title: Koreans

text: Modern Koreans are suggested to be the descendants of a prehistoric group of people from Southern Siberia/Manchuria, who moved to the northern Korean Peninsula as well as Koreanized indigenous populations in the southern part of the peninsula. Archaeological evidence suggests that Proto-Koreans were migrants from Manchuria during the Bronze Age. According to most linguists and archaeologists with expertise in ancient Korea, the linguistic homeland of Proto-Korean and of early Koreans is located somewhere in Southern Siberia/Manchuria, such the Liao river area or the Amur region. Later, Koreanic-speakers migrated to northern Korea and started to expand further south, replacing and assimilating Japonic-speakers and likely causing the Yayoi migration. Whitman (2012) suggests that the Proto-Koreans arrived in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula at around 300 BCE and coexisted with the descendants of the Japonic Mumun cultivators (or assimilated them). Vovin suggests Proto-Korean is equivalent to the variant of Koreanic languages spoken in southern Siberia/Manchuria and northern Korean peninsula by the time of the Three Kingdoms of Korea period and spread to southern Korea through influence from Goguryeo migrants.


title: Koreans

text: However, a number of Korean scholars such as Jangsuk Kim and Jinho Park reject the view that the Korean speakers were not native to the Korean Peninsula, and argue that no solid evidence of such linguistic migration/shift as well as population and material change in the peninsular region has ever been found to support such view.


title: Koreans

text: The largest concentration of dolmens in the world is found on the Korean Peninsula. In fact, with an estimated 35,000-100,000 dolmen, Korea accounts for nearly 40% of the world's total. Similar dolmens can be found in Manchuria, the Shandong Peninsula and the Kyushu island, yet it is unclear why this culture only flourished so extensively on the Korean Peninsula and its surroundings compared to the bigger remainder of Northeastern Asia.


title: Koreans

text: Stephen Pheasant (1986), who taught anatomy, biomechanics and ergonomics at the Royal Free Hospital and the University College, London, said that Far Eastern people have proportionately shorter lower limbs than Europeans and black Africans. Pheasant said that the proportionately short lower limbs of Far Eastern people is a difference that is most characterized in Japanese people, less characterized in Korean and Chinese people, and the least characterized in Vietnamese and Thai people.


title: Koreans

text: Neville Moray (2005) said that, for Korean and Japanese pilots, sitting height is more than 54% of their stature, with about 46% of their stature from leg length. Moray said that, for Americans and most Europeans, sitting height is about 52% of their stature, with about 48% of their stature from leg length.


title: Koreans

text: In a craniometric study, Pietrusewsky (1994) found that the Japanese series, which was a series that spanned from the Yayoi period to modern times, formed a single branch with Korea. Later, Pietrusewsky (1999) found, however, that Korean and Yayoi people were very highly separated in the East Asian cluster, indicating that the connection that Japanese have with Korea would not have derived from Yayoi people.


title: Koreans

text: Park Dae-kyoon et al. (2001) said that distance analysis based on thirty-nine non-metric cranial traits showed that Koreans are closer craniometrically to Kazakhs and Mongols than Koreans are close craniometrically to the populations in China and Japan.


title: Koreans

text: Koreans display high frequencies of the Y-DNA haplogroups O2-M122 (approximately 40% of all present-day Korean males), O1b2-M176 (approximately 30%), and C2-M217 (approximately 15%). Some regional variance may exist; in a study of South Korean Y-DNA published in 2011, the ratio of O2-M122 to O1b2-M176 is greatest in Seoul-Gyeonggi (1.8065), with the ratio declining in a counterclockwise direction around South Korea (Chungcheong 1.6364, Jeolla 1.3929, Jeju 1.3571, Gyeongsang 1.2400, Gangwon 0.9600). Haplogroup C2-M217 tends to be found in about 13% of males from most regions of South Korea, but it is somewhat more common (about 17%) among males from the Gyeongsang region in the southeast of the peninsula and somewhat less common (about 7%) among males from Jeju, located off the southwest coast of the peninsula. Haplogroup C2-M217 has been found in a greater proportion (about 26%) of a small sample ("n"=19) of males from North Korea. However, haplogroups are not a reliable indicator of an individual's overall ancestry; Koreans are more similar to one another in regard to their autosomes than they are similar to members of other ethnic groups.


title: Koreans

text: Koreans, along with Japanese and Tungusic speakers are generally considered a Northeast Asian group. The mitochondrial DNA markers (mtDNA haplogroups and HVR-I sequences) of Korean populations showed close relationships with Manchurians, Japanese, Mongolians and northern Han Chinese but not with Southern East Asians. Y-chromosomal distances showed a close relationship to most East Asian groups, including Southeast Asian ones. Ancient genome comparisons revealed that the genetic makeup of Koreans can be best described as an admixture of the Neolithic Devil's Gate genome in the Amur region in the Russian Far-East adjacent to North Korea as well as that of rice-farming agriculturalists from the Yangtze river valley, which in turn are often linked to O2-M122. The results from the findings in the Devil's Gate showed that the ancient populations of the area were already admixed from both Northern East Asian and Southern East Asian groups. These groups correlate closely to modern Koreanic and Japonic, who form a cluster in regional comparisons, along with various Tungusic groups. East Asians, including Northern groups (Mongolic, Turkic, Uralic, Koreanic, Ainuic, Tungusic, Paleosiberian, Amerindian and Japonic) and Southern ones (Mainland Southeast Asians, Insular Southeast Asians) are closer related to another than other population groups and can trace themselves to a common ancestry from several tens of thousands of years ago.


title: Koreans

text: Studies of polymorphisms in the human Y-chromosome have so far produced evidence to suggest that the Korean people have a long history as a distinct, mostly endogamous ethnic group, with successive prehistoric waves of people moving to the peninsula and two major Y-chromosome haplogroups. Koreans show a close genetic relationship with other modern East Asians such as the Han Chinese and Yamato Japanese


title: Koreans

text: According to a genetic distance measurements from a large scale genetic study from 2021 titled 'Genomic insights into the formation of human populations in East Asia', Koreans are genetically closest to Japanese, followed by a larger margin by Northern Han on FST genetic distance measurements.


title: Koreans

text: Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, Eugene Y. Park said that many Koreans seem to have a genealogical memory blackout before the twentieth century. According to him the vast majority Koreans do not know their actual genealogical history. Through "inventing tradition" in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, families devised a kind of master narrative story that purports to explain a surname-ancestral seat combination's history to the extent where it is next to impossible to look beyond these master narrative stories. He gave an example of what "inventing tradition" was like from his own family's genealogy where a document from 1873 recorded three children in a particular family and a later 1920 document recorded an extra son in that same family. Park said that these master narratives connect the same surname and ancestral seat to a single, common ancestor. This trend became universal in the nineteenth century, but genealogies which were published in the seventeenth century actually admit that they did not know how the different lines of the same surname or ancestral seat are related at all. Only a small percentage of Koreans had surnames and ancestral seats to begin with, and that the rest of the Korean population had adopted these surname and ancestral seat identities within the last two to three hundred years.


title: Koreans

text: North Korea and South Korea share a common heritage, but the political division since 1945 has resulted in some divergence of their modern cultures.


title: Koreans

text: The language of the Korean people is the Korean language, which uses Hangul as its main writing system. Daily usage of Hanja has been phased out in Korean peninsula other than usage by selected South Korean media companies (mostly conservative) when referring to key politicians (e.g. current and former Presidents, leaders of major political parties) or handful of countries (e.g. China, Japan, US, UK) as an abbreviation. Otherwise, Hanja is exclusively used for academic, historical and religious purposes. Roman alphabet is the de facto secondary writing system in South Korea especially for loan words and is widely used in day-to-day and official communication. There are more than 78 million speakers of the Korean language worldwide.


title: Koreans

text: Large-scale emigration from Korea began as early as the mid-1860s, mainly into the Russian Far East and Northeast China (also historically known by the exonym Manchuria); these populations would later grow to more than two million Koreans in China and several hundred thousand Koryo-saram (ethnic Koreans in Central Asia and the former USSR). During the Korea under Japanese rule of 1910–1945, Koreans were often recruited and or forced into labour service to work in mainland Japan, Karafuto Prefecture (Sakhalin), and Manchukuo; the ones who chose to remain in Japan at the end of the war became known as Zainichi Koreans, while the roughly 40,000 Koreans who were trapped in Karafuto after the Soviet invasion are typically referred to as Sakhalin Koreans.


title: Koreans

text: In June 2012, South Korea's population reached 50 million and by the end of 2016, South Korea's population has surpassed 51 million people. Since the 2000s, South Korea has been struggling with a low birthrate, leading some researchers to suggest that if current population trends hold, the country's population will shrink to approximately 38 million population towards the end of the 21st century. In 2018, fertility in South Korea became again a topic of international debate after only 26,500 babies were born in October and an estimated of 325,000 babies in the year, causing the country to have the lowest birth rate in the world.


title: Koreans

text: Estimating the size, growth rate, sex ratio, and age structure of North Korea's population has been extremely difficult. Until release of official data in 1989, the 1963 edition of the North Korea Central Yearbook was the last official publication to disclose population figures. After 1963 demographers used varying methods to estimate the population. They either totalled the number of delegates elected to the Supreme People's Assembly (each delegate representing 50,000 people before 1962 and 30,000 people afterwards) or relied on official statements that a certain number of persons, or percentage of the population, was engaged in a particular activity. Thus, on the basis of remarks made by President Kim Il-sung in 1977 concerning school attendance, the population that year was calculated at 17.2 million persons. During the 1980s, health statistics, including life expectancy and causes of mortality, were gradually made available to the outside world.


title: Koreans

text: In 1989, the Central Bureau of Statistics released demographic data to the United Nations Population Fund in order to secure the UNFPA's assistance in holding North Korea's first nationwide census since the establishment of the state in 1948. Although the figures given to the United Nations might have been distorted, it appears that in line with other attempts to open itself to the outside world, the North Korean regime has also opened somewhat in the demographic realm. Although the country lacks trained demographers, accurate data on household registration, migration, and births and deaths are available to North Korean authorities. According to the United States scholar Nicholas Eberstadt and demographer Brian Ko, vital statistics and personal information on residents are kept by agencies on the "ri" ("village", the local administrative unit) level in rural areas and the "dong" ("district" or "block") level in urban areas.


title: Koreans

text: Korean emigration to the U.S. was known to have begun as early as 1903, but the Korean American community did not grow to a significant size until after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965; as of 2017, excluding the undocumented and uncounted, roughly 1.85 million Koreans emigrants and people of Korean descent live in the United States according to the official figure by the US Census. The Greater Los Angeles Area and New York metropolitan area in the United States contain the largest populations of ethnic Koreans outside of Korea or China. The Korean population in the United States represents a small share of the American economy, but has a disproportionately positive impact. Korean Americans have a savings rate double that of the U.S. average and also graduate from college at a rate double that of the U.S. average, providing highly skilled and educated professionals to the American workforce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Census 2000 data, mean household earnings for ethnic Koreans in the U.S. was $59,981, approximately 5.1% higher than the U.S. average at the time of $56,604.


title: Koreans

text: Significant Korean populations are present in China, Japan, Argentina, Brazil and Canada as well. The number of Koreans in Indonesia grew during the 1980s, while during the 1990s and 2000s the number of Koreans in the Philippines and Koreans in Vietnam have also grown significantly. In Central Asia, significant populations reside in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as well as parts of Russia including the Far East. Known as Koryo-saram, many of these are ancestors of Koreans who were forcely deported during the Soviet Union's Stalin regime. The Korean overseas community of Uzbekistan is the 5th largest outside Korea.


title: Koreans

text: Koreans in the United Kingdom now form Western Europe's largest Korean community, albeit still relatively small; Koreans in Germany used to outnumber those in the UK until the late 1990s. In Australia, Korean Australians comprise a modest minority. Koreans have migrated significantly since the 1960s.


title: Koreans

text: Pak Noja said that there were 5,747 Japanese-Korean couples in Korea at the end of 1941. Pak Cheil estimated there to be 70,000 to 80,000 "semi-Koreans" in Japan in the years immediately after the war. Many of them remained in Japan as Zainichi Koreans, maintaining their Korean heritage. However, due to assimilation, their numbers are much lower in recent times.


title: Koreans

text: Kopinos are people of mixed Filipino and Korean descent. The proliferation of Kopinos in the Philippines has been a source of controversy as many Kopinos are born to South Korean fathers who impregnate Filipino women and then abandon them. The 'Mixed Filipino Heritage Act of 2020' estimated there were around 30,000 Kopinos.


title: Koreans

text: Lai Đại Hàn is a Vietnamese term referring to mixed children born to South Korean men and Vietnamese women during the Vietnam War. These children were largely conceived as the result of wartime rape. No exact data is available on the number of Korean-Vietnamese because many of them choose to conceal their roots, but an estimate by a Korean scholar says the number of Lai Dai Han around the world is at least 5,000.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action thriller film directed and co-produced by Renny Harlin and co-written by and starring Sylvester Stallone alongside John Lithgow, Michael Rooker and Janine Turner. Based on a concept by climber John Long, the film follows Gabe (Stallone), a mountain climber who becomes embroiled in a heist of a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains. The film premiered at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, and was released in the United States on May 28, 1993, by TriStar Pictures. It earned $255 million worldwide.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Rangers Gabriel "Gabe" Walker and Jessie Deighan are dispatched to rescue their friend Hal Tucker and his girlfriend, Sarah, after Hal suffered a knee injury and stranded them on a peak in the Colorado Rockies. As they try to rescue Sarah, part of her harness breaks. Although Gabe is initially able to grab her, her gloved hand slips out and she falls to her death. Hal blames Gabe for Sarah's death and Gabe is overcome with guilt, taking an extended leave.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Eight months later, Gabe returns to the ranger station to gather his remaining possessions and persuade Jessie to leave with him. While there, they receive a distress call from a group of stranded climbers. Hal goes to locate the climbers and Jessie is able to persuade Gabe to help out. Hal remains bitter towards Gabe over Sarah's death, at one point threatening to push Gabe off a ledge. When they find the climbers, they discover the distress call was a fake and are taken prisoner by a ruthless gang of international thieves led by psychotic former Military Intelligence operative Eric Qualen. The surviving thieves are the brutal Kynette, sadistic Delmar and pilot Kristel. Qualen, along with turncoat U.S. Treasury agent Richard Travers, were able to steal three suitcases full of uncirculated bills valuing over $100 million from a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 on a mid-air transfer to a Lockheed Jetstar. Their escape plan backfired when a supposedly dead FBI agent shoots and damages the hydraulics, sending their plane crashing into the mountain, and they now require Gabe and Hal's help to locate the cases with the help of beacon locators.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: At gunpoint, Hal and Gabe lead them to the first case, located upwards on a steep rock face. Gabe is tethered and forced to climb up the face to reach the case, but when Qualen plans to have Gabe killed once he's got the case, Hal warns him not to come down. Before Delmar pulls him back and hold him at gunpoint, Qualen orders Kynette and one of the thieves try to yank him down, prompting Gabe to sever the rope. Qualen orders one of the thieves to open fire on Gabe, causing an avalanche that kills one of their members. When they see the money from the first case fluttering away, Qualen believes Gabe is dead, and orders Hal to lead them onward. Gabe races ahead to find Jessie at an abandoned cabin. They recover old mountaineering gear to reach the second case before Qualen does. By the time Qualen arrives, Gabe and Jessie have emptied the case and left only a single bill with the taunting message "Want to trade?" on it. Qualen orders his men to split up, allowing Gabe to impale Kynette on a stalactite in a cavern. Gabe attempts to call for help from Frank, their rescue helicopter pilot, on one of the mercenaries' radios, but Hal alerts him to explosives Qualen has rigged above them on the mountain. Gabe and Jessie escape the falling debris in time. Elsewhere, when Hal sees two friends, Evan and Brett, he warns them away before Qualen orders his men to open fire. Brett is killed while Evan is wounded, though he manages to ski off the mountain and parachute to safety. Night falls on the mountain and both groups take shelter. Frank, having not heard from Gabe or the others, scouts the mountain in the helicopter, spots Evan's parachute, and is able to get him to safety while contacting the authorities.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: When morning breaks, Gabe and Jessie beat Qualen to the last case. Meanwhile, the mercenaries flag down Frank in the helicopter, but by the time he realizes it's a trap it is too late and he is fatally shot by Delmar. While hugging Frank's body, Hal discreetly grabs Frank's knife. As the mercenaries split up to look for the other case, Hal is able to use the knife to stab Delmar, kill him with his own shotgun, and escape. Travers sees Gabe and gives chase. While on the surface of a frozen river, Travers observes Gabe under the ice and tries to kill him, but Gabe uses his bolt gun to shoot Travers and his lifeless body is carried away by the river current. However, at the same time, Qualen takes Jessie hostage when she waves down the helicopter, believing that Frank was flying it. Qualen tells Gabe and Hal over the radio that he is holding Jessie captive on board the helicopter, demanding Gabe and Hal surrender the money from the third case at a high elevated rendezvous point and threatens to kill her should they refuse to cooperate.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Gabe and Hal agree, and they meet at a cliffside bridge. However, Qualen tries to challenge Gabe into throwing the case into the helicopter, but when he also threatens to kill Jessie again, Gabe orders Qualen to free her at a safe distance away from the cliff. Qualen reluctantly agrees, and uses a winch to lower Jessie to the ground. Once Jessie is safely down, however, Gabe throws the bag of money into the helicopter's rotors, shredding the money. Enraged, Qualen attempts to use the helicopter to kill Gabe, but Gabe has used the winch cable to tether the helicopter to a steel ladder up the cliff face. Hal arrives and helps via shooting the helicopter down. The ladder snaps and leaves Gabe and Qualen atop the wreckage of the helicopter hanging by the cable. Gabe fights Qualen and manages to climb to safety as the wreckage snaps off the cable and falls to the bottom of the mountain, killing Qualen. Gabe reunites with Jessie and Hal as they are found by Treasury agents led by Walter Wright in a helicopter. Wright arranges to send a rescue helicopter as Gabe, Hal, and Jessie are seen sitting on top of a mountain peak, reminiscent of Gabe, Hal, and Sarah at the beginning.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Carolco Pictures had originally signed Sylvester Stallone to appear opposite John Candy in a comedy about feuding neighbors titled "Bartholomew Vs. Neff", which was going to be written and directed by John Hughes. When that project was dropped, Stallone became involved in two other Carolco projects. The first one was the futuristic science-fiction horror film "Isobar", which was about a genetically-created monster who breaks free on a high-speed runaway train. Between 1987, when Carolco first bought the original script by Jim Uhls for $400,000, and 1991, directors Ridley Scott and Roland Emmerich were each at different points in time attached to direct the film which would have had a $90 million budget with Stallone and Kim Basinger playing the main roles. However, due to disagreements between them and Carolco and producer Joel Silver about the script changes and lack of artistic freedom, both Scott and Emmerich gave up on the project, which in the end was cancelled.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: The second Carolco project in which Stallone was involved was an action disaster thriller entitled "Gale Force", described as ""Die Hard" in a hurricane", which Renny Harlin was going to direct, and in which Stallone would play an ex-Navy SEAL who has to fight against a group of modern pirates who attack a coastal town during a large, catastrophic hurricane. The first version of the script for the film was written by David Chappe in 1984, who then wrote six more drafts between 1987 and 1989, and after his final draft received some praise and following the bidding war between several studios for it in 1989, Carolco bought his final draft for $500,000, with a promise of an additional $200,000 if the movie were made. Harlin was paid $3 million for directing the film, but because his contract also gave him full control of the project, he demanded many re-writes of the script to, amongst other things, increase the number of action sequences and make them bigger. Between 1990 and 1991 while they were working on the project, Carolco spent over $4 million on all the different screenwriters and versions of the script. One of the screenwriters who worked on it, Joe Eszterhas, was paid $500,000 to write his version. He re-wrote it as an erotic thriller, similar to his previous screenplays, so it was rejected.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Carolco, believing the intended $40 million budget would be too big, and unable to figure out how to make special effects for the film, cancelled that project two weeks before production was supposed to begin. But Harlin still kept his $3 million, and he and Stallone and everyone else involved in it then moved on to "Cliffhanger", another Carolco project, which had a budget of $70 million, almost double that of "Gale Force".


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Before production began, Stallone rewrote Michael France's script. His work changed the film significantly enough that Carolco petitioned the Writers Guild of America for him to get credit.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Half of the film's budget was provided by TriStar Pictures in exchange for complete distribution rights in North America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and France. Other funding was provided by Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera, Le Studio Canal+, and Pioneer Electric Corporation. The financing arrangement was the result of Carolco's serious debt issues, and as a result, the studio would ultimately receive very little of the box office gross. During principal photography, production was shut down twice when Carolco could not afford to pay the crew; the movie went $40 million over budget. Stallone reportedly had to forego $2 million of his $15 million salary as a result.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: The large majority of the film's scenes were shot in the Dolomites in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. For example, the bridge scene was shot on Monte Cristallo in the via ferrata VF Ivano Dibona, which was reconstructed immediately after the movie. The climbing was mostly on the Tofane cliffs, and in some scenes toward the end of the movie the audience clearly sees the three Tofane, the Croda da Lago, and the town of Cortina; the location of this is on top of Mount Faloria, at the arrival of the funivia Faloria. In other scenes are the sentiero ferrato Astaldi, over the Rifugio Dibona. The small house has been constructed on the sand of the river Boite, in Fiames, close to the heliport. Some filming took place in Durango, Colorado. The credits of the film also thank the Ute Tribe for filming in the Ute Mountain reservation.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: "Cliffhanger" is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for the costliest aerial stunt ever performed. Stuntman Simon Crane was paid $1 million to perform the aerial transfer scene, where he crossed between two planes at an altitude of .


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: The principal climbing doubles were Ron Kauk and Wolfgang Güllich. Kauk performed as Stallone's climbing double after Güllich died in a car accident in 1992. The doubles filled in for Stallone on most of the climbing scenes due to the actor's fear of heights; an injury to Stallone's hand, reported to have occurred on one of the cliffs, actually occurred on a soundstage.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: When asked about the director's cut, Stallone explained that "the director's cut was met with a lot of disapproval at the screening and received some alarmingly low scores. Mainly because the stunts were absurdly overblown. For example, the average man can jump maybe twelve feet across a gorge, and the stunts had me leaping maybe three hundred feet or more, so situations like that had to be pared down and still then were fairly extreme...so you’re probably better off with this cut. By the way, the second unit crew that filmed the majority of the action was extraordinary."


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: The orchestral score to "Cliffhanger" was composed by film score veteran Trevor Jones with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. In his review for the "Cliffhanger" soundtrack, Filmtracks.com reviewer Christian Clemmensen mentioned its similarities to Jones' previous work on "The Last of the Mohicans", stating: "with "Cliffhanger" would come a title theme strikingly similar to that of "Last of the Mohicans", possibly too reminiscent in fact for some listeners to tolerate." However, his review was still positive, giving the "Cliffhanger" score four out of a possible five stars, concluding, "No matter your view of whether or not composers should recycle their own material, Jones' main identity for "Cliffhanger" stands on its own as a remarkable piece, and an often enjoyable action underscore will maintain your interest in between the theme's statements." The soundtrack has been released twice; through Scotti Bros./BMG Music on 23 May 1993 and an extended version through Intrada Records on 21 February 2011.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: For its British cinema release, the film was cut by over a minute, then by a further 16 seconds on video and DVD to gain a '15' certificate. Chief victim was the scene in which Delmar beats up Tucker, but other cuts included aggressive strong language and other moments of violence. However, the 2008 DVD release was given a '15' with no cuts made.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: "Cliffhanger" was released via DVD on November 26, 1997 and re-released for the Collector's Edition on June 13, 2000 by Columbia TriStar Home Video. The film on Blu-ray was released first in United Kingdom on August 4, 2008, Australia and Mexico in 2009 by Optimum Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment under the StudioCanal banner, and in the United States on January 12, 2010, and on 4K UltraHD Blu-ray on 15 January 2019. The film was re-released on Blu-ray in Australia and United Kingdom only from 2018 to 2019 for the film's 25th anniversary under the Classics Remastered and Brand New Restoration. The film was re-released with "Last Action Hero" on Blu-ray 2-Movie Collection on November 2, 2021.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: The film was a box office hit grossing $255 million worldwide. The film grossed $84 million in the United States and Canada, $14 million in the United Kingdom and $13 million in Germany. It spent 11 consecutive weeks at the top of the Japanese box office.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 55 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While it can't escape comparisons to the movies it borrows from, "Cliffhanger" is a tense, action-packed thriller and a showcase for the talents that made Sylvester Stallone a star." On Metacritic the film has a score of 60 out of 100 based on reviews from 16 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: The film was screened out of competition at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound (Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer, and Tim Cooney), Best Sound Effects Editing (Gregg Baxter), and Best Visual Effects, all losing to "Jurassic Park".


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: It was nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Supporting Actor (John Lithgow), Worst Supporting Actress (Janine Turner), and Worst Screenplay at the 14th Golden Raspberry Awards. Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. Although most people enjoyed Lithgow's performance, he was criticized for his inauthentic-sounding English accent, especially when next to native English actors Fairbrass and Goodall.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Michael Benge of "Climbing" magazine was critical of the film's unrealistic portrayal of rock climbing, including the fictional gun which fires pitons directly into rock.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: A video game based on the film of the same name was released via numerous game consoles on November 17, 1993.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: The scene where Hal's girlfriend Sarah falls to her death was spoofed in the films "" and "Spy Hard".


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: Around 1994, TriStar Pictures planned to make a sequel of the film titled "The Dam" (or "Cliffhanger 2: The Dam"), which would have Stallone's character Gabe Walker fighting against terrorists who took over Hoover Dam, but it never went beyond development stage. In 2008, once again there were plans to make this sequel, and even Stallone was interested, but it was cancelled.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: In May 2009, it was announced that StudioCanal would be overseeing a remake of "Cliffhanger". Neal H. Moritz was set to produce, with filming due to begin in 2010. In May 2014, Joe Gazzam was set to write the script for the film.


title: Cliffhanger (film)

text: In 2015 on his official Instagram, Stallone stated he would love to make a sequel to "Cliffhanger", which puts doubt on whether a reboot will actually happen. In 2019, a female-fronted ‘Cliffhanger’ reboot was announced, written by Sascha Penn, to be directed by Ana Lily Amirpour and Jason Momoa in talks to cameo.


title: Kerry Bishé

text: Kerry Lynne Bishé (born May 1, 1984) is a New Zealand-born American actress, known for her lead role as Donna Clark in the AMC television series "Halt and Catch Fire". Bishé played the lead/narrator role in the final season of the ABC medical sitcom "Scrubs" and starred in the drama film "Argo" in 2012.


title: Kerry Bishé

text: Bishé was born in New Zealand. Shortly afterward, the family moved to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, in the United States. She graduated from Montclair Kimberley Academy, where her father, Kenneth Bishé, taught social studies. Bishé studied at Northwestern University.


title: Kerry Bishé

text: Bishé toured professionally with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks during the summer of 2004, performing the role of Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet". She also appeared in a 2006 production of Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape" and in the Roundabout revival of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion".


title: Kerry Bishé

text: Bishé made her screen debut in 2007 when she portrayed Sarah Rosen in "The Half Life of Mason Lake", a low-budget production. After appearances as an extra in the first film adaptation of "Sex and the City" and "The Lucky Ones", and a small role in "The Understudy" (2008), Bishé was cast in "Night Life", a television pilot directed by "Scrubs" star Zach Braff. The production did not make Bishé well-known, but did introduce her to Braff, with whom she later worked on "Scrubs".


title: Kerry Bishé

text: In 2009, Bishé had a number of television roles, appearing in an episode of the US version of "Life on Mars", an episode of the cable-TV series "Royal Pains", and in the lead role in the TV movie made from the failed pilot of the proposed sci-fi series "Virtuality".


title: Kerry Bishé

text: In December 2009, Bishé took on the lead role on the ABC medical sitcom "Scrubs", that of Lucy Bennett, the show's new narrator, taking over from Zach Braff. ABC cancelled the show May 14, 2010. Bishé costarred in the independent movie "Nice Guy Johnny" (2010) with Edward Burns and Matt Bush. She also played a supporting role in Kevin Smith's horror film "Red State" (2011) and in Ben Affleck's drama film "Argo" (2012). In 2013, she costarred with Elijah Wood in the independent film "Grand Piano".


title: Kerry Bishé

text: From 2014 to 2017, Bishé starred as Donna Clark in the AMC television drama series "Halt and Catch Fire". Coincidentally, her character's husband in "Halt and Catch Fire" is portrayed by Scoot McNairy, who also played her spouse in "Argo" (2012). In season three of "Narcos", she played Cristina Jurado, the American wife of the Cali Cartel's Harvard-educated money launderer Franklin Jurado.


title: Frank Farian

text: Frank Farian (born Franz Reuther; 18 July 1941) is a German record producer, musician, singer and songwriter, who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created vocal groups in which the publicised members merely lip-sync to songs sung by session members. He owns the record label MCI and several subsidiaries. Over the course of his career, Farian has sold over 850 million records and earned 800 gold and platinum certifications.


title: Frank Farian

text: Farian started as a trained cook before moving into the music industry. In April 1967, he released a cover of Otis Redding's "Mr. Pitiful" under the name "Frankie Farian". In 1976, Farian's German-language cover of Dickey Lee's "Rocky" stayed at No. 1 for four weeks and received gold certification.


title: Frank Farian

text: In the early days of his career, he was keen to attain success as a solo artist, but made little impact on the popular music scene until his song "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" (a remake of Prince Buster's song "Al Capone" from 1967), released under the pseudonym Boney M., became successful. He recruited a line-up which included vocalists Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett along with a male, Bobby Farrell, and female dancer, Maizie Williams, and his own additional vocals. Under the name Boney M, he achieved his biggest success in Europe as well as across the whole world with well-known songs, like "Daddy Cool", "Rivers of Babylon", "Rasputin" and a remake of "Mary's Boy Child".


title: Frank Farian

text: Farian also started the supergroup Far Corporation (named after the first syllable of his last name), which featured Steve Lukather, David Paich, Bobby Kimball, Simon Phillips (all from Toto fame) and Robin McAuley. Far Corporation were the first act to chart with a cover version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"; their cover was a top 10 hit in the UK, reaching number 8 in October 1985.


title: Frank Farian

text: In 1986, Farian produced and mixed the Meat Loaf album "Blind Before I Stop". He also sang backing vocals on the first single from the album "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries", which was credited to Meat Loaf featuring John Parr.


title: Frank Farian

text: On 14 November 1990, Farian confessed to orchestrating the events leading to the Milli Vanilli scandal. As a producer, he assembled a group of session musicians and fronted it with physically attractive dancers Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan. Following a 1989 performance where a backing track error first revealed the singers had been lip-syncing, Farian later confirmed to the press that others had sung on the albums. Milli Vanilli's 1990 Grammy Award for Best New Artist was revoked, and at least 27 lawsuits were filed in the United States under U.S. consumer fraud protection laws.


title: Frank Farian

text: This story is rehashed in the 2022 biopic "Girl You Know It's True" (written & directed by Simon Verhoeven), in which Matthias Schweighöfer took on the role of Farian. The production by Wiedemann & Berg Film was shot in Munich, Berlin, Cape Town and Los Angeles in 2021/2022 and will be released by the distributor Leonine in 2023.


title: Frank Farian

text: Following the Milli Vanilli controversy, Farian developed similar Eurodance groups La Bouche and Le Click. He also produced the 1997 version of "Tic, Tic Tac" by Chilli Feat. Carrapicho.


title: Frank Farian

text: Some other groups Farian has been involved with are Eruption (whom he managed in 1977), singer Precious Wilson and Latin pop band No Mercy based in Germany.


title: Frank Farian

text: On 15 August 2006, the musical "Daddy Cool" opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End, featuring Michelle Collins, Michael Harvey, Javine Hylton and singer/songwriter Darvina Plante. The £3 million show was produced by Farian and Robert Mackintosh. The story, written by Stephen Plaice with Amani Naphtali, is predominantly based on the songs of Boney M., but also features songs by Milli Vanilli and No Mercy. A second show opened 23 April 2007 in Berlin, Germany, and toured in the Netherlands from August 2011 to February 2012, Spain (Palma de Mallorca) in July 2012, Switzerland from November 2015 to January 2016, and Germany 2016.


title: Frank Farian

text: In 2006, Farian was credited as co-writing the song "Doin' Fine" with British producers Nathan Thomas and Carl M. Cox. (Other writers involved in the song were Chris Rudall, Baz Qureshi, Peter Wilson, Chris Richards and George Reyam.) Described as paying tribute to the 'sound' of Boney M., the song was essentially a new composition featuring the string arrangement from Boney M.'s 1976 number one hit "Daddy Cool". It was recorded by Australian pop singer Peter Wilson. It was initially released in the UK on 16 April 2007 in its extended format, entitled "Daddy's Cool 12" Mix", and reached number one on the EuroDanceHits EuroNRG Top 40 in May 2007. The original version of "Doin' Fine" was featured on Peter Wilson's debut album, "Follow Me", released in the UK on 8 October 2007. It was also recorded in 2008 by Amanda Lear.


title: Frank Farian

text: Farian resides in Miami, Florida, US. He has a daughter born in 1980 from his first marriage. His daughter Yanina was born to his then girlfriend Chinya. Yanina sang with her father in 2021 on a cover of "Cherish" by Kool & the Gang.


title: Laxmii

text: Laxmii is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language horror comedy film written and directed by Raghava Lawrence, marking his directorial debut in the Hindi film industry. A remake of his own Tamil film "Kanchana" (2011), it stars Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani, while Ayesha Raza Mishra, Rajesh Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar and Sharad Kelkar play pivotal roles. The film revolves around a man who gets possessed by the ghost of a transgender person. Kumar, also produced the film under his Cape of Good Films and Fox Star Studios, along with Tusshar Kapoor's newly launched production company, Tusshar Entertainment House and Shabinaa Entertainment. Lawrence co-wrote the script along with Farhad Samji, Sparsh Khetarpal, Tasha Bhambra, with Samji adapting the screenplay and dialogues to the Hindi version. The film was announced in January 2019, whilst the principal photography began in April 2019 and ended in March 2020.


title: Laxmii

text: "Laxmii" was originally scheduled for a theatrical release on 22 May 2020, but the release was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later streamed digitally through Disney+ Hotstar on 9 November 2020, across India, thus becoming the first big-budget Bollywood film to release on a streaming platform, and was not released theatrically in India, while being released in theatres in the United Arab Emirates, Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. It received mostly negative reviews from critics and audience, with criticism for the writing, screenplay, narration, editing and performances, although Kumar's and Sharad Kelkar's performances were praised.


title: Laxmii

text: Aasif Ahmed, who doesn't believe in ghosts, lives with his wife Rashmi Rajput and nephew Shaan. They're invited to Rashmi's parents' Ratna and Sachin's house for their silver jubilee. Rashmi's father disapproves of the couple as Rashmi, a Hindu, had eloped with Aasif, a Muslim, but her mother is kind to them. They meet Rashmi's brother Deepak and his wife, Ashwini. Aasif and Shaan visit the grounds next door that are believed to be haunted. While he is putting stumps into the ground for a game of cricket, the stumps hit a buried body. Blood gets on the stumps but Aasif mistakes it for wet soil and washes it off into the house's lemongrass plant.


title: Laxmii

text: Following this, Ratna, Ashwini, and Deepak all have supernatural experiences in the house. Following a priest's instructions, they confirm that there is indeed a spirit present among them. Aasif makes lemongrass tea with the same plant he washed the blood in. When he drinks it, the ghost possesses him, and he begins to act effeminate, and goes on killing sprees at night, alerting the family except Aasif, that something is wrong. It is revealed that three ghosts have kept him: a violent transgender woman, a Muslim man, and a mentally disabled boy. Aasif's family hires an exorcist who drives the main spirit out of his body; trapped, the ghost reveals her story.


title: Laxmii

text: Laxman Sharma alias Laxmii was disowned by her parents as a child for being transgender. She is taken in by a kind Muslim named Abdul Chacha, who has a mentally disabled son. Regretting that she could not become a doctor because of her parents' lack of support, Laxmii adopts another transgender girl named Geeta and works hard to support her financially. When Geeta leaves to study medicine abroad, Laxmii buys a plot of land to construct a hospital. The crooked MLA Girja illegally seizes her property. When Laxmii angrily confronts Girja and his wife, they brutally murder her, Abdul Chacha and his son, and bury the bodies in Laxmii's own land, the grounds that are now next door. Laxmii has already killed Girja's henchmen while possessing Aasif earlier.


title: Laxmii

text: After hearing her story, Aasif is heartbroken at the lack of justice for her. Thus,he willingly lets her possess him once more to complete her revenge. Laxmi kills Girja's wife and bodyguards but Girja seeks refuge in a Maa Sherawali temple, which Laxmii cannot enter, being a ghost. However, Aasif, being human, can enter, and has Laxmii leave his body before forcibly dragging Girja out. Laxmii returns and finally kills Girja. Three months later, Aasif has constructed the hospital as per Laxmii's dream. It is revealed that Laxmii now exists symbiotically in Aasif's body to help him out when the need arises.


title: Laxmii

text: In January 2019, media reports suggested that Akshay Kumar will star in the remake of "Kanchana" (2011), directed by Raghava Lawrence, who also signed to helm the Hindi version of it, thus making his debut in Bollywood, whereas Kiara Advani, plays the female lead. The film marks Kumar's return to horror comedy-genre after a decade since "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" (2007). Sources claimed that the sequences in the film will be different as of the original counterpart. Farhad Samji, who directed the actor's "Housefull 4" (2019), wrote the screenplay for the film, with sources claimed that the work took six months to complete the adaptation. The film marks the debut of Tusshar Kapoor's stint as a producer, who bought the rights of the film, post licensing his production house in early 2013. On 22 April 2019, the film's title was revealed as "Laxmmi Bomb". The titular poster featuring Kumar was released on 18 May 2019.


title: Laxmii

text: The principal photography of the film began on 22 April 2019. The film came in the middle of controversy after Raghava Lawrence, quit the film in May 2019, as Kumar released the first look without consulting him. It was revealed that the director does not have any credit, in the poster which resulted him to quit the film. In June 2019, Lawrence announced his return to direction, after sorting out issues with Kumar.


title: Laxmii

text: The second schedule of the film began in August 2019. The song "Burj Khalifa" featuring Akshay Kumar and Kiara was filmed at Dubai in January 2020. The climax scene of the film was shot at Mumbai on 26 February 2020, and filming was completed on 1 March 2020.


title: Laxmii

text: The film's music was composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Shashi–DJ Khushi and Ullumanati while lyrics written by Vayu, Gagan Ahuja, Farhad Samji and Ullumanati. The background score was composed by Amar Mohile.


title: Laxmii

text: The song "Bam Bhole" is the remake of the song of the same name, by its original artists, Viruss and Ullumanati. The original song was released on an independent label called Acme Music, in 2017 and is a superhit song with more than 200 million views on YouTube.


title: Laxmii

text: The song "Mata Ka Jagrata" is a medley of the songs "Apna Time Aayega" from "Gully Boy", "Kala Chashma" from "Baar Baar Dekho" and "Main Nikla Gaddi Leke" from "".


title: Laxmii

text: On the announcement of the first poster release, the film was scheduled for a release on 5 June 2020. But a new release date was announced in August 2019, where the film's release will be advanced to 22 May 2020, coinciding with the festival of Ramzan. The release was further postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in which media reports speculated that the film will be released directly through streaming platforms.


title: Laxmii

text: On 29 June 2020, Disney+ Hotstar conducted virtual press conference where Akshay Kumar announced that the film will release through the streaming platform, exclusively as part of "Disney+ Hotstar Multiplex" initiative which was a result of theatres being shut down due to COVID-19 pandemic. The rights to stream the film was sold to the platform, at an amount of nearly 1 billion. In September 2020, it was announced that the film will be scheduled for a release on 9 November 2020, coinciding with the eve of Diwali season and also before the final of the 13th edition of Indian Premier League happened on 10 November 2020. The film was also theatrically released on the same date in select overseas markets such as United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. But the film was not released in theatres across India, with exhibitors stating that they will not screen films which initially released on OTT platforms. Irrespective of this, the premiere of "Laxmii" was held ahead of the release on 7 November 2020, at a multiplex theatre in New Delhi, with Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani being present at the event.


title: Laxmii

text: The official trailer of the film was released on 9 October 2020. The trailer which released through the official YouTube channel of Fox Star Hindi, had the makers disabling the likes and dislikes ratio of the trailer. Commentators believed that, this is due to the backlash received by "Sadak 2", after its trailer became the second most-dlisked video, owing to the nepotism debate sparked after the suicide of Indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput. On a positive note, the film's trailer crossed more than 70 million views within 24 hours of its release.


title: Laxmii

text: While the film was originally titled "Laxmmi Bomb", the film's title was altered due to legal notice sent to the filmmakers on behalf of Shri Rajput Karni Sena. According to the notice, the film's title was considered to be disrespectful to Goddess Lakshmi, thereby hurting Hindu community's sentiments. The notice also demanded a change in the film's title and said that the current one sends out a wrong message to the society. On 29 October 2020, the film's title was changed to "Laxmii".


title: Laxmii

text: Taran Adarsh reviewing for "Bollywood Hungama" gave two stars out of five and opined that the film was no match to the original Tamil film "Kanchana", the Raghava Lawrence's screenplay is weak, horror had no impact. He praised the performances of Akshay Kumar, Sharad Kelkar and felt that the support actors were okay. Concluding the review he said, ""Laxmii" lacks the punch. One expected so much more from this film, but it clearly disappoints."


title: Laxmii

text: Anna M. M. Vetticad of "Firstpost" opines that the film is 'shrill' with loud storytelling. She finds Akshay Kumar's acting insufferable but praises the portrayal of Laxmii by Sharad Kelkar. Rating it with one and half stars out of five Vetticad concludes, "Irrespective of its aims, Laxmii serves to further otherize the already ostracised trans community. It is also tacky and insufferable." Shubhra Gupta of "The Indian Express" gave one star out of five and opines, "Akshay Kumar-starrer is a two-hour clutch-your-head, can-I-really-be-watching-this nonsense, from beginning to end.." Pallabi Dey Purkayastha of "The Times of India" gave the film two stars out of five, calling it "more noise and less fireworks", she concluded, ""Laxmii" sets out to be a satire against age-old beliefs and biases – we get it! – but the insipidness of the narrative and whatever follows thereon, butchers the lessons it originally desires to impart." "India Today"'s Divyanshi Sharma wrote, ""Laxmii" is the perfect watch with your family this festive season. The film has its faults but its heart is in the right place."


title: Laxmii

text: Pradeep Kumar of "The Hindu" stated ""Laxmii" is what happens when an idea not worth the quantum of its original investment gets more money and a bigger canvas, and is expected to evolve by itself to match the new, grander scale. That doesn't happen; certainly, vengeful spirits cannot make it happen." Stutee Ghosh of "Bloomberg Quint", gave the film half out of five stars and stated "Even judging by the Bollywood standard of "brainless comedies" "Laxmii" falls short miserably. Neither funny nor inspiring and a horror in the most literal sense, it makes mockery of the very things it claims to be celebrating." Rohit Vats of "News18" gave the same rating for the film and stated "The gags fall flat and actors appear clueless. Nobody has anything to do expect Kumar and then he also ditches the audience. Usually, even in a bad Akshay Kumar movie, you laugh on some puns but this one is totally devoid of any fun."


title: Laxmii

text: "Laxmii" broke the viewership records of Sushant Singh Rajput's last film "Dil Bechara", and became the most watched film on the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar. But, it was listed in the fourth position in most watched films, which were directly released on OTT platforms, according to a survey from "LetsOTT". It was listed in the sixth position on the most searched film in India, according to a report from Google Trends. The film was premiered through Star Gold on 21 March 2021 and registered 25.1 million impressions during the television premiere, a record for any Indian film.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Hyde Park is a Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park past the main entrance to Buckingham Palace. The park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water lakes.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The park was established by Henry VIII in 1536 when he took the land from Westminster Abbey and used it as a hunting ground. It opened to the public in 1637 and quickly became popular, particularly for May Day parades. Major improvements occurred in the early 18th century under the direction of Queen Caroline. Several duels took place in Hyde Park during this time, often involving members of the nobility. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held in the park, for which The Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton, was erected.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Free speech and demonstrations have been a key feature of Hyde Park since the 19th century. Speakers' Corner has been established as a point of free speech and debate since 1872, while the Chartists, the Reform League, the suffragettes, and the Stop the War Coalition have all held protests there. In the late 20th century, the park was known for holding large-scale free rock music concerts, featuring groups such as Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Queen. Major events in the park have continued into the 21st century, such as Live 8 in 2005, and the annual Hyde Park Winter Wonderland from 2007.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Hyde Park is the largest Royal Park in central London. It is bounded on the north by Bayswater Road, to the east by Park Lane, and to the south by Knightsbridge. Further north is Paddington, further east is Mayfair and further south is Belgravia. To the southeast, outside the park, is Hyde Park Corner, beyond which is Green Park, St. James's Park and Buckingham Palace Gardens. The park has been Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens since 1987.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: To the west, Hyde Park merges with Kensington Gardens. The dividing line runs approximately between Alexandra Gate to Victoria Gate via West Carriage Drive and the Serpentine Bridge. The Serpentine is to the south of the park area. Kensington Gardens has been separate from Hyde Park since 1728, when Queen Caroline divided them. Hyde Park covers 142 hectares (350 acres), and Kensington Gardens covers 111 hectares (275 acres), giving a total area of 253 hectares (625 acres). During daylight, the two parks merge seamlessly into each other, but Kensington Gardens closes at dusk, and Hyde Park remains open throughout the year from 5 a.m. until midnight.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The park's name comes from the Manor of Hyde, which was the northeast sub-division of the manor of Eia (the other two sub-divisions were Ebury and Neyte) and appears as such in the Domesday Book. The name is believed to be of Saxon origin, and means a unit of land, the hide, that was appropriate for the support of a single family and dependents. Through the Middle Ages, it was property of Westminster Abbey, and the woods in the manor were used both for firewood and shelter for game.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Hyde Park was created for hunting by Henry Vlll in 1536 after he acquired the manor of Hyde from the Abbey. It was enclosed as a deer park and remained a private hunting ground until James I permitted limited access to gentlefolk, appointing a ranger to take charge. Charles I created the Ring (north of the present Serpentine boathouses), and in 1637 he opened the park to the general public. It quickly became a popular gathering place, particularly for May Day celebrations. At the start of the English Civil War in 1642, a series of fortifications were built along the east side of the park, including forts at what is now Marble Arch, Mount Street and Hyde Park Corner. The latter included a strongpoint where visitors to London could be checked and vetted.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: In 1652, during the Interregnum, Parliament ordered the then park to be sold for "ready money". It realised £17,000 with an additional £765 6s 2d for the resident deer. During the Great Plague of London in 1665, Hyde Park was used as a military camp. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Charles II retook ownership of Hyde Park and enclosed it in a brick wall. He restocked deer in what is now Buck Hill in Kensington Gardens. The May Day parade continued to be a popular event; Samuel Pepys took part in the park's celebrations in 1663 while attempting to gain the King's favour.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: In 1689, William III moved his residence to Kensington Palace on the far side of Hyde Park and had a drive laid out across its southern edge which was known as the King's Private Road. The drive is still in existence as a wide straight gravelled carriage track leading west from Hyde Park Corner across the southern boundary of Hyde Park towards Kensington Palace and now known as Rotten Row, possibly a corruption of "rotteran" (to muster), "Ratten Row" (roundabout way), "Route du roi", or "rotten" (the soft material with which the road is covered). It is believed to be the first road in London to be lit at night, which was done to deter highwaymen. In 1749, Horace Walpole was robbed while travelling through the park from Holland House. The row was used by the wealthy for riding in the early 19th century.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Hyde Park was a popular duelling spot during the 18th century, with 172 taking place, causing 63 deaths. The Hamilton–Mohun Duel took place there in 1712, when Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun, fought James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton. Baron Mohun was killed instantly, and the Duke died shortly afterwards. John Wilkes fought Samuel Martin in 1772, the year in which Richard Brinsley Sheridan duelled with Captain Thomas Mathews over the latter's libellous comments about Sheridan's fiancée, Elizabeth Ann Linley. Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow, fought Andrew Stuart in a Hyde Park duel in 1770. Military executions were common in Hyde Park at this time; John Rocque's Map of London, 1746, marks a point inside the park, close to the Tyburn gallows, as "where soldiers are shot."


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The first coherent landscaping in Hyde Park began in 1726. It was undertaken by Charles Bridgeman for King George I; after the king's death in 1727, it continued with approval of his daughter-in-law, Queen Caroline. Work was supervised by Charles Withers, the Surveyor-General of Woods and Forests. The principal effect work was to Hyde Park and create Kensington Gardens. The Serpentine was formed by damming the River Westbourne, which runs through the park from Kilburn towards the Thames. It is divided from the Long Water by a bridge designed by George Rennie in 1826.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The work was completed in 1733. The 2nd Viscount Weymouth was made Ranger of Hyde Park in 1739 and shortly after began digging the Serpentine lakes at Longleat. A powder magazine was built north of the Serpentine in 1805.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Hyde Park hosted a Great Fair in the summer of 1814 to celebrate the Allied sovereigns' visit to England, and exhibited various stalls and shows. The Battle of Trafalgar was re-enacted on the Serpentine, with a band playing the National Anthem while the French fleet sank into the lake. The coronation of King George IV in 1821 was celebrated with a fair in the park, including an air balloon and firework displays.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: One of the most important events to take place in Hyde Park was the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Crystal Palace was constructed on the south side of the park. The public did not want the building to remain after the closure of the exhibition, and its architect, Joseph Paxton, raised funds and purchased it. He had it moved to Sydenham Hill in South London. Another significant event was the first Victoria Cross investiture, on 26 June 1857, when 62 men were decorated by Queen Victoria in the presence of Prince Albert and other members of the Royal Family, including their future son-in-law Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The Hyde Park Lido sits on the south bank of the Serpentine. It opened in 1930 to provide improved support for bathing and sunbathing in the park, which had been requested by the naturist group, the Sunlight League. The Lido and accompanying Pavilion was designed by the Commissioner of Works, George Lansbury, and was half funded by a £5,000 (now £) donation from Major Colin Cooper (1892–1938). It still sees regular use in the summer into the 21st century.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Hyde Park has been a major venue for several Royal jubilees and celebrations. For the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887, a party was organised on 22 June where around 26,000 school children were given a free meal as a gift. The Queen and the Prince of Wales made an unexpected appearance at the event. Victoria remained fond of Hyde Park in the final years of her life and often drove there twice a day. As part of the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, a Jubilee Exhibition was set up in Hyde Park, with the Queen and Prince Philip visiting on 30 June. In 2012, a major festival took place in the park as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. On 6 February, the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, fired a 41-gun Royal Salute at Hyde Park Corner.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: On 20 July 1982, a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb killed four soldiers and seven horses. A memorial was constructed to the left of the Albert Gate to commemorate the soldiers and horses killed in the blast.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Since 2007, Hyde Park has played host to the annual Winter Wonderland event, which features numerous Christmas-themed markets, along with various rides and attractions, alongside bars and restaurants. It has become one of the largest Christmas events in Europe, having attracted over 14 million visitors as of 2016, and has expanded to include the largest ice rink in London, live entertainment and circuses.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: On 18 September 2010, Hyde Park was the setting for a prayer vigil with Pope Benedict XVI as part of his visit to the United Kingdom, attended by around 80,000 people. A large crowd assembled along the Mall to see the Pope arrive for his address. An attempt to assassinate the Pope had been foiled after five people dressed as street cleaners were spotted within a mile of Hyde Park, and arrested along with a sixth suspect. They were later released without charge as police said they posed no credible threat.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: During the late 18th century, plans were made to replace the old toll gate at Hyde Park Corner with a grander entrance, following the gentrification of the area surrounding it. The first design was put forward by Robert Adam in 1778 as a grand archway, followed by John Soane's 1796 proposal to build a new palace adjacent to the corner in Green Park.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Following the construction of Buckingham Palace, the improvement plans were revisited. The grand entrance to the park at Hyde Park Corner was designed by Decimus Burton, and was constructed in the 1820s. Burton laid out the paths and driveways and designed a series of lodges, the Screen/Gate at Hyde Park Corner (also known as the Grand Entrance or the Apsley Gate) in 1825 and the Wellington Arch, which opened in 1828. The Screen and the Arch originally formed a single composition, designed to provide a monumental transition between Hyde Park and Green Park, although the arch was moved in 1883. It originally had a statue of the Duke of Wellington on top; it was moved to Aldershot in 1883 when the arch was re-sited.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: "It consists of a screen of handsome fluted Ionic columns, with three carriage entrance archways, two-foot entrances, a lodge, etc. The extent of the whole frontage is about . The central entrance has a bold projection: the entablature is supported by four columns; and the volutes of the capitals of the outside column on each side of the gateway are formed in an angular direction, so as to exhibit two complete faces to view. The two side gateways, in their elevations, present two insulated Ionic columns, flanked by antae. All these entrances are finished by a blocking, the sides of the central one being decorated with a beautiful frieze, representing a naval and military triumphal procession. This frieze was designed by Mr. Henning, junior, the son of Mr. Henning who was well known for his models of the Elgin Marbles. The gates were manufactured by Messrs. Bramah. They are of iron, bronzed, and fixed or hung to the piers by rings of gun-metal. The design consists of a beautiful arrangement of the Greek honeysuckle ornament; the parts being well defined, and the raffles of the leaves brought out in a most extraordinary manner."


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The Wellington Arch was extensively restored by English Heritage between 1999 and 2001. It is now open to the public, who can see a view of the parks from its platforms above the porticoes.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Popular areas within Hyde Park include Speakers' Corner (located in the northeast corner near Marble Arch), close to the former site of the Tyburn gallows, and Rotten Row, which is the northern boundary of the site of the Crystal Palace.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Flowers were first planted in Hyde Park in 1860 by William Andrews Nesfield. The next year, the Italian Water Garden was constructed at Victoria Gate, including fountains and a summer house. Queen Anne's Alcove was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was moved to the park from its original location in Kensington Gardens.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: During the late 20th century, over 9,000 elm trees in Hyde Park were killed by Dutch elm disease. This included many trees along the great avenues planted by Queen Caroline, which were ultimately replaced by limes and maples. The park now holds of greenhouses which hold the bedding plants for the Royal Parks. A scheme is available to adopt trees in the park, which helps fund their upkeep and maintenance. A botanical curiosity is the weeping beech, which is known as "the upside-down tree". A rose garden, designed by Colvin & Moggridge Landscape Architects, was added in 1994.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: There are a number of assorted statues and memorials around Hyde Park. The Cavalry Memorial was built in 1924 at Stanhope Gate. It moved to the Serpentine Road when Park Lane was widened to traffic in 1961. South of the Serpentine is the Diana, Princess of Wales memorial, an oval stone ring fountain opened on 6 July 2004. To the east of the Serpentine, just beyond the dam, is Britain's Holocaust Memorial. The 7 July Memorial in the park commemorates the victims of 7 July 2005 London bombings.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The Standing Stone is a monolith at the centre of the Dell, in the east of Hyde Park. Made of Cornish stone, it was originally part of a drinking fountain, though an urban legend was established, claiming it was brought from Stonehenge by Charles I.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: An assortment of unusual sculptures are scattered around the park, including: "Still Water", a massive horse head lapping up water; "Jelly Baby Family", a family of giant Jelly Babies standing on top of a large black cube; and "Vroom Vroom", which resembles a giant human hand pushing a toy car along the ground. The sculptor Jacob Epstein constructed several works in Hyde Park. His memorial to the author William Henry Hudson, featuring his character "Rima" caused public outrage when it was unveiled in 1925.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: There has been a fountain at Grosvenor Gate since 1863, designed by Alexander Munro. There is another fountain opposite Mount Street on the park's eastern edge.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: A pet cemetery was established at the north edge of Hyde Park in the late 19th century. The last burial took place in 1976.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Currently, the Metropolitan Police Service are responsible for policing the park and are based inside what is colloquially known as 'the Old Police House', which is situated within the park. The building was designed by John Dixon Butler, who was the forces's surveyor between 1895 and 1920. For the police, he completed around 200 buildings, including the Former New Scotland Yard, Norman Shaw South Building (assisting Richard Norman Shaw); the adjoining Canon Row Police Station; Bow Road Police Station, Tower Hamlets; Tower Bridge Magistrates Court and adjoining Police Station; and 19–21 Great Marlborough Street, Westminster (court and police station). The architectural historian describes the building as being like, from a distance, "a medium-sized country house of Charles II’s time." Hyde Park was policed by the Metropolitan Police from 1867 until 1993, when policing of the park was handed over to the Royal Parks Constabulary. In 2004 this changed back to the Metropolitan Police, following a review of the Royal Parks Constabulary by Anthony Speed.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner has acquired an international reputation for demonstrations and other protests due to its tolerance of free speech. In 1855, a protest at the park was organised to demonstrate against Robert Grosvenor's attempt to ban Sunday trading, including a restriction on pub opening times. Karl Marx observed approximately 200,000 protesters attended the demonstration, which involved jeering and taunting at upper-class horse carriages. A further protest occurred a week later, but this time the police attacked the crowd.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: In 1867 the policing of the park was entrusted to the Metropolitan Police, the only royal park so managed, due to the potential for trouble at Speakers' Corner. A Metropolitan Police station ('AH') is situated in the middle of the park. Covering Hyde Park and sixteen other royal parks (mostly in London), the 1872 Parks Regulation Act formalised the position of "park keeper" and also provided that "Every police constable belonging to the police force of the district in which any park, garden, or possession to which this Act applies is situate shall have the powers, privileges, and immunities of a park-keeper within such park, garden, or possession."


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Speakers' Corner became increasingly popular in the late 19th century. Visitors brought along placards, stepladders and soap boxes in order to stand out from others, while heckling of speakers was popular. Donald Soper, Baron Soper, was a regular visitor throughout the 20th century, until just before his death in 1998. The rise of the Internet, particularly blogs, has diminished the importance of Speakers' Corner as a political platform, and it is increasingly seen as simply a tourist attraction.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: As well as Speakers' Corner, several important mass demonstrations have occurred in Hyde Park. On 26 July 1886, the Reform League staged a march from their headquarters towards the park, campaigning for increased suffrage and representation. Though the police had closed the park, the crowd managed to break down the perimeter railings and get inside, leading to the event being dubbed "The Hyde Park Railings Affair". After the protests turned violent, three squadrons of Horse Guards and numerous Foot Guards were sent out from Marble Arch to combat the situation. On 21 June 1908, as part of "Women's Sunday", a reported 750,000 people marched from the Embankment to Hyde Park protesting for votes for women. The first protest against the planned 2003 invasion of Iraq took place in Hyde Park on 28 September 2002, with 150,000–350,000 in attendance. A further series of demonstrations happened around the world, culminating in the 15 February 2003 anti-war protests, part of a global demonstration against the Iraq War. Over a million protesters are reported to have attended the Hyde Park event alone.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The bandstand in Hyde Park was built in Kensington Gardens in 1869 and moved to its present location in 1886. It became a popular place for concerts in the 1890s, featuring up to three every week. Military and brass bands continued to play there into the 20th century.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The music management company Blackhill Enterprises held the first rock concert in Hyde Park on 29 June 1968, attended by 15,000 people. On the bill were Pink Floyd, Roy Harper and Jethro Tull, while John Peel later said it was "the nicest concert I’ve ever been to". Subsequently, Hyde Park has featured some of the most significant concerts in rock. The supergroup Blind Faith (featuring Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood) played their debut gig in Hyde Park on 7 June 1969. The Rolling Stones headlined a concert (later released as The Stones in the Park) on 5 July that year, two days after the death of founding member Brian Jones, and is now remembered as one of the most famous gigs of the 1960s. Pink Floyd returned to Hyde Park on 18 July 1970, playing new material from "Atom Heart Mother". All of the early gigs from 1968 to 1971 were free events, contrasting sharply with the later commercial endeavours.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Queen played a free concert organised by Richard Branson in the park on 18 September 1976, partway through recording the album "A Day at the Races". The band drew an audience of 150,000 – 200,000, which remains the largest crowd for a Hyde Park concert. The group were not allowed to play an encore, and police threatened to arrest frontman Freddie Mercury if he attempted to do so.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: The British Live 8 concert took place in Hyde Park on 2 July 2005, as a concert organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise awareness of increased debts and poverty in the third world. Acts included U2, Coldplay, Elton John, R.E.M., Madonna, The Who, and Paul McCartney, and the most anticipated set was the reformation of the classic 1970s line-up of Pink Floyd (including David Gilmour and Roger Waters) for the first time since 1981. The gig was the Floyd's final live performance.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Acts from each of the four nations in the UK played a gig in the park as part of the opening ceremony for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The headliners were Duran Duran, representing England, alongside the Stereophonics for Wales, Paolo Nutini for Scotland, and Snow Patrol for Northern Ireland. Since 2011, Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park has taken place each September. The British Summer Time series of concerts have taken place every summer in Hyde Park since 2013, and have included performances by Black Sabbath, Neil Young, Celine Dion and Bon Jovi.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Local residents have become critical of Hyde Park as a concert venue, due to the sound levels, and have campaigned for a maximum sound level of 73 decibels. In July 2012, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney found their microphones switched off after Springsteen had played a three-hour set during the Park's Hard Rock Calling festival, and overshot the 10:30 pm curfew time.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Hyde Park contains several sporting facilities, including several football pitches and a Tennis centre. There are numerous cycle paths, and horse riding is popular.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: In 1998 British artist Marion Coutts recreated Hyde Park, along with Battersea and Regent's Park, as a set of asymmetrical ping-pong tables for her interactive installation "Fresh Air".


title: Hyde Park, London

text: For the 2012 Summer Olympics, the park hosted the triathlon, which brothers Alistair Brownlee and Jonathan Brownlee took the Gold and Bronze medals for Team GB, and the 10 km open water swimming events. The park has also hosted the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: There are five London Underground stations located on or near the edges of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens (which is contiguous with Hyde Park). In clockwise order starting from the south-east, they are:


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Bayswater tube station, on the Circle and District lines, is also close to Queensway station and the north-west corner of the park. High Street Kensington tube station, on the Circle and District is very close to Kensington Palace located on the Southwest corner of Kensington Gardens. Paddington station, served by Bakerloo, Circle and District, and Hammersmith & City lines, is close to Lancaster Gate station and a short walk away from Hyde Park.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Several main roads run around the perimeter of Hyde Park. Park Lane is part of the London Inner Ring Road and the London Congestion Charge zone boundary. The A4, a major road through West London, runs along the southeastern edge of the park, while the A5, a major road to Milton Keynes and the Midlands runs northwest from Marble Arch.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Transport within the park for people lacking mobility and disabled visitors is provided free of charge by Liberty Drives, located at Triangle Carpark.


title: Hyde Park, London

text: Cycle Superhighway 3 (CS3) begins at Lancaster Gate, on the northern perimeter of Hyde Park. It is one of several TfL-coordinated cycle routes to cross the Park. CS3 also crosses Hyde Park Corner on its route towards Westminster and the City of London. The route opened in September 2018 and is signposted and cyclists are segregated from other road traffic on wide cycle tracks.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: Mean Girls is a coming-of-age stage musical with music by Jeff Richmond, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and a book by Tina Fey. It is based on the 2004 film of the same name also written by Fey, which was in turn based on the 2002 nonfiction book "Queen Bees and Wannabes" by Rosalind Wiseman. The musical premiered at the National Theatre, Washington, D.C., in October 2017 and opened on Broadway in April 2018 at the August Wilson Theatre. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show played its final performance on Broadway on March 11, 2020.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: A musical adaptation of the 2004 film "Mean Girls" was in the works by 2013. News emerged on October 3, 2016—the day of the year fans dub ""Mean Girls" Day," in reference to a line in the movie—that the musical would have its world premiere in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 2017. On December 30, 2016, producers confirmed that the musical would make its premiere at the National Theatre in October 2017.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: The musical made its world premiere at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. on October 31, 2017, and ran through December 3, 2017. "Mean Girls" began previews on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre on March 12, 2018, before opening officially on April 8, 2018. Casey Nicholaw was the director of the show and its choreographer, and the musical is produced by Lorne Michaels and Stuart Thompson. The musical has costumes by Gregg Barnes, scenic design by Scott Pask, video design by Finn Ross and Adam Young, lighting by Kenneth Posner and sound by Brian Ronan. It was announced on January 23, 2020, that the Broadway production has recouped its capitalization. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced theatres across the nation to close, the show halted performances on March 11, 2020, when Broadway shut down; it was later announced on January 7, 2021, that "Mean Girls" had closed permanently after 833 performances.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: The U.S. national tour began in Buffalo, New York, at Shea's Performing Arts Center, on September 21, 2019. Mary Kate Morrissey plays Janis Sarkisian, with Danielle Wade as Cady Heron, Mariah Rose Faith as Regina George, Megan Masako Haley as Gretchen Wieners, Jonalyn Saxer as Karen Smith, Eric Huffman as Damian Hubbard, Adante Carter as Aaron Samuels, and Kabir Bery as Kevin Gnapoor.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: In December 2022, Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, and Jaquel Spivey were cast in the roles of Cady, Regina, Janis and Damian, respectively. The film will be produced by Broadway Video and Little Stranger. Arturo Perez and Samantha Jayne will direct with Fey writing the film. Paramount Pictures will release the film on Paramount+.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: As of early January 2020, producers were in final talks of a West End production, and the show was expected to open in the late spring of 2021. Production was later brought to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in January 2021 producer Lorne Michaels said "We remain excited to bring this musical to the big screen, relaunch the tour and prepare for a London production."


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: Janis Sarkisian and Damian Hubbard introduce the audience to Cady Heron, breaking the fourth wall and inviting them on their journey ("A Cautionary Tale"). Cady and her parents have moved to a Chicago suburb from Kenya, Africa but Cady soon realizes that her high school classmates do not readily accept others who differ from them. Despite this, she is ready to accept the challenge of fitting in at the high school ("It Roars"), only for Cady to find that no one seems to like her or even acknowledge her ("It Roars (Reprise)"). Janis and Damian decide to help her as she tries to find her social group ("Where Do You Belong?"); describing the clique of high school social royalty dubbed "the Plastics" in particular. The trio consists of Regina George, the "Queen Bee"; Gretchen Wieners, Regina's nervous, eager-to-please second-in-command; and Karen Smith, the stereotypical dumb blonde. Regina and her fellow Plastics decide that the new girl will eat lunch with them for the rest of the week ("Meet the Plastics"). When Cady tells Damian and Janis about the invitation, the latter asks her to say yes to the Plastics and tell them everything they say. Damian tries to explain why they hate Regina, but Janis interrupts him.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: In AP Calculus, Cady meets the dreamy Aaron Samuels and immediately falls for him ("Stupid with Love"). Kevin, head of the Mathletes, is impressed with Cady's performance in class and asks her to join them, but Gretchen warns Cady that joining the Mathletes is social suicide and Regina puts down Kevin to make him leave. Cady thinks Regina is nice for "protecting" her, but Janis warns her that Regina is dangerous. Amazed and intoxicated by her newfound power, however, Cady does not pay attention to Janis’s words ("Apex Predator"). At the mall, Gretchen asks Cady if she has met any boys she likes. When Cady tells her about Aaron, Gretchen becomes horrified because he is Regina's ex-boyfriend, which makes him off-limits to her friends. The Plastics and Cady retire to Regina's house, where they meet her "cool mom" and Gretchen and Karen show Cady their old Burn Book, where they put photos of their classmates and write mean comments about them. When they come across Janis' photo in the book, Gretchen explains that she and Regina used to be best friends. Regina claims Janis freaked out when she was unable to invite her to her thirteenth birthday party and ended up in art therapy. Later, Gretchen confides in Cady that, because of the state of her friendship with Regina, she has lost all confidence in herself ("What's Wrong With Me?").


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: The next day, Aaron discusses his previous relationship with Regina, how she made him feel like he was not himself, and that he has sworn off of dating. After an awkwardly concealed verbal slip-up results in him explaining a math problem to her, Cady believes that if she acts stupid, Aaron will help her with her work, and therefore talk to her more ("Stupid with Love (Reprise)"). After using this tactic, Aaron invites Cady to his Halloween party. Karen explains that in high school, Halloween revolves around looking sexy and having a hot costume ("Sexy"). Cady fails to realize this and shows up at the party in a "scary" costume, embarrassing herself. Later at the party, Gretchen tells Regina about Cady's crush on Aaron to get her approval. Spitefully, Regina decides to flirt with and manipulate Aaron until he agrees to get back together with her ("Someone Gets Hurt"). Cady sees Aaron kissing Regina and is devastated.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: Furious, Cady shows up at Damian's house and tells him and Janis what happened. Damian tells Cady that the real reason Regina and Janis stopped being friends was that in 6th grade, Regina accused Janis of being a lesbian. When the latter was unable to deny it, her classmates bullied her until she left school. The three friends decide to work together to get revenge on Regina, starting with giving her Kälteen Bars to make her gain weight. They also trick Gretchen by sending a fake Candy Cane Gram to Cady from "Regina" saying that they are now best friends. This leads Gretchen to reveal Regina's secret hook-ups with football player Shane Oman, among other vengeful acts ("Revenge Party"). After the Plastics' disastrous "Rockin' Around the Pole" dance at the school talent show, people start noticing Regina's weight gain. Later, when she breaks one of the Plastics' arbitrary clothing rules, Cady stands up to her; banning her from sitting at their table. Everyone is relieved to be freed from Regina's rule ("Fearless"). Cady tries to apologize to Regina for kicking her out, but she insinuates that her reign is far from over ("Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise)").


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: Following the winter break, Cady has undergone a complete makeover befitting of her new "Queen Bee" status leading Karen and Gretchen ("A Cautionary Tale (Reprise)"), though Damian and Janis disapprove of this. After Cady tells Janis that she cannot attend her art show because of a trip with her parents, Damian and the other girls of North Shore High School try to hamper Cady's ever-growing social obsessions and make her stop acting dumb for Aaron by telling her about their own negative past experiences with obsessive behavior ("Stop"). Gretchen and Karen convince Cady to lie to her parents and throw a "small" party while they are gone that weekend. Gretchen starts to notice similarities between her friendship with Regina and Cady while Mrs. George wonders why her daughter refuses to confide in her; reminiscing about the old days when Regina was a child. Concurrently, Gretchen contemplates being friends with Cady ("What's Wrong With Me? (Reprise)").


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: Following Gretchen and Karen's advice, Cady throws a party in an attempt to get Aaron to come over. However, she becomes intoxicated and crazier ("Whose House is This?"). When Aaron shows up, they sneak off to her bedroom, where Cady tells him the "funny" story about how she pretended that she was dumb to make him like her. Aaron becomes upset and says he liked the smart and kind Cady, not her new Plastic self ("More is Better"). He leaves, but she chases after him and runs into Janis and Damian outside, who have come to confront her after the art show. They tell Cady that she betrayed their trust, lied to them, and has gone full Plastic. Cady accuses Janis of being in love with her, just as Regina did years ago. Janis and Damian are disgusted by Cady's behavior, with the former throwing a picture she submitted to her art show at Cady; revealing that the winning painting was of the three of them ("Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise 2)").


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: When Regina discovers that she was not invited to Cady's party and that the Kälteen Bars were the cause of her weight gain, she decides to get revenge by releasing the Burn Book after adding "Regina is a Fugly Cow" to it in order to take the blame off of herself. She throws copies of the Burn Book pages all over the school, revealing the insults about everyone they know, except Karen, Gretchen, and Cady ("World Burn"). All of the junior class girls begin fighting over the insults. Janis and Damian see an insult in the book that only Cady could have written about him. At a required assembly about the Burn Book, Ms. Norbury tries to bring the girls together. Janis explains her philosophy to the school, referencing her failed friendships with both Cady and Regina; empowering the girls to stand up for themselves ("I'd Rather Be Me"). When Regina storms out in anger and disbelief, Cady tries to apologize, but Regina gets distracted and hit by a passing school bus.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: The accident prompts Cady to reevaluate herself and realize what a monster she has become. After learning Ms. Norbury was about to be fired due to the things she wrote, Cady takes full blame for the Burn Book, despite not having written the entire thing herself. She is suspended for three weeks and banned from the Spring Fling ("Fearless (Reprise)"). When Cady returns to school, Ms. Norbury offers her a way to earn extra credit and save her grade: joining the Mathletes at the state championships. The team wins, and Cady feels redeemed ("Do This Thing"). She then sneaks into the Spring Fling with Aaron's help after kissing him. There, she runs into Regina, and they have a heart-to-heart before making up.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: Cady is elected Spring Fling Queen, but after noticing how fragile and cheap the plastic crown is, she breaks it into several pieces and gives them to each girl in attendance – telling them they are all "real, and rare." She apologizes to Janis and Damian, and they move forward as friends once more. Cady, Damian, Janis, Gretchen, Karen, Aaron, and Regina join together, finally accepting each other ("I See Stars").


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: In addition, in January 2020, when Kyle Selig took a leave of absence, Cameron Dallas played the role of Aaron Samuels.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: The Original Broadway Cast recording was released digitally in the U.S. on May 18, 2018. The physical album was released in the U.S. on June 15, 2018. The album debuted at number 42 on the "Billboard" 200 chart, the highest debut for a cast album in over a year.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: On December 7, 2018, "Rockin' Around the Pole", which does not appear on the cast recording but is featured in the musical, was released on digital music platforms. A music video for the holiday song was also released. On April 8, 2020, a live recording of "Bossed Up", a song that was included in the show's Washington, D.C. tryout but was ultimately cut from the Broadway production, was officially released to celebrate what would have been the show's two year anniversary on Broadway.


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: Marilyn Stasio, in her review for "Variety" wrote: "Fey has front-loaded the show with great gags...Nell Benjamin’s lyrics aren’t half as clever as Fey’s off-the-cuff wisecracks, but they get the job done and are quirky enough to make you listen hard for the good stuff, providing enough payoff lyrics to reward your attention... Fans of the original movie should be reassured that nothing important has been purged from the story."


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: David Rooney, in his review for "The Hollywood Reporter," wrote: "If the songs composed by Fey's husband Jeff Richmond with lyrics by Nell Benjamin more often fall into workmanlike pastiche than inspired musical storytelling, too seldom developing robust melodic hooks, the score at least wins points for democratization. Every one of the principals gets a musical moment that tells us who they are, both the protective outer shell developed to survive the savage jungle of high school, and the tender human core, yearning to connect... While the show's book outshines the score, the songs pack in their share of wit, both in Benjamin's nimble lyrics (recalling her work on the Legally Blonde musical) and Richmond's buoyant tunes, which borrow with a wink from a variety of styles."


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: Sara Holdren, reviewing in "New York" "Vulture" section wrote: "'Mean Girls' isn’t flawless. The first act is so strong, with such a well-built, fast-paced arc, that the second half feels like it takes a few tugs on the starter cord before the lawnmower fires up again. Some of the movie’s best jokes don’t fully land in their delivery...It’s not shocking that 'Mean Girls' is a fast-paced fancy fun time, but it’s a real treat to find that it’s still witty, worldly, and wise."


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: "The New York Times" reviewer Ben Brantley wrote "The trouble lies in the less assured translation of Ms. Fey’s sly take on adolescent social angst into crowd-pleasing song and dance. Mr. Richmond and Ms. Benjamin’s many (many) musical numbers are passable by middle-of-the-road Broadway standards, yet they rarely capture either the tone or the time of being a certain age in a certain era... the show weighs in at two and a half hours, as opposed to the movie’s zippy 97 minutes." However, he ultimately stated he enjoyed parts of the performance, saying: "There’s a reason the show is called 'Mean Girls.' They're the next-door versions of those cosmetically perfect pop and movie stars whose public vanities and follies we savor with such glee. Ms. Fey is an ace student of this universal prurience. She's also smart enough to let us wallow in and renounce it at the same time."


title: Mean Girls (musical)

text: "Entertainment Weekly"'s Kristen Baldwin gave the musical a B+, writing: "An ode to self-respect and the benefits of a STEM-based education, Broadway’s "Mean Girls" is a lively, frequently hilarious adaptation of Tina Fey’s 2004 high school comedy. Propelled by dazzling set design and several stand-out performances, the musical — written by Fey, with music by Jeff Richmond, and directed by Casey Nicholaw ("The Book of Mormon") — gives fans everything they want while bringing the saga of Regina George and the Plastics into the social media age."


title: Victor French

text: Victor Edwin French (December 4, 1934 – June 15, 1989) was an American actor and director. He is remembered for roles on the television programs "Gunsmoke", "Little House on the Prairie", "Highway to Heaven", and "Carter Country".


title: Victor French

text: French was born in Santa Barbara, California, to an Armenian mother, Nellie Louise Cowles, and Ted French, an actor and stuntman who appeared in Westerns in the 1940s. French later appeared with his father in one episode of "Gunsmoke", "Prime of Life", and another episode, "The Wishbone", where he was credited as "Victor Frence", both in 1966. Ted French died in 1978.


title: Victor French

text: French appeared in the war film "The Quick and The Dead" (1963), which was produced by the theatre arts department of Los Angeles Valley College in Van Nuys, which Victor French attended. Also in 1963, he appeared as one of the "Spencer brothers" in the movie that was a forerunner of the television series "The Waltons" titled "Spencer's Mountain" starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. Both the movie and the series were based upon the same novel by Earl Hamner Jr.


title: Victor French

text: Like his father, French began his television career as a stuntman in mostly Westerns and anthology shows. He guest-starred in 39 television series. Though he had an uncredited role as an office clerk in the film "The Magnificent Seven", French's first real Western role was the 1961 episode "The Noose" of the syndicated series "Two Faces West". French was cast as Larrimore in the episode "Fargo" on the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series "The Dakotas".


title: Victor French

text: French appeared a record 23 times on "Gunsmoke", often playing a dangerous or bumbling crook. On October 25, 1971, he portrayed cold-hearted robber and murderer Trafton. French guest-starred in another episode, "Matt's Love Story".


title: Victor French

text: French appeared on "The Waltons" a year later. In "The Fulfillment", French plays blacksmith Curtis Norton, whose wife could not have children and subsequently adopts an eight-year-old orphan boy who has come to spend the week on Walton's Mountain.


title: Victor French

text: This led to his being cast in his most well-known role as Mr. Edwards in "Little House on the Prairie", beginning in 1974.