Charlotte Greenwood

Author : Grant Hayter-Menzies
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 267 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2007-04-18
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9780786429950

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Charlotte Greenwood by Grant Hayter-Menzies Pdf

Charlotte Greenwood never intended to become a comedienne, but she was unfashionably tall at 5' 10" and her early aspirations to become a great dramatic actress eventually led her to the field of comedy. Greenwood, whose early life had taught her nothing if not how to be optimistic, stifled her disappointment and used her considerable skill to become one of the greatest comedic actresses of the early twentieth century. Based on Greenwood's unpublished memoirs, this biography presents a personal, detailed look at her colorful life. Beginning with her early years in Philadelphia, Boston and Norfolk, it relates her struggles with ill health, her social difficulties caused by her then unusual height and her realization of her ambition to become an actress. The main focus of the work is her career, which spanned more than 50 years and ranged from vaudeville to the dramatic stage and, finally, to films (during the World War II years she starred in Twentieth Century Fox musicals with Cesar Romero, Betty Grable, Edward Everett Horton, Jack Haley, Don Ameche, and Carmen Miranda). Her roles in a variety of works including The Passing Show of 1912, So Long Letty (both stage and film), and I Remember Mama are also discussed. Special emphasis is placed on her career-defining (and best-known) role as Aunt Eller Murphy in the 1955 film adaptation of Oklahoma! Charlotte Greenwood's performance history, a list of her known recordings, and a filmography for her husband Martin Broones are also included, along with a collection of rare photographs and memorabilia.

Author : Vincent Terrace
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 405 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2009-11-23
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781476605289

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Radio Programs, 1924Ð1984 by Vincent Terrace Pdf

This is an encyclopedic reference work to 1,802 radio programs broadcast from the years 1924 through 1984. Entries include casts, character relationships, plots and storylines, announcers, musicians, producers, hosts, starting and ending dates of the programs, networks, running times, production information and, when appropriate, information on the radio show’s adaptation to television. Many hundreds of program openings and closings are included.

Author : Vincent Terrace
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2022-10-21
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781476646930

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From Radio to Television by Vincent Terrace Pdf

The early years of television relied in part on successful narratives of another medium, as studios adapted radio programs like Boston Blackie and Defense Attorney to the small screen. Many shows were adapted more than once, like the radio program Blondie, which inspired six television adaptations and 28 theatrical films. These are but a few of the 1,164 programs covered in this volume. Each program entry contains a detailed story line, years of broadcast, performer and character casts and principal production credits where possible. Two appendices ("Almost a Transition" and "Television to Radio") and a performer's index conclude the book. This first-of-its-kind encyclopedia covers many little-known programs that have rarely been discussed in print (e.g., Real George, based on Me and Janie; Volume One, based on Quiet, Please; and Galaxy, based on X Minus One). Covered programs include The Great Gildersleeve, Howdy Doody, My Friend Irma, My Little Margie, Space Patrol and Vic and Sade.

Author : John Dunning
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 841 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 1998-05-07
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9780199770786

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On the Air by John Dunning Pdf

Now long out of print, John Dunning's Tune in Yesterday was the definitive one-volume reference on old-time radio broadcasting. Now, in On the Air, Dunning has completely rethought this classic work, reorganizing the material and doubling its coverage, to provide a richer and more informative account of radio's golden age. Here are some 1,500 radio shows presented in alphabetical order. The great programs of the '30s, '40s, and '50s are all here--Amos 'n' Andy, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Lone Ranger, Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour, and The March of Time, to name only a few. For each, Dunning provides a complete broadcast history, with the timeslot, the network, and the name of the show's advertisers. He also lists major cast members, announcers, producers, directors, writers, and sound effects people--even the show's theme song. There are also umbrella entries, such as "News Broadcasts," which features an engaging essay on radio news, with capsule biographies of major broadcasters, such as Lowell Thomas and Edward R. Murrow. Equally important, Dunning provides a fascinating account of each program, taking us behind the scenes to capture the feel of the performance, such as the ghastly sounds of Lights Out (a horror drama where heads rolled and bones crunched), and providing engrossing biographies of the main people involved in the show. A wonderful read for everyone who loves old-time radio, On the Air is a must purchase for all radio hobbyists and anyone interested in 20th-century American history. It is an essential reference work for libraries and radio stations.

Author : Donald J. Stubblebine
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 417 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2010-08-11
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780786447053

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Early Broadway Sheet Music by Donald J. Stubblebine Pdf

This work, a companion to the author's Broadway Sheet Music: A Comprehensive Listing of Published Music from Broadway and Other Stage Shows, 1918 through 1993 (McFarland 1996), provides information about all sheet music published (1843-1918) from all Broadway productions--plus music from local shows, minstrel shows, night club acts, vaudeville acts, touring companies, and shows on the road that never made it to Broadway--and all the major musicals from Chicago.

Author : Allan R. Ellenberger
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 253 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2013-02-25
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781476604015

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Margaret O'Brien by Allan R. Ellenberger Pdf

Among Hollywood’s child stars are some talented children, normal and pleasant who find fame in film. Margaret O'Brien is one; her career began in 1941. The fresh-faced moppet quickly became a sensation and won the 1944 Academy Award for Outstanding Child Actress. As Adele in Jane Eyre (1944) and Beth in Little Women (1949), Margaret endeared herself to millions. Despite the strain of growing up on screen, O'Brien continues to perform today. This reference work details O’Brien’s remarkable and varied career on stage, screen, and television: it includes a biography and a complete listing of all her film, radio, stage, and television appearances, as well as references to her in magazines and newspapers. Each entry includes complete production information, as well as reviews and behind-the-scenes commentary. Included are forewords by Robert Young and O'Brien herself, who provided much of the information in this book. Dozens of photos, including many from O'Brien's personal collection, illustrate the text and show the varied stages of a career that includes both famous roles and famous friendships.

Author : Cecil A. Smith,Glenn Litton
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2013-10-28
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781136556753

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Musical Comedy in America by Cecil A. Smith,Glenn Litton Pdf

First Published in 1987. This is the second edition with an additional foreword. The purpose of this book—the first to recount the history of the popular musical stage on Broadway and its intersecting streets—is to tell what the various entertainments were like, how they looked and sounded, who was in them, and why they made people laugh or cry. The values employed in the book are changeable and inconsistent. Sometimes an affable smile is bestowed upon a musical comedy, burlesque, or revue that was really very bad. Sometimes a harsh verdict is brought in against an entertainment that received widespread approval and praise.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 672 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 1883
Category : Almanacs, American
ISBN : HARVARD:HN4HV3

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The Worcester Almanac, Directory and Business Advertiser by Anonim Pdf

Author : Thomas S. Hischak
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 958 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Musicals
ISBN : 9780195335330

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The Oxford Companion to the American Musical by Thomas S. Hischak Pdf

An authoritative reference for this highly popular genre, this book covers Broadway, Hollywood and television in one volume. With more than two thousand entries, this book offers a wealth of information on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers, and much more.

Author : Jonas Westover
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2016-10-04
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780190219253

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The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows by Jonas Westover Pdf

The Shubert name has been synonymous with Broadway for almost as long as Broadway entertainment itself. With seventeen Broadway theatres including the Ambassador, the Music Box, and the Winter Garden, The Shubert Organization perpetuates brothers Lee and Jacob Shubert's business legacy. In The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows: The Untold Tale of Ziegfeld's Rivals, author Jonas Westover investigates beyond the Shuberts' business empire into their early revues and the centrifugal role they played in developing American theatre as an art form. The Shubert-produced revues, titled Passing Shows, were terrifically popular in the teens and twenties, consistently competing with Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies for the greatest numbers of stars, biggest spectacles, and ultimately the largest audiences. The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows is the first-ever book to unpack the colorful history of the productions, delving into their stars, costumes, stagecraft, and orchestration in unprecedented detail. Providing a fresh and exciting window into American theatrical history, Westover traces the fascinating history of the Shuberts' revue series, presented annually from 1912-1924, and covers more broadly the glorious days of early Broadway. In addition to its compelling history of Broadway's Golden Age, The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows also provides a revisionary argument about the overarching history of the revue. Bolstered by a rich collection of documents in the Shubert Theater Archive, Westover argues against the popular misconception that the Shubert's competitor, producer Florenz Ziegfield - responsible for the better-known Follies - was the sole proprietor of Broadway audiences. As Westover proves, not only were the Passing Shows as popular as the Follies but also a key component in a history of the revue that is vastly more complex than previous scholarship has shown. The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows brings to fruition years of original research and invaluable insights into the gilded formation of present day Broadway.

Author : Thomas Hischak
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 441 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2024-03-21
Category : Drama
ISBN : 9781350423749

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Song of the Season by Thomas Hischak Pdf

What links the popular songs "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Send in the Clowns", "Memory" and "I Am What I Am"? They all originated in Broadway musicals. Song of the Season is for those who believe that the score is at the heart of a musical and is the essential building block on which the rest of a show is built. Through a systematic historical survey from 1891 to 2023 it argues that the best musicals survive because of their songs, from early 20th century classics such as Show Boat and Oklahoma! through to the contemporary sound of Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton. looking at outstanding songs from each Broadway season, the development and history of the musical is illustrated with a fresh perspective. As song styles and popular music tastes changed throughout the decades this structure charts the progress of American showtunes alongside popular music forms as songs evolved from the waltz and ragtime to jazz, rock, rap and hip-hop. Factual analysis and historical context combine to offer a rich picture of the American songbook from Irving Berlin to Elton John. Song of the Season paints a fresh picture for musical theatre students and fans alike, illustrating significant changes in the form through the music. Analyzed in an accessible and engaging way that doesn't rely on music theory knowledge, and including a link to playlist where all the 'songs of the seasons' can be listened to, it is a must-have for those looking to expand their knowledge of the form and trace the social history of the American showtune.

Author : Graham Webb
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 735 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2020-07-13
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781476681184

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Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926-1959 by Graham Webb Pdf

Short subject films have a long history in American cinemas. These could be anywhere from 2 to 40 minutes long and were used as a "filler" in a picture show that would include a cartoon, a newsreel, possibly a serial and a short before launching into the feature film. Shorts could tackle any topic of interest: an unusual travelogue, a comedy, musical revues, sports, nature or popular vaudeville acts. With the advent of sound-on-film in the mid-to-late 1920s, makers of earlier silent short subjects began experimenting with the short films, using them as a testing ground for the use of sound in feature movies. After the Second World War, and the rising popularity of television, short subject films became far too expensive to produce and they had mostly disappeared from the screens by the late 1950s. This encyclopedia offers comprehensive listings of American short subject films from the 1920s through the 1950s.

Author : James McKay
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2020-01-31
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781476638492

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Ray Milland by James McKay Pdf

With no formal training as an actor, Welsh-born Ray Milland (1907-1986), a former trooper in the British Army's Household Cavalry, enjoyed a half-century career working alongside some of the great directors and stars from the Golden Age of cinema. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as the alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend (1945), a defining moment that enabled him to break free from romantic leads and explore darker shades of his debonair demeanor, such as the veiled menace of his scheming husband in Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder (1954). A consummate professional with wide range, Milland took the directorial reins in several of his starring vehicles in the 1950s, most notably in the intelligent Western A Man Alone (1955). He comfortably slipped into most genres, from romantic comedy to adventure to film noir. Later he turned to science fiction and horror movies, including two with cult filmmaker Roger Corman. This first complete filmography covers the actor's screen career, with a concise introductory biography and an appendix listing his extensive radio and television credits.

Author : Don Tyler
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 324 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2016-03-21
Category : History
ISBN : 9781440839979

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Music of the First World War by Don Tyler Pdf

This book discusses WWI-era music in a historical context, explaining music's importance at home and abroad during WWI as well as examining what music was being sung, played, and danced to during the years prior to America's involvement in the Great War. Why was music so important to soldiers abroad during World War I? What role did music—ranging from classical to theater music, rags, and early jazz—play on the American homefront? Music of the First World War explores the tremendous importance of music during the years of the Great War—when communication technologies were extremely limited and music often took the place of connecting directly with loved ones or reminiscing via recorded images. The book's chapters cover music's contribution to the war effort; the variety of war-related songs, popular hits, and top recording artists of the war years; the music of Broadway shows and other theater productions; and important composers and lyricists. The author also explores the development of the fledgling recording industry at this time.

Author : Johnny Mercer,Robert Kimball,Barry Day,Miles Kreuger,Eric Davis
Publisher : Knopf
Page : 489 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2009-10-20
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780307265197

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The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer by Johnny Mercer,Robert Kimball,Barry Day,Miles Kreuger,Eric Davis Pdf

The seventh volume in Knopf’s critically acclaimed Complete Lyrics series, published in Johnny Mercer’s centennial year, contains the texts to more than 1,200 of his lyrics, several hundred of them published here for the first time. Johnny Mercer’s early songs became staples of the big band era and were regularly featured in the musicals of early Hollywood. With his collaborators, who included Richard A. Whiting, Harry Warren, Hoagy Carmichael, Jerome Kern, and Harold Arlen, he wrote the lyrics to some of the most famous standards, among them, “Too Marvelous for Words,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “Skylark,” “I’m Old-Fashioned,” and “That Old Black Magic.” During a career of more than four decades, Mercer was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song an astonishing eighteen times, and won four: for his lyrics to “On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe” (music by Warren), “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” (music by Carmichael), and “Moon River” and “Days of Wine and Roses” (music for both by Henry Mancini). You’ve probably fallen in love with more than a few of Mercer’s songs–his words have never gone out of fashion–and with this superb collection, it’s easy to see that his lyrics elevated popular song into art.