Mental Floss

THEATER







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Tennessee Williams is best known for having written 'The Glass Menagerie,' 'A Streetcar Named Desire,' and 'Cat On a Hot Tin Roof.' He also hobnobbed with presidents and worked on a film that shocked the censors.

Mark Mancini






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Let's raise the curtain on 'barnstorming,' 'catastrophe,' and other terms that have their origins in the theater.

Paul Anthony Jones








Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in Grease (1978).

Shot a budget of $6 million budget, 'Grease' made nearly $400 million at the box office—making it one of the highest-grossing musical movies of all time.

Roger Cormier




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Whether you prefer the 1925 movie featuring Lon Chaney, the original Broadway production, or the 2004 Gerard Butler remake, there’s no question that the chandelier crash scene is one of the most iconic moments in The Phantom of the Opera.

Stacy Conradt