Footlights
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Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, run by the students of Cambridge University and now also the Anglia Ruskin University (formerly Anglia Polytechnic University). It was founded in 1883.
It grew in prominence in the 1960s, as a hotbed of comedy and satire, and continues to produce the regular, and very popular Smokers at the ADC Theatre; informal mixtures of sketches and stand-up.
It also produces regular plays and sketch shows, such as 2004's Daddy's Dead and the Spring Revue Cracking Up, as well as the tour show, Beyond A Joke. The current Footlights President is Tom Sharpe.
The careers of many prominent figures in the world of entertainment began in Footlights, including:
| A | Douglas Adams -- Clive Anderson -- Alexander Armstrong -- Pete Atkin | |
| B | David Baddiel -- Humphrey Barclay -- Sacha Baron Cohen ("Ali G") Cecil Beaton -- Leslie Bricusse -- Eleanor Bron -- Tim Brooke-Taylor | |
| C | Graham Chapman -- John Cleese -- Peter Cook -- Joe Craig | |
| E | Jimmy Edwards | |
| F | Alan Fleming-Baird -- David Frost -- Stephen Fry | |
| G | Graeme Garden -- Mel Giedroyc -- Germaine Greer | |
| H | Norman Hartnell -- David Hatch -- Tony Hendra -- Tom Hollander Claude Hulbert -- Jack Hulbert | |
| I | Eric Idle | |
| J | Clive James -- Simon Jones | |
| L | Hugh Laurie -- Jonathan Lynn | |
| M | Rory McGrath -- Ben Miller -- Jonathan Miller -- David Mitchell Lucy Montgomery -- Neil Mullarkey -- Jimmy Mulville -- Richard Murdoch | |
| O | Bill Oddie | |
| P | Sue Perkins -- Steve Punt | |
| R | Jan Ravens -- Griff Rhys Jones | |
| S | Julian Slade -- Tony Slattery -- William Sutcliffe | |
| T | Emma Thompson -- Sandi Toksvig | |
| W | Robert Webb -- Rachel Weisz |
Footlights book
Information about the Footlights Revues during the first one hundred years of the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club (1883—1983), and the people who appeared in them, and including a foreword by Eric Idle, can be read in the book:
- Footlights! — 'A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy' — Robert Hewison, Methuen London Ltd, 1983, ISBN 0413511502. (featured at right)
External links
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