Theater, GEL-JOL
There's no business like show business! Nothing quite matches the immediacy and electricity of a live dramatic performance, a fact which may help explain why the art form has persevered from its ancient origins up through the present day. During the 20th century, live theater demonstrated an unexpected tenacity in the face of tough competition from film, television, video, the Internet, and other media.
Theater Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Gelosi, Compagnia dei
Compagnia dei Gelosi, (Italian: âCompany of Jealous Onesâ), one of the earliest and most famous of the commedia......
George II
George II was the duke of Saxe-Meiningen, theatrical director and designer who developed many of the basic principles......
Gershwin, George
George Gershwin was one of the most significant and popular American composers of all time. He wrote primarily......
Gershwin, Ira
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, George Gershwin, on more than......
Gervais, Ricky
Ricky Gervais is an English comedian best known for his work on the BBC comedy series The Office (2001â03). After......
gigaku mask
gigaku mask, stylized wooden mask worn by participants in gigaku, a type of Japanese dance drama. Gigaku masks......
Glee
Glee, American musical comedy television series that aired on the Fox network (2009â15). Its inventive blend of......
Global Sensations: The Top 10 Highest Grossing Actors
As a result of Avatar: Fire and Ash, released in December 2025, Zoe Saldaña jumped ahead of Scarlett Johansson......
Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre, famous London theater that opened in 1599 and in which the plays of William Shakespeare were performed.......
Glover, Donald
Donald Glover is an American writer, comedian, actor, and musician who has won acclaim in all his disparate arts.......
Glover, Savion
Savion Glover is an American dancer and choreographer who became known for his unique pounding style of tap dancing,......
Godfrey, Arthur
Arthur Godfrey was an American radio and television entertainer widely popular in the 1940s and â50s, whose many......
Golias
Golias, stock character in medieval French literature derived from the legendary Bishop Golias, patron of the goliard.......
Goulet, Robert
Robert Goulet was an American singer and actor who possessed a rich baritone voice and matinee-idol good looks,......
Grand Guignol
Grand Guignol, short plays popular in Parisian cabarets in the 19th century, especially at the Théùtre du Grand......
Graumanâs Chinese Theatre
Graumanâs Chinese Theatre, iconic movie palace on Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles, California, U.S. Graumanâs Chinese......
green theatre
green theatre, planting, usually of evergreens, designed to provide accommodation for outdoor theatrical entertainment.......
Gregory, Dick
Dick Gregory was an American comedian, civil rights activist, and spokesman for health issues, who became nationally......
Grein, Jack Thomas
Jack Thomas Grein was a Dutch-born British critic, playwright, and theatre manager who influenced British drama......
Grey, Joel
Joel Grey is an American actor, singer, and dancer who was best known for his riveting performance as the depraved......
Griffin, Kathy
Kathy Griffin is an American comedian and actress known for her lacerating observations about celebrity culture.......
Grillo, Beppe
Beppe Grillo is an Italian comedian and social critic who cofounded the Five Star Movement, a political party in......
Grimaldi, Joseph
Joseph Grimaldi was an English clown and pantomimist. Grimaldi came from a family of dancers and entertainers and......
Gringore, Pierre
Pierre Gringore was a French actor-manager and playwright, best known as a writer of soties (satirical farces)......
Grisette
Grisette, stock character in numerous 19th-century French novels, a pretty young woman who usually works as a laundress,......
Grock
Grock was a Swiss clown whose blunders with the piano and the violin became proverbial. He was the son of a watchmaker......
Grosses Schauspielhaus
Grosses Schauspielhaus, theatre in Berlin designed by architect Hans Poelzig in 1919 for the theatrical director......
Group Theatre
Group Theatre, company of stage craftsmen founded in 1931 in New York City by a former Theatre Guild member, Harold......
Guare, John
John Guare is an American playwright known for his innovative and often absurdist dramas. Guare, who at age 11......
Guignol
Guignol, most prominent puppet character in France, where his name became synonymous with puppet theatre. The hand......
Guilbert, Yvette
Yvette Guilbert was a French singer, reciter, and stage and film actress, who had an immense vogue as a singer......
Guinan, Texas
Texas Guinan was an American actress of the early 20th century who is remembered most vividly as a highly popular......
Habima
Habima, (Hebrew: âStageâ), Hebrew theatre company originally organized as Habima ha-ÊżIvrit (Hebrew: âthe Hebrew......
Haddish, Tiffany
Tiffany Haddish is an American comedian known for her unflinching candour and disarming authenticity. She shot......
Hagenbeck, Carl
Carl Hagenbeck was an internationally known German animal dealer and trainer who controlled animals by befriending......
Hair
Hair, American musical that showcases the counterculture of the 1960s through a loosely connected series of sketches......
Hall, Adelaide
Adelaide Hall was an American-born jazz improviser whose wordless rhythm vocalizing ushered in what became known......
Hall, Arsenio
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and producer who has appeared in several television shows and movies......
Hall, Peter
Peter Hall was an English theatrical manager and director who held notably successful tenures as director of the......
Hamilton
Hamilton, stage musical by American composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda that premiered Off-Broadway on February......
Hammerstein, Oscar, II
Oscar Hammerstein II was an American lyricist, musical comedy author, and theatrical producer influential in the......
hanamichi
hanamichi, (Japanese: âflower passageâ), in Kabuki theatre, runway that passes from the rear of the theatre to......
Handel, George Frideric
George Frideric Handel was a German-born English composer of the late Baroque era, noted particularly for his operas,......
Handler, Chelsea
Chelsea Handler is an American comedian and author known for her earthy, bawdy style and her late-night talk show,......
Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer is a German composer and producer known for scoring numerous award-winning films and soundtracks, including......
Happening
Happening, event that combined elements of painting, poetry, music, dance, and theatre and staged them as a live......
Harlequin
Harlequin, one of the principal stock characters of the Italian commedia dellâarte; often a facile and witty gentlemanâs......
harlequinade
harlequinade, play or scene, usually in pantomime, in which Harlequin, a male character, has the principal role.......
Harrigan, Edward
Edward Harrigan was an American actor, producer, and playwright, half of the comedy team of Harrigan and Hart.......
Harry Houdini on conjuring
Even a superficial reading of this article and its bibliography, written by the magician Harry Houdini for the......
Hart, Lorenz
Lorenz Hart was an American lyricist whose commercially successful popular songs incorporated the careful techniques......
Hart, Moss
Moss Hart was one of the most successful U.S. playwrights of the 20th century. At 17 Hart obtained a job as office......
Harvey, Steve
Steve Harvey is an American comedian, actor, author, and television and radio personality who first gained fame......
hat cheo
hat cheo, Vietnamese peasant theatre. It is generally (though not always) played out-of-doors in the forecourt......
hayashi
hayashi, in Japanese music, any of various combinations of flute and percussion instruments. In nĆ and kabuki drama,......
Heiberg, Johan Ludvig
Johan Ludvig Heiberg was a playwright, poet, literary historian, and critic whose romantic idealism in a sense......
Heller, Robert
Robert Heller was a British-born magician who popularized conjuring in the United States. Trained as a musician,......
Henie, Sonja
Sonja Henie was a Norwegian-born American world champion figure skater and Olympic gold medalist who went on to......
Henson, Jim
Jim Henson was an American puppeteer and filmmaker, creator of the Muppets of television and motion pictures. He......
Herbert, Sir A P
Sir A. P. Herbert was an English novelist, playwright, poet, and politician, author of more than 50 books, famous......
Herbert, Victor
Victor Herbert was an Irish-born American composer of operettas and light music. Herbert became active in Germany......
Herman, Jerry
Jerry Herman was an American songwriter. Herman studied drama in Miami, Florida, and wrote for TV but soon switched......
Herodas
Herodas was a Greek poet, probably of the Aegean island of Cos, author of mimesâshort dramatic scenes in verse......
Heywood, Thomas
Thomas Heywood was an English actor-playwright whose career spans the peak periods of Elizabethan and Jacobean......
Hicks, Bill
Bill Hicks was an American stand-up comedian who was considered a âcomedianâs comedianâ and who was a star in Britain,......
Hocktide play
Hocktide play, a folk play formerly given at Coventry, Eng., on Hock Tuesday (the second Tuesday after Easter).......
Hofzinser, Johann Nepomuk
Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser was an Austrian amateur magician who was one of the most brilliant inventors of small......
Hogan, Hulk
Hulk Hogan was one of the most famous performers in the history of professional wrestling. His huge popularity......
Holland, Henry
Henry Holland was an English architect whose elegant, simple Neoclassicism contrasted with the more lavish Neoclassical......
Holm, Hanya
Hanya Holm was a German-born American choreographer of modern dance and Broadway musicals. After early study at......
Holtei, Karl von
Karl von Holtei was an author who achieved success by his âvaudevilles,â or ballad operas, and by his recitations.......
Hope Theatre
Hope Theatre, London playhouse that served as both a theatre and an arena for bearbaiting and bullbaiting, located......
Hope, Bob
Bob Hope was a British-born American entertainer and comic actor known for his rapid-fire delivery of jokes and......
Houdini, Harry
Harry Houdini was an American magician noted for his sensational escape acts. (Read Harry Houdiniâs 1926 Britannica......
How Bob Odenkirk Became Bob Odenkirk
âIâve done all these different things, and thereâs been a great degree of failure,â Bob Odenkirk told The New York......
How Texas Rose
The History Channelâs miniseries Texas Rising, which aired in 2015, brought to the screen the larger-than-life......
huaju
huaju, form of Chinese drama featuring realistic spoken dialogue rather than the sung poetic dialogue of the traditional......
Hutton, Betty
Betty Hutton was an American actress and singer who electrified audiences with her explosive personality and high-spirited......
Hwang, David Henry
David Henry Hwang is an American playwright, screenwriter, and librettist whose work, by his own account, concerns......
HĂŽtel de Bourgogne, ThĂ©Ăątre de lâ
ThĂ©Ăątre de lâHĂŽtel de Bourgogne, the first permanent theatre in Paris, built in 1548 on the ruins of the palace......
IMAX
IMAX, cinema system developed by IMAX Corporation to capture and present moving images with an extremely high amount......
improvisation
improvisation, in theatre, the playing of dramatic scenes without written dialogue and with minimal or no predetermined......
infotainment
infotainment, television programming that presents information (as news) in a manner intended to be entertaining.......
Into the Woods
Into the Woods, witty and whimsical stage musical by composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim and playwright-director......
Irving, Sir Henry
Sir Henry Irving was one of the most famous of English actors, the first of his profession to be knighted (1895)......
Irwin, May
May Irwin was a Canadian-born American comedian and music-hall performer who popularized such songs as âAfter the......
Izzard, Eddie
Eddie Izzard is a British comedian and actor best known for her surreal, stream of consciousness stand-up comedy.......
Jackman, Hugh
Hugh Jackman is an Australian performer who is considered a âtriple threatââa successful actor, dancer, and singer.......
James, Kevin
Kevin James is an American comedian and actor best known for playing affable working-class characters, most notably......
Jay, Ricky
Ricky Jay was an American magician, actor, author, and historian, widely regarded as the most gifted sleight-of-hand......
Jessel, George
George Jessel was an American comedian, actor, writer, composer, and producer, whose skill as a dinner speaker......
Jessner, Leopold
Leopold Jessner was a theatrical producer and director associated with the German Expressionist theatre. His bold......
Jesuit drama
Jesuit drama, program of theatre developed for educational and propagandist purposes in the colleges of the Society......
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar, rock opera that tells the story of the last week of Jesusâ life from the perspective of......
jingxi
jingxi, popular Chinese theatrical form that developed in the mid-19th century. It incorporated elements of huidiao......
Johnson, Dwayne
...
Johnson, James P.
James P. Johnson was a highly influential American jazz pianist who also wrote popular songs and composed classical......
Johnson, Marsha P.
Marsha P. Johnson was a Black American drag queen and activist who was dedicated to social justice for the gay......
Johnson, Van
Van Johnson was an American actor who was one of Hollywoodâs biggest stars during the early part of his six-decade......
Jolly, George
George Jolly was an actor-manager who, after obscure beginnings, emerged as the leader of the last troupe of English......