On the Twentieth Century

On the Twentieth Century is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Based partly on the 1930s film and play of the same name, the musical is part operetta, part farce and part screwball comedy. The story involves the behind-the-scenes relationship between Lily, a temperamental actress and Oscar, a bankrupt theatre producer. On a luxury train traveling from Chicago to New York in the 1920s, Oscar tries to cajole the glamorous Hollywood star into playing the lead in his new, but not-yet-written drama, and perhaps to rekindle their romance.

The musical ran on Broadway in 1978–1979 with success, showcasing Madeline Kahn and then launching the career of Judy Kaye. Several revivals followed in London and elsewhere, and a 2015 Broadway revival featured Kristin Chenoweth.

Background

Comden and Green based the musical on three works: the 1934 Howard Hawks film Twentieth Century; the original 1932 play of the same name by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur; and Hecht's and MacArthur's inspiration, Charles Bruce Millholland's unproduced play about his experiences working for theater producer David Belasco, Napoleon of Broadway.

The 20th Century

The Twentieth Century was a documentary television program, sponsored by the Prudential Insurance Company, which ran on the CBS network from 20 October 1957 until 4 January 1970. It was hosted by Walter Cronkite. The opening and closing theme music was written by composer George Antheil.

The program presented filmed reports on news and cultural events that were important for the development of the 20th century. The show did not just present the events, but also interpreted them. Such subjects as World War I and major assassinations were presented in context.

On 20 January 1967, the show was renamed The 21st Century, sponsored by Union Carbide ("The Discovery Company"). The show's focus changed to the future, and what mankind could look forward to. The 21st Century was cancelled after three seasons (its final broadcast appeared on 4 January 1970). The reason given was that the writers had run out of things to talk about. However, it is possible that CBS may have wished to replace it with a more commercially successful program.

20th century

The 20th century was a century that began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000. It was the tenth and final century of the 2nd millennium. It is distinct from the century known as the 1900s (sometimes written as 19XX), which began on January 1, 1900 and ended on December 31, 1999.

Dubbed the "short twentieth century", this century in human history was dominated by chain of events that heralded significant changes in world history as to redefine the era: World War I and World War II, nationalism and decolonization, the Cold War and Post-Cold War conflicts, cultural homogenization through developments in transportation and communications technology, world population growth, awareness of environmental degradation, ecological extinction and the birth of the Digital Revolution. It saw great advances in communication and medical technology that by the late 1980s allowed for near-instantaneous worldwide computer communication and genetic modification of life.

Overview

The century had the first global-scale total wars between world powers across continents and oceans in World War I and World War II. Nationalism became a major political issue in the world in the 20th century, acknowledged in international law along with the right of nations to self-determination, official decolonization in the mid-century, and nationalist-influenced armed regional-conflicts.

Twentieth century (disambiguation)

Twentieth century may refer to:

20th century (disambiguation)

The 20th century of the Common Era began on 1 January 1901 and ended on 31 December 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar.

20th century may also refer to: