1.
Barataria, Trinidad and Tobago
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Barataria is a town in Trinidad and Tobago. It is east of Port of Spain and Laventille and west of San Juan and it is part of the East-West Corridor. Barataria is the name of the fictional island awarded to Sancho Panza, to govern, Barataria falls under the San Juan-Laventille Regional Corporation. It is a quiet residential area, home to retired and middle classes with streets running north-south and east-west with corresponding names. There is the usual mix of churches, shops, bars. It is not far from the highways into Port of Spain direct or via the scenic Lady Young Road. Busy shopping areas are within walking distance, the busy bus route running parallel with the eastbound highway runs next to fifth street in Barataria and the Eastern Main Road runs between second and third streets. The bus route was built to provide access to and from Piarco International Airport in case of a national emergency
2.
Trinidad
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Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies 11 km off the northeastern coast of Venezuela, though geographically part of the South American continent, from a socio-economic standpoint it is often referred to as the southernmost island in the Caribbean. With an area of 4,768 km2, it is also the sixth largest in the West Indies, many believe the original name for the island in the Arawaks language was Iëre which meant Land of the Hummingbird. Some believe that Iere was actually a mispronunciation or corruption by early colonists of the Arawak word Kairi which simply means Island, Christopher Columbus renamed it La Isla de la Trinidad, fulfilling a vow he had made before setting out on his third voyage of exploration. Caribs and Arawaks lived in Trinidad long before Christopher Columbus encountered the islands on his voyage in 1498. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands, Trinidad remained Spanish until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists from the French Caribbean, especially Martinique. In 1889 the two became a single British Crown colony. Trinidad and Tobago obtained self-governance in 1958 and independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, major landforms include the hills of the Northern, Central and Southern Ranges, the Caroni, Nariva and Oropouche Swamps, and the Caroni and Naparima Plains. Major river systems include the Caroni, North and South Oropouche, there are many other natural landforms such as beaches and waterfalls. Trinidad has two seasons per year, the rainy season and the dry season. El Cerro del Aripo, at 940 metres, is the highest point in Trinidad and it is part of the Aripo Massif and is located in the Northern Range on the island, northeast of the town of Arima. Diversity is the status quo in Trinidad and it is sometimes known as a rainbow island or more fondly a callaloo. There is a range of ethnicity, religion, and culture. As of the 2011 Trinidad and Tobago Census, the population was 34. 22% East Indian,35. 43% African,7. 66% Mixed - African and East Indian, and 15. 16% Mixed - Other. Venezuela has also had a impact on Trinidads culture, such as introducing the music style parang to the island. Many of these groups overlap heavily due to admixture, for example Dougla is a term used to describe a person who is of African and East Indian descent. Trinidad religion primarily centers round Roman Catholic, Anglican, other Christian denominations, Hindu, catholicism constitutes the largest religious denomination of the country. There are also multiple festivals featuring the music of the Caribbean and the steelpan and these festivals include the world-famous Carnival, Jouvert, and Panorama, the national steel pan competition
3.
Contemporary R&B
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Contemporary R&B, also known as simply R&B, is a music genre that combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance. The genre features a record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, an occasional saxophone-laced beat to give a jazz feel. Electronic influences are becoming a trend and the use of hip hop or dance-inspired beats are typical, although the roughness. Contemporary R&B vocalists are often known for their use of melisma, popularized by such as Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Craig David, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston. That same year, Teddy Riley began producing R&B recordings that included hip hop influences and this combination of R&B style and hip hop rhythms was termed new jack swing and was applied to artists such as Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat, Al B. Guy, Jodeci and Bell Biv DeVoe, the style became less popular by the end of the 1990s, but later experienced a resurgence. In 1990 Mariah Carey released Vision of Love as her debut single and it was immensely popular peaking at number 1 in many worldwide charts including the Billboard Hot 100, and it propelled Mariahs carrier. The song is said to have popularized the use of melisma. During the mid-1990s, Whitney Houstons The Bodyguard, Original Soundtrack Album sold over 40 million copies becoming the best-selling soundtrack of all time. Janet Jacksons self-titled fifth studio album janet. which came after her historic multimillion-dollar contract with Virgin Records, sold over twenty million copies worldwide. Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey recorded several Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hits, including One Sweet Day, Carey also released a remix of her 1995 single Fantasy, with Ol Dirty Bastard as a feature, a collaboration format that was unheard of at this point. Carey, Boyz II Men and TLC released albums in 1994 and 1995—Daydream, II and CrazySexyCool. In the late 1990s, neo soul, which added 1970s soul influences to the hip hop soul blend, arose, led by such as DAngelo, Erykah Badu. Hill and Missy Elliott further blurred the line between R&B and hip hop by recording both styles, beginning in 1995, the Grammy Awards enacted the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, with II by Boyz II Men becoming the first recipient. The award was received by TLC for CrazySexyCool in 1996, Tony Rich for Words in 1997, Erykah Badu for Baduizm in 1998. At the end of 1999, Billboard magazine ranked Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson as the first, simultaneously, in the second half of the 1990s, The Neptunes and Timbaland set influential precedence on contemporary R&B and hip hop music. R&B acts such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Usher, in 2001, Alicia Keys released Fallin as her debut single. It peaking at one on the Billboard Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40
4.
Soul music
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Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music, catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the lead vocalist and the chorus and a tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds, Soul music reflected the African-American identity and it stressed the importance of an African-American culture. The new-found African-American consciousness led to new styles of music, which boasted pride in being black, Soul music dominated the U. S. R&B chart in the 1960s, and many recordings crossed over into the pop charts in the U. S. By 1968, the music genre had begun to splinter. Some soul artists developed funk music, while other singers and groups developed slicker, more sophisticated, by the early 1970s, soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock and other genres, leading to psychedelic soul. The United States saw the development of neo soul around 1994, there are also several other subgenres and offshoots of soul music. The term soul had been used among African-American musicians to emphasize the feeling of being an African-American in the United States, according to another source, Soul music was the result of the urbanization and commercialization of rhythm and blues in the 60s. The phrase soul music itself, referring to music with secular lyrics, is first attested in 1961. The term soul in African-American parlance has connotations of African-American pride, gospel groups in the 1940s and 1950s occasionally used the term as part of their name. The jazz style that derived from gospel came to be called soul jazz, important innovators whose recordings in the 1950s contributed to the emergence of soul music included Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Ray Charles is often cited as popularizing the genre with his string of hits starting with 1954s I Got a Woman. Singer Bobby Womack said, Ray was the genius and he turned the world onto soul music. Charles was open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style, little Richard and James Brown were equally influential. Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson are also acknowledged as soul forefathers. Cooke became popular as the singer of gospel group The Soul Stirrers
5.
Contemporary Christian music
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Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith. Today, the term is used to refer to pop, rock. Top-selling CCM artists will also appear on the Billboard 200, in the iTunes Store, the genre is represented as part of the Christian and gospel genre. The growing popularity in the styles of Rock n Roll music in the 1950s was initially dismissed by the church because it was believed to encourage sinfulness. Yet as evangelical churches adapted to appeal to people, the musical styles used in worship changed as well by adopting the sounds of this popular style. The genre became known as contemporary Christian music as a result of the Jesus movement revival in the latter 1960s and early 1970s, about that time, many young people from the sixties counterculture professed to believe in Jesus. Convinced of the bareness of a lifestyle based on drugs, free sex, however, there were people who felt that Jesus was another trip. It was during the 1970s Jesus movement that Christian music started to become an industry within itself, Jesus Music started by playing instruments and singing songs about love and peace, which then translated into love of God. Paul Wohlegemuth, who wrote the book Rethinking Church Music, said 1970s will see a marked acceptance of rock-influenced music in all levels of church music. The rock style will become familiar to all people, its rhythmic excesses will become refined. Larry Norman is often remembered as the father of Christian rock and he is remembered as the artist who first combined rock n roll with Christian lyrics in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Unlike traditional or southern gospel music, this new Jesus music was birthed out of rock, pioneers of this movement also included Keith Green, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Barry McGuire, Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, Evie, Benny Hester, and The Imperials, among others. The small Jesus music culture had expanded into an industry by the 1980s. Many CCM artists such as Benny Hester, Amy Grant, DC Talk, Michael W. Smith, Stryper, the genre emerged and became prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s. Beginning in July 1978, CCM Magazine began covering Contemporary Christian Music artists and it has certain themes and messages behind the songs and their lyrics including Praise and worship, faith, encouragement, and prayer. These songs also focus on themes of devotion, inspiration, redemption, reconciliation, many people listen to contemporary Christian music for comfort through tough times. The lyrics and messages conveyed in CCM songs are aimed to evangelize, one of the earliest goals of CCM was to spread the news of Jesus to non-Christians. In addition, contemporary Christian music also strengthens the faith of believers, Contemporary Christian music has influences from folk, gospel, pop and rock music
6.
Gospel music
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Gospel music is a music genre in Christian music. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music varies according to culture. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, Gospel music usually has dominant vocals with Christian lyrics. Gospel music can be traced to the early 17th century, with roots in the oral tradition. Hymns and sacred songs were repeated in a call and response fashion, most of the churches relied on hand clapping and foot stomping as rhythmic accompaniment. Most of the singing was done a cappella, the first published use of the term Gospel Song probably appeared in 1874. The original gospel songs were written and composed by such as George F. Root, Philip Bliss, Charles H. Gabriel, William Howard Doane. The advent of radio in the 1920s greatly increased the audience for gospel music, following World War II, gospel music moved into major auditoriums, and gospel music concerts became quite elaborate. Gospel blues is a form of gospel music. Southern gospel used all male, tenor-lead-baritone-bass quartet make-up, progressive Southern gospel is an American music genre that has grown out of Southern gospel over the past couple of decades. Christian country music, sometimes referred to as gospel music, is a subgenre of gospel music with a country flair. It peaked in popularity in the mid-1990s, bluegrass gospel music is rooted in American mountain music. Celtic gospel music infuses gospel music with a Celtic flair, and is popular in countries such as Ireland. British black gospel refers to Gospel music of the African diaspora, some proponents of standard hymns generally dislike gospel music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, with distance, there is a greater acceptance of such gospel songs into official denominational hymnals. Gospel music in general is characterized by dominant vocals referencing lyrics of a Christian nature, subgenres include contemporary gospel, urban contemporary gospel, Southern gospel, and modern gospel music. Several forms of gospel music utilize choirs, use piano or Hammond organ, tambourines, drums, bass guitar and, increasingly, electric guitar. In comparison with hymns, which are generally of a statelier measure, several attempts have been made to describe the style of late 19th and early 20th century gospel songs in general
7.
RCA Records
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RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. It is one of SMEs three flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, blues, jazz, the companys name is derived from the initials of the labels former parent company, the Radio Corporation of America. It is the second oldest recording company in US history, after sister label Columbia Records, RCAs Canadian unit is Sonys oldest label in Canada. It was one of only two Canadian record companies to survive the Great Depression, kelly, Enrique Iglesias, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon, Kesha, Miley Cyrus, Giorgio Moroder, Jennifer Hudson, DAngelo, Pink, Tinashe, G-Eazy, Pitbull, Zayn and Wizkid. In 1929, the Radio Corporation of America purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, then the worlds largest manufacturer of phonographs and phonograph records. The company then became RCA Victor but retained use of the Victor Records name on their labels until the beginning of 1946 when the labels were finally switched over to RCA Victor. With Victor, RCA acquired New World rights to the famous Nipper His Masters Voice trademark, in Shanghai, China, in 1931, RCA Victors British affiliate the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI. This gave RCA head David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board, in September 1931, RCA Victor introduced the first 33⅓ rpm records sold to the public, calling them Program Transcriptions. In the depths of the Great Depression, the format was a commercial failure, during the early part of the depression, RCA made a number of attempts to produce a successful cheap label to compete with the dime store labels. The first was the short-lived Timely Tunes label in 1931 sold at Montgomery Ward, in 1932, Bluebird Records was created as a sub-label of RCA Victor. It was originally an 8-inch record with a blue label. In 1933, RCA reintroduced Bluebird and Electradisk as a standard 10-inch label, another cheap label, Sunrise, was produced. The same musical couplings were issued on all three labels and Bluebird Records still survives eight decades after Electradisk and Sunrise were discontinued, RCA also produced records for Montgomery Ward label during the 1930s. Besides manufacturing records for themselves, RCA Victor operated RCA Custom which was the leading record manufacturer for independent record labels, RCA Custom also pressed record compilations for The Readers Digest Association. RCA sold its interest in EMI in 1935, but EMI continued to distribute RCA recordings in the UK, RCA also manufactured and distributed HMV classical recordings on the RCA and HMV labels in North America. During World War II, ties between RCA and its Japanese affiliate JVC were severed, the Japanese record company is today called Victor Entertainment and is still a JVC subsidiary. From 1942 to 1944, RCA Victor was seriously impacted by the American Federation of Musicians recording ban, virtually all union musicians could not make recordings during that period
8.
Capitol Christian Music Group
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Capitol Christian Music Group is an American music group that, since 2013, is under the ownership of Universal Music Group. It is based in Brentwood, Tennessee, Capitol CMG is the leader in the Christian Gospel music industry. Capitol CMG is a company whose assets include such labels as Sparrow and ForeFront Records as well as the distribution company. Capitol CMG features artists such as Chris Tomlin, TobyMac, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, CeCe Winans, the music group was founded by Billy Ray Hearn in February 1976 as Sparrow Records. Sparrow was acquired by EMI in 1992, formerly known as EMI Christian Music Group, Capitol CMG is a division of Capitol Music Group, which is now a Universal Music Group company. The companys roster features top names in the Christian and gospel communities, among them Amy Grant, Jeremy Camp, Michael W
9.
Mervyn Warren
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Mervyn Edwin Warren is an American film composer, record producer, music conductor, music arranger, lyricist, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist. Warren is a five-time Grammy Award winner and a 10-time Grammy Award nominee, Warrens mother taught him to read and to do basic math when he was three years old, which enabled him later to complete the first and second grades in one year. Upon beginning the third grade, Warrens classmates, thinking he had skipped a grade. During that time, he immersed himself in playing the piano, Warren briefly took formal, piano lessons at the ages of six and 10. In each case, he soon lost interest in the memorization and regurgitation of the required pieces. As a result, each stint of weekly, formal lessons was short-lived, still, he spent hours at the piano daily, playing by ear. As a child and teenager, Warren, whose parents are Seventh-day Adventists, was not allowed to listen to pop music or rhythm and blues. Instead, he grew up on a diet of easy-listening, contemporary Christian, classical. Warrens familys home was adjacent to the campus of Oakwood University, throughout his childhood and adolescence, Warren heard such ensembles rehearse and perform frequently. Each of these elements would later combine to inform his unique musical palette, in 1976, at the age of 12, Warren was grounded for having purchased the Earth, Wind & Fire album Gratitude. But in 2006—exactly 30 years later—he was asked to produce an Earth, although the project was postponed, the irony remains. At the age of 15, Warren enrolled in a special, summer program at Alabama A&M University for high-school students with advanced proficiency in the sciences and mathematics. As a result of his performance in the program, the university offered him a scholarship that would cover all studies required to earn a Ph. D. in physics, however, lacking sufficient interest in the subject, Warren declined the offer. In 1981 he was the valedictorian of his class at Oakwood Adventist Academy. In the fall of the year, he became president of the freshman class at Oakwood University. Intending to attend school, Warren majored briefly in biology. Though he excelled at both, he dropped both, having decided to pursue his passion, music. Disappointed by Warrens decision, a professor of biology told him, undeterred, Warren graduated summa cum laude in 1985 from Oakwood University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music with an emphasis in piano performance
10.
Brooklyn Tabernacle
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Brooklyn Tabernacle is a non-denominational church located at 17 Smith Street at the Fulton Mall in downtown Brooklyn, New York City. Brooklyn Tabernacle has 16,000 members and is one of the biggest churches in the Greater New York metropolitan area, Jim Cymbala has been the pastor of the church for over 40 years. The church is noted for its sermons, guests and its six time Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, which is directed by Carol Cymbala, the wife of the main Pastor, Jim Cymbala. The Brooklyn Tabernacle was established in 1847 as the Central Presbyterian Church, using the facilities of the First Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Willoughby Street and their first building was a frame tabernacle on the corner of State and Nevins Streets, beginning April 3,1853. The first tabernacle was destroyed by fire in 1869, the second Brooklyn Tabernacle was built in 1873 at the corner of Marcy and Jefferson. This tabernacle was destroyed during a thunderstorm in 1889, the third tabernacle, built at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Greene Street seated 6,000 persons and was destroyed by fire in 1894, but was then rebuilt at the same location. By the time Pastor Jim and Carol Cymbala took over the leadership in the autumn of 1971, in the 1980s, the Brooklyn Tabernacle purchased the former Carlton Theatre at 292 Flatbush Avenue at 7th Avenue, converting the 1383-seat theatre into a church. After many years of decline, the church was revitalized as a non-denominational congregation, the church remained in this location until 2002 when they purchased and renovated the former Loews Metropolitan Theatre at 17 Smith Street. Two adjacent buildings were converted into offices, classrooms, community service areas, the church holds three two-hour services weekly. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic at the 2013 second inauguration of Barack Obama
11.
Trinidadian and Tobagonian Americans
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Trinidadian and Tobagonian Americans are Americans of total or partial Trinidadian and Tobagonian ancestry or immigrants born in Trinidad and Tobago. The largest proportion of Trinidadians live in New York City and in places such as Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, New Jersey. The immigrants worked as free people until 1629 when a Portuguese vessel arrived with the first shipload of blacks captured off the west coast of Africa. In the 1640s Virginia and other states began instituting laws that took away the freedom of blacks and redefined them as chattel, Trinidad, like many other islands in the British West Indies, served as a clearinghouse for slaves en route to North America. From 1966 to 1970,23,367 Trinidadian and Tobagonian immigrants, primarily from the elite and rural poor classes. From 1971 to 1975, the figure climbed to 33,278 and it dropped to 28,498 from 1976 to 1980, and only half that amount between 1981 and 1984, when the Reagan administration began placing greater restrictions on U. S. immigration policy. Less than 2,300 Trinidadian and Tobagonian immigrants arrived in 1984, the majority of those immigrants came to the United States because Britain had restricted immigration from the Commonwealth islands to the British Isles. A larger number migrated in the late 1980s when oil prices fell, Trinidadians and Tobagonians are now the second largest group of English-speaking West Indian immigrants in the United States. Lakshmi Singh - NPR newscaster Larry Felix - Director, U. S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing Anya Ayoung-Chee - Miss Trinidad and Tobago Universe 2008, frederick - physician, President of Howard University Roger Toussaint - trade unionist
12.
Tony Award
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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
13.
Grammy Award
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A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an honor awarded by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards. The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4,1959, to honor, following the 2011 ceremony, The Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 59th Grammy Awards, honoring the best achievements from October 2015 to September 2016, was held on February 12,2017, the Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating a given by their industry similar to the Oscars. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts, after it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it, one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, the number of awards given grew and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed, at one time reaching over 100. The second Grammy Awards, also held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised, the gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, Billings developed a zinc alloy named grammium, which is trademarked. The trophies with the name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements. By February 2009,7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded, the General Field are four awards which are not restricted by genre. Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a full album if other than the performer. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a single song if other than the performer. Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song, Best New Artist is awarded to a promising breakthrough performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist. The only two artists to win all four of these awards are Christopher Cross, who won all four in 1980, and Adele, who won the Best New Artist award in 2009 and the other three in 2012 and 2017. Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other such as artwork. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry, the many other Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony earlier in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast
14.
Drama Desk Award
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Broadway productions were excluded until the 1968–69 award season. The awards are considered a significant American theatre distinction and they debuted the presentations of the Vernon Rice Awards. The name honors the New York Post critic Vernon Rice, who had pioneered Off-Broadway coverage in the New York press, the name was changed for the 1963–1964 awards season to the Drama Desk Awards. In 1974, the Drama Desk became incorporated as a not-for-profit organization, in 1975, the Drama announcement of winners included the nominees as well. The Drama Desk has more than 100 members, including critics, reporters and editors who cover New York theater. Membership consists of two categories, Active membership and Participating Membership, all of the Drama Desk officers and Nominating Committee members perform their various services for the organization on a voluntary basis. The Nominating Committee generally meets twice a month to discuss the many eligible shows members are responsible for seeing and they then nominate the productions on which the entire membership will vote. What sets the organization apart is that the awards are voted on by people only without any vested interests in the results. Previous winners include Bernadette Peters, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, over the last 36 years, the Drama Desk Awards have contributed to the ongoing success of major stars, playwrights and designers, while also identifying newcomers. The Drama Desk was the first New York theater organization to give awards to talents such as Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, plays like Driving Miss Daisy, Other Peoples Money, Steel Magnolias, and The Boys in the Band built momentum with the help of Drama Desk wins. In 2010 William Wolf was announced as the President of Drama Desk, the current managing executive producer of the Drama Desk Awards is Gretchen Shugart, and the president of the Drama Desk is Charles Wright. David Barbour is chairperson of the nominating committee, in keeping with its original mission, the organization sponsors guest panel luncheons with theater professionals. Panels address topics of current interest, covering the season on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway, with the aim of prompting informative and stimulating discussion
15.
Fort Wayne, Indiana
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Fort Wayne is a city in the U. S. state of Indiana and the seat of Allen County. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is 18 miles west of the Ohio border and 50 miles south of the Michigan border. With an estimated population of 260,326 in 2015, Fort Wayne is the 77th most populous city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana, after Indianapolis. It is the city of the Fort Wayne metropolitan area, consisting of Allen, Wells, and Whitley counties. In addition to the three counties, the combined statistical area includes Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, Noble. Under the direction of American Revolutionary War statesman Anthony Wayne, the United States Army built Fort Wayne last in a series of forts near the Miami tribe village of Kekionga in 1794. Named in Waynes honor, the European-American settlement developed at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, the village was platted in 1823 and underwent tremendous growth after completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal and advent of the railroad. The city is a center for the industry which employs thousands. Fort Wayne was an All-America City Award recipient in 1982,1998, the city also received an Outstanding Achievement City Livability Award by the U. S. This area at the confluence of rivers was long occupied by cultures of indigenous peoples. The Miami tribe established its settlement of Kekionga at the confluence of the Maumee, St. Joseph and it was the capital of the Miami nation and related Algonquian tribes. In 1696, Comte de Frontenac appointed Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes as commander of the outpost, the French built Fort Miami in 1697 as part of a group of forts and trading posts built between Quebec and St. Louis. In 1721, a few years after Bissots death, Fort Miami was replaced by Fort St. Philippe des Miamis, the first census in 1744 recorded a population of approximately 40 Frenchmen and 1,000 Miami. Increasing tension between France and the United Kingdom developed over the territory, in 1760, the area was ceded to the British Empire after French forces surrendered during the French and Indian War. In 1763, various Native American nations rebelled against British rule, the Miami regained control of Kekionga, a rule that lasted for more than 30 years. In 1790, George Washington ordered the United States Army to secure Indiana Territory, Three battles were fought at Kekionga against Little Turtle and the Miami Confederacy. Miami warriors defeated U. S. forces in the first two battles, Anthony Wayne led a third expedition resulting in the destruction of Kekionga and the start of peace negotiations between Little Turtle and the U. S. After General Wayne refused to negotiate, the tribe advanced to Fallen Timbers where they were defeated on August 20,1794
16.
Funny Girl (musical)
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Funny Girl is a 1963 musical with a book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway star, film actress and comedian Fanny Brice featuring her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and its original title was My Man. The musical was produced by Ray Stark, who was Brices son-in-law via his marriage to her daughter Frances, the production was nominated for eight Tony Awards but, facing tough competition from Hello, Dolly. It failed to win in any categories, the original cast recording of Funny Girl was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004. The musical is set in and around New York City just prior to, Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice, awaiting the return of her husband, Nicky Arnstein, from prison, reflects on their life together, and their story is told as a flashback. Fanny is a teen who gets her first job in vaudeville. Her mother and her friend Mrs. Strakosh try to dissuade her from business because Fanny is not the typical beauty. But Fanny perseveres and is helped and encouraged by Eddie Ryan, once Fannys career takes off, Eddie and Mrs. Brice lament that once shes on Broadway shell forget about them. Fanny performs a supposedly romantic number in the Follies, but she turns it into a comic routine. She meets the sophisticated and handsome Nick Arnstein, who accompanies Fanny to her mothers opening night party on Henry Street, Fanny is clearly falling in love with Nick, while acknowledging their complex vulnerabilities. Later they meet in Baltimore and have a dinner at a swanky restaurant. Fanny is determined to marry Nick, regardless of his gambling past and they do marry and move to a mansion on Long Island. In the meantime, Mrs. Strakosh and Eddie propose to Mrs. Brice that she should find a man to marry, Fanny has become a major star with the Ziegfeld Follies. Nick asks Ziegfeld to invest in a casino, but although Ziegfeld passes. When the venture fails and they lose their money, Fanny tries to light of it. Fanny feels helpless but stronger than ever in her love for him, in the present, Fanny is waiting for Nick to arrive and has time to reflect on her situation. Nick arrives, newly released from prison, and he and Fanny decide to separate and she is heartbroken, but resolves to pick up her life again. Ray Stark had commissioned a biography of Brice, based on taped recollections she had dictated
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Northwestern University
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Composed of twelve schools and colleges, Northwestern offers 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees. Northwestern was founded in 1851 by John Evans, for whom the City of Evanston is named and its founding purpose was to serve the Northwest Territory, an area that today includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota. Instruction began in 1855, women were admitted in 1869, today, the main campus is a 240-acre parcel in Evanston, along the shores of Lake Michigan 12 miles north of downtown Chicago. The universitys law, medical, and professional schools are located on a 25-acre campus in Chicagos Streeterville neighborhood, in 2008, the university opened a campus in Education City, Doha, Qatar with programs in journalism and communication. In 2016, Northwestern opened its San Francisco space at 44 Montgomery St. which hosts journalism, engineering, Northwestern is a large research university with a comprehensive doctoral program and it attracts over $650 million in sponsored research each year. Northwestern has the tenth largest university endowment in the United States, in 2017, the university accepted 9. 0% of undergraduate applicants from a pool of 37,255. Northwestern is a member of the Big Ten Conference and remains the only private university in the conference. The Northwestern Wildcats compete in 19 intercollegiate sports in the NCAAs Division I Big Ten Conference, on January 28,1851, the Illinois General Assembly granted a charter to the Trustees of the North-Western University, making it the first chartered university in Illinois. The schools nine founders, all of whom were Methodists, knelt in prayer, John Evans, for whom Evanston is named, bought 379 acres of land along Lake Michigan in 1853, and Philo Judson developed plans for what would become the city of Evanston, Illinois. The first building, Old College, opened on November 5,1855, to raise funds for its construction, Northwestern sold $100 perpetual scholarships entitling the purchaser and his heirs to free tuition. Willard Residential College is named in her honor, Northwestern admitted its first women students in 1869, and the first woman was graduated in 1874. Northwestern fielded its first intercollegiate football team in 1882, later becoming a member of the Big Ten Conference. In the 1870s and 1880s, Northwestern affiliated itself with already existing schools of law, medicine, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the oldest law school in Chicago. The Association of American Universities invited Northwestern to become a member in 1917, in 1933, a proposal to merge Northwestern with the University of Chicago was considered but rejected. Northwestern was also one of the first six universities in the country to establish a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps in the 1920s, after the golden years of the 1920s, the Great Depression in the United States hit Northwestern hard. Its annual income dropped 25 percent from $4.8 million in 1930-31 to $3.6 million in 1933-34. Investment income shrank, fewer parents could pay full tuition, and annual giving from alumni, the university responded with two salary cuts of 10 percent each for all employees. It imposed a freeze, a building freeze, and slashed appropriations for maintenance, books
18.
Ragtime (musical)
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Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty. The music includes marches, cakewalks, gospel and ragtime, based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in the United States in the early 20th century, African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr. The US Premier was in Los Angeles in 1997 and ran one year before opening on Broadway on January 18,1998 as the first production in the newly opened Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Directed by Frank Galati and choreographed by Graciela Daniele, Ragtime ran for two years, closing on January 16,2000, after 834 performances and 27 previews. The original cast included Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Peter Friedman and Audra McDonald, who were all nominated for Tony Awards, the production was conducted by David Loud. The production received mixed reviews, many noting that the dazzling physical production overshadowed problems in the script. Ben Brantleys review in the New York Times was headlined A diorama with nostalgia rampant and it led the 1998 Tony Awards with thirteen Tony Award nominations, but Disneys The Lion King won as Best Musical. The musical won awards for Best Featured Actress, Original Score, Book, according to The New York Times, The chief competition for The Lion King was Ragtime, a lavish musical. The Broadway production was not financially successful, and some Broadway insiders consider its lavish production to have been the undoing of Livent. This production starred Maria Friedman in the role of Mother, for which she won the 2004 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. A new production opened at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, on April 18,2009, and ran through May 17,2009, with direction and choreography by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The production then moved to Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre, with beginning on October 23,2009. The cast featured Stephanie Umoh, Quentin Earl Darrington, Christiane Noll, Robert Petkoff, Bobby Steggert, Donna Migliaccio and this was the first Broadway revival of the musical and the first Broadway revival of any 1990s musical. The production opened to acclaim but closed on January 10,2010 after 28 previews and 65 performances. This production had a large cast and orchestra, resulting in a significant weekly running cost that demanded the show be a success in order to prove financially worthwhile. There had been rumors in recent weeks that the show would not be able to survive into early 2010, there was apparently not enough of an advance sale to encourage the producers. Despite the closing, the production received seven Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of Musical, Best Direction, Best Actress in Musical, One nomination, for Costume Design, was withdrawn on the basis that the designs were substantially similar to those of a prior production. The Regents Park Open Air Theatre played a revival of the musical from May 18 to September 8,2012 and this production was directed by Artistic Director Timothy Sheader
19.
New York Jets
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The New York Jets are a professional American football team located in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues American Football Conference East division. The team is headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, in a unique arrangement for the league, the Jets share MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey with the New York Giants. The franchise is legally and corporately registered as New York Jets, the team was founded in 1959 as the Titans of New York, an original member of the American Football League, later, the franchise joined the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The team began to play in 1960 at the Polo Grounds, under new ownership, the current name was adopted in 1963 and the franchise moved to Shea Stadium in 1964 and then to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in 1984. Since 1968, the Jets have appeared in the playoffs 13 times, however, the Jets have never returned to the Super Bowl, making them one of three NFL teams to win their lone Super Bowl appearance, along with the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The teams training facility, Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, which opened in 2008, is located in Florham Park, the first organizational meeting of the American Football League took place on August 14,1959. Wismer was granted the franchise later dubbed the Titans of New York as Wismer explained. He secured the Titans home field at the decrepit Polo Grounds, by 1962, the debt continued to mount for Wismer, forcing the AFL to assume the costs of the team until seasons end. A five-man syndicate, headed by Sonny Werblin, saved the team from certain bankruptcy, Werblin renamed the team the New York Jets since the team would play in Shea Stadium near LaGuardia Airport. The new name was intended to reflect the approach of his team. The Jets owners hired Weeb Ewbank as the manager and head coach. The early 1990s saw New York struggling, after firing coach Bruce Coslet, owner Leon Hess hired Pete Carroll who struggled to a 6–10 record and was promptly fired at the end of the season. Thereafter, Rich Kotite was selected to lead the team to victory, Kotite stepped down at the end of his second season forcing the Jets to search for a new head coach. Hess lured then-disgruntled New England Patriots head coach Bill Parcells to New York in 1997, Parcells led the team back to relevance and coached them to the AFC Championship Game in 1998. Hess died in 1999 while the team, plagued by injuries, produced an eight win record, the franchise obtained a new owner in Woody Johnson in 2000. Additionally, through the 2000s the Jets visited the five times. Rex Ryan was hired in January 2009, Ryan led the team to back-to-back AFC Championship appearances during his first two years but the team never made the playoffs again during his tenure
20.
Nala (Disney)
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Nala is a fictional lioness, a character who appears in the Disney Lion King franchise. Introduced in the animated film The Lion King in 1994, Nala subsequently appears as a prominent character in the films sequels The Lion King II, Simbas Pride. In the original film, the adult Nala was voiced by American actress Moira Kelly, young Nalas speaking voice is provided by actress Niketa Calame, while singers Laura Williams and Sally Dworsky provide the singing voices of young and adult Nala respectively. Nala is introduced as the childhood best friend of Simba, several years after Simbas uncle Scar has killed Simbas father Mufasa and usurped the throne, Nala desperately ventures into the jungle to find help. Upon unexpectedly reuniting with a grown Simba, who she had long been tricked by Scar into presuming dead, Nala encourages him to return to Pride Rock, overthrow his uncle and ultimately become king. As Simbas queen, Nala has a daughter, Kiara, whose story is explored in The Lion King, Nala is the most significant female character in The Lion King. Many early concepts first developed for Nala were eventually abandoned, including a brother and father for the character, Nala appears in the Broadway musical adaptation of the film, first played by singer Heather Headley. The character also appears in the television series The Lion Guard, Film critic James Berardinelli identified Nala as The Lion Kings sole significant female character. Screenwriter Linda Woolverton conceived Nala as part of a gradual progression, which have driven recent public conversation about what young girls should be able to expect from their cinematic role models. In early versions of the screenplay, Nala has a brother named Mheetu. Pronounced me too, the name alludes to this personality trait. At one point, Simba was supposed to save the cub from a wildebeest stampede, Nala also had a fox friend named Bhati. At one point, Nala also had a father, the character was similarly abandoned, Matthew Roulette of TheFW believes that the scene was abandoned because of the characters significant age difference. The character has a mother, whose name is never mentioned in the film, however, Ella Ceron of Thought Catalog observed that At return, shes not exactly the friendliest little kitten, either. But is willing to overlook her own ego in the spirit of their friendship. She believes in Simba, and doesn’t understand why he want to fight for his right to rule. The speaking voice of adult Nala is provided by American actress Moira Kelly, Kelly was first informed that Disney was scheduling auditions for the role of Nala by her agent. Despite not having been the directors first choice for the role initially, Kelly was allowed to audition nonetheless because the filmmakers had been longing to hear different voices, Kelly believes that the directors were searching for a specific quality of voice
21.
The Lion King (musical)
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The show is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. On June 13,2006, the Broadway production moved to the Minskoff Theatre to make way for the version of Mary Poppins. It is Broadways third longest-running show in history and the highest grossing Broadway production of all time, the show debuted in the West Ends Lyceum Theatre on October 19,1999, and is still running. The cast of the West End production were invited to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in 1999 and 2008, as the sun rises, Rafiki the mandrill calls the animals to Pride Rock. She greets King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi before presenting their cub to the gathered animals, elsewhere, Mufasas brother, Scar, laments his lost chance at becoming king. Back at her baobab tree, Rafiki paints an image of the cub and asks the spirits to conjure the new princes name, time passes and Simba grows into a lively young cub. Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands from the top of Pride Rock, Mufasa warns Simba not to stray beyond the boundaries of the Pride Lands, pointing out a shadowy area in the distance. Zazu, a hornbill who acts as Mufasas advisor, arrives, Simba goes to see his uncle Scar. The scheming lion piques the cubs curiosity by mentioning the elephant graveyard, Simba arrives and asks his best friend, a female cub named Nala, to come with him to the elephant graveyard. He lies to the lionesses about where they are going, and Sarafina and Sarabi allow the cubs to go, Simba and Nala formulate a plan and manage to lose Zazu, while Simba brags about his future position. The cubs go to the graveyard and begin to explore, Zazu catches up, but they are confronted by three hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. The hyenas intend to eat the trespassers and gloat about their find, Mufasa rescues the cubs and frightens off the hyenas. Mufasa is disappointed and angry at Simbas reckless disobedience, and explains the difference between bravery and bravado, Mufasa tells Simba about the great kings of the past and how they watch over everything from the stars. Mufasa says that he always be there for his son. Later he discusses Simbas behavior with Zazu, who reminds Mufasa that he had the tendency to get into trouble at Simbas age. Back at the elephant graveyard, Scar tells the hyenas of his plan to kill Mufasa and he raises an army of hyenas, promising that they will never go hungry again if they support him. Scar takes Simba to a gorge and tells him to wait there, on Scars signal, the hyenas start a wildebeest stampede into the gorge. Scar tells Mufasa that Simba is trapped in the gorge, Mufasa leaps into the stampede and manages to save his son, but as he tries to escape, Scar throws him off the cliff back into the stampede, killing him
22.
Aida (musical)
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Aida is a musical based on the opera of the same name by Giuseppe Verdi. It has music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang, Aida premiered on Broadway on March 23,2000, running for 1,852 performances until September 5,2004. The Original Broadway Cast Recording won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. A song from the show, Written in the Stars, recorded by Elton John and LeAnn Rimes, reached No.2 in the Billboard US adult contemporary music charts, and No.1 in the Canadian contemporary charts. The show is based on Giuseppe Verdis Italian-language opera of the same name, the musical originated from a childrens storybook version of Verdis opera written by the soprano Leontyne Price. The book featured illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon, in 1994 the book rights were acquired by the Walt Disney Company for a proposed animated feature film. However, Elton John chose not to another animated project after The Lion King so Disney executives suggested a Broadway adaptation instead. Despite his opinion that people can be very elitist, John, along with Tim Rice. Act 1 In the Egyptian wing of a museum, a man. When his soldiers capture a group of Nubian women, he is captivated by one of the women, Aida, Radames forces her to wash his back, but she refuses, saying that although the Egyptians took everything from the Nubians, they will never take their spirit. Radames saves Aidas companions from the mines by sending them to the palace groundskeeper instead. He also ensures Aida serves as a handmaiden to his betrothed, Radames father, Chief Minister Zoser, greets his son with news that the Pharaoh is dying, and Radames must prepare to become the next ruler of Egypt. Unbeknownst to Radames, his father is poisoning the Pharaoh in order to accelerate Radames ascension to the throne, Radames Nubian servant, Mereb, is a young man who has learned the tricks of survival in Egypt. While delivering Aida to the princess, Mereb recognizes her as the daughter of the Nubian king under whom he had served during his days in Nubia and she commands him to keep her identity a secret, lest the Egyptians kill her. Presented to Amneris, Aida is liked immediately, and she perceives that the Princess love of fashion only serves as a mask of her insecurities. At a banquet, Amneris and Radames learn from the Pharaoh that they are to marry in seven days, together, he and Aida share their dreams and regrets. Later that night, Amneris worries about her fathers illness, and finds in Aida someone who understands, bursting into his fiancées chamber, Radames steals a moment with Aida to share his growing attraction to her. Aida is taken by Mereb to the Nubian camp, where she submits to her peoples pleas to lead them
23.
Do Re Mi (musical)
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Do Re Mi is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Garson Kanin, who also directed the original 1960 Broadway production. The plot centers on a con man who decides to go straight by going into the business of juke boxes. The musical introduced the popular songs Cry Like the Wind and Make Someone Happy, Hubie Cram is a loser endlessly scheming to win big. His long-suffering patient wife Kay urges him to Take a Job and he finds three pals, Fatso ORear, Brains Berman and Skin Demopoulos, and they scheme to enter the juke-box business. Soon they have 300 juke-boxes, which they plan on selling to John Henry Wheeler, Hubie discovers a naive singer, Tilda Mullen, and they plan their future. At a fancy nightclub Hubie explains, and demonstrates, gangsters behavior that he learned from watching the Late Late Show, Kay compares her abandoned comfortable existence with the insecurity of life with Hubie. Tilda and Wheeler fall in love, in the end Hubie realizes that he has nothing except a wonderful marriage. The curtain of juke boxes evoked a cathedrals stained glass effect, in a scene in a night club, the tables had drawn figures instead of actors, and the actors would talk with these drawings. And in the Fireworks number, black light is used to reveal shooting stars and Roman candles as Tilda and Johns love affair explodes in song. James Theatre on December 26,1960, transferred to the 54th Street Theatre on December 25,1961, the West End production opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on October 12,1961 and ran for 169 performances. It starred Max Bygraves, Maggie Fitzgibbon, Steve Arlen and Jan Waters, the 42nd Street Moon theatre company, San Francisco, California concert version ran in August 2001. The Original Broadway cast recording was released in January 1961 on RCA Victor, cast recording was released on September 21,1999 by DRG. The New York Times called the musical fast, loud and occasionally funny and it commented that Phil Silvers was cast against type, here playing the fall guy, the poor sap who ends as the victim. Betty Comden and Adolph Green have written lyrics, and Jule Styne has contributed some attractive as well as some ear-shattering tunes. The loveliest is Cry Like the Wind which has the quality of a folk song of lamentation. According to Stanley Green, the musical had a score that is worth the price just to hear Miss Walker describe her life of Adventure. Ethan Mordden wrote that the song Adventure is one of the grandest comedy songs ever, here we learn that she, at least, already knows that its a wonderful marriage, because its never boring. Then came a Mad Scene - a bolero complete with trumpets pealing out like the band in the Plaza del Toro on corrida day and woodwinds tripping up the scale with the flash of a hundred capes
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Nathan Lane
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Nathan Lane is an American stage, film and television actor and writer. O. J. Simpson as F. Lee Bailey, in 2006, Lane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2008, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. Lane was born Joseph Lane in Jersey City, New Jersey on February 3,1956 and his father, Daniel, was a truck driver and an aspiring tenor who died in 1967 from alcoholism when Lane was eleven. His mother, Nora, was a housewife and secretary who suffered from manic depression and he has two older brothers, Daniel Jr. and Robert. Lanes parents were Catholics of Irish descent and he was named after his uncle, a Jesuit priest. Accepted to Saint Josephs University in Philadelphia on a drama scholarship, discovering that the scholarship would not cover enough of his expenses, he decided to leave, and work for a year to earn some money. I remember him saying to me, College is for people who dont know what they want to do, because there already was a Joseph Lane registered with Actors Equity, he changed his name to Nathan after the character Nathan Detroit from the musical Guys and Dolls. He made his Broadway debut in a 1982 revival of Noël Cowards Present Laughter as Roland Maule with George C, Scott, Kate Burton, Dana Ivey, and Christine Lahti. His second Broadway appearance was in the 1983 musical Merlin, starring Chita Rivera and this was followed by Wind in the Willows as Mr. Toad, Some Americans Abroad at Lincoln Center, and the national tour of Neil Simons Broadway Bound. He also appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in The School for Scandal, in 1991, Lane appeared with George C. Scott again in a revival of Paul Osbornes On Borrowed Time at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway. In 1992, he starred in the hit revival of Guys and Dolls, playing the character who lent him his name, opposite Peter Gallagher, for this performance, he received his first Tony nomination, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. In 1992, he won an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance and his professional association with his close friend the playwright Terrence McNally, whom he met in 1987, includes roles in The Lisbon Traviata, Bad Habits, Lips Together, Teeth Apart, Love. Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams, which opened in 2005, The Last Mile on PBS Great Performances, the early 1990s began a stretch of successful Broadway shows for Lane. In 1993, he portrayed Sid Caesar-like Max Prince in Neil Simons Laughter on the 23rd Floor, inspired by Simons early career writing sketches for Your Show of Shows. In 1996, he starred in the hit revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, for which he won the Tony, Drama Desk, in 1998, he appeared Off-Broadway in Jon Robin Baitzs revised 1984 comedy, Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks. His association with Sondheim began with the workshop of Assassins, in 1999, he appeared with Victor Garber in the workshop of Wise Guys. His collaboration with Sondheim continued when Lane revised the book for. The Sondheim song, Little Dream, in the film The Birdcage, in 1994, Lane voiced Timon, the meerkat, in Disneys blockbuster animated film The Lion King and reprised the role in its sequels
25.
Randy Graff
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Randy Graff is an American actress. Graff was born in Brooklyn, New York and is a graduate of Wagner College and she is a cousin of actor Todd Graff and of actress Ilene Graff. Graff has been in films such as Keys to Tulsa. In addition to film and television, Graff has been in several Broadway shows and she originated the role of Fantine in the musical Les Misérables when the production opened on Broadway in 1987, which included I Dreamed a Dream, also on the soundtrack released in 1990. According to Graff, she was the first person to sing I Dreamed a Dream in the United States of America and she has also appeared in Broadway revivals of the musicals Damn Yankees and Fiddler on the Roof. My Name Is Alice Hotel Suite – Millie A Class Act – Sophie Do Re Mi Encores, – Dolly, The Muny, St. Louis, Missouri Elegies, A Song Cycle – Reprise. com Interview with Randy Graff
26.
Brian Stokes Mitchell
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Brian Stokes Mitchell is an American stage, film and television actor and singer. A powerful baritone, he has one of the central leading men of the Broadway theatre since the early 1990s. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2000 for his performance in Kiss Me, Mitchell was born in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of four children of George Mitchell, an electronics engineer, and his wife Lillian, a school administrator. Mitchell grew up at various U. S. military bases overseas, as a teenager, he lived in San Diego, California, where he began acting in school musicals. He did not attend college, having begun performing professionally in high school and he has said that he studied film scoring, orchestration, and conducting through UCLA. Prior to Ragtime, he was known professionally as Brian Mitchell, Mitchell first performed on Broadway in the musical Mail in 1988, with music by Michael Rupert and lyrics by Jerry Colker, winning the Theatre World award. His Broadway credits include a revival of George and Ira Gershwins Oh. Jellys Last Jam based on the works of jazz artist Jelly Roll Morton and Kander and he performed the role of Coalhouse Walker Jr, in the musical Ragtime, which opened on Broadway in January 1998. He received a 1998 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical and he appeared in the 1999 revival of Cole Porters Kiss Me, Kate as Fred Graham / Petruchio, winning the Tony Award, King Hedley II, and Man of La Mancha. He appeared in the New York City Center Encores, staged concert productions of Jule Stynes Do Re Mi, Bob Merrills Carnival. Kismet and The Band Wagon in 2014 and he played the title role in the 2002 Kennedy Center production of Sweeney Todd, part of the Stephen Sondheim celebration. On June 9,2005, Mitchell appeared in a version of the Rodgers. He starred as Emile, alongside Reba McEntire as Nellie Forbush, the production was taped and telecast by PBS in 2006. His debut solo CD Brian Stokes Mitchell was released on June 6,2006 on Playbill Records, Mitchell has also performed in a Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir later released as a CD and DVD entitled Ring Christmas Bells. His second solo CD, Simply Broadway, was released October 30,2012, Mitchell plays F. E. Miller, with Audra McDonald as Lottie Gee, Billy Porter, Joshua Henry and Brandon Victor Dixon. Mitchell made several appearances as a celebrity panelist on episodes of $25,000 Pyramid and $100,000 Pyramid in the 1980s, and was considered one of the games better celebrity players. He played recurring roles as Hilary Banks news anchor fiancé Trevor Newsworthy/Collins on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and on Frasier as Dr. Frasier Cranes upstairs neighbor and he supplied the singing voice of Jethro in the animated feature The Prince of Egypt. He guest starred in March 2010 in Ugly Betty as Wilhelmina Slaters ex-boyfriend, captain Planet and the Planeteers, The Tom and Jerry Kids Show, Yo Yogi
27.
Dreamgirls
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Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. The musical was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical. It was later adapted into a picture from DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures in 2006. The film starred Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose, in 1962, The Dreamettes, a hopeful Black girl group from Chicago, enter the famous Amateur Night talent competition at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. The group is composed of full-figured lead singer Effie White and best friends, Deena Jones, for the contest, the Dreamettes sing Move, a song written by Effies brother, C. C. who accompanies them to the talent show. Unfortunately, they lose the talent show, but backstage, the girls and C. C. meet Curtis Taylor, Curtis convinces James Thunder Early, a popular R&B star, and his manager, Marty, to hire The Dreamettes as backup singers. Though Jimmy Early and the Dreamettes first performance together is successful, Curtis convinces Jimmy and Marty that they should venture beyond traditional rhythm and blues and soul audiences and aim for the pop market. C. C. composes Cadillac Car for Jimmy and the Dreamettes, Cadillac Car makes its way up the pop charts, but a cover version by white pop singers Dave and the Sweethearts steals the original recordings thunder. As a result, the record becomes a pop hit. Conflict arises between Marty and Curtis when Curtis moves in on Martys turf, Jimmy Early, things become more complicated when Effie begins dating Curtis, and Jimmy, a married man, begins an affair with Lorrell. Curtis replaces him, strongly determined to make his black singers household names, the most crucial of these changes is the establishment of Deena as lead singer, instead of Effie. Effie is resentful of her change in status within the group, C. C. convinces her to go along with Curtiss plan. After a fight between Marty and Curtis, Marty quits as Jimmys manager and Curtis takes over, the Dreams make their club debut in the Crystal Room in Cleveland, Ohio, singing their first single. After a triumphant show, the press is eager to meet the newly minted stars, Curtis declares to Deena, Im going to make you the most famous woman whos ever lived, as the slighted Effie asks What about me. Over the next few years, the Dreams become a success with hit singles. As Deena is increasingly feted as a star, Effie becomes temperamental and she suspects Curtis and Deena of having an affair. Lorrell attempts to keep peace between her bandmates, but the task proves impossible, in 1967, the group – now known as Deena Jones and the Dreams – is set to make their Las Vegas début. However, when Jimmy stops by to visit the girls, he learns from the others that Effie has been missing shows because of illness, Curtis and Deena are convinced that she is trying to sabotage the act
28.
Audra McDonald
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Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She has appeared on the stage in musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, and Porgy. With her full lyric soprano voice, she maintains an active concert and recording career, performing song cycles and she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win all four acting categories. She starred as Dr. Naomi Bennett on the ABC television drama Private Practice, McDonald was born in West Berlin, Germany, the daughter of American parents, Anna Kathryn, a university administrator, and Stanley McDonald, Jr. a high school principal. At the time of her birth, her father was stationed with the U. S. Army, McDonald was raised in Fresno, California, the elder of two daughters. McDonald graduated from the Roosevelt School of the Arts program within Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno and she got her start in acting with Dan Pessano and Good Company Players, beginning in their junior company. I knew I wanted to be involved in theater when I had my first chance to perform with the Good Company Players Junior Company, the people who have had the most impact on my life, Good Company director Dan Pessano and my mother. She studied classical voice as an undergraduate under Ellen Faull at the Juilliard School and she reprised her Raisin role for a 2008 television adaptation, earning her a second Emmy Award nomination. On June 10,2012, McDonald scored her fifth Tony Award win for her portrayal of Bess in Broadways The Gershwins Porgy and Bess, thus tying Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris. Her 2014 performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emersons Bar and Grill earned McDonald her sixth Tony award and made her the first person to win all four acting categories. On April 29,2007, while she was in previews for the show, her father was killed when an aircraft he was flying crashed north of Sacramento. McDonald is known for defying racial typecasting in her various Tony Award-winning, of her groundbreaking work in encouraging diversity in musical theatre casting, she said in an interview for The New York Times, I refuse to be stereotyped. If I think I am right for a role I will go for it in whatever way I can, I refuse to say no to myself. I cant control what a producer will do or say but I can at least put out there. For this role, McDonald won her fifth Tony Award and her first in a Leading Actress category and this American Repertory Theater production was re-imagined by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray as a musical for contemporary audiences. She appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in Eugene ONeills play A Moon for the Misbegotten in August 2015, McDonald left the show on July 24,2016 to begin maternity leave. Shuffle Along closed on July 24,2016, McDonald played Billie Holiday on Broadway in the play Lady Day at Emersons Bar and Grill in a limited engagement that ended on August 10,2014. After previews that began on March 25,2014, the opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 13,2014
29.
Hal David
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Harold Lane Hal David was an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York City and he was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. David was born in New York City, a son of Austrian Jewish immigrants Lina and Gedalier David, who owned a delicatessen in Brooklyn and he is credited with popular music lyrics, beginning in the 1940s with material written for bandleader Sammy Kaye and for Guy Lombardo. He worked with Morty Nevins of The Three Suns on four songs for the feature film Two Gals, in 1957, David met composer Burt Bacharach at Famous Music in the Brill Building in New York. The two teamed up and wrote their first hit The Story of My Life, recorded by Marty Robbins in 1957, J. Thomas, Gene Pitney, Tom Jones, Jackie DeShannon and others. In addition, Dont Make Me Over, Close to You and Walk On By have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. A. with Albert Hammond, recorded by Hammond and later Art Garfunkel. With Paul Hampton, David co-wrote the country standard Sea of Heartbreak, David and Bacharach were awarded the 2011 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, bestowed by the Library of Congress, the first time a songwriting team was given the honor. David was recuperating from a recent illness and was unable to attend the Washington D. C. presentation ceremony in May 2012, David died in the morning hours of September 1,2012, of a stroke. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park beside his first wife, Anne, Hal David at Find a Grave Hal David Interview - NAMM Oral History Library
30.
Burt Bacharach
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Burt Freeman Bacharach is an American composer, songwriter, record producer, pianist, and singer. As of 2014, Bacharach had written 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits, in 1997 he was the subject of a PBS Great Performances biography. And in recent years a number of albums and concerts have helped introduce his music to younger audiences. Among them was a 2009 concert by Dutch singer Trijntje Oosterhuis, in 2012 Bacharach and David received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first time the honor has been given to a songwriting team. The ceremony was hosted by President Obama, and included a concert performed with various stars, Bacharach was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in the Forest Hills section of New York City, graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1946. His family was Jewish, but he says that they didnt practice or give attention to their religion. But the kids I knew were Catholic, he adds, I was Jewish but I didnt want anybody to know about it. Bacharach showed a keen interest in jazz as a teenager, disliking his classical piano lessons and he got to hear bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie, whose style would later influence his songwriting. Bacharach studied music at Montreals McGill University, under Helmut Blume, at the Mannes School of Music, during this period he studied a range of music, including jazz harmony, which has since been important to songs which are generally considered pop music. His composition teachers included Darius Milhaud, Henry Cowell, and Bohuslav Martinů, Bacharach cites Milhaud as his biggest influence, under whose guidance he wrote a Sonatina for Violin, Oboe and Piano. Following his tour of duty in the United States Army, Bacharach spent the three years as a pianist and conductor for popular singer Vic Damone. Damone recalls, Burt was clearly bound to go out on his own and he was an exceptionally talented, classically trained pianist, with very clear ideas on the musicality of songs, how they should be played, and what they should sound like. He later worked in similar capacity for other singers, including Polly Bergen, Steve Lawrence. When he was unable to better jobs, Bacharach worked at resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In 1956, at age 28, Bacharachs productivity increased when composer Peter Matz recommended him to Marlene Dietrich and he then became part-time music director for Dietrich, a German actress and singer who had been an international screen star in the 1930s. They toured worldwide off and on until the early 1960s, when they werent touring, as a result of his collaboration with Dietrich, he gained his first major recognition as a conductor and arranger. In her autobiography, she remembered that Bacharach loved touring in Russia and Poland because the violinists were extraordinary and he liked Edinburgh and Paris, along with the Scandinavian countries, and he also felt at home in Israel, she says, where music was similarly much revered. By the early 1960s, after five years with Dietrich
31.
Promises, Promises (musical)
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Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett. Robert Moore directed, and David Merrick produced, the story concerns a junior executive at an insurance company who seeks to climb the corporate ladder by allowing his apartment to be used by his married superiors for trysts. The original Broadway production premiered in 1968, with Jerry Orbach as Chuck Baxter and Jill OHara as Fran Kubelik, a London production opened in 1969 featuring Tony Roberts and Betty Buckley. The cast album won the Grammy Award for best cast recording, after a tryout in Washington, D. C. the show premiered on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on December 1,1968, and closed on January 1,1972 after 1,281 performances. Featured in small or ensemble roles were Kelly Bishop, Graciela Daniele, Ken Howard, Baayork Lee, Donna McKechnie, Frank Pietri, Margo Sappington, a national tour starring Melissa Hart as Fran performed throughout the United States during the early 1970s. Freatured ensemble included Laurent Giroux, Carla Lewis, Dennis Grimaldi, the show was first produced in Londons West End at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1969, featuring Tony Roberts and Betty Buckley. A reading for a revival of the musical was held in October 2008 with Sean Hayes, the revival opened at the Broadway Theatre on April 25,2010, after previews starting on March 27. Directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford, the revival starred Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth, Brooks Ashmanskas, Katie Finneran and Tony Goldwyn. The Bacharach-David songs I Say a Little Prayer, a 1967 million-selling hit written for Dionne Warwick, due to pregnancy, Katie Finneran departed the role of Marge on October 10,2010, and was replaced by Saturday Night Live veteran Molly Shannon. Hayes, Chenoweth and Shannon remained with the production until its closing on January 2,2011, the show had 291 performances and 30 previews. Regional theatre productions have included a 1993 staging at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, held a staged concert in March 1997, starring Martin Short, Kerry OMalley, Eugene Levy, Dick Latessa and Christine Baranski. 2014 San Francisco Production The musical opened at San Francisco Playhouse in November 2014 and it featured Jeffrey Brian Adams in the role of Chuck and Monique Hafen as Fran. 2017 Southwark Playhouse, London Ran from January to February, directed by Bronagh Lagan with Gabriel Vick in the role of Chuck, Chuck Baxter is an ambitious bachelor and junior executive for a large insurance company, Consolidated Life, who expresses his frustrations and hopes for career advancement. To curry favor with higher-ups in the company, he allows his apartment to be used for their romantic trysts in return for promises of promotion, Chuck has his own eye set on Fran Kubelik, a waitress in the company cafeteria whom hes always admired from a distance. While talking together she wonders if she ever find someone to share her life with. Chuck hopes that she might notice him, J. D. Sheldrake, the companys powerful personnel director, notices the glowing reviews written by Chucks superiors and deduces the reason for them. He requests sole use of the apartment for his affairs in exchange for Chucks long-awaited promotion, Chuck asks Fran to attend the basketball game with him, and she agrees to meet him there after first having a drink with her soon-to-be ex-lover
32.
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D. C. The Center, which opened September 8,1971, is a multi-dimensional facility, both an enduring memorial to John F. Now in its 45th season, the Center presents the greatest examples of music, dance and theater, supports artists in the creation of new work and it is both the nations public memorial to President John F. Kennedy and the national center for the performing arts. Its activities include educational and outreach initiatives, almost entirely funded through sales and gifts from individuals, corporations. The building, designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, was constructed by Philadelphia contractor John McShain and it receives annual federal funding to pay for its maintenance and operation. The Library of Congress added an auditorium, but it had restrictions on its use. A congressional resolution in 1938 called for construction of a building which shall be known as the National Cultural Center near Judiciary Square. In 1950, the idea for a national theater resurfaced when U. S, representative Arthur George Klein of New York introduced a bill to authorize funds to plan and build a cultural center. The bill included provisions that the center would prohibit any discrimination of cast or audience, in 1955, the Stanford Research Institute was commissioned to select a site and provide design suggestions for the center. From 1955 to 1958, Congress debated the idea amid much controversy and this was the first time in history that the federal government helped finance a structure dedicated to the performing arts. The legislation required a portion of the costs, estimated at $10–25 million, Edward Durell Stone was selected as architect for the project in June 1959. He presented preliminary designs to the Presidents Music Committee in October 1959, along with estimated costs of $50 million, by November 1959, estimated costs had escalated to $61 million. The National Cultural Center was renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1964, the National Cultural Center Board of Trustees, a group Eisenhower established January 29,1959, led fundraising. Fundraising efforts were not successful, with only $13,425 raised in the first three years, President John F. Kennedy was interested in bringing culture to the nations capital, and provided leadership and support for the project. In 1961, President Kennedy asked Roger L. Stevens to help develop the National Cultural Center, Stevens recruited First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy as Honorary Chairman of the Center, and former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower as co-chairman. The total cost of construction was $70 million, Congress allocated $43 million for construction costs, including $23 million as an outright grant and the other $20 million in bonds. Donations also comprised a significant portion of funding, including $5 million from the Ford Foundation, other major donors included J. Willard Marriott, Marjorie Merriweather Post, John D. Rockefeller III, and Robert W. Woodruff, as well as many corporate donors. Foreign countries provided gifts to the Kennedy Center, including a gift of 3,700 tons of Carrara marble from Italy from the Italian government, President Lyndon B. Johnson dug the ceremonial first-shovel of earth at the groundbreaking for the Kennedy Center December 2,1964
33.
Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
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The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is an American award for humor awarded by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts annually since 1998. It is named after the 19th century novelist, essayist and humorist Mark Twain and is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to American humor. The prize is presented and show is taped in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington DC, the event is a significant fundraiser to benefit the Kennedy Center, which sells tickets as well as access to dinners and after-parties featuring the celebrities. Recipients of the Twain Prize receive a copy of an 1884 bronze portrait bust of Mark Twain sculpted by Karl Gerhardt. The award is the creation of the Kennedy Center along with Bob Kaminsky, Peter Kaminsky, Mark Krantz, and Cappy McGarr, the first Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor was presented to comedian Richard Pryor on October 20,1998. The first two years of The Mark Twain Prize were taped and broadcast on Comedy Central, since then, the award presentations have been taped for broadcast on PBS. In 2007, the Mark Twain Prize celebrated its 10th anniversary, the show was held in the Opera House of The Kennedy Center on October 11,2007 and was broadcast on November 12,2007 on PBS. After consulting with both Carlins family and PBS, the took place as scheduled, with no major changes in the presentation format. Bill Cosby, the 2009 recipient, accepted his award at the Kennedy Center on October 26,2009 and he had twice refused the honor, stating that he was disappointed with the profanity used in the inaugural ceremony honoring Richard Pryor. In 2010, 40-year-old Tina Fey became the youngest person to receive the award
34.
Neil Simon
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Marvin Neil Simon is an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He has written more than thirty plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays and he has received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer. Simon grew up in New York during the Great Depression, with his parents financial hardships affecting their marriage, giving him a mostly unhappy and he often took refuge in movie theaters where he enjoyed watching the early comedians like Charlie Chaplin. After a few years in the Army Air Force Reserve, and after graduating high school, he began writing comedy scripts for radio. Among them were Sid Caesars Your Show of Shows from 1950 and he began writing his own plays beginning with Come Blow Your Horn, which took him three years to complete and ran for 678 performances on Broadway. It was followed by two successful plays, Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple, for which he won a Tony Award. It made him a celebrity and the hottest new playwright on Broadway. During the 1960s to 1980s, he wrote original screenplays and stage plays, with some films actually based on his plays. His style ranged from comedy to farce to more serious dramatic comedy. Overall, he has garnered seventeen Tony nominations and won three and his comedies centred on subjects such as marital conflict, infidelity, sibling rivalry, adolescence, and fear of aging. Simons facility with dialogue gives his stories a rare blend of realism, humor, Neil Simon was born on July 4,1927 in The Bronx, New York, to Jewish parents. His father, Irving Simon, was a garment salesman, and his mother, Simon had one older brother by eight years, Danny Simon. Simons childhood was difficult and mostly due to his parents tempestuous marriage. He would sometimes block out their arguments by putting a pillow over his ears at night and his father often abandoned the family for months at a time, causing them further financial and emotional hardship. As a result, Simon and his brother Danny were sometimes forced to live with different relatives, or else their parents took in boarders for some income. During an interview with writer Lawrence Grobel, Simon stated, To this day I never really knew what the reason for all the fights, shed hate him and be very angry, but he would come back and she would take him back. It made me strong as an independent person, to escape difficulties at home he often took refuge in movie theaters, where he especially enjoyed comedies with silent stars like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy. Simon recalls, I was constantly being dragged out of movies for laughing too loud, I think part of what made me a comedy writer is the blocking out of some of the really ugly, painful things in my childhood and covering it up with a humorous attitude
35.
PBS
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The Public Broadcasting Service is an American public broadcaster and television program distributor. PBS is funded by member dues, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, government agencies, corporations, foundations. All proposed funding is subjected to a set of standards to ensure the program is free of influence from the funding source, since the mid-2000s, Roper polls commissioned by PBS have consistently placed the service as the most-trusted national institution in the United States. This arbitrary distinction is a frequent source of viewer confusion and it also operates National Datacast, a subsidiary which offers datacasting services via member stations, and provides additional revenue for PBS and its member stations. In 1973, it merged with Educational Television Stations, each station is charged with the responsibility of programming local content for their individual market or state that supplements content provided by PBS and other public television distributors. By contrast, PBS member stations pay fees for the acquired and distributed by the national organization. Under this relationship, PBS member stations have greater latitude in local scheduling than their commercial broadcasting counterparts, scheduling of PBS-distributed series may vary greatly depending on the market. This can be a source of tension as stations seek to preserve their localism, however, PBS has a policy of common carriage, which requires most stations to clear the national prime time programs on a common programming schedule to market them nationally more effectively. Management at former Los Angeles member KCET cited unresolvable financial and programming disputes among its reasons for leaving PBS after over 40 years in January 2011. Most PBS stations timeshift some distributed programs, once PBS accepts a program offered for distribution, PBS, rather than the originating member station, retains exclusive rebroadcasting rights during an agreed period. Suppliers retain the right to sell the program in non-broadcast media such as DVDs, books, in 1991, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting resumed production for most PBS shows that debuted prior to 1977, with the exceptions of Washington Week in Review and Wall Street Week. In 1994, The Chronicle of Philanthropy released the results of the largest study on the popularity and credibility of charitable, the strategy began that fall, with the intent to expand the in-program breaks to the remainder of the schedule if successful. In 2011, PBS released apps for iOS and Android to allow viewing of videos on mobile devices. An update in 2015 added Chromecast support, PBS initially struggled to compete with online media such as YouTube for market share. In a 2012 speech to 850 top executives from PBS stations, in the speech, later described as a “seminal moment” for public television, he laid out his vision for a new style of PBS digital video production. Station leadership rallied around his vision and Seiken formed PBS Digital Studios, which began producing educational but edgy videos, something Seiken called “PBS-quality with a YouTube sensibility. ”The studio’s first hit, in 2012, PBS began organizing much of its prime time programming around a genre-based schedule. PBS broadcasts childrens programming as part of the morning and afternoon schedule. Unlike its radio counterpart, National Public Radio, PBS does not have a program production arm or news division
36.
Andrea Bocelli
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Andrea Bocelli, OMRI, OMDSM is an Italian classical crossover tenor, recording artist, and singer-songwriter. Born with poor eyesight, Bocelli became permanently blind at the age of 12, Bocelli has recorded fifteen solo studio albums, of both pop and classical music, three greatest hits albums, and nine complete operas, selling over 80 million records worldwide. He has had success as a crossover performer bringing classical music to the top of international pop charts, in 1998, Bocelli was named one of Peoples 50 Most Beautiful People. In 1999, Bocelli was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards, the Prayer, his duet with Celine Dion for the animated film Quest for Camelot, won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category. Seven of his albums have reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200. The single went on to sell twelve million copies worldwide. Bocelli was born to Alessandro and Edi Bocelli, doctors had advised Bocellis parents to abort Bocelli before birth as they predicted, based on studies, that Bocelli would be born with a disability. The Bocellis declined and gave birth to Andrea and it was evident at birth that Bocelli had numerous problems with his sight, and after visits to many doctors, he was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma. Bocelli has stated that his mothers decision to give birth to him and overrule the doctors advice was the inspiration for him to hold a pro-life view towards abortion. Bocelli grew up on his familys farm, where they sold farm machinery and made wine in the village of La Sterza. Bocellis mother and younger brother Alberto still live in the family home, as a young boy, Bocelli showed a great passion for music. His mother has said music was the only thing that would comfort him. At the age of 6, Bocelli started piano lessons, and later, also learned to play the flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar and drums. Then, when his nanny, Oriana, gave him the first record of Franco Corelli, Bocelli began to show interest in pursuing the career of a tenor, by seven, he was able to recognize the famous voices of the time and tried to emulate the great interpreters. At the age of 12, Bocelli lost his sight completely following an accident during a football game and he was hit in the eye playing goalkeeper during a match and suffered a brain hemorrhage. Doctors resorted to leeches in an effort to save his sight, but they were unsuccessful. Bocelli also spent time singing during his childhood and he gave his first concert in a small village not far from where he was born. At the age of 14, Bocelli won his first song competition, after finishing secondary school in 1980, he studied law at the University of Pisa
37.
Lajatico
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Lajatico is a comune in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 kilometres southwest of Florence and about 40 kilometres southeast of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,353, Lajatico sits in mainly hilly terrain at variable elevations from 100 to 650 metres above sea level) and dominates the end of the Valdera valley and the opening of the valley known as Val di Cecina. La Sterza, one of its hamlets, is the door between these two geographical areas. The Sterza, Era, and the Ragone rivers form natural borders, placing Lajatico in a central position to reach Tuscan cities. Lajatico is, however, best known as the town of tenor Andrea Bocelli. His annual concerts at the Teatro del Silenzio are attended by people all around the world. Lajatico has the following hamlets associated with it, Orciatico, an ancient small village, Spedaletto, a stomping ground of Lorenzo de Medici, Villaggio San Giovanni. Lajatico borders the municipalities, Chianni, Montecatini Val di Cecina, Peccioli, Riparbella, Terricciola. Lajatico, as the suffix indicates, surely has Lombard heritage. Archaeological evidence suggests that the village is Etruscan in origin, the first written document mentioning Lajatico dates from 891. From then on, the Castrum Ajatici was property of the powerful Pannocchieschi family of Elci, in 1139, Ranieri Pannocchieschi gave to the Bishop of Volterra, Adimaro Adimari, his property stretching to Lajatico and neighboring areas. In 1161, another part of Lajatico was given to the Bishop of Volterra, until Bishop Ildebrando Pannocchieschi, due to a Papal Bull of August 1186, took over the political jurisdiction. In 1202, Lajatico and part of Volterra came under the influence of Pisa until 1284,1869 was also the year in which the Banca Popolare di Lajatico was created. Dr. Guelfo Guelfi founded “La società per l’educazione del popolo” to promote education, support, in 1883 the section relating to the Mutual Aid broke away from the above-mentioned “Società” to found, one year later, the “Banca Popolare Cooperativa di Lajatico”. It was the forbearer of the present and important bank operating in the area, finally, in the past century, Lajatico was the subject of a novel entitled “Quattro notti a Lajatico”, written by Augusto Gotti Lega, one of its most distinguished citizens. Another illustrious citizen of Lajatico, even if for a time, was the father of the famous poet Giosuè Carducci. Church of St. Leonard The Parish Church of St. Leonard was built in 1275. It was too small to contain a number of believers and in the second half of the 19th century
38.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
39.
Vivo per lei
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Vivo per lei is the name of a 1995 song recorded by Italian artist Andrea Bocelli as duet with Giorgia for his album Bocelli. The version with Marta Sánchez topped the Spanish singles chart in 1996 under the title Vivo por ella and is available on her album One Step Closer. The version with Ségara was released in December 1997 and became a hit in Belgium and it was the fifth single from Ségaras first studio album, Cœur de verre. The version with Judy Weiss was also one in Switzerland in 1997. The song in Italian was originally written by the group O. R. O. in 1995 for their album Vivo per, the song won the Disco per lestate edition of that year. During the same year, the lyrics of the song were rewritten, still in Italian, by Gatto Panceri, the new lyrics were characterized by the fact that lei in the title referred to music whereas in the original song lei referred to a girl. Thus the new version of Vivo per lei became a tribute to music using the pronoun in the title, lei in Italian, ella in Spanish, elle in French, ela in Portuguese, on live performances of the song, Bocelli may sing exclusively in Italian. The songs piano melody resembles an Elton John composition, for international versions, German lyrics were written by Michael Kunze, French lyrics by Art Mengo, and Spanish lyrics by Luis Gómez Escolar. There is also a Greek version called Se Thelo edo sung by Dimitra Galani, during Ségaras first tour, the song was performed, but Bocelli was replaced by Bruno Pelletier. This version is available on the live album En concert à lOlympia and it was also included on Ségaras compilation Le Best of and on Bruno Pelletiers album Sur Scene. The song was covered in 2004 by Calogero, Chimène Badi, bonnie Tyler recorded English vocals on the song in 1997, and the song was scheduled to be released as the lead single from her album All in One Voice. It was retitled Live for Love, due to disputes between EastWest Records and Sugar Music, their version of the song remains unreleased. In a 2014 interview, Tyler recalled that EastWest asked for more retail royalty points than they agreed following a version Bocelli recorded with Sarah Brightman, Sugar Music refused their demands and terminated the collaboration. Panceri and Bocellis version of the song evokes the blind tenors attachment to music as the pillar and love of his life. The English-speaking listener is challenged to uncover whom the person referred to by lei is, on first glance it appears the song refers to a woman, perhaps a lover, as the first verse is sung by Bocelli. The female voice in the verse suggests that the person is somebody who is respected and loved by both men and women. The lyrics progress to say that she is always the protagonist and if there is another life, the singers would devote their lives to her again. Eventually, Bocelli sings, vivo per lei, la musica, I live for her, music, revealing that the meaning of the song is about music
40.
The Prayer (Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli song)
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The Prayer is a popular song written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa and Tony Renis. It is most commonly known as a duet between Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, the song won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1999 and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2000. Originally The Prayer was recorded as two solo versions, Dions in English and Bocellis in Italian. They appeared on the Quest for Camelot soundtrack in May 1998, the duet was included on albums by both artists, released a few months later on Sogno and These Times Are Special Times. The song won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song from the 1998 film Quest for Camelot, in that film, Dion sang it as a solo with slightly different lyrics. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1999, Dion performed it with Bocelli at both ceremonies. It was also featured on Dions compilation The Collectors Series, Volume One and greatest hits My Love, a re-recorded solo version by Celine Dion appeared on her 2004 album Miracle. Dion performed The Prayer live during her Taking Chances Tour as a duet with Bocelli on the screen. The song appeared also on Bocellis 2007 compilation The Best of Andrea Bocelli, Dion joined Bocelli to perform the song in his Concerto, One Night in Central Park concert in 2011, the performance was subsequently released on CD and DVD. Both Dion and Bocelli have sung the song with other artists, the Prayer was popular on the adult contemporary charts in Canada and the United States, peaking at number 6 and number 22 respectively. It has also become popular during Christmas, weddings and, in some cases, paul Verna from Billboard called this song a gorgeous duet. Chuck Taylor from Billboard reviewed The Prayer, calling it a breathtaking, ultra-lush song, although he felt that the song is an unorthodox track for the radio, Taylor called it affecting, heartwarming, absolutely exquisite and one of Dions most radiant performances ever. The two performed the song during her CBS TV special Thats Just the Woman in Me, aired on 15 February 2008 and this version was released as a music download in the U. S. and Canada two days earlier. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 70 and appeared on a few other Billboard charts, Pop 100 at number 50, Hot Digital Songs at number 32, the single sold 37,531 copies in its first week. In Canada, the peaked at number 37 on the Canadian Hot 100. 2008 North American digital single The Prayer –4,38 Callea first performed song during Australian Idol 2004. He received an ovation for this performance. He would go on to be runner-up in this series, at the completion of the show, Callea was signed to Sony BMG, and he released The Prayer as his debut single
41.
My Country, 'Tis of Thee
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My Country, Tis of Thee, also known as America, is an American patriotic song, whose lyrics were written by Samuel Francis Smith. The melody used is the same as that of the anthem of the United Kingdom, God Save the Queen. The song served as one of the de facto national anthems of the United States before the adoption of The Star-Spangled Banner as the anthem in 1931. Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics to My Country Tis of Thee in 1831, while he was a student at the Andover Theological Seminary in Andover and his friend Lowell Mason had asked him to translate the lyrics in some German school songbooks or to write new lyrics. A melody in Muzio Clementis Symphony No.3 caught his attention, rather than translating the lyrics from German, Smith wrote his own American patriotic hymn to the melody, completing the lyrics in thirty minutes. Smith gave Mason the lyrics he had written and the song was first performed in public on July 4,1831, first publication of America was in 1832. 1 My country, tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing, Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims pride, From evry mountainside Let freedom ring. 2 My native country, thee, Land of the free, Thy name I love, I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills, My heart with rapture thrills. 3 Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedoms song, Let mortal tongues awake, Let all that breathe partake, Let rocks their silence break,4 Our fathers God to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing. Long may our land be bright, With freedoms holy light, Protect us by Thy might, Great God our King. 7 Thy silver Eastern strands, Thy Golden Gate that stands Fronting the West, Thy flowery Southland fair, Thy Norths sweet, crystal air, O Land beyond compare, We love thee best. 9 My native country, thee, Where all men are free, if white’s their skin, I love thy hills and dales, Thy mounts and pleasant vales, But hate thy negro sales. 10 Let wailing swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees the black man’s wrong, Let every tongue awake, Let bond and free partake, Let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong. To thee, Author of Liberty, to thee we sing, Soon may our land be bright, With holy freedom’s right, Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King. 12 It comes, the day, When tyranny’s proud sway, stern as the grave, Shall to the ground be hurl’d, And freedom’s flag, unfurl’d, Shall wave throughout the world. Echo o’er land and sea freedom for all, Let the glad tidings fly, And every tribe reply, “Glory to God on high, ” at Slavery’s fall. Marian Anderson performed the song at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, cary Grant and Jim Hutton sang the first verse in the 1966 film Walk, Dont Run, while simultaneously Grant and Samantha Eggar sang God Save the Queen. Crosby, Stills & Nash performed the song on the first episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to air after the September 11 attacks in 2001, on January 20,2009, Aretha Franklin sang the song at the first inauguration of President Barack Obama
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Josh Groban
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Joshua Winslow Josh Groban is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. His first four albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States. As of 2012, he has sold over 25 million records worldwide, Groban originally studied acting, but moved to singing as his voice developed. Groban attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, a public school on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles. David Foster called Groban to stand in for an ailing Andrea Bocelli to rehearse a duet, The Prayer, Rosie ODonnell immediately invited him to appear on her talk show. Foster asked him to sing at the California Governors Gray Davis 1999 inauguration and he was cast on Ally McBeal by the shows creator, David E. Kelley, performing Youre Still You for the 2001 season 4 finale. Groban was born in Los Angeles, California, to Lindy, a teacher, and Jack Groban. Grobans younger brother, Chris, was born on Grobans fourth birthday, Grobans father is a descendant of immigrants from Poland and Russia and converted from Judaism to Christianity when he married Grobans mother. Grobans mothers ancestry includes English, German, and Norwegian, one of her own grandfathers was Jewish, Groban first sang in public when he was in the seventh grade. His music teacher chose him to sing a solo of Swonderful at the schools cabaret night, at this time, he was more focused on acting, playing Tevye in his high schools production of Fiddler on the Roof. In the summers of 1997 and 1998, he attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts Camp in Michigan, majoring in music theater. He went on to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a theater major, in late 1998, the 17-year-old Groban was introduced by his vocal coach, Seth Riggs, to Grammy-winning producer and arranger David Foster and future manager Brian Avnet. At the time, Groban had no recording experience and was preparing to begin studying at Carnegie Mellon University, creator David E. Kelley created character Malcolm Wyatt for Groban in the season finale aired in May 2001. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular, prompting 8,000 emails from viewers, Avnet claims this sequence of events effectively got Grobans career off the ground. Groban was offered a contract at Warner Bros. Records through Fosters 143 Records imprint. Avnet told HitQuarters that Warner initially proved resistant to the deal because They were afraid they wouldnt be able to get a voice like that on radio. Explaining his reasons for signing the artist, Foster said, I love his ability in the pop and rock arena. Hes a true force to be reckoned with
