#River Main Theatre Company

[destinyc1020]

This is going to be a sunday confession, but a lot of anons need to learn to ignore or stay silent if you can't add anything intelligent to the conversation. This is regarding that last anon of your who blamed Francessa for speaking her truth and assuming it was Tom shade lol. Some of you guys lack serious reading comprehension cause coming to that conclusion was dumb asf sorry.

The problem was that Francessa was interviewed by a theatre magazine, the stage, about her most recent nomination and her experience doing the show for 4 months whilst dealing with her mental health due to racial abuse online and death threats sent to the theatre.

"Amewudah-Rivers said the harassment also affected her family and friends, as well as the show’s cast, crew and producers at the Jamie Lloyd Company, who condemned the initial abuse in a statement on social media at the time and said further harassment would be reported."

This was a quote from that interview that so many of you ignored because most of you guys just skim articles. Where is she blaming Tom solely? She never mentioned his name.

She has every right to speak on that because it's a failure of the British theatre industry as that's where her most prominent work is noticed. She's not a film actor or a tv actor. She's an Oxford graduate who does music and acts. She's multitalend and still was dealing with the ramifications of that whole ordeal. She says that the pastoral care for her and potential future black actors isn't good enough. She's right.

The problem with stans sometimes is they can't handle criticism of their fav cause they take it personally. This isn't black or white. Critique on Tom doesn't mean he's a bad person, but considering that the main reason her casting received so much backlash was indirectly Tom's fame fault. It's like that time ppl were critiquing Z's not working with black directors or male actors. Does that mean ppl hate her? No.

"He shut down inquiries about Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, who has been subjected to what he calls “deplorable” attacks online decrying her casting as Juliet opposite Tom Holland’s Romeo. “Everyone is focusing on the work. That’s how you win in the face of the people who hate. You focus on the work and I can’t wait for the world to see this exceptional cast and the amazing performance that Francesca is creating. The mood in the room is creative and compelling,”"

This was from April at an awards show that Jamie was present for his last show with Nicole. He, as the head of his company, spoke to the press and pretty much explained that the cast were to put all the hate into the work as opposed to speaking out. As a man, that's a typical response to put it all in the work. However, I don't think he realised that ppl were angry at the cast, specifically Tom, for staying silent. His silence was different because he spoke in Francessa's Vogue interview and still posted his charities. I think ppl expected Tom to denounce the hate in a performative way, but as we've seen, even with ppl calling him a 30+ washed-up actor, he never speaks up against hate. That's his conscious choice to make, but morally, ppl have their right to not agree with that mentality. It's a very British thing to do icl, to keep calm and carry on.

This is bigger than Francesca, so many black women, dark skinned specifically, that don't fit the standard that Hollywood pits out, are subjected to so much hate. Not only just black, Simone Ashley of Bridgerton received so much hate as well when she was cast. It's a failure of the companies that cast them for not even thinking of the possibilities that racism is so rampant, especially these past few years, and adding that Elon allows such bigotry on his app, it's beyond ppl saying Tom is a coward, I'm sorry. Of course, I didn't like commentary from ppl who already have biases against Tom or even from ppl whondknt even know Francessa's name or have even seen the play, but ppl are allowed to speak. I just hope it leads to bigger things for her.

Okay, rant over!!!!

**You might want to take a seat because this is going to be long**

Thank you, Anon for your thoughts and feelings on the whole Francesca article. 😔

I think your thoughts were genuine, and balanced, and showed the bigger picture in what is going on.

I totally agree with you too that sometimes, "speaking out" just isn't really smthg that Tom does. Like you said, he doesn't even respond when people are giving him hate or are bashing him online. (Which is probably smart) He just lets his work speak for itself! 🤷🏾‍♀️

I can understand the frustration however by fans who wanted Tom, or, more specifically, Jamie's Theater company to do more in protecting Fran. I think I told myself that it didn't matter whether anyone was publicly defending Fran, as long as SHE felt happy and supported by the cast behind the scenes, that this was all that really mattered. I think we all told ourselves that she was being upbuilt and protected during this whole entire process.... So, to hear her say otherwise kind of paints a very different picture of what her experience may have been during this play. And it makes me sad. 😔

I now think back to anons in my inbox making a big deal about her and Tom not hugging each other anymore after more and more shows, and at the time, I just brushed it aside, but now I wonder. 🤔

I'm now looking back as well to how many "sick days" she took, and how many times she needed her understudy to step in for her, and after reading her interview, I'm now strongly suspecting that she wasn't really physically "sick" during those times. I'm thinking those were times when she mentally and emotionally just couldn't handle going out there on stage another day, another night.... 😢

It really hurts my heart that while the play was probably something Tom thoroughly enjoyed doing, and will no doubt boost his career, his costar, on the other hand, was suffering so much. 😔

At the same time, I don't think it was Tom's fault at all. Yes, she probably received a lot of hate because Tom is very popular, and so the play garnered a LOT of attention. But at the same time, he was just an actor who was cast in the lead role. I don't think ANY of them suspected that she would get so much hate.

I also (sad to say) don't feel that it was JUST because Francesca is Black that she was subjected to so much hate. Don't get me wrong, it was part of the Venn Diagram of reasons, but I don't think it was the ONLY reason.

I feel that colorism played a role, and most importantly, LOOKISM.

I feel that she also received hate because she didn't fit the "look" or level of attractiveness on the attractiveness scale that some (even some Black people 🥴) felt she should have had playing someone like Juliet.

As we've noted, Francesca isn't the first Black actress to play Juliet on the stage opposite a White male counterpart. Condola Rashad (Phylicia Rashad's daughter) played opposite Orlando Bloom in the role years ago. While I'm sure she also had her fair share of hate, I'm not sure it got to this level that Francesca had.

My heart goes out to Fran. It really does. 😔 I do hope that when our Black actresses, or even our Black male actors, are cast in roles, the fellow cast members and director will rally around to protect them.

Actor John Boyega has repeatedly talked about the racist hate that he received while filming the "Star Wars" franchise films, and he absolutely did not feel like he was protected either. 😔 John has always been very vocal about LucasFilms and the studios and the hate he received for playing Finn by racist SW fanboys. He also admits to being upset with how his character arc was basically relegated to a lesser role in the franchise when it had so much promise.

He also admitted, though, how seeing Ewan McGregor publicly stand up for his costar Moses Ingram against the online racist abuse she was receiving really touched his heart.

So, sometimes, your costars publicly standing up for you CAN help them up at least feel supported. It won't change how racists feel, but like I said before, words have power.

I'm not sure what will happen in the future, but I do hope that Tom looks back on this experience and on Fran's words and reflects about how he might handle this situation should it ever occur again. I also hope that this experience will help open the door for more honest conversations about how we can protect our poc actors and actresses in the theater and ET/film industry after they have been cast in prominent roles with racist fanbases. 🫤

As we've seen, this is not even JUST a Black issue. It seems that several non-white actors can be subjected to racist hate depending on the fanbase or franchise. 😔

Like you mentioned, this is almost like the same conversation we had about Z working with "Black actors" in Hollywood. Nobody is hating on her for not doing so. We as fans just have our own thoughts and opinions. 🤷🏾‍♀️ We still love Z regardless.

Just like if fans honestly feel that Tom should have spoken out in public support for Fran, that doesn't mean fans hate him. It's just a feeling that fans have. You can still love your fave but just wish that they had handled a situation a different way. Feeling sorry for Fran doesn't negate your Tom Fan Status. You can still be a fan of someone, yet be disappointed in their actions. Just like you can love your family member, spouse, etc, but just wish they made better decisions in life.

I personally don't know if it would have just made the situation worse if Tom spoke out tbh (more coverage in the media, more time spent talking about the issue), but if he HAD spoken out, I wouldn't have felt the least bit upset by it! 😊

Silly me, I thought that the hate had dissipated after the play started, so to hear from Fran that it never went away, and she was receiving racist letters and death threats being sent to the theater just breaks my heart. 💔😭

She did not deserve that at all.

It might also be good that she's putting this out there, because so many times, people assume that Europeans are above racism, but this just shows that it does still exist, and that there might need to be more open conversations about this.

Okay, rant over.

[olympic-paris]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more …

August 15

15 Août *Assomption * Assumption

1857 – Montague Druitt (d.1888) was one of the suspects in the Jack the Ripper murders that took place in London between August and November 1888.

He came from an upper-middle class English background, and studied at Winchester College and the University of Oxford. After graduating, he was employed as an assistant schoolmaster at a boarding school and pursued a parallel career in the law, qualifying as a barrister in 1885. His main interest outside work was cricket, which he played with many leading players of the time, including Lord Harris and Francis Lacey.

In November 1888, he lost his post at the school for reasons that remain unclear. One newspaper, quoting his brother William's inquest testimony, reported that he was dismissed because he "had got into serious trouble", but did not specify any further. It has been speculated that he had homosexual tendencies which caused him to molest his students.

Others, however, think that there is no evidence of homosexuality and that his suicide was instead precipitated by an hereditary psychiatric illness. His mother suffered from depression and was institutionalised from July 1888. She died in an asylum in Chiswick in 1890.[ His maternal grandmother committed suicide while insane, his aunt attempted suicide., and his eldest sister committed suicide in old age. A note written by Druitt and addressed to his brother William, who was a solicitor in Bournemouth, was found in Druitt's room in Blackheath. It read, "Since Friday I felt that I was going to be like mother, and the best thing for me was to die."

One month after he disappeared his body was discovered drowned in the River Thames. His death, which was found to be a suicide, roughly coincided with the end of the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. Private suggestions in the 1890s that he could have committed the crimes became public knowledge in the 1960s, and led to the publication of books that proposed him as the murderer. The evidence against him was entirely circumstantial, however, and many writers from the 1970s onwards have rejected him as a likely suspect.

1920 – Officials at the Boise City Traction Company catch two men having sex in a restroom, having installed a spy hole from above. The men are convicted of sodomy. Officials had tried to cover the glory hole with wood or metal, but the coverings always 'came off.'

1921 – A bill in England to outlaw 'gross indecency' between women is defeated in the House of Lords on the ground that women do not know of such things. The sponsor of the bill makes the understatement of the year: '...it is a well-known fact that any woman who indulges in this vice will have nothing whatever to do with the other sex.'

1927 – John Cranko (d.1973) was a choreographer with the Sadler's Wells Ballet (which later became the Royal Ballet) and the Stuttgart Ballet. Born in Rustenburg in the former province of Transvaal, South Africa, as a child, he would put on puppet shows as a creative outlet. Cranko received his early ballet training in Cape Town under leading South African ballet teacher and director, Dulcie Howes, of the University of Cape Town Ballet School.

John Cranko choreographed the comic ballet Pineapple Poll, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas, in collaboration with Sir Charles Mackerras, for a British Festival, following the expiration of the copyright on Arthur Sullivan's music in 1950.

Estranged from his mother his parent's acrimonious divorce, Cranko's father, Herbert, a balletomane, spent a great deal of time with him in London.

John Cranko wrote and developed a musical revue Cranks, which opened in London in December 1955, moved to a West End theatre the following March, and ran for over 220 performances. With music by John Addison, its cast-of-four featured singers Anthony Newley, Annie Ross, Hugh Bryant and dancer Gilbert Vernon then transferred to New York. Cranko followed the format of Cranks with a new revue New Cranks opening at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in 1960 with music by David Lee and a stellar cast including Gillian Lynne, Carole Shelley and Bernard Cribbins, but it failed to have the same impact.

John Cranko took the moribund tradition of the full-length narrative ballet and, with dazzling productions of Eugene Onegin and Romeo and Juliet, gave it new life. And he brought, to a world of dying swans and sighing swains, a puckish humour that found expression in comic ballets like Pineapple Poll and Jeu de cartes.

But his energy and humour were not without a darker side. A biography by John Percival paints a portrait of a man capable of great friendship but unable to sustain the stable romantic relationship he felt essential to his well-being. The whirl of one-night stands and brief homosexual affairs seems not to have been enough, and his unhappiness was manifested in bouts of drinking and depression.

Cranko choked to death after suffering an allergic reaction to a sleeping pill he took during a transatlantic flight. His mother, Grace, who was divorced from Herbert and lived in what was then Rhodesia, heard about his death from a radio broadcast.

1963 – Waide Aaron Riddle was born in Kingsville, Texas. Raised in Houston, Texas, Riddle eventually moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a barber and in various jobs in the entertainment industry. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Riddle began writing poetry and short stories. His first poem, "Two Men Kissing," won the National Author's Registry Honorable Mention in 1996 and the Registry's President's Award in 1997.

Riddle went on to self-publish two books of poetry: All-American Texan, in 1999, and The Chocolate Man: A Children's Horror Tale, in 2002. In addition, his short stories and articles have been published in anthologies and magazines, and he has won a number of awards in poetry competitions.

All-American Texan is a collection of Gay poetry with cross-over appeal to a broader audience. Included are several award winning poems and works displayed in the Simon Weisenthal Center Library/Museum of Tolorance, and the University of Southern California Gay and Lesbian Archives and Library.

1964 – Michael Berresse is an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and director.

Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, but reared primarily in Joliet, Illinois, Berresse's father was a chemical engineer and his mother is the artist and author Cynthia Berresse Ploski. A nationally competitive gymnast and diver from age eight, he went straight from high school to a stint performing in Walt Disney theme parks in Orlando and Tokyo before moving to New York and making his Broadway debut in the 1990 revival of Fiddler on the Roof. In 1992, he appeared on Star Search in a dance group called "The Boys Back East", winning the title of Best New Dance Group and a shared prize of $100,000.

He has appeared on Broadway in many shows.

Berresse was the director and choreographer of the Broadway musical, [title of show] for which he was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award and a recipient of off-Broadway's Obie Award and which starred and was co-created by his partner Jeff Bowen.

He made his film debut as the Stage Manager in Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, played an assassin in State of Play, starring Russell Crowe, and recently appeared in The Bourne Legacy, with Jeremy Renner.

1977 – Stefan Maysztowicz creates the micro-nation of the Gay Parallel Republic (GPR) on 308 square miles near Quebec, centered on the city of Sherbrooke.

2013 – Sweden issues the first family-based visa for a same-sex partner’s spouse. It is a direct result of the June 2013 decision of the US Supreme Court to expand recognition of same-sex marriage to the federal level. This allows the husband of Ambassador Mark Bezezinski to now travel to the United States as a fully recognized spouse.  Brzezinski is an American lawyer who served as the United States Ambassador to Sweden from 2011–2015.

[stephensmithuk]

The Cardboard Box

This was originally published in 1893. It was however pulled from Memoirs apparently at Doyle's request, originally appearing in just the first US edition and did not reappear until much later in His Last Bow.

Croydon is a large town less than ten miles south of Charing Cross. Historically part of Surrey and a borough in its own right in 1889, it was incorporated in Greater London in 1965.

It would later be home to the UK's sole international airport in the interwar years, which closed in 1959. The terminal building survives and there is a museum on site.

Croydon is today a major transport hub, home to the only tram network in Southern England, which was opened in 2000 using a combination of old railway lines and new street tracks. East Croydon is the main station on the London to Brighton Line, with fast electric trains to Victoria.

It has a theatre - no Shakespeare currently on though, sadly.

Croydon was within the Metropolitan Police District, so Lestrade is within this jurisdiction.

ACD would later run for Parliament as a Liberal Unionist, parting company from the Liberal Party because of his opposition to Irish Home Rule.

Wallington is also now in London and was already its own parish at this time.

The temperance movement was pretty big across the Protestant world by this point. Britain never went as far as the US in prohibition though - despite strong support in the Liberal Party, the Conservatives were resolutely opposed and the best they could do was high taxation, along with regulated opening hours that were introduced when the First World War began.

We get Lestrade's first initial - G.

Foolscap is an 8x13-inch sized paper that was commonly used in Europe and the British Commonwealth before A4 took over.

Shadwell is an area in the East End of London, on the river and then part of the docks.

The Albert Dock is probably the Royal Albert Dock. This closed in 1981 and an attempt to turn the area into a business park in 2013 has just resulted in an area that is good for filming zombie movies: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/jul/20/empty-promise-the-fantasy-city-within-a-city-that-turned-into-a-ghost-town

[cityoftomorrow]

LOCATION : NEW TROY .

I . HISTORY the beating heart of metropolis . one of six boroughs of metropolis , serving as the central business district . established in 1775 , situated in the state of delaware . new troy is home to many established businesses and technology companies . new troy is now a huge competitor for one of most recognised cities on east coast including gotham city and new york city .

ii . NOTABLE BUSINESSES new troy is home to an up and coming technology centre of science and industry . businesses include : lexcorp , wayne financial , wayne technologies , kord industries , s.t.a.r. labs , magnus labs , goldstar inc. , hamilton technologies , stagg enterprises , project cadmus , ivo labs & metropolis financial .

iii . MEDIA OUTLETS metropolis is home to key media organisations and has the most respected publications in the world. media includes : black beacon , bridwell communications , daily planet , daily star , galaxy communications , metropolitan.com , metropolis daily news , metropolis eagle , metropolis 8 news , metropolis today , newstime magazine , the whisper , wgbs-tv , wjab-tv , wlex-tv , wmet-tv & ubc .

iv . DISTRICTS new troy is divided into eight districts , all promising something different that will attract tourists from all over : arts district , chinatown , lower east side , midtown , hob's bay dockyard , suicide slum , upper east side & upper west side .

v . LANDMARKS new troy is unlike any other city , interesting and modern architecture and home to superman . new troy boasts landmarks which tourists flock to every year such as : avenue of tomorrow , city hall , heroes park formerly known as centennial park , lena luthor science explorarium , lexcorp plaza including the lexcorp tower with an observation deck , metro palace theatre , metropolis museum of art , superman monument & the daily planet globe .

vi . WATERWAYS new troy is surrounded by different waters , home to some interesting and stunning marine life . with gotham city across the bay , new troy has a stunning view of the seas and is the beating heart of the east coast trade route which increases metropolis' economy each year . waterways include : hob's bay , metropolis bay & the west river .

vii . BRIDGES new troy sits on an island , but it's not alone . connected by a series of beautifully built bridges which connects the centre of metropolis to other boroughs of the city . these include : bakerline bridge , clinton bridge & queensland bridge .

viii . SPORTS metropolis is home to many sports teams who have a global fanbase . new troy is home to metropolis' baseball , football and basketball sports teams . baseball : metropolis blue stockings , metropolis meteors ( national league ) , metropolis metros , metropolis mets , metropolis monarchs & metropolis twins . basketball : metropolis comets , metropolis generals & metropolis spartans . football : metropolis spartans , metropolis meteors ( national conference ) , metropolis metros , metropolis sharks , metropolis tigers & metropolis university bulldogs .

ix . HOME OF HEROES the main attraction to the city of metropolis is the variety of heroes that live amongst us . new troy boasts a roster of exciting and brave heroes including : agent liberty , argent , atom , black lightning , booster gold , gangbuster , guardian , joto , prysm , risk , superboy , supergirl , superman & thorn .

x . NOTABLE RESIDENTS it's not just the heroes that have an impact on the city . new troy also boasts some popular residents that you may know from various news outlets or their award winning works : anthony gallo , bill henderson , bobby "the don" gazzo , cat grant , clark kent , dirk davis , dan turpin , emil hamilton , frank jackson , gretchen kelley , henry ballard , hope taya , jenny jurwich , jimmy olsen , joshua coyle , justin moore , lana lang , lex luthor , lola barnett , lois lane , loren jupiter , lucy lane , maggie sawyer , mercy graves , morgan edge , oscar asherman , perry white , ron troupe , steve lombard , sydney happersen , toby raynes , trixie collins & vincent edge .

[sagnaevi]

The former "archon" took deep breaths as she fidgets with the bag in her hands. She knew that making amends and reconnecting was a two way street and he had been so willing and patient when it came to her. Furina believed it was her turn to try and connect.

And that was the main reason she was here, to try and rekindle the relationship they had...she felt like after everything went down he wouldn't want to see her but after the events at lantern right-

With as much courage she could muster she knocked on his door before stepping inside.

" G-greetings my beloved chief justice! I hope you don't mind me seeking out your company !"

Her voice while enthusiastic wasn't as loud as before, nor was it as boisterous. She couldn't find herself willing to give out that much energy today even if she wished for company.

✧ ┊ ❛ ⸺ 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬 ❮ always accepting! ❯ / @doloniaxdiegesis

Like the flowing river, time passes by - with ease. It is of no consequence for the eternal, and yet - time has never felt so... Dreadful. It could not be shaken; the visage of her execution. A disturbing image, bloody... And so increndibly tragic. All of those who were born with original sin, has been forgiven - but the one person his couldn't forgive was, himself. How could he not have seen it, the heartbreaking torture which Furina had been suffering for all these years? Her grandeous theatre, her sorrowful finale - shed an exposing light unto Neuvillette; unveiling something uncomfortable, painful even - that he did not understand humanity. As the Iudex, as Chief Justice, should he not be able to discern truth from falsehood? Never had he felt more separate from the people he wished to understand. Oh, Furina... Forgive me. I should have seen it.

Seated by his desk, a large pile of paperwork gathered dust as he stared at a select few reports. Given it's dull nature, it did little to clear his head, nor fill it with something other than that death sentence... The repeat of Focalors demise, it played on repeat - whenever his duty as Chief Justice did not distract from that invasive memory; bringing forth a solemn rain unto Fontaine.

The knocking on his door, familiar in sound; a saviour in disguise. Prismatic eyes blinked - and his deep thoughts dispersed, for now, together with the dreary rain outside. Yet another thing to thank Furina for. ❛ Hm? Ah, come in. ❜

Setting the reports aside, Neuvillette cleared his throat and shifted his focus unto her, fully - without any grievances. He is surprised by her visit, however, for what could his company give her? While he felt an inherent fondness for the former archon, he doubted he was of any particular interest to her - especially not now, when her grand opera had closed it's curtains. A gentle smile is given her way, nonetheless. ❛ Not at all, Lady Furina. How can I be of help? ❜

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.16 (before 1910)

632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran). 1407 – Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies. 1487 – Battle of Stoke Field: King Henry VII of England defeats the leaders of a Yorkist rebellion in the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses. 1632 – The Plymouth Company granted a land patent to Thomas Purchase, the first settler of Pejepscot, Maine, settling at the site of Fort Andross. 1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date). 1746 – War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza. 1755 – French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians. 1760 – French and Indian War: Robert Rogers and his Rangers surprise French held Fort Sainte Thérèse on the Richelieu River near Lake Champlain. The fort is raided and burned. 1779 – American Revolutionary War: Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins. 1795 – French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis's Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later. 1811 – Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company's ship Tonquin, intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers. 1815 – Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo. 1819 – A major earthquake strikes the Kutch district of western India, killing over 1,543 people and raising a 6-metre-high (20 ft), 6-kilometre-wide (3.7 mi), ridge, extending for at least 80 kilometres (50 mi), that was known as the Allah Bund ("Dam of God"). 1824 – A meeting at Old Slaughter's coffee house in London leads to the formation of what is now the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). 1836 – The formation of the London Working Men's Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement. 1846 – The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy. 1858 – Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois. 1871 – The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology). 1883 – The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children. 1884 – The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson's "Switchback Railway", opens in New York's Coney Island amusement park. 1897 – A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later. 1903 – The Ford Motor Company is incorporated. 1903 – Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east–west navigation of the Northwest Passage. 1904 – Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland. 1904 – Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called "Bloomsday".

[wausaupilot]

Theatre troupe brings 'Noses Off' to Willow Springs

Shows will be performed April 11, 12 and 13.

TOWN OF MAINE – River & Woods Theatre Co. will bring the hilarious, new play, “Noses Off” by Don Zolidis, to Willow Springs Garden in April. Shows will be performed at 7 p.m. April 11, 12 and 13 at 5480 Hillcrest Drive, town of Maine. An amateur theater company’s whodunit hurtles towards opening night – but the real mystery is whether the cast and crew can get this disaster to curtain call. It…

[ashtonderoy]

Last Summer At Bluefish Cove review.

Written by Ashton Deroy Register on Eventbrite Okay so in real life. I am the nosy kind of friend when my contacts actually post their own Content on Social Media. Not a bunch of recycled memes. I saw my friend Candace Meeks was in a play January 11th 2023 at River & Main Theatre Company . Basically it was an affordable play 6 minutes from my house. That is why I went. Above is an embeded…

[goldenmirroraffair]

Chapter 2: Stressed

‘Can’t I make it up to you somehow?’ the annoying man asks.

‘No just stay away from me’. I respond in a snarky tone. In comparison to earlier the halls are almost empty. It’s calming in a way. There’s one group of students with an older teacher. They seem a bit younger than me. Then suddenly in the middle of the group I see Jurinji, my little brother.

‘Hello brother. Have you seen the nurse’s office by chance?’ I ask him.

He looks at me with an annoyed glance and responds with ‘I, in fact haven’t seen it. I would like to direct you to the map at the main hall. Now could you please not bother my studies?’

‘Of course. Thank you’ I say as I make my exit.

‘Jesus fucking Christ that’s your brother. Are you all robots?’

‘Excuse me?’ Jurinji stares daggers at Axel.

‘Look I’m hosting a party this evening at the Typhoon. Maybe that will get y’all to calm down and socialise a bit? Maybe get to know people? First drink is free to make up for the ball thing, Ryo.’

I pull him away from the group into the direction of the main hall. ‘If you continue talking like this, you’re going to be found in a river’.

‘Haha good one’ there’s a silence. ‘Well, the offer still stands’

‘Not interested.’ I say as I let go of his hand and walk to the map. Apparently, the nurse’s office is just around the corner of my classroom. Great. ‘My head doesn’t even hurt anymore’.

‘Oh, that’s amazing! Guess I’m not the headache you make me out to be’.

‘Shut up’ He better not tease me like this again. I exhale in frustration.

We get back to class. A few more people introduce themselves. Apparently, they forgot me though. It’s not like I need an introduction anyways. The only interesting thing is that I signed up as one of the violinists of the school Orchestra and due to that am in the music class anyways.

‘As you can see all of your classes have something in common.’ He waits for a bit but nobody responds. ‘They are all artistic’, the weirdly friendly teacher explains. ‘That’s why you’re in what we call the art branch. There’s also the science branch, the language branch and the social branch.’ Since my younger brother is in the chemistry class, he’s probably in the science branch. ‘If you compare your timetables, you’ll notice that they are the same except for a few lessons. Those are the class specific lessons. We meet here for classes like Math, History or English while classes like theatre, painting or orchestra happen all at the same time in their specific classrooms. Today I wanna learn about what you did in math class last year.’ Even though I’m sometimes questioning how the teacher got his teaching degree he tries to be relatable to the students which is a nice trait to have.

After the first three lessons it’s finally time for break. Normal students would either 1 meet up with their friends (I haven’t made any) or family (me and Jurinji don’t have the relationship to just hang out) or 2 be on their phones (mother restricts my phone access so that my phone is not accessible during school times) meaning it’s time to train playing the violin. Earlier when I checked where the nurse’s office is I also saw the way to the stage.

Arriving at the stage I feel a strange feeling of familiarity. I performed at events hosted by fathers company and on stages that would help me build a platform for future careers. The floor is very clean and the echo of me clearing my throat is louder than expected. I pull out my violin and start playing the Chaconne from Sonata No. 2 in D minor. It was one of father’s favourite pieces. At this point playing the song is almost muscle memory to me. I close my eyes and let the bow guide the music from the stage to the front seats over the balcony and back to the stage. As comes to an end it’s so calm, I could almost forget all about that stupid punk jerk.

‘Hey!’ Oh no. I look to the entrance but it’s only Chayenne and the other Ariana Grande perfume girls. ‘That was beautiful!’ the girl whose future lies in makeup admits.

‘Thank you very much’.

‘How long have you been playing the violin?’ A girl with yellow eyeshadow asks me.

‘My first ever memory was getting my first violin so almost my entire life’.

‘That’s so cool! Was Swan into music early on as well?’ the same girl asks. That question just sent a shiver through my spine.

‘Shut the fuck up Christina’, Chayenne says, ‘I’m so sorry about her.’

‘I don’t plan on answering any questions about my older brother any time soon. You must excuse me as I’ll be taking my leave now’ I express as I’m packing up my instrument and storming off.

When I exit the stage, I see Axel adjusting his position to lean against the door frame. ‘Hey’ he says as I try to walk past him. He pulls my sleeve ‘Why are you so cold to me? I apologized.’

‘Why are you so obsessed with me? And no, you didn’t apologize.’

‘I said I’m offering you the first drink for free’.

‘So? My family is rich, and I don’t even drink.’

‘Oh yeah… Uhh I’m sorry’.

‘Whatever.’ I storm off yet again. Is this how school will be for the rest of the year? Every positive thing that happened was followed up by a bad experience.

I go back into the classroom and the only person present is Emma Singer.

‘Hi Ryoma’.

‘Hello, Emma’ I sit down and pull out my notebook to review the classes of today.

‘You seem stressed’.

‘I apologize’ I had enough social interactions for today. The thing I want to do right now is go back home, sleep and pray that I never wake up.

‘No need for apologies.’ She puts on Chapstick. ‘That Axwell guy is such a brute, right?’

‘I think his name is Axel, but yes. He sure is… a lot’.

‘Oh right… Also, maybe you wanna stay away from that Chayenne chick.’ I give her a concerned look ‘no it’s not like I’m racist. We know each other and, as you can see, we don’t really talk’. She adjusts her way too big Gucci Glasses.

‘I see’ I honestly don’t really care. She probably wants to tell me her entire life story and then pinpoint her out as the villain or something. But the bell rings to interrupt her and students are storming into the class. I don’t have Orchestra today which makes me kind of sad. I really want to know what that will be like. The girl with the yellow eyeshadow who I earlier learned is called Christina, comes over to me.

‘Sorry about earlier by the way. I didn’t want to mention… him.’ I look behind her and the girl with green eyeshadow is pointing her phone camera in my direction under the table. ‘What happened anyways?’

I smile ‘I must apologize but I can’t give you that information. I think class is starting. You maybe want to get back to your desk’.

‘Oh yeah… umm totally’ she goes back. The stinging smell or Ariana in my nose.

Later in the last lesson for today we get to vote the class presidents.

‘So, we need two representatives.’ Mr. Parker explains. ‘Due to the odd situation, we are in I’d like for them to be one student of the main building and one student of the second building.’

Signing myself up as an option might be a good move to boost my reputation. ‘I’d like to sign up as an option’. A few students do the same. Axel and Chayenne both run for the position as well. But they won’t be competition to me, since I’d be in the main house. And we are doing a vote per house. Emma doesn’t even try. She probably noticed she doesn’t have the best reputation and wanted to spare herself the embarrassment. Me and some other male student from the painting class are the top candidates. But of course, I come out on top. I feel like both Chayenne and Axel wouldn’t be good partners for me. But if any of them win I’d want it to be Chayenne. It all comes down to the last vote and as the air thickens the last vote goes to...

Chayenne. I let out a sigh of relieve.

‘Congratulations to Ryoma and Chayenne!’ Our teacher exclaims.

‘Speech! Speech! Speech!’ the students shout. I’m not really too good at speeches so I let the other one go first.

‘Thank you very much! I’m glad to be your class rep 2 years in a row! And with this handsome fella next to me this school year is gonna be in good hands’. That was an okay speech. I didn’t know she already used to be class rep. I’m guessing it was her and Axel. However the handsome part could've been cut.

‘I’d like to thank you for the vo-‘ I start my speech as I get cut off.

‘Oh, sorry wait it looks like the vote was rigged. There were more votes than people.’

What. ‘Ryoma you’re fine’ (thank God) ‘but it looks like Chayennes group put in more votes.’

‘WHAT? Why do you think it was us?’ The makeup-enthusiast shouts.

‘There are six votes written in glitter pen. You three are the only ones using glitter

pens.’

‘Oh.’

‘That means that the title of class rep officially goes to Axel!’ What???

My apparently fellow class president goes up to give a speech. He stands next to me and ruffles my hair. ‘Looks like we did it Fuzzball’.

‘Don’t fucking touch my hair.’ My hair is the most well-kept part of my body. Even though I keep it in a bun it goes down below my shoulder blades. ‘I don’t want to be your partner as a class representative, your friend or your “Fuzzball”. Please get away from me!’ I snap.

‘Holy shit’ I look away from Axels startled expression and see the girl with green eyeshadow holding her phone as she seems to be filming me. Fuck.

The bell rings to break the tension. ‘Well see you tomorrow, class. Bye’, Mr. Parker

says as he leaves the classroom. I pack my things as I pray that the girl forgot to hit record or something.

Since my school day is over my phone works again too. Next to the usual Instagram DMs I have one unread message. “Hello, Mr. Felch. Your mother has an emergency meeting with the police. Due to the situation, I can’t pick you and your brother up from school until an unknown point in time. I apologize for the inconvenience’ Great. I’m not surprised by the police thing because of the whole thing with my dad.

‘Do you want me to drive you home with my bike?’ I jump. Of course, it’s Axel. Did he just look at my phone? Well, it’s not like I expected manners.

‘What part of get away from me did you not understand?’ He appears everywhere like a ghost or the Gorilla from the Gorilla glue ads.

‘Listen, I behaved like an ass’.

‘True’

‘But I wanna make it up to you somehow. I can drive you and your brother if you want to’. Bike? I’d die if I got onto something like that. And what if someone sees me…

‘The only way you can make it up to me is by making sure that girl doesn’t post the video of me… you know’.

‘Shouting at me? Yeah. I’ll make sure Tracy doesn’t post it.’ So, the group is made of three girls called Chayenne, Tracy and Christina. With the whole red, green and yellow thing they kind of remind me of “Heathers”. I watched the musical with mother and Swan. It honestly kind of scared me of school.

‘Thank you very much.’

‘Are you sure you wanna walk home though? Maybe take the public bus?’ I think I’d die.

‘Not really…’ I say as I walk out the door with the punk. ‘Riding on your motorcycle together with my brother sounds like more of a death sentence, I believe’.

‘C’mon I’m a good driver! I only sometimes get into accidents’ I look at him with big eyes. ‘Just kidding of course’ I’m not so sure about that.

I see my brother in the crowd of people ‘Hello Jurinji. Did you receive the message too?’

‘Hello Ryoma. Yes, I did. Isn’t that the guy who called me a robot? Why do you hang out with a person so far beneath us?’

‘Hey! I’m your ride today. Your motorcycle awaits’ Axel mentions.

‘Excuse me, what? He must be joking.’

‘Well, he offered it’ I explain.

‘I would do anything rather than sit on the bike of a lowlife scum like you’ My brother snarks.

‘Even walk?” The man with dyed hair refutes.

‘Where did you park?’

[mortraveling]

The Best of Summer in Maine

The Best of Summer in Maine Maine comes alive in the summer, offering natural beauty, outdoor adventures, and small-town charm. From the coast to the mountains, there are many wonderful places to explore during the warmer months. Here are some of the best spots to visit in Maine this summer. Acadia National Park Maine’s only national park is one of the top destinations, with stunning scenery and activities for everyone. Hike the trails of Mount Desert Island, including the stunning Ocean Path and Gorham Mountain Trail with panoramic views of the Atlantic. Go biking on the 45 miles of carriage roads, open only to walkers, bikers, and equestrians. Rent bikes in nearby Bar Harbor.   Take a whale watching or puffin cruise to spot wildlife in their natural habitat.  Relax on the pink granite shores of Sand Beach or Echo Lake Beach. Stay in Bar Harbor or Northeast Harbor, two charming towns on the doorstep of the park. Portland  Explore the cobblestone streets of the Old Port, lined with boutiques, art galleries, and restaurants.  Take a food tour and sample your way through the city’s amazing culinary landscape. Or just grab a lobster roll, Portland’s signature sandwich. Check out a show at the historic State Theatre or Portland Stage Company.  Visit the Portland Museum of Art, home to works by Monet, Renoir, Wyeth, and Maine artists.  Take a ferry to the Calendar Islands in Casco Bay for beaches, hiking, and seafood shacks. Camden and Rockland  The harbor towns of Camden and Rockland on Penobscot Bay are perfect for a summer escape. Go sailing in picturesque Camden Harbor or take a windjammer cruise along the coast. Hike in Camden Hills State Park for panoramic views of the bay. Explore the Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center in Rockland, dedicated to Maine's artistic heritage.   Indulge in a lobster dinner or picnic on the shore.  Stay at a quaint B&B, like the Hartstone Inn in Camden or Berry Manor Inn in Rockland. Rangeley Lake Region For outdoor adventure without the crowds, head to the Rangeley Lake Region in Maine’s western mountains.   Go boating, swimming, or fishing on the crystal-clear waters of Rangeley Lake, Aziscohos Lake or Mooselookmeguntic Lake.  Hike through pine forests and mountain vistas on the Appalachian Trail or Bald Mountain trail. Spot moose, loons, and bald eagles in their natural habitat.  Take an exhilarating whitewater rafting trip down the Kennebec or Dead Rivers. Relax with a local craft beer at Saddleback Brewing Company or in the cozy pubs of Rangeley or Oquossoc. Rent a lakefront cabin or stay at the classic Rangeley Inn for a perfect summer escape. Deer Isle and Stonington For a quieter coastal getaway, head to Deer Isle and the picturesque fishing village of Stonington.   Go sea kayaking to spot harbor seals and coastal birds in their natural habitat. Take a boat tour to Isle au Haut or Acadia National Park.  Explore coastal trails at Crockett Cove Woods or Barred Island Preserve.  Indulge in fresh lobster, fish, and farm produce at casual seafood shacks like Fisherman's Friend or Aragosta. Stay at the Inn on the Harbor in Stonington or the Pilgrim's Inn, a historic B&B.  Shop for local crafts at the Deer Isle Artists Association Gallery. With its natural beauty and small-town charm, Maine offers an idyllic summer escape. There’s something for everyone, from the coast to the mountains and beyond. Have a wonderful trip! via Blogger https://ift.tt/5VlkdND May 18, 2023 at 07:54PM

[beanswrites]

Headcanons for characters Pt. 5: Modern! AU for the main 6 from "The Arcana"

Hello, people!

I definitely annoyed the living heck out of my followers for saying this every time, but I gotta say it for people who are seeing my work for the first time: Requests for headcanons and fanfics (for any fandom and any character) are open!

These headcanons won't actually be for one character, but many characters with an AU. Today's headcanons will be The Main 6 (Asra, Julian, Nadia, Muriel, Portia, Lucio) from a mobile game/visual novel "The Arcana" in a Modern! AU. If you don't know what that means, it's basically what I imagine they would do/look like if they lived today, in the modern world. This was requested by anon!

Hope you enjoy! :>

Asra Alzanar ☾︎

- Asra is a young adult who works as an owner of his own business (not an online business, just like his own shop) where he sells spices and jewellery. Since he's very successful and well known he travels around the world for his deals, but hires only the most trustworthy person he knows to keep his shop open (that would be MC)

- He lives in an apartment, and it is FULL of plants as well as many trinkets and random thing they've found on their adventures.

- I feel like Asra would listen to WILLOW (Willow Smith) and Lorde. They most certainly dragged both Nadia and Julian to the concerts.

- Absolutely loves amphibians and reptiles. For the longest time he considered getting an axolotl as a pet, but after lots of thinking they decided to get a ball python instead.

- Wears a lot of rings, and a pearl necklace with another longer chain necklace with a pendant is a must. All of those could, of course, be brought in his shop, and they are all handmade.

Julian Devorak ♥︎

- Julian is a doctor who works in a local hospital, who unfortunately has depression. He tries to deal with it by constantly being the hot friend or trying to be sassy, but at the end of the day, he still lies awake alone in his bed at night.

- Is of Russian descent, and just like Asra, is very proud of the culture. He often flies back to Russia to visit his family.

- He's a big fan of birds, and often goes to the local park to feed them breadcrumbs. It also reminds him of his late dog, that he used to walk around that same park.

- Definitely was the theatre kid in high school. And yes, he did get bullied.

- He has a smartphone, but doesn't use it very often. The only thing he does use it for is either work phone calls or to text his friends.

Nadia Satrinava ♔︎

- Nadia is a businesswoman working for her own EMPIRE of a company. Everyone said that after her divorce with Lucio she will loose all of her power (since they ran his family's business together), but she rose to the challenge and now is a world-known owner and CEO of her own company

- Went to high school with Asra and Julian, so even tho she travels around the world a lot for her work, she keeps in touch with them.

- Running her own company made her quite rich, so her house is really nice. Big living room, huge kitchen, and a luxurious bedroom. She likes to enjoy the finer things in life, like expansive restaurants, designer clothing and a good car, however she always stays humble and doesn't brag, unlike her ex-husband.

- At some point in her life, she did a runway show. She absolutely DOMINATED it.

- Her favorite past time (when she has it) is going to the library. Even though she can have any book she wants and read it at home, she loves to get away from the modern world and spend hours in the library, with classical music bursting thru her earphones. It eases her to know that nobody knows her and she doesn't need to be perfect.

Muriel ❁

- Grew up in a small mountain town close to the woods so he always knew his way around wildlife and nature. He finds most of his peace next to the shores of mountain rivers and in the woods, instead of big cities and noise.

-Used to be a professional wrestler (but he did it for money, not because he liked it) but now he moved away from that life and lives in a small town working as a veterinarian.

- He has a lot of PTSD from his life as a pro wrestler, which comes with some sensory overloads and triggers. One of these triggers is loud noise so he avoids all big cities. The only reason he would cross this habit is because he's visiting his childhood best friend, Asra.

- Muriel likes comfy clothes - sweats, hoodies, and generally something he can feel free in. When it comes to tops, mostly flannels or regular tees, but his shoes are always hiking or snow boots.

- Has a large dog, a German Sheppard to be exact, which he loves more than anything in the world. She's sort of like a service dog for his trauma, as well as his best friend/pet.

Portia Devorak ☼︎

- When her brother moved away, she continued living in Russia for a few years. After moving away from home, she applied to be an assistant to Nadia and Lucio, the owners of a huge company. Lucio rejected her, however his (now ex) wife loved her and immediately hired her. After the divorce and the failure of the company, she stayed Nadia's assistant for a couple of months more. Now, she runs a local bakery, but since she's grown to be Nadia's best friend, she visits her often.

- Has a small apartment, nicely and comfy decorated, but somehow managed to fit 18837492832085095348 cats.

- Ilya was actually the one who inspired her to follow her dreams to opening a bakery. He showed her that even tho he has mental health issues he still chased his dreams of leaving home and going to medical school. To honour him for that, she made his favorite pastry as a special on the menu: puff pastry with berry jelly filling.

- When her brother was experimenting with make up in high school, she was the one to teach him on how to use eyeshadow as well as eyeliner.

- Doesn't believe in technology too much, but owns a tablet where she keeps track of the orders and texts her friends. Recently she expanded her business to online orders, so it does come in handy.

Count Lucio AKA Montag Morgasson ♕︎

- Inherited a lot of money from his family and now constantly brags about being rich, when he doesn't actually do anything. Failed at keeping the business he had with Nadia.

- Won't show his face somewhere if he isn't wearing at least one designer brand clothing (His favorites are Armani, Versace and Gucci)

- He lost his arm in a fencing incident, in a competition. Later, he was treated in the local hospital (Yes, the one where Julian works at) and was unsatisfied with the fact that he will have a prosthetic arm so he tried suing the hospital.

- Owns ALL Apple products and uses them religiously (*bonus* Definitely said "Siri, can you find where I gave a fuck?" at least at one point)

- Has been wearing eyeliner since high school, and to be honest, he's rocking it.

--

That would be all for this one! As you can see, I basically took some things that are canon for these characters, and adapted them to the modern world. I also added some of my personal headcanons that have nothing to do with canon, but this is a modern au so I can pretty much let those headcanons flow. This is my first headcanons part where there are multiple characters, and I loved writing it!

Thanks for reading, and thank you anon for requesting this! If you have any request for characters or fandom, I'm up for anything! Love you guys♡︎

[teawaffles]

There’s No Business Like Show Business: Chapter 5, Part 1

T/N: This is one super-long chapter ( ; ω ; ) so it has been split into 2 parts.

One week later. This was the night Maya’s company had been invited to perform.

The West End of London, stretching from Soho to Covent Garden, was renowned for its large theatre district, crowded with historic names such as the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Haymarket Theatre, and St James’s Theatre, in addition to newer entrants. [1]

Right in the centre of the district was Piccadilly Circus. At this time in history, the “Eros” fountain had yet to be built [2]. Here was the intersection of numerous thoroughfares, with pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages coming and going, day and night — the busiest spot in London.

It was here that a certain elderly noblewoman drove past in a carriage. But the next moment, she saw a strange sight in the middle of the square, and ordered her coachman to stop the carriage.

“……My word, what could that be?”

The words fell from her lips.

In the centre of the square was a simple stage about ten metres wide, composed of wooden boxes placed together and covered with boards. Passers-by had stopped to look out of curiosity, and a small crowd began to form.

After a short while, a lone woman appeared on stage.

She wore a sky-blue dress and a long, blonde wig. The crowd stared blankly as she gave a reverent bow.

“——Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. We are a small theatre company hailing from the East End. I am Maya, its chairperson.”

She raised her head, and gazed upon the whole of Piccadilly Circus.

“You may be feeling confused as to why a stage has suddenly occupied the Circus, but first, let me express our deepest gratitude that we, a theatre company of humble origins, have been able to meet you in this miraculous way.”

Her dignified voice resounded across the square, causing a stir among the onlookers. As more people noticed what was happening and gathered in droves, the crowd encircling the stage gradually expanded.

“Without further ado, let us bring you a little dream in a fantastic world.”

Maya ended her introduction with a graceful bow. Then, a man appeared on stage. Facing the crowd, he began to speak in a sonorous voice.

“It was a radiant afternoon filled with golden sunshine. A boat cruised leisurely down the river. Small, young hands gripped the oars. They seemed to lack strength: rising nimbly, then falling left and right as if to guide the oars’ movements.”

“……Hmm?”

The crowd listened intently as he narrated, with accompanying hand gestures.

“Oh, how terrible: what a cruel fate this is, to meet three girls! I’m all warm and sleepy. But still you wish to talk to me! You move my feathers, and do not breathe. But I’m all alone. I’m no match for the three of you.”

“This— Could it be……?” someone in the audience murmured.

With his monologue complete, the man took his leave. Then, another woman appeared at a corner of the stage. Holding a book in one hand, she began to read fluently from it.

“Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank——”

In tandem with the narrator’s words, the blonde-haired Maya gave a small yawn. It was as if she had swapped places with a young girl herself. Without realising it, the audience held their breath.

Then from the side of the stage, a person appeared wearing a vest and rabbit’s ears, with a pocket-watch in one hand.

By this time, the crowd encircling the stage had become fully spellbound.

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

“——All the world’s a stage. And the men and women merely players.” [3]

An actor delivered his lines from the stage of a gorgeous West End theatre, as its owner, a nobleman, looked on from the box seats.

The actor himself knew the height of his fame, and hence his actions were somewhat egotistical. Nevertheless, these were the acting skills of a true professional: his clear, bright voice resounded in every corner of the intricately decorated theatre, delving into the ears of his audience, and producing an indescribable feeling in their chests.

His salary was eye-wateringly high, but evidently, it had been an excellent decision to hire this actor. Still, despite his self-satisfaction, the nobleman had a pained expression.

The reason for it was clear. This was a renowned theatre company famous for its acting talent. Even though it was their opening night — a momentous occasion, the stalls were unusually empty.

He’d made sure to advertise the play well in advance, so this was unexpected. As he admired the actors, who were not bothered in the least by the empty seats in the audience, the nobleman stood up and headed to the entrance.

“Hey, you. Haven’t there been any more visitors?”

He directed his question to the young man behind the ticket window.

“About that— Just a while ago, it seems a show’s begun at Piccadilly Circus.”

“A show?”

“Yeah, though I heard about it from someone else. A stage suddenly appeared in the middle of the square, and it looks like there’s a play being held. It’s about…… that; the one where a girl chases a rabbit and falls down a hole, uh……”

Those keywords alone led the nobleman to the answer.

“——Do you mean, ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’?”

The young man clapped his hands in appreciation.

“Oh, that’s right. Yeah, that.” He sighed wistfully. “Ahh, it brings me back: I read it when I was a child. And as I recall…… was it ‘Maya’? It seems that’s the chairwoman’s name.”

“Wha……!”

Upon hearing that name, the nobleman recoiled in shock.

“That theatre company from the slums?”

A play held on a stage that appeared out of nowhere. The young man saw it as a mere street performance, but to the nobleman, this was something different. As soon as the image of the perpetrators surfaced in his mind, his face turned red with anger.

An extraordinary turn of events, happening right on the opening night of an important production — as if it had been carefully planned to do so. In other words, Maya and her company had intended to sabotage his production out of spite, by putting up a play out of the blue, and not even in a proper theatre. That was what the nobleman concluded.

To add insult to injury, they had chosen to perform “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. To stand up to a classic with a piece of children’s literature. To pit Lewis Carroll against Shakespeare.

Although it was a ridiculous idea worthy of scorn, the fact remained that they had stolen his precious audience.

He posed a question to the young ticket seller.

“Well if that’s the case, wouldn’t there be a huge commotion? The Yard should be on to them any moment now.”

“That’s the thing…… It seems they’re already gone.”

Hearing that, the nobleman threw his head back in laughter.

“I told you so. It’s all because they’re out of their depth. They can recite their lines in jail for all I care.”

However, the young man made a troubled expression.

“Uh…… Sorry. I didn’t make myself clear. Actually it seems that after finishing one scene, they specified a different location, packed up their sets quickly and left.”

“……What?”

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Alice; a great girl like you, to go on crying in this way! Stop this moment, I tell you!”

Behind the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, in Trafalgar Square, Maya and her company acted out the scene in which Alice shrank and grew larger, panicking all the while. The front of the stage had been covered with a white cloth, and a light shone on it from the back, allowing them to show the changes in Alice’s size in the manner of shadow puppets. As Alice grew until her head struck the roof, the audience buzzed in excitement.

Watching from the wings of the stage, Bond could see that everything was proceeding smoothly.

His plan to demonstrate the true abilities of this company, was a moving theatre that roamed all around the city of London—— a “guerrilla theatre”.

They would perform in busy areas to attract people’s attention, then quickly cut off their act and leave before the authorities arrived to stop them. After which, they would continue the performance at another location. One could say this method was the exact opposite of performing in an officially-recognised theatre.

There was a reason why they had changed the contents of their play. As their original performance comprised three short stories, there was a concern that the audience would grow bored after watching just one scene. However, staging a full-length play across various locations would keep up their interest for the next scene.

In addition, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” took place in a nonsensical, chaotic world, with no apparent connection between its acts. As a well-known story in itself, anyone joining in halfway would still be able to enjoy their performance — a perfect work to be presented in this manner.

The main issue was the acting, but that was helped by their practice in performing on a big stage.

As part of this plan, the play they would put up was not of the type that drew the audience’s attention to the stage right from the start, but rather one that was performed outdoors to people passing by. Hence they would have to project their voices and exaggerate their actions, but this was simply an extension of the two weeks’ practice they had done before.

Moreover, Maya and her company had extensive experience in performing children’s literature, with a focus on ease of understanding, so much so that they had almost learned the entire tale by heart. Memorising their lines had been no trouble at all.

Furthermore, the preparations at each of the locations they moved to — the very heart of the operation — were borne by the East End residents, who appreciated their performances.

The plan inevitably required manpower, but there would be no point in Bond providing it. However, with the trust of their fellow residents, Maya and her company had managed to recruit the stage crew by themselves. This achievement was their own.

As the company performed in one location, the stage crew would set up the temporary stages in the other locations across the city. They had accepted the company’s request with pleasure, and Bond couldn’t thank them enough for the depth of their kindness.

As he looked upon the crowd, all standing with eyes locked upon the stage, Bond chuckled.

——Even without a theatre, there would always be a place for acting.

It had been a wild idea to turn the city of London into their stage. But the East End residents lent them their support. And Maya and her company were putting up an excellent performance.

In a manner of speaking, this play was an all-out challenge from the people from the East End, to the gilded theatres of the West End.

Ten minutes till showtime. The players announced the location of their next act, then quickly descended from the stage.

“I’ll be leaving the cleanup to you then,” Bond addressed the remaining crew at the square. Then he directed the actors to board the carriages he had prepared. Taking the reins of one himself, he urged the horses forward in a gallop.

“Um, we owe it to you that our audience has enjoyed our play thus far, but…… I’m not sure if we can continue to do so,” Maya asked with a worried look.

Hearing that, the other actors in the carriage, who’d been going over their lines, turned solemn.

Although things had been going well so far, if their acts attracted too large a commotion, it stood to reason that Scotland Yard would put its full attention into stopping the play. Moreover, bad actors may also seek to take advantage of the hubbub. As far as possible, they wished to avoid their audience falling victim to crime.

Bond fully understood their apprehension. Because of that, he kept calm as he reassured them.

“Not to worry. I have some dependable colleagues.”

Saying that, he gazed in the direction the carriage was going, and smiled.

“It’s a popular saying, isn’t it? The show must go on.”

The curtains had been raised. Now all that was left, was to play their roles to the end.

Footnotes:

[1] This district is known as Theatreland (Wikipedia). The first two theatres listed are still standing, with St James’s Theatre having been demolished in 1957.

[2] If you were to go to Piccadilly Circus now, you would see a very prominent bronze fountain with a statue of a winged angel on top. Actually, the statue isn’t of the Greek god Eros at all. (Wikipedia)

[3] A line from Shakespeare’s As You Like It (Wikipedia).

Translator’s notes:

Quotes from Alice in Wonderland All dialogues from the East Enders’ production have been heavily referenced from the Project Gutenberg version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.

Thinking about what year the series was set in In this chapter, we learn that the “Eros” fountain hasn’t been built yet — it was unveiled only in June 1893. But we know some events of the Phantom of Whitechapel arc, such as when the people of Whitechapel formed a militia, did take place in history — these were broadly in the autumn of 1888. So this actually works out, and gives us a sense of when the events of the manga unfolded.

Edit: The manga seems to be canonically taking place between 1879-1882 latest — you can read my analysis here!

Piccadilly Circus in 1868 This is entirely for fun — here’s a screenshot from the game Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (set in London 1868), with Evie standing at Piccadilly Circus:

I couldn’t find any pictures of the Circus from before the “Eros” fountain was built, but in Yuumori’s time, it would’ve still had the circular shape shown here. When Shaftesbury Avenue was built in 1886, it transformed Piccadilly Circus from a circle into the sort-of trapezoid crossroads layout it has retained today (British History Online).

[fiftyyearfilms]

50 Years Later: The Still Sweet Legacy of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Image source: https://people.com/food/gene-wilder-death-willy-wonka-pure-imagination/

I first watched Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory during the summer of 2001, when I was four years old. Sometime after the end credits rolled, I waddled into our little English garden and decided to have a nibble of one of the buttercups poking through in the grass. You will be unsurprised to discover that it tasted acrid and bitter and that I promptly screwed up my face and spat it out again. ‘But— but- -’ little four-year-old me thought, ‘—but in Willy Wonka’s garden the yellow butter-tea-cups are edible and filled with a breakfast brew! The toadstools and mushrooms ooze sweet white cream! And the trees don’t sprout boring old fruit, but giant jellified gummy bears!' According to my four-year old logic, in Wonka’s edible garden these synaesthetic saccharine delights could exist and so in our garden they could too. So was the bittersweet belief that ‘Anything is possible’ the film inspired - bittersweet because, of course, it's not true. Today marks the 50-year anniversary of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, which premiered in the United States on this day in 1971. Time reveals a legacy that is more sweet than sour.

The 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 book ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ has an origins story that reads like a saccharine fairytale, complete with the requisite obstacles. Once upon a time, the story of Charlie Bucket and his lucky visit to a chocolate factory found its way into the hands of a 12-year-old girl called Madeline Stuart, the daughter of a Hollywood filmmaker, Mel Stuart. Madeline approached her father and asked him to make a film out of the story. In Stuart’s memory, his daughter’s innocent plea went something like this: ’Daddy... I want you to make this into a movie!’ A self-confessed chocoholic, Stuart said yes. And the rest was history? Not just yet...

The early 1970’s wasn’t Hollywood’s happiest hour. Low attendance and a struggling national economy meant that the U.S film industry was in a state of near-collapse and financing the movie was no easy feat; studios were cash-strapped. It was a stroke of sweet luck that the producer of the film, Mel Stuart’s friend David Wrober, had a connection to the Quaker Oats Company who, by happy chance, were looking for a way to break into the chocolate industry. In an unprecedented move in Hollywood, Quaker Oats agreed to finance the film on account of the fact that it would allow them to launch a ‘Wonka’ bar. A convenient if imperfect marriage was formed between the food company and the producers. A Happily Ever After? Still not yet...

There were active forces that didn’t want the candy man to make the leap from page to silver screen. Having long been vocal about Hollywood and its poor representation of black people, the NAACP objected to the adaptation because of the colonial overtones of the Ooompa Loompas in Dahl’s story (described as “a tribe of miniature pygmies” who were imported from Africa); they didn’t want additional attention being brought to the novel. The NAACP eventually suggested that “The solution is to make the Oompa-Loompas white and to make the film under a different title.” Mel Stuart agreed. The title was changed to ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’, a change that would also benefit the marketing of the Quaker Oat Company’s ‘Wonka’ bar. After Stuart consulted with some black actor friends, it also was decided that the elf-like characters would be carrot orange with grass-green hair. Whether this amounted to ‘whitewashing’ or not is a matter for the individual to decide but changing the skin colour was the only way to adapt the book without making more significant changes to Dahl’s story. After all, it was the man himself penning the screenplay.

Image source: https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/search-perfect-willy-wonka

Dahl’s screenplay - bloated and too close an adaption of the book, was eventually revised by newbie screenwriter David Seltzer, but the fantastical elements of the author’s story remained largely intact: chocolate rooms with chocolate waterfalls and rivers, fizzy-lifting stations that send Charlie Bucket and his grandfather floating to the ceiling, and elevators that fly straight into the sky. Harper Goff, famed for his work on the 1945 Disney film ‘20,000 Leagues under the Sea’, was tasked with bringing Dahl’s demanding vision to life in the art department. Then there were difficulties in casting too, and a cross-country search took place for the Oompa Loompas and the lucky ticket-winning children (lamentably, only white actors were cast). With scouting and sketching underway, producers had the formidable challenge of finding somewhere to shoot the movie. After considering the Guinness Factory in Ireland and – wait for it - a national monument in Spain, producers settled on the Munich Gas works and Bavarian Film Studios in Germany as the central filming locations. It was cheaper than America and the location’s foreignness to British and American audiences would work in the favour of creating a ‘Neverland’ story.

Tinged with sweetness and sourness, pre-production on Wonka came to a close in late August 1970 and principal photography began. For the adults on set, budgetary problems were an ongoing source of stress and the unusual marriage between Hollywood and the food industry was one of the main causes. Unlike Paramount or Universal, who might have expected the film to go over budget, Quaker Oats viewed the film as one long advertisement for their new bar and were unsurprisingly less sympathetic when the weather was bad and shooting had to be delayed or when something went wrong on set and more money had to be poured in (or, in the case of the chocolate waterfall, a specially sourced anti-foaming solution). The kids also had their tribulations (and were only renumerated £60 per week for their hard labour). Stuart was a tough director. So tough, in fact, that the child actors used to joke that they deserved Oscars for their roles (or for putting up with Stuart). He treated the young actors as adults and perhaps that’s one reason why the performances are so strong. But Stuart reflected that overall, it was like ‘one big slumber party’ for the child actors. Stories from the set include Paris Themmen, who played Mike Teevee, releasing bees from underneath a bell jar in Wonka’s chewing gum machine. Denise Nickerson (playing Violet Beauregarde) and Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt) fought over Peter Ostroff, who played Charlie Bucket, and took turns being his ‘girlfriend’ day-by-day. After lunch breaks, Ostroff and Gene Wilder, who played Wonka himself, would walk back to set together sharing a chocolate bar. There was an excitable atmosphere on set and, filmed without storyboards or pre-production rehearsals, it translated into authenticity in the final film.

Image source: https://www.thedelite.com/willy-wonka-and-chocolate-factory-movie-facts-you-never-knew/

Filming came to a bittersweet end in November 1970, cast members said their teary goodbyes, and then seven months later, Willy Wonka premiered in the United States. While time has judged differently, the contemporary reception to the film was, at best, lukewarm. From a $2.9 million dollar budget, the film only made $4 million in theatres and ranked as #53 in the box office. There were a number of reasons for this. Several reviewers panned the movie; a critic from the New York Times called it ‘tedious and stagy with little sparkle and precious little humor’. The fun and spectacle of Willy Wonka didn’t sit well with an anxious and cynical audience. In the Vietnam era, The French Connection, The Omega Man, and A Clockwork Orange were in, and optimism and fun were out. The film also had to contend with the declining weekly movie attendance across the U.S, which reached an all-time low of 14 million in 1971 (from 44 million in 1963). On top of this, Dahl didn’t exactly enthuse about the final product. Finally - and this is what the director attributed primary responsibility to: a lacklustre marketing effort on behalf of Paramount Pictures.

But box-office results aren’t everything. Like sherbet - sour at first and then Oh so sweet, Willy Wonka has gone on to gain a mass following of fans and gained the all-desirable ‘cult’ film status. The phenomenon happened over time. Six years after the film appeared on cinema screens, it was sold to Warner Brothers and became one of their best-selling video cassettes. Then, periodic screenings on cable and network television over the following decades meant that it gained an even wider following and stayed within Western cultural consciousness. The never-ending references to Willy Wonka in popular culture - from The Simpsons to Austin Powers to Marilyn Manson’s music videos, is testament to this. The same could be said about the upcoming Willy Wonka origins story, whether it turns out to be a good film or not. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory currently stands as the second most watched film of 1971 on Letterboxd (the Goodreads of film).

Re-watching the film in 2021, it seems almost inevitable that the film has found new and wide- ranging audiences and there’s one main reason for it: a stellar and totally captivating performance from Gene Wilder. The director attributed the film’s longevity to the fact that ‘it was made for adults; it was not made for children’ and it was Wilder himself that brought the grown-up fun. Wilder’s Wonka is sarcastic and witty, ensuring that the final film ended up as a ‘story for children’ only as much as After Eights are for post-dinner treats and Yorkie bars are just for boys. Wilder created a more nuanced and entrancing character out of Wonka than what is portrayed in the book - a Wonka who is dishonest but trustworthy, sarcastic but still empathetic, indifferent but deeply caring, and aloof but charming. Sure, the sets seem slightly dated (the chocolate room in particular) but watching Gene Wilder sing ‘Pure Imagination’ is so wholly captivating that one almost doesn’t notice the set’s limitations. Creating, let alone portraying, such an enigmatic version of Wonka is a tall order, but Wilder made it looks effortless. As evidence of his skill as an actor, Willy Wonka shows Charlie little interest until the very end of the film and then within minutes conveys a parental love to the boy that seems entirely believable. Wilder’s tantalising hot then cold, sugary then sour, sweet then salty performance sustains the whole film.

From the outset, it seemed like the Wilder-Wonka synergy was made to be. Wilder was a relative newcomer to Hollywood in 1970, making his feature film debut in the 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde, but when he walked into the casting room at the Plaza Hotel in New York, Mel Stuart knew he was the man straight away – ‘That’s Willy Wonka!’ he said. Wilder himself immediately seemed to have an intuitive understanding of how to bring the character to life, agreeing to take on the role on one condition: he said to Stuart, “I would like to come out [of the factory] with a cane and be crippled because no one will know from that time on whether I’m lying or telling the truth.’’ Like a magician, Wilder’s Wonka was going to draw you in and keep you in the palm of his hand. To the child actors on set, the Wilder-Wonka symbiosis was very much real. Julia Winter recalled that between takes the kids would crawl all over Wilder yelling, ‘It’s my turn to sit on his lap!’. In turn, Wilder would tell them jokes and stories; he ‘never got cross’. I remember feeling the same captivation as a child watching the film: I wanted to spend time with Wonka. It was only some adults who missed the magic trick. Dahl criticised Wilder’s performance as ‘pretentious’ and insufficiently ‘gay’. Wilder himself recalled hearing talk of mothers saying that the film was ‘cruel to the children’, but he understood that ‘maybe some mothers felt that way, but the children didn’t feel that way...there are limits and they want to know the limits’. The continuing classic status of the film is evidence that the kids (and Wilder) were right. The Wilder-Wonka magic has survived 50 years without souring. The only bittersweetness in watching the actor sing and twirl across the screen is knowing he is no longer with us.

Image source: https://cometoverhollywood.com/2016/08/29/musical-monday-willy-wonka-the-chocolate-factory-1971/

If Gene Wilder carried the film, then what about the story itself? The plot is simple, heart- warming, and doesn’t deserve close scrutiny. Willy Wonka really is a ‘show’, the story is secondary to the individual charisma of Wilder and the spectacle of the image and music. We don’t know if Charlie will be happy or sad once he’s inherited Wonka’s factory. We also don’t know what happens to the rest of the children after they’ve been punished. But who cares? The audience is taken to a joyful fun park where you want to eat everything on screen and play with all the gizmos and gadgets, and where the music is so catchy that you can’t get it out of your head for days and weeks after.

Select ideologues have (and will) taken issue with the story, discarding it as gauche capitalist propaganda. One Marxist criticism of the story even gained enough traction that the director took notice in later years. The parts seem to be there: a businessman running a competition by hiding five golden tickets in his candy bars, competition from other candy makers, the Wonka-Oompa Loompa relationship, and a ‘Rags to riches’ story for Charlie. But one might ask if this is an unnecessary and selective reading. The parts for an alternative vision are equally apparent: from the wild and uncontrolled creativity and experimentation inside the factory to the joy found within the chocolate work itself, and from the relentless drive forward ‘You have to go forward if you want to go back’ to the end picture of the elevator shooting through a glass ceiling and into the skies. If a critic really wanted to make the comparison, such images would sit more easily in Soviet Russia than capitalist America. Wonka might have a capitalist wrapper but take a bite and look closely inside and its ideological filling is incoherent (it is, after all, entertainment). One could imagine how the film might be set in a collectivist community rather than a ‘capitalist’ factory, but it would have made for a worse film. It is the sense of unease that runs throughout the film that has made it timeless, whether its Wonka’s frustration with August Gloop for polluting his pure chocolate river, his fear over someone leaking the secret recipe for the ever-lasting gobstopper, his nightmares in the tunnel sequence, or his anxiety over finding a worthy heir for the factory, which finally manifests as a misjudged outburst at Charlie. It’s the fraught relationship between abundance and greed that makes for such compelling watching. Anyway, as the screenwriter stated in an interview, the film is ‘...not the function of sitting down and intellectualising... it’s the function of scotch tape, cardboard, let’s put on a show!’ Why spoil the fun and examine the parts individually when the sum of the parts is a universal message people need to hear now as much as they did in 1971? Reward honesty and integrity, not greed.

A moral message delivered in an almost subversive tone is another reason for why the film feels timeless. Instead of adults dragging tired and bored children around, the adults in this film are at the mercy of their kids and Wonka. Young viewers can marvel at the gluttony of August Gloop, the smart-mouthed Violet Beauregarde, the wanton bad behaviour of Veruca Salt, and Mike Teevee’s devotion to cable. It’s escapism at its best to watch other kids do what you can’t do: speak back to parents and yell and scream. It’s equally as tantalising when the naughty children are punished in fantastical ways. Augustus, drinking from the chocolate river, falls in and then gets sucked up a chocolate chute. Violet chews forbidden gum and then blows up into a blueberry the size of a small horse. Veruca falls down a garbage chute. And Mike finds himself sucked into a television. Best of all, the parents are equally guilty of bad-behaviour as the kids - and, boy, do they pay for it. Wonka might be a film for children and adults, but you can guess who’s going to really have the best time. It is little Charlie, after all, who wins Wonka’s factory at the end of the day.

In the scene where Willy Wonka drinks from a yellow flower-shaped cup and then eats the cup, the cup itself was made of wax. Gene Wilder had to chew the wax pieces until the end of the take, at which point he spat them out. Adults that once watched the film as children now know that flowers in the garden aren’t edible. Our eyes can pick up the small imperfections in the film - the sweets that look plastic and chocolate river that looks like exactly what it was - ‘dirty, stinky water’. But through a child’s eyes - even coming to the film half a century after its release, the film really can be a ‘world of pure imagination’. In another fifty years, will children still wander into the garden, pick up a buttercup, and bite into it with all the belief in the word that it’ll taste like sweet, white chocolate? As long as parents continue to show children the film, they will - and what a marvellous legacy for a film to have. Fifty years on, it’s safe to say that Willy Wonka has had a sweet and indelible impact on our sadly mostly inedible world.

Sources for post: 

Mel Stuart, Josh Young, ‘Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’, 2001. 

Julia Dawn Cole, ‘I Want It Now! a Memoir of Life on the Set of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’, 2011. 

Pure Imagination: The Story (Making) of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyev_3S_Y4

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© Fifty Year Films, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this site’s author is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Fifty Year Films with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

[lyselkatzhappynerding]

Richard Speight Jr's speech at the All Heroes Monument in Tonawanda

A couple of articles in full in case you have trouble accessing the links without a VPN:

Article by Peter Gallivan

BUFFALO, N.Y. — On June 6th, 1944, Warren "Skip" Muck was one of hundreds of American servicemen who dropped into Normandy to force Adolf Hitler's army out of France and beat them back to Germany.

On January 10, 1944, the City of Tonawanda native was killed in a foxhole in Foy, Belgium at the Battle of the Bulge. For decades, his family back here in Western New York had few details about his service and the day he died. That all changed with a simple phone call according to his niece, Becky Krurnowski. Becky says her mother, Skip's sister, got off of a call back in 2001 with more questions than answers. "She said there's an actor trying to get a hold of me, and something with Tom Hanks. They want to make a movie."

As it turned out, the actor was Richard Speight, researching for his upcoming role in "A Band of Brothers." Becky and her sister began a series of emails back and forth with the actor, telling him stories of Skip growing up, such as the time he swam across the Niagara River. Speight then took the stories to the writers and all of the sudden what was a bit began to grow, and Skip Muck became a series regular.

Krurnowski adds that this 75th anniversary of the Normandy invasion will have special meaning to her, taking her back to the world premiere of "A Band of Brothers"— one she attended as a guest of the studio, on Omaha Beach, Normandy.

Krurnowski says until Episode 7, they had no idea exactly how Muck had died. It showed him sharing a foxhole with one of his best friends, Alex Penkala, when they took a direct hit from a German canon shell. Becky says her mom found comfort in knowing that Skip was with his men and with his friends when he lost his life.

Lou Michel article from the Buffalo News

Saluting 'unbelievable sacrifices' Monument honors local ties to "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers"

As some area veterans know, the story lines of two epic movies about World War II - "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" -- center on two local families.

Now the memories of those World War II soldiers will be enshrined along the banks of the Niagara River in the City of Tonawanda.

That's because the four Niland brothers, whose story helped inspire "Saving Private Ryan," and Sgt. Warren H. "Skip" Muck, a central figure in "Band of Brothers," hailed from Tonawanda.

An Amherst couple, Rick and Lisa Lewis, donated $150,000 for the multistone monument to pay special tribute to the Nilands and Muck for their sacrifices.

"There will be one stone for each family, and etched on the stones will be the stories of the Niland brothers and Skip Muck," said Rick Lewis, whose family lived nearly a century in Tonawanda and became prominent when it owned the Talking Phone Book.

In the center of the veterans memorial plaza, which will be dedicated Saturday, will be a 10-foot-tall granite replica of the Washington Monument with a tribute to all other City of Tonawanda veterans from various wars.

"This will be in Niawanda Park directly behind City Hall, and at night it will be prominently illuminated, and I believe it will become a signature landmark for the City of Tonawanda," Lewis said.

The story about the Niland brothers is well known in some veteran circles.

On June 6, 1944, at the start of the Normandy invasion, Michael I. and Augusta Niland received the first of three telegrams that three of their four sons were missing in action. Two other telegrams soon followed, notifying the parents that two more sons were missing.

Their fourth son, Sgt. Frederick W. "Fritz" Niland, an Army paratrooper, was participating in the invasion.

War Department officials wasted no time ordering Fritz Niland out of the combat zone, once his whereabouts were determined. It was that effort that inspired the basic storyline of Steven Spielberg's 1998 movie starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon.

The other Niland brothers were not as fortunate. Tech. Sgt. Robert J. Niland perished on the day of the invasion, and the next day, Lt. Preston T. Niland died. The third missing brother, Tech. Sgt. Edward F. Niland, was shot down over Burma and captured by the Japanese. He survived 11 months as a prisoner of war.

As for Muck, he became famous posthumously, with his story told in the best-selling book, "Band of Brothers," and later in the HBO cable network movie miniseries of the same name.

Muck was a member of Company E, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, and one of about a dozen main characters. The story told of how the soldiers, first meeting in paratrooper school, became like a family.

"They banded together because they were up against so many hardships. That's why they called themselves the Band of Brothers. If any got injured, they would go to the hospital, get patched up and want to be back with their guys," said Becky Krurnowski, a 55-year-old niece of Muck.

In her City of Tonawanda home, she has a reminder of her uncle, who was killed Jan. 10, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge.

"A million years ago, my mother gave me the American flag that had covered my uncle's coffin," Krurnowski said. "It's been in my family room for about 20 years now on display."

Adding a sense of irony, Lewis said, is the fact that Skip Muck and Fritz Niland were best friends before going off to war.

"The sacrifices made by the Muck and Niland families in Tonawanda are just unbelievable," said Thomas Beilein, a Niland family cousin and former sheriff of Niagara County who now serves as head of the State Commission on Correction.

"As children, we didn't hear stories about the sacrifices. The family never talked about it. They never held it out there for the world to see. They didn't wear it on their sleeve," said Beilein.

The monument will be officially unveiled at 11 a.m. Saturday with members of the Niland and Muck families present. Surviving members of the Band of Brothers, all around 90 years of age, are scheduled to travel here from different parts of the country to attend.

The actor who played Skip Muck, Richard Speight Jr., will also attend and speak at the dedication.

A military flyover and reception are also planned, and HBO has agreed to provide free showings of Band of Brothers after the ceremony in the nearby Riviera Theatre on Webster Street, North Tonawanda.

Pete Niland, son of the late Edward Niland, also is scheduled to speak at the ceremony.

"I'm going to especially thank Rick and Lisa Lewis, who are sponsoring this, and I'm going to make mention that this is an honor not only to our family but to all the Tonawanda families who sacrificed, and there were a number of them," said Niland.

Lewis said he and his wife have wanted to honor the two families for years and put a spotlight on the City of Tonawanda.

"The area has been very good to my family, and we're anxious to do some things for the community," said Lewis, who organized a special committee a year ago with City of Tonawanda Mayor Ronald Pilozzi and representatives from several veterans groups, including Post 264, American Legion.

Pilozzi, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor and a Purple Heart, says he feels a special closeness for the monument.

"One of the reasons I'm so proud of it is I was in the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam," Pilozzi said, explaining that Muck and a Niland family member were in the 101st.

The 101st faced its toughest assignment during the Battle of Bastogne, one of the more famous encounters against the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge.

"The 101st Airborne was completely encircled and cut off by the Germans, but they made their stand and held out long enough for Gen. [George S.] Patton to come in and relieve them and basically defeat the Nazis," Pilozzi said of the division's bravery.

Describing himself as an amateur historian for the modest working-class City of Tonawanda, Lewis said the memorial will ensure that no one ever forgets the sacrifices and bravery demonstrated by the deceased relatives of the Niland and Muck families.

The City of Tonawanda has a tremendous history of which it can be very, very proud," he said. "I still have family members there and consider myself an amateur historian of the city."

The monument, Lewis explained, is designed with enough open space to add additional stones in the future, should Tonawanda want to honor other veterans.

The monument was chiseled and inscribed by Stone Art Memorial Co. of Lackawanna. The grayish colored granite was quarried in Maine.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.16

363 – Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal, Roman forces suffer several attacks from the Persians. 632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran). 1407 – Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies. 1487 – Battle of Stoke Field: King Henry VII of England defeats the leaders of a Yorkist rebellion in the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses. 1586 – Mary, Queen of Scots, recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir and successor. 1632 – The Plymouth Company granted a land patent to Thomas Purchase, the first settler of Pejepscot, Maine, settling at the site of Fort Andross. 1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date). 1746 – War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza. 1755 – French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians. 1760 – French and Indian War: Robert Rogers and his Rangers surprise French held Fort Sainte Thérèse on the Richelieu River near Lake Champlain. The fort is raided and burned. 1779 – Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins. 1795 – French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis's Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later. 1811 – Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company's ship Tonquin, intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers. 1815 – Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo. 1819 – A major earthquake strikes the Kutch district of western India, killing over 1,543 people and raising a 6-metre-high (20 ft), 6-kilometre-wide (3.7 mi), ridge, extending for at least 80 kilometres (50 mi), that was known as the Allah Bund ("Dam of God"). 1824 – A meeting at Old Slaughter's coffee house in London leads to the formation of what is now the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). 1836 – The formation of the London Working Men's Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement. 1846 – The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy. 1858 – Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois. 1871 – The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology). 1883 – The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children. 1884 – The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson's "Switchback Railway", opens in New York's Coney Island amusement park. 1897 – A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later. 1903 – The Ford Motor Company is incorporated. 1903 – Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east–west navigation of the Northwest Passage. 1904 – Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland. 1904 – Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called "Bloomsday". 1911 – IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York. 1922 – General election in the Irish Free State: The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin party wins a large majority. 1925 – Artek, the most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, is established. 1930 – Sovnarkom establishes decree time in the USSR. 1933 – The National Industrial Recovery Act is passed in the United States, allowing businesses to avoid antitrust prosecution if they establish voluntary wage, price, and working condition regulations on an industry-wide basis. 1940 – World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l'État Français). 1940 – A Communist government is installed in Lithuania. 1944 – In a gross miscarriage of justice, George Junius Stinney Jr., age 14, becomes the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century after being convicted in a two-hour trial for the rape and murder of two teenage white girls. 1948 – Members of the Malayan Communist Party kill three British plantation managers in Sungai Siput; in response, British Malaya declares a state of emergency. 1955 – In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces. 1958 – Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed. 1961 – While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union. 1963 – Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.[ 1963 – In an attempt to resolve the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam, a Joint Communique was signed between President Ngo Dinh Diem and Buddhist leaders. 1972 – The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station. 1976 – Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa, turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd. 1977 – Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates. 1981 – US President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada's former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor. 1989 – Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian prime minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary. 1997 – Fifty people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M'sila) massacre in Algeria. 2000 – The Secretary-General of the UN reports that Israel has complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 22 years after its issuance, and completely withdrew from Lebanon. The Resolution does not encompass the Shebaa farms, which is claimed by Israel, Syria and Lebanon. 2002 – Padre Pio is canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. 2010 – Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco. 2012 – China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module. 2012 – The United States Air Force's robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission. 2013 – A multi-day cloudburst, centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, causes devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami. 2015 – American businessman Donald Trump announces his campaign to run for President of the United States in the upcoming election. 2016 – Shanghai Disneyland Park, the first Disney Park in Mainland China, opens to the public. 2019 – Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong's history.