brisbane River now known as North Quay,28 km south, chief Justice Forbes gave the new settlement the name of Edenglassie before it was named Brisbane. Non-convict European settlement of the Brisbane region commenced in 1838, German missionaries settled at Zions Hill, Nundah as early as 1837, five years before Brisbane was officially declared a free settlement. The band consisted of ministers Christopher Eipper and Carl Wilhelm Schmidt and lay missionaries Haussmann, Johann Gottried Wagner, Niquet, Hartenstein, Zillman, Franz, Rode, Doege and they were allocated 260 hectares and set about establishing the mission, which became known as the German Station
21.
Tel Aviv
–
Tel Aviv-Yafo is a major city in Israel, located on the countrys Mediterranean coastline. It is the center and the technology hub of Israel, with a population of 432,892. Tel Aviv is the largest city in the Gush Dan region of Israel, Tel Aviv is also a focal point in the high-tech concentration known as the Silicon Wadi. Tel Aviv is governed by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, headed by Ron Huldai, Tel Aviv is a global city, and is the thirty eighth most important financial center in the world. Tel Aviv is known to have the third-largest economy of any city in the Middle East after Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City, the city receives over a million international visitors annually. Known as The City that Never Sleeps and a party capital, it has a lively nightlife, the city was founded in 1909 by Jewish immigrants on the outskirts of the ancient port city of Jaffa. It is named after the Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzls 1902 novel, Altneuland, the modern citys first neighbourhoods had already been established in 1886, the first being Neve Tzedek. Immigration by mostly Jewish refugees meant that the growth of Tel Aviv soon outpaced Jaffas, Tel Aviv and Jaffa were merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel. Tel Avivs White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, Tel Aviv is the Hebrew title of Theodor Herzls Altneuland, translated from German by Nahum Sokolow. The name was chosen in 1910 from several suggestions, including Herzliya and it was found fitting as it embraced the idea of a renaissance in the ancient Jewish homeland. Aviv is Hebrew for spring, symbolizing renewal, and tel is a man-made mound accumulating layers of civilization built one over the other and symbolizing the ancient. Although founded in 1909 as a settlement on the sand dunes North of Jaffa. The marketing pamphlets advocating for its establishment in 1906, wrote, In this city we will build the streets so they have roads and sidewalks and electric lights. Every house will have water wells that will flow through pipes as in every modern European city. Since 1886, Jewish settlers had founded new neighborhoods outside Jaffa on the current territory of Tel Aviv, the first was Neve Tzedek, built on lands owned by Aharon Chelouche and inhabited primarily by Mizrahi Jews. Other neighborhoods were Neve Shalom, Yafa Nof, Achva, Ohel Moshe, Kerem HaTeimanim, once Tel Aviv received city status in the 1920s, those neighborhoods joined the newly formed municipality, now becoming separated from Jaffa. The Second Aliyah led to further expansion, in 1906, a group of Jews, among them residents of Jaffa, followed the initiative of Akiva Aryeh Weiss and banded together to form the Ahuzat Bayit society. The societys goal was to form a Hebrew urban centre in an environment, planned according to the rules of aesthetics
22.
Rhythm and blues
–
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, the term rhythm and blues has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s it was applied to blues records. This tangent of RnB is now known as British rhythm and blues, by the 1970s, the term rhythm and blues changed again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a style of R&B developed, becoming known as Contemporary R&B. It combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop, popular R&B vocalists at the end of the 20th century included Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey. Although Jerry Wexler of Billboard magazine is credited with coining the term rhythm and blues as a term in the United States in 1948. It replaced the term race music, which came from within the black community. The term rhythm and blues was used by Billboard in its chart listings from June 1949 until August 1969, before the Rhythm and Blues name was instated, various record companies had already begun replacing the term race music with sepia series. In 2010 LaMont Robinson founded the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Museum, writer and producer Robert Palmer defined rhythm & blues as a catchall term referring to any music that was made by and for black Americans. He has used the term R&B as a synonym for jump blues, however, AllMusic separates it from jump blues because of its stronger, gospel-esque backbeat. Lawrence Cohn, author of Nothing but the Blues, writes that rhythm, according to him, the term embraced all black music except classical music and religious music, unless a gospel song sold enough to break into the charts. Well into the 21st century, the term R&B continues in use to music made by black musicians. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, arrangements were rehearsed to the point of effortlessness and were sometimes accompanied by background vocalists. Simple repetitive parts mesh, creating momentum and rhythmic interplay producing mellow, lilting, while singers are emotionally engaged with the lyrics, often intensely so, they remain cool, relaxed, and in control. The bands dressed in suits, and even uniforms, an associated with the modern popular music that rhythm. Lyrics often seemed fatalistic, and the music typically followed predictable patterns of chords, there was also increasing emphasis on the electric guitar as a lead instrument, as well as the piano and saxophone
23.
Baltimore
–
Baltimore is the largest city in the U. S. state of Maryland, and the 29th-most populous city in the country. It was established by the Constitution of Maryland and is not part of any county, thus, it is the largest independent city in the United States, with a population of 621,849 as of 2015. As of 2010, the population of the Baltimore Metropolitan Area was 2.7 million, founded in 1729, Baltimore is the second largest seaport in the Mid-Atlantic. Baltimores Inner Harbor was once the leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States. With hundreds of identified districts, Baltimore has been dubbed a city of neighborhoods, in the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner, later the American national anthem, in Baltimore. More than 65,000 properties, or roughly one in three buildings in the city, are listed on the National Register, more than any city in the nation. The city has 289 properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the historical records of the government of Baltimore are located at the Baltimore City Archives. The city is named after Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, of the Irish House of Lords, Baltimore Manor was the name of the estate in County Longford on which the Calvert family lived in Ireland. Baltimore is an anglicization of the Irish name Baile an Tí Mhóir, in 1608, Captain John Smith traveled 210 miles from Jamestown to the uppermost Chesapeake Bay, leading the first European expedition to the Patapsco River. The name Patapsco is derived from pota-psk-ut, which translates to backwater or tide covered with froth in Algonquian dialect, a quarter century after John Smiths voyage, English colonists began to settle in Maryland. The area constituting the modern City of Baltimore and its area was first settled by David Jones in 1661. He claimed the area today as Harbor East on the east bank of the Jones Falls stream. In the early 1600s, the immediate Baltimore vicinity was populated, if at all. The Baltimore area had been inhabited by Native Americans since at least the 10th millennium BC, one Paleo-Indian site and several Archaic period and Woodland period archaeological sites have been identified in Baltimore, including four from the Late Woodland period. During the Late Woodland period, the culture that is called the Potomac Creek complex resided in the area from Baltimore to the Rappahannock River in Virginia. It was located on the Bush River on land that in 1773 became part of Harford County, in 1674, the General Assembly passed An Act for erecting a Court-house and Prison in each County within this Province. The site of the house and jail for Baltimore County was evidently Old Baltimore near the Bush River. In 1683, the General Assembly passed An Act for Advancement of Trade to establish towns, ports, one of the towns established by the act in Baltimore County was on Bush River, on Town Land, near the Court-House
24.
Maryland
–
The states largest city is Baltimore, and its capital is Annapolis. Among its occasional nicknames are Old Line State, the Free State, the state is named after Henrietta Maria of France, the wife of Charles I of England. George Calvert was the first Lord of Baltimore and the first English proprietor of the colonial grant. Maryland was the state to ratify the United States Constitution. Maryland is one of the smallest U. S. states in terms of area, as well as one of the most densely populated, Maryland has an area of 12,406.68 square miles and is comparable in overall area with Belgium. It is the 42nd largest and 9th smallest state and is closest in size to the state of Hawaii, the next largest state, its neighbor West Virginia, is almost twice the size of Maryland. Maryland possesses a variety of topography within its borders, contributing to its nickname America in Miniature. The mid-portion of this border is interrupted by Washington, D. C. which sits on land that was part of Montgomery and Prince Georges counties and including the town of Georgetown. This land was ceded to the United States Federal Government in 1790 to form the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state and the counties east of the bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore. Close to the town of Hancock, in western Maryland, about two-thirds of the way across the state. This geographical curiosity makes Maryland the narrowest state, bordered by the Mason–Dixon line to the north, portions of Maryland are included in various official and unofficial geographic regions. Much of the Baltimore–Washington corridor lies just south of the Piedmont in the Coastal Plain, earthquakes in Maryland are infrequent and small due to the states distance from seismic/earthquake zones. The M5.8 Virginia earthquake in 2011 was felt moderately throughout Maryland, buildings in the state are not well-designed for earthquakes and can suffer damage easily. The lack of any glacial history accounts for the scarcity of Marylands natural lakes, laurel Oxbow Lake is an over one-hundred-year-old 55-acre natural lake two miles north of Maryland City and adjacent to Russett. Chews Lake is a natural lake two miles south-southeast of Upper Marlboro. There are numerous lakes, the largest of them being the Deep Creek Lake. Maryland has shale formations containing natural gas, where fracking is theoretically possible, as is typical of states on the East Coast, Marylands plant life is abundant and healthy. Middle Atlantic coastal forests, typical of the southeastern Atlantic coastal plain, grow around Chesapeake Bay, moving west, a mixture of Northeastern coastal forests and Southeastern mixed forests cover the central part of the state
25.
Tony Award
–
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at a ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre, several discretionary non-competitive awards are also given, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards are named after Antoinette Tony Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, the rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the official document Rules and Regulations of The American Theatre Wings Tony Awards, which applies for that season only. It also forms the fourth spoke in the EGOT, that is someone who has won all four awards, the Tony Awards are also considered the equivalent of the Laurence Olivier Award in the United Kingdom and the Molière Award of France. From 1997 to 2010, the Tony Awards ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June and broadcast live on CBS television, except in 1999, in 2011 and 2012, the ceremony was held at the Beacon Theatre. From 2013 to 2015, the 67th, 68th, and 69th ceremonies returned to Radio City Music Hall, the 70th Tony Awards were held on June 12,2016 at the Beacon Theatre. The 71st Tony Awards will be held on June 11,2017, as of 2014, there are 24 categories of awards, plus several special awards. Starting with 11 awards in 1947, the names and number of categories have changed over the years, some examples, the category Best Book of a Musical was originally called Best Author. The category of Best Costume Design was one of the original awards, for two years, in 1960 and 1961, this category was split into Best Costume Designer and Best Costume Designer. It then went to a category, but in 2005 it was divided again. For the category of Best Director of a Play, a category was for directors of plays. A newly established non-competitive award, The Isabelle Stevenson Award, was given for the first time at the ceremony in 2009. The award is for an individual who has made a contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian. The category of Best Special Theatrical Event was retired as of the 2009–2010 season, the categories of Best Sound Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Musical were retired as of the 2014-2015 season. Performance categories Show and technical categories Special awards Retired awards The award was founded in 1947 by a committee of the American Theatre Wing headed by Brock Pemberton. The award is named after Antoinette Perry, nicknamed Tony, an actress, director, producer and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, who died in 1946. As her official biography at the Tony Awards website states, At Jacob Wilks suggestion, proposed an award in her honor for distinguished stage acting, at the initial event in 1947, as he handed out an award, he called it a Tony
26.
New Line Cinema
–
New Line Cinema is an American film studio that was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as a film distribution company, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of the Turner Broadcasting System in 1994 before Turner merged with Time Warner in 1996, currently, its films are distributed by Warner Bros. New Line Cinema was established in 1967 by the then 27-year-old Robert Shaye as a distribution company, supplying foreign. Shaye operated New Lines offices out of his apartment at 14th Street, one of the companys early successes was its distribution of the 1936 anti-cannabis propaganda film Reefer Madness, which became a cult hit on American college campuses in the early 1970s. New Line also released many classic films, like Stay As You Are, Immoral Tales. The studio has released many of the films of John Waters. In 1976, New Line secured funding to produce its first full-length feature, Stunts, although not considered a critical success, the film performed well commercially on the international market and on television. New Line then produced or co-produced three more films in 1981 and 1983, Alone in the Dark, Xtro and Polyester, a Nightmare on Elm Street was produced and released by New Line in 1984. The resulting franchise was New Lines first commercially successful series after a financial slump. The film was made on a budget of $1.8 million and it was the first film to feature the actor Johnny Depp. A year later, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Freddys Revenge was released, and grossed $3.3 million in its first three days of release and over $30 million at the domestic box office. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Dream Warriors was released in 1987, in November 1990, New Line purchased a 52% stake in the television production company RHI Entertainment, which would later be sold to Hallmark Cards. In May 1991, New Line purchased the video and foreign rights to 600 films held by Sultan Entertainment Holdings. The deal also included an 11-film distribution deal with Turner subsidiary Castle Rock Entertainment, on November 27,1991, New Line purchased Sultan outright. On January 28,1994, New Line Cinema was acquired by the Turner Broadcasting System, New Line Cinema was kept as its own separate entity, while fellow Turner-owned studios Hanna-Barbera Productions and Castle Rock Entertainment eventually became units of Warner Bros. In 2007, New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment collaborated on the 2007 film Fracture, during its time as an entity separate from Warner Bros. New Line Cinema operated several divisions, including distribution, marketing. It was also a partner in founding a new company named Picturehouse in 2005
27.
Rob Marshall
–
Rob Marshall is an American theater director, film director and choreographer. A five-time Tony Award nominee, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his choreography in the TV movie Annie. Marshall was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the son of Anne and Robert D. Marshall and his sister is choreographer and director, Kathleen Marshall. He graduated from Falk Laboratory School in 1974 and he graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 1978 and was inducted into their alumni hall of fame in 2012. He attended Carnegie Mellon University and worked in the Pittsburgh theatre scene, Marshall went on to perform as a dancer in various Broadway shows, but suffered a herniated disc while performing in Cats and after recovering, transitioned into choreography and then directing. He debuted in the industry with the Emmy Award-winning TV adaptation of the musical Annie by Charles Strouse. After that he went on to direct the adaptation of the Kander and his next feature film was the drama Memoirs of a Geisha based on the best-selling book of the same name by Arthur Golden starring Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh and Ken Watanabe. The film went on to win three Academy Awards and gross $162,242,962 at the box office. Marshall directed Disneys film adaptation of Stephen Sondheims Into the Woods, Marshall lives in New York City with his life partner John DeLuca. Rob Marshall at the Internet Movie Database Rob Marshall at the Internet Broadway Database Rob Marshall at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
28.
Chicago (2002 film)
–
Chicago is a 2002 American musical crime comedy film based on the musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Chicago during the Jazz Age. The film stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger and Richard Gere, Chicago centers on Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, two murderesses who find themselves in jail together awaiting trial in 1920s Chicago. Velma, a vaudevillian, and Roxie, a housewife, fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows. Directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall, and adapted by screenwriter Bill Condon, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, Chicago won six Academy Awards in 2003, the film was critically lauded, and was the first musical to win Best Picture since Oliver. In 1924, Roxie Hart sees star Velma Kelly perform at a Chicago theater, wanting stardom for herself, she begins an affair with Fred Casely, who claims to know the manager. After the show, Velma is arrested for killing her husband Charlie and sister Veronica, a month later, Casely admits to Roxie that he has no showbiz connections and just wanted her body. She convinces her husband, Amos, to take the blame, as Amos confesses to the detective, Roxie fantasizes that she is singing a song devoted to her husband. However, when the detective brings up evidence that Roxie and Casely were having an affair, Amos recants, ambitious District Attorney Harrison announces he will seek the death penalty. At Cook County Jail, Roxie is sent to Murderess Row, Roxie meets her idol Velma, but her friendship is rudely rebuffed. She learns the backstories of the women there, including Velma Kelly. On Mortons advice, Roxie engages Velmas lawyer, the brilliant Billy Flynn, the press believe the story, praised by the public as a tragic heroine, Roxie becomes an overnight sensation. Meanwhile, Kitty Baxter, a heiress, is arrested for murdering her husband. To Velmas surprise, Roxie quickly steals back the fame by claiming to be pregnant. Amos is ignored by the press, and Flynn, to create sympathy for Roxie, convinces him that the child is Caselys. Roxie over-confidently fires Flynn, believing she can now win on her own, however, when Katalin Helinszki, a Hungarian woman from Murderess Row is hanged, she realizes the gravity of the situation and rehires Flynn. Roxies trial begins, and Billy turns it into a spectacle with the help of the sensationalist newspaper reporters. Billy discredits witnesses, manipulates evidence, and even stages a public reconciliation between Amos and Roxie when she says the child is his. The trial seems to be going Roxies way until Velma appears with Roxies diary, Billy discredits the diary, implying that Harrison was the one who planted the evidence
29.
Marissa Jaret Winokur
–
Some of her other TV credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Moesha, The Steve Harvey Show, Just Shoot Me. She was a contestant on the reality competition series Dancing With the Stars. Though she served as a co-host on the daytime talk show The Talk, she did not return in 2011, instead focusing on her clothing line. Winokur was born in New York City, the daughter of Maxine, a teacher, and Michael Winokur, Winokur was a cheerleader and captain of her high school soccer team at Fox Lane High School. She later studied at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, graduating from the integrated program, Winokur won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Drama Desk Award, Theatre World Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in Hairspray. After she started her run in Hairspray, Winokur was diagnosed with cancer and she underwent surgery later in 2003, after her recovery and declaration of being cancer-free, she was healthy enough to return to Broadway. It is said that while traveling to and from her surgery she sang Good Morning Baltimore. She made her first appearance on Broadway after successfully undergoing cancer treatment and she had previously appeared on Broadway as Pink Lady Jan in the revival of Grease. Winokur co-starred in the TV series Stacked, which starred Pamela Anderson and she also appeared on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where she lost a physical fight with Larry David over the first appointment at a doctors office. She was called Marissa Winokur in the episode, but was credited simply as Woman In Elevator, Marissa was set to star in a new comedy pilot for CBS titled Fugly, from the creator of My Name Is Earl. The show was pitched to FOX as a vehicle for Pamela Anderson. It was later revamped into a film and aired to poor reviews in 2007. She returned to Hairspray on December 9,2008 and played Tracy until the closing on January 4,2009. Winokur hosted the reality competition series Dance Your Ass Off on the Oxygen Network, the program began airing on CBS October 18,2010. On January 14,2011, she announced via People Magazine that she would leave The Talk to focus on her clothing line and she reprised the role of Tracy Turnblad in the Hollywood Bowl production of Hairspray, which ran from August 5–7,2011. Winokur joined the cast of TV Lands original sitcom Retired at 35 and she acted out the role of Amy, David’s sister, a sharp-tongued, quick-witted successful saleswoman for a pharmaceutical company with a bubbly personality. The character was originated by Casey Wilson in the shows pilot, Winokur was working on recording a childrens music album. Her rendition of the song Baby Face was featured on the soundtrack for the film Son of the Mask, Winokur has also lent her voice to several cartoon shows, including American Dad. and King of the Hill
30.
American Beauty (1999 film)
–
American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a 42-year-old advertising executive who has a crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenaged daughters best friend. Annette Bening co-stars as Lesters materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, and Allison Janney also feature. Ball began writing American Beauty as a play in the early 1990s and he shelved the play after realizing the story would not work on stage. After several years as a screenwriter, Ball revived the idea in 1997 when attempting to break into the film industry. The modified script had a cynical outlook that was influenced by Balls frustrating tenures writing for several sitcoms, producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen took American Beauty to DreamWorks, the then-fledgling film studio bought Balls script for $250,000, outbidding several other production bodies. DreamWorks financed the $15 million production and served as its North American distributor, principal photography took place between December 1998 and February 1999 on soundstages at the Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, California, and on location in Los Angeles. Mendes dominant style was deliberate and composed, he made use of static shots and slow pans. Cinematographer Conrad Hall complemented Mendes style with peaceful shot compositions to contrast with the turbulent on-screen events, during editing, Mendes made several changes that gave the film a less cynical tone than the script. Released in North America on September 17,1999, American Beauty was positively received by critics, reviewers praised most aspects of the production, with particular emphasis on Mendes, Spacey, and Ball, criticism focused on the familiarity of the characters and setting. It was nominated for and won other awards and honors, mainly for the direction, writing. Lester Burnham is an advertising executive and magazine writer who despises his job. He is unhappily married to Carolyn, a neurotic yet fiercely ambitious real estate broker who grows red roses in their yard, their daughter, Jane. His job as a part-time bar caterer serves as a front for his secret marijuana dealings, Frank is a strict disciplinarian who previously sent Ricky to a military school and briefly committed him to a psychiatric hospital. Jim Olmeyer and Jim Berkley, a gay couple who live nearby, on the way to school, Frank reveals his homophobia while he angrily discusses the incident with Ricky. Lester becomes infatuated with Janes vain friend, Angela Hayes, after seeing her perform a dance routine at a high school basketball game with Jane. He starts having sexual fantasies about Angela, in red rose petals are a recurring motif. Carolyn begins an affair with her married business rival, Buddy Kane, when Lesters boss and efficiency expert, Brad, tells him that he is to be laid off, Lester instead blackmails him for $60,000 and quits his job
31.
Divine (performer)
–
Harris Glenn Milstead, better known by his stage name Divine, was an American actor, singer and drag queen. Born in Baltimore, Maryland to a conservative family, Milstead developed an early interest in drag while working as a womens hairdresser. By the mid-1960s he had embraced the citys countercultural scene and befriended Waters, who gave him the name Divine and the tagline of the most beautiful woman in the world, almost. Again in drag, he took a role in both of Waters early full-length movies, Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs, the latter of which began to attract press attention for the group. Divine next starred in Waters Pink Flamingos, which proved a hit on the U. S. midnight movie circuit, became a cult classic and he followed this with a performance in Tom Eyens play Women Behind Bars and its sequel, The Neon Woman. Continuing his cinematic work, he starred in two more of Waters films, Polyester and Hairspray, the latter of which represented his breakthrough into mainstream cinema. Independent of Waters, he appeared in a number of other films, such as Lust in the Dust and Trouble in Mind. In 1981, Divine embarked on a career in the industry by producing a number of Hi-NRG tracks. He achieved international success with hits like You Think Youre a Man, Im So Beautiful. Having struggled with obesity throughout his life, he died from cardiomegaly, various books and documentary films devoted to his life have also been produced, including Divine Trash and I Am Divine. Harris Glenn Milstead was born on October 19,1945, at the Womens Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, Harris Bernard Milstead, after whom he was named, had one of seven children born in Towson. Divines mother, Frances Milstead, was one of fifteen children born to an impoverished Serb immigrant couple who had grown up near Zagreb before moving to the United States in 1891. When she was 16, Frances moved to Baltimore where she worked at a diner in Towson, here meeting Harris, entering into a relationship, they were married in 1938 before both gaining employment working at the Black and Decker factory in Towson. Attempting to conceive a child, Frances suffered two miscarriages in 1940 and 1943, by the time of Divines birth in 1945, the Milsteads were relatively wealthy and socially conservative, adhering to the Baptist denomination of Christianity. Later describing his upbringing, Divine would recollect, I was a child in, I guess. I was probably your American spoiled brat and his parents lavished almost anything that he wanted upon him, including food, and he became overweight, a condition he lived with for the rest of his life. Divine preferred to use his name, Glenn, to distinguish himself from his father
32.
Harvey Fierstein
–
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is an American actor, playwright, and voice actor. Fierstein has won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his own play Torch Song Trilogy and the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. He also wrote the book for the musical La Cage aux Folles, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical and he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. Fierstein was born to Eastern European Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jacqueline Harriet, a librarian, and Irving Fierstein. Fierstein was raised in Conservative Judaism and he is non-observant and considers himself an atheist. Fierstein occasionally writes columns about gay issues and he was openly gay at a time when very few celebrities were. His careers as a comic and female impersonator are mostly behind him. The gravel-voiced actor is best known for the play and film Torch Song Trilogy, Fierstein also wrote the book for La Cage aux Folles, winning another Tony Award, this time for Best Book of a Musical, and a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Book. Legs Diamond, his 1988 collaboration with Peter Allen, was a critical and commercial failure and his other playwriting credits include Safe Sex, Spookhouse, and Forget Him. In 2007, Fierstein wrote the book to the musical A Catered Affair in which he also starred, after tryouts at San Diegos Old Globe Theatre in September 2007, it opened on Broadway April 17,2008 and closed on July 27,2008. He received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Book of a Musical, Fierstein wrote the book for the stage musical Newsies, along with Alan Menken and Jack Feldman. The musical opened on Broadway in March 2012, Fierstein was nominated for the Tony Award for Book of a Musical. Fierstein wrote the book for a musical version of the film Kinky Boots with music. After a fall 2012 run at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago it opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway in April 2013, the musical was nominated for thirteen 2013 Tony Awards and won six, including best musical. His play, Casa Valentina was produced on Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, the play opened in April 2014 and closed in June 2014. It was directed by Joe Mantello, with a cast that featured Patrick Page as George/Valentina, John Cullum, Fierstein wrote the teleplay for The Wiz Live. NBC TV broadcast on December 3,2015, featuring Stephanie Mills, as Aunt Em, Queen Latifah as The Wiz, the teleplay is an adaptation of the The Wiz broadway production which ran from October 1974 until January 1979. As one of the first openly gay celebrities in the United States, Fierstein helped make gay and lesbian life into viable subjects for contemporary drama with no apologies and no climactic suicides
