Royal Oak Music Theatre

Royal Oak Music Theatre is a music venue located at 318 W. Fourth Street, Royal Oak, Michigan. It was built as a vaudeville theatre and opened in 1928.

History and usage

The theater opened in 1928 by entrepreneur John H. Kunsky. Originally opening to serve as a movie theater, in 1978, the theater that had now been closed, was reopened as a concert and comedy venue by Detroit native and concert promoter Paul Stanley of PS Productions. The very first concert was Maria Muldaur and Martin Mull on April 2, 1978. The second concert was billed as 'The Martins are coming' starred Martin Mull and Steve Martin for $5.50 a ticket, and the third concert featured a new act; Hall & Oates.

It was privately owned until being purchased in 2004 by Worldwide Entertainment, LLC, then Off Broadway and musicals were brought as forms of entertainment into the venue. AEG Live began operating the theatre in 2007.

Capacity

There are three set ups available at the theater with a maximum capacity of 1700; general admission, cabaret, and theatre. General admission holds up to 1700 patrons, cabaret holds 782, seating 562 on the main floor and 200 in the mezzanine, and the theatre set up holds 1000, 718 on the floor and 282 in the mezzanine.

Royal Oak

The Royal Oak is the English oak tree within which King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. Charles told Samuel Pepys in 1680 that while he was hiding in the tree, a Parliamentarian soldier passed directly below it. The story was popular after the Restoration, and is remembered every year in the English traditions of Royal Oak Day. Numerous large dishes painted in slip with the Boscobel Oak, supported by the Lion and Unicorn, with the king's face peeping from the branches were made by the Staffordshire potter Thomas Toft.

History

After the defeat of Charles' Royalist army at the hands of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, the King fled with Lord Derby, Lord Wilmot and other royalists, seeking shelter at the safe houses of White Ladies Priory and Boscobel House.

Initially, Charles was led to White Ladies Priory by Charles Giffard, a cousin of the owner, and his servant Francis Yates, the only man later executed for his part in the escape. There, the Penderel (Pendrell or Pendrill) family, tenants and servants of the Giffard family began to be important in guiding and caring for him. The King was disguised as a woodman by Charles Giffard and the Penderel family. From White Ladies, Richard Penderel led Charles in an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Severn near Madeley, Shropshire. They were forced to retrace their steps and Charles took refuge at Boscobel. On 6 September 1651, he there met with William Careless (or Carlis), a native of nearby Brewood, one of the last royalists to escape the battlefield. Careless's rank is variously reported as Captain, Major and Colonel.

Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet (AP) (French pronunciation: ​[odmaʁ piɡɛ]) is a manufacturer of ultra-luxury Swiss watches founded in 1875 by watch makers Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet. Tiffany & Co, Cartier and Bulgari use Audemars Piguet movements. Audemars Piguet is often regarded to be among the highest end of watch manufacturers, sharing prestigious acclamation with Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange & Söhne , Jaeger-LeCoultre and Breguet.

The Swiss company designs and manufactures high complex mechanical watches, haute joaillerie creations and jewelry, and produces 36,000 timepieces per year.

The Audemars Piguet watch group is composed of 1,200 employees, 14 distribution subsidiaries and 16 boutiques worldwide. It comprises three production sites: Le Brassus, Le Locle and Meyrin in Switzerland. The brand is present in 88 countries.

AP is one of the oldest watch manufacturers still owned by its founding family.

History

Background

The Vallée de Joux, located in the Jura Mountains in the Swiss Canton of Vaud.

Royal Oak (disambiguation)

The Royal Oak was the tree in which Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

Cities and towns

In England

In the United States

Elsewhere

Warships

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.

Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the musical theatre works of American creators like George M. Cohan. The Princess Theatre musicals and other smart shows like Of Thee I Sing (1931) were artistic steps forward beyond revues and other frothy entertainments of the early 20th century and led to such groundbreaking works as Show Boat (1927) and Oklahoma! (1943). Some of the most famous and iconic musicals through the decades that followed include West Side Story (1957), The Fantasticks (1960), Hair (1967), A Chorus Line (1975), Les Misérables (1985), The Phantom of the Opera (1986), Rent (1996), The Producers (2001) and Wicked (2003).