1.
Dallas
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Dallas is a major city in the U. S. state of Texas. It is the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the citys population ranks ninth in the U. S. and third in Texas after Houston and San Antonio. The citys prominence arose from its importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries. The bulk of the city is in Dallas County, of which it is the county seat, however, sections of the city are located in Collin, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties. According to the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 1,197,816, the United States Census Bureaus estimate for the citys population increased to 1,300,092 as of July 1,2015. In 2016 DFW ascended to the one spot in the nation in year-over-year population growth. In 2014, the metropolitan economy surpassed Washington, D. C. to become the fifth largest in the U. S. with a 2014 real GDP over $504 billion, as such, the metropolitan areas economy is the 10th largest in the world. As of January 2017, the job count has increased to 3,558,200 jobs. The citys economy is based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare and medical research. The city is home to the third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the nation. Located in North Texas, Dallas is the core of the largest metropolitan area in the South. Dallas and nearby Fort Worth were developed due to the construction of railroad lines through the area allowing access to cotton, cattle. Later, France also claimed the area but never established much settlement, the area remained under Spanish rule until 1821, when Mexico declared independence from Spain, and the area was considered part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. In 1836, the Republic of Texas, with majority Anglo-American settlers, in 1839, Warren Angus Ferris surveyed the area around present-day Dallas. John Neely Bryan established a permanent settlement near the Trinity River named Dallas in 1841, the origin of the name is uncertain. The Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845, Dallas was formally incorporated as a city on February 2,1856. With construction of railroads, Dallas became a business and trading center and it became an industrial city, attracting workers from Texas, the South and the Midwest. The Praetorian Building of 15 stories, built in 1909, was the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi and it marked the prominence of Dallas as a city
2.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
3.
University of Southern California
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The University of Southern California is a private research university founded in 1880 with its main campus in Los Angeles, California. As Californias oldest private university, USC has historically educated a large number of the regions business leaders. In recent decades, the university has also leveraged its location in Los Angeles to establish relationships with research and cultural institutions throughout Asia, an engine for economic activity, USC contributes $8 billion annually to the economy of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and California. For the 2014–15 academic year, there were 18,740 students enrolled in undergraduate programs. USC also has 23,729 graduate and professional students in a number of different programs, including business, law, engineering, social work, and medicine. The university is one of the top fundraising institutions in the world, consistently ranking among the top 3 in external contributions, multiple academic rankings list the University of Southern California as being among the top 25 universities in the United States. With an acceptance rate of 16 percent, USC is also among the most selective academic institutions in the nation. USC maintains a tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship, with alumni having founded companies such as Lucasfilm, Myspace, Salesforce. com, Intuit, Qualcomm, Box, Tinder. As of 2014, the university has produced the fourth largest number of billionaire alumni out of all institutions in the world. USC is home to the world’s most powerful computer, which is presently housed in a super-cooled. The only other commercially available quantum computing system is operated jointly by NASA, USC was also one of the earliest nodes on ARPANET and is the birthplace of the Domain Name System. Other technologies invented at USC include DNA computing, dynamic programming, image compression, VoIP, USC sponsors a variety of intercollegiate sports and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Members of the teams, the Trojans, have won 102 NCAA team championships, ranking them third in the nation. Trojan athletes have won 288 medals at the Olympic games, more than any university in the United States. If USC were a country, its athletes would have received the 12th-most Olympic gold medals in history. In 1969, it joined the Association of American Universities, the University of Southern California was founded following the efforts of Judge Robert M. Hellman. The three donated 308 lots of land to establish the campus and provided the seed money for the construction of the first buildings. Originally operated in affiliation with the Methodist Church, the school mandated from the start that no student would be denied admission because of race, the university is no longer affiliated with any church, having severed formal ties in 1952
4.
American Idiot (musical)
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American Idiot is a sung-through stage adaptation of punk rock band Green Days rock opera, American Idiot. After a run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2009, the moved to the St. James Theatre on Broadway. Previews began on March 24,2010 and the play opened on April 20,2010. The show closed on April 24,2011 after 422 performances, while Green Day did not appear in the production, vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong performed the role of St. Jimmy occasionally throughout the run. The story, expanded from that of the album, centers on three disaffected young men, Johnny, Will, and Tunny. Johnny and Tunny flee a stifling suburban lifestyle and parental restrictions, while Will stays home to work out his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, the former pair look for meaning in life and try out the freedom and excitement of the city. Tunny quickly gives up on life in the city, joins the military, Johnny turns to drugs and finds a part of himself that he grows to dislike, has a relationship and experiences lost love. The book was written by Armstrong and director Michael Mayer, the music was composed by Green Day and the lyrics were by Armstrong. The musical won two 2010 Tony Awards, Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Christine Jones, and Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Kevin Adams and it also received a nomination for Best Musical. In 2011, its Broadway cast recording won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album, set in the recent past, the musical opens on a group of suburban youths living unhappily in Jingletown, USA and saturated with TV. Fed up with the state of the union, the company explodes in frustration, one of the youths, Johnny, goes to commiserate with his friend Will. A third friend, Tunny, joins the two and they party until they run out of beer, prompting them to pick up more at the local 7-Eleven, Tunny soon exposes the do-nothing go-nowhere quicksand of their lives. They get riled up, and Johnny challenges his friends to engage, Wills girlfriend, Heather, soon makes an appearance. She is pregnant and doesnt know what to do, Johnny borrows money and buys bus tickets to the city for the three young men, eager to escape suburbia. Before the boys are able to leave, Heather tells Will of her pregnancy, with no other choice, he stays home. Johnny and Tunny depart for the city with a group of other jaded youths, while Johnny wanders the city and pines for a woman he sees in an apartment window, Tunny finds it hard to adjust to urban life and is seduced by a television ad for the army. Tunny realizes that his generation has been so numbed and apathetic that nothing, not even the lights of the city. A frustrated Johnny manifests a rebellious drug-dealing alter ego called St. Jimmy and his newfound courage thanks to St. Jimmy and the drugs allow Johnny to make a successful move on the girl in the window
5.
Kinky Boots (musical)
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Kinky Boots is a Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein. Based on the 2005 British film Kinky Boots, written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth and which was inspired by true events, the musical tells the story of Charlie Price. Having inherited a factory from his father, Charlie forms an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola to produce a line of high-heeled boots. In the process, Charlie and Lola discover that they are not so different after all, following the shows conception in 2006, the creative team was assembled by 2010. It made its Broadway debut at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 4,2013, the musical began its US tour in 2014. However, less than a month after opening, Kinky Boots surpassed this rival with audiences in weekly box office gross, the musicals cast album premiered at number one on the Billboard Cast Albums Chart and number fifty-one on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2016, it won three Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical, Kinky Boots is based on the 2005 British film of the same name, which was, in turn, inspired by a 1999 episode of the BBC2 documentary television series Trouble at the Top. It followed the story of Steve Pateman, who was struggling to save his family-run shoe factory from closure and decided to produce fetish footwear for men. Daryl Roth, a Tony Award-winning producer, saw the film at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and fell in love with its heart and she felt that its themes resonated and thought that the story had potential as source material for a musical. Independently, Hal Luftig saw the film in London and agreed that its heart, within a year, Roth secured the rights to adapt the film to the stage and partnered with Luftig, a Tony and Olivier Award-winning producer. By mid-2008, Roth and Luftig were in discussions with a director, Jerry Mitchell. When Roth sent Mitchell the DVD of the film, he was enthusiastic about it, Roth and Luftig hired Mitchell to direct and Harvey Fierstein to write the book. Mitchell knew that Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper were friends, and he thought they would make a team to create the musical. Lauper joined the team in June 2010. Laupers last project before Kinky Boots had been the album Memphis Blues, among Fiersteins prior experiences were works about drag queens, La Cage aux Folles and Torch Song Trilogy. Lauper has said that she identifies with drag queens, Fierstein and Lauper had both gained previous critical acclaim and honors in their respective fields. Fierstein noted a change in focus between the film about the saving of a factory and the musical, which include drag queens singing as they pass along the assembly line, Kinky Boots was given a reading on October 6,2011. Lauper was actively engaged in refining the material once the cast began readings, in January 2012, Roth announced that the show would be workshopped that month, and that Stark Sands and Billy Porter had been cast in the starring roles
6.
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
7.
Die, Mommie, Die!
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Die, Mommie, Die. is a 2003 American satirical comedy film written by Charles Busch, who also plays the lead role. It is adapted from a play of the name by Busch. The film opens with Angela Arden kneeling in front of her twin sister Barbaras grave, Angela is a lounge singer who is attempting to resuscitate her floundering career, which became obsolete around the same time Barbara committed suicide. Also living in the house is the snoopy maid Bootsie, who is infatuated with Sol, bored and unhappy, Angela begins cheating on her husband with Tony Parker, a tennis-playing lothario and failed actor who is reputed to be well endowed. Sol finds out after hiring a detective to follow Angela around. He confronts her about it but he refuses to divorce her, instead, he gives her life in prison. Not only does he cancel all of Angelas credit cards, he forbids her from performing at an engagement in New York, feeling trapped and eager to get her hands on her husbands money, Angela poisons an ever-constipated Sol with an arsenic-laced suppository. Despite the fact that Angela receives virtually nothing in Sols will, her children, along with Bootsie, and the suspicious circumstances of Sols death bring old questions about Angelas sisters death to light. Edith–and later Lance–hatch a plot to get her to confess, meanwhile, Tony successfully seduces both the children, taking an unusual interest in the details surrounding Aunt Barbaras death. After Bootsie is found dead, the children eventually get Angela to confess her crimes by lacing her evening coffee with LSD, during her bender, Angela not only reveals that she poisoned Sol, but that she is not Angela but really Barbara. In flashback, Barbara reveals how as Angelas career flourish, her own fell apart, after serving her sentence, Barbara arrived at Angelas mansion, greeted with scorn and ridicule from the immensely egotistical Angela. Watching the physical and emotional abuse Angela doled out to Sol, the children watch with confusion as Barbara announces she killed Angela. As they turn the tape over to Tony, Edith and Lance fight over who will be the one to run away with him, while he respectfully refuses both of them. Meanwhile, a masked assailant pops up and tries to dispatch Barbara, in the scuffle, Barbara pulls off the assailants mask, Tony then reveals he is really an FBI agent whos been heading a case investigation Angelas murder before arresting Sol. But Barbara tells them, as she walks to her police escort outside. Is based on a play of the name by Busch. It is a parody of 1960s gothic horror films like Hush. Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Busch originally planned to adapt Electra and play Clytemnestra, but finding the costumes so drab, so Greek, he set the work in 1967 and added the horror element. Michael Bottari and Ronald Case designed Buschs more than 50 costumes in the film, the film debuted on January 20,2003 at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, with a wider release in October 2003
8.
Nathaniel Fick
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Nate Fick is a former United States Marine Corps officer and the CEO of Endgame, Inc. a cyber security software company. He is also an Operating Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners and he came to public notice for his writing on military life and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Fick was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1977, and attended Loyola Blakefield high school in Towson, Fick went on to attend Dartmouth College. He later graduated with degrees in classics and government in 1999, Fick was trained as an infantry officer and was eventually assigned as a platoon commander to 1st Battalion 1st Marines. He then led his platoon into Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom to support the War on Terror, upon his return to the United States in March 2002, he was recommended for Marine reconnaissance training. He also completed Army Airborne School and he subsequently led Second Platoon of Bravo Company of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Fick left the U. S. Marine Corps as a captain in December 2003, Morel was killed in a firefight in Falluja in April,2004. Fick wrote a book, One Bullet Away, The Making of a Marine Officer and he received the Colby Award for One Bullet Away in 2006. He also occasionally writes articles about military matters, such as his criticism of Anthony Swoffords book Jarhead, Fick became the Chief Operating Officer at the Center for a New American Security and later was appointed CEO in June 2009. Fick has spoken before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee on Iraq, Fick was elected to Dartmouth Colleges Board of Trustees in April 2012. He also serves on the Military & Veterans Advisory Council at JPMorgan Chase & Co and he resides in Washington, D. C. with his family. Fick and his platoon were the subject of a series of articles in Rolling Stone, Generation Kill was adapted into a miniseries of the same name by HBO, in which Fick was portrayed by Stark Sands. List of United States Marines Appearances on C-SPAN
9.
Generation Kill (miniseries)
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Generation Kill is an American seven-part television miniseries produced for HBO that aired from July 13 to August 24,2008. The miniseries was directed by Susanna White and Simon Cellan Jones, the ensemble cast includes Alexander Skarsgård as Sergeant Brad Iceman Colbert, James Ransone as Corporal Josh Ray Person, and Lee Tergesen as reporter Evan Wright. The series is set during the invasion of Iraq, from late March to early April 2003, the mini-series was shot over a six-month shoot from mid-to-late 2007 in South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia. The primary production value aspired to was authenticity, david Simon and Ed Burns co-wrote and executive produced the miniseries alongside Company Pictures George Faber and Charles Pattinson and HBOs Anne Thomopoulos. Andrea Calderwood was the producer, Nina Noble served as co-executive producer, author Evan Wright was credited as a consulting producer. A former U. S. Marine, Eric Kocher, served as the military advisor. Susanna White and Simon Cellan Jones directed the episodes of the series, there are 28 starring cast members with a large supporting cast. The majority of the characters were drawn from the Second Platoon of the First Reconnaissance Battalions Bravo Company, Lee Tergesen played embedded reporter Evan Wright. Other starring characters, from 2nd platoon include, Additional characters, Major General James Mad Dog Mattis, commanding officer of 1st Marine Division, the real-life Eric Kocher portrays another Marine who drives Captain Pattersons command Humvee in Alpha. Much of it music that was popular among the American populace in late 2002. The newer music serves to illustrate pop-culture during the time of the invasion, all of the songs are sung a cappella by cast members, with the exception of Johnny Cashs The Man Comes Around, and Josh Ray Persons Re-Up Time. Generation Kill was nominated for 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning three in 2009 in the miniseries categories, nominations included Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Writing. It won for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, Outstanding Sound Editing, the miniseries received very positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, it received a score of 80 out of 100 based on 27 reviews and its journalism converted to art, with both benefiting. Adam Buckman of the New York Post, however, was not as impressed, describing the series as dull, a red carpet screening of Generation Kill was held for U. S. Marines at Camp Pendleton in California, where the series was favorably received, official website Generation Kill at the Internet Movie Database Generation Kill at TV. com
10.
Fox Broadcasting Company
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The Fox Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. It is the third largest major network in the world based on total revenues, assets. Launched on October 9,1986 as a competitor to the Big Three television networks, Fox and its affiliated companies operate many entertainment channels in international markets, although these do not necessarily air the same programming as the U. S. network. Most viewers in Canada have access to at least one U. S, the network is named after sister company 20th Century Fox, and indirectly for producer William Fox, who founded one of the movie studios predecessors, Fox Film. Fox is a member of the North American Broadcasters Association and the National Association of Broadcasters, 20th Century Fox had been involved in television production as early as the 1950s, producing several syndicated programs. Following the demise of the DuMont Television Network in August of that year after it became mired in financial problems. 20th Century Fox would also produce original content for the NTA network, KTTV in Los Angeles, KRIV in Houston, WFLD-TV in Chicago, and KRLD-TV in Dallas. In October 1985, 20th Century Fox announced its intentions to form a television network that would compete with ABC, CBS. The plans were to use the combination of the Fox studios, organizational plans for the network were held off until the Metromedia acquisitions cleared regulatory hurdles. Then, in December 1985, Rupert Murdoch agreed to pay $325 million to acquire the remaining equity in TCF Holdings from his original partner, Marvin Davis. These first six stations, then broadcasting to a reach of 22% of the nations households. Except for KDAF, all of the original owned-and-operated stations are part of the Fox network today. Like the core O&O group, Foxs affiliate body consisted of independent stations. The Fox Broadcasting Company launched at 11,00 p. m. Eastern and its inaugural program was a late-night talk show, The Late Show, which was hosted by comedian Joan Rivers. By early 1987, Rivers quit The Late Show after disagreements with the network over the creative direction. The network expanded its programming into prime time on April 5,1987, with Children and the sketch comedy series The Tracey Ullman Show. Fox added one new show per week over the several weeks, with the drama 21 Jump Street. On July 11, the network rolled out its Saturday night schedule with the premiere of the drama series Werewolf
11.
Minority Report (TV series)
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Minority Report is an American science-fiction crime drama television series that aired on Fox from September 21, to November 30,2015. It was developed by Max Borenstein and it is an adaptation to the 2002 film of the same name based on the 1956 science fiction short story The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick. It is produced by Amblin Television, Paramount Television, and 20th Century Fox Television and it is the first Steven Spielberg–directed movie to be adapted for TV. On October 9,2015, Fox announced that the order was cut from 13 episodes to 10. On May 13,2016, Fox officially cancelled the series, Dash, a Precog, has the ability to predict crimes. The Precrime Unit was dismantled in 2054, forcing law enforcement to rely on methods to fight crime. Before it was dismantled, Dash, his twin brother Arthur, Opening Introduction, Opening Introduction, Stark Sands as Dashiell Dash Parker A precog with heavy burden of seeing the murders of others who seeks to stop the wrongful deaths. During his precognitive visions Dash sees the fractions of the murders, the horror, as described by Wally with the victim, Nick Zano as Arthur Watson Dashs fraternal twin brother, an executor, estate planner and finance manager. He reluctantly helps out Dash and Vega, while easier to endure than his brothers or Agathas visions, Arthurs precognitive visions act more as an antenna, pulling in names, facts, and information about the murdered person. Daniel London as Norbert Wally Wallace Dash, Arthur and Agathas primary caretaker during their eight years in the milk bath, bonded with the three, Wally joins forces with Dash and Lara and helps map Dashs visions for better analyzing of the murders. Laura Regan as Agatha Lively Older than Arthur and Dash as well as precog, Agatha acts an older sister, protector, Agathas visions allows her to become the person whose murder she is predicting. Experiencing an empathic bond with the person in her visions, Agathas visions are the most traumatizing as she experiences the death itself. Li Jun Li as Akeela A crime scene tech at Metro Police Department and best friend of Lara, she joins her and Dash on their mission as their tech. Wilmer Valderrama as Lt. Will Blake The by-the-books, professional ambitious and competitive former partner of Lara, lionel Gray On September 9,2014, it was announced that Fox had ordered a pilot for a follow-up television series to the movie. Max Borenstein wrote the script and served as producer alongside Steven Spielberg, Justin Falvey. Set 11 years after the movie, the focuses on a male Precog who teams up with a female detective to find a purpose to his gift. On February 13,2015, Daniel London and Li Jun Li joined the cast, on February 24,2015, Laura Regan was cast as Agatha Lively. Li Jun Li plays Akeela, a crime scene technician, Daniel London reprises his role as Wally the Caretaker from the original 2002 film, the show was picked up to series by Fox on May 8,2015
12.
Lauren Ambrose
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Lauren Ambrose is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Claire Fisher in Six Feet Under. Her film credits include Cant Hardly Wait and Psycho Beach Party and she is the lead singer of the ragtime band Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class. Ambrose was born Lauren Anne DAmbruoso in New Haven, Connecticut and she is the daughter of Anne, an interior designer, and Frank DAmbruoso, a caterer. She is of Italian descent on her fathers side and German, English, Ambrose attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, Wilbur Cross High School, High School in the Community, and the ACES Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven. She is also an opera singer who studied voice and opera at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Ambrose began her career in New York theater, mainly in Off-Broadway productions and her first film role was In & Out, which was followed by a more prominent role in the high school comedy Cant Hardly Wait. She was the lead, Florence Chicklet Forrest, in the cult favorite Psycho Beach Party. Ambrose began her role on Six Feet Under in early 2001 and she was nominated for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Emmy Award twice, following the 2002 and 2003 seasons of the critically acclaimed drama. In 2006, Ambrose made her Broadway debut in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Awake, in 2007, she appeared as Juliet in the Public Theaters Shakespeare in the Park performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, to great critical acclaim. She appeared as Ophelia in the 2008 performance of Hamlet for Shakespeare in the Park, Ambrose returned to Broadway in Exit the King at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway, opposite Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon. Ambrose provided the voice of monster KW in Where the Wild Things Are, in 2011, Ambrose appeared in seven of the ten episodes of Torchwood, Miracle Day. She played Jilly Kitzinger, a sweet-talking PR genius with a heart of stone whos just cornered the most important client of her career …, for her performance as Kitzinger, Ambrose received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress In Television. Ambrose is the singer of Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class. They have performed several times at Joes Pub and charity events, Ambrose has been married to professional photographer Sam Handel of Needham, MA since September 2001. Lauren Ambrose at the Internet Movie Database Lauren Ambrose at the Internet Broadway Database Lauren Ambrose at the Internet Off-Broadway Database Lauren Ambrose at AllMovie
13.
HBO
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Home Box Office is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Time Warner through its respective flagship company Home Box Office, Inc. HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service in the United States, in 2014, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.79 billion, compared to the US$1.68 billion it accrued in 2013. HBO has 49 million subscribers in the United States and 130 million worldwide as of 2016, the network provides seven 24-hour multiplex channels, including HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature and HBO Family. It launched the streaming service HBO Now in April 2015, and has over 2 million subscribers in the United States as of February 2017. In addition to its U. S. subscriber base, HBO distributes content in at least 151 countries, HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable- and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself. Cable providers can require the use of a converter box – usually digital – in order to receive HBO, many HBO programs have been syndicated to other networks and broadcast television stations, and a number of HBO-produced series and films have been released on DVD. The new system, which Dolan named Sterling Information Services, became the first urban underground cable system in the United States. In that same year, Time-Life, Inc. purchased a 20% stake in Dolans company, in the summer of 1971, while on a family vacation in France, Charles Dolan began to think of ideas to make Sterling Manhattan profitable. He came up with the concept for a television service. Dolan later presented his idea to Time-Life management, though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time-Life to back him on the project. To gauge whether consumers would be interested in subscribing to a pay television service, in a meeting of Dolan and some Time-Life executives who were working on the project, various other names were discussed for the new service. Home Box Office launched on November 8,1972, however, HBOs launch came without fanfare in the press, as it was not covered by any local or national media outlets. Home Box Office distributed its first sports event immediately after the film, Four months later in February 1973, Home Box Office aired its first television special, the Pennsylvania Polka Festival. Home Box Office would use a network of relay towers to distribute its programming to cable systems throughout its service area. Sterling Manhattan Cable continued to lose money because the company had only a small base of 20,000 customers in Manhattan. Time-Life dropped the Sterling name and the company was renamed Manhattan Cable Television under Time-Lifes control in March 1973, Gerald Levin, who had been with Home Box Office since it began operations as its vice president of programming, replaced Dolan as the companys president and chief executive officer. In September 1973, Time-Life, Inc. completed its acquisition of the pay service. HBO would eventually increase its fortunes within two years, by April 1975, the service had around 100,000 subscribers in Pennsylvania and New York state, in 1974, they settled on using a geostationary communications satellite to transmit HBO to cable providers throughout the United States
14.
Six Feet Under (TV series)
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Six Feet Under is an American drama television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It premiered on the cable network HBO in the United States on June 3,2001 and ended on August 21,2005. The show depicts members of the Fisher family, who run a home in Los Angeles. The series traces these characters lives over the course of five years, the ensemble drama stars Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez, Mathew St. Patrick, the series was produced by Actual Size Films and The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio, and was shot on location in Los Angeles and in Hollywood studios. Six Feet Under received widespread acclaim, particularly for its writing and acting. Regarded by many as one of the greatest TV dramas of all time, it has since included on TIME magazines All-TIME100 TV Shows. It has also described as having one of the finest series finales in the history of television. It won numerous awards, including nine Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Peabody Award. The show stars Peter Krause as Nathaniel Samuel Nate Fisher, Jr. whose funeral director father dies and bequeaths to him and his brother, David, the Fisher clan also includes widow, Ruth, and daughter, Claire. Other regulars include mortician and family friend, Federico Diaz, Nates on-again/off-again girlfriend, Brenda Chenowith, on one level, the show is a conventional family drama, dealing with such issues as interpersonal relationships, infidelity, and religion. At the same time, the show is distinguished by its focus on the topic of death. The show also utilises dark humor and surrealism running throughout, sometimes, the characters converse with other, recurring deceased characters, most notably Nathaniel Fisher, Sr. The shows creator, Alan Ball, avers that this represents the characters internal dialogues expressed in the form of external conversations. Although overall plots and characters were created by Alan Ball, there are conflicting reports on how the series was conceived, in one instance, Ball stated that he came up with the premise of the show after the deaths of his sister and father. However, in an interview, he intimates that HBO entertainment president Carolyn Strauss proposed the idea to him. Ball stated in an interview, The show focuses on human mortality, the nature of life and death feeding off of each other. Throughout its five-season, 63-episode run, major characters experience crises which are in relation to their environment
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Brett Ratner
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Brett Ratner is an American film producer, entertainment businessman, and director of motion pictures, music videos, and television. He is known for directing the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man, Red Dragon, X-Men, The Last Stand, and Tower Heist. He was also a producer on the Fox drama series, Prison Break and he is the co-founder of RatPac-Dune Entertainment, a prolific film production and financing company. Ratner was born and raised in Miami Beach, Florida, the son of Marsha Pratts, a socialite and he grew up in a middle-class Jewish family. His father was the son of a wealthy Miami businessman and his mother was born in Cuba, and immigrated to the U. S. in the 1960s with her parents, Fanita and Mario Presman. Ratners mother was sixteen when he was born, Ratner attended Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy elementary school and attended Alexander Muss High School in Israel and graduated in 1986 from Miami Beach Senior High School. He is a 1990 graduate of New York University, in 2010, he cited the 1980 boxing film Raging Bull as his inspiration to enter the world of film. Ratner was under consideration to direct X-Men and Superman Returns, although both were directed by Bryan Singer. After Singer left the X-Men franchise to direct Superman Returns, Ratner became director of X-Men, Ratner directed a Super Bowl ad for Wynn Las Vegas featuring Steve Wynn. In May 2008, it was announced that Ratner would be directing the long in-development Beverly Hills Cop IV, Ratner directed and served as an executive producer on the 2011 CBS comedy-drama television series CHAOS. In the same year, Ratner also directed the ensemble comedy caper Tower Heist, in May 2011, it was announced that Ratner signed on to direct The 39 Clues, the live-action adaptation of the young-adult book series. Ashton Kutcher later arrived at his home and hugged him after Jackman was punkd. He also appeared as himself in Entourage, in an episode that was shot at his actual Beverly Hills home, according to an interview he did in Aventura Business Monthly and his publishing company, Rat Press, is re-releasing out of print books about Hollywood. The first three books, released on March 25,2009, are about Marlon Brando, Robert Evans, brett Ratner also created his own magazine titled Ratmag through celebrity magazine publisher MYMAG. Ratner produced a remake of Snow White, Mirror Mirror, based on the screenplay The Brothers Grimm, Ratner has produced feature films, TV series, and documentaries. He executive produced the 2010 documentary film, Catfish and the 2011 TV documentary, American Masters, Ratner also produced Skyline and Horrible Bosses. In December 2012, Ratner and Australian media mogul James Packer formed a joint venture, the firm will produce independent films and co-produce big-budget films with a major studio. RatPac and Dune Entertainment formed an investment vehicle, which in September 2013, entered a multi-year
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Natasha Lyonne
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Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein, better known as Natasha Lyonne, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jessica in the American Pie series and her appearances in the films Everyone Says I Love You, Slums of Beverly Hills, But Im a Cheerleader, and Blade, Trinity. Lyonne was born in New York City, the daughter of Ivette Buchinger and Aaron Braunstein, a promoter, race car driver, and radio host. Lyonnes parents were both from Orthodox Jewish families, and she herself was raised Orthodox and her mother was born in Paris, France, to Hungarian Jewish parents who were Holocaust survivors. Lyonne sometimes darkly jokes that her family consists of my fathers side, Flatbush and her grandmother Ella came from a large family, but only she and her two sisters and two brothers survived, which Lyonne credits to their blonde hair and blue eyes. Lyonnes grandfather, Morris Buchinger, operated a company in Los Angeles. During the war, he hid in Budapest as a non-Jew working in a leather factory, Lyonne spent the first eight years of her life living in Great Neck, New York. Then she and her parents moved to Israel, where Lyonne spent a year and her parents divorced, and Lyonne and her older brother Adam returned to America with their mother. She was expelled for selling marijuana at school, Lyonne grew up on the Upper East Side, where she felt she was an outcast. Her mother then moved their family to Miami, where Lyonne graduated from Miami Country Day School. Lyonne was estranged from her father, who lived on the Upper West Side until his death in October 2014, Lyonne has said she is not close with her mother and has essentially lived independently of her family since age 16. As a young child, Lyonne was signed by the Ford Modeling Agency, at the age of six, she was cast as Opal on Pee-wees Playhouse, followed by film appearances in Heartburn, A Man Called Sarge, and Dennis the Menace. On working as a young child actor, Lyonne said. I don’t think they are bad people, even if they were ready to have children, it is kind of a wacky idea to put your child in business at six years old. Lyonnes other films include Detroit Rock City, Scary Movie 2, The Grey Zone, Kate and Leopold, Party Monster and she has also made television appearances on shows such as NBCs Will and Grace. In what is perhaps her most well known role, she appeared as Jessica in the American Pie film series. When she was 18 years old, Lyonne used the paycheck from her work on the Woody Allen film Everyone Says I Love You to buy an apartment near Gramercy Park. She attended New York University for a short time, studying film
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Jason Priestley
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Jason Bradford Priestley is a Canadian-American actor and director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series Beverly Hills,90210, Jason Bradford Priestley was born on August 28,1969 in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His mother is actress Sharon Kirk and he is a graduate of Argyle Secondary School in North Vancouver. He has a sister, Justine Priestley, and two step-siblings, Karin and Kristi. He became a naturalized American citizen in 2007, Priestley first started his television career doing commercials for companies such as Fletchers Meats and then guest-starring as Bobby Conrad a. k. a. He played Todd, one of the fosterchildren under the care of Sister Kate, in 1990, Priestley was chosen as Brandon Walsh on the hit series Beverly Hills,90210. The show garnered worldwide fame and made Priestley a teen idol and he also directed fifteen of the shows episodes. He remained on the show until 1998, when Brandon moved to Washington, Brandon was the last Walsh to leave the show, however, Priestley would continue to serve as an executive producer until the show ended in 2000. Priestley joined the cast of Tru Calling as Jack Harper from 2004–05 and he was also a regular on the 2006 program Love Monkey. His television work includes the WB show What I Like About You. Priestley has also made films, his most notable role perhaps being in 1997s Love and Death on Long Island. He directed the episode in the final season of 7th Heaven. He also directed two episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Slice of Life and Just Say No and they appeared on August 26,2008 and September 9,2008 on ABC Family. On July 15,2007 he returned to television as one of the lead males in Lifetime Televisions comedy-drama Side Order of Life. Priestley made a guest appearance on NBCs My Name Is Earl in 2008 and he played Blake, Earls better-looking and more successful cousin. That year, Priestley directed five episodes of Secret Life, Priestley directed the episode when Tori Spelling returned to 90210. In 2009, Priestley directed and co-produced all 12 episodes of the web-series The Lake on TheWB. com. In December 2009 along with Dougray Scott, Brian Cox, and Eddie Izzard, Priestley was featured in The Day of the Triffids, written by Patrick Harbinson, whose credits include ER, the drama is based on John Wyndhams best-selling post-apocalyptic novel, The Day of the Triffids
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Charles Busch
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Charles Louis Busch is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and female impersonator, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote and starred in his early plays Off-off-Broadway beginning in 1978, generally in drag roles and he also wrote for television and began to act in films and on television in the late 1990s. His best known play is The Tale of the Allergists Wife, Busch was born in 1954 and grew up in Hartsdale, New York. He is the Jewish son of Gertrude and Benjamin Busch and his father wanted to be an opera singer but owned a record store. His mother died when Busch was 7 and he has two older sisters, Meg Busch, who used to be a producer of promotional spots for Showtime, and Betsy Busch, a textile designer. Buschs aunt, Lillian Blum, his mothers oldest sister and a former teacher and she told an interviewer, He was so shy it was almost pathological. Before he moved in with me, I would pick him up in Hartsdale on a Friday afternoon, but the minute we crossed the river to New York he was absolutely a new boy. Busch was intensely interested in films as a child, especially those with female leads from the 30s and 40s. Blum insisted that Busch read the front page of the every day to help him keep at least one foot in the real world. Busch attended The High School of Music and Art in Manhattan and he majored in drama at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and received his B. A. in 1976. Busch has usually played the lady in drag in his plays. He has said, Drag is being more, more than you can be, when I first started drag I wasnt this shy young man but a powerful woman. It liberated within me a whole vocabulary of expression and it was less a political statement than an aesthetic one. His camp style shows simultaneously send up and celebrate classic film genres, Busch has said, however, Im not sure what means, but I guess if my plays have elements of old movies and old fashioned plays, and Im this bigger-than-life star lady, thats certainly campy. I guess what I rebelled against was the notion that campy means something is so tacky or bad that its good, Busch toured the country in a non-drag one-man show he wrote called Alone With a Cast of Thousands. By 1984, Buschs performance bookings grew slim and he thought that perhaps his last piece would be a skit put on in the Limbo Lounge, a performance space and gallery in the East Village in Manhattan. The skit was a hit and became Buschs most famous Off-off-Broadway play, the female roles creates are hilarious vamps, but also high comic characters. The audience laughs at the first line and goes right on laughing at every line to the end, Busch stated that it was the longest-running non-musical in off-off-Broadway in history
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Shall We Dance? (2004 film)
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Shall We Dance. is a 2004 American film that is a remake of the award-winning 1996 Japanese film of the same name. The film made its US premiere at the Hawaii International Film Festival, John Clark is a lawyer with a charming wife, Beverly, and a loving family, who nevertheless feels that something is missing as he makes his way every day through the city. Each evening on his home through Chicago, John sees a beautiful woman staring with a lost expression through the window of a dance studio. Haunted by her gaze, John impulsively jumps off the one night. At first, it seems like a mistake and his teacher turns out to be not Paulina, but the older Miss Mitzi, and John proves to be just as clumsy as his equally clueless classmates Chic and Vern on the dance-floor. Even worse, when he does meet Paulina, she icily tells John she hopes he has come to the studio to study dance. But, as his lessons continue, John falls in love with dancing, keeping his new obsession from his family and co-workers, John feverishly trains for Chicagos biggest dance competition. His friendship with Paulina blossoms, as his enthusiasm rekindles her own lost passion for dance, but the more time John spends away from home, the more his wife Beverly becomes suspicious. She hires an investigator to find out what John is doing. John is partnered with Bobbie for the competition, although his friend Link steps in to do the Latin dances. Link and Bobbie do well in the Latin dances, and while John and Bobbies waltz goes well, John sees his wife and daughter in the crowd during the quickstep and he and Bobbie fall and are disqualified, and John and Beverly argue in the parking structure. John quits dancing, to everyones dismay, Paulina, having been inspired by John to take up competing again, is leaving to go to Europe, and is having a going-away party at the dance studio. She sends John an invitation, but he is not convinced to go until his wife leaves out a pair of dancing shoes that she bought him. He goes and meets Beverly at work, convinces her that while he loves dancing, he loves her just as much. They go to the party and, John and Paulina have one last dance before she leaves, - Gotan Project Lets Dance - Mýa Shall We Dance received a 46% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 153 critics. Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, stating I enjoyed the Japanese version so much I invited it to my Overlooked Film Festival a few years ago, but this remake offers pleasures of its own. The film debuted on October 15,2004, grossing $11,783,467 in the opening weekend, despite its 27% decline in gross earnings, rose to the third spot the following week. The film ran for 133 days, grossing $57,890,460 in the United States and $112,238,000 in internationally, for a worldwide total of $170,128,460
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Richard Gere
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Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor and humanitarian activist. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man, Gere was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother, Doris Ann, was a housewife and his father, Homer George Gere, was an insurance agent for the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, and had originally intended to become a minister. Gere is their eldest son and second child and his paternal great-grandfather had changed the spelling of the surname from Geer. Both of his parents were Mayflower descendants, Geres ancestors include Pilgrims Francis Eaton, John Billington, George Soule, Richard Warren, Degory Priest, Francis Cooke and William Brewster. In 1967, Gere graduated from North Syracuse Central High School and he attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years. Gere first worked professionally at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and Provincetown Playhouse on Cape Cod in 1971 and his first major acting role was in the original London stage version of Grease in 1973. He began appearing in Hollywood films in the mid-1970s, originally cast in a starring role in The Lords of Flatbush, he was replaced after fighting with another star of the film, Sylvester Stallone. He played a small but memorable part in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and starred in the director Terrence Malicks well-reviewed 1978 film, Days of Heaven. Gere was one of the first notable Hollywood actors to play a gay character, Gere won a Theatre World Award for his performance. Gere experienced several box office failures after 1982, but his career rebounded with the releases of Internal Affairs and he starred in several successful films throughout the 1990s, including Sommersby, Primal Fear and Runaway Bride. He also took a role in the 1997 action movie The Jackal. Geres 2004 ballroom dancing drama Shall We Dance. was also a performer that grossed $170 million worldwide. His next film, the 2005 adapted novel Bee Season, was a commercial failure, in 2008, Gere co-starred with Diane Lane in the romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe. The film was panned by critics, but grossed over $84 million worldwide. Later in his career, Gere was honored twice for his lifetime achievement, regarding his 2012 performance in Arbitrage, Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said Richard Gere gives the best performance of his career. He received an award from the 34th Cairo International Film Festival in December 2010, Gere had a relationship with actress Penelope Milford from 1971 to 1978
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Jennifer Lopez
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Jennifer Lynn Lopez, also known as JLo, is an American singer, actress, dancer, fashion designer, author, and producer. Lopez gained her first high-profile job as a Fly Girl dancer on In Living Color in 1991 and she received her first leading role in the Selena biopic of the same name in 1997, a portrayal that earned her a Golden Globe nomination. For her role in Out of Sight the following year, Lopez became the first Latina actress to earn over US$1 million for a film. She ventured into the industry in 1999 with her debut studio album On the 6. With the simultaneous release of her studio album J. Lo and her film The Wedding Planner in 2001, Lopez became the first woman to have a number one album. Her 2002 remix album, J to tha L–O, the Remixes, became the first in history to debut at number one on the U. S. Billboard 200. Following her second divorce, Lopez had a relationship with Ben Affleck. Then, while also overshadowing the release of Gigli, a critical and commercial failure and she subsequently married longtime friend Marc Anthony, and rebounded with the box office successes Shall We Dance. and Monster-in-Law. Her fifth studio album, Como Ama una Mujer, received the highest first-week sales for a debut Spanish album in the United States, in 2016, she began starring as Harlee Santos in the crime drama series Shades of Blue. Time listed her as one of the 25 most influential Hispanic Americans, for her contributions to the arts, Lopez has received a landmark star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Billboard Icon Award, among other honors. Beyond entertainment, she enjoys a successful business career consisting of various clothing lines, accessories, fragrances, a company. Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July 24,1969, in the Castle Hill neighborhood of The Bronx, New York, to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez and she has an older sister, Leslie, and a younger sister, Lynda, a journalist. David worked the night shift at the Guardian Insurance Company before becoming a technician at the firm. When Lopez was born, the family was living in a small apartment, a few years later, her parents had saved up enough money to be able to purchase a two-story house, which was considered a big deal for the relatively poor family. At the age of five, Lopez began taking singing and dancing lessons and she toured New York with her school when she was seven years old. Her parents stressed the importance of work ethic and being able to speak English and they encouraged their three daughters to put on performances at home—singing and dancing in front of each other and their friends so that they would stay out of trouble. Lopez spent her academic career in Catholic schools, finishing at Preston High School. In school, Lopez did gymnastics, ran track on a national level and she excelled athletically rather than academically, competing in national track championships
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Broadway theatre
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Along with Londons West End theatres, Broadway theatres are widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Theater District is a popular tourist attraction in New York City, the great majority of Broadway shows are musicals. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggars Opera, in 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with The Merchant of Venice, the company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida. The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed in 1798, the Bowery Theatre opened in 1826, followed by others. Blackface minstrel shows, a distinctly American form of entertainment, became popular in the 1830s, by the 1840s, P. T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblos Garden opened, the 3, 000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmos Opera House opened and presented opera for four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burtons Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847, booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865, and would later revive the role at his own Booths Theatre. Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport, lydia Thompson came to America in 1868 heading a small theatrical troupe, adapting popular English burlesques for middle-class New York audiences. Thompsons troupe called the British Blondes, was the most popular entertainment in New York during the 1868–1869 theatrical season, the six-month tour ran for almost six extremely profitable years. Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, in 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square. Broadways first long-run musical was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857, New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keenes musical burletta The Seven Sisters shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keenes troupe of Our American Cousin in Washington, the production was a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a musical comedy, Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham. They starred high quality singers, instead of the women of repute who had starred in earlier musical forms. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits, as in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women
