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Meyerhold, Vsevolod

(Encyclopedia)Meyerhold, Vsevolod fəsyĕˈvəlŭt mēˈûrhōlt [key], 1874–1940?, Russian theatrical director and producer. Meyerhold led the revolt against naturalism in the Russian theater. Working with the M...

Markova, Dame Alicia

(Encyclopedia)Markova, Dame Alicia märkōˈvä [key], 1910–2004, English ballerina. Her original name was Lilian Alicia Marks. Markova joined Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1924 and, in 1931, the Vic-Wells Ballet...

Vestris, Lucia Elizabeth (Bartolozzi)

(Encyclopedia)Vestris, Lucia Elizabeth (Bartolozzi) bärtōlôtˈsē vĕsˈtrĭs [key], 1797–1856, English actress and manager, the first woman to be a lessee of a theater. The daughter of a music and fencing tea...

Cibber, Colley

(Encyclopedia)Cibber, Colley sĭbˈər [key], 1671–1757, English dramatist and actor-manager. Joining the company at the Theatre Royal in 1690, Cibber became successful as a comedian, playing the fops of Restorat...

Bainbridge, Beryl

(Encyclopedia)Bainbridge, Beryl (Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge), 1933–2010, English author, b. Liverpool. Bainbridge is mainly known for her tightly plotted, rueful, and darkly comic fiction in which dull and si...

Irving, Sir Henry

(Encyclopedia)Irving, Sir Henry, 1838–1905, English actor and theatrical manager, originally named John Henry Brodribb. He made his debut in 1856 and achieved fame in 1871 with his portrayal of Mathias in Leopold...

Blitzstein, Marc

(Encyclopedia)Blitzstein, Marc (Marcus Samuel Blitzstein), 1905–64, American composer, pianist, and librettist, b. Philadelphia. After attending the Univ. of Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music, he stu...

Odets, Clifford

(Encyclopedia)Odets, Clifford ōdĕtsˈ [key], 1906–63, American dramatist, b. Philadelphia. After graduating from high school he became an actor and in 1931 joined the Group Theatre. Turning his attention from a...

Genet, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Genet, Jean zhənāˈ [key], 1910–86, French dramatist. Deserted by his parents as an infant, Genet spent much of his early life in reformatories and prisons. Between 1940 and 1948 he wrote several...