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The Wonders: The Extraordinary Circus Performers Who Transformed The Victorian Age
by John WoolfA radical new history that rediscovers the remarkable freak performers whose talents and charisma helped define an era. On March 23, 1844, General Tom Thumb, just 25 inches tall, entered the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace and bowed low to Queen Victoria. On both sides of the Atlantic, this meeting marked a tipping point in the nineteenth century, and the age of the freak was born. Bewitching all levels of society, it was a world of curiosities and astonishing spectacle—of dwarfs, giants, bearded ladies, Siamese twins, and swaggering showmen. But the real stories—human dramas that so often eclipsed the fantasy presented on the stage—of the performing men, women and children, have been forgotten or marginalized in the histories of the very people who exploited them. In this richly evocative account, John Woolf uses a wealth of recently discovered material to bring to life the sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant, always extraordinary stories of people who used their (dis)abilities and difference to become some of the first international celebrities. Through their lives we discover afresh some of the great transformations of the age: the birth of show business, of celebrity, of advertising, and of “alternative facts” while also exploring the tensions between the power of fame, the impact of exploitation, and our fascination with “otherness.”
Dancing in the Vortex: The Story of Ida Rubinstein (Choreography and Dance Studies Series #Vol. 20.)
by Vicki WoolfParis at the turn of the century - Art Nouveau, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and the Folies Bergere. This was the atmosphere which nurtured the artistic development of the remarkable dancer and choreographer Ida Rubinstein.This long-awaited biography gives us a unique insight into the life of a remarkable woman, responsible for a fascinating chapter of our artistic heritage. She was a chameleon, a diva, who lived many lives, overcoming the anti-Semitism of her times to enchant and captivate the highest of societies.Untrained as a dancer, Ida Rubinstein's charisma attracted collaborators such as Debussy, Stravinsky, Ravel, Cocteau, Bakst, and Benois.
The School Play: Independent Reading Red 2 (Reading Champion #367)
by Katie WoolleyLil and Tim are having trouble choosing an outfit for the school play ... what will they be?Reading Champion offers independent reading books for children to practise and reinforce their developing reading skills.Fantastic, original stories are accompanied by engaging artwork and a reading activity. Each book has been carefully graded so that it can be matched to a child's reading ability, encouraging reading for pleasure. Perfect for the 4-5 year old beginner reader or those reading book band red.
The Last Great Days of Radio
by Lynn WoolleyIf you've ever wanted to be in radio--or ever wondered what was happening on the other side of the dial, then this book is for you. You'll find out what it's like to get that first job, to work in Texas's largest newsroom, to cover a major murder trial, to cover the President of the United States, to follow the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl, and to create top-rated comedy routines. Full of inside information about the radio business, this book touches on the careers of dozens of well-known broadcasters. Long time radio personality Lynn Woolley introduces you to the laughs and times of Texas radio in its heyday. A mixture of humor, wit, and nostalgia, this book follows the career of Woolley from the smallest station in a small market to the largest radio newsroom in Texas, and back again.
Almost a Full Moon
by Hawksley WorkmanAlmost a Full Moon is a warm-hearted story of family, community, food and home. A boy and his grandmother host a gathering in their small cabin in the middle of winter. Friends travel from near and far, and some new friends even turn up. The walls of the cabin are elastic and the soup pot bottomless; all are welcome. Based on the lyrics of Hawksley Workman's song from his holiday album Almost a Full Moon, this book evokes both the cold and the coziness of a winter's night: crisp clean air, sparkling snow, the light of the moon, welcoming windows, glowing candles, family and friends. The spare text is beautifully complemented with the rich illustrations of Jensine Eckwall, a new talent to Tundra. She brings beauty and a hint of magic to Workman's evocative lyrics; together, they create a world and a night that will enchant readers of all ages.
Political Moods: Film Melodrama and the Cold War in the Two Koreas (Global Korea #4)
by Travis WorkmanA free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Melodrama films dominated the North and South Korean industries in the period between liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945 and the hardening of dictatorship in the 1970s. The films of each industry are often read as direct reflections of Cold War and Korean War political ideologies and national historical experiences, and therefore as aesthetically and politically opposed to each other. However, Political Moods develops a comparative analysis across the Cold War divide, analyzing how films in both North and South Korea convey political and moral ideas through the sentimentality of the melodramatic mode. Travis Workman reveals that the melancholic moods of film melodrama express the somatic and social conflicts between political ideologies and excesses of affect, meaning, and historical references. These moods dramatize the tension between the language of Cold War politics and the negative affects that connect cinema to what it cannot fully represent. The result is a new way of historicizing the cinema of the two Koreas in relation to colonialism, postcolonialism, war, and nation building.
Searching for New Frontiers: Hollywood Films in the 1960s
by Rick WorlandSearching For New Frontiers offers film students and general readers a survey of popular movies of the 1960s. The author explores the most important modes of filmmaking in times that were at once hopeful, exhilarating, and daunting. The text combines discussion of American social and political history and Hollywood industry changes with analysis of some of the era’s most expressive movies. The book covers significant genres and evolving thematic trends, highlighting a variety of movies that confronted the era’s major social issues. It notes the stylistic confluence and exchanges between three forms: the traditional studio movie based on the combination of stars and genres, low-budget exploitation movies, and the international art cinema. As the author reveals, this complex period of American filmmaking was neither random nor the product of unique talents working in a vacuum. The filmmakers met head-on with an evolving American social conscience to create a Hollywood cinema of an era defined by events such as the Vietnam War, the rise of the civil rights movement, and the moon landing.
People to Follow: A Gripping Social-Media Thriller
by Olivia WorleyTen influencers. Ten secrets. One dead body. A pacy, addictive thriller perfect for fans of We Were Liars, The Inheritance Games and One Of Us Is Lying.'Agatha Christie meets TikTok . . . a wicked, juicy page-turner' - Alexa Donne, author of Brightly BurningThey're used to being followed. But not like this . . .Ten social media stars think they're about to join the cast of a hot new reality show.But the production crew never shows up, and the influencers find themselves stranded on a deserted Caribbean island with no contact with the outside world - except for messages from the mysterious 'Sponsor', who is threatening to expose their darkest secrets.When one of them winds up dead, things start to get more real than they bargained for . . .With the body count rising, the influencers must figure out who is trying to get them cancelled - like, literally - before their number one follower strikes again.
People to Follow: A Gripping Social-Media Thriller
by Olivia WorleyTen influencers. Ten secrets. One dead body. A pacy, page-turning thriller perfect for fans of We Were Liars, The Inheritance Games and One Of Us Is Lying.'Agatha Christie meets TikTok . . . a wicked, juicy page-turner' - Alexa Donne, author of Brightly BurningThey're used to being followed. But not like this . . . Ten social media stars think they're about to join the cast of a hot new reality show. But the production crew never shows up, and the influencers find themselves stranded on a deserted Caribbean island with no contact with the outside world - except for messages from the mysterious 'Sponsor', who is threatening to expose their darkest secrets. When one of them winds up dead, things start to get more real than they bargained for . . .With the body count rising, the influencers must figure out who is trying to get them cancelled - like, literally - before their number one follower strikes again.
African American Female Leadership in Major Motion Pictures: From Marginalized to Mainstream (Routledge Studies in Media Theory and Practice)
by Tracy L.F. WorleyThis book explores the factors contributing to the under-representation of African American female directors in mainstream cinema leadership. It also unmasks the potential strategies African American female film directors might pursue to reduce this inequity.Author Tracy L. F. Worley draws on research around ethics to conclude that there are specific consequences of the male gaze on women in cinema leadership, especially African American female directors of box office cinema. Combining extensive analysis of ethics and ethical stance relative to the motion picture industry with perspectives from working African American female directors, the text discusses the ethical considerations and historical inequities, including the male gaze, and uses those findings to define how the inequities can be opportunities. The efficacy model for cinematic leadership is presented as a mechanism for viewing obstacles through the lenses of gender, ethnicity, and culture so they become drivers for African American women to achieve success.Ideal for students of directing and filmmaking, as well as aspiring professional filmmakers wishing to gain a better understanding of the industry as it stands today.
The Moscow Art Theatre (Theatre Production Studies)
by Nick WorrallUnprecedented in its comprehensiveness, The Moscow Art Theatre fills a large gap in our knowledge of Stanislavsky and his theatre. Worrall focuses in particular detail on four of The Moscow Art Theatre's best-known productions: * Tolstoy's Tsar Fedor Ioannovich * Gorky's The Lower Depths * Chekov's The Cherry Orchard * Turgenev's A Month in the Country
Anna Halprin (Routledge Performance Practitioners)
by Libby Worth Helen PoynorAnna Halprin traces the life's work of this radical dance-maker, documenting her early career as a modern dancer in the 1940s through to the development of her groundbreaking approach to dance as an accessible and life-enhancing art form. Now revised and reissued, this book: sketches the evolution of the San Francisco Dancers' Workshop, exploring Halprin's connections with the avant-garde theatre, music, visual art and architecture of the 1950s and 60s offers a detailed analysis of Halprin’s work from this period provides an important historical guide to a time when dance was first explored beyond the confines of the theatre and considered as a healing art for individuals and communities. As a first step towards critical understanding, and an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.
Humanism, Drama, and Performance: Unwriting Theatre
by Hana WorthenThis book examines the appropriation of theatre and theatrical performance by ideologies of humanism, in terms that continue to echo across the related disciplines of literary, drama, theatre, and performance history and studies today. From Aristotle onward, theatre has been regulated by three strains of critical poiesis: the literary, segregating theatre and the practices of the spectacular from the humanizing work attributed to the book and to the internality of reading; the dramatic, approving the address of theatrical performance only to the extent that it instrumentalizes literary value; and the theatrical, assimilating performance to the conjunction of literary and liberal values. These values have been used to figure not only the work of theatre, but also the propriety of the audience as a figure for its socializing work, along a privileged dualism from the aestheticized ensemble—harmonizing actor, character, and spectator to the essentialized drama—to the politicized assembly, theatre understood as an agonistic gathering.
Adapting Television and Literature (Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture)
by Blythe Worthy Paul SheehanAdapting Television and Literature is an incisive collection of essays that explores the growing sub-category of television adaptations of literature and poetics. Each chapter questions inflexible notions of film / literature and adaptation / intertext, focusing judiciously on emergent or overlooked media and literary forms. These lines of enquiry embrace texts both within and beyond ‘adaptation proper’, to reveal the complex relationships between literary works, television adaptations, and related dialogues of textual interconnectivity. Adapting Television and Literature proposes, in particular, a ‘re-seeing’ of four genres pivotal to television and its history: caustic comedy, which claims for itself more freedoms than other forms of scripted television; auteurist outlaw drama, an offbeat, niche genre that aligns a fixation on lawbreakers with issues of creative control; young adult reinventions that vitalise this popular, yet under-examined area of television studies; and transcultural exchanges, which highlight adaptations beyond the white, Anglo-American programming that dominates ‘peak TV’. Through these genres, Adapting Television and Literature examines the creative resources of adaptation, plotting future paths for enquiries into television, literature and transmedial storytelling.
Artificial Women: Sex Dolls, Robot Caregivers, and More Facsimile Females
by Julie WoskWhat distinguishes humanity from artificial beings? What do constructed creatures tell us about ourselves? From sex dolls to Siri, talking Barbies to robotic mothers, Artificial Women explores the ways in which today's simulated females—both real and fictional—reflect and expose our own ideas about gender and female identity. Join Julie Wosk as she probes the realm of compliant sex workers, nurturing caretakers, genial servants, and rebellious creations in film, television, literature, art, photography, and current developments in robotics. These modern-day Galateas must embrace their own synthetic nature while also striving for authenticity and autonomy, all the while foregrounding gender stereotypes and changing perceptions of women and their roles. They embody the paradoxes and tensions that continue to arise in our increasingly simulated world, where the lines between the real and the virtual only continue to blur. As these "artificial women" become ever more lifelike, so too do the questions they raise become more provocative, and more illuminating of our own conceptions and conventions. Artificial Women pushes the boundaries of gender, sexuality, and culture studies to consider new digital technologies, artificial intelligences, and burgeoning simulations.
My Fair Ladies
by Julie WoskThe fantasy of a male creator constructing his perfect woman dates back to the Greek myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. Yet as technology has advanced over the past century, the figure of the lifelike manmade woman has become nearly ubiquitous, popping up in everything from Bride of Frankenstein to Weird Science to The Stepford Wives. Now Julie Wosk takes us on a fascinating tour through this bevy of artificial women, revealing the array of cultural fantasies and fears they embody. My Fair Ladies considers how female automatons have been represented as objects of desire in fiction and how "living dolls" have been manufactured as real-world fetish objects. But it also examines the many works in which the "perfect" woman turns out to be artificial--a robot or doll--and thus becomes a source of uncanny horror. Finally, Wosk introduces us to a variety of female artists, writers, and filmmakers--from Cindy Sherman to Shelley Jackson to Zoe Kazan--who have cleverly crafted their own images of simulated women. Anything but dry, My Fair Ladies draws upon Wosk's own experiences as a young female Playboy copywriter and as a child of the "feminine mystique" era to show how images of the artificial woman have loomed large over real women's lives. Lavishly illustrated with film stills, artwork, and vintage advertisements, this book offers a fresh look at familiar myths about gender, technology, and artistic creation.
Post-Cinematic Theatre and Performance
by Piotr WoycickiA cinema without cameras, without actors, without screen frames and without narratives almost seems like an antithetical impossibility of what is usually expected from a cinematic spectacle. This book defines an emergent field of post-cinematic theatre and performance, challenging our assumptions and expectations about theatre and film.
Ecodramaturgies: Theatre, Performance and Climate Change (New Dramaturgies)
by Lisa WoynarskiThis book addresses theatre’s contribution to the way we think about ecology, our relationship to the environment, and what it means to be human in the context of climate change. It offers a detailed study of the ways in which contemporary performance has critiqued and re-imagined everyday ecological relationships, in more just and equitable ways. The broad spectrum of ecologically-oriented theatre and performance included here, largely from the UK, US, Canada, Europe, and Mexico, have problematised, reframed, and upended the pervasive and reductive images of climate change that tend to dominate the ecological imagination. Taking an inclusive approach this book foregrounds marginalised perspectives and the multiple social and political forces that shape climate change and related ecological crises, framing understandings of the earth as home. Recent works by Fevered Sleep, Rimini Protokoll, Violeta Luna, Deke Weaver, Metis Arts, Lucy + Jorge Orta, as well as Indigenous activist movements such as NoDAPL and Idle No More, are described in detail.
Gender Inequality in Screenwriting Work
by Natalie WreyfordThis is the first book to critically examine the recruitment and working practices of screenwriters. Drawing on interviews with screenwriters and those that employ them, Natalie Wreyford provides a deep and detailed understanding of entrenched gender inequality in the UK film industry and answers the question: what is preventing women from working as screenwriters? She considers how socialised recruitment and gendered taste result in exclusion, and uncovers subtle forms of sexism that cause women’s stories and voices to be discounted. Gender Inequality in Screenwriting Work also reveals the hidden labour market of the UK film industry, built on personal connections, homophily and the myth of meritocracy. It is essential reading for students and scholars of gender, creative industries, film and cultural studies, as well as anyone who wants to understand why women remain excluded from many key roles in filmmaking.
Rosie and the Dance of the Dinosaurs
by Betty Ren WrightThe big piano recital is coming up soon, and Rosie feels anything but ready—&“captures the down-to-earth rhythms of suburban life, spiced with humor&” (Kirkus Reviews). Even though Rosie has only nine fingers, she&’s always managed well. Until now. For some reason, she can&’t master the piano solo she&’s been rehearsing for the annual recital. It&’s called &“The Dance of the Dinosaurs,&” and it&’s hard! As the recital draws near, Rosie is desperate. Why does everything seem so much more difficult now? Is it because she misses her father? Since he moved to Milwaukee to take a new job, Rosie&’s been miserable, and her mother has been acting kind of strange. Or is Rosie having trouble because she&’s worried about the burglar who&’s been secretly visiting her house? Then, too, there&’s Mary Jean, the new girl in town. Not only is she rich and pretty, but she plays the piano beautifully. In the weeks before the recital, Rosie fights some hard battles. To her surprise, she discovers that having nine fingers isn&’t such a bad thing after all.
Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer
by Chely WrightChely Wright, singer, songwriter, country music star, writes in this moving, telling memoir about her life and her career; about growing up in America's heartland, the youngest of three children; about barely remembering a time when she didn't know she was different. She writes about her parents, putting down roots in their twenties in the farming town of Wellsville, Kansas, Old Glory flying atop the poles on the town's manicured lawns, and being raised to believe that hard work, honesty, and determination would take her far. She writes of making up her mind at a young age to become a country music star, knowing then that her feelings and crushes on girls were "sinful" and hoping and praying that she would somehow be "fixed. " ("Dear God, please don't let me be gay. I promise not to lie. I promise not to steal. I promise to always believe in you. . . Please take it away. ") We see her, high school homecoming queen, heading out on her own at seventeen and landing a job as a featured vocalist on the Ozark Jubilee (the show that started Brenda Lee, Red Foley, and Porter Wagoner), being cast in Country Music U. S. A. , doing four live shows a day, and - after only a few months in Nashville - her dream coming true, performing on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. . . She describes writing and singing her own songs for producers who'd discovered and recorded the likes of Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, and Toby Keith, who heard in her music something special and signed her to a record contract, releasing her first album and sending her out on the road on her first bus tour. . . She writes of sacrificing all for a shot at success that would come a couple of years later with her first hit single, "Shut Up and Driver". . . her songs (from her fourth album, Single White Female) climbing the Billboard chart for twenty-nine weeks, hitting the #1 spot. . . She writes about the friends she made along the way - Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, and others - writing songs, recording and touring together, some of the friendships developing into romantic attachments that did not end happily. . . Keeping the truth of who she was clutched deep inside, trying to ignore it in a world she longed to be a part of - and now was - a world in which country music stars had never been, could not be, openly gay. . . She writes of the very real prospect of losing everything she'd worked so hard to create. . . doing her best to have a real life - her best not good enough. . . And in the face of everything she did to keep herself afloat, she writes about how the vortex of success and hiding who she was took its toll: her life, a tangled mess she didn't see coming, didn't want to; and, finally, finding the guts to untangle herself from the image of the country music star she'd become, an image steeped in long-standing ideals and notions about who - and what - a country artist is, and what their fans expect them to be. . . "I am a songwriter," she writes. "I am a singer of my songs - and I have a story to tell. As I've traveled this path that has delivered me to where I am today, my monument of thanks, paying honor to God, remains. I will do all I can with what I have been given. . . " Like Meis fearless, inspiring, true.
Dream Weaver: A Children's Picture Book (LyricPop #0)
by Gary WrightGary Wright's hit song is reimagined as a fantastical picture book to delight dreamers of all ages. "Oo-hoo dream weaver I believe you can get me through the night Oo-hoo dream weaver I beli
Dream Weaver: A Memoir; Music, Meditation, and My Friendship with George Harrison
by Gary WrightMusic legend Gary Wright reflects on his professional collaboration, friendship, and spiritual journey with "quiet Beatle" George Harrison. Best known for his multiplatinum hits "Dream Weaver" and "Love is Alive," Gary Wright came to prominence as a singer and songwriter during the golden age of rock in the 1970s. What is not as well known to the public, however, is Wright's spiritual side. At the heart of this memoir is the spiritual conversion and journey that Wright experienced alongside his close friend George Harrison. Until Harrison's death in 2001, the two spent decades together writing songs, eating Indian fare, talking philosophy, and gardening. In addition to featuring lyrics to a never-released recording of a song cowritten by Wright and George Harrison in 1971, titled "To Discover Yourself," this memoir includes a cache of never-before-seen photos. Also available is a deluxe e-book featuring an audio recording of "To Discover Yourself."
Screenwriting is Storytelling: Creating an A-List Screenplay that Sells!
by Kate Wright Arthur HillerWhile most screenwriting books focus on format and structure, Kate Wright explains how to put story at the center of a screenplay. <P><P>A compelling story, complete with intriguing characters and situations created with these screenwriting tricks of the trade can become a box office blockbuster film. Screenwriters will learn: - Developing themes within the plot - Using structure to define the story - Creating memorable characters - Establishing moral dilemmas and conflicts - Achieving classic elements of storytelling in a three-act dramatic structure - Mastering different genres .
Sensory Writing for Stage and Screen: An Etude-Based Process of Exploration
by Michael WrightThrough a series of systematic explorations across a wide range of scenarios, Sensory Writing for Stage and Screen offers script writers exercises for attending to their own sensory experiences as a means to exploring the sensory experiences—and worlds—of the characters they create.