- Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 - October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter from Indiana. His works include the musical comedies "Kiss Me, Kate" (1948) (based on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"), "Fifty Million Frenchmen" and "Anything Goes", as well as songs like "Night and Day," "I Get a Kick Out of You," and "I've Got You Under My Skin." He was noted for his sophisticated (sometimes ribald) lyrics, clever rhymes, … - Ann Miller
Ann Miller was an American dancer, singer and actress, who was christened Johnnie Lucille Collier. Born in Chireno, Texas (some sources cite Houston, where she was raised), her father insisted on the name Johnnie because he had wanted a boy, but she was often called Annie. She took up dancing to exercise her legs to help her rickets. She was considered a child dance prodigy. - Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson (born February 9, 1922) is an American actress and singer who was born Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Hedrick family later moved to Franlin, St Louis, where she was discovered singing on the empty stage of the St Louis Municipal Opera House by a janitor, who introduced her to Frances Marshall of the Chicago Civic Opera, who gave the twelve-year-old-girl voice lessons. - Brian Stokes Mitchell
Brian Stokes Mitchell (b. 31 October, 1958, Seattle, Washington) is a current Broadway actor. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central male star figures of the theatre in the last two decades. His Broadway credits include "Mail" (1988), an all-black revival of George Gershwin's "Oh, Kay!" (1990), "Jelly's Last Jam" (1992) based on the works of jazz artist Jelly Roll Morton, John Kander and Fred Ebb's "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1993), … - Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse (June 23, 1927 - September 23, 1987) was a musical theater choreographer and director, and a film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction and was also awarded the recipient of an Academy Award for Best Director in 1972 for "Cabaret" - George Sidney
George Sidney (October 4 1916 - May 5 2002) was a prolific American film director, who directed many notable films, mostly for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio. He was born in Long Island City, New York. Sidney got his start as an assistant at MGM until being assigned to direct the "Our Gang" comedies, which MGM had just acquired from Hal Roach, in 1938. Sidney, then age 21, was the youngest "Our Gang" senior director ever, … - Alfred Drake
Alfred Drake (October 7, 1914 - July 25, 1992) was an American actor and singer. Born Alfred Capurro in New York City, Drake was a Broadway performer best known for his leading roles in the original Broadway productions of such American musicals as "Oklahoma!", "Kiss Me, Kate", and "Kean", and for the roles of Marshall Blackstone in the original production of "Babes in Arms" (in which he sang the title song) and Hajj in "Kismet". - Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor. He was born in New York, New York as Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn, the son of Jewish American vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn, and his Irish-American Catholic wife, the former Hilda Keenan, but took his stage name from his maternal grandfather, Frank Keenan, … - Rachel York
Rachel York (born Rachel Lemanski on August 7, 1971 in Orlando, Florida) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in "City of Angels", "The Scarlet Pimpernel", "Les Miserables", "Victor/Victoria", "Kiss Me, Kate", "Sly Fox", and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels". Rachel also has many film and television credits, including her portrayal as Lucille Ball in the CBS biopic "Lucy". - Michael Blakemore
Michael Howell Blakemore, OBE, (born 18 June 1928 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian actor, writer and theatre director. He is the only director ever to win Tony Awards as Best Director of a Play ("Copenhagen") and Best Director of a Musical ("Kiss Me, Kate") in the same year (2000). Blakemore was educated at The King's School, Sydney and went on to study medicine at the University of Sydney. The English actor Robert Morley, who was touring Australia, … - Michael Berresse
Michael Berresse (born August 15, 1964 in Holyoke, Massachusetts) is an American actor. He has appeared on Broadway in many shows including: "Kiss Me, Kate", "Chicago", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Carousel" and "Damn Yankees", and "The Light in the Piazza" as Giuseppe Naccarelli. Berresse can currently be seen on Broadway as Zach in the revival of the musical "A Chorus Line". - Bobby Van
Bobby Van (December 6, 1928-July 31, 1980) was a musical actor probably best known for his career on Broadway in the 1960s and 1970s. Bobby Van was born Robert Jack Stein to vaudeville parents in The Bronx, New York City, and grew up backstage to many memorable Depression-era acts. Originally, Van took "King" as his stage name (after his father's stage name, from the trio "Gordon, Reed and King"). - Tommy Rall
Thomas "Tommy" Rall (born December 27, 1929), is an American ballet dancer, tap dancer and acrobatic dancer who was a prominent featured player in 1950s musical comedies. Rall was born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in Seattle, Washington. As a child he had a crossed eye which made it hard for him to read books, so his mother enrolled him in dancing classes. In his early years he performed a dance and acrobatic vaudeville act in Seattle theaters, … - Patricia Morison
Patricia Morison (born March 19, 1915 in New York City) is a film and stage actress from the 1930s to 1980s. Patricia Morison originated the role of Lilli Vanessi/Kate in the Broadway musical "Kiss Me, Kate" (opposite Alfred Drake), and she also appeared in "The King and I" when she replaced the late Gertrude Lawrence, who died of cancer during the run of the show. Accompanied by a number of other "Kate" original cast members, … - Julie Wilson
Julie Wilson (born October 21, 1924) is an American singer and actress. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Wilson headed to New York City during World War II and found work in two of Manhattan's leading nightclubs, the Latin Quarter and the Copacabana. She made her Broadway debut in the 1946 revue "Three to Make Ready". In 1951, she moved to London to star in the West End production of "Kiss Me, Kate" and remained there for four years, … - Carol Haney
Carol Haney was an American dancer and actress. Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, she opened a dancing school when she was fifteen years old. After high school, Haney left her home town for Hollywood and landed bit parts in movies until she was spotted by legendary choreographer- dancer Jack Cole, becoming his dance partner and assistant from 1946-8. In 1949, Haney was hired by Gene Kelly to be his assistant choreographer, and aided Kelly in some of his best work, … - Lisa Kirk
Lisa Kirk (February 25 1925 - November 11 1990) was an American actress and singer. Born as Elise Marie Kirk in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, she enrolled as a law student at the University of Pittsburgh but abandoned her studies when she was offered a spot in the chorus line at the Versailles nightclub in Manhattan. She made her Broadway debut in "Allegro" in 1947, … - Amy Spanger
Amy Spanger, born 1971 in Newbury, Massachusetts, is an American actress, singer and dancer. Graduated from Triton Regional High School in Byfield, Massachusetts, Amy made her Broadway debut in 1995 in the musical "Sunset Boulevard". She has also appeared on Broadway in the revival of "Kiss Me, Kate", in which she played the dual role of Lois/Bianca, in "Chicago" as Roxie Hart, "Urinetown" as Hope Cladwell, … - Rob Ashford
Rob Ashford (born November 19, 1959) is a Tony Award-winning American choreographer. Born in Orlando, Florida and raised in Beckley, West Virginia, Ashford studied law at Washington and Lee University. His interest in dance was spurred by his participation in Theatre West Virginia, an outdoor musical-drama group that recreated events from the Civil War during the summer months, and he transferred to Pittsburgh's Point Park University, where he studied ballet, jazz, … - Harold Lang
Harold Lang was an American dancer and actor. Lang began his professional career as a ballet dancer, making his professional debut with the San Francisco Ballet and then going on to perform with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and American Ballet Theater (then Ballet Theater). While at ABT, he originated roles in Jerome Robbins' "Fancy Free" and "Interplay", in addition to performing in ballets by George Balanchine, David Lichine, Léonide Massine, … - Saul Chaplin
Saul Chaplin was one of Hollywood's preeminent composers and musical directors. He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York. He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley. In film, he won four Oscars for collaborating on the scores and orchestrations of "An American in Paris" (1951), "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954) and "West Side Story" (1961). - Ron Randell
Ronald Egan Randell (8 October 1918 - 11 June 2005) was an Australian-born American film character actor. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and died in Los Angeles, California. Randell started his career as a stage and radio performer in his teens. He appeared as the lead in "Smithy", a biographical movie about the pioneering Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, … - Adriane Lenox
Adriane Lenox (born August 11, 1956 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an African-American actress. She won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2005 for her work in Doubt. She also appeared as Hattie in the Broadway revival of "Kiss Me, Kate". - Peter Kaczorowski
Peter Kaczorowski (born 1956) in Buffalo, New York is an award-winning lighting designer. He is credited with lighting designs for Broadway and off-Broadway shows, as well extensive work in opera. He has been nominated three times for Tony Awards and won a Tony award for Lighting Design for The Producers. He is also the recipient of Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Drama-Logue and Hewes design awards. - Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm (3 March 1893, Worms, Germany - 3 November 1992, New York City) was the professional name of Johanna Eckert, dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Holm was one of the pioneers of modern dance. Born in Worms, Germany, Holms was a student and assistant of Mary Wigman and instructor at the Wigman School in Dresden. Holm founded the New York Wigman School of Dance in 1931 (which became the Hanya Holm Studio in 1936) introducing the Wigman technique, … - Jack Cummings
Jack Cummings (1900 - 1989) was an American film producer and director. He was married to Betty Kern, daughter of Jerome Kern. Cummings spent most of his career at his uncle Louis B. Mayer's studio, MGM, where he began work in the early 1920s. Mayer started his nephew out as an office boy and expected him to work his way up through the ranks. Cummings became a staff producer at MGM in 1934, where he worked in the B-feature unit for two years. - Burke Moses
Burke Moses (b. 12 December 1964) is an American actor. He first appeared on Broadway as a replacement in the role of Sky Masterson in the 1992 production of "Guys and Dolls". He originated the role of Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast" in 1994 on Broadway, and also in London's West End production in 1997. He replaced Brian Stokes Mitchell in the roles of Fred Graham and Petruchio in the 1999 revival of "Kiss Me, Kate", … - Michael Gruber
Michael Thomas Gruber is an actor, born on November 1, 1964 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Michael is the youngest of four children, two sisters and one brother. At an early age, Michael showed great interest in gymnastics and diving. He became the 2nd best diver in his age class in the world at the age of fourteen. - Dorothy Kingsley
Dorothy Kingsley was an American screenwriter. Kingsley, the daughter of journalist Walter Kingsley and stage actress Alma Hanlon, was born in New York City, NY. First in New York and later in Hollywood, she was one of the few successful female gag writers for radio in the 1930s. Kingsley was one of the three co-writers of the movie script for "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". - Roger Horchow
Samuel Roger Horchow (born July 3, 1928, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a catalog entrepreneur and Broadway producer. In 1971, Horchow started The Horchow Collection, the first luxury mail-order catalog that was not preceded by a brick-and-mortar presence. He sold the Horchow Collection to Neiman Marcus in 1988. In 1992, he produced his first Broadway show, "Crazy for You", a George Gershwin musical, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Musical. - Sherman Edwards
Sherman Edwards (April 4, 1919 - March 30, 1981) was a Jewish-American songwriter. He was born in New York City. Edwards taught history at high school before entering the entertainment industry. He was married to Ingrid Edwards, a dancer in "Kiss Me, Kate". Edwards wrote: *"Broken Hearted Melody" (words by Hal David), a 1959 hit for Sarah Vaughan *"Dungaree Doll!" (words by Ben Raleigh), a 1955 hit for Eddie Fisher *"Flaming Star" (words by Sid Wayne), … - Harry Clark
Harry Clark (1910 - February 28, 1956) was an American actor. Clark was a factory worker who became involved with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union-sponsored revue "Pins and Needles" in 1937, and its success encouraged him to pursue a career in acting. His Broadway credits include "The Skin of Our Teeth", "One Touch of Venus", "Call Me Mister", "Kiss Me, Kate", "Wish You Were Here", … - Walter Charles
Walter Charles (born April 4 1945 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) is an American actor and singer. Charles made his Broadway debut in "Grease" in 1972. Additional credits include "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue", "Sweeney Todd", "Cats", "La Cage aux Folles", "Me and My Girl", "Aspects of Love", "Kiss Me, Kate", "The Boys from Syracuse", "Big River", "The Woman in White", and "The Apple Tree". - Marc Platt
Marc Platt (born December 2 1913 in Pasadena, California, United States), is an American ballet dancer and musical theatre performer. Platt (born Marcel LePlat) was trained by the influential teacher Mary Ann Wells (Anawalt 44n). His professional career began in earnest when he was hired as one of the original members of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; along with other non-Russian company members like Betty Low, he performed under a faux-Russian name (Platoff). - Dave O'Brien
Dave O'Brien, was an American film actor, director and writer. Born David Poole Fronabarger in Big Spring, Texas, O'Brien started his film career in bit parts before gradually winning larger roles, mostly in B pictures. He became familiar to movie audiences in the 1940's as the hero of the famous MGM comedy short film series "Pete Smith Specialties" narrated by Pete Smith. - Peter Gennaro
Peter Gennaro (November 23, 1919 - September 28, 2000) was a Tony Award-winning American dancer and choreographer. Born in Metairie, Louisiana, Gennaro made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of "Make Mine Manhattan" in 1948. He followed this with "Kiss Me, Kate" (1948) and "Guys and Dolls" (1950). He first drew notice from theatergoers as a member of the trio that danced the Bob Fosse number "Steam Heat" in "The Pajama Game" (1954), … - Marcel Prawy
Marcel Horace Frydman, Ritter von Prawy was an Austrian dramaturg, opera connoisseur and opera critic. Prawy was born into a Jewish Austro-Hungarian noble family. He studied law, but his life belonged to the opera. As secretary of the tenor Jan Kiepura, he emigrated to the USA when persecution of the Austrian Jews became unbearable in the late 1930s. With the help of his confidante Mártha Eggerth he became acquainted with American musicals and music in general. - Conrad Salinger
Conrad Salinger was an American arranger, orchestrator and composer. Salinger was considered one of MGM's best orchestrators of musicals made between 1942 and 1962. He was noted for using a somewhat smaller orchestra than usual, but nevertheless achieving a rich, layered sound in his arrangements. The fact that the orchestra that Salinger used was smaller in size than the normal huge studio orchestra was practically unnoticeable, … - Ron Field
Ron Field (1934 - 1989) was an American choreographer, director, and dancer. He was born Ronald Field in 1934 in New York City. He made his Broadway debut as a child in "Lady in the Dark" (1941) with Gertrude Lawrence, and danced in the ensembles of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1949), "Kismet" (1954), and "The Boy Friend" (1955) before deciding to concentrate on choreography. - Teryl Rothery
Teryl Rothery (born November 9, 1965 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian actress. She started her career when she played in the musical "Bye Bye Birdie" at the age of thirteen, and knew that she belonged in front of the camera when she played in the CBC Halloween special "Boo" at the age of eighteen. She is best known for her role as Dr.
|
| |