-40%
*FRED & ADELE ASTAIRE GEORGE GERSHWIN RARE 1924 STOP FLIRTING PROGRAM*
$ 65.99
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Description
A rare original May 1924 Strand Theatre, London program for Fred and Adele Astaire in Stop Flirting, with a Additional Numbers by George Gershwin. Twenty pages. Dimensions eight and a half by five and a half inches. Light wear otherwise fine. See the story of Fred and Adele Astaire and George Gershwin below.Shipping discounts for multiple purchases. Inquiries always welcome. Please visit my other eBay items for more early theatre, opera, film and historical autographs, photographs and programs and great actor and actress cabinet photos and CDV's.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
George Gershwin
(born
Jacob Bruskin Gershowitz
; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer, pianist and painter
[1]
[2]
whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions
Rhapsody in Blue
(1924) and
An American in Paris
(1928), the songs "
Swanee
" (1919) and "
Fascinating Rhythm
" (1924), the jazz standard "
I Got Rhythm
" (1930), and the opera
Porgy and Bess
(1935) which gave birth to the hit "
Summertime
".
Gershwin studied piano under
Charles Hambitzer
and composition with
Rubin Goldmark
,
Henry Cowell
, and
Joseph Brody
. He began his career as a
song plugger
but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother
Ira Gershwin
and with
Buddy DeSylva
. He moved to Paris intending to study with
Nadia Boulanger
, but she refused him. He subsequently composed
An American in Paris
, returned to New York City and wrote
Porgy and Bess
with Ira and
DuBose Heyward
. Initially a commercial failure, it came to be considered one of the most important American operas of the twentieth century and an American cultural classic.
Gershwin moved to Hollywood and composed numerous film scores. He died in 1937 of a malignant brain tumor.
[3]
His compositions have been adapted for use in film and television, with several becoming jazz standards recorded and covered in many variations.
Fred Astaire
(born
Frederick Austerlitz
;
[1]
May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American actor, dancer, singer, choreographer, and television presenter. He is widely considered the most influential dancer in the history of film.
[2]
His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years. He starred in more than 10
Broadway
and
West End
musicals, made 31
musical films
, four television specials, and issued numerous recordings. As a dancer, his most outstanding traits were his uncanny sense of rhythm, perfectionism, and innovation. His most memorable dancing partnership was with
Ginger Rogers
, with whom he co-starred in a series of ten Hollywood musicals, including
Top Hat
(1935),
Swing Time
(1936), and
Shall We Dance
(1937).
[3]
Among his other most notable films where Astaire gained popularity and took the genre of tap dancing to a new level include
Holiday Inn
(1944),
Easter Parade
(1948),
The Band Wagon
(1953),
Funny Face
(1957), and
Silk Stockings
(1957). The
American Film Institute
named Astaire the fifth-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema.
Adele Astaire
(born
Adele Marie Austerlitz
, later known as
Lady Charles Cavendish
; September 10, 1896 – January 25, 1981), was an American dancer, stage actress, and singer. After beginning work as a dancer and
vaudeville
performer at the age of nine, Astaire built a successful performance career with her younger brother,
Fred Astaire
.
The brother and sister act initially worked their way through vaudeville circuits, finally achieving a breakthrough with their first
Broadway
roles in 1917. Astaire became known for her talents as a skilled dancer and comedienne, starring in hit Broadway musicals such as
Lady, Be Good!
(1924),
Funny Face
(1927) and
The Band Wagon
(1931)
.
The siblings took several of their more popular shows to Britain's
West End
during the 1920s, where they were soon international celebrities, meeting members of the British royal family and prominent figures from contemporary arts and literature circles.
In 1932, after a 27-year partnership with her brother, Astaire retired from the stage to marry
Lord Charles Arthur Francis Cavendish
, the second son of
Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire
. The couple moved to the Cavendish estate of
Lismore Castle
in Ireland. Despite offers of both stage and film roles from producers eager to see her return to acting, Astaire declined to come out of retirement. Following Cavendish's death in 1944, Astaire remarried and moved back to the United States. She divided her time between properties in the United States; Round Hill, Jamaica; and her old home of Lismore Castle, where she spent her summers up until the end of her life.