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38-712: The world premiere of No Strings was at the O'Keefe Centre (now Meridian Hall ) in Toronto. The U.S. premiere was at the Fisher Theater in Detroit, where the show ran from January 15 to February 3, 1962. The musical opened on March 15, 1962, at the 54th Street Theatre in New York. It ran for slightly more than six months before transferring to the Broadhurst Theatre , where it continued until August of

76-567: A Pulitzer Prize -winning novelist who has suffered from an intense case of writer's block since his arrival in France. She attempts to restore his confidence in his creativity, but the easy life he's enjoying, flitting about Monte Carlo , Honfleur , Deauville , and St. Tropez , is too much of a distraction. Concluding that he can work only if he returns home to Maine , he invites her to go with him; but, realizing they have no future together, they part with "no strings" attached. The score

114-467: A 30 metres (98 ft) wide mural by the famous Toronto-born artist York Wilson , cantilevered stairs , polished bronze auditorium doors, and a fan-shaped auditorium with a curving balcony . AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG ) is an American online music database . It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands . Initiated in 1991,

152-471: A database engineer, Vladimir Bogdanov , to design the All Music Guide framework, and recruited his nephew, writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine , to develop editorial content. In 1993, Chris Woodstra joined the staff as an engineer. A "record geek" who had written for alternative weeklies and fanzines, his main qualification was an "encyclopedic knowledge of music". 1,400 subgenres of music were created,

190-471: A feature that became central to the site's utility. In a 2016 article in Tedium , Ernie Smith wrote: "AllMusic may have been one of the most ambitious sites of the early-internet era—and it's one that is fundamental to our understanding of pop culture. Because, the thing is, it doesn't just track reviews or albums. It tracks styles, genres, and subgenres, along with the tone of the music and the platforms on which

228-503: A performing arts centre that would not only serve the needs of local institutions but increase the diversity of entertainment options available in Toronto. Toronto City Council immediately accepted the proposal in principle, but not until 1958 was the project finally approved to be built. Among others, United Church spokesmen opposed the idea that money from the sale of beer would be used for community development. Taylor assigned one of his key executives, Hugh Walker, to oversee building what

266-477: A staged concert production was held at New York City Center as a part of its Encores! series. This production starred James Naughton and Maya Days and was directed and choreographed by Ann Reinking . The civil rights movement — voter registration for Black people, integration, and fairness and equality in the workplace — was starting to gain momentum in the United States in the early 1960s, but it

304-462: Is a jazz album with tracks by LaVern Baker , Chris Connor , Herbie Mann , and Bobby Short released in April and promoted it with several singles. Billboard reviewed this album as a "strong sales potential" release with "interesting versions" of the songs that they recommend for younger record buyers. Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, with critic William Ruhlmann writing it

342-622: The National Ballet of Canada held seasonal performances at the venue from 1964 to 2006, and the venue has also seen frequent visits by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens . The venue has also welcomed a wide range of international dance companies such as Les Ballets Africains , Britain's Royal Ballet , New York City Ballet , Dance Theatre of Harlem , the Dutch National Ballet ,

380-661: The National Ballet of Cuba , Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater , Ballet Folklorico of Mexico , as well as the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballet companies from the then- Soviet Union . It was during a 1974 Bolshoi visit that a young Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union by escaping the venue into a waiting getaway car, aided by later Jim Peterson PC and businessman Tim Stewart. Like The National Ballet, The Canadian Opera Company made

418-826: The Royal Ontario Museum ), the L Tower was built on the southwest corner of the property. The Sony Centre closed on 26 June 2008 to begin the theatre renovations, which were unveiled on October 1, 2010. In June 2012, the Sony Centre hosted the Canadian premiere of the Philip Glass and Robert Wilson opera Einstein on the Beach . On 21 January 2019, the City of Toronto announced a C$ 30.75 million 15-year partnership with Meridian Credit Union , re-branding

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456-709: The Sony Centre for the Performing Arts . On September 15, 2019, it was re-branded as Meridian Hall. In 2008, the City of Toronto designated the theatre a heritage building . That year, it also underwent renovations to restore features such as the marquee canopy and York Wilson 's lobby mural, The Seven Lively Arts . Restoration of the wood, brass and marble was undertaken, along with audience seating, flooring upgrades, new washrooms and reconfigured lobby spaces. Following two years of renovations and restoration work,

494-653: The Virsky Ukrainian Dance Company , South Africa's Soweto Gospel Choir , The Shaolin Warriors , Ricky Cheng, David Rudder & Friends and Club Tropicana. In 2006, the performing arts venue received approval from the City of Toronto for the development of a high-rise condominium building beside the Centre. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind (who also designed the Crystal addition to

532-477: The Centre its home stage, from as early as 1961 to 2006. Many of Canada's greatest singers, as well as many international opera stars, have performed for Centre audiences in COC productions. In addition, although touring opera is now rare, in earlier days the performing arts venue played host to The Met and to such well-known performers as Birgit Nilsson , Plácido Domingo and Renata Scotto . In early February 1996,

570-627: The Sony Centre into Meridian Hall, and the Toronto Centre for the Arts into the Meridian Arts Centre. The arts venues formally adopted their new names on September 15, 2019. Designed by Peter Dickinson , the performing arts venue is an example of a mid-twentieth century modern performing arts venue. It is four stories high and is broken up into three main forms: the entrance block, auditorium and fly tower. The central form of

608-479: The album was re-released on CD in 1999 in a package with the album The Girls and Boys on Broadway ; editors at AllMusic scored this compilation 4 out of 5 stars. All songs written by Richard Rodgers. Sony Centre for the Performing Arts [REDACTED] TTC streetcars Meridian Hall is a performing arts venue in Toronto , Ontario , and it is the country's largest soft-seat theatre. The facility

646-430: The building is highly symmetrical with an open floor plan. Structurally, the performing arts venue uses steel trusses and concrete to hold the majority of the building together. In addition to the structure, the performing arts venue's auditorium houses an acoustic system, which gives the audience the sense that the sound is surrounding them. When it comes to materiality, the majority of the original materials are still in

684-678: The building reopened on October 1, 2010, fifty years to the date of the first opening night performance. The Centre was built on land formerly occupied by a series of commercial buildings, including the Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company, and previously it was the site of the Great Western Railway Terminal (later the Toronto Wholesale Fruit Market). The idea for a performing arts centre that could serve

722-439: The building today. Materials used include: Alabama limestone , glazing , granite , copper , bronze , Carrara marble , carpet , cherry plywood panels and Brazilian rosewood . The performing arts venue is very diverse in its range of materials and employs them in such a way that they are not overshadowed by the unique forms of the building. The interior also features a grand double-height foyer with coffered ceilings ,

760-525: The casting spoke for itself and any specific references to race in the play were unnecessary. Rodgers said: "Rather than shrinking from the issue of race, such an approach would demonstrate our respect for the audience's ability to accept our theme free from rhetoric or sermons." However, the characters' reluctance to discuss race was controversial. Fashion model Barbara Woodruff, living in Paris , meets and falls in love with expatriate American, David Jordan,

798-611: The centre. In September 2007, Sony bought the naming rights to the Centre for $ 10-million, and a ten-year partnership was born. When the Ballet and Opera moved to the Four Seasons Centre in 2006, it left a hole in the theatre's schedule. At this point, programming shifted to a multicultural schedule by include more content appealing to Toronto's many ethnic diasporas . Notable performances that reflect this mandate include The Last Empress (a Korean historical musical),

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836-578: The charts during its year-long run and won the Best Original Cast Show Album Grammy Award . Billboard recommended the album to work to retailers as a "delightful score" that deserved "equal acclaim" to the stage production and Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, with critic William Ruhlmann writing that this is a "strong cast". All songs written by Richard Rodgers. Personnel include: Richard Rodgers’ No Strings. An After‐Theatre Version

874-476: The database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne . AllMusic was launched as All-Music Guide by Michael Erlewine , a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as

912-508: The dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard . After buying it, he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan , he founded All Music Guide with a goal to create an open-access database that included every recording "since Enrico Caruso gave

950-509: The facility was renamed the Hummingbird Centre in recognition of a major gift from a Canadian software company, Hummingbird Communications Ltd. The $ 5-million donation allowed the Centre to undertake a number of capital improvements and repairs, including the installation of an elevator and an acoustic reinforcement system for the auditorium. In October 2006, OpenText acquired Hummingbird and declined to renew its contract with

988-534: The following year, for a total of 580 performances and one preview. Joe Layton was both director and choreographer, with Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley starring. Carroll won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical , a first for an African-American. Barbara McNair and Howard Keel replaced them later in the run. In December 1963, an equally successful production in London, starring Art Lund and Beverly Todd , opened at Her Majesty's Theatre . In 2003,

1026-640: The industry its first big boost". The first All Music Guide , published in 1992, was a 1,200-page reference book, packaged with a CD-ROM, titled All Music Guide: The Best CDs, Albums & Tapes: The Expert's Guide to the Best Releases from Thousands of Artists in All Types of Music . Its first online version, in 1994, was a text-based Gopher site. It moved to the World Wide Web as web browsers became more user-friendly. Erlewine hired

1064-566: The music is sold. It then connects that data together, in a way that can intelligently tell you about an entire type of music, whether a massive genre like classical, or a tiny one like sadcore ." In 1996, seeking to further develop its web-based businesses, Alliance Entertainment Corp. bought All Music from Erlewine for a reported $ 3.5 million. He left the company after its sale. Alliance filed for bankruptcy in 1999, and its assets were acquired by Ron Burkle 's Yucaipa Equity Fund. In 1999, All Music relocated from Big Rapids to Ann Arbor , where

1102-429: The needs of an increasingly dynamic city predates the building's opening by almost 20 years. In the mid-1940s, Nathan Phillips issued a challenge to Toronto industrialists to underwrite the cost of a multipurpose centre for theatre, music and dance. Response to Phillips' challenge was not immediate. E.P. Taylor , the racehorse-loving head of Canadian Breweries , which owned O'Keefe Brewing, offered in early 1955 to build

1140-446: The performing arts venue. Other artists who have performed on the arts venue's stage in a range of solo shows, revues and jazz spectaculars include: Louis Armstrong , Duke Ellington , Marlene Dietrich , Diana Ross , Anne Murray , Tom Jones , Danny Kaye , Judy Garland , Sammy Davis Jr. , Bill Cosby , Jack Benny , Liza Minnelli and Liberace . The venue has also played host to several large-scale ballet and dance performances:

1178-532: The sale, and as Rovi from 2009 until 2016). In 2012, AllMusic removed all of Bryan Adams ' info from the site per a request from the artist. In 2015, AllMusic was purchased by BlinkX, later known as RhythmOne . The AllMusic database is powered by a combination of MySQL and MongoDB . The All Media Network produced the All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide (at first released as The Experts' Guide ), which includes

No Strings - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-407: The staff expanded from 12 to 100 people. By February of that year, 350,000 albums and two million tracks had been cataloged. All Music had published biographies of 30,000 artists, 120,000 record reviews and 300 essays written by "a hybrid of historians, critics and passionate collectors". In late 2007, AllMusic was purchased for $ 72 million by TiVo Corporation (known as Macrovision at the time of

1254-408: The star-crossed lovers that the subject of interracial romance surfaced. Any production of the show easily could be cast with two leads of the same race without changing the content in any significant way. Nevertheless, the casting was socially progressive at the time. Rodgers got the idea for casting a Black actress in the star role after viewing Diahann Carroll on The Tonight Show . He felt that

1292-426: Was a topic largely absent on Broadway. Neither the book nor score make specific mention of race, nor does it impact upon any decisions made by the couple, but Rodgers has addressed the issue. Other than the model’s reference to growing up north of Central Park (seemingly an allusion to Harlem ), there is nothing in the script to suggest she is African-American. It was only in the casting of Carroll and Richard Kiley as

1330-452: Was appropriate for Atlantic Records to adapt the big band sound to that of several jazz performers at a night club. All songs written by Richard Rodgers. Personnel include: A third album was released in May by Capitol, recorded by big band trumpeter Billy May . Billboard speculated that it would be a "potent seller" that was "full of the wit and beat" that characterized May's work and

1368-523: Was arranged and orchestrated without string instruments to underscore the show's title. The success of the Broadway production led to three album versions released in 1962. In a year when musical theater recordings proved to be commercially unsuccessful, No Strings recordings were among the few that did well. The Broadway cast recording was released in March by Capitol Records and reached fifth place on

1406-469: Was constructed for the City of Toronto municipal government and is currently managed by TO Live , an arms-length agency and registered charity created by the city. Located at 1 Front Street East , the venue opened as the O'Keefe Centre on October 1, 1960. From 1996 to 2007, the building was known as the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts . From 2007 to 2019, it was known as

1444-1007: Was to be known, during its first 36 years, as the O'Keefe Centre. The O'Keefe Centre opened on October 1, 1960, with a red-carpet gala . The first production was Alexander H. Cohen 's production of the pre- Broadway premiere of Lerner and Loewe 's Camelot , starring Richard Burton , Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet . Camelot was followed by musical productions featuring such artists as Ethel Merman , Mickey Rooney , Angela Lansbury , Alfred Drake , Yul Brynner , Carol Channing , Pearl Bailey , Katharine Hepburn and Rudolf Nureyev . Popular music artists including Bob Dylan , Janet Jackson , Elton John , Steve Earle , Leonard Cohen , Elvis Costello (November 1978), David Bowie (June 1974), Lou Reed (June 2000), and bands such as The Grateful Dead , The Who , Jefferson Airplane (August 1967), Led Zeppelin (November 1969), Radiohead (June 2006), The Carpenters , The Clash (September 1979) and Beastie Boys (September 2007) played concerts at

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