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The Band Wagon is a 1953 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway show will revive his career. However, the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of the Faust legend and brings in a prima ballerina who clashes with the star. Along with An American in Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952), it is regarded as one of the finest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals, although it was a box-office disappointment on first release.
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Oscar Levant was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian, and actor. He had roles in the films Rhapsody in Blue (1945), The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), An American in Paris (1951), and The Band Wagon (1953). He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for recordings featuring his piano performances. He was portrayed by Sean Hayes in the Broadway play Good Night, Oscar, written by Doug Wright. Levant appeared as himself in the Gershwin biopic Rhapsody in Blue (1945).
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The Band Wagon is a musical revue with book by George S. Kaufman and Howard Dietz, lyrics also by Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz. It first played on Broadway in 1931, running for 260 performances. It introduced the song "Dancing in the Dark" and inspired two films.
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Alejandro Bernardo Quiroga, better known as Alex Romero was an American dancer and choreographer who was noted for directing Elvis Presley's dancing in the movie Jailhouse Rock and for working with noted dancers and choreographers at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the 1940s and 1950s.
References
- ↑ Knowles, Mark (2013). The Man Who Made the Jailhouse Rock – Alex Romero, Hollywood Choreographer. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. pp. 83, 182, 183. ISBN 9781476603681.
- ↑ Baldwin, Kate (2015). The Racial Imaginary of the Cold War Kitchen: From Sokol'niki Park to Chicago's South Side. Dartmouth College Press. p. 225. ISBN 9781611688641.
- ↑ Ebert, Roger. "The Band Wagon movie review & film summary (1953) | Roger Ebert" . Retrieved 2023-01-06.
- ↑ Zimmers, Tighe (2021). That's Entertainment: A Biography of Broadway Composer Arthur Schwartz. McFarland Incorporated. p. 247. ISBN 9781476678818.
- ↑ Fearn-Banks, Kathleen; Burford-Johnson, Anne (2014). Historical Dictionary of African American Television. Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 411. ISBN 978-0-8108-7917-1 . Retrieved 2023-06-27.
- ↑ Gonzales, Michael A. (April 24, 2015). "Too Blue: The Laff Records Story". Red Bull Music Academy . Retrieved 2023-07-01.