R.I.P Christopher Plummer

 Christopher Plummer passed away last week at the age of 91. He will probably always be remembered as the actor who played Captain Georg van Trapp in The Sound of Music where her starred with Julie Andrews.

A clip from the movie....

In 1974 he won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role in Cyrano. Christopher won another Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Barrymore. In all the actor was nominated for seven Tony Awards.

Mr. Plummer won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role on Beginners. 

Greatness might have been achieved by having an iconic role, winning two Tony Awards and an Academy Award. However, with Christopher Plummer there is still more!

He also won two Daytime Emmy Awards! The first Outstanding Actor - Limited Series or Movie Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers in 1977. 17 years later he won his second for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his role in Madeline.

He was even nominated for a Grammy and he has been honored by his native Canada.

He will be missed by his family, friends and fans but leaves behind an incredible legacy! 

R.I.P Thomas Meehan

Thomas Meehan is probably best known for writing Annie.  His career was so much more than that.

He wrote the books to Broadway Musicals. Thomas won Tony Awards writing the books to probably the three biggest musicals of my life time. If they weren't the biggest they were near the top. Annie, Hairspray and The Producers.

Above a clip from Hairspray below a clip from The Producers...

I was able to review a production of Hairspray at The Signature Theatre in Alexandria, Virginia  outside of Washington when I wrote for the Maryland Theatre Guide. You can revisit that review from 2011 here.

He also wrote the books for the musicals Rocky and Elf. He also wrote the book for one of my favorite movies when I was a kid Spaceballs. He was a successful writer who lived a long life. He will be missed.

R.I.P Edward Albee

Edward Albee, the three time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, passed away at the age of 88 on Friday.

Here is Albee's first play The Zoo Story which was written in 1958. This production is from Bucknell University in 2011.

Here is a trailer for his most famous play Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf....

Albee's career stretched six decades and he wrote over thirty plays. His career was punctuated with three Drama Desk Awards, six Tony Awards and the previously mentioned Pulitzer Prize Awards.

His legacy will live on in future productions of his plays. He will be missed.

Annie Get Your Gun Premiered on Broadway 69 years ago

69 years ago today back on May 16, 1946 Irving Berlin's "Annie Get Your Gun" opened at The Imperial Theatre. Herbert and Dorothy Fields wrote the book but Irving Berlin created the music and lyrics.

Here is a bit from a dress rehearsal of a Broadway version in 2009...

The musical was filled with some timeless hits. A prime example  is the above "There's No Business Like Show Business." Another would be this one..

"Anything You Can Do" from the 1950 film version.

The shows initial performance on Broadway would consist of 1,147 performances. The show would enjoy a revival in 1966 and again in 1999. The one in 1999 would finally win the show two Tony Awards.

Bernadette Peters who won one of those Tony Awards for Best Performance by  a Leading Actress in a Musical in action above with "Can't Get A Man With A Gun."

Have a favorite tune from the show? Have a favorite memory? Feel free to share in the comments. Thanks for visiting.

R.I.P Elizabeth Wilson

Actress Elizabeth Wilson passed away over the weekend at the age of 94. The Tony award winning actress was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007. She won her Tony award in 1972 for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Sticks and Bones. In 1980 she won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in Morning's at Seven.

She made her Broadway debut in 1953 in a play called Picnic.  She appeared in 11 Broadway productions. She would branch out to film in 1955 appearing in a screen version of her Broadway debut Picnic.

News clip of Elizabeth Wilson's passing..

On the silver screen she starred in films such as The Graduate, 9 to 5, The Birds, The Adams Family and more.

The Trailer for The Graduate

 She was a regular on television on Doc and East Side/West Side. She made guest appearances on numerous shows. Her works will live on in reruns and film. Her family, fans, the theatre, film and television communities will mourn her loss, 94 years is a long life and she certainly left behind plenty of memories. 

A to Z: Xanadu and the Landless Theatre

About two and a half years ago I reviewed a performance of Xanadu which was produced by the Landless Theatre Company. It was a fun, entertaining and crazy show. You can read my review here. I also blogged about Xanadu on this blog here as I would blog about shows I reviewed and add a little bit more in my blog.

I am revisiting Xanadu because today is the letter X on the A to Z: Challenge! Only two more posts to go on the challenge so the end is near. Xanadu was what kept popping up in my mind for X. After re-reading my original blog post I realized I really didn't give the Landless Theatre Company a proper shout out! Even though their production of Xanadu is yesteryear's news the theatre company is producing new shows which are worth mentioning.

How about a clip from Xanadu..here is Olivia Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) performing the title track..

Theatre and music fans might enjoy this song from the 2008 Tony Awards featuring Cheyenne Jackson and Kerry Butler performing "Don't Walk Away" from the musical...

The Landless Theatre Company has continued to produce crazy, entertaining and fun theatre. This summer they are bringing their Prog Metal version of Sweeney Todd to the Atlas Theatre in Washington, D.C. Last year the shows debut was nominated for three Helen Hayes Awards which are like Washington's version of the Tony Awards. You can learn more about this theatre group here. Interestered in reading a review about the prog metal Sweeney Todd? Here is one from Metaldisciple.com. Think about a musical being reviewed by a Heavy Metal site that is the craziness of Landless. I wish I could catch this show.

Stayed tuned as the A to Z: Challenge nears the end!