Leslie Stuart (1864-1928) was a British songwriter best remembered as the composer of the hit show, Florodora. He began writing popular songs as a teenager, first for blackface and vaudeville performers, and eventually for more "legitimate" shows and revues. Florodora (1899), written in collaboration with London's most fashionable librettist, Owen Hall, was a musical-comedy sensation. Its combination of the traditional slow love ballads and waltzes with more rhythmic and long-lined numbers made it a worldwide success. He continued to compose through the first decade of the 20th century, laying the groundwork for the coming innovations in British and American musical theater.

Leslie Stuart was one of the leading composers of English-language musical theatre in the years around 1900. His greatest musical comedy success, Floradora, was a hit in America and made him rich. Stuart's subsequent extravagant spending on gambling, drinking and entertaining, as well as his generous gifts to the needy, left him bankrupt. This book sets out the facts of Stuart's life, increases awareness of his achievements, and tells the fascinating story of his rise and fall from fame.

From the Parisian operettas of Jacques Offenbach in the 1850s to such current blockbuster musicals as Les Miserables and Rent, musical theatre has given joy to audiences throughout the world. This lively book -- an illustrated history of popular musical theatre -- provides a compendium of fascinating details about the origins and development of the genre over a century and a half.

Andrew Lamb moves from country to country, showing how different cultures interpreted and were influenced by different types of musical theatre. He examines, for example, the development of the European operetta style from French and Viennese works to such less-well-known schools as the Spanish zarzuela. He also traces the evolution of English-language works from the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan and American vaudevilles and extravaganzas to the latest Broadway and West End musicals. For each significant work he provides a brief description of the plot and references to the principal musical numbers. While his focus is on composers, librettists, and lyricists, he also gives information about principal performers, directors, and other creative influences. In a masterful way he conveys the differences between works of the same composer and works by various composers, and shows how they reflect changing cultural tastes and musical and dramatic conventions. Displaying a deep and wide-ranging expertise, this authoritative book is an invaluable resource for all lovers of the musical theatre.

How far would you go to spare yourself an eternity in Damnation? Murdered for his adulterous ways, Vincentius De Cavalieri forged a twisted pact with the cursed Olympian Priestess Stheno to avoid a fate worse than Hell. In exchange for immortality, he was tasked with the retrieval of the mysterious Tyche sword, a weapon with supernatural and corrupting powers. After 500 years of searching, he tracks the Tyche to a corrupt Bio-Weapons genius who has used the sword to craft the ultimate weapon... the Serpent of the Tyche. From the creator of "Dispatchers - Vengeance of the Dark," the Serpent of the Tyche draws upon Greek Mythologies and combines them with modern Science Fiction themes to create a fast paced action packed thriller.

A circle and five lines. In Adventures with Stickman, our hero lives on the pages of Percy's notebook. When Percy runs into obstacles he turns to his pencil and his alter ego, Stickman. Stickman can go places and do things Percy sometimes cannot. We follow a pelican named Percy on his first visit to the local community center. Along the way Percy joins his friends and learns the classic "practice makes perfect" philosophy.