Early theatre in New York

New York did not have a significant theatre presence until about 1750, when actor-managers Walter Murray and Thomas Kean established a resident theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street, which held about 280 people. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggar's Opera. In 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with The Merchant of Venice and The Anatomist. The company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida. The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed in 1798, the year the 2,000-seat Park Theatre was built on Chatham Street (now called Park Row).

By the 1840s, P.T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblo's Garden opened and soon became one of New York's premiere nightspots. The 3,000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. The Astor Place Theatre opened in 1847. A riot broke out in 1849 when the lower-class patrons of the Bowery objected to what they perceived as snobbery by the upper class audiences at Astor Place: "After the Astor Place Riot of 1849, entertainment in New York City was divided along class lines: opera was chiefly for the upper middle and upper classes, minstrel shows and melodramas for the middle class, variety shows in concert saloons for men of the working class and the slumming middle class."

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Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley is an award-winning actress. She began her career as a child and became known internationally while she was still in her teens. Today she is one of Hollywood?s leading ladies and is in big demand. She is a down-to-earth woman at heart. She likes English football, going to her local pub, and British TV dramas.

Knightley was born in England in 1985. At school she had problems with reading and spelling and doctors discovered she was dyslexic. Regardless, she did well in her studies and set her mind on becoming an actress. She got her own talent agent when she was six. In the 1990s, she performed in various local plays before getting several roles in television films.

In 1999, Knightley appeared in the Hollywood blockbuster ?Star Wars: Episode I?. This was a sign of bigger things to come. Her first starring role came in 2001 in Disney?s ?Princess of Thieves?. A year later she starred in ?Bend It Like Beckham?, which really opened doors for her. Knightley?s 2003 appearances in ?Pirates of the Caribbean? and ?Love Actually? cemented her star status.

Knightley got rave reviews and an Academy Award nomination for her performance in ?Pride and Prejudice? in 2005. She received more glowing praise for ?The Edge of Love? in 2008. Knightley has not let her success go to her head. She has warned kids that being famous also has its downsides because the media constantly watch whatever you do and say.

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Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio is a movie heartthrob and award-winning Hollywood actor. He shot to fame for his role in ?Titanic? in 1997. He has also starred in many other successful movies. DiCaprio is known for his environmentalist activities. He flies on commercial flights instead of private jets and has an eco-friendly house. He has inspired other celebrities to take up environmental causes.

DiCaprio is an only child and was born in Los Angeles in 1974. He was named after Leonardo da Vinci because his pregnant mother was looking at a da Vinci painting in Italy when her baby first kicked. Leo's actor stepbrother inspired DiCaprio to take up acting. He began looking for an agent when he was twelve but was unsuccessful.

DiCaprio started his career making TV commercials. His break came in 1990 when he appeared in several shows. DiCaprio?s big breakthrough came in 1993 when he starred opposite Robert de Niro in ?The Boy?s Life?. That same year he starred alongside Johnny Depp in ?What's Eating Gilbert Grape?. He was 19 and his performance earned him an Academy Award nomination.

DiCaprio?s career took off and he became a Hollywood star. His status was elevated to superstar after he acted in ?Titanic?, which won 11 Oscars. He was the most searched for personality on the Internet and his popularity was dubbed "Leo-mania?. He said later he would ?never reach that state of popularity again?. Today, DiCaprio prefers to think of himself as an indie actor.

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Date: 2016-06-12; view: 139