"World Without You" is the fifth single from Belinda Carlisle's Heaven on Earth album, released in 1988.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
cheryl cole Love Is Never Die
Love Never Dies is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater and later Charles Hart, and book by Lloyd Webber, Slater and Ben Elton. It is a sequel to the Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera. The plot is not based on the story-line in the original book by Gaston Leroux, and Lloyd Webber has stated "I don't regard this as a sequel – it's a stand-alone piece". The musical is set in 1907, which Lloyd Webber states is "ten years roughly after the end of the original Phantom," although the events of the original actually took place in 1881. Christine Daaé is invited to perform at Phantasma, a new attraction in Coney Island, by an anonymous impresario and, with her husband Raoul and son Gustave in tow, journeys to Brooklyn, unaware that it is the Phantom who has arranged her appearance in the popular beach resort. Although Lloyd Webber began working on Love Never Dies in 1990, it was not until 2007 that he began writing the music. The musical opened at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End on 9 March 2010 with previews from 22 February 2010. It was originally directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, however the show closed for four days in November 2010 for substantial re-writes, which were overseen by Lloyd Webber, and opened with new direction from Bill Kenwright. Set and costume designs by Bob Crowley. The production is the first time a musical sequel has been staged in the West End. The musical received mixed reviews. The planned Broadway production, which was to have opened simultaneously, was indefinitely postponed.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
UNITY Establishes Endowment Fund at Oklahoma City Community Foundation
UNITY is pleased to announce it has established an endowment fund at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.
An endowment is a permanent fund that is invested and managed to provide annual income to a charitable organization such as UNITY as long as the organization is in existence. An endowment fund also provides donors a way to make a variety of charitable gifts. The Oklahoma City Community Foundation administers the country’s largest charitable organization endowment program with more than 300 organizations participating. In 2008, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation distributed $5.4 million to the organizations.
“By establishing an endowment fund, our organization has taken an important step in guaranteeing that we will be able to continue advancing our mission for generations to come,” says J.R. Cook, executive director. “It is our goal that the endowment income will underwrite our operations and ensure that UNITY has the resources required to maintain its growth as an organization and can continue its important work of serving the nation‘s Native American youth for as long as the need exists. In general, the creation of the endowment is part of a long term strategy to assure that UNITY's decades of dedicated efforts will proceed and keep moving ever forward for the ongoing benefit of those it serves.”
Among other purposes, UNITY envisions using the endowment funds for: purchasing property on which a Native Youth Leadership Center will be built; growing and supporting UNITY’s national network of affiliated youth councils; ensuring that critical organizational programs such as the annual National UNITY Conference are adequately supported; and building organizational capacity.
Read the information provided on this website to learn more about UNITY’s history and its programs.
UNITY HISTORY
UNITY has served the leadership needs of American Indian and Alaska Native youth for 34 years. Today UNITY is a national organization with over 150 youth councils operating in 35 states and Canada. These youth councils represent thousands of Native American youth.
UNITY began through the efforts of J.R. Cook, a Cherokee from Oklahoma, who has worked with Native youth in leadership development for more than three decades. The organization grew from a small group of interested Indian youth in southwestern Oklahoma in 1976 to a national organization today with affiliated youth councils operating in 35 states and Canada.
UNITY evolved from a series of Indian programs that Cook directed. After a successful basketball coaching stint, Cook devoted a decade of his life to the Upward Bound project at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. At that time, it seemed to Cook there was more pressure for Indian youth to fail than to succeed.
He became aware of the tremendous waste of talent and negative peer pressure among native youth and saw a need for an organization to help Native youth use their talents in a positive way. Cook began working with the Weatherford community to purchase and renovate a building that housed the Southwest Indian Cultural Center. Through the center, a dropout prevention and cultural retention education grant was received to work with students in 10 public schools in western Oklahoma.
The project was so successful -- especially in regard to a marked increase in self-esteem among participants -- that youth in the project authorized Cook to take the necessary steps to expand these efforts to regional and national levels. On April 16, 1976, United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. was incorporated as a non-profit organization in the state of Oklahoma to develop leadership among native American youth. UNITY relocated its headquarters in 1978 to Oklahoma City.
One of the first milestones for UNITY youth came at the 1980 National UNITY Conference in Great Falls, Mont. Youth shaped their future by writing a "Declaration for Independence" to take charge of their destiny. Youth pledged to be involved in the governmental decision-making process and promote economic development. The "Declaration" gained national attention in Paul Harvey's daily commentary.
Today, Native American youth across the country are taking charge of their lives by serving others. They are helping their reservations, villages and communities by establishing tutoring programs, dance troupes, clean up days, healthy lifestyles campaigns, to name a few. Native American youth are making a difference in the areas of community service, heritage, healthy lifestyles and environment.
UNITY is located in downtown Oklahoma City in the E.K. Gaylord Building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Egyptians in US cheer on democracy and Arab unity
NEW YORK – Waves of celebration rippled out of Egypt and washed onto U.S. shores Friday as Egyptian-Americans looked to a future of democracy and Arab unity after the departure of President Hosni Mubarak and his three decades of authoritarian rule.
Crowds gathered in New York, suburban Detroit and the nation's capital to mark Egyptians' success at toppling a leader after three weeks of sometimes-violent protests across Egypt that many feared would end in futility.
"I feel freer than I've ever felt in my life, although I'm 10,000 miles away from my homeland," said Ashraf Abdelhalim, 47, on Manhattan's Upper East Side near one of the largest mosques in the New York area, where at least 60,000 Egyptian-Americans live.
Even while in America, he said, he felt "the oppression and the fear" from Mubarak's reign. "Now the dictator is gone," he said.
Sherine El-Abd found herself sobbing with joy at her home in Clifton, N.J. A board member of the Washington-based nonprofit Arab American Institute, she predicted that the military in Egypt will "oversee a clean, democratic election."
"Listen, if the person with the thickest skin and the densest brain in the world — Mubarak — got the message the military gave him, the message is loud and clear," El-Abd said.
People gathering at the Lebanese American Heritage Club in Dearborn, Mich., the heart of the nation's largest Arab-American community, expressed hopes for a domino effect in the Arab world.
"The Arabs were taken for granted," said Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani. "And you know what happened? The Arabs presented to the world one of the most wonderful revolutions in modern history."
In Washington, a small group gathered before a rally at the Egyptian Embassy, signing the Egyptian national anthem. Two young girls held signs reading, "EGYPT CHANGE."
"This is a new day for Arabs all together," said Radia Daoussi, a 40-year-old Tunisian who said she wanted to show solidarity with the Egyptian people.
Hisham Morgan, 34, director of the Muslim-American Society Youth Center in New York, agreed it was time to congratulate the Egyptian people — and the world.
"I am very hopeful for Egypt," he said. "I see a lot of love between the Egyptians — Christians, Muslims, the youth, everyone."
Gatherings were also happening Friday in Los Angeles, in addition to larger, better-organized ones nationwide set for Saturday. Nearly 200,000 U.S. residents identify themselves as Egyptian, according to a 2009 survey by the Census Bureau.
Omar Zaki, a 44-year-old insurance agency owner who lives in Riverside, Calif., said he couldn't believe his eyes when he read the caption under the television images of jubilant protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
"I almost had to pinch myself," he said. He believes the movement will ripple throughout the Middle East, noting the old Arabic saying that Egypt is the "mother of the world."
"What happens there makes a significant difference," he said.
Spontaneous celebrations dotted the New York area. People met up near the Egyptian Mission to the United Nations in Manhattan or waved flags Friday after noon prayers on Steinway Street in Queens' Astoria neighborhood.
Ayman El-Sawa, an activist from Highlands, N.J., who has helped organize protests including one in Times Square, fielded more than 50 celebratory phone calls in just the first half hour after Mubarak shocked his homeland by finally crumbling and resigning.
"But we should celebrate with one eye — and keep the other eye open for the next step: We have to be sure the army agrees with all the people's demands and does not repeat history," he said.
In Brooklyn, physical therapist Khaled Lamada, president of the Virginia-based Egyptian-Americans for Development, got news about Mubarak on his cell phone while walking to noon prayers.
"I feel great," he said. "I feel honored, I feel proud to be Egyptian."
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Amy Taxin in Los Angeles, David Runk in Dearborn, Mich., Brett Zongker in Washington and Anita Snow at the United Nations, and photographer Frank Franklin II in New York.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Peace Love World
peace love world
World Peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. Although the term is sometimes used to refer to a cessation of all hostility among all individuals, world peace.
While world peace is theoretically possible, some believe that human nature inherently prevents it. This belief stems from the idea that humans are naturally violent, or that rational agents will choose to commit violent acts in certain circumstances.
Others however believe that war is not an innate part of human nature, and that this myth in fact prevents people from reaching for world peace.
Many theories as to how world peace could be achieved have been proposed. Several of these are listed below. World peace is achievable when there is no longer conflict over resources. For example, oil is one such resource and conflict over the supply of oil is well known. Therefore, developing technology that utilizes reusable fuel sources may be one way to achieve world peace.
World peace is sometimes claimed to be the inevitable result of a certain political ideology. According to former U.S. President George W. Bush: "The march of democracy will lead to world peace." Leon Trotsky, a Marxist theorist, assumed that the world revolution would lead to a communist world peace.
Proponents of the controversial democratic peace theory claim that strong empirical evidence exists that democracies never or rarely wage war against each other. (the only exceptions being the Cod Wars, the Turbot War and Operation Fork) Jack Levy (1988) made an oft-quoted assertion that the theory is "as close as anything we have to an empirical law in international relations".
An increasing number of nations have become democratic since the Industrial Revolution. A world peace may thus become possible if this trend continues and if the democratic peace theory is correct.
There are, however, several possible exceptions to this theory.
In her "capitalism peace theory," Ayn Rand holds that the major wars of history were started by the more controlled economies of the time against the freer ones and that capitalism gave mankind the longest period of peace in history—a period during which there were no wars, involving the entire civilized world—from the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
It must be remembered that the political systems of the nineteenth century were not pure capitalism, but mixed economies. The element of capitalism, however, was dominant; it was as close to a century of capitalism as mankind has come. But the element of statism kept growing throughout the nineteenth century, and by the time it blasted the world in 1914, the governments involved were dominated by statist policies.
However, this theory ignores the brutal colonial wars waged by the western nations against countries outside Europe; as well as the German and Italian Wars of Unification, the Franco-Prussian war, and other conflicts in Europe. It also places a lack of war as the barometer for peace, when in reality class antagonisms were ever present.
Some proponents[who?] of Cobdenism claim that by removing tariffs and creating international free trade, wars would become impossible, because free trade prevents a nation from becoming self-sufficient, which is a requirement for long wars. For example, if one country produces firearms and another produces ammunition, the two could not fight each other, because the former would be unable to procure ammunition and the latter would be unable to obtain weapons.
Critics[who?] argue that free trade does not prevent a nation from establishing some sort of emergency plan to become temporarily self-sufficient in case of war or that a nation could simply acquire what it needs from a different nation. A good example of this, is World War I. Both Britain and Germany managed to become partially self-sufficient during the war. This is particularly important, due to the fact Germany had no plan for creating a War Economy.
More generally, other proponents[who?] argue that free trade—while not making wars impossible—will make wars, and restrictions on trade caused by wars, very costly for international companies with production, research, and sales in many different nations. Thus, a powerful lobby—not present if there are only national companies—will argue against wars .
Peace & Love is the biggest festival in Sweden and the only one with an outspoken message of Solidarity, Diversity and Understanding, which runs through the whole event. It started in 1999 and is located in Borlänge, Sweden.
In 2010, the event took place between June 28 and July 3 - the same weekend as other major scandinavian festivals Roskilde Festival and Hove Festival.
In 2009 Peace & Love became Sweden's biggest festival with 41 685 tickets sold. In 2010 the festival broke that record yet again, selling 42 000 tickets.
The concept of the Peace & Love festival is to spread the message of Diversity, Solidarity and Understanding. It’s about crossing borders and bringing differing cultures from near and afar together and trying to get people to change their attitudes towards themselves and others.
The Peace & Love festival is still one of Scandinavia's fastest-growing festivals. In 2006 there were 15,000 visitors per day, with over 37,000 people attending in total. The 10th Peace & Love festival was in 2008 and had a record of 25000 visitors, which made them the second biggest festival in Sweden.
Over the years, foreign artists such as Patti Smith, New York Dolls, Vitalic, Jay-Z, Tech N9ne, Lily Allen, Them Crooked Vultures, Alice Cooper, Slayer, W.A.S.P. Surkin, NOFX, Ed Harcourt, Vive la Fête, Hanoi Rocks, Motörhead, Cut Copy, and Khonnor have entertained the crowd as well as big Swedish acts such as Familjen, Rootvälta, Den Svenska Björnstammen, Miike Snow, Name The Pet, The Cardigans, Thåström, Håkan Hellström, The Sounds, Mando Diao, Lars Winnerbäck, Ulf Lundell, The Hives, Looptroop, The Hellacopters and Silverbullit, among many others. The band which has played the most often at the Peace & Love festival is Sugarplum Fairy, a rock band from Borlänge whose two singers, Carl and Victor, are younger brothers of Gustaf Norén from the better-known band Mando Diao, also a rock band from Borlänge. Sugarplum Fairy has played every year since 2001.
Some of the bands that have played:
World Peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. Although the term is sometimes used to refer to a cessation of all hostility among all individuals, world peace.
While world peace is theoretically possible, some believe that human nature inherently prevents it. This belief stems from the idea that humans are naturally violent, or that rational agents will choose to commit violent acts in certain circumstances.
Others however believe that war is not an innate part of human nature, and that this myth in fact prevents people from reaching for world peace.
Many theories as to how world peace could be achieved have been proposed. Several of these are listed below. World peace is achievable when there is no longer conflict over resources. For example, oil is one such resource and conflict over the supply of oil is well known. Therefore, developing technology that utilizes reusable fuel sources may be one way to achieve world peace.
World peace is sometimes claimed to be the inevitable result of a certain political ideology. According to former U.S. President George W. Bush: "The march of democracy will lead to world peace." Leon Trotsky, a Marxist theorist, assumed that the world revolution would lead to a communist world peace.
Proponents of the controversial democratic peace theory claim that strong empirical evidence exists that democracies never or rarely wage war against each other. (the only exceptions being the Cod Wars, the Turbot War and Operation Fork) Jack Levy (1988) made an oft-quoted assertion that the theory is "as close as anything we have to an empirical law in international relations".
An increasing number of nations have become democratic since the Industrial Revolution. A world peace may thus become possible if this trend continues and if the democratic peace theory is correct.
There are, however, several possible exceptions to this theory.
In her "capitalism peace theory," Ayn Rand holds that the major wars of history were started by the more controlled economies of the time against the freer ones and that capitalism gave mankind the longest period of peace in history—a period during which there were no wars, involving the entire civilized world—from the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
It must be remembered that the political systems of the nineteenth century were not pure capitalism, but mixed economies. The element of capitalism, however, was dominant; it was as close to a century of capitalism as mankind has come. But the element of statism kept growing throughout the nineteenth century, and by the time it blasted the world in 1914, the governments involved were dominated by statist policies.
However, this theory ignores the brutal colonial wars waged by the western nations against countries outside Europe; as well as the German and Italian Wars of Unification, the Franco-Prussian war, and other conflicts in Europe. It also places a lack of war as the barometer for peace, when in reality class antagonisms were ever present.
Some proponents[who?] of Cobdenism claim that by removing tariffs and creating international free trade, wars would become impossible, because free trade prevents a nation from becoming self-sufficient, which is a requirement for long wars. For example, if one country produces firearms and another produces ammunition, the two could not fight each other, because the former would be unable to procure ammunition and the latter would be unable to obtain weapons.
Critics[who?] argue that free trade does not prevent a nation from establishing some sort of emergency plan to become temporarily self-sufficient in case of war or that a nation could simply acquire what it needs from a different nation. A good example of this, is World War I. Both Britain and Germany managed to become partially self-sufficient during the war. This is particularly important, due to the fact Germany had no plan for creating a War Economy.
More generally, other proponents[who?] argue that free trade—while not making wars impossible—will make wars, and restrictions on trade caused by wars, very costly for international companies with production, research, and sales in many different nations. Thus, a powerful lobby—not present if there are only national companies—will argue against wars .
Peace & Love is the biggest festival in Sweden and the only one with an outspoken message of Solidarity, Diversity and Understanding, which runs through the whole event. It started in 1999 and is located in Borlänge, Sweden.
In 2010, the event took place between June 28 and July 3 - the same weekend as other major scandinavian festivals Roskilde Festival and Hove Festival.
In 2009 Peace & Love became Sweden's biggest festival with 41 685 tickets sold. In 2010 the festival broke that record yet again, selling 42 000 tickets.
The concept of the Peace & Love festival is to spread the message of Diversity, Solidarity and Understanding. It’s about crossing borders and bringing differing cultures from near and afar together and trying to get people to change their attitudes towards themselves and others.
The Peace & Love festival is still one of Scandinavia's fastest-growing festivals. In 2006 there were 15,000 visitors per day, with over 37,000 people attending in total. The 10th Peace & Love festival was in 2008 and had a record of 25000 visitors, which made them the second biggest festival in Sweden.
Over the years, foreign artists such as Patti Smith, New York Dolls, Vitalic, Jay-Z, Tech N9ne, Lily Allen, Them Crooked Vultures, Alice Cooper, Slayer, W.A.S.P. Surkin, NOFX, Ed Harcourt, Vive la Fête, Hanoi Rocks, Motörhead, Cut Copy, and Khonnor have entertained the crowd as well as big Swedish acts such as Familjen, Rootvälta, Den Svenska Björnstammen, Miike Snow, Name The Pet, The Cardigans, Thåström, Håkan Hellström, The Sounds, Mando Diao, Lars Winnerbäck, Ulf Lundell, The Hives, Looptroop, The Hellacopters and Silverbullit, among many others. The band which has played the most often at the Peace & Love festival is Sugarplum Fairy, a rock band from Borlänge whose two singers, Carl and Victor, are younger brothers of Gustaf Norén from the better-known band Mando Diao, also a rock band from Borlänge. Sugarplum Fairy has played every year since 2001.
Some of the bands that have played:
Love Never Dies
Love Never Dies is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater and later Charles Hart, and book by Lloyd Webber, Slater and Ben Elton. It is a sequel to the Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera. The plot is not based on the story-line in the original book by Gaston Leroux, and Lloyd Webber has stated "I don't regard this as a sequel – it's a stand-alone piece". The musical is set in 1907, which Lloyd Webber states is "ten years roughly after the end of the original Phantom," although the events of the original actually took place in 1881. Christine Daaé is invited to perform at Phantasma, a new attraction in Coney Island, by an anonymous impresario and, with her husband Raoul and son Gustave in tow, journeys to Brooklyn, unaware that it is the Phantom who has arranged her appearance in the popular beach resort.
Although Lloyd Webber began working on Love Never Dies in 1990, it was not until 2007 that he began writing the music. The musical opened at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End on 9 March 2010 with previews from 22 February 2010. It was originally directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, however the show closed for four days in November 2010 for substantial re-writes, which were overseen by Lloyd Webber, and opened with new direction from Bill Kenwright. Set and costume designs by Bob Crowley. The production is the first time a musical sequel has been staged in the West End. The musical received mixed reviews. The planned Broadway production, which was to have opened simultaneously, was indefinitely postponed.
Andrew Lloyd Webber first began plans for a sequel to his 1986 hit musical, The Phantom of the Opera, in 1990. Following a conversation with Maria Björnson, the designer of The Phantom of the Opera, Lloyd Webber decided that, were a sequel to come about, it would be set in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. One of his ideas was to have Phantom live above ground in Manhattan's first penthouse, but he rejected this when he saw a TV documentary about the Coney Island fairground. Lloyd Webber began collaborating with author Frederick Forsyth on the project, but it soon fell apart as Lloyd Webber felt the ideas they were developing would be difficult to adapt for a stage musical. Forsyth went on to publish some of the ideas he had worked on with Lloyd Webber in 1999 as a novel entitled The Phantom of Manhattan.
Lloyd Webber returned to the project in 2006, collaborating with a number of writers and directors. However, he still did not feel the ideas he had were adaptable into a piece of musical theatre. Finally, in early 2007, Lloyd Webber approached Ben Elton (who had served as the librettist for Lloyd Webber's The Beautiful Game) to help shape a synopsis for a sequel, based on Lloyd Webber's initial ideas. Elton's treatment of the story focused more on the original characters of The Phantom of the Opera and omitted new characters that Lloyd Webber and Forsyth had developed. Lloyd Webber was pleased with Elton's treatment and began work on the sequel. In March 2007, he announced he would be moving forward with the project.
The Daily Mail announced in May 2007 that the sequel would be delayed, because Lloyd Webber's six-month-old kitten Otto, a rare-breed Turkish Van, climbed onto Lloyd Webber's Clavinova digital piano and managed to delete the entire score. Lloyd Webber was unable to recover any of it from the instrument, but was eventually able to reconstruct the score. In 2008, Lloyd Webber first announced that the sequel would likely be called Phantom: Once Upon Another Time, and the first act was performed at Lloyd Webber's annual Sydmonton Festival. The Phantom was played by Ramin Karimloo and Raoul was played by Alistair Robbins.[18] However, in September 2008, during the BBC's Birthday in the Park concert celebrating his 60th birthday, Lloyd Webber announced that the title would be Love Never Dies. In other workshop readings, Raoul and Christine were played by Aaron Lazar and Elena Shaddow.
On 3 July 2009, Lloyd Webber announced that Karimloo (who had played the Phantom in the West End) and Sierra Boggess (who had originated the role of Christine in Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular) had been cast as the Phantom and Christine and that the role of Meg Giry would be played by Summer Strallen, Madame Giry by Liz Robertson and Raoul by Joseph Millson. I'd Do Anything finalist Niamh Perry was given the role of Fleck.
Lloyd Webber originally intended for Love Never Dies to open in London, New York and Shanghai simultaneously in the autumn of 2009. By March 2009, he had decided to open the show at London's Adelphi Theatre, followed by Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre (before transferring to Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre in 2010) and Shanghai. The three casts would rehearse simultaneously in London for three months beginning August 2009. Opening dates were soon announced as 26 October 2009 in London, November in Toronto and February 2010 in Shanghai, with a later transfer to Melbourne, Australia. Plans were then announced for a separate Broadway production to run concurrently with the Toronto show if Toronto proved successful. In May, the debut of the London production was delayed until March 2010 due to Lloyd Webber re-orchestrating the score and re-recording the album. Technical issues with the special effects, automaton version of Christine and casting multiple simultaneous productions also contributed to the postponement. By October 2009, Shanghai plans had been dropped in favour of an Australian production. The New York and Australian productions were later delayed due to the difficulty of casting multiple companies simultaneously.
On 8 October 2009, Lloyd Webber held a press conference at Her Majesty's Theatre, where the original Phantom has been running since 1986, confirming the casting of Boggess as Christine and Karimloo as the Phantom. Karimloo sang "Til I Hear You Sing", and "The Coney Island Waltz" was also performed for the journalists, industry insiders and fans who had assembled for the presentation. Lloyd Webber announced that Love Never Dies would begin previews in London on 20 February 2010 and anticipated that the Broadway production would open on 11 November 2010 (this was later postponed until Spring and then indefinitely). Rehearsals began in January 2010. Previews were delayed two further days by the brief, last-minute illness of Boggess.
On February 1, 2011, the Australian leads were announced and they will be Ben Lewis and Anna O'Byrne.
The first preview of Love Never Dies was delayed from 20 February to 22 February 2010 due to the illness of Boggess and technical demands. The show had its official opening on 9 March 2010. It is directed by Jack O'Brien, choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, and has set and costume designs by Bob Crowley. The cast includes Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Christine, Joseph Millson as Raoul, Liz Robertson as Madame Giry, Summer Strallen as Meg Giry and Niamh Perry as Fleck. The production is the first time a musical sequel has been staged in the West End. The show sold £9 million in advance ticket sales, surpassing its initial investment of £6 million. In April 2010, Lloyd Webber was fined £20,000 for illegally painting the Grade II-listed Adelphi Theatre black to promote this musical.
A Broadway production was expected to open in spring 2011, after being delayed by Lloyd Webber's treatment after prostate cancer surgery, and an Australian production is also expected sometime in 2011.[41] Lloyd Webber has also announced that Asian and Canadian productions are planned. After the mixed reviews and negative reaction from some Phantom fans during previews, an executive producer stated that before its bow on Broadway, the show would likely undergo "some changes".[42] On October 1, 2010 it was announced that the musical would not open on Broadway in Spring 2011 and that the show's Broadway future would be announced at a later date.
On October 12, 2010 a press conference was held in Parliament House, Victoria, where Lloyd-Webber appeared via satellite to announce the Australian production will open in May 2011 at Melbourne's Regent Theatre. This production, the first outside of the UK, will feature brand new direction and design by an Australian creative team including director Simon Phillips.
The musical was reviewed again (at Lloyd Webber's invitation), with critic Henry Hitchings noting that "Some of the most obvious alterations stem from the recruitment of lyricist Charles Hart to adjust the cadences of the original clunky lines written by Glenn Slater." He further pointed out that "There are also lots of bracing directorial touches; the show is credited to Jack O’Brien, but it is new choreographer Bill Deamer and producer Bill Kenwright who have added the zest."
It should be noted that on the 22nd of October 2010 it was announced that the show would temporarily close down for four days to go through some plot changes and subsequently lyric rewrites and changes. Charles Hart, one of the lyricists for the original Phantom, admitted producer Bill Kenwright may even be changing the ending of the show.
Ten years after the events at the Paris Opera, The Phantom, the creator and owner of Phantasma is tortured by the absence of Christine and longs to hear her again ("Til I Hear You Sing").
At Coney Island, Madame Giry and the performers of Phantasma introduce the wonders of Coney Island("The Coney Island Waltz"). Meg Giry, Christine Daaé's friend from the Paris Opera, is a performer with Madame Giry at her side. She and the performers of Phantasma win the crowd over with their performance of "Only for You". Giry tells Meg how wonderfully she performed. Madame Giry is irritated at how the Phantom has not watched the performances, reminiscing of how she and Meg smuggled him from Paris.
Christine, Raoul and their ten-year-old son Gustave arrive in New York and are met by crowds of paparazzi. They are greeted by the freaks, who arrive by horse and carriage to take them to Coney Island (“Are you ready to begin?”). Raoul is angry at the reception and upsets Gustave by not playing with him. As Raoul leaves to go drinking, Christine tells Gustave to “Look with your heart” to try to help him understand. Gustave goes to bed, and the Phantom arrives to recount a night of passion they shared the night before her wedding (“Beneath a Moonless Sky”). They recall that “Once upon another time” they thought their love had a chance of succeeding. Gustave wakes up screaming from a nightmare and meets the Phantom for the first time ("Mother Please, I'm Scared!"). The Phantom promises to show Gustave more of Phantasma. He tells Christine that she must sing for him again or she will return home without the boy.
In the rehearsal studio for Phantasma, Meg is surprised and jealous to learn that Christine will be singing. Raoul encounters Giry and discovers that the Phantom is the one for whom Christine is to be singing ("Dear Old Friend"). The freaks bring Gustave to the Aerie where he is greeted by the Phantom. Gustave plays a melody on the piano that leads the Phantom to suspect he is Gustave's father ("Beautiful"). The Phantom questions Gustave and finds they are kindred spirits. He unmasks himself, believing Gustave will accept him ("The Beauty Underneath"), but Gustave is horrified and screams. Christine comforts Gustave and, when pressed by the Phantom, confesses that Gustave is his son ("The Phantom Confronts Christine"). The Phantom makes Christine promise to never tell Gustave that he and not Raoul is his real father. The Phantom declares that everything he owns will go to him. Having overheard everything, a furious Giry fears all her work over the years has been for nothing.
In a dingy bar, Raoul contemplates his relationship with Christine ("Why Does She Love Me?"). He is joined by Meg who tells him he is in "Suicide Hall", the place "where people end up when they don't know where else to go." Meg swims each day to wash away the stress of working. She tells Raoul that he must leave with Christine and Gustave. Raoul says he is not afraid of the Phantom, who has been behind the bar. As soon as Meg leaves, the Phantom reveals himself and they make a bet: if Christine does not sing, Raoul may leave with Christine and Gustave. Otherwise, Raoul must leave alone. The Phantom leads Raoul to question Gustave's paternity ("Devil Take the Hindmost").
Fleck, Squelch and Gangle appear to advertise Christine's appearance at Phantasma ("Invitation to the Concert")). That night, Meg performs a strip-tease about her choice of swimming costumes, going topless at one point ("Bathing Beauty"). The audience goes crazy for Meg, but Giry tells Meg that the Phantom did not watch the performance and it was for nothing ("Mother, Did You Watch?").
"Before the Performance", Gustave explores backstage, while Raoul asks Christine to leave with him if she loves him. As Raoul leaves, the Phantom enters and tells Christine that Raoul's love is not enough and that she must sing for him. In her dressing room, Christine recalls the Opera where she had to decide between Raoul and the Phantom. Giry, Raoul and the Phantom wonder whether Christine will sing ("Devil Take The Hindmost" (reprise)). Christine performs an aria for the crowd, as Raoul and the Phantom watch ("Love Never Dies"). Raoul leaves as Christine finishes to thunderous applause. Christine is greeted by the Phantom and a letter from Raoul informing her of his departure ("Ah Christine"). Gustave is missing, and she becomes worried ("Gustave, Gustave"). The Phantom suspects Giry and threatens her. Fleck notes that she was passing Meg's dressing room when she noticed the mirror had been smashed and saw Meg dragging a small figure away. The Phantom believes he knows where Meg took him.
At Suicide Hall, Meg prepares to drown Gustave, when the others confront her. She holds up a gun so the Phantom will listen as she reveals that the resources Giry has afforded him came from Meg's working as a prostitute to influential men. The Phantom tries to get the gun, but Meg accidentally shoots Christine. Christine reveals to Gustave that the Phantom is his father. She tells the Phantom that her love for him will never die. They have one final kiss, and she dies in his arms. Raoul returns to discover he has lost everything, cradling the body of Christine as Gustave goes to join his real father - The Phantom.
Although Lloyd Webber began working on Love Never Dies in 1990, it was not until 2007 that he began writing the music. The musical opened at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End on 9 March 2010 with previews from 22 February 2010. It was originally directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, however the show closed for four days in November 2010 for substantial re-writes, which were overseen by Lloyd Webber, and opened with new direction from Bill Kenwright. Set and costume designs by Bob Crowley. The production is the first time a musical sequel has been staged in the West End. The musical received mixed reviews. The planned Broadway production, which was to have opened simultaneously, was indefinitely postponed.
Andrew Lloyd Webber first began plans for a sequel to his 1986 hit musical, The Phantom of the Opera, in 1990. Following a conversation with Maria Björnson, the designer of The Phantom of the Opera, Lloyd Webber decided that, were a sequel to come about, it would be set in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. One of his ideas was to have Phantom live above ground in Manhattan's first penthouse, but he rejected this when he saw a TV documentary about the Coney Island fairground. Lloyd Webber began collaborating with author Frederick Forsyth on the project, but it soon fell apart as Lloyd Webber felt the ideas they were developing would be difficult to adapt for a stage musical. Forsyth went on to publish some of the ideas he had worked on with Lloyd Webber in 1999 as a novel entitled The Phantom of Manhattan.
Lloyd Webber returned to the project in 2006, collaborating with a number of writers and directors. However, he still did not feel the ideas he had were adaptable into a piece of musical theatre. Finally, in early 2007, Lloyd Webber approached Ben Elton (who had served as the librettist for Lloyd Webber's The Beautiful Game) to help shape a synopsis for a sequel, based on Lloyd Webber's initial ideas. Elton's treatment of the story focused more on the original characters of The Phantom of the Opera and omitted new characters that Lloyd Webber and Forsyth had developed. Lloyd Webber was pleased with Elton's treatment and began work on the sequel. In March 2007, he announced he would be moving forward with the project.
The Daily Mail announced in May 2007 that the sequel would be delayed, because Lloyd Webber's six-month-old kitten Otto, a rare-breed Turkish Van, climbed onto Lloyd Webber's Clavinova digital piano and managed to delete the entire score. Lloyd Webber was unable to recover any of it from the instrument, but was eventually able to reconstruct the score. In 2008, Lloyd Webber first announced that the sequel would likely be called Phantom: Once Upon Another Time, and the first act was performed at Lloyd Webber's annual Sydmonton Festival. The Phantom was played by Ramin Karimloo and Raoul was played by Alistair Robbins.[18] However, in September 2008, during the BBC's Birthday in the Park concert celebrating his 60th birthday, Lloyd Webber announced that the title would be Love Never Dies. In other workshop readings, Raoul and Christine were played by Aaron Lazar and Elena Shaddow.
On 3 July 2009, Lloyd Webber announced that Karimloo (who had played the Phantom in the West End) and Sierra Boggess (who had originated the role of Christine in Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular) had been cast as the Phantom and Christine and that the role of Meg Giry would be played by Summer Strallen, Madame Giry by Liz Robertson and Raoul by Joseph Millson. I'd Do Anything finalist Niamh Perry was given the role of Fleck.
Lloyd Webber originally intended for Love Never Dies to open in London, New York and Shanghai simultaneously in the autumn of 2009. By March 2009, he had decided to open the show at London's Adelphi Theatre, followed by Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre (before transferring to Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre in 2010) and Shanghai. The three casts would rehearse simultaneously in London for three months beginning August 2009. Opening dates were soon announced as 26 October 2009 in London, November in Toronto and February 2010 in Shanghai, with a later transfer to Melbourne, Australia. Plans were then announced for a separate Broadway production to run concurrently with the Toronto show if Toronto proved successful. In May, the debut of the London production was delayed until March 2010 due to Lloyd Webber re-orchestrating the score and re-recording the album. Technical issues with the special effects, automaton version of Christine and casting multiple simultaneous productions also contributed to the postponement. By October 2009, Shanghai plans had been dropped in favour of an Australian production. The New York and Australian productions were later delayed due to the difficulty of casting multiple companies simultaneously.
On 8 October 2009, Lloyd Webber held a press conference at Her Majesty's Theatre, where the original Phantom has been running since 1986, confirming the casting of Boggess as Christine and Karimloo as the Phantom. Karimloo sang "Til I Hear You Sing", and "The Coney Island Waltz" was also performed for the journalists, industry insiders and fans who had assembled for the presentation. Lloyd Webber announced that Love Never Dies would begin previews in London on 20 February 2010 and anticipated that the Broadway production would open on 11 November 2010 (this was later postponed until Spring and then indefinitely). Rehearsals began in January 2010. Previews were delayed two further days by the brief, last-minute illness of Boggess.
On February 1, 2011, the Australian leads were announced and they will be Ben Lewis and Anna O'Byrne.
The first preview of Love Never Dies was delayed from 20 February to 22 February 2010 due to the illness of Boggess and technical demands. The show had its official opening on 9 March 2010. It is directed by Jack O'Brien, choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, and has set and costume designs by Bob Crowley. The cast includes Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Christine, Joseph Millson as Raoul, Liz Robertson as Madame Giry, Summer Strallen as Meg Giry and Niamh Perry as Fleck. The production is the first time a musical sequel has been staged in the West End. The show sold £9 million in advance ticket sales, surpassing its initial investment of £6 million. In April 2010, Lloyd Webber was fined £20,000 for illegally painting the Grade II-listed Adelphi Theatre black to promote this musical.
A Broadway production was expected to open in spring 2011, after being delayed by Lloyd Webber's treatment after prostate cancer surgery, and an Australian production is also expected sometime in 2011.[41] Lloyd Webber has also announced that Asian and Canadian productions are planned. After the mixed reviews and negative reaction from some Phantom fans during previews, an executive producer stated that before its bow on Broadway, the show would likely undergo "some changes".[42] On October 1, 2010 it was announced that the musical would not open on Broadway in Spring 2011 and that the show's Broadway future would be announced at a later date.
On October 12, 2010 a press conference was held in Parliament House, Victoria, where Lloyd-Webber appeared via satellite to announce the Australian production will open in May 2011 at Melbourne's Regent Theatre. This production, the first outside of the UK, will feature brand new direction and design by an Australian creative team including director Simon Phillips.
The musical was reviewed again (at Lloyd Webber's invitation), with critic Henry Hitchings noting that "Some of the most obvious alterations stem from the recruitment of lyricist Charles Hart to adjust the cadences of the original clunky lines written by Glenn Slater." He further pointed out that "There are also lots of bracing directorial touches; the show is credited to Jack O’Brien, but it is new choreographer Bill Deamer and producer Bill Kenwright who have added the zest."
It should be noted that on the 22nd of October 2010 it was announced that the show would temporarily close down for four days to go through some plot changes and subsequently lyric rewrites and changes. Charles Hart, one of the lyricists for the original Phantom, admitted producer Bill Kenwright may even be changing the ending of the show.
Ten years after the events at the Paris Opera, The Phantom, the creator and owner of Phantasma is tortured by the absence of Christine and longs to hear her again ("Til I Hear You Sing").
At Coney Island, Madame Giry and the performers of Phantasma introduce the wonders of Coney Island("The Coney Island Waltz"). Meg Giry, Christine Daaé's friend from the Paris Opera, is a performer with Madame Giry at her side. She and the performers of Phantasma win the crowd over with their performance of "Only for You". Giry tells Meg how wonderfully she performed. Madame Giry is irritated at how the Phantom has not watched the performances, reminiscing of how she and Meg smuggled him from Paris.
Christine, Raoul and their ten-year-old son Gustave arrive in New York and are met by crowds of paparazzi. They are greeted by the freaks, who arrive by horse and carriage to take them to Coney Island (“Are you ready to begin?”). Raoul is angry at the reception and upsets Gustave by not playing with him. As Raoul leaves to go drinking, Christine tells Gustave to “Look with your heart” to try to help him understand. Gustave goes to bed, and the Phantom arrives to recount a night of passion they shared the night before her wedding (“Beneath a Moonless Sky”). They recall that “Once upon another time” they thought their love had a chance of succeeding. Gustave wakes up screaming from a nightmare and meets the Phantom for the first time ("Mother Please, I'm Scared!"). The Phantom promises to show Gustave more of Phantasma. He tells Christine that she must sing for him again or she will return home without the boy.
In the rehearsal studio for Phantasma, Meg is surprised and jealous to learn that Christine will be singing. Raoul encounters Giry and discovers that the Phantom is the one for whom Christine is to be singing ("Dear Old Friend"). The freaks bring Gustave to the Aerie where he is greeted by the Phantom. Gustave plays a melody on the piano that leads the Phantom to suspect he is Gustave's father ("Beautiful"). The Phantom questions Gustave and finds they are kindred spirits. He unmasks himself, believing Gustave will accept him ("The Beauty Underneath"), but Gustave is horrified and screams. Christine comforts Gustave and, when pressed by the Phantom, confesses that Gustave is his son ("The Phantom Confronts Christine"). The Phantom makes Christine promise to never tell Gustave that he and not Raoul is his real father. The Phantom declares that everything he owns will go to him. Having overheard everything, a furious Giry fears all her work over the years has been for nothing.
In a dingy bar, Raoul contemplates his relationship with Christine ("Why Does She Love Me?"). He is joined by Meg who tells him he is in "Suicide Hall", the place "where people end up when they don't know where else to go." Meg swims each day to wash away the stress of working. She tells Raoul that he must leave with Christine and Gustave. Raoul says he is not afraid of the Phantom, who has been behind the bar. As soon as Meg leaves, the Phantom reveals himself and they make a bet: if Christine does not sing, Raoul may leave with Christine and Gustave. Otherwise, Raoul must leave alone. The Phantom leads Raoul to question Gustave's paternity ("Devil Take the Hindmost").
Fleck, Squelch and Gangle appear to advertise Christine's appearance at Phantasma ("Invitation to the Concert")). That night, Meg performs a strip-tease about her choice of swimming costumes, going topless at one point ("Bathing Beauty"). The audience goes crazy for Meg, but Giry tells Meg that the Phantom did not watch the performance and it was for nothing ("Mother, Did You Watch?").
"Before the Performance", Gustave explores backstage, while Raoul asks Christine to leave with him if she loves him. As Raoul leaves, the Phantom enters and tells Christine that Raoul's love is not enough and that she must sing for him. In her dressing room, Christine recalls the Opera where she had to decide between Raoul and the Phantom. Giry, Raoul and the Phantom wonder whether Christine will sing ("Devil Take The Hindmost" (reprise)). Christine performs an aria for the crowd, as Raoul and the Phantom watch ("Love Never Dies"). Raoul leaves as Christine finishes to thunderous applause. Christine is greeted by the Phantom and a letter from Raoul informing her of his departure ("Ah Christine"). Gustave is missing, and she becomes worried ("Gustave, Gustave"). The Phantom suspects Giry and threatens her. Fleck notes that she was passing Meg's dressing room when she noticed the mirror had been smashed and saw Meg dragging a small figure away. The Phantom believes he knows where Meg took him.
At Suicide Hall, Meg prepares to drown Gustave, when the others confront her. She holds up a gun so the Phantom will listen as she reveals that the resources Giry has afforded him came from Meg's working as a prostitute to influential men. The Phantom tries to get the gun, but Meg accidentally shoots Christine. Christine reveals to Gustave that the Phantom is his father. She tells the Phantom that her love for him will never die. They have one final kiss, and she dies in his arms. Raoul returns to discover he has lost everything, cradling the body of Christine as Gustave goes to join his real father - The Phantom.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long television anthology which was produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 (see 1969 in television) and January 1974. For the 1971 and 1972 seasons it was a part of an ABC Friday prime-time lineup that also included The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Room 222, and The Odd Couple.
Each week, the show featured different stories of romance, usually with a comedic spin. All episodes were unrelated, featuring different characters, stories and locations. The show often featured the same actors playing different characters in many episodes. In addition a large and ornate brass bed was a recurring prop in many episodes. Charles Fox's delicate yet hip music score, featuring flutes, harp, and flugelhorn set to a contemporary pop beat, provided the "love" ambiance which tied the stories together as a multifaceted romantic comedy each week.
For its first season, the theme song was performed by The Cowsills. Starting in the second season, the same theme song was sung by John Bahler, Tom Bahler, and Ron Hicklin, (billed as "The Charles Fox Singers"), and was carried on for the remainder of the series, as well as most episodes in syndication.
In many ways, the show initiated the "mini comedic soap opera" form used and "perfected" later on by Aaron Spelling for The Love Boat. While it lacked the connective threads that The Love Boat used, it generally told the same sort of "cotton candy" light emotional stories about underlying aspects of love, romance, and human relationships.
The title is loosely derived from a 1961 Italian comedy film called Divorzio all'italiana (Divorce, Italian Style), which won Academy Award nominations in 1962 for Best Director for Pietro Germi and for Best Actor for star Marcello Mastroianni. The film was later spoofed in 1967 by Divorce, American Style, starring Dick Van Dyke. The snowclone "(xxx), (nationality) Style" became a minor cultural meme as the sixties progressed.
The title is loosely derived from a 1961 Italian comedy film called Divorzio all'italiana (Divorce, Italian Style), which won Academy Award nominations in 1962 for Best Director for Pietro Germi and for Best Actor for star Marcello Mastroianni. The film was later spoofed in 1967 by Divorce, American Style, starring Dick Van Dyke. The snowclone "(xxx), (nationality) Style" became a minor cultural meme as the sixties progressed.
The original series was also known for its 10–20 second drop-in silent movie style "joke clips" between the featured segments. This regular troupe featured future Rockford Files cast member Stuart Margolin, future Vega$ leading lady Phyllis Davis, and a young character actor, James Hampton (F Troop, The Longest Yard). These clips allowed the show to be padded to the required length without padding the main segments. They generally consisted of then-risque, burlesque-style comedy of manners visual jokes.
The show subsequently became a daytime standard in syndication, since it was readily edited down to a half-hour by the proper interweaving of the clips with a main segment, allowing for heavy stripping. By this technique five years of shows became effectively ten as far as stripping went
The show subsequently became a daytime standard in syndication, since it was readily edited down to a half-hour by the proper interweaving of the clips with a main segment, allowing for heavy stripping. By this technique five years of shows became effectively ten as far as stripping went
A decade after it went off the air, a new version premiered on ABC's daytime schedule in 1985 entitled New Love, American Style but was canceled after a few months due to low ratings against The Price Is Right on CBS. A third edition, starring Melissa Joan Hart among others, was shot as a pilot for the 1998–1999 television season but was not ordered into a series. Nevertheless, ABC aired the pilot on February 20, 1999.
Garry Marshall was known to enjoy saying that Love, American Style was where failed sitcom pilots went to die, a remark to which there was much truth. Frequently, if a TV producer could not interest a network in a sitcom pilot, the producer would sell the unused script to Spelling, who would use the funniest bits of the pilot as a segment on Love, American Style.
In 1971, Garry Marshall came up with a concept for a sitcom about teenagers growing up in the 1950s, and shot a pilot which he titled New Family In Town, starring Ron Howard (as Richie), Marion Ross (as Richie's mother), and Anson Williams (as Potsie, Richie's friend), Harold Gould (as Howard, Richie's father), Susan Neher (Joanie, Richie's sister), and Ric Carrott (Chuck, Richie's brother).
Marshall tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the sitcom to all three networks. At last, he sold the pilot to Spelling, who aired the show in February 1972 as "Love and the Happy Days".
Garry Marshall was known to enjoy saying that Love, American Style was where failed sitcom pilots went to die, a remark to which there was much truth. Frequently, if a TV producer could not interest a network in a sitcom pilot, the producer would sell the unused script to Spelling, who would use the funniest bits of the pilot as a segment on Love, American Style.
In 1971, Garry Marshall came up with a concept for a sitcom about teenagers growing up in the 1950s, and shot a pilot which he titled New Family In Town, starring Ron Howard (as Richie), Marion Ross (as Richie's mother), and Anson Williams (as Potsie, Richie's friend), Harold Gould (as Howard, Richie's father), Susan Neher (Joanie, Richie's sister), and Ric Carrott (Chuck, Richie's brother).
Marshall tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the sitcom to all three networks. At last, he sold the pilot to Spelling, who aired the show in February 1972 as "Love and the Happy Days".
Shortly afterward, the movie American Graffiti and the Broadway musical Grease led to a wave of 1950s nostalgia, and ABC executives decided to buy Marshall's pilot – Happy Days, which became a huge hit and ran for eleven years. Gould, Neher, and Carrott were all replaced when the series launched.
Another pilot aired on Love, American Style that led to a series was Hanna-Barbera's Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. Paramount declined to be involved in that series, but would later team up with Hanna-Barbera to produce several animated spin-offs of the Happy Days franchise.
Another pilot aired on Love, American Style that led to a series was Hanna-Barbera's Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. Paramount declined to be involved in that series, but would later team up with Hanna-Barbera to produce several animated spin-offs of the Happy Days franchise.
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