Bob Fosse
Robert Louis Fosse was an American dancer, musical-theatre choreographer, theatre and film director. He was the only person to win Oscar and Tony awards in the same year, he was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning Best Director for Cabaret, won a record eight Tonys for his choreography, as well as one for direction. Fosse was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 23, 1927, to a Norwegian American father, Cyril K. Fosse, a traveling salesman for The Hershey Company, Irish-born mother, Sara Alice Fosse, the second youngest of six, he attended local schools. As a young man, he teamed up with Charles Grass, another young dancer, began a collaboration under the name The Riff Brothers, they toured theaters throughout the Chicago area. After being recruited during World War II, Fosse was placed in the variety show Tough Situation, which toured military and naval bases in the Pacific. After the war, Fosse moved to New York City with the ambition of being the new Fred Astaire, his appearance with his first wife and dance partner, Mary Ann Niles, in Call Me Mister brought him to the attention of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
Fosse and Niles were regular performers on Your Hit Parade during its 1950-51 season. Martin and Lewis caught their act in New York's Pierre Hotel and scheduled the couple to appear on the Colgate Comedy Hour. In a 1986 interview Fosse told an interviewer, "Jerry started me doing choreography, he gave me my first job as a choreographer and I'm grateful for that."Fosse was signed to a MGM contract in 1953. His early screen appearances as a dancer included Give A Girl A Break, The Affairs of Dobie Gillis and Kiss Me Kate, all released in 1953. A short dance sequence that he choreographed in the last brought him to the attention of Broadway producers. During the late-1940s and early 1950s, Fosse transitioned from film to theater. In 1954, he choreographed his first musical, The Pajama Game, followed by George Abbott's Damn Yankees in 1955, it was while working on the latter show that he first met the rising star Gwen Verdon, whom he was to marry in 1960. For her work in Damn Yankees, Verdon won her first Tony Award for Best Actress.
In 1957 Fosse choreographed New Girl in Town directed by Abbott, Verdon won her second Leading Actress Tony. In 1960, Fosse was, for both director and choreographer of a musical called Redhead. With Redhead, Fosse won the Tony Award for best choreography while Verdon won her third Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical; the show itself won the Tony for best musical. Fosse's next feature was supposed to be the short lived musical from 1961 entitled "The Conquering Hero", based on a book by Larry Gelbert, but he was replaced as the director/choreographer; the New York Times reported that Fosse quit over a disagreement "over the direction of the show's book." Fosse took on the job of choreographer of the 1961 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which starred Robert Morse and became a hit musical. With Fosse again the choreographer-director, Verdon starred in Sweet Charity in 1966. In 1973, Fosse's work on Pippin won him the Tony for Best Direction of a Musical, he was director and choreographer of Chicago in 1975, which starred Verdon.
In 1986, Fosse directed and choreographed the Broadway production of Big Deal. Although nominated for five Tony awards, winning for best choreography, the production closed after 69 performances. In 1957 Fosse choreographed the film version of The Pajama Game; the next year, Fosse appeared in the film version of Damn Yankees, which he choreographed, in which Verdon reprised her stage triumph as "Lola". They were partners in the mambo number, "Who's Got the Pain". Fosse performed a dance number in Stanley Donen's 1974 film version of The Little Prince. According to AllMusic, "Bob Fosse stops the show with a slithery dance routine." In 1977, Fosse had a small role in the romantic comedy Thieves. Fosse directed five feature films, his first, Sweet Charity, starring Shirley MacLaine, is an adaptation of the Broadway musical he had directed and choreographed. Fosse shot the film on location in Manhattan, his second film, won eight Academy Awards, including Best Director. He won over Francis Ford Coppola, nominated for The Godfather, starring Marlon Brando.
Cabaret was shot on location in Munich, Germany. In 1974 Fosse directed a biographical movie about comic Lenny Bruce, starring Dustin Hoffman; the film was nominated among other awards. In 1979, Fosse co-wrote and directed a semi-autobiographical film All That Jazz, which portrayed the life of a womanizing, drug-addicted choreographer-director in the midst of triumph and failure. Ann Reinking appears in the film as the protagonist's protégé and domestic-partner. All That Jazz won four Academy Awards, it won the Palme d'Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. In the summer and fall of 1980, working with All That Jazz executive producer Daniel Melnick, Fosse commissioned documentary research for a follow-up feature exploring the motivations of people who become performers, but he abandoned the project. Fosse's final film, Star 80, was a controversial biographical movie about Dorothy Stratten, a young Playboy Playmate, murdered; the film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning article on the same topic.
The film was nominated for several awards, was screened out of competition at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. During this time, Fosse considered dir
Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress
The Golden Globe for New Star of the Year – Actress was an award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at their annual Golden Globe Awards. The award was first introduced at the 6th Golden Globe Awards in 1948 where it was given to actress Lois Maxwell for her performance in the 1947 film That Hagen Girl, it was awarded as the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female until 1975. There were no awards in 1949, between 1954 and 1965 there were multiple winners. From 1976 to 1979, the award was called Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture – Female. From 1980 to 1983, the award was called New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Female. A male actor did not receive the Award in 1982; the final recipient of the award was actress Sandahl Bergman for her performance in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian. The category was discontinued following the 1983 ceremony. Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor Golden Globes Award official website Golden Globes Event History – retro to 1944
Raw Nerve (1991 film)
Raw Nerve is a 1991 film directed and written by David A. Prior; the film stars Glenn Ford in Jan-Michael Vincent and Traci Lords. A series of grotesque murders plagues the city of Mobile, Alabama where an unknown serial killer is killing women with a pump-action shotgun. A young race car driver, named Jimmy Clayton, goes to the police where he talks with Lt. Detective Bruce Ellis and his superior Captain Gavin claiming that he has been having visions about the killer; the police do not take him and Jimmy gets locked up as the suspect. A lady reporter named Gloria Freedman, who happens to be Ellis's ex-wife, falls in love with Jimmy and sets out prove his innocence and find the real killer. Meanwhile, a rogue biker named Blake Garrett learns about the murders and that Jimmy may be a suspect, he accosts Gloria. Blake kidnaps Jimmy's younger sister Gina and attempts to leave the country with her, claiming that he is "protecting her"; when Lt. Ellis begins to believe Jimmy's claims of innocence, he has Jimmy released and has him followed to find Blake who takes Gina to a local airport, attempting to leave the country with her.
Thinking that Blake is the serial killer, the police chase him through the airport and in his pickup truck through the city where they corner him on a top ledge of a parking garage. When Jimmy attempts to talk to Blake, he releases Gina but drives his truck off the ledge and kills himself; when Captain Gavin finds a shotgun in Blake's truck which forensic tests prove it to be the murder weapon, the case of the "shotgun slayings" is closed. Or is it? In the final scene, Gloria goes to Jimmy's house one evening for them go out on their first date when Jimmy begins acting strange toward her and attempts to kill her, it is revealed here that Jimmy is the killer all along and that he committed the murders under a split-personality. Jimmy's alter ego, whom is named'Billy', murdered his and Gina's parents years earlier after they found out that Jimmy has dissociative identity disorder resulting from physical abuse by both his mother and father. Blake knew the whole time about Jimmy's D. I. D. and protected him out of blind loyalty.
When Jimmy discovered the truth,'Billy' took over and he attempts to kill Gloria After a chase through the house, just when Gloria is about to be killed, Lt. Ellis runs in and saves her by shooting Billy/Jimmy dead. Glenn Ford as Captain Gavin Sandahl Bergman as Gloria Freedman Randall'Tex' Cobb as Blake Garrett Ted Prior as Jimmy Clayton Traci Lords as Gina Clayton Jan-Michael Vincent as Lt. Bruce Ellis Red West as Dave Karen Johnson Miller as paramedic Review of Film from the New York Times Raw Nerve on IMDb
Pippin (musical)
Pippin is a 1972 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production contributed to the libretto; the musical uses the premise of a mysterious performance troupe, led by a Leading Player, to tell the story of Pippin, a young prince on his search for meaning and significance. The protagonist Pippin and his father Charlemagne are characters derived from two real-life individuals of the early Middle Ages, though the plot is fictional and presents no historical accuracy regarding either; the show was financed by Motown Records. As of February 2018, the original run of Pippin is the 34th longest-running Broadway show. Ben Vereen and Patina Miller won Tony Awards for their portrayals of the Leading Player in the original Broadway production and the 2013 revival making them the first actors to win Tonys for Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress in a Musical, for the same role. Pippin was conceived as a student musical titled Pippin and performed by Carnegie Mellon University's Scotch'n'Soda theatre troupe.
Stephen Schwartz collaborated with Ron Strauss, when Schwartz decided to develop the show further, Strauss left the project. Schwartz has said that not a single line nor note from Carnegie Mellon's Pippin, Pippin made it into the final version; the musical begins with the Leading Player of a troupe and the accompanying actors in various costume pieces of several different time periods, establishing the play's intentionally anachronistic, unconventional feel. The Leading Player and troupe, throughout the performance, metafictionally channel the Brechtian distancing effect and break the fourth wall, directly speaking to the audience and provocatively inviting their attention, they begin a story about a boy prince searching for existential fulfillment. They reveal that the boy, to play the prince, named Pippin, is a new actor. Pippin talks to scholars of his dreams to find where he belongs, they applaud Pippin on his ambitious quest for an extraordinary life. Pippin returns home to the castle and estate of his father, King Charles.
Charles and Pippin don't get a chance to communicate as they are interrupted by nobles and courtiers vying for Charles' attention, Charles is uncomfortable speaking with his educated son or expressing any loving emotions. Pippin meets up with his stepmother Fastrada, her dim-witted son Lewis. Charles and Lewis are planning on going into battle against the Visigoths soon, Pippin begs Charles to take him along so as to prove himself. Charles reluctantly proceeds to explain a battle plan to his men. Once in battle, the Leading Player re-enters to lead the troupe in a mock battle using top hats and fancy jazz to glorify warfare and violence, with the Leading Player and two lead dancers in the middle; this charade of war does not appeal to Pippin, he flees into the countryside. The Leading Player tells the audience of Pippin's travels through the country, until he stops at his exiled grandmother's estate. There, Berthe tells Pippin not to live a little. Pippin decides to search for something a bit more lighthearted.
While he enjoys many meaningless sexual encounters, he soon discovers that relationships without love leave you "empty and unfulfilled." The Leading Player tells Pippin that he should fight tyranny, uses Charles as a perfect example of an uneducated tyrant to fight. Pippin plans a revolution, Fastrada is delighted to hear that Charles and Pippin will both perish so that her beloved Lewis can become king. Fastrada arranges the murder of Charles, Pippin falls victim to her plot. While Charles is praying at Arles, Pippin murders him, becomes the new king; the Leading Player mentions to the audience that they will break for now, but to expect a thrilling finale. Act 2 begins with Pippin trying his best to grant the wishes of as many people as possible, but he realizes. Pippin realizes that neither he nor his father could change society and seemed forced to act as tyrants, he begs the Leading Player to bring his slain father back to life, the Leading Player does so as Charlemagne nonchalantly comes back to life and mildly scolds Pippin.
He feels directionless. After experimenting with art and religion, he falls into monumental despair and collapses on the floor. Widowed farm-owner Catherine finds him on the street, is attracted by the arch of his foot and when Pippin comes to, she introduces herself to Pippin. From the start, it is clear that the Leading Player is concerned with Catherine's acting ability and actual attraction to Pippin — after all, she is but a player playing a part in the Leading Player's yet-to-be-unfolded plan. At first, Pippin thinks himself above such boring manorial duties as sweeping and milking cows, but he comforts Catherine's small boy, Theo, on the sickness and eventual death of his pet duck and warms up to the lovely Catherine. However, as time goes by, Pippin feels that he must leave the estate to continue searching for his purpose. Catherine is heartbroken, reflects on him ("I Guess I'll Miss t
Low-budget film
A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced or unknown filmmakers can have low budgets. Many young or first time filmmakers shoot low-budget films to prove their talent before doing bigger productions. Many low-budget films that do not gain some form of attention or acclaim are never released in theatres and are sent straight to retail because of its lack of marketability, story, or premise. There is no precise number to define a low budget production, it is relative to both genre and country. What might be a low-budget film in one country may be a big budget in another. Modern-day young filmmakers rely on film festivals for pre promotion, they use this to gain acclaim and attention for their films, which leads to a limited release in theatres. Film that acquire a cult following may be given a wide release.
Low-budget films can be amateur. They are either shot using professional or consumer equipment; some genres are more conducive to low-budget filmmaking than others. Horror films are a popular genre for low-budget directorial debuts. Jeremy Gardner, director of The Battery says that horror fans are more attracted to how the films affect them than seeing movie stars; this allows horror films to focus more on provoking a reaction than on expensive casting choices. Thriller films are a popular choice for low-budget films, as they focus on narrative. Science fiction films, which were once the domain of B movies require a big budget to accommodate their special effects, but low-cost do-it-yourself computer-generated imagery can make them affordable when they focus on story and characterization. Plot devices like shooting as found footage can lower production costs, scripts that rely on extended dialogue, such as Reservoir Dogs or Sex and Videotape, can entertain audiences without many sets; the money flow in filmmaking is a unique system because of the uncertainty of demand.
The makers of the film do not know. They may predict a film will do well and pay back the cost of production, but only get a portion back. Or the opposite may happen where a project that few think will go far can bring in more profit than imaginable. A big gambling variable, involved is the use of stars. Stars are brought on to a project to gain the film publicity and fame; this process can be profitable. Well-known actors may join a low-budget film for a portion of the gross. One of the most successful low-budget films was 1999, it had a budget of around US$60,000 but grossed $249 million worldwide. It spawned books, a trilogy of video games, a less-popular sequel. An more successful low-budget film was the 1972 film Deep Throat which cost only $22,500 to produce, yet was rumored to have grossed over $600 million, though this figure is disputed. Another early example of a successful low-budget film was the 1975 Bollywood Dacoit Western film Sholay, which cost ₹20 million to produce and grossed ₹3 billion, making it one of the highest-grossing films of all time in Indian cinema.
Other examples of successful low-budget Asian films include the Chinese films Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee, which had a budget of $850,000 and grossed $90 million worldwide. Wayne Wang's film Chan Is Missing, set on the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown, was made for $20,000 in 1982. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote that the budget would not have paid for the shoe laces in the film, "Annie". Rocky was shot on a budget of $1 million and grossed $225 million worldwide, making Sylvester Stallone a star. Halloween grossed $70 million worldwide. Napoleon Dynamite cost less than $400,000 to make but its gross revenue was $46 million. Divisions of major film studios that specialize in such films, such as Fox Searchlight Pictures and New Line Cinema, have made the distribution of low budget films competitive; the UK film Monsters is a recent successful example of bringing what was once considered the exclusive preserve of the big studios—the expensive, special effects blockbuster—to independent, low-budget cinema.
The film's budget was reported to be $500,000, but it grossed $4,188,738 at the box office. A considerable number of low- and modest-budget films have been forgotten by their makers and fallen into the public domain; this has been true of low-budget films made in the United States from 1923 to 1978. Examples include a number of films made by Roger Corman; some low-budget films have failed miserably at the box office and been forgotten, only to increase in popularity decades later. A number of cheaply made movies have attained cult-film status after being considered some of the worst features made for many years; the most famous examples of this later-day popularity of low-budget box-office failures include Plan 9 from Outer Space and Manos: The Hands of Fate. Additionally, some low-cost films that have had little success upon their initial release have been considered classics; the Last Man on Earth was the first adaptation of the novel. Due to budgetary constraints, the vampires in the film were zombie-like creatures instead of fast and agile monsters portrayed in the
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a concept musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Centered on seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line, the musical is set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during an audition for a musical. A Chorus Line provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. Following several workshops and an Off-Broadway production, A Chorus Line opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway July 25, 1975, directed by Michael Bennett and co-choreographed by Bennett and Bob Avian. An unprecedented box office and critical hit, the musical received twelve Tony Award nominations and won nine, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama; the original Broadway production ran for 6,137 performances, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history until surpassed by Cats in 1997, the longest-running Broadway musical produced in the US, until surpassed in 2011 by Chicago.
It remains the seventh longest-running Broadway show ever. A Chorus Line's success has spawned many successful productions worldwide, it began a lengthy run in the West End in 1976 and was revived on Broadway in 2006, in the West End in 2013. The show opens in the middle of an audition for an upcoming Broadway production; the formidable director Zach and his assistant choreographer Larry put the dancers through their paces. Every dancer is desperate for work. After the next round of cuts, 17 dancers remain. Zach tells them he is looking for a strong dancing chorus of four girls, he wants to learn more about them, asks the dancers to introduce themselves. With reluctance, the dancers reveal their pasts; the stories progress chronologically from early life experiences through adulthood to the end of a career. The first candidate, explains that he is the youngest of 12 children, he recalls his first experience with dance, watching his sister's dance class when he was a pre-schooler. Mike took her place one day when she refused to go to class—and he stayed.
Bobby tries to hide the unhappiness of his childhood by making jokes. As he speaks, the other dancers have misgivings about this strange audition process and debate what they should reveal to Zach, but since they all need the job, the session continues. Zach is angered. Opening up, she reveals that her mother married at a young age and her father neither loved nor cared for them; when she was six, she realized that ballet provided relief from her unhappy family life, as did Bebe and Maggie. The scatter-brained Kristine is tone-deaf, her lament that she could never sing is interrupted by her husband Al finishing her phrases in tune. Mark, the youngest of the dancers, relates his first experiences with pictures of the female anatomy and his first wet dream, while the other dancers share memories of adolescence; the 4'10" Connie laments the problems of being short, Diana Morales recollects her horrible high school acting class. Don remembers his first job at a nightclub and Judy reflects on her problematic childhood while some of the auditionees talk about their opinion of their parents.
Greg speaks about his discovery of his homosexuality and Richie recounts how he nearly became a kindergarten teacher. The newly buxom Val explains that talent alone doesn't count for everything with casting directors, silicone and plastic surgery can help; the dancers go downstairs to learn a song for the next section of the audition, but Cassie stays onstage to talk to Zach. She is a veteran dancer, they have a history together: Zach had cast her in a featured part and they had lived together for several years. Zach tells Cassie that she shouldn't be at this audition, but she hasn't been able to find solo work and is willing to "come home" to the chorus where she can at least express her passion for dance. Zach sends her downstairs to learn the dance combination. Zach calls Paul, reluctant to share his past, on stage for a private talk, he relives his childhood and high school experience, his early career in a drag act, coming to terms with his manhood and his homosexuality, his parents' ultimate reaction to finding out about his lifestyle.
Paul is comforted by Zach. Cassie and Zach's complex relationship resurfaces during a run-through of the number created to showcase an unnamed star. Zach confronts Cassie, feeling that she is "dancing down," and they rehash what went wrong in their relationship and her career. Zach points to the machine-like dancing of the rest of the cast—the other dancers who have all blended together, who will never be recognized individually—and mockingly asks if this is what she wants. Cassie defiantly defends the dancers: "I’d be proud to be one of them. They’re wonderful.... They’re all special. I’d be happy to be dancing in that line. Yes, I would...." During a tap sequence, Paul falls and injures his knee that underwent surgery. After Paul is carried off to the hospital, all at the audition stand in disbelief, realizing that their careers can end in an instant. Zach asks the remaining dancers. Led by Diana, they reply; the final eight dancers are selected: Mik
Americans
Americans are nationals and citizens of the United States of America. Although nationals and citizens make up the majority of Americans, some dual citizens and permanent residents may claim American nationality; the United States is home to people of many different ethnic origins. As a result, American culture and law does not equate nationality with race or ethnicity, but with citizenship and permanent allegiance. English-speakers, speakers of many other languages use the term "American" to mean people of the United States; the word "American" can refer to people from the Americas in general. The majority of Americans or their ancestors immigrated to America or are descended from people who were brought as slaves within the past five centuries, with the exception of the Native American population and people from Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands, who became American through expansion of the country in the 19th century, additionally America expanded into American Samoa, the U. S. Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands in the 20th century.
Despite its multi-ethnic composition, the culture of the United States held in common by most Americans can be referred to as mainstream American culture, a Western culture derived from the traditions of Northern and Western European colonists and immigrants. It includes influences of African-American culture. Westward expansion integrated the Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the culture of Mexico. Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced a variety of elements. Immigration from Asia and Latin America has had impact. A cultural melting pot, or pluralistic salad bowl, describes the way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics. In addition to the United States and people of American descent can be found internationally; as many as seven million Americans are estimated to be living abroad, make up the American diaspora.
The United States of America is a diverse country and ethnically. Six races are recognized by the U. S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes: White, American Indian and Alaska Native, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, people of two or more races. "Some other race" is an option in the census and other surveys. The United States Census Bureau classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifies Hispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that comprises the largest minority group in the nation. People of European descent, or White Americans, constitute the majority of the 308 million people living in the United States, with 72.4% of the population in the 2010 United States Census. They are considered people who trace their ancestry to the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, North Africa. Of those reporting to be White American, 7,487,133 reported to be Multiracial. Additionally, there are Latinos.
Non-Hispanic Whites are the majority in 46 states. There are four minority-majority states: California, New Mexico, Hawaii. In addition, the District of Columbia has a non-white majority; the state with the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White Americans is Maine. The largest continental ancestral group of Americans are that of Europeans who have origins in any of the original peoples of Europe; this includes people via African, North American, Central American or South American and Oceanian nations that have a large European descended population. The Spanish were some of the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the United States in 1565. Martín de Argüelles born 1566, San Agustín, La Florida a part of New Spain, was the first person of European descent born in what is now the United States. Twenty-one years Virginia Dare born 1587 Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, was the first child born in the original Thirteen Colonies to English parents. In the 2017 American Community Survey, German Americans, Irish Americans, English Americans and Italian Americans were the four largest self-reported European ancestry groups in the United States forming 35.1% of the total population.
However, the English Americans and British Americans demography is considered a serious under-count as they tend to self-report and identify as "Americans" due to the length of time they have inhabited America. This is over-represented in the Upland South, a region, settled by the British. Overall, as the largest group, European Americans have the lowest poverty rate and the second highest educational attainment levels, median household income, median personal income of any racial demographic in the nation. According to the American Jewish Archives and the Arab American National Museum, some of the first Middle Easterners and North Africans arrived in the Americas between the late 15th and mid-16th centuries. Many were fleeing ethnic or ethnoreligious persecution during the Spanish Inquisition, a few were taken to the Americas as slaves. In 2014, The United States Census Bureau began finalizing the ethnic classification of MENA populations. According to the Arab American Institute, Arab
