Passion is a one-act musical, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. The story was adapted from Ettore Scola's 1981 film Passione d'Amore, and its source material, Iginio Ugo Tarchetti's 1869 novel Fosca. Central themes include love, sex, obsession, illness, passion, beauty, power and manipulation. Passion is notable for being one of the few projects that Stephen Sondheim himself conceived, along with Sweeney Todd and Road Show.
Eurydice is a 2003 play by Sarah Ruhl which retells the myth of Orpheus from the perspective of Eurydice, his wife. The story focuses on Eurydice's choice to return to earth with Orpheus or to stay in the underworld with her father. Ruhl made several changes to the original myth's story-line. The most noticeable of these changes was that in the myth Orpheus succumbs to his desires and looks back at Eurydice, while in Ruhl's version Eurydice calls out to Orpheus perhaps in part because of her fear of reentering the world of the living and perhaps as a result of her desire to remain in the land of the dead with her father. Ruhl's script has been explicitly written so as to be a playground for the designer of the sets. The play was the basis for an opera, Eurydice, which premiered in 2020.
Saint Joan is a play by George Bernard Shaw about 15th-century French military figure Joan of Arc. Premiering in 1923, three years after her canonization by the Roman Catholic Church, the play reflects Shaw's belief that the people involved in Joan's trial acted according to what they thought was right. He wrote in his preface to the play:
There are no villains in the piece. Crime, like disease, is not interesting: it is something to be done away with by general consent, and that is all [there is] about it. It is what men do at their best, with good intentions, and what normal men and women find that they must and will do in spite of their intentions, that really concern us.
Nicole Frances Parker is an American actress, comedian, writer, podcaster, and singer. She is best known for her work on Fox's sketch comedy show Mad TV, which she was a regular cast member. In July 2009, Parker concluded her run as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked, a role that she reprised on tour across North America. She voiced Penelope Pitstop in the animated series Wacky Races (2017–2019) and has appeared in the parody films Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie. Parker currently co-hosts the Earwolf podcast The Neighborhood Listen, along with comedian Paul F. Tompkins.
The Light in the Piazza is a musical with a book by Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel. Based on the 1960 novella by Elizabeth Spencer, the story is set in the 1950s and revolves around Margaret Johnson, a wealthy Southern woman, and Clara, her daughter, who is developmentally disabled due to a childhood accident. The two spend a summer together in Italy. When Clara falls in love with a young Italian man, Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara's future, but her own deep-seated hopes and regrets as well.
Seascape is a two-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. He completed it in 1974, having first developed it in 1967 as a short play entitled Life, the first half of a projected double bill with another play called Death. Seascape won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Ann Cusack is an American actress. She had minor roles in Multiplicity (1996), A League of Their Own (1992) and The Informant! (2009). Additionally, she has made guest appearances in a number of television series, including Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, One Tree Hill, Charmed, Ghost Whisperer, The Unit, Boston Legal, Bones, Frasier, Ally McBeal, Criminal Minds, Private Practice, Fargo, Better Call Saul, and The Boys.
The Entertainer is a three-act play by John Osborne, first produced in 1957. His first play, Look Back in Anger, had attracted mixed notices but a great deal of publicity. Having depicted an "angry young man" in the earlier play, Osborne wrote at Laurence Olivier's request about an angry middle-aged man in The Entertainer. Its main character is Archie Rice, a failing music-hall performer. Years later, Tony Richardson, who directed The Entertainer's premiere season, described Archie as "the embodiment of a national mood ... Archie was the future, the decline, the sourness, the ashes of old glory, where Britain was heading." The first performance was given on 10 April 1957 at the Royal Court Theatre, London. That theatre was known for its commitment to new and non-traditional drama, and the inclusion of a West End star such as Olivier in the cast caused much interest.
Alma Halliwell is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, played by Amanda Barrie. Alma was featured as a recurring character from 1981 to 1982; however, she was reintroduced as a regular in 1988. She remained in the show for a further 13 years, featuring in high-profile storylines such as a problematic marriage to the long-running character Mike Baldwin, kidnapping, and a supermarket siege. Barrie decided to leave the soap in 2001, and Alma was killed-off in a controversial cervical cancer storyline.
Sarah Ruhl is an American playwright, professor, and essayist. Among her most popular plays are Eurydice (2003), The Clean House (2004), and In the Next Room (2009). She has been the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for a distinguished American playwright in mid-career. Two of her plays have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and she received a nomination for Tony Award for Best Play. In 2020 she adapted her play Eurydice into the libretto for Matthew Aucoin's opera of the same name.
The Clean House is a play by Sarah Ruhl, which premiered in 2004 at Yale Repertory Theatre, was produced Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater in 2006, and has since been produced in many theaters. The play is a whimsical romantic comedy centered on Matilde, a Brazilian cleaning woman who would rather be a comedienne. The play was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The End of the Affair is a 1955 British-American drama romance film directed by Edward Dmytryk, based on Graham Greene's 1951 novel of the same name. The film stars Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, John Mills and Peter Cushing. It was filmed largely on location in London, particularly in and around Chester Terrace. The film was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.
The Piven Theatre Workshop is located in Evanston, Illinois and was founded by Joyce and Byrne Piven. For over 30 years, it has existed both as a professional theatre company and a training center for children and adults. Famous alumni to come out of the program include Jeremy Piven, John Cusack, Aimee Garcia, Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Aidan Quinn, Laurel Holloman, Lili Taylor, Ann Lippert, Julian Bailey, playwright Sarah Ruhl and Kate Walsh.
Greg Hirte is a professional violinist, actor, and composer based out of Chicago, Illinois.
'Til We Meet Again is a 1940 romance film directed by Edmund Goulding and Anatole Litvak and starring Merle Oberon and George Brent as two doomed, star-crossed lovers. It is a remake of the 1932 film One Way Passage and itself was remade into the 1954 Mexican 3-D film El valor de vivir.
In the Next Room is a 2009 play by Sarah Ruhl, published by Samuel French. It concerns the early history of the vibrator, when doctors allegedly used it as a clinical device to bring women to orgasm as treatment for "hysteria." Other themes include Victorian ignorance of female sexual desire, motherhood, breastfeeding, and jealousy. The play was nominated for three 2010 Tony Awards.
Olympus On My Mind is a musical with music by Grant Sturiale and a book and lyrics by Barry Harman, based on a play by Heinrich Von Kleist. The musical ran Off-Broadway at Lamb's Theatre for 297 performances in 1986. It was also staged that year in a regional production in Fairfield, Connecticut by the Boston Post Road Stage Company.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 27, 1997, and May 9, 1998, the twenty-third season of SNL.
A Perfect Ganesh is a play written by Terrence McNally which premiered Off-Broadway in 1993. Narrated by Ganesha, Hindu god of "wisdom, prudence, acceptance and love," it is the story of two friends, Margaret Civil and Katharine Brynne, who explore their differences, life-tragedies, and opinions during a healing trip to India. Ganesha accompanies the women through a series of exhilarating moments and profound experiences in a climate and culture that is completely foreign to the two travelers.
Esther Bloom is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by actor Jazmine Franks. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 18 January 2011. Franks had previously auditioned for roles in the show. She did not think that she had secured the part of Esther and concentrated on her studies until she was informed. As an open lesbian, Esther is comfortable with her sexuality. Since her inception she has shared a friendship with the character Ruby Button but has long been subjected to her "bitchy" comments. She is characterised as having a "selfless consideration for others" despite being a "proverbial punchbag" for many characters. Esther found confidence when she decided to pursue a fashion career. Franks has said that upon doing so Esther's style also changed.
