Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright, actor and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and universal literature. His extant works include comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets and more. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed at the Comédie-Française more often than those of any other playwright today. His influence is such that the French language itself is often referred to as the "language of Molière".
The comedy of manners, also called anti sentimental comedy, is a form of comedy that satirizes the manners and affectations of contemporary society and questions societal standards. Social class stereotypes are often represented through stock characters such as the miles gloriosus in ancient Greek comedy or the fop and rake of English Restoration comedy, which is sometimes used as a synonym for "comedy of manners". A comedy of manners often sacrifices the plot, which usually centers on some scandal, to witty dialogue and sharp social commentary. Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), which satirized the Victorian morality of the time, is one of the best-known plays of this genre.
Jennifer Anne Ehle is a British-American actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice. For her work on Broadway, she won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for The Real Thing, and the 2007 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Coast of Utopia. She is the daughter of English actress Rosemary Harris and American author John Ehle.
Patricia Elliott was an American theatre, film, soap opera, and television actress.
Vincent Ebrahim is a South African actor and comedian of mixed ethnicity.
Tartuffe is an opera in three acts by Kirke Mechem. Mechem also wrote the English libretto. Based on the Molière's play Tartuffe, or the Impostor, it is a modern opera buffa set in Paris in the 17th century. Tartuffe premiered on May 27, 1980, at the San Francisco Opera It has since seen over 400 performances in six countries and been translated into German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Czech. A "number opera" with arias, duets, trios and ensembles, Tartuffe is one of the most performed operas by an American composer. Also often sung is Mechem's choral arrangement of the song "The Lighthearted Lovers," excerpted from Dorine's aria, "Fair Robin I Love."
Edwin Leard Mechem was a prominent Republican politician from New Mexico. He served as the 15th, 17th and 19th governor of New Mexico and represented the state in the United States Senate. Mechem was the first person born in the 20th century to become the state's governor, as well as the first person born in New Mexico after statehood to succeed to the office. He later served as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico.
Anil Gupta is a British comedy writer and producer. He has produced many shows on radio and television including Goodness Gracious Me, the spoof chat show The Kumars at No. 42, The Office, Citizen Khan and Bromwell High. He wrote the Cinderella episode of the 2008 comedy drama series Fairy Tales and ElvenQuest.
Kirke Mechem is an American composer. His first opera, Tartuffe, with over 400 performances in six countries, has become one of the most popular operas written by an American. He has composed more than 250 works in almost every form. In 2002, ASCAP registered performances of his music in 42 countries. He is often called the "dean of American choral composers". His memoir, Believe Your Ears: Life of a Lyric Composer, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2015; it won ASCAP Foundation's 48th annual Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for outstanding musical biography.
Brian Bedford was an English actor. He appeared on the stage and in film, and is known for both acting in and directing Shakespeare productions. He received seven Tony nominations, the second most for a male actor behind Jason Robards, who had eight.
Kym Gyngell, also credited as Kim Gyngell is an Australian comedian and film, television and stage actor. Gyngell won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1988.
An impostor or imposter is a person who pretends to be somebody else.
Merritt Cramer Mechem was a territorial Supreme Court justice and fifth governor of New Mexico.
Andrew Jordan Jones is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, and a former member of CODCO.
Susan Louise Quittmeyer is an American mezzo-soprano. Raised in Port Washington, New York, she attended Illinois Wesleyan University, and is a 1978 graduate of the Manhattan School of Music. She created the roles of Hermione in John Harbison's A Winter's Tale in 1979 and Elmire in Kirke Mechem's Tartuffe in 1980, both for San Francisco Opera's American Opera Project, and sang Ariel in the world premiere of John Eaton's The Tempest in 1985 at Santa Fe Opera. With her husband, the bass-baritone James Morris, she has twin children, Daniel and Jennifer; a previous marriage ended in divorce. She made her European debut in 1985 at the Opéra du Rhin as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, and bowed at the Metropolitan Opera as Nicklausse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann in 1987, a performance which also marked the company debut of conductor Charles Dutoit, and which was telecast on PBS. In total she performed at the Met 41 times over five seasons. Currently Quittmeyer teaches voice at the Mason Gross School of the Arts.
The Floyd R. Mechem House is a single-family home located at 1402 Hill Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
