title: 1987 United Kingdom general election

text: The election victory won by the Conservatives could also arguably be attributed to the rise in average living standards that had taken place during their time in office. As noted by Dennis Kavanagh and David Butler in their study on the 1987 general election:


title: Kevon Looney

text: Kevon Grant Looney (born February 6, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a freshman playing college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, he earned second-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 in 2015. After the season, he decided to forgo his college eligibility and enter the 2015 NBA draft, and was selected in the first round by Golden State with the 30th overall pick. He has won three NBA championships with the Warriors.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Growing up in Wisconsin, Looney was named the top high school player in the state as a senior in 2014. He also received national recognition as a five-star prospect and earned All-American honors. In his only season at UCLA, he led all freshmen in the nation in double-doubles, recording double figures in both points and rebounds in 15 games. One of the top players in the Pac-12, he was also named to their all-freshman team. As a rookie with Golden State, Looney's playing time was limited after undergoing surgery on both his hips. The next season, a strained left hip sidelined him for most of the playoffs during their championship run. Finally healthy in 2017–18, he became a regular in the Warriors' rotation as an undersized center, helping them win a second straight championship. He won a third championship with Golden State in 2022.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Looney was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Doug and Victoria Looney. As a youngster, he watched his brother Kevin, who was six years older, play pickup games. Like his brother, Looney became a Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant fan, and watched tapes of Bryant, copying his moves.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Looney was the best player on his high school team at Alexander Hamilton High in Milwaukee. He was already being recruited by colleges as a freshman, receiving offers from in-state schools Marquette and Wisconsin. In his sophomore year in 2012, Looney was named Player of the Year of the Milwaukee City Conference after averaging 20.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. As a junior, he averaged 26.1 points, 12.4 rebounds, 7.0 blocks, and 3.1 assists per game, leading a team of mostly unproven players to a runner-up finish for the conference title.


title: Kevon Looney

text: In his final season, Looney averaged 27.9 points, 12.7 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 8.0 blocks per game; both CBS Sports and "The Post-Crescent" called his averages "nearly" a quadruple-double. Although he was Hamilton's tallest player, he was also its best passer, and played mostly at point guard. Capable of handling the ball, creating his own shot, and shooting, mixtapes on YouTube hailed him as "the next KD", in reference to future Golden State teammate Kevin Durant. Hamilton went undefeated in conference play to win its first league title in four years, and Looney earned his second City Conference player of the year award. He gained national recognition, becoming just the second player in Milwaukee Public Schools history, and the sixth ever in Wisconsin, to be named a McDonald's All-American; he was a "Parade" All-American as well. Looney was named Wisconsin Mr. Basketball by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association, and Gatorade and the Associated Press named him their state player of the year. He was listed as a five-star prospect by Rivals.com, ESPN.com and Scout.com, who ranked him nationally as the No. 10, No. 12, and No. 15 player, respectively.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Hamilton retired Looney's No. 5 in 2018. He considered changing his number when he was a sophomore, but his close friend Wati Majeed talked him out of it: "You're No. 5, that's who you are. You can play all five positions and guard all five positions."


title: Kevon Looney

text: Looney announced on Halloween in 2013 his decision to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). No recruiting analysts at 247Sports.com had predicted his decision, which was a secret to everyone including his parents. Looney liked California, and called UCLA the "most beautiful campus I had ever seen." He was impressed with Bruins coach Steve Alford's vision for the team. The Bruins did not guarantee Looney a feature role as a freshman, but sold to him that he would be allowed to play both inside and outside and show his versatility, much like Kyle Anderson did for the school in 2013–14.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Upon his arrival at UCLA over the summer before his freshman season, Looney suffered a hip injury playing in the gym. Bruins guard Isaac Hamilton shot the ball and fell into the right leg of Looney, who was positioning to rebound the ball. He rested for two to three weeks before the season. He did not miss a practice or game all year, but the injury hampered his lateral movement and speed. He avoided changing directions, and played more like a lumbering big man. Playing power forward for the Bruins, he was one of the top freshmen in the country in 2014–15. In the season opener, he debuted with 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists in a 113–78 win over Montana State. CBS Sports called his performance "one of the more impressive freshman debuts in UCLA's rich history." He followed up with double-doubles in his next four games, and became the first freshman in UCLA history with at least four double-doubles in his first five games. Soon, pundits began projecting Looney as a freshman lottery pick should he decide to enter the National Basketball Association (NBA). He had seven double-doubles in the Bruins' first 10 games, before scoring in double digits just once during a five-game losing streak for UCLA, which included an 0–2 start to their Pac-12 Conference schedule. Looney helped the team end their streak with career highs of 27 points and 19 rebounds in an 86–81 double-overtime win over Stanford. He was one of 14 players named to the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA)'s mid-season watchlist for the Wayman Tisdale Award, presented annually to the nation's top freshman. He was also one of 16 finalists for the inaugural Karl Malone Award, given to the top power forward in Division I men's basketball.


title: Kevon Looney

text: UCLA rarely called plays for Looney, and his scoring typically came off putbacks, fast breaks, and open shots. A natural rebounder, his shooting improved as the season progressed. After making just nine of 28 of his three-point field goals in the first 24 games, Looney was 11 of 17 in the last seven games of the regular season. Still his scoring tapered off, with only one game over 15 points since his career-game at Stanford. In the 2015 Pac-12 tournament, Looney exited mid-game after he took an arm to his left cheek during UCLA's quarterfinal win over USC. He was a game-time decision to play the next day against Arizona, when he was cleared and fitted with a protective mask 90 minutes before the contest. Though impaired by the mask, he played 30 minutes but was limited, finishing below his season averages with only five points and four rebounds. The Bruins lost 70–64, but the close match helped them secure a bid into the 2015 NCAA tournament. Looney continued to play wearing the mask as UCLA advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.


title: Kevon Looney

text: For the season, Looney averaged 11.6 points and led the team with 9.2 rebounds per game, finishing with 15 double-doubles. Among all freshmen nationally, his double-doubles led the nation and his rebounding ranked second. His rebounds and double-doubles ranked second among all players in the Pac-12. Looney made 47.0 percent of his field goals, and 41.5 percent from three-point range. He was voted second-team All-Pac-12, and named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. He was also named second-team all-district by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).


title: Kevon Looney

text: After one season with UCLA, Looney decided to forgo his remaining college eligibility to declare for the 2015 NBA draft. But his draft stock dropped over concerns with his hip. ESPN.com reported on the morning of the draft that he had undergone surgery on his hip before the 2014–15 season, and that "he probably misses the [following] season", but Looney's camp denied he had any procedure done. He had also heard that some teams did not think his success at UCLA would translate to the NBA, and some executives and scouts did not believe he played hard enough. One of 19 players to attend the draft, Looney fell to the final pick of the first round, where he was chosen 30th overall by Golden State. The Warriors, who had recently won the 2015 NBA Finals, said they had no evidence that Looney required any further treatment. Nonetheless, they were comfortable with any recovery time that he might need, given his age, potential, and the team's established core lineup. On July 8, 2015, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Warriors, and played on their Las Vegas Summer League team. On August 20, Looney underwent a successful right hip arthroscopy to repair a torn labrum.


title: Kevon Looney

text: On January 4, 2016, Looney was assigned to the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State's D-League affiliate, after he was cleared to practice after rehab from his surgery. He made his professional debut on January 12 with Santa Cruz, logging a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds in 16 minutes against the Idaho Stampede. On January 24, he was recalled by Golden State after averaging 8.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in 18.2 minutes over five games. Three days later against the Dallas Mavericks, Looney was activated for the first time due to an injury to big man Festus Ezeli. He made his NBA debut that evening, becoming the 11th former UCLA player to play for the Warriors. Looney scored on his first attempt and finished with two points and two rebounds in a 127–107 win. He was given the game ball after the game. Golden State had him continue working on his conditioning, and he received multiple assignments to Santa Cruz.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Looney suffered a setback in March, when he was sidelined by inflammation in his surgically repaired hip. The Warriors finished the regular season with an NBA-record 73 wins, breaking the previous mark of 72 set by the Chicago Bulls in 1995–96. On April 22, Looney underwent a successful arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum on his left hip, which was expected to sideline him from four to six months. A similar procedure had been performed on his right hip eight months earlier. He finished his rookie year with five games played with Golden State and 12 in the D-League. The Warriors made the NBA Finals in 2016, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games after a 3–1 lead.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Looney did not play in the 2016 Summer League while he continued to rehab. Unable to play most of the previous 15 months, he came to training camp overweight. During the preseason, he battled James Michael McAdoo to be the No. 5 forward on the Warriors' depth chart. Looney started the 2016–17 season strongly. On November 26, 2016, he made his first career start in place of an injured Draymond Green. He finished with six points, three rebounds, and two assists in 18 minutes of play in a 115–102 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. But Looney grew ineffective in limited minutes and his playing time diminished. On January 13, 2017, he received a one-game assignment to Santa Cruz after an extended stretch of limited playing time. He was impressive in his D-League season debut, logging 18 points and 20 rebounds in 24 minutes. It was the first of three D-League stints for him during the season. Looney missed most of April due to a left hip strain. Golden State finished the regular season with a league-leading 67 wins and advanced to the NBA Finals, where they defeated Cleveland in five games to win their second championship in three years. Looney was inactive for all 17 playoff games, missing 12 due to his left hip.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Healthy at last, Looney became a regular rotation player in 2017–18. He lost before the season after hiring a personal trainer over the summer, changing his training program, and adopting a modified Paleo diet. But he was one of six centers on the team, behind starter Zaza Pachulia and veterans David West and JaVale McGee, while youngsters Jordan Bell and Damian Jones appeared to have brighter futures. On October 27, 2017, Looney had nine points on 4-of-4 shooting and five rebounds in a 120–117 win over Washington. Finally able to play extended minutes without being out of breath, he helped lead an 18-point second-half comeback after Green was ejected late in the second quarter. On October 31, Golden State did not exercise its fourth-year option on Looney for 2018–19 due to his contract's luxury tax impact on their payroll, making him an unrestricted free agent the next summer. Nonetheless, he began receiving regular playing time despite not having played in seven of the Warriors' first nine games. Golden State coach Steve Kerr said the league was shifting toward a small-ball, switching style of play, and he called Looney "our best switching ". On November 11, in a 135–114 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Looney had four points and three blocked shots with a plus-minus of +14 in 15 minutes while matched up mostly opposite Joel Embiid, one of the league's top centers. His playing time in December dropped to seven minutes per game after the rookie Bell passed him on the depth chart. On January 4, 2018, against the Houston Rockets, Looney had seven points and tied his then-career high with eight rebounds in 15 minutes in a 124–114 win. He played the final 6:30 of the game and was more effectively switching defensively on Rockets guard Chris Paul than Bell, who remained on the bench in the second half. After playing minimally and sitting out the last two games, he was praised by Kerr for being an "amazing example of what being a professional is about in this league." On January 12, Looney returned to his hometown and played a career-high 23 minutes while scoring nine points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting with another eight rebounds, three assists and a block in a 108–94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. On March 17, he had career highs of 13 points and six blocks in a 124–109 win over the Phoenix Suns. On March 27, he grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds off the bench in a 92–81 loss to the Indiana Pacers.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Playing in the first postseason of his career, Looney impressed with his defensive switching. The Warriors won the first round of the 2018 playoffs 4–1 over the San Antonio Spurs. McGee was the starting center, but Looney became Kerr's favorite, playing the most (100 minutes) of all the Warriors' big men. Looney guarded LaMarcus Aldridge well, and Kerr praised his defense and ability to switch onto Spurs guards Patty Mills and Manu Ginóbili on pick and rolls. He was steadier than Bell, and former starter Pachulia did not receive any playing time the entire series. Golden State won the conference semifinals 4–1 over the New Orleans Pelicans. In the series, Looney emerged as the team's most dependable center, defending Anthony Davis adequately. In the final two games, he became the Warriors' sixth man after the team went small and started their Hamptons Five lineup with Green at center. Against the Rockets in the conference finals, Looney provided solid defense against guards Paul and James Harden. He moved into the starting lineup in Game 4 after forward Andre Iguodala was sidelined with a leg contusion. He started the final four games of the series, and the Warriors defeated Houston 4–3 to advance to the Finals for a rematch against Cleveland. The Warriors swept the Cavaliers 4–0 for their second straight championship. Looney started Game 1 before being supplanted in Game 2 by McGee. He played 39 minutes in the four games, but only three minutes in the last two after Iguodala returned. He finished the playoffs playing the sixth-most minutes (387) on the Warriors and the most among their six centers. Golden State had a 97.5 defensive rating with him playing, the best of all their rotation players.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Looney re-signed with the Warriors for 2018–19. Golden State also added four-time NBA All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins with their mid-level exception, but he was rehabbing his left Achilles tendon and had no definitive timeline on when he would return. Looney began the season as a reserve, while Damian Jones was the starting center. However, Jones was ruled out for the season after tearing his left pectoral muscle. On December 3, 2018, in his first start for the injured Jones, Looney scored 14 points along with a career-high-tying five assists in a 128–111 win over the Atlanta Hawks. After starting at center for all except one of the previous 18 games, he returned to the bench when Cousins made his Warriors debut on January 18, 2019. On January 28, Looney scored a career-high 15 points, shooting 6-for-7 off the bench, in a 132–100 win over the Pacers. He ended the regular season averaging career highs in points (6.3), shooting percentage (62.5 percent), rebounds (5.2) and minutes played (18.5). In Game 2 of the Warriors' first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers, following a first-quarter injury to Cousins, Looney scored a career-high 19 points in a 135–131 loss. With Cousins expected to be out for the remainder of the playoffs, Kerr started Andrew Bogut—the former Warrior who was acquired late in the season—to keep Looney in the backup role where he had excelled. The Warriors advanced to the following round against Houston, when Kerr opened the series by starting the Hamptons Five, placing Iguodola into the starting lineup and moving Green to center. Looney assumed Bogut's minutes, as he was a better defensive option against the Rockets as a backup to Green. In Game 5, he had nine rebounds, including five on the offensive end, and a key block late in the game as the Warriors won to go up 3–2 in the series despite losing Kevin Durant to a right calf strain near the end of the third quarter. Kerr called Looney their "unsung hero tonight". Golden State advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where Looney excelled for the second straight year. He was their best center in the series, and closed out their sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in Game 4. Kerr lauded him as a "foundational piece" of the franchise. In Game 2 of the 2019 Finals against the Raptors, Looney collided with Kawhi Leonard and suffered a non-displaced first costal cartilage fracture, near the collarbone, and was unavailable in Game 3. He was averaging 20.4 minutes per game and shooting 73 percent in the playoffs. While most of his shots were from short distance, he remained an efficient 73 percent (38 of 52) when tightly guarded. Looney returned in Game 4 to play the rest of the series, but the Warriors lost in six games.


title: Kevon Looney

text: During the off-season, Looney re-signed with the Warriors on a three-year deal worth $15 million. That summer, he began feeling discomfort in his hamstrings. He was sidelined following the 2019–20 season opener after tightness in his hamstring was diagnosed as neuropathy, a disorder resulting from nerve damage outside of the brain and spinal cord. He had managed to play through the condition since his second season in the NBA, often experiencing numbness in his hands, wrists, and feet. However, he could no longer deal with the situation once it reached his hamstrings. Looney was limited to playing in just 20 games during the season, averaging only 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. On May 19, 2020, he underwent surgery to repair a core muscle injury and was expected to be ready for the start of the following season.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Looney began the 2020–21 season as a backup to rookie center James Wiseman, the No. 2 overall draft pick. However, he became the Warriors' only true center after the rookie suffered a meniscus tear and was sidelined for the season. On April 19, 2021, Looney had a career-high 15 rebounds in a win against the 76ers, and he held Embiid to 4-of-14 shooting when guarding him.


title: Kevon Looney

text: During the off-season, Looney exercised his player option to continue with the Warriors for the 2021–22 season. He was Golden State's starting center, as Wiseman remained sidelined by injuries. On January 9, 2022, Looney recorded a career-high 18 rebounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Able to manage the pain from his neuropathy, he played in all 82 games of the regular season, making a career-high 80 starts and averaging career bests with 21.1 minutes and 7.3 rebounds per game. In the Western Conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies, Looney made his first start of the series in Game 6, grabbing a career-high 22 rebounds in a 110–96 win to clinch the series. Replacing Jonathan Kuminga in the lineup, he had 11 rebounds in the first quarter, a career high for him in any quarter, helping the Warriors outrebound the Grizzlies 70–44 in the game. Looney's 11 offensive rebounds were more than the entire Memphis team had combined. In Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against Dallas, he received "MVP" chants as he recorded a double-double with a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds to help lead a 19-point comeback as the Warriors took a 2–0 series lead. It was his first 20-point game since college, and it was the first 20-point, 10-rebound performance by a Golden State center in the playoffs since Robert Parish in 1977. In Game 5, Looney had 10 points and 18 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end, helping the Warriors win the series 4–1 and advance to their sixth NBA Finals in eight years. He was one of their top players in the series, dominating on offensive rebounds and playing excellent defense. Looney won his third championship after the Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals.


title: Kevon Looney

text: The Looney is most suited to playing power forward. Possessing a wingspan, he is also a capable, small-ball center who is able to guard all five positions. His length allows him to switch assignments and defend guards. He moves fairly well on the perimeter, and is not easily lured by pump fakes. He can also defend the rim.


title: Kevon Looney

text: Looney had limited mobility after his hip surgeries. Lacking explosion, he worked on faking opponents and getting his defender off balance. After he became healthier and lost weight, he became more athletic and proficient at catching lob passes. During the summer 2018 off-season, he worked on finishing the lobs without having to land first. He practices in a Shoot 360 facility in Oakland, which gives players feedback in real time on their technique. He said: "I like to get the feedback. How did I shoot today? Was my shot flat on my misses? What was causing my misses?"


title: Kevon Looney

text: In addition to his brother Kevin, Looney has an older sister, Summer. His cousin Nick Young also played in the NBA, and they were teammates on the Warriors in 2017–18.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Hairspray is an American musical with music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, with a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on John Waters's 1988 film of the same name. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the production follows teenage Tracy Turnblad's dream to dance on "The Corny Collins Show", a local TV dance program based on the real-life "Buddy Deane Show". When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight, leading to social change as Tracy campaigns for the show's integration.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: The musical opened in Seattle in 2002 and moved to Broadway later that year. In 2003 "Hairspray" won eight Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical, out of 13 nominations. It ran for 2,642 performances, and closed on January 4, 2009. "Hairspray" has also had national tours, a West End production, and numerous foreign productions and was adapted as a 2007 musical film. The London production was nominated for a record-setting eleven Laurence Olivier Awards, winning four, including Best New Musical.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: According to interviews included as an extra feature on the 2007 film's DVD release, theatre producer Margo Lion first conceived of "Hairspray" as a stage musical in 1998 after seeing the original film on television. "I was home looking at a lot of movies, and one of those movies was "Hairspray"." She contacted John Waters, who gave her his blessing, then acquired the rights from New Line Cinema. Lion contacted Marc Shaiman, who expressed interest in the project only if his partner Scott Wittman could participate, and Lion agreed. The two enlisted the help of actress and singer Annie Golden to produce a demo recording containing three songs, one of which, "Good Morning Baltimore", eventually became the show's opening number. Based on their initial work, Lion felt confident that she had hired the right team.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Lion contacted Rob Marshall about directing the musical. At the time he was involved in negotiations to direct the screen adaptation of "Chicago", but he agreed to become involved in the early development stages of "Hairspray" with the stipulation he would drop out if assigned the film. Marshall remembered Marissa Jaret Winokur from her brief appearance in the film "American Beauty" and arranged a meeting with Shaiman and Wittman. The two immediately felt she was right for the role of Tracy Turnblad but hesitated to commit without seeing any other auditions. They hired Winokur to work with them on the project with the understanding she might be replaced later. One year later, Winokur was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Certain she would lose the role if the creative team learned about her condition, she underwent a hysterectomy without telling anyone but her immediate family. The treatment and surgery succeeded, and Winokur returned to the project. Meanwhile, Marshall had started work on "Chicago", and Lion hired Jack O'Brien and Jerry Mitchell to direct and to choreograph, respectively. Winokur was one of the first to audition for the role of Tracy Turnblad and spent two years preparing with voice and dance lessons. Tracy's mother had been portrayed by Divine in the original film, and Shaiman liked the idea of maintaining the tradition of casting a male as Edna Turnblad. Harvey Fierstein auditioned for the role with a "half-hour vocal audition". He thought they were "pacifying" him, but he was told "they don't want anyone but you".


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: According to Shaiman, one song, "I Know Where I've Been", became controversial during the genesis of the score:


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: This was ... inspired by a scene late in the [1988] movie that takes place on the black side of town. It never dawned on us that a torrent of protest would follow us from almost everyone involved with the show. 'It's too sad. ... It's too preachy. ... It doesn't belong. ... Tracy should sing the eleven o'clock number.' We simply didn't want our show to be yet another show-biz version of a civil rights story where the black characters are just background. And what could be more Tracy Turnblad-like than to give the 'eleven o'clock number' to the black family at the heart of the struggle? Luckily ... the audiences embraced this moment, which enriches the happy ending to follow, and it is our proudest achievement of the entire experience of writing "Hairspray"."


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: After a successful tryout at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, "Hairspray" opened on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre on August 15, 2002. Jack O'Brien directed the production, which Jerry Mitchell choreographed, with set design by David Rockwell, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Steve C. Kennedy, and the many distinctive wigs in the show by Paul Huntley. The performances were conducted by Lon Hoyt, with approximately 15 musicians. The original Broadway cast included Marissa Jaret Winokur and Harvey Fierstein in the lead roles of Tracy and Edna respectively. The cast also featured Matthew Morrison as Link, Laura Bell Bundy as Amber, Kerry Butler as Penny, Linda Hart as Velma, Mary Bond Davis as Motormouth Maybelle, Corey Reynolds as Seaweed, Jackie Hoffman as Matron, Dick Latessa as Wilbur, and Clarke Thorell as Corny Collins. Kamilah Marshall, Shayna Steele, and Judine Richard played the Dynamites.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: "Hairspray" received Tony Award nominations in 13 categories, winning eight, including for best musical, book, score and direction. Winokur, Fierstein and Latessa received awards for their performances. The production ran for more than six years, closing on January 4, 2009 after 2,642 performances. Thorell returned to the cast for the final ten months. Fierstein and Winokur returned to the cast for the final performances.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: The West End production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on October 11, 2007, for previews before its official opening on October 30. Michael Ball played Edna, with Mel Smith as Wilbur Turnblad, newcomer Leanne Jones as Tracy, Tracie Bennett as Velma, Paul Manuel as Corny Collins, Rachael Wooding as Amber, Elinor Collett as Penny, and Ben James-Ellis as Link. The original creative team of the Broadway production, with the director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell, reunited for the London production. The show garnered a record-setting eleven Olivier Award nominations and won for Best New Musical, as well as acting awards for Best Actress and Actor in a musical (Jones and Ball). The production closed on March 28, 2010 after a run of nearly two-and-a-half years and over 1,000 performances.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: The production was due to return to the West End at the London Coliseum for a limited 18-week season from 23 April to 29 August 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing all public theatres to close indefinitely from mid March, the production was initially delayed to 1 September to 8 November, and then delayed again to 21 June to 29 September 2021.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Michael Ball reprised his Olivier Award-winning role as Edna Turnblad, reuniting him with the original director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell. Full casting includes Lizzie Bea, who plays Tracy, Marisha Wallace who plays Motormouth Maybelle, Les Dennis as Wilbur Turnblad, Rita Simons as Velma Von Tussle, Jonny Amies as Link Larkin and Mari McGinlay as Penny Pingleton. Paul Merton was originally set to make his West End debut as Wilbur but after several delays to the show he was unable to join the company and was replaced by Dennis.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Australian production of "Hairspray" opened in Melbourne at the Princess Theatre on October 2, 2010 to critical acclaim. It was directed by David Atkins and choreographed by "So You Think You Can Dance Australia" judge Jason Coleman. The show moved to Sydney from June 23, 2011. The cast included Jaz Flowers as Tracy, Trevor Ashley as Edna, Jack Chambers as Link, and Tevin Campbell reprising his role from the Broadway production as Seaweed J. Stubbs. Atkins redesigned the production using new technologies. The set used enormous LED screens, which moved around the stage in various combinations, as the characters interacted with animated landscapes generated across the screens. The musical opened at Sydney's Lyric Theatre at The Star Casino on 11 June 2011 and closed on 25 September 2011, two weeks earlier than anticipated, ending its Australian run.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: The cast will include Carmel Rodrigues as Tracy, Shane Jacobson as Edna, Rhonda Burchmore as Velma, Todd McKenney as Wilber, Rob Mills as Corny Collins, and Asabi Goodman as Motormouth Maybelle.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: The first U.S. national tour started a run in September 2003 in Baltimore and ended in June 2006. It starred Carly Jibson as Tracy, Bruce Vilanch as Edna, Terron Brooks as Seaweed, Sandra DeNise as Penny, Susan Cella as Velma, and Ramona Cole (soon replaced by Charlotte Crossley) as Motormouth Maybelle. When the tour stopped in Los Angeles, Winokur reprised her role as Tracy, together with the original Broadway Link, Matthew Morrison. The same creative team of Jack O'Brien (dir.) and Jerry Mitchell (chor) were at the helm. Lon Hoyt served as music supervisor. Jim Vukovich served as music director for the entire 33 months on the road.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: In July 2006, a non-Equity U.S. and Asian tour opened in Atlantic City's Harrah's Casino. The shorter "casino version" was used for a six-week run, but when the tour moved on, it continued with the full version of the show minus the character of Lorraine. The production starred Brooklynn Pulver as Tracy, Jerry O'Boyle as Edna, Dan Ferretti as Wilbur, Constantine Rousouli as Link, Christian Dante White as Seaweed, Alyssa Malgeri as Penny, Jarret Mallon as Corny, Happy McPartlin as Velma, Pearl Thomas as Amber, and Yvette Clark as Motormouth Maybelle.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: The tour played sit down engagements in Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. It played its final performance on April 25, 2010 at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, California.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: After the West End production closed, "Hairspray" began touring the UK and Ireland, starting at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on April 7, 2010, following previews from March 30. The tour stars Michael Ball as Edna, alternating with Michael Starke and Brian Conley; Les Dennis, Nigel Planer and Micky Dolenz alternating as Wilbur and Laurie Scarth as Tracy.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: "Hairspray" toured the UK and Ireland in 2013. The show opened on February 13 in The Lowry Theatre in Manchester with Mark Benton playing Edna Turnblad, Lucy Benjamin playing Velma Von Tussle, Sandra Marvin as Motormouth Maybelle, Marcus Collins as Seaweed Stubbs and Freya Sutton as Tracy Turnblad, respectively. MM Musicals presented the show at FairfieldHalls, Croydon, in the Ashcroft Theatre, from 19–22 November 2014, with Corin Miller as Tracy, Andy Lingfield as Edna, and Natalie Cave as Penny.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Mark Goucher produced a "Hairspray" tour in the UK from September 2015, starting at the Curve, Leicester. The production return at the end of summer 2017 to once again tour the UK, starring Norman Pace as Wilbur, Brenda Edwards as Motormouth, Layton Williams and newcomer Rebecca Mendoza as Tracy. The Curve production and subsequent tours were directed by Paul Kerryson with choreography by Drew McOnie.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: The production will tour the UK and Ireland once again in 2021 directed by Paul Kerryson and starring Brenda Edwards as Motormouth Maybelle and Norman Pace as Wilbur Turnblad. The show will open in Plymouth on 24 June 2021 before touring around the UK into 2022.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: A Las Vegas production ran at the Luxor Hotel in 2006 starring Katrina Rose Dideriksen as Tracy, Austin Miller as Link, and Fierstein and Latessa reprising their roles as Edna and Wilbur. This ninety-minute version was played in one act. Cut songs included "The Big Dollhouse", "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs", "Velma's Revenge", "Good Morning Baltimore (Reprise)", and "Cooties".


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Royal Caribbean International presented the show on their first Oasis Class ship MS "Oasis of the Seas", which made its maiden voyage in December 2009. The show was performed in the ship's 1350 seat Opal Theater three times on each seven-night cruise but was later replaced with Cats The Musical.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Weathervane Playhouse, in Newark, Ohio, performed the U.S. regional premiere from July 29 to August 7, 2010; immediately followed by The Riverton Arts Council in Riverton, Utah, at the Sandra N. Lloyd Performing Arts Center from July 30 to August 21, 2010.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Production at the Hollywood Bowl ran from August 5–7, 2011, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. Original Broadway cast members Fierstein and Winokur reprised their roles as Edna and Tracy Turnblad. The cast also featured Corbin Bleu (Seaweed J. Stubbs), Drew Carey (Wilbur), Diana DeGarmo (Penny), Mo Gaffney (Prudy and others), Nick Jonas (Link Larkin), Darlene Love (Motormouth Maybelle), Susan Anton (Velma Von Tussle), and John Stamos (Corny Collins).


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: The first international production opened in Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre in April 2004 and ran for 245 performances. Vanessa Olivarez, a former "American Idol" contestant, starred as Tracy, and Jay Brazeau starred as Edna. The cast also included Tom Rooney as Wilbur Turnblad, Fran Jaye as Motormouth Maybelle, Matthew Morgan as Seaweed, Shennel Campbell as Little Inez, Jennifer Stewart as Penny Pingleton, Michael Torontow as Link Larkin, Susan Henley as Velma Von Tussle, Tara Macri as Amber Von Tussle, Kevin Meaney and Charlotte Moore as the Authority Figures, and Paul McQuillan as Corny Collins. Rounding out the opening night cast were Caissie Levy, Steven Cutts, Felicia Dinwiddie, Karen Burthwright, Jesse Weafer, Clyde Alves, Breanne Arrigo, Lisa Bell, Adam Bolton, Amanda DeFreitas, Starr Dominigue, Nicolas Dromard, Desmond Osborne, Melanie Phillipson, Stephanie Pitsiladis, Christine Rossi, Avery Saltzman, Sheldon Smith, Alison Smyth, Lindsay Thomas, Darren Voros, Derek Wiens, and Ryan Wilson.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: A South African production opened in Johannesburg in October 2007 with the original direction and choreography recreated by Matt Lenz and Greg Graham. New set and costume designs were by Michael Bottari and Ronald Case. A production in Buenos Aires, Argentina, opened on July 16, 2008 starring Enrique Pinti as Edna. The role of Tracy was cast through a reality-competition show called "Yo Quiero Ser la Protagonista de "Hairspray"" ("I Want to Be "Hairspray's" Protagonist").


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: On November 14, 2008, a production of "Hairspray" in Manila in the Philippines, starring Madel Ching as Tracy and Michael de Mesa as Edna. The production closed on December 7, 2008. On July 10, 2009, a Brazilian production opened in Rio de Janeiro, starring Simone Gutierrez as Tracy and Edson Celulari as Edna. A 2010 Brazilian tour stopped in São Paulo, Brasilia, Curitiba and Porto Alegre.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: A Dutch production ran during the 2009/2010 season. Edna Turnblad was played by Arjan Ederveen and Link was Jim Bakkum (runner-up in the first season of the Dutch American Idol). On December 6, 2009 a German production opened in Cologne. Edna was played alternately by Uwe Ochsenknecht and comedian Tetje Mierendorf. Tracy was played by Maite Kelly, a former member of The Kelly Family and Penny was Jana Stelley. The first production of "Hairspray" in the German language, however, took place at the Theater St. Gallen, Switzerland. A re-creation of the Broadway/West End production of the show opened in Dubai in July 2010 with Leanne Jones, from the West End production, reprising her role as Tracy and Antony Stuart-Hicks as Edna.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: A Japanese production was scheduled to run at the Toshima Arts and Culture Theatre, Tokyo in June 2020 and at Umeda Arts Theater, Osaka in July 2020. It was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It featured Naomi Watanabe as Tracy Turnblad, Yuichiro Yamaguchi as Edna Turnblad, Zen Ishikawa as Wilbur Turnblad, Crystal Kay as Motormouth Maybelle, Jun Sena as Velma Von Tussle, Kohei Ueguchi as Corny Collins, Kurumi Shimizu as Penny Pingleton, Hiroki Miura as Link Larkin, Soichi Hirama as Seaweed J. Stubbs and Meimi Tamura (former ANGERME member) as Amber Von Tussle.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Other productions opened in Canada, Finland, Japan, South Korea, Italy, St. Gallen, Switzerland (in German) and Brazil. The musical also played in Shanghai, China, at the Shanghai Grand Theatre in July 2008, Stockholm, Sweden in September 2008 and in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark in March 2016, . Other productions are planned for France, Israel, Iceland, Norway and Mexico. "Hairspray" has been translated into German, Finnish, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Portuguese, French and Hebrew.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: There was a production which was performed in the Hong Kong Cultural Center, by a performing arts company called Face Production. They won an HK Heckler Award for Best Musical, Best Actress and Best Set Design.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Another Japanese production was scheduled to run at the Toshima Arts and Culture Theatre, Tokyo on September 17 till October 2 2022 and at Umeda Arts Theater, Osaka in August 2022. It featured Naomi Watanabe as Tracy Turnblad, Yuichiro Yamaguchi as Edna Turnblad, Zen Ishikawa as Wilbur Turnblad, Eliana as Motormouth Maybelle, Jun Sena as Velma Von Tussle, Kohei Ueguchi as Corny Collins, Kurumi Shimizu as Penny Pingleton, Hiroki Miura as Link Larkin, Soichi Hirama as Seaweed J. Stubbs and Meimi Tamura (former ANGERME member) as Amber Von Tussle.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: In August 2008, the British television channel Sky 1 began broadcasting "", which followed the development of a North London comprehensive school's production of "Hairspray" from audition to performance, with input from various actors and creatives, including members of the Broadway production team and the West End cast.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: The Junior version released by MTI excludes the musical numbers "I Can Hear the Bells", "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs", "Velma's Revenge", "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful", (You're) Timeless To Me, (You're) Timeless To Me (Reprise) and the character Harriman F. Spritzer.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: "Hairspray" was a live musical produced by NBC and broadcast on December 7, 2016. Newcomer Maddie Baillio was chosen to play Tracy Turnblad. Jennifer Hudson and Harvey Fierstein starred as Motormouth Maybelle and Edna Turnblad, respectively. Martin Short portrayed Wilbur Turnblad and Derek Hough played Corny Collins. Kristin Chenoweth starred as Velma Von Tussle, and Ariana Grande played the role of Penny Pingleton. The roles of Amber Von Tussle, Link Larkin, and Seaweed J. Stubbs were played by Dove Cameron, Garrett Clayton, and Ephraim Sykes, respectively. Sean Hayes portrayed Mr Pinky, and Rosie O'Donnell played the gym teacher.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: It is June 1962 in Baltimore. Tracy Turnblad, an overweight high school student, wakes up ("Good Morning Baltimore") and goes to school, where she receives a warning for "inappropriate hair height". After school, Tracy rushes home with her best friend, Penny, to catch the local teenage dance show, "The Corny Collins Show" ("The Nicest Kids in Town"). Edna, Tracy's shy and overweight mother, is ironing and complains about the noise of the music coming from the television, while Penny's mother, Prudy, complains about it being race music. After an announcement that auditions for a place on the show will be held due to the fact that Brenda (one of the Corny Collins Council Members) has taken a leave of absence from the show for "9 months", Tracy begs her mother for permission to audition. Edna, fearing that Tracy will be laughed at due to her weight, refuses. Penny and Amber (the main dancer on "The Corny Collins Show") have similar arguments with their mothers ("Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now").


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: After gaining permission and support from her father, Wilbur, Tracy auditions for the show and bumps into a teenage heartthrob, Link Larkin, which leads into a dream sequence ("I Can Hear the Bells"). Velma Von Tussle, the racist producer of "The Corny Collins Show", rejects Tracy from the audition because of her size ("(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs"), as well as refusing a black girl, Little Inez.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Back at school, Tracy is sent to detention for her "monumental hair-don't". There she meets black dancer Seaweed J. Stubbs (the son of the hostess of "Negro Day" on The Corny Collins Show, Motormouth Maybelle), who teaches her several dance moves. She uses the new dance steps at the Sophomore Hop the following day to introduce herself to Corny Collins ("The Madison"). When Corny sees how well Tracy can dance, he gives her a place on the show ("The Nicest Kids in Town" (Reprise)). During the broadcast, Link, following Corny's suggestion, sings "It Takes Two" to Tracy, much to Amber's dismay. After the show, Mr. Spritzer, the show's worrisome sponsor, appeals to Velma over Tracy's appointment to the Council. Velma, threatening to fire Corny from the show, is eventually left distraught and determines to ruin Tracy ("Velma's Revenge").


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: At the Turnblad house, Edna is receiving calls from fans who saw Tracy on the show. A call comes in from Mr. Pinky, the owner of a plus-size dress shop, for an endorsement. Tracy pleads with her mother to come with her and to act as her agent although Edna has not left their apartment in years. Finally making it outside, Edna is given a huge makeover ("Welcome to the 60's") and Tracy becomes the spokes-girl for the shop. At school, signs of Tracy's fame are evident in the schoolyard, with graffiti on the walls and Shelly, another Council Member, sporting Tracy's signature hairdo. During a game of dodge ball, a jealous Amber knocks Tracy out, and Link rushes to her side. Penny and Seaweed, who have developed a liking for each other, rush to fetch the school nurse, only to find her out sick. Seaweed, suggesting that some fun would make Tracy feel better, invites all of them to his mother's record shop for a platter party ("Run and Tell That").


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: At the shop, Tracy rallies everyone to march against the station on the following day's Mother-Daughter Day, as blacks are not allowed on the show except for the monthly Negro Day. Before they start, Motormouth Maybelle convinces the initially reluctant Edna and Wilbur to march as well. Link declined to participate for the sake of his contract with the show. During the protest, led by Motormouth, Velma calls the police and fights break out. When the police arrive on the scene, almost everyone is arrested ("Big, Blonde and Beautiful").


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: After the march, most of the women are locked up in a women's penitentiary ("The Big Dollhouse"). Because of Velma's dirty tactics, the governor pardons and releases her and Amber. Wilbur bails out the remaining people, excluding Tracy who is forced to remain in jail through another one of Velma's manipulations. Tracy is alone and wishes that Link could be with her ("Good Morning Baltimore" (Reprise)). Back at the Har-De-Har Hut (Wilbur's joke shop), Wilbur and Edna are left destitute because of the money it cost them to bail everyone out and with Tracy still in prison. Edna sympathizes with her daughter's dream—she had dreamt of making her "own line of queen-sized dress patterns". Edna and Wilbur reminisce about their past and how they can never be parted from each other ("(You're) Timeless to Me"). During the night, Link sneaks into the jail where he finds Tracy in solitary confinement. As Link and Tracy reunite, Penny's mother, Prudy, punishes Penny for "going to jail without her permission" and ties her up in her bedroom where Seaweed comes to her rescue. Both couples declare their love for one another ("Without Love"). After escaping from their respective prisons, the couples seek refuge at Motormouth Maybelle's Record Shop. Tracy thinks that it is unfair that after all of their hard work, "The Corny Collins Show" is still segregated. They devise a plan to help integrate the show, and Motormouth remembers their long fight for equality ("I Know Where I've Been").


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: On the day of the Miss Teenage Hairspray competition, Corny Collins starts the show with a song ("(It's) Hairspray"). Amber shows off her talents in a bid to get more votes from the viewers ("Cooties"). Just as the results are about to be announced, Tracy stuns Amber as she makes her entrance in a magenta dress without any petticoat underneath, taking over the stage, and is joined by Link, Penny, Seaweed, Edna, Wilbur, Little Inez, Corny, and Motormouth. Tracy is declared the winner of the competition. Amber and Velma protest the results, claiming that it is all wrong. Little Inez then tries to take the crown by force when Amber refuses to hand it over, but Tracy stops her, claiming that her heart is set on something more important, which is Link and her future. She then proclaims the Corny Collins show is "now and forevermore" racially integrated, to much applause. When all is announced, Mr. Spritzer runs onstage thrilled with the public's response to the telecast and announces that the governor has pardoned Tracy and gave her a full college scholarship and he offers Link a recording contract and Velma the position of vice president of Ultra Glow – beauty products for women of color, much to the latter's chagrin. Prudy arrives at the station and, seeing how happy Penny is with Seaweed, accepts her daughter for who she is. At the height of the moment, the company invites Amber and Velma to join the celebration. With the station in joyous celebration, Tracy and Link cement their love with a kiss ("You Can't Stop the Beat").


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: "Hairspray" went through several revisions during its pre-Broadway run in Seattle, in the process eliminating and replacing several musical numbers. In Seattle, an infomercial about safety on the road titled "Blood on the Pavement" followed "The Nicest Kids in Town", and is included on the cast album following "You Can't Stop the Beat". Early versions of the show featured "Velma's Cha-Cha" and "The Status Quo" (Seattle) (with its short reprise "Rage") during Tracy's audition and dismissal, but the team instead opted for "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs", as the audience did not like seeing Tracy being verbally attacked after "I Can Hear the Bells". After Tracy's rejection from the Council, there was a scene in the Har-De-Har Hut in which Wilbur tried to cheer Tracy up, singing that "It Doesn't Get Better than This". Later replaced by the similar "Positivity", the scene was cut early in the Seattle tryout as it was deemed emotionally redundant.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: After Tracy eventually made it on the show, there was a song "The New Girl in Town", which was sung first by the Councilettes and later by the black girls. Although cut during the Seattle tryout, it was included in the 2007 film and appears in the show's instrumental score. "The Mother-Daughter Cha-Cha-Cha" was another cut number that originally followed "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful". Later, the writers absorbed the protest rally and Mother-Daughter Day into the number, thus deleting the song and folding the sequence into a single scene. A song called "Step on Up" was also cut in favor of "I Know Where I've Been". Early on in the genesis of the show, the plot involved a "Miss Auto Show" competition, as in the 1988 film, instead of "Miss Teenage Hairspray". For this competition, later revised due to the cost of cars onstage, there was a song called "Take a Spin" sung by Corny in the place of "(It's) Hairspray". After Amber's rendition of "Cooties", Tracy had a song before the finale called "It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady Sings", though it was cut after readings of the show; it was included as a track on the Special Edition of the 2007 motion picture's soundtrack.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Hairspray's orchestration calls for fifteen musicians, consisting of the following: two keyboards, the first of which is played by the conductor, electric bass, two guitars, drums, percussion, two trumpets, trombone, two woodwind players, two violins, and cello. The guitarists both double on acoustic and electric guitars, in which the first plays lead and the second plays rhythm, and the trumpet doubles on flugelhorn; the original production also featured a piccolo trumpet double during tryouts. The first woodwind player doubles on tenor and alto saxophones and flute. The second woodwind player doubles on tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxophones and flute, while the backup chorus calls for three males and three females.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: In the original Broadway production, a few of the actors mimed on musical instruments in order to fulfil a minimum musician requirement at the Neil Simon Theatre.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: Touring productions often use smaller/reduced orchestrations to save on costs – the UK 2017/18 tour which used a 12-piece orchestration – two keyboards (Of which the first is played by the conductor), two guitars, electric bass, drums, percussion, two woodwind players (in which the second one is playing alto, tenor, soprano and baritone saxophones and flute), trombone and two trumpets and a 12-piece background chorus: six males and six females.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: "Hairspray" explores the themes of racial prejudice and freedom of expression. It highlights individuality, and the importance of everyone working together for something to become revolutionary. The musical is empowering, as although it touches on racial issues that were prevalent in 1960s America, it focuses more on the attitudes that are associated with it, and the power that we have to change discrimination. The musical encourages individuality, acceptance and freedom. It is a musical that can be applied to any social context and time, as it highlights ongoing issues such as fat-shaming, racism and discrimination. It also explores femininity in terms of the female characters. Notably, Tracy’s mother, Edna Turnblad, is performed in drag during the shows. Allowing a drag role for Edna adds a queerness to the musical as it does not include any gay characters. Edna is considered to be the non-racialised other that is part of the story in Hairspray. The musical also challenges the societal norms of a female. The body size of Edna also adds emphasis to the diva roles that are present in the show. Thus, the musical highlights female characters that are strong and associated with diva characteristics.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: "Hairspray" the musical emphasises on issues of acceptance and discrimination within society. Being set in the 1960s, the musical highlights the struggles of racial discrimination of African-Americans during the civil rights movement, with a focus on the world of popular culture. The Civil Rights Movement (1954–1986) was a positive time in America's history; it allowed African-Americans the right to vote, gave them a voice, and introduced freedom for all. However, African-Americans still experienced vast inequality during this time. This reality, of the whites holding all institutional and political power, is portrayed in "Hairspray" in the Corny Collins Show. The African-Americans are only allowed to dance on the show once a month, and there is a stereotypical racial representation of dance style. The social representation in "Hairspray" is parallel to the reality of the 1960s. By the end of the show, the African-Americans are allowed to dance on the show with indicates racial integration. The show is empowering by acknowledging the challenges and limitations enforced on African Americans during this time, and also reminds audiences of the progress made as a result of the civil rights movement. Its message can also be used to empower change for other forms of discrimination that are still relevant in today’s society.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: According to "Variety", "Hairspray" received thirteen favorable and four mixed reviews. Charles Isherwood, in his "Variety" review wrote: "...this sweet, infinitely spirited, bubblegum-flavored confection won't be lacking for buyers any time soon. Arriving in an aerosol fog of advance hype, it more than lives up to its promise." Ben Brantley wrote: "So what if it's more than a little pushy in its social preaching? Stocked with canny, deliriously tuneful songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and directed by Jack O'Brien with a common touch that stops short of vulgarity, 'Hairspray' is as sweet as a show can be without promoting tooth decay. ...[it] succeeds in recreating the pleasures of the old-fashioned musical comedy without seeming old-fashioned. ...Shaiman... is taking the infectious hooks and rhythms from period pop and R&B and translating them into the big, bouncy sound that Broadway demands... And while the savvy arrangements... nod happily to Motown, Elvis, Lesley Gore ballads and standards like "Higher and Higher", the score's appeal isn't nostalgic. It's music that builds its own self-contained, improbably symmetrical world..." New York's "Daily News" wrote, "As Tracy, Marissa Jaret Winokur has the heft, the pipes and an enormously appealing stage presence. Her dancing may not be as special as the plot suggests, but she wins your heart... With this role, Fierstein places himself in the great line of Broadway divas."


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: "Hairspray" opened with a $12 million advance; after the Tony Awards show (in June 2003), it was expected to do five times the business it normally did on a Monday. The entire $10.5 million investment was recouped by May 2003 (approximately 9 months after its Broadway opening). For 2002–03 it averaged 99% capacity; for 2007 it averaged 86%.


title: Hairspray (musical)

text: A film version was released in July 2007. The film was directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman and starred John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad, Queen Latifah as Maybelle, Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, James Marsden as Corny Collins, and Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad. Hugh Jackman and Joey McIntyre were both considered to play the role of Corny Collins, but lost to Jackman's "X-Men" co-star Marsden. NBC's "Hairspray Live!", directed by Kenny Leon and Alex Rudzinski, aired in December 2016 to mostly positive reviews.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics; it deals with environments in which neither gravitational nor quantum effects can be ignored, such as in the vicinity of black holes or similar compact astrophysical objects, such as neutron stars.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Three of the four fundamental forces of physics are described within the framework of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. The current understanding of the fourth force, gravity, is based on Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which is formulated within the entirely different framework of classical physics. However, that description is incomplete: describing the gravitational field of a black hole in the general theory of relativity leads physical quantities, such as the spacetime curvature, to diverge at the center of the black hole.


title: Quantum gravity

text: This signals the breakdown of the general theory of relativity and the need for a theory that goes beyond general relativity into the quantum realm. At distances very close to the center of the black hole (closer than the Planck length), quantum fluctuations of spacetime are expected to play an important role. To describe these quantum effects a theory of quantum gravity is needed. Such a theory should allow the description to be extended closer to the center and might even allow an understanding of physics at the center of a black hole. On more formal grounds, one can argue that a classical system cannot consistently be coupled to a quantum one.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The field of quantum gravity is actively developing, and theorists are exploring a variety of approaches to the problem of quantum gravity, the most popular being M-theory and loop quantum gravity.


title: Quantum gravity

text: All of these approaches aim to describe the quantum behavior of the gravitational field. This does not necessarily include unifying all fundamental interactions into a single mathematical framework. However, many approaches to quantum gravity, such as string theory, try to develop a framework that describes all fundamental forces. Such a theory is often referred to as a theory of everything. Others, such as loop quantum gravity, make no such attempt; instead, they make an effort to quantize the gravitational field while it is kept separate from the other forces.


title: Quantum gravity

text: One of the difficulties of formulating a quantum gravity theory is that direct observation of quantum gravitational effects is thought to only appear at length scales near the Planck scale, around 10 meters, a scale far smaller, and hence only accessible with far higher energies, than those currently available in high energy particle accelerators. Therefore, physicists lack experimental data which could distinguish between the competing theories which have been proposed.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Thought experiment approaches have been suggested as a testing tool for quantum gravity theories. In the field of quantum gravity there are several open questions - e.g., it is not known how spin of elementary particles sources gravity, and thought experiments could provide a pathway to explore possible resolutions to these questions, even in the absence of lab experiments or physical observations.


title: Quantum gravity

text: In the early 21st century, new experiment designs and technologies have arisen which suggest that indirect approaches to testing quantum gravity may be feasible over the next few decades. This field of study is called phenomenological quantum gravity.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Much of the difficulty in meshing these theories at all energy scales comes from the different assumptions that these theories make on how the universe works. General relativity models gravity as curvature of spacetime: in the slogan of John Archibald Wheeler, "Spacetime tells matter how to move; matter tells spacetime how to curve." On the other hand, quantum field theory is typically formulated in the "flat" spacetime used in special relativity. No theory has yet proven successful in describing the general situation where the dynamics of matter, modeled with quantum mechanics, affect the curvature of spacetime. If one attempts to treat gravity as simply another quantum field, the resulting theory is not renormalizable. Even in the simpler case where the curvature of spacetime is fixed "a priori," developing quantum field theory becomes more mathematically challenging, and many ideas physicists use in quantum field theory on flat spacetime are no longer applicable.


title: Quantum gravity

text: It is widely hoped that a theory of quantum gravity would allow us to understand problems of very high energy and very small dimensions of space, such as the behavior of black holes, and the origin of the universe.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The observation that all fundamental forces except gravity have one or more known messenger particles leads researchers to believe that at least one must exist for gravity. This hypothetical particle is known as the "graviton". These particles act as a force particle similar to the photon of the electromagnetic interaction. Under mild assumptions, the structure of general relativity requires them to follow the quantum mechanical description of interacting theoretical spin-2 massless particles.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Many of the accepted notions of a unified theory of physics since the 1970s assume, and to some degree depend upon, the existence of the graviton.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The Weinberg–Witten theorem places some constraints on theories in which the graviton is a composite particle.


title: Quantum gravity

text: While gravitons are an important theoretical step in a quantum mechanical description of gravity, they are generally believed to be undetectable because they interact too weakly.


title: Quantum gravity

text: General relativity, like electromagnetism, is a classical field theory. One might expect that, as with electromagnetism, the gravitational force should also have a corresponding quantum field theory.


title: Quantum gravity

text: However, gravity is perturbatively nonrenormalizable. For a quantum field theory to be well defined according to this understanding of the subject, it must be asymptotically free or asymptotically safe. The theory must be characterized by a choice of "finitely many" parameters, which could, in principle, be set by experiment. For example, in quantum electrodynamics these parameters are the charge and mass of the electron, as measured at a particular energy scale.


title: Quantum gravity

text: On the other hand, in quantizing gravity there are, in perturbation theory, "infinitely many independent parameters" (counterterm coefficients) needed to define the theory. For a given choice of those parameters, one could make sense of the theory, but since it is impossible to conduct infinite experiments to fix the values of every parameter, it has been argued that one does not, in perturbation theory, have a meaningful physical theory. At low energies, the logic of the renormalization group tells us that, despite the unknown choices of these infinitely many parameters, quantum gravity will reduce to the usual Einstein theory of general relativity. On the other hand, if we could probe very high energies where quantum effects take over, then "every one" of the infinitely many unknown parameters would begin to matter, and we could make no predictions at all.


title: Quantum gravity

text: It is conceivable that, in the correct theory of quantum gravity, the infinitely many unknown parameters will reduce to a finite number that can then be measured. One possibility is that normal perturbation theory is not a reliable guide to the renormalizability of the theory, and that there really "is" a UV fixed point for gravity. Since this is a question of non-perturbative quantum field theory, finding a reliable answer is difficult, pursued in the asymptotic safety program. Another possibility is that there are new, undiscovered symmetry principles that constrain the parameters and reduce them to a finite set. This is the route taken by string theory, where all of the excitations of the string essentially manifest themselves as new symmetries.


title: Quantum gravity

text: In an effective field theory, not all but the first few of the infinite set of parameters in a nonrenormalizable theory are suppressed by huge energy scales and hence can be neglected when computing low-energy effects. Thus, at least in the low-energy regime, the model is a predictive quantum field theory. Furthermore, many theorists argue that the Standard Model should be regarded as an effective field theory itself, with "nonrenormalizable" interactions suppressed by large energy scales and whose effects have consequently not been observed experimentally.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Works pioneered by Barvinsky and Vilkovisky suggest as a starting point up to second order in curvature the following action, consisting of local and non-local terms:


title: Quantum gravity

text: where formula_2 is an energy scale. The exact values of the coefficients formula_3 are unknown, as they depend on the nature of the ultra-violet theory of quantum gravity. formula_4 is an operator with the integral representation


title: Quantum gravity

text: By treating general relativity as an effective field theory, one can actually make legitimate predictions for quantum gravity, at least for low-energy phenomena. An example is the well-known calculation of the tiny first-order quantum-mechanical correction to the classical Newtonian gravitational potential between two masses.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Moreover, one can compute the quantum gravitational corrections to classical thermodynamic properties of black holes, most importantly the entropy. A rigorous derivation of the quantum gravitational corrections to the entropy of Schwarzschild black holes was provided by Calmet and Kuipers. A generalisation for charged (Reissner–Nordström) black holes was subsequently carried out by Campos Delgado.


title: Quantum gravity

text: A fundamental lesson of general relativity is that there is no fixed spacetime background, as found in Newtonian mechanics and special relativity; the spacetime geometry is dynamic. While simple to grasp in principle, this is a complex idea to understand about general relativity, and its consequences are profound and not fully explored, even at the classical level. To a certain extent, general relativity can be seen to be a relational theory, in which the only physically relevant information is the relationship between different events in space-time.


title: Quantum gravity

text: On the other hand, quantum mechanics has depended since its inception on a fixed background (non-dynamic) structure. In the case of quantum mechanics, it is time that is given and not dynamic, just as in Newtonian classical mechanics. In relativistic quantum field theory, just as in classical field theory, Minkowski spacetime is the fixed background of the theory.


title: Quantum gravity

text: String theory can be seen as a generalization of quantum field theory where instead of point particles, string-like objects propagate in a fixed spacetime background, although the interactions among closed strings give rise to space-time in a dynamical way.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Although string theory had its origins in the study of quark confinement and not of quantum gravity, it was soon discovered that the string spectrum contains the graviton, and that "condensation" of certain vibration modes of strings is equivalent to a modification of the original background. In this sense, string perturbation theory exhibits exactly the features one would expect of a perturbation theory that may exhibit a strong dependence on asymptotics (as seen, for example, in the AdS/CFT correspondence) which is a weak form of background dependence.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Topological quantum field theory provided an example of background-independent quantum theory, but with no local degrees of freedom, and only finitely many degrees of freedom globally. This is inadequate to describe gravity in 3+1 dimensions, which has local degrees of freedom according to general relativity. In 2+1 dimensions, however, gravity is a topological field theory, and it has been successfully quantized in several different ways, including spin networks.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Quantum field theory on curved (non-Minkowskian) backgrounds, while not a full quantum theory of gravity, has shown many promising early results. In an analogous way to the development of quantum electrodynamics in the early part of the 20th century (when physicists considered quantum mechanics in classical electromagnetic fields), the consideration of quantum field theory on a curved background has led to predictions such as black hole radiation.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Phenomena such as the Unruh effect, in which particles exist in certain accelerating frames but not in stationary ones, do not pose any difficulty when considered on a curved background (the Unruh effect occurs even in flat Minkowskian backgrounds). The vacuum state is the state with the least energy (and may or may not contain particles).


title: Quantum gravity

text: A conceptual difficulty in combining quantum mechanics with general relativity arises from the contrasting role of time within these two frameworks. In quantum theories time acts as an independent background through which states evolve, with the Hamiltonian operator acting as the generator of infinitesimal translations of quantum states through time. In contrast, general relativity treats time as a dynamical variable which relates directly with matter and moreover requires the Hamiltonian constraint to vanish. Because this variability of time has been observed macroscopically, it removes any possibility of employing a fixed notion of time, similar to the conception of time in quantum theory, at the macroscopic level.


title: Quantum gravity

text: There are a number of proposed quantum gravity theories. Currently, there is still no complete and consistent quantum theory of gravity, and the candidate models still need to overcome major formal and conceptual problems. They also face the common problem that, as yet, there is no way to put quantum gravity predictions to experimental tests, although there is hope for this to change as future data from cosmological observations and particle physics experiments become available.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The central idea of string theory is to replace the classical concept of a point particle in quantum field theory with a quantum theory of one-dimensional extended objects: string theory. At the energies reached in current experiments, these strings are indistinguishable from point-like particles, but, crucially, different modes of oscillation of one and the same type of fundamental string appear as particles with different (electric and other) charges. In this way, string theory promises to be a unified description of all particles and interactions. The theory is successful in that one mode will always correspond to a graviton, the messenger particle of gravity; however, the price of this success is unusual features such as six extra dimensions of space in addition to the usual three for space and one for time.


title: Quantum gravity

text: In what is called the , it was conjectured that both string theory and a unification of general relativity and supersymmetry known as supergravity form part of a hypothesized eleven-dimensional model known as M-theory, which would constitute a uniquely defined and consistent theory of quantum gravity. As presently understood, however, string theory admits a very large number (10 by some estimates) of consistent vacua, comprising the so-called "string landscape". Sorting through this large family of solutions remains a major challenge.


title: Quantum gravity

text: Loop quantum gravity seriously considers general relativity's insight that spacetime is a dynamical field and is therefore a quantum object. Its second idea is that the quantum discreteness that determines the particle-like behavior of other field theories (for instance, the photons of the electromagnetic field) also affects the structure of space.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The main result of loop quantum gravity is the derivation of a granular structure of space at the Planck length. This is derived from following considerations: In the case of electromagnetism, the quantum operator representing the energy of each frequency of the field has a discrete spectrum. Thus the energy of each frequency is quantized, and the quanta are the photons. In the case of gravity, the operators representing the area and the volume of each surface or space region likewise have discrete spectra. Thus area and volume of any portion of space are also quantized, where the quanta are elementary quanta of space. It follows, then, that spacetime has an elementary quantum granular structure at the Planck scale, which cuts off the ultraviolet infinities of quantum field theory.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The quantum state of spacetime is described in the theory by means of a mathematical structure called spin networks. Spin networks were initially introduced by Roger Penrose in abstract form, and later shown by Carlo Rovelli and Lee Smolin to derive naturally from a non-perturbative quantization of general relativity. Spin networks do not represent quantum states of a field in spacetime: they represent directly quantum states of spacetime.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The theory is based on the reformulation of general relativity known as Ashtekar variables, which represent geometric gravity using mathematical analogues of electric and magnetic fields.


title: Quantum gravity

text: In the quantum theory, space is represented by a network structure called a spin network, evolving over time in discrete steps.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The dynamics of the theory is today constructed in several versions. One version starts with the canonical quantization of general relativity. The analogue of the Schrödinger equation is a Wheeler–DeWitt equation, which can be defined within the theory.


title: Quantum gravity

text: In the covariant, or spinfoam formulation of the theory, the quantum dynamics is obtained via a sum over discrete versions of spacetime, called spinfoams. These represent histories of spin networks.


title: Quantum gravity

text: There are a number of other approaches to quantum gravity. The theories differ depending on which features of general relativity and quantum theory are accepted unchanged, and which features are modified. Examples include:


title: Quantum gravity

text: As was emphasized above, quantum gravitational effects are extremely weak and therefore difficult to test. For this reason, the possibility of experimentally testing quantum gravity had not received much attention prior to the late 1990s. However, in the past decade, physicists have realized that evidence for quantum gravitational effects can guide the development of the theory. Since theoretical development has been slow, the field of phenomenological quantum gravity, which studies the possibility of experimental tests, has obtained increased attention.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The most widely pursued possibilities for quantum gravity phenomenology include gravitationally mediated entanglement, violations of Lorentz invariance, imprints of quantum gravitational effects in the cosmic microwave background (in particular its polarization), and decoherence induced by fluctuations in the space-time foam.


title: Quantum gravity

text: ESA's INTEGRAL satellite measured polarization of photons of different wavelengths and was able to place a limit in the granularity of space that is less than 10m, or 13 orders of magnitude below the Planck scale.


title: Quantum gravity

text: The BICEP2 experiment detected what was initially thought to be primordial B-mode polarization caused by gravitational waves in the early universe. Had the signal in fact been primordial in origin, it could have been an indication of quantum gravitational effects, but it soon transpired that the polarization was due to interstellar dust interference.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB). It was proposed to the IBAF by Major League Baseball (MLB), the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), and other professional baseball leagues and their players associations around the world. It is one of the two main senior baseball tournaments sanctioned by the WBSC, but the only one which grants to the winner the title of "World Champion".


title: World Baseball Classic

text: It previously coexisted with Olympic baseball (until 2008) and the Baseball World Cup (until 2011) as IBAF-sanctioned tournaments. The final men's Baseball World Cup was held in 2011, and was discontinued in 2013, after an MLB suggestion to reorganize the international baseball calendar, WBSC accepted the suggestion after an executive meeting, giving the "World Champion" title for the WBC winner, on the condition that the Classic should have direct qualifications and follow international anti-doping rules.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The tournament is the first of its kind to have the national teams of IBAF's member federations feature professional players from the major leagues around the world, including Major League Baseball. In addition to providing a format for the best baseball players in the world to compete against one another while representing their home countries, the World Baseball Classic was created in order to further promote the game around the globe.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: After a three-year gap between the first two installments of the tournament, plans were made for the World Baseball Classic to be repeated every four years following the 2009 event. The third installment of the Classic was held in 2013, and the fourth was held in 2017. The fifth was scheduled for 2021, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CBA from the 2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout indicated that the WBC will return in 2023, with qualifiers set to begin in September 2022.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: Modeled after the FIFA World Cup and organized in large part as a response to the International Olympic Committee's decision to remove baseball as an Olympic sport in 2005, the WBC has grown into a major sporting event worldwide. In fact, the final series in 2006 and 2009 rank among the highest-rated sporting events in Japanese television history.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The 16-team field for the inaugural 2006 tournament was pre-selected, featuring the countries judged to be the "best baseball-playing nations" in the world; no qualifying competition was held. The tournament format featured round-robin group play in the first and second rounds, followed by single-elimination semifinals and finals. The first game in WBC history saw South Korea defeat Chinese Taipei 2-0 before a crowd of 5,193 at the Tokyo Dome on March 3, 2006. South Korea went on to advance to the semifinals with a 6–0 record but lost to Japan (a team South Korea had beaten twice in the earlier rounds) for a berth in the final game. Meanwhile, Cuba defeated the Dominican Republic in the other semifinal. Japan then defeated Cuba 10–6 to be crowned the first champion of the World Baseball Classic.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The 2009 tournament featured the same 16 teams as 2006, but the controversial round-robin format from 2006 was replaced by a modified double-elimination format for the first two rounds (the semifinals and final game remained single-elimination). The eight teams advancing from the first round were the same as in 2006, except for a "Cinderella" performance by the Netherlands, which twice defeated the Dominican Republic to reach the second round. In the semifinals, South Korea defeated Venezuela while Japan defeated the United States. Japan then emerged victorious for the second straight Classic, winning the final game over South Korea 5–3 in 10 innings.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The buildup to the 2013 tournament included a qualifying round for the first time, with the four lowest finishers from 2009 having to re-qualify against 12 additional teams. This resulted in two new nations making their first appearances in the WBC, as Brazil and Spain respectively replaced Panama and South Africa. The round-robin format was revived for the tournament's first-round, while the second-round remained double-elimination. Italy was the biggest surprise in the early stages of the tournament, making it to the second round with wins over Canada and Mexico. The tournament ended in an all-Caribbean championship game, with the Dominican Republic defeating Puerto Rico, which had upset two-time champion Japan in the semifinals. The Dominican Republic also became the first (and to date, only) team to go undefeated (8–0) through the tournament.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The 2017 tournament returned to the format used in 2006, where both the first and second rounds were round-robin, though with the addition of tiebreaker games if needed. Colombia and Israel qualified for the first time, with Israel, using a roster mostly of Jewish American players, able to reach the second round in its WBC debut. Defending champion Dominican Republic extended its WBC winning streak to 11 games, dating to the 2013 tournament, before also being eliminated in the second round. The United States won its first WBC championship, defeating Japan and Puerto Rico in the semifinals and finals, respectively. Puerto Rico had been undefeated in the tournament before losing in the final.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: In January 2020, MLB announced the 2021 WBC would expand the field to 20 teams. The additional four participants will be determined through qualifying tournaments, which were originally planned to take place in March 2020. However, on March 12, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that the 2021 edition would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CBA from the 2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout indicated that the WBC will return in 2023, with qualifiers set to begin in September 2022.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The first two iterations of the Classic featured the same 16 teams, chosen by invitation. A qualifying round was added leading into the 2013 tournament and takes place in the year before the WBC proper. Brazil and Spain were the first new countries to earn berths in the WBC via qualification, and so far the addition of qualifying has allowed seven nations to play in the tournament who were not part of the original 16.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The qualification setup for the 2013 and 2017 WBCs featured the top 12 finishing teams from the previous WBC being automatically entered in the following edition, while the four lowest finishers (the teams that finished in last place in their first-round pools) were relegated to the qualifying round. Qualifying consisted of four four-team modified double-elimination tournaments, with the winners earning the last four slots in the main tournament.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: With the 2023 WBC expanding to 20 teams, the qualifying format changed as well. All 16 participants from the 2017 WBC received automatic bids. The restructured qualifying round consisted of a pair of six-team double-elimination tournaments, from which the winners and runners-up advanced to play in the 2023 WBC.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: After the conclusion of each WBC championship game, players from the losing team receive silver medals, followed by the winners receiving gold medals. The third-place team receives bronze medals at a separate date. The WBC does not hold a third-place playoff, so the ranking of the third- and fourth-placed teams is determined by the WBSC.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: A total of 20 nations have competed in the WBC proper, with 14 appearing in all five editions. Japan has been the most successful, as the only nation with multiple WBC titles (2006, 2009), the nation with the most wins in WBC play (23), and as the only nation to reach the championship round in all four WBCs. The Dominican Republic owns the best overall winning percentage in WBC games at .750 (18-6 record), bolstered by its 8–0 mark en route to the 2013 title. A surprising first-round elimination in 2009 stands out as the Dominican's only poor showing. If qualifying rounds are included, Israel also has a .750 winning percentage (9-3 record), with a 4–2 record in the WBC itself.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: Along with Japan, three other nations have advanced to at least the second round in all four WBCs: Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States. The US posted an underwhelming 10-10 overall record through the first three WBCs, with only one appearance in the semifinals. The Americans broke through in 2017, going 6–2 on their way to their first WBC title. Cuba lived up to its history of strong international play by reaching the finals of the inaugural WBC in 2006 before losing to Japan. However, subsequent Cuban teams have failed to make a significant mark on the tournament, making three straight second-round exits and going just 2–7 in second-round games since 2009. Meanwhile, Caribbean rival Puerto Rico made consecutive appearances in the WBC finals in 2013 and 2017, albeit losing both, and stood second to Japan for the most all-time WBC wins (20) after the 2017 tournament. Conversely, of the 14 teams to appear in all four tournaments, three have never made the second round: Australia, Canada, and China.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) currently divides all countries into five confederations based on their region: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Currently, the two best confederations in international baseball are Americas and Asia, as both confederations add up to 14 of the 16 top four finishes (with two titles each). While the appearances of the Americas region expands throughout, all appearances for Asia in the World Baseball Classic were by countries in East Asia in particular. Europe holds the other 2 of the 16 top four finishes, both coming from the Netherlands with the help of the Dutch Caribbean. Italy's and Israel's top eight appearances in 2013 and 2017 respectively have led the region's growth in baseball in addition to the Netherlands' two top four finishes. As for Africa and Oceania, both regions lack a baseball scene in general, although South Africa and Australia are indisputably the best two countries in baseball in their respective regions due to their strong leagues. In addition, both countries make up all of the World Baseball Classic appearances for their respective regions.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: As decorated as the Americas region is, only 5 countries in the region have ever made the top four: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, United States, and Venezuela. The Dominican Republic and United States are the only countries to earn first place, in 2013 and 2017 respectively. In addition to the aforementioned champions, Puerto Rico is the only other country to have made the top four more than once. As for Asia, the countries in East Asia dominate the baseball scene in that region, as Japan and South Korea are the only two countries in that region to appear more than once in the top four. On top of that, Japan is the only country in the world to appear in the top four in all iterations of the World Baseball Classic, with two first place finishes earned. As such, all bids so far have been granted to those two regions.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The most significant award for individual performance during the tournament is the Most Valuable Player Award. Whichever player wins it receives a trophy after the final. The inaugural winner of the award in 2006 was Japan's Daisuke Matsuzaka, who pitched 13 innings and finished with a 3–0 record. Soon after this performance, Matsuzaka received a multimillion-dollar contract to join the Boston Red Sox of America's Major League Baseball. Again in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Matsuzaka received the world classic MVP, finishing with a record of 3–0 and an ERA of 2.54. In 2013, Robinson Canó won MVP after hitting .469 with two home runs and six RBI over the course of the tournament. Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman took home the award in 2017 for the United States. Stroman posted a 2.35 ERA over three starts and no-hit Puerto Rico through six innings in an 8–0 win in the Finals.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: At the end of each edition of the World Baseball Classic, an all-star team is selected based on their play in the tournament. Three pitchers, eight other position players (one each at each position, including three outfielders), and a designated hitter are named to the team. Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and Puerto Rican catcher Yadier Molina are the only players to be named to the All–WBC team twice.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: Overall, players representing 10 countries have been named to an All-WBC team, with Japan and Puerto Rico leading the way with nine representatives each.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: All-time WBC individual leaders in various statistical categories through the end of the 2017 tournament, excluding qualifier games.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The winning team of each World Baseball Classic is rewarded a large silver trophy as its primary recognition. The two trophies earned by Japan during the inaugural and second classics have been on display at the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: In addition to the standard rules of baseball, the World Baseball Classic employs the following additional rules:


title: World Baseball Classic

text: A pitcher can still finish a batter's plate appearance even if the limit is reached, but must come out after completing the plate appearance.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: Starting with the 11th inning, teams automatically start with runners on first and second base. The baserunners are the players in the two batting order positions previous to the leadoff batter for the inning (or substitutes called in to pinch-run for those players). Organizers put this rule in place starting with the 2009 tournament, although originally, it didn't come into effect until the 13th inning. The intention behind the rule is to help ensure extra-inning games end in as timely a manner as possible, reducing the chance of seeing marathon extra-inning games that place undue strain on players, particularly pitchers. As no extra-inning games in either the 2009 or 2013 WBCs reached the point where the rule came into play, it took until the 2017 WBC for it to affect a game's outcome. There were three such games in 2017, and all three were decided in the 11th inning.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: During the first and second rounds, video review is available only for "boundary" calls, such as determining whether a potential home run ball was fair or foul, did or did not clear the fence, or was interfered with by a fan. Such reviews can only be initiated by the umpires and cannot be requested by the teams. For the championship round, video review is available for all situations it would be during a Major League Baseball regular season game.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: Unlike regular season play, where the number of runs by which a team wins a game is not relevant, the number of runs by which a WBC team wins may be relevant if a tie later develops in the standings. In such cases, teams are ranked by their Team Quality Balance, which rewards them for winning by as many runs as possible, and for winning with as few of their batters getting out as possible when batting in the bottom of the inning. This caused problems during the 2013 WBC, where one game spawned a bench-clearing brawl between the Canadian and Mexican teams (Canadian hitter Chris Robinson had bunted for a base hit after Canada had already taken a large lead, causing Mexican pitcher Arnold Leon to throw three consecutive pitches at the next hitter, Rene Tosoni).


title: World Baseball Classic

text: A player is eligible to participate on a World Baseball Classic team if any one of the following criteria is met:


title: World Baseball Classic

text: In 2006, many high caliber players from both Major League Baseball and in leagues around the world participated in the World Baseball Classic. Amongst the players that made the All–WBC team were Americans Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr. From Japan, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Ichiro Suzuki and Tomoya Satozaki were on the team. Other internationals included players from Cuba—Yulieski Gurriel, Yoandy Garlobo and Yadel Martí; and from the Dominican Republic—Albert Pujols, Pedro Martínez and José Bautista. The 2009 Classic saw a similarly high-profile field, with a number of players such as Hall of Famers Pedro Martínez, Iván Rodríguez and Chipper Jones and the major international debuts of Cuba's Yoenis Céspedes and Aroldis Chapman.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: For the 2013 tournament, many high-profile players decided not to participate, including key players from the 2009 Japanese team such as Yu Darvish, Ichiro, and Hisashi Iwakuma. However, other prominent players came, such as Miguel Cabrera, David Wright, R. A. Dickey, Joey Votto, Adrián González, Robinson Canó, and José Reyes, among many others.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: In 2017, former All-Stars such as Adam Jones, Chris Archer, Buster Posey, Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew McCutchen and others played for the United States. For the Dominican Republic, former All-Stars Adrián Beltré, Robinson Canó, Manny Machado, José Reyes, Edinson Vólquez, and more participated. Adrián González played once more for Mexico, and Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltrán represented Puerto Rico alongside up-and-coming stars such as Javier Báez, Carlos Correa, and Francisco Lindor. Venezuela's roster included José Altuve and Miguel Cabrera.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: The tournament was announced in May by Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig. Major League Baseball had been attempting to create such a tournament for at least two years; negotiations with the players' union (MLBPA) and with the team owners had held the plan back. Owners, notably New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, had been concerned about their star players being injured in international play before the beginning of spring training, and the professional season. This was a concern for the MLBPA as well, but their primary objection was with drug testing. MLB wanted the stricter Olympic standards in place for the tournament, while the union wanted current MLB standards in place. Eventually, a deal was reached on insurance for player contracts and a fairly tough drug testing standard. MLB teams would not be able to directly block their players from participating.


title: World Baseball Classic

text: Similarly, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and its players' association had a disagreement over participation in the tournament. While the owners initially agreed to the invitation, the players' union was concerned about the time of year the tournament was scheduled to take place, as well as their right to be better represented for the tournament. On September 16, 2005, after four months of negotiations, NPB officially notified the IBAF and MLB they had accepted the invitation. In September 2012, after having threatened to boycott the event despite its domestic popularity, Japanese players agreed to take part after reaching a compromise with tournament organizers on sharing sponsorship and licensing revenue.