Could It Be Annie Moore Dramatic?

Megan Smolenyak had the (as she describes it) "surreal" experience of watching a play in which she was a character.

There I was in the front row watching intense, borderline neurotic "Megan" (yeah, that was definitely accurate!) and her quest for Annie Moore, the first immigrant through Ellis Island. And there were the right and wrong Annies, Annie's brother Anthony, Megan's assistant Melinda (sort of a combination of my husband Brian, my virtual assistant Alyssa, and others who are forced to deal with me on a consistent basis), two of Annie's kids, and Weber of Ellis Island.

A Loverly Theory

Olive Maude Turner, who died unmarried in 1992, may have been the last living descendant of the real-life "Eliza Doolittle."

Suffolk-based writer Ann Gander is researching the possibility that the playwright George Bernard Shaw based characters in his play Pygmalion - which later became the musical My Fair Lady - on real people.

According to her theory, the fictional relationship between Professor Henry Higgins and his protégé Eliza Doolittle was drawn from the real life pairing of Sir Frederic Leighton and Ada Pullan.

Just as Professor Higgins trains Eliza to behave like a lady, the real life Sir Frederic - who was a famous painter - also paid for the low-born Ada to be tutored. [Link]

In return, Ada agreed to pose nude for the artist—a plot twist that appears only in the NC-17 version of My Fair Lady.

Is This a Whitewash Which I See Before Me?

From (Aberdeen, Scotland) Grampian TV:

Deeside community campaign to clear Macbeth's name

15/09/2005 17:38

A Deeside community's leading a campaign to clear the name of one of Scotland's most infamous characters.

The people of Lumphanan are rallying to the aid of Macbeth, who was killed near their village - and who they claim has been disgraced by Shakespeare.

The gravestones at St Finnan's Church in Lumphanan tell stories dating back hundreds of years.

And yet, there is no monument or marker to this cemetery's most famous resident.

[snip]

Macbeth's name was immortalised by Shakespeare, who's tragedy has been performed on stage and the big screen.

But the people of Lumphanan believe the murderous monarch portrayed in the play is far removed from the truth.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]