Word: witness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Francisco, practicing law, he took sum of his assets: a background in communications and language; solid perception that a stuffed-shirt world could stand to lighten up; natural wit; a smile that could sell used snuff. Then he took to the streets...
...present form, Rice's story has holes to plug and a narrative in need of streamlining, but it offers him a contemporary setting for his favorite theme: the pernicious lure of stardom, whether biblical, political or intellectual. His lyrics mix roguish wit (Bangkok contains the unlikely couplet "Tea, girls--warm and sweet--warm, sweet/ Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite") with the blistering bitterness of Evita. Andersson and Ulvaeus' score ransacks melodic styles from plainsong to Puccini to Gilbert and Sullivan to Richard Rodgers to Phil Spector to hip-hop, in a rock- symphonic synthesis ripe with...
...promising subject has been turned into plodding and uninspired drama, all furrowed brows and discordant cellos. Another British multiparter, The Old Men at the Zoo, adapted from Angus Wilson's satirical novel about an impending nuclear disaster, is a musty spoof of British politics and manners whose wit has not survived the transatlantic crossing...
...poetry, or else. A reasonable request. "Can't you talk of something else besides the weather, vegetables, and domestic animals?" Nicholas demands, as he proceeds to undertake this task with twice as much time as Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy but with only half the wit. Luckily for him, the Devil (Bill Saunders) intervenes at just the right moment, stepping out inexplicably from the cupboard. (Has he been at those Pop-tarts again?) Through various ruses, he manages to finagle Flatford into signing away his soul in return for a large number of material goods to be provided before...
...creation of two University of Chicago alumni, Sahlins and Paul Sills. Earlier, Sills had co-founded the Compass Players, where Mike Nichols and Elaine May first scored their sharp points. Just as the Compass had been, Second City was to be a showcase for performers whose native wit had been quickened by training in the methods of improvisation. Before long, it had gained a reputation as a small pond that spawned big fish, and as veterans took off for Broadway or Hollywood, eager newcomers arrived to take their places. "Everyone will tell you we all loved one another," snorts Rivers...