Luigi Illica

Luigi Illica (9 May 1857 – 16 December 1919) was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini (usually with Giuseppe Giacosa), Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian composers. His most famous opera librettos are those for La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Andrea Chénier.

Illica was born at Castell'Arquato. His personal life sometimes imitated his libretti. The reason he is always photographed with his head slightly turned is because he lost his right ear in a duel over a woman. When silent films based on Illica's operas were made, his name appeared in large letters on advertisements because distributors could only guarantee that his stories would be used, and not that they would be accompanied by the music of the appropriate composer.

As a playwright of considerable quality, he is today remembered through one of Italy's oldest awards, the Luigi Illica International Prize founded in 1961, which goes to world famous opera singers, opera conductors, directors and authors. The Award is now awarded every two years and alternates with the Illica Opera Stage International Competition, which offers prizes and debut opportunities to young singers.

Luigi

Luigi (Japanese: ルイージ, Hepburn: Ruīji, [ɽɯ.iː.dʑi]) (English /luːˈiːdʒi/; Italian: [luˈiːdʒi]) is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger but taller fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario franchise, often as a sidekick to his brother.

Luigi first appeared in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. as the character controlled by the second player, and retained this role in Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and other titles. The first game where he was available as a primary character was Super Mario Bros. 2. In more recent appearances, Luigi's role became increasingly restricted to spinoffs such as the Mario Party and Mario Kart series, though he has been featured in a starring role on three occasions: first in the 1991 educational game Mario Is Missing!, in Luigi's Mansion for the Nintendo GameCube in 2001, and in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS. In all three of these games, he is called upon to act as the hero because Mario, the usual hero within the franchise, is in need of rescue. Luigi has also appeared in every episode of the three DiC TV series based on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System games.

List of recurring The Simpsons characters

The Simpsons includes a large array of supporting characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, fictional characters within the show, and even animals. The writers originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and have subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to the creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the Canadian sketch comedy show Second City Television.

Agnes Skinner

Agnes Skinner (voiced by Tress MacNeille) is the mother of Principal Skinner and first appeared in the first season episode "The Crepes of Wrath" as an old woman who embarrassingly calls her son "Spanky". However, as episodes progressed, the character turned bitter. She is very controlling of her son and often treats him as if he is a child. She hates Edna Krabappel due to her son's feelings for the other woman. Agnes has married four times. Several Springfield residents (including the Simpsons) are afraid of her. When "the real Seymour Skinner" arrives in Springfield, Agnes ends up rejecting him in part because he stands up to her, but also because unlike Skinner/Tamzarian, her biological son is independent and doesn't need her anymore, while Skinner immediately reverts to a good-for-nothing without her.

List of Coronation Street characters (2007)

The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street in 2007, by order of first appearance.

Roger Stiles

Roger Stiles, played by Andrew Dunn, is a plumber who fixes Janice Battersby's (Vicky Entwistle) heating in January 2007 when her boiler breaks down. After they date twice in the Rovers Return Inn, he invites Janice to go to France with him for a three-month holiday and she accepts. Janice returns alone in March and Roger returns two months later. In 2007, he invests £10,000 in Janice's stepdaughter Leanne's (Jane Danson) restaurant. Janice and Roger begin living together after Roger struggles to pay his rent, as a result of his loan to Leanne, which she eventually pays back. He saves the Barlows' kitchen roof when it is leaking in May 2008 and strikes up a friendship with Ken Barlow (William Roache).

In early August 2008, he, Janice, Bill Webster (Peter Armitage) and Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) all embark on a holiday to France together, which ends in a minor car accident in which Roger suffers whiplash.