Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.
The Sound of Music is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. Set in Austria on the eve of the Anschluss in 1938, the musical tells the story of Maria, who takes a job as governess to a large family while she decides whether to become a nun. She falls in love with the children, and eventually their widowed father, Captain von Trapp. He is ordered to accept a commission in the German navy, but he opposes the Nazis. He and Maria decide on a plan to flee Austria with the children. Many songs from the musical have become standards, such as "Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "Do-Re-Mi", and the title song "The Sound of Music".
An Off-Broadway theatre is any professional venue in Manhattan in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than Off-Off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer than 100.
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell (1971), Pippin (1972), and Wicked (2003). He has contributed lyrics for a number of successful films, including Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Prince of Egypt, and Enchanted (2007). Schwartz has won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, three Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards, and has been nominated for six Tony Awards. He received the 2015 Isabelle Stevenson Award, a special Tony Award, for his commitment to serving artists and fostering new talent.
Broadway theatre, commonly known as Broadway, refers to the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats located in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world.
Martin Faranan McDonagh is an Irish playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and brought up in London, the son of Irish parents. He is among the most acclaimed living ‘Irish’ playwrights. A winner of the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, McDonagh has been nominated for three other Academy Awards, and in 2018 won three BAFTA Awards from four nominations and two Golden Globe Awards from three nominations for his film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
The Really Useful Group Ltd. (RUG) is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing. The name is inspired by a phrase from the children's book series The Railway Series in which Thomas the Tank Engine and other locomotives are referred to as "Really Useful Engines".
John Arthur Rubinstein is an American actor, Broadway, and television actor, a composer of film and theatre music, and a director in theatre and television.
Mary Poppins is a musical with music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, and a script by Julian Fellowes. The musical is based on the similarly titled Mary Poppins children's books by P. L. Travers and the 1964 Disney film, and is a fusion of various elements from the two, including songs from the film.
The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 220 West 48th Street in Midtown Manhattan.
The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 230 West 49th Street in midtown Manhattan. The O’Neill Theatre, named after playwright Eugene O’Neill, is owned and operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. The house can accommodate up to 1108 guests and has been home to big hits, Big River, Spring Awakening, and the long-running 2011 Tony Award Best Musical winner, The Book of Mormon.
Karen Akers is an American actress and singer, who has appeared on Broadway, and in cabaret and film.
Children of a Lesser God is a play by Mark Medoff, focusing on the conflicted professional and romantic relationship between Sarah Norman, a deaf former student, and her teacher, James Leeds. The play, which premiered at the Mark Taper Forum, was produced on Broadway in 1980 and in the West End in 1981. The play won the 1980 Tony Award for Best Play.
The Broadway Theatre is a theatre on Rushey Green, Catford, in the London Borough of Lewisham. A grade II listed building, the theatre was built in 1932 and is an example of Art Deco design. The architects were Bradshaw Gass & Hope; the slightly Gothic features were intended to relate to the adjacent Gothic Revival Town Hall which has since been demolished.
The Broadway League, formerly the League of American Theatres and Producers and League of New York Theatres and Producers, is the national trade association for the Broadway theatre industry based in New York, New York. Its members include theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers in New York and more than 250 other North American cities, as well as suppliers of goods and services to the theatre industry.
Ilonka Haruka Tatianna Orth is a Hungarian American actress, director, and astrologer who lives in Kichijōji, Tokyo, Japan. She is a graduate of International Christian University in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan and currently works for the production agency R&A Promotion.
John Arthur Lithgow is an American character actor, musician, poet, author, and singer. He has received two Tony Awards, six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards and four Grammy Awards. Lithgow has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has been inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Frank Orth was an American actor born in Philadelphia. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series Boston Blackie.
Harold (Henry) William Orth was an American architect.
Broadway Serenade is a 1939 musical drama film distributed by MGM, produced and directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The screenplay was written by Charles Lederer, based on a story by Lew Lipton, John Taintor Foote and Hanns Kräly. The music score is by Herbert Stothart and Edward Ward.
