What Child Is This?

"What Child Is This?" is a Christmas carol whose lyrics were written by William Chatterton Dix, in 1865. At the time of composing the carol, Dix worked as an insurance company manager and had been struck by a severe illness. While recovering, he underwent a spiritual renewal that led him to write several hymns, including lyrics to this carol that was subsequently set to the tune of "Greensleeves", a traditional English folk song. Although it was written in England, the carol is more popular in the United States than in its country of origin today.

Lyrics

Composition

The lyrics of the carol are taken from a poem written by Dix called "The Manger Throne". The part of the poem that was utilized as the song's lyrics consists of three stanzas in total. The first verse poses a rhetorical question in the first half, with the response coming in the second half. The second verse contains another question that is answered, while the final verse is a universal appeal to everyone urging them "to accept Christ". The carol's melody has been described as "soulful", "haunting and beautiful" in nature.

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (also known as Beauty and the Beast 2) is a 1997 American animated musical direct-to-video Christmas film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The film is a midquel to the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast, taking place shortly after the fight with the wolves in the first film. In the film, the Beast forbids Christmas (because his transformation from the Prince occurred during that time of year) until Belle, Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, and Chip convince him that Christmas is a good holiday. The film also shows the time that the enchantress put the spell on the castle in the first film in more detail.

Plot

Belle and the Prince throw a Christmas party for the local villagers at their castle. Lumiere and Cogsworth argue who brought Christmas back to the castle, while Mrs. Potts insists of explaining the true story behind Christmas' return to the castle. The film then switches into a lengthy flashback, during the events of the first film after the Beast saved Belle from a wolf pack. Belle is excited for Christmas but is shocked when the castle servants reveal the Beast has forbidden Christmas from occurring. Belle finds the Beast outside in the snow and offers to teach him ice skating, but Fife, humble minion of Forte the court composer, who was transformed into a pipe organ, interrupts their skating, causing the Beast and Belle to crash into the snow, and when Belle makes a snow angel, the Beast see his angel as a shadow of a monster. He roars, swipes at some snow and storms off inside, leaving Belle and the castle servants alone.

My Christmas

My Christmas is the thirteenth studio album and first Christmas album released by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

The album is a compilation of seasonal holiday favorites, mainly in English, with a few selections in Italian, German, and French, produced by multiple Grammy Award winner David Foster, containing duets with Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole, Reba McEntire, Katherine Jenkins, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and The Muppets. It also includes "God Bless Us Everyone", the only original song of the album, which Bocelli recorded for the closing of the 2009 film, A Christmas Carol.

A Spanish version of the album, called Mi Navidad, was released November 23, 2009, and a PBS Christmas special of the album, filmed in the Kodak Theatre, was released on DVD December 8, 2010, after airing on PBS stations nationwide.

With over 2.2 million copies sold in the last two months of 2009 in the United States alone, the album was the best-selling holiday album of the year, and one of the best-selling albums of 2009, with worldwide sales exceeding 5 million copies.

The Producers

The Producers may refer to:

Titled works

Bands

The Producers (musical)

The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich by overselling interests in a Broadway flop. Complications arise when the show unexpectedly turns out to be successful. The humor of the show draws on ridiculous accents, caricatures of homosexuals and Nazis, and many show business in-jokes.

After 33 previews, the original Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 19, 2001, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and ran for 2,502 performances, winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards. It spawned a successful London production running for just over two years, national tours in the US and UK, many productions worldwide and a 2005 film version.

Background

David Geffen persuaded Mel Brooks to turn his movie into a stage musical. When Brooks met with Jerry Herman to discuss their working together, Herman declined, telling Brooks that he should do the job himself, as he was a good songwriter. Brooks then asked Thomas Meehan to join him in writing the book for the stage. Brooks persuaded Mike Ockrent and his wife Susan Stroman to join the creative team as director and choreographer. After Ockrent's death in 1999, Stroman agreed to continue as both director and choreographer.

The Producers (1968 film)

The Producers is a 1968 American satirical comedy film written and directed by Mel Brooks. The film is set in the late 1960s and tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who want to produce a sure-fire Broadway flop. They take more money from investors than they can repay (the shares they sell total more than 100% of any profits) and plan to abscond to Brazil as soon as the play closes, only to see the plan go awry when the show turns out to be a hit.

The film stars Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock, the producer, and Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom, the accountant. It features Dick Shawn as L.S.D., the actor who ends up playing the lead in the musical within the movie, and Kenneth Mars as a playwright and former Nazi soldier, Franz Liebkind.

The Producers was the first film directed by Brooks. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Decades later, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry and placed 11th on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs list. It was later remade successfully by Brooks as an acclaimed Broadway stage musical, which itself was adapted as a film.