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Curated playlist

Tony Award winners

  • Al PacinoAl Pacino's mother told him poor people don't do acting. He went on to earn nine Oscar nominations.
  • Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway in 2023 after 13,981 performances.
  • T. S. EliotT. S. Eliot compared an evening sky to a patient on a surgical table.
  • Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg walked into Universal Studios without a pass, and the guard waved him in.
  • Elton JohnElton John sang "Candle in the Wind 1997" live only once, at Princess Diana's funeral. He wrote it days before.
  • Vivien LeighWhen Vivien Leigh died in 1967, every central London theater went dark for an hour.
  • Ian McKellenIan McKellen came out as gay on BBC radio in 1988, while Parliament weighed Section 28.
  • Kurt WeillA song Kurt Weill wrote for a petty criminal in 1928 became a jazz standard.
  • John GielgudJohn Gielgud was arrested months after being knighted. Backstage in Liverpool, he feared he could not face an audience.
  • Elia KazanIn 1952, Elia Kazan gave a congressional committee the names of eight former colleagues.
  • Audrey HepburnAudrey Hepburn gave underground concerts to raise money for the Dutch resistance. She was a teenager in occupied Arnhem.
  • Eugene O'NeillPlaywright Eugene O'Neill was born in a hotel room and died in one. His last words were about that coincidence.
  • Scarlett JohanssonAs a child, Scarlett Johansson practiced Judy Garland's emotions in a mirror until she cried.
  • Arthur MillerArthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in less than six weeks. He finished the first act in less than a day.
  • Judi DenchJudi Dench won an Oscar for a role that lasted about eight minutes. She played Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love.
  • Jonathan PryceA drama school tutor said Jonathan Pryce would only play villains on Z-Cars. He was knighted in 2021.
  • Alec GuinnessAlec Guinness privately called Star Wars "fairy-tale rubbish" in letters to friends.
  • Tom StoppardTom Stoppard arrived in England knowing not a word of Czech. He fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia as a child.
  • Lorne MichaelsLorne Michaels once offered The Beatles $3,000 to reunite on live TV. It came in Saturday Night Live's first season.
  • Kelsey GrammerKelsey Grammer was meant to play Frasier Crane for only six episodes. He kept the role for 20 years across two shows.
  • Michael Lindsay-HoggAt 16, Michael Lindsay-Hogg heard his mother deny in great detail that Orson Welles was his father.

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