Oscar (opera)

Oscar is an American opera in two acts, with music by composer Theodore Morrison and a libretto by Morrison and English opera director John Cox. The opera, Morrison's first, is based on the life of Oscar Wilde, focused on his trial and imprisonment in Reading Gaol. It was a co-commission and co-production between The Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia (formerly the Opera Company of Philadelphia). This work received its world premiere at The Santa Fe Opera on 27 July 2013. Opera Philadelphia first presented the revised version of the opera on 6 February 2015.

The genesis of the opera resulted from a 2004 meeting in London between Morrison and Cox, after the premiere of Morrison's James Joyce song cycle, Chamber Music, which he wrote for countertenor David Daniels, a former student of his. Upon learning that Morrison had never composed an opera, but wished to write one for Daniels, Cox encouraged that idea. This led to correspondence between Cox and Morrison, and an agreement to collaborate on an opera based on the subject of Oscar Wilde. Cox and Morrison had each read the biography of Wilde by Richard Ellmann, and settled on a plan for co-authorship of an opera libretto based on the writings of Oscar Wilde and his contemporaries, with Walt Whitman serving as a chorus speaking from the realm of immortality. The opera used Wilde's poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", documents, letters, conversations and remarks by Wilde's contemporaries as source material for the libretto. Cox also consulted Merlin Holland, the grandson of Oscar Wilde and a scholar on Oscar Wilde.

Oscar (1967 film)

Oscar is a French comedy of errors directed by Édouard Molinaro and starring Louis de Funès. In the movie, Louis de Funès plays an industrialist named Bertrand Barnier who discovers over the course of a single day that his daughter is pregnant, he has been robbed by an employee, and various other calamities have befallen his household and his business.

An English-language version of the movie was made in 1991, by John Landis, under the same name and starring Sylvester Stallone.

Plot

Christian Martin, a modest accountant in a large firm owned by Bertrand Barnier, surprises his boss by asking him for a 100% increase in his wages. Martin is on the point of proposing to a girl and doesn't want to ask for her hand in marriage while making a lowly accountant's salary.

After Barnier refuses to give him the raise, Martin tells him that he's stolen more than sixty million francs from him by falsifying the firm's accounting records. When Barnier threatens to report this to the police, Martin points out that as a consequence of the fraud Barnier has now submitted false income statements to the tax office, a serious crime. Barnier has no choice but to give in to blackmail and he agrees to give Martin the raise and name him vice-president of the firm.

Oscar-class submarine

Project 949 (Granit) and Project 949A (Antey) are Soviet Navy/Russian Navy cruise missile submarines (NATO reporting names: Oscar-I and Oscar-II respectively).

Project 949 submarines were the largest cruise missile submarines in service, until the Ohio-class SSGN cruise missile submarine converted from SSBN and returned to service on 15 October 2007. They are the fourth largest class of submarines in terms of displacement and length. Only the Typhoon-class Soviet/Russian submarines, the American Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines and the Russian Borei-class submarines are larger.

History

The first submarine of Project 949 was laid down in the mid-1970s and was commissioned in 1980. In 1982 an updated and larger version (Project 949A) replaced the earlier version. In total thirteen submarines were constructed. The Oscar class was designed to attack NATO carrier battle groups using long-range SS-N-19 "Shipwreck" anti-ship missiles and targeting data provided by the EORSAT satellite system. In the financial problems that followed the fall of the Soviet Union the Oscar class was prioritized by the Russian navy and when many older submarine classes were retired the Oscar class remained active in both the Northern and Pacific fleets. As of 2011, five submarines are currently active with several more in reserve or waiting for repairs.

List of Barbie's friends and family

The list of friends for the popular Barbie line of dolls that began in 1959. Since character continuity has not been consistent over time, there is no real "canon" lineup. At different times, different groups of dolls were offered, and the naming and apparent age relationships of the characters has varied considerably.

Barbie family and other principal characters

Alison Skipper

Alison Skipper is an American actress, model, television personality, dancer, and professional wrestler who is best known for her work with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as a valet. Outside of TNA, Skipper hosted "The College Experiment" on Fox Sports and appeared on the Home Shopping Network.

Skipper was born in Orlando, Florida where she still resides. She attended the University of Central Florida. Skipper took up dancing and modeling at a young age. She has modeled for Lucky, Vogue, Hyatt Hotels, Breezes Resorts, Body Glove, Kumho Tires, Boost Mobile, Ron Jon Surf Shop, Nike, Victoria's Secret, Macy's and Nordstrom's. She has also been featured in television commercials for Walt Disney World and Papa John's Pizza. Alison is also a regular fashion & jewelry model for the Home Shopping Network (HSN), and hosted "The College Experiment" on Fox Sports from 2010 to 2013.

Professional Wrestling Career

Skipper signed with TNA Wrestling, and debuted under the name Chelsea during the Genesis pay-per-view January 17, 2010. She aligned herself with Desmond Wolfe at the event, where he defeated D'Angelo Dinero. She would continue to appear accompany Wolfe to the ring as he feuded with D'Angelo Dinero, at times even helping him cheat to win matches.

Chelsea (American band)

Chelsea was an early 1970s band from New York City, best known for being the band of drummer Peter Criss before he joined Kiss. They released one album, the self-titled album Chelsea in 1971 and then collapsed during the recording of their unreleased second album.

In August 1971, the band became Lips (a trio consisting of Criss and his Chelsea bandmates Michael Benvenga and Stan Penridge). By the spring of 1973, Lips was just the duo of Criss and Penridge and eventually disbanded completely.

Their sound has been compared to the Moody Blues and Procol Harum.

In 1973, Pete Shepley & Mike Brand recorded an unreleased album which included post-Chelsea Michael Benvenga, and pre-Kiss Peter Criss and Gene Simmons as session musicians. It was titled Captain Sanity.

Chelsea

Chelsea is the only album released by the band. Peter Criss is credited as Peter Cris in the liner notes.

Track listing