Today's Birthdays 7/24

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 7/23/05 at 11:54pm

Alexandre Dumas, père 07/24/1802 - 12/5/1870 writer, source mat’l – 3 MUSKETEERS; KEAN; MONTE CRISTO

William Gillette 07/24/1853 - 4/29/1937 writer, performer – 1899 Sherlock Holmes; Three Wise Fools (James Kirkwood, Charles Coburn); 1974 SHERLOCK HOLMES (John Wood, Tim Pigott-Smith, Barbara Leigh-Hunt)

E. F. Benson 07/24/1867 writer, dir. Source mat’l – MAKE WAY FOR LUCIA

Robert Graves 07/24/1885 – 12/7/1985 writer, source mat’l – I CLAUDIUS

Lila Lee 07/24/1901 - Nov 13, 1973 performer, mother of James Kirkwood, wife of James Kirkwood (divorced) - Edgar Allan Poe (James Kirkwood); The Milky Way

Alexander Cohen 7/24/1920 - Apr 22, 2000 producer; father of Christopher & Barbara Cohen, husband of Hildy Parks; known for bringing quality plays to Broadway for six decades is born today. Lastly represented on Broadway by the Noel Coward play, Waiting in the Wings, starring Lauren Bacall and Rosemary Harris, he will produce 101 Broadway shows, including the 1964 Hamlet starring Richard Burton, Harold Pinter’s drama The Homecoming, Peter Brook’s Tony Award-winning La Tragedie de Carmen, James Joyce's Ulysses in Nighttown starring Zero Mostel, Dario Fo's Accidental Death of An Anarchist, Long Day's Journey Into Night and Ah, Wilderness, both starring Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst. In 1967, he conceived and originated the national Tony Awards telecast.

Jacqueline Brookes 07/24/1930 performer – origs. Tiger at the Gates (Michael Redgrave, Morris Carnovsky); MORE STATELY MANSIONS (Ingrid Bergman, Coleen Dewhurst, Arthur Hill); 1977 CHERRY ORCHARD

Ruth Buzzi 07/24/1936 performer – orig. SWEET CHARITY; tv’s ROWAN & MARTIN’S LAUGH-IN

Chris Sarandon 07/24/1942 performer, Susan Sarandon’s ex, now married to Joanna Gleason – THE ROTHSCHILDS; NICK & NORA (Barry Bostwick, Joanna Gleason, Debra Monk, Christine Baranski, Faith Prince); film’s PRINCESS BRIDE (love it); Child’s Play, Deadly Temptress, The Nightmare before Christmas, The Guiding Light

Michele Lee 07/24/1942 performer; Wife of Fred Rappaport (1987 - present)
Wife of James Farentino (1967 - 1982) divorced – BRAVO GIOVANNI (Cesare Siepi, Maria Karnilova, Lainie Kazan); HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING; ALLERGIST’S WIFE; tv's & film's Knot's Landing; How To Succeed

Michael McCormick 07/24/1951 performer, Alison Bevan’s hubby – origs. – OLIVER; LA BETE; 2003 GYPSY

Kristin Chenoweth 07/24/1968 performer – STEEL PIER; CHARLIE BROWN; 2 that I loved EPIC PROPORTIONS & Candide; WICKED; Encores' The Apple Tree; tv's & film's West Wing; Bewitched; The Music Man; Kristin

Anna Paquin 7/24/1982 performer - The 24 Hour Plays 2004; film's X-Men, The Piano, Jane Eyre, Amistad, Almost Famous, Finding Forrester, Buffalo Soldiers

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

Mame 07/24/1983 (Angel Lansbury, Jane Connell, IMHO the late GREAT Anne Francine)

1997 Following a sold-out limited run at Greenwich House, Douglas Carter Beane's comedy, As Bees in Honey Drown, begins a commercial Off-Broadway run today at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Although Bo Foxworth has taken over the lead role from Josh Hamilton, who must leave to honor a film commitment, most of the cast, including J. Smith-Cameron, T. Scott Cunningham, Sandra Daley, and Mark Nelson, remains intact. Saw it 3X's

2001 Mike Nichols' starry production of Chekhov's The Seagull begins performances at Central Park's Delacorte Theatre. Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline head the cast as Arkadina and Trigorin. Also in the cast are Marcia Gay Harden as Masha, Natalie Portman as Nina, Christopher Walken as Sorin, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Konstantin, John Goodman as Shamrayev, Debra Monk as Polina, Stephen Spinella as Medvedyev and Larry Pine as Dorn. I could kick myself, missed this 1!

Big River 07/24/2003 – (w/Tyrone Giordano, Michael McElroy, Michael Arden); wonderful production

ON THIS DAY IN:

1985 Film buffs will be interested to know that up until this day in 1985, Tony-winner Mandy Patinkin was to star opposite Meryl Streep in the Mike Nichols film Heartburn. After this one day of shooting, however, Patinkin is replaced on the project by Academy Award-winner Jack Nicholson. The Evita star's future film credits will include 1987's "The Princess Bride" (my favorite Mandy Patinkin film appearance) and 1990's "Dick Tracy." He will return to Broadway in fall 1998 with his one-man show Mamaloshen.

(sources: IBDB, NYT On This Day, & 440.com’s Those Were The Days, playbill.com)

Milla

[wildcat]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 5:28am

Wow! What a day...

E.F. Benson's 'Lucia' books are a joy and were the basis of the fabulous MAPP & LUCIA TV series with Geraldine McEwen, Prunella Scales and Nigel Hawthorne. Not to be missed.

And try to see "The Epic That Never Was" about the making of the aborted film version of Robert Graves' I, CLAUDIUS starring Charles Laughton. The lost film footage is a revelation of stunning screen acting.


And Lila Lee...the inspiration for James Kirkwood's classic novel "There Must Be a Pony". A rattling good read, along with his "Good Times/Bad Times" and "Some Kind of Hero".

And Ruth Buzzi! And Michele Lee!! And Kristin!!!

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 5:29pm

wildcat, I loved watching MAPP & LUCIA on tv. And as for I CLAUDIUS, I'm positively addicted to the series. I remember seeing snippets of the aborted Laughton film yrs back. I don't remember the circumstances that prevented its being finished, but we'll never know how wonderful it might have been.

And if anyone asked me what play I'd like to see musicalized, it would be Lila's baby boy's play UTBU!

Milla

[XOsweet_dancerOX]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 9:00pm

yay for Kristin! hmm there are quite a bit good birthdays here...