text:
Raytheon BBN

Raytheon BBN  (originally Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.) is an American research and development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.

In 1966, the Franklin Institute awarded the firm the Frank P. Brown Medal, in 1999 BBN received the IEEE Corporate Innovation Recognition, and on 1 February 2013, BBN was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honors that the U.S. government bestows upon scientists, engineers and inventors, by President Barack Obama. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon in 2009.

History
BBN has its roots in an initial partnership formed on 15 October 1948 between Leo Beranek and Richard Bolt, professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bolt had won a commission to be an acoustic consultant for the new United Nations permanent headquarters to be built in New York City. Realizing the magnitude of the project at hand, Bolt had pulled in his MIT colleague Beranek for help and the partnership between the two was born. The firm, Bolt and Beranek, started out in two rented rooms on the MIT campus. Robert Newman joined the firm soon after in 1950, and the firm became Bolt Beranek Newman. Beranek remained the company's president and chief executive officer until 1967, and Bolt was chairman until 1976.

From 1957 to 1962, J. C. R. Licklider served as vice president of engineering psychology for BBN. Foreseeing the potential to obtain federal grants for basic computer research, Licklider convinced the BBN leadership to purchase a then state-of-the-art Royal McBee LGP-30 digital computer in 1958 for US$25,000. Within a year, Ken Olsen, president of the newly formed Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), approached BBN to test the prototype of DEC's first computer, the PDP-1. Within one month, BBN completed its tests and recommendations of the PDP-1. BBN ultimately purchased the first PDP-1 for around US$150,000 and received the machine in November 1960.

After the PDP-1 arrived, BBN hired two of Licklider's friends from MIT, John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky, as consultants. McCarthy had been unsuccessful in convincing MIT engineers to build time-sharing systems for computers. He had more success at BBN though, working with Ed Fredkin and Sheldon Boilen in implementing one of the first timesharing systems, the BBN Time-Sharing System. In 1962, BBN would install one such time-shared information system at Massachusetts General Hospital where doctors and nurses could create and access patients' information at various nurses' stations connected to a central computer. BBN would soon begin more research about integrating computers and medicine, hiring Bob Taylor in 1965 and MIT Lincoln Laboratory computer systems engineer Frank Heart in 1966.

As BBN began focusing on computer technology, it gained a reputation as "the third university" in Cambridge alongside Harvard and MIT, and its offices expanded on a site near Fresh Pond in western Cambridge. By 1968, the company had over 600 employees. By the early 1970s, BBN bought a laundromat on Moulton Street and tore it down for a new, seven-story headquarters.

In 1980, the U.S. federal government charged BBN with contracts fraud, alleging that from 1972 to 1978, BBN altered time sheets to hide overcharging the government. That year, two top financial officers plea bargained for suspended sentences and US$20,000 fines, and the company paid a US$700,000 fine.

BBN's September 1994 celebration of the 25th anniversary of ARPANET generated much local and national news coverage from outlets including The Boston Globe, Newsweek, and National Public Radio. By that year, Heart retired from BBN after 28 years; his final position was president of the systems and technology division.

Notable achievements

BBN is best known for its DARPA-sponsored research. It has made notable advances in a wide variety of fields, including acoustics, computer technologies, quantum information, and synthetic biology. In recent years, BBN has led a wide range of research and development projects, including the standardization effort for the security extension to the Border Gateway Protocol (BGPsec), mobile ad hoc networks, advanced speech recognition, the military's Boomerang mobile shooter detection system, cognitive radio spectrum use via the DARPA XG program. In the early 2000s, BBN created the world's first quantum key distribution network, the DARPA Quantum Network, which operated for 3 years across Cambridge and Boston, and which included the world's first fully operational prototype of a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector. BBN also led the Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) project for the National Science Foundation, which ultimately built out programmable "future Internet" infrastructure across approximately 60 university campuses.

Interface Message Processor
In August 1968, BBN was selected by ARPA to build the Interface Message Processors (IMPs) for the ARPANET, the precursor to the modern Internet. The IMPs were the very first generation of gateways, known today as routers. Under the leadership of Frank Heart and Bob Kahn, four IMPs were produced for nearly US$1 million from September to December 1969. The first IMP was shipped to the University of California, Los Angeles in September 1969 and the second to the Stanford Research Institute a month later. The first message between the two IMPs was "LO" — phonetically, "Hello" — but the SRI host crashed before the UCLA researcher could complete typing the "LOGIN" command.

Acoustics
Well-known acoustics commissions include MIT's Kresge Auditorium (1954), Tanglewood's Koussevitzky Music Shed (1959), Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall (1962), Clowes Memorial Hall (1963) in Indianapolis, the National Gallery of Victoria (1968), the Cultural Center of the Philippines (1969), Baltimore's Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (1978) and Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall (1979).

The architectural acoustics division of BBN faced controversy in the early 1960s with its acoustics design project for the Philharmonic Hall (now David Geffen Hall) at the Lincoln Center in New York City. Beranek and BBN's chief architect were criticized for ignoring important acoustical principles in concert hall design. Many failed minor adjustments led the walls, balconies, and ceilings to be torn out and dumped, and a new consultant oversaw a repair that cost millions of dollars over several years. The division also produced poor results at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. The hall's large volume and seating capacity initially resulted in less than ideal results. Kirkegaard Associates completed acoustical renovations in 1992 at a cost of US$10 million which resulted in substantial improvement.

In the 1960s and 1970s, experts at the company examined audio tapes related to notable events in U.S. history, including the John F. Kennedy assassination Dictabelt recording, an audio recording from the 1970 Kent State shootings, and during the 1974 Watergate scandal, the tape of President Richard Nixon that had 18.5 minutes erased.

The substantial calculations required for acoustics work led to an interest, and later business opportunities, in computing. BBN was a pioneer in developing computer models of roadway and aircraft noise, and in designing noise barriers near highways. Some of this technology was used in landmark legal cases where BBN scientists were expert witnesses.

In early 2004, BBN applied its acoustics expertise to design, develop, and deliver the Boomerang shooter detection system in a little over two months to combat the sniper threat US troops faced in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The system immediately pinpoints the location of hostile fire. Since then, more than 11,000 Boomerang systems have been deployed by U.S. and allied forces.

Computer technologies
BBN bought a number of computers in the late 1950s and early 1960s, notably the first production PDP-1 from Digital Equipment Corporation, on which it implemented the BBN Time-Sharing System (1962).

Ray Tomlinson of BBN is widely credited as having invented the first person-to-person network email in 1971 and the use of the @ sign in an email address.

BBN has had a very distinguished career in natural-language understanding, ranging from speech recognition through machine translation and more recently machine understanding of the causality of events and accurate forecasts for the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).

BBN's education group, led by Wally Feurzeig, created the Logo programming language, conceived by BBN consultant Seymour Papert as a programming language that school-age children could learn. Other well-known BBN computer-related innovations include Interlisp programming language, the TENEX operating system, and the Colossal Cave Adventure game. BBN also is well known for its parallel computing systems, including the Pluribus, and the BBN Butterfly computers, which have been used for such tasks as warfare simulation for the U.S. Navy. BBN also developed the RS/1, RS/Explore, RS/Discover and the Cornerstone statistical software systems, and played a pioneering role in the development of today's semantic web, including participating in the DARPA Agent Markup Language project and chairing Web Ontology Language standardization.

Networking technologies

BBN was involved in building some of the earliest computer networks, including the implementation and operation of the ARPANET and its Interface Message Processors;, as well as SATNET, PRNET, MILNET, SIMNET, the Terrestrial Wideband Network, the Defense Simulation Internet, CSNET, and NEARNET. In the course of these activities, BBN researchers invented the first link-state routing protocol.

BBN was a key participant in the creation of the Internet. It was the first organization to receive an Autonomous System Number (AS1) for network identification. ASNs are an essential identification element used for Internet Backbone Routing; lower numbers generally indicate a longer established presence on the Internet. AS1 is now operated by Level 3 Communications following their acquisition of BBN's Genuity internet service provider. BBN registered the bbn.com domain on 24 April 1985, making it the second oldest domain name on the internet. In addition, BBN researchers participated in the development of TCP, created the Voice Funnel, an early predecessor of voice over IP, helped lead the creation of the first email security standard, Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM), chaired development of the "core" Internet Protocol security suite (IPsec) standards, and performed extensive work to secure the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).

BBN also created a series of mobile ad hoc networks starting in the 1970s with DARPA's experimental PRNET and SURAN systems. Later BBN efforts included the networking portions of the Near-term digital radio (NTDR) and High-capacity data radio (HCDR), the Wideband Networking Software in the Joint Tactical Radio System and the Wireless Network after Next (WNaN). It also created the networking portions of the U.S. Army's Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) and Canada's Iris Digital Communications System.

Notable BBNers
A number of well-known computer luminaries have worked at BBN, including Daniel Bobrow, Ron Brachman, John Seely Brown, Edmund Clarke, Allan Collins, William Crowther, John Curran, Chip Elliott, Wally Feurzeig, Ed Fredkin, Bob Kahn, Steve Kent, J. C. R. Licklider, John Makhoul, John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Dan Murphy, Severo Ornstein, Seymour Papert, Craig Partridge, Radia Perlman, Richard Pew, Oliver Selfridge, Cynthia Solomon, Warren Teitelman, Bob Thomas, Ray Tomlinson, Bill Woods, and Peiter "Mudge" Zatko. Former BBNer Dedre Gentner is Alice Gabrielle Twight Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University. Former board members include Jim Breyer, Anita K. Jones and Gilman Louie.

Spin-offs and mergers

 * In 1971, BBN's TELCOMP subsidiary was sold.
 * In the 1970s, BBN created Telenet, Inc., to run the first public packet-switched network.
 * In 1983, BBN Instruments was sold to Vibro-Meter Corp..
 * In 1989, BBN's acoustical consulting business was spun off into a new corporation, Acentech Incorporated, located across the street from BBN headquarters in Cambridge.
 * In 1994, LightStream Corp., a joint venture with Ungermann-Bass, Inc. created in 1992 to manufacture asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switches, was sold to Cisco Systems Inc. for US$120 million.
 * BBN formed an early Internet service provider in 1994 as its BBN Planet division. Previously traded as "BBN" on the stock market, the company was purchased by GTE in 1997 as a wholly owned subsidiary. BBN Planet was joined with GTE's national fiber network to become GTE Internetworking, "powered by BBN". When GTE and Bell Atlantic merged to become Verizon in 2000, the Internet service provider division of BBN was included in assets spun off as Genuity to satisfy Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements, leaving behind the remainder of BBN Technologies. Genuity was later acquired out of bankruptcy by Level 3 Communications in 2003. In March 2004, Verizon sold the remainder of the company, by then known as BBNT Solutions LLC, to a group of private investors from Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners, In-Q-Tel and BBN's own management, making BBN an independent company for the next five years.
 * In September 2009, Raytheon entered into an agreement to acquire BBN as a wholly owned subsidiary. The acquisition was completed on 29 October 2009 and the company was valued at approximately US$350 million. BBN owned the domain bbn.com, the second oldest currently registered domain name on the Internet, which ran continuously from April 1985 to mid-December 2019.
 * Digital Force Technologies (DFT) of San Diego, California was a wholly owned BBN subsidiary, purchased in June 2008, and spun out in 2018.
 * Former BBN employees have formed about a hundred startup companies, including Parlance Corporation and EveryZing.

Locations and subsidiaries
As of 2013, Raytheon BBN maintains offices in:
 * Cambridge Highlands, Cambridge, Massachusetts
 * Columbia, Maryland
 * St. Louis Park, Minnesota
 * O'Fallon, Illinois
 * Newport East, Middletown, Rhode Island near Naval Station Newport
 * Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia near Washington, D.C.

title: Raytheon BBN


text:
Mamma Mia! (musical)

Mamma Mia! (promoted as Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus' Mamma Mia!) is a jukebox musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson based on songs recorded by Swedish group ABBA and composed by members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The musical's title is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia". Ulvaeus and Andersson were involved in the development of the show from the beginning, while singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad was involved financially in the production and also appeared at many of the premieres around the world.

The musical includes such hits as "Super Trouper", "Lay All Your Love on Me", "Dancing Queen", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", "Take a Chance on Me", "Thank You for the Music", "Money, Money, Money", "The Winner Takes It All", "Voulez-Vous", "SOS" and "Mamma Mia". Over 65 million people have seen the show, which has grossed $4 billion worldwide since its 1999 debut. A film adaptation starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Stellan Skarsgård and Julie Walters was released in 2008.

As of 2020, the show has productions in London's West End, where it is the sixth longest-running show in West End history, as well as various foreign productions. Its Broadway incarnation closed on 12 September 2015 after running for nearly 14 years, making it the ninth longest-running show in Broadway history.

Background
Mamma Mia! is based on the songs of ABBA, a Swedish pop/dance group active from 1972 to 1982 and one of the most popular international pop groups of all time, repeatedly topping the charts in Europe, North and South America and Australia. Following the premiere of the musical in London in 1999, ABBA Gold topped the charts in the United Kingdom again. Producer Judy Craymer met songwriters Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson in 1983 when they were working with Tim Rice on Chess. It was the song "The Winner Takes It All" that suggested to her the theatrical potential of their pop songs. Though unenthusiastic, the duo were not completely opposed to the idea.

In 1997, Craymer commissioned Catherine Johnson to write the book for the musical. In 1998, Phyllida Lloyd became the director for the show.

Various reviewers have noted a similarity in the plot between Mamma Mia and the 1968 film Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, previously adapted as the 1979 musical Carmelina, which is also about a woman who does not know which of three men is the father of her daughter, now a young woman. Some have even claimed that Mamma Mia is officially based on the 1968 film. Critic John Simon speculated that Mamma Mia is set in Greece and not Italy (which might have fit in better with the musical's title) to make the connection to the film less obvious. However, Johnson has denied being inspired by Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell.

Original West End production

The musical opened in the West End at the Prince Edward Theatre on 6 April 1999, and transferred to the Prince of Wales Theatre on 9 June 2004, where it played until September 2012, when it moved to the Novello Theatre. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd with choreography by Anthony Van Laast, the original cast featured Siobhan McCarthy, Lisa Stokke, and Hilton McRae.

The show closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, and reopened at the Novello Theatre on 25 August 2021.

Original Broadway and U.S. productions

Prior to the musical's Broadway engagement, it opened in Toronto at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in May 2000, where it played for five years. Its US debut was in San Francisco, California, at the Orpheum Theatre from 17 November 2000, to 17 February 2001, moving next to Los Angeles, California, at the Shubert Theatre from 26 February to 12 May 2001, and finally to Chicago, Illinois, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre from 13 May to 12 August 2001.

New York City run
The musical opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on 18 October 2001, after beginning previews on 5 October. The director was Phyllida Lloyd with choreography by Anthony Van Laast. As of October 2017, it was the ninth longest-running Broadway show and the longest-running jukebox musical in Broadway history. On 18 April 2013, it was announced that Mamma Mia! would transfer from its home at the Winter Garden Theatre to the Broadhurst Theatre later that year to make way for the musical adaptation of Rocky. The show played its final performance at the Winter Garden Theatre on 19 October 2013, and began performances at the Broadhurst Theatre on 2 November 2013.

It was announced on 9 April 2015, that the show would close on 5 September 2015. On 21 April 2015, it was then announced that the show would play an additional week and would instead close on 12 September 2015. Mamma Mia! played 5,773 performances on Broadway before closing.

Foreign and touring productions

Mamma Mia! has been played in more than 60 countries in all 6 continents, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Germany, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States, and has been translated into multiple languages. Over 65 million people have seen the show worldwide and it has set the record for premiering in more cities faster than any other musical in history.

The first city to produce the show after London was Toronto, where it ran from 23 May 2000, to 22 May 2005, being the North America premiere of Mamma Mia!. The original cast included Louise Pitre as Donna and Tina Maddigan as Sophie, who both of them later reprised their roles in first US Tour and Broadway premiere.

Mamma Mia! played in Las Vegas, opening at the Mandalay Bay in February 2003 and closing on 4 January 2009. In June 2005, Mamma Mia! played its 1000th performance in Las Vegas, becoming the longest-running West End/Broadway musical in Las Vegas. The clothes and scenarios from this production are now used in Brazil. The show returned to Las Vegas on 16 May 2014, at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino, but announced its closing soon after on 22 July.

The first North American tour started in San Francisco, California, on 15 November 2000, and closed in Boston, Massachusetts, on 29 August 2004. A second national tour opened in Providence, Rhode Island, on 26 February 2002, and closed in Appleton, Wisconsin, on 26 August 2012. This was followed by a non-Equity tour that opened in Orange, Texas, on 28 September 2016, and closed in St. Louis, Missouri, on 30 July 2017. A 25th anniversary equity tour kicked off on 26 October 2023 in Elmira, New York.

The first non-English version of the show debuted in Hamburg at the Operettenhaus, where it ran from 3 November 2002, to 8 September 2007. With the productions of Stuttgart (2004) and Essen (2007), Mamma Mia! became the first major musical to play concurrently in three German cities.

The show has had (and in some cases, still has) permanent productions in London, Toronto, Melbourne, New York, Hamburg, Tokyo (later transferred to Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagoya), Las Vegas, Utrecht, Seoul (later transferred to Seongnam and Daegu), Stuttgart, Madrid (later transferred to Barcelona), Stockholm (later transferred to Gothenburg), Antwerp, Moscow, Essen, Berlin, Oslo, Mexico City, Milan (later transferred to Rome), Copenhagen (later transferred to Aarhus), Paris, São Paulo, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Vienna and Helsinki.

Since its premiere in Dublin on 9 September 2004 (with Helen Hobson as Donna) the international tour been seen by 5 million people. In addition there have been several touring productions worldwide, including Asia, Australia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, and United Kingdom.

The Dutch actress Lone van Roosendaal has played Donna in three different countries: Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

In the Original Danish Tivoli Copenhagen Cast it was actually Kristine Yde Eriksen as Sophie and Nadia Barbara Abrahamsen as Ali. But when the production moved to Aarhus Stine Louise Henriksen took over for Kristine Yde Eriksen as Sophie and Nadin Reiness took over for Nadia Barbara Abrahamsen as Ali. Stine Louise Henriksen was actually Kristine's understudy in Tivoli, Copenhagen and so was Nadin Reiness for Nadia.

The South African tour, conducted at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town on 11 August 2010, and 3 months later at The Teatro, Montecasino in Johannesburg, featured an all local cast.

The first Chinese production opened on 11 July 2011, at the Shanghai Grand Theatre and closed on 18 January 2012, at Shanghai Cultural Square after a small tour, marking the first time that a blockbuster contemporary Western musical were presented in Mandarin in Shanghai (there was a previous Mandarin production of Beauty and the Beast in Beijing in 1999). It was seen by 250,000 people across six venues, with a total of 190 performances. Two Chinese actresses, Tian Shui, and Shadow Zhang both played the role of Donna in turn. In the following years, the production toured around China from time to time, performing 100~150 shows per year, until 2017. A revival of this production is now touring in China again, with the role of Donna played by Adia Chan Chung Ling, a Hong Kong TV/film star and pop singer famous in 1980~90'.

On 24 January 2012, Mamma Mia! opened in Manila at the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines as part of the international Tour. The show was originally set to stay only for a week but with the positive response, the organisers decided that it would play until 19 February 2012. The show features Sara Poyzer as Donna Sheridan and Charlotte Wakefield as Sophie. The cast also included Kate Graham (Tanya), Jenny Dale (Rosie) and David Roberts (Sky).

A New Zealand tour production of Mamma Mia! opened at the Auckland Civic Theatre on 4 March 2014, featuring an all new set design by John Harding. International theatre star Deliah Hannah played Donna, and popular New Zealand entertainment icon Jackie Clark plays Rosie. The NZ tour visited 11 cities in 2014–2016.

The musical was originally performed on sailings of Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas but was later moved to Allure of the Seas. Unlike other cruise ship performances of musicals, the show is performed in its entirety.

In Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, the musical had its premiere on 12 December 2014. Czech is the seventeenth language in which the musical was performed. At the date of the premiere a record 70,000 tickets were sold.

On 21 February 2015, the musical premiered in Warsaw, Poland at Roma Musical Theatre.

The Belgrade, Serbia – Terazije Theatre (Pozorište na Terazijama) premiere was on 27 March 2015.

On 15 June 2015, in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, premiere of Slovene production took place in Križanke Outdoor Theatre as a part of Ljubljana Summer Festival (Poletni festival Ljubljana).

On 18 March 2016, Mamma Mia! opened for the first time in Panama City, Panama, at the Anayansi Theatre in the Atlapa Convention Centre, directed by Aaron Zebede.

On 27 May 2016, the first regional production opened at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia.

On 31 August 2016, it was announced that the musical would once again tour Australia as a new, non-replica production to be directed by Gary Young. The premier was held in Canberra in November 2017 before continuing on a 1-year national tour to Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and finally Adelaide. The cast included Sarah Morrison as Sophie, Natalie O'Donnell as Donna, Jayde Westaby as Tanya, Alicia Gardiner as Rose, Ian Stenlake as Sam, Phillip Lowe as Harry, Josef Ber as Bill and Stephen Mahy as Sky. The production was nominated for the following Helpmann Awards: Best Musical, Best Choreography (Tom Hodgson), Best Actress (Natalie O'Donnell) and Best Actor (Ian Stenlake).

On 26 November 2016, the musical opened at the theatre Vanemuine in Tartu, Estonia. The original Estonian cast included Birgit Sarrap as Sophie, Ele Millistfer and Merle Jalakas as Donna, Kaire Vilgats as Rosie and Kaarel Targo as Sky among others. As of April 2019, the show keeps playing open end for high public demand.

From 28 to 30 July 2017, Mamma Mia! was performed at the Hollywood Bowl. Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, the show starred Jennifer Nettles as Donna, Dove Cameron as Sophie, Corbin Bleu as Sky, Jaime Camil as Sam, Tisha Campbell-Martin as Tanya, and Lea Delaria as Rosie.

Nová scéna Theatre in Bratislava, Slovakia opened on 11 November 2017, for the first time in Slovak. In Slovakia were formerly performed Czech and original version.

A Finnish-language production premiered at the Messukeskus Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland on 4 May 2018.

A Bulgarian production opened on 18 July 2018, at the National opera and ballet in Sofia. There will be other shows on 19, 20, 21 and 22 July 2018.

A revival of the Dutch production premiered at the Beatrix Theater Utrecht in Utrecht, Netherlands on 6 September 2018.

A production of the musical by East West Players (EWP) in Los Angeles from May to June 2019 featured a cast with all artists of colour, a majority of them Asian-Pacific Islander. The production made several allusions to Filipino culture (as this rendition of Donna and Sophie are a Filipina family living abroad), including Tagalog phrases, the tinikling folk dance, and traditional Filipino fashion The production was lauded for its inclusive casting decisions as well as its authentic portrayal of Filipino culture.

In 2019 a UK and International tour will run into 2020 starting at the Edinburgh Playhouse in September 2019 before heading to La Seine Musicale in October, The Bradford Alhambra Theatre in November, Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin over the Christmas and new year period before continuing on 22 January 2020 at the Theatre Royal Newcastle before continuing to the Southampton Mayflower Theatre, Hull New Theatre, Liverpool Empire Theatre, Birmingham Hippodrome, Bristol Hippodrome and finishing in August at the Theatre Royal Plymouth. More dates are to be added.

Also in 2019, a French-speaking adaptation produced by Just for Laughs was made in Quebec, having a run in Montreal in June, July, and December at the Théâtre Saint-Denis, immediately followed by Quebec City in August at the Salle Albert-Rousseau. The production sold over 75 000 tickets over its limited run.

A non-replica Mexican revival opened in Mexico City on 10 March 2023 at the Teatro de los Insurgentes.

Since 2019, the Merybi theatre company from Gemona del Friuli (Udine, Italy) has been representing "Mamma Mia – Ce Spetacul," a very unique adaptation of the musical with Friulian settings and many dialogues and jokes in Friulian; as of May 2023, the musical has been performed seven times in various theatres in the region.

Synopsis
Before the curtain rises, the orchestra starts playing the overture, which is a montage of instrumental versions of some of Abba's hit songs.

Act I
On the fictional Greek island of Kalokairi, 20-year-old Sophie is preparing to marry her fiancé, Sky. She wants her father to walk her down the aisle ("Prologue") but doesn't know who he is. Sophie discovers her mother's old diary and finds entries that describe intimate dates with three men: Sam Carmichael, Bill Austin and Harry Bright ("Honey, Honey"). Sophie believes one of these men is her father and, three months before her nuptials, sends each an invitation to her wedding, writing in her mother's name, Donna, without letting her unsuspecting mother know. All three men accept.

Donna begins receiving guests at her taverna. The first to arrive are her long-time best friends, Tanya, a rich woman who has been married and divorced thrice, and Rosie, an unmarried, carefree woman. The trio used to comprise a girl group called "Donna and the Dynamos". They catch up and talk about their lives. Donna laments about the struggles of running the taverna singlehandedly ("Money, Money, Money").

Later that day, Sophie's three possible fathers arrive: Sam (an American architect), Harry (a British banker), and Bill (an Australian writer and adventurer). Sophie convinces them not to tell Donna that she invited them ("Thank You for the Music"). Donna is surprised to see her ex-lovers ("Mamma Mia") and leaves in tears. Donna, crying, explains to Tanya and Rosie the situation, and they cheer her up ("Chiquitita"). Tanya and Rosie try to convince Donna that she can still be the girl she once was ("Dancing Queen").

Sophie had hoped she would know her father the moment she saw him but is now only confused. She tries to tell her fiancé, Sky, how she feels without confessing what she has done. Sky tells her he will be the only man she ever needs, right before his buddies ambush him and take him to his bachelor party ("Lay All Your Love on Me").

At Sophie's hen party, Donna and the Dynamos don their old costumes and perform a song ("Super Trouper"). Sam, Bill, and Harry accidentally walk in on the party, and the guests persuade them to stay ("Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)").

Sophie first pulls Sam out of the room to talk to him. After he asks why he is there, she is overcome with guilt and goes to talk to Harry, instead. Harry asks if Sophie's father is at the party, and she tells him the whole truth.

Lastly, she draws Bill aside to talk with him. She learns that Bill has an aunt Sophia who left all her money to Donna's family. Bill learns that Donna built the taverna with money she inherited from a friend she lived with when Sophie was a baby; that friend was Bill's aunt. They both think this means he is her father.

Sophie asks Bill to walk her down the aisle, but Bill wants to discuss it first with Donna. This has been her secret, after all. No one knows yet that even Donna doesn't know who the father is, because she slept with the three men in such swift succession. Sophie insists they mustn't tell Donna anything ("The Name of the Game") and finally, Bill agrees.

Afterward, everybody crashes the hen party (including the guys from the stag party). During the party, Sam pulls Sophie aside and tells her he has figured out why she invited him. He knows he is her father and promises to walk her down the aisle the next day. Harry then approaches Sophie, apologising for being so slow on the uptake; he is also convinced that she is his daughter and promises to walk her down the aisle. Sophie leaves the party, hopelessly confused; she doesn't want to turn any of them down ("Voulez-Vous").

Act II

(Entr'acte) Sophie has a nightmare, involving her three possible fathers all fighting for the right to walk her down the aisle and wakes up despairing ("Under Attack").

Sophie's upset, and Donna assumes that Sophie wants to cancel the wedding and offers to handle all the details. Sophie's offended and vows that her children won't grow up not knowing who their father is. As Sophie storms out of the room, Sam enters and tries to tell Donna that Sophie may not be all she seems, but Donna won't listen ("One of Us"). She hates Sam; at the end of their affair, she said she never wanted to see him again. But it seems that Sam was the man Donna cared about the most, and both of them wish they could go back to the start ("SOS").

At the beach, Harry asks Tanya what the father of the bride ought to be doing for Sophie's wedding. Tanya explains that for her part, her father gave her his advice and then paid. Pepper, one of the guys who works at Donna's taverna, makes advances to Tanya, but she rebuffs him ("Does Your Mother Know").

Sky finds out what Sophie has done in inviting Sam, Harry and Bill to the wedding. He accuses her of wanting a big white wedding only so that she can find out who her father is. He's very hurt that she kept this plan a secret from him. He storms off just as Sam walks in. Sam tries to give Sophie some fatherly advice by describing his failed marriage ("Knowing Me, Knowing You"), but Sophie's not consoled.

Harry offers to Donna to pay for the wedding, and they reminisce about their fling ("Our Last Summer"). Sophie arrives and Donna helps her get dressed. She can't believe her daughter is going to be a bride ("Slipping Through My Fingers"). Donna admits that her own mother disowned her when she learned that she was pregnant. They reconcile and Sophie asks her mother if she will walk her down the aisle. Sam arrives and tries to speak to Donna again, but she doesn't want to see him, and asks him to leave. He refuses, and a bitter confrontation ensues. Donna tells Sam that he broke her heart, presumably when she found out he was engaged ("The Winner Takes It All"). It emerges that the two still love each other dearly, albeit against Donna's better judgment.

Rosie is making final preparations in the taverna when Bill arrives. He's upset because he has received a note that Donna will be walking Sophie down the aisle. Bill reaffirms his commitment to the single life, but Rosie has become attracted to him, and urges him to reconsider ("Take a Chance on Me"). They are about to have sex in the taverna, but the guests arrive, leaving Rosie quite stunned.

The wedding begins, with Donna walking Sophie down the aisle. Before the priest has a chance to begin the ceremonies, Donna acknowledges to everyone that Sophie's father is present. Sophie tells her mother that she knows about her father. Donna realises that Sophie invited them to the wedding for that very reason. The issue of Sophie's parentage is left unsettled, as none of them have any idea whether they are actually her father. Everyone involved agrees that it doesn't matter which one of them her biological parent is, as Sophie loves all three and they are all happy to be "one-third of a father" and a part of her life at last. Finally, Harry, who has made frequent references to his "other half" throughout the show, is revealed to be in a committed gay relationship.

Suddenly, Sophie calls a halt to the proceedings. She isn't ready to get married and Sky agrees with her about not getting married. Sam seizes his chance and proposes to Donna to prevent the wedding preparations from going to waste. He explains that he loved her, even when he left to get married. It is revealed that he called off the wedding and came back to the island, only to be told that Donna was going out with another man (Bill). He went back, married his fiancée and had children but he got divorced. Donna accepts ("I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"). In the end, Sam and Donna are married, and at the end of the night, Sophie and Sky depart on a round-the-world tour ("I Have a Dream").

Finale and encore
After their final bows to the audience, the ensemble performs a reprise of "Mamma Mia". A reprise of "Dancing Queen" follows, during which Donna, Tanya and Rosie are revealed wearing brightly coloured ABBA inspired costumes. The cast ends the finale with "Waterloo", during which Sam, Bill, and Harry join the rest of the cast onstage in brightly coloured costumes that match the leading ladies. The Dynamos and the dads often invite the audience to clap, dance, and sing along during the finale.

Musical numbers

 * Act I
 * "Overture/Prologue" – Sophie
 * "Honey, Honey" – Sophie, Ali & Lisa
 * "Money, Money, Money" – Donna, Tanya, Rosie, Pepper & Company
 * "Thank You for the Music" – Sophie, Sam, Harry & Bill
 * "Mamma Mia" – Donna & Company
 * "Chiquitita" – Donna, Tanya & Rosie
 * "Dancing Queen" – Donna, Tanya & Rosie
 * "Lay All Your Love on Me" – Sky, Sophie & Male Ensemble
 * "Super Trouper" – Donna, Tanya, Rosie & Female Ensemble
 * "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" – Female Ensemble
 * "The Name of the Game" – Sophie & Bill
 * "Voulez-Vous" – Company

 * Act II
 * "Entr'acte" – Orchestra
 * "Under Attack" – Sophie & Company
 * "One of Us" – Donna
 * "SOS" – Donna & Sam
 * "Does Your Mother Know" – Tanya, Pepper & Company
 * "Knowing Me, Knowing You" – Sam
 * "Our Last Summer" – Harry & Donna
 * "Slipping Through My Fingers" – Donna & Sophie
 * "The Winner Takes It All" – Donna
 * "Take a Chance on Me" – Rosie & Bill
 * "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" – Sam, Donna & Company
 * "I Have a Dream" – Sophie

Encore
 * "Mamma Mia" – Company
 * "Dancing Queen" – Donna, Tanya, Rosie & Company
 * "Waterloo" – Company

Notes on the music
During the preview period in London, the musical had the song "Summer Night City" just after the prologue. The "Summer Night City" scene was a wedding rehearsal and during the song, Ali, Lisa, Tanya, and Rosie arrived on the island. The song was removed, although a small instrumental part of it remains as underscoring to connect the end of "The Winner Takes It All" and "Take a Chance on Me". Several lines of "Summer Night City" are also heard in the "Entr'acte".

Donna hums a few lines of "Fernando" when she repairs the doors of the taverna just before she sees her three former lovers.

The song that Sky briefly sings before starting "Lay All Your Love on Me" varies from one production to another, including "King Kong Song", "Summer Night City", "Dum Dum Diddle", and "She's My Kind of Girl", a Björn & Benny song.

The wedding march that is played as Sophie walks down the aisle is a slower arrangement of "Dancing Queen".

The creators also intended to include "Just Like That", an unreleased ABBA song recorded in 1982. The song was apparently dropped just before the first public previews in March 1999, though it was listed in the program available during the preview period.

The last three songs, performed as an encore/finale by the whole cast are: "Mamma Mia", "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo". The version of "Mamma Mia" used in the encore/finale is sung by the Company. The finale song Mamma Mia has been extended in theatres where Donna and the Dynamos had to go downstairs for taking the stage lift in Dancing Queen. Then, during the intro of "Dancing Queen", Donna, Tanya and Rosie join the Company (as the girl-power band "Donna and the Dynamos", wearing ABBA's 1970s-style colourful and flashy costumes). Sam, Bill and Harry join them during Waterloo, wearing male versions of the girls' ABBA's costumes. The Encore is included on the 5th Anniversary Cast Recording (commemorating said anniversary for the Broadway production).

Film adaptations
Mamma Mia! was adapted as a film, produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, written by Catherine Johnson directed by Phyllida Lloyd and with Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Benny Andersson as executive producers. Meryl Streep stars as Donna Sheridan with Amanda Seyfried as Sophie and Pierce Brosnan as Sam Carmichael. The movie also features Christine Baranski, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård and Julie Walters. It premiered 18 July 2008, in the US. Most of the songs remained intact with the exceptions of "Under Attack", "One of Us", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", and "Thank You for the Music". "Knowing Me, Knowing You" was used as the wedding music and "Thank You for the Music" is sung during the second half of the end credits. The first half is occupied with a "Dancing Queen" reprise and "Waterloo", with a "Mamma Mia" reprise and "I Have a Dream" sung before the credits (though the latter is sung as Sophie mails the invitations at the start of the film). "When All Is Said and Done", a song not used in the musical, was added for the film sung by Sam, Donna, and the company. "Our Last Summer" was used earlier in the movie, with Sophie, Bill, Sam, and Harry singing it. "The Name of the Game", while filmed, was subsequently edited out of the film for the final cut. The song is included in full on the motion picture soundtrack – an abbreviated version of the song and scene appear on the DVD/Blu-ray as a supplement. In addition, "Thank You for the Music" is used as a hidden track, and is performed by Amanda Seyfried.

A sequel to the film titled Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was released in 2018. It tells the story of how Donna met each of the 3 men who are potentially Sophie's father. "One of Us" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" are both included in this film.

Box office and business
On 15 May 2005, Mamma Mia! surpassed the original Broadway runs of The Sound of Music, The King and I, and Damn Yankees with 1,500 performances. On 6 March 2014, it surpassed Rent to become the 8th longest-running Broadway musical and 9th longest-running show of all time with 5,124 performances, then surpassed Beauty and the Beast's 5,462 performances that same year, on 14 December, to become Broadway's 7th longest-running musical and 8th longest-running show. The Broadway run ended on 12 September 2015, with its 5,758th performance, and was passed two years later (16 August 2017) by Wicked to move one spot down in the list of longest-running Broadway shows.

When Mamma Mia! opened in Russia, it received a very positive response. As of January 2008, Mamma Mia! became the longest daily running show in the history of Russian theatre.

Thematic analysis
Mamma Mia! does not only heighten a nostalgic and emotional reactions to the ABBA fans, it has also been celebrated for its feminist overtones. The musical features strong female protagonists living in a strong female-power community. The theme of single motherhood breaks the family stereotype of a child being raised by both parents by showing a different perspective of a family raised single-handedly by a mother, to show that there can still be happiness and love. Having Donna, her two good friends and her daughter, Sophie as the main strong female characters of the musical, it can be seen as an empowerment for women as it celebrates and caters to the rise in liberation of female in the society, female sexuality, refuses to shame Donna for her promiscuity, and because it asserts that women should prioritise following their goals and enjoying their youths over marriage. It also celebrates female friendship, and undermines the importance of fathers in women's lives, prioritising self-actualisation and the role of the mother instead. Librettist Catherine Johnson manages to express these themes through her transformation of ABBA's music, as she turns these somewhat stereotypical songs into empowering ones by having characters of different genders sing them.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Mamma Mia! (musical)


text:
Mission Detroit

Mission Detroit was a pre-dawn glider-borne combat assault in the American airborne landings in Normandy, made by elements of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division on the early morning of June 6, 1944, during World War II. It was part of Operation Neptune, the assault portion of the Allied invasion of Normandy, Operation Overlord. Originally slated to be the main assault for the 82nd Airborne, the glider operation instead became the first reinforcement mission after the main parachute combat assault, Mission Boston. The landing zone for mission Detroit was near Sainte-Mère-Église, to the west of Utah Beach.

The objective of the division was to secure the town of Sainte-Mère-Église and to take the bridges along the Merderet River. By doing this, the U.S. 4th Infantry Division coming in at Utah Beach would have easy access to making their way northwards towards the ports at Cherbourg.

Casualties for the 82nd Airborne Division on D-Day were about 1,260 of 6,600, or about 20%. On 6 June 1944 the heavier elements of the division landed by glider in Mission Elmira.

Air movement table - mission Detroit
SOURCE: D-Day Etat des Lieux

title: Mission Detroit


text:
Mission Chicago

Mission Chicago was a pre-dawn glider-borne combat assault in the American airborne landings in Normandy, made by elements of the 101st Airborne Division on the early morning of June 6, 1944 during the Normandy landings of World War II. It was part of Operation Neptune, the assault portion of the Allied invasion of Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord. Originally slated to be the main assault for the 101st Airborne Division, the glider operation instead became the first reinforcement mission after the main parachute combat assault, Mission Albany. Because the area of responsibility for the division was in close proximity to Utah Beach, the use of glider reinforcement was limited in scale, with most division support units transported by sea.

Overview
The 101st Airborne Division's objectives were to secure the four causeway exits behind Utah Beach, destroy a German coastal artillery battery at Saint-Martin-de-Varreville, capture buildings nearby at Mezières believed used as barracks and a command post for the artillery battery, capture the Douve River lock at la Barquette (opposite Carentan), capture two footbridges spanning the Douve River at la Porte opposite Brevands, destroy the highway bridges over the Douve at Sainte-Come-du-Mont, and secure the Douve River valley.

In the process units would also disrupt German communications, establish roadblocks to hamper the movement of German reinforcements, establish a defensive line between the beachhead and Valognes, clear the area of the drop zones to the unit boundary at Les Forges, and link up with the veteran 82nd Airborne Division.

Mission description
Mission Chicago was the 27th serial of the airborne assault, and was flown by the troop carrier C-47 Skytrains of the 434th Troop Carrier Group at RAF Aldermaston. 52 aircraft acted as tugs for an equal number of CG-4A Waco gliders carrying 155 troops, a Clark CA1 bulldozer, sixteen 57-mm (6-pounder) antitank guns, and 25 small vehicles. 2.5 tons of ammunition and 11 tons of equipment were also transported, including an SCR-499 radio set for the division headquarters command post.

Chicago was primarily an artillery reinforcement mission. Aboard 44 gliders were Batteries A and B of the 81st Airborne Antiaircraft Battalion - both batteries were antitank batteries and equipped with the 57-mm (6-pounder) antitank guns. The other 8 gliders carried small elements of the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion, the 101st Signal Company, the antitank platoon of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR), and a surgical team of the 326th Airborne Medical Company. Also accompanying the glider serial in a last-minute change was the assistant division commander (ADC) of the 101st Airborne Division, Brigadier General Don Pratt, who had been designated to command the seaborne echelon.

The mission had originally been planned for glider release at civil twilight on the evening before the amphibious landings, but to protect the gliders from ground fire the time was changed on May 27 to 04:00 on D-Day, 2 hours before dawn. The designated destination in France was Landing Zone (LZ) E, an area co-located with and slightly overlapping one of the paratroop drop zones, DZ C. The area was chosen as central to the operations of the division and because a BUPS beacon ("Beacon, Ultra Portable S-band") was to be in place there on which the serial commander could guide using the SCR-717 search radars installed in the aircraft of flight leaders.

The landing zone was a triangle-shaped area a mile in width at its mile-long base along the road connecting les Forges (a hamlet south of Sainte-Mère-Église) and Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. The zone was 1.5 mi in depth and its eastern edge ran through Hiesville, the division command post two miles (3 km) west of Ste. Marie-du-Mont. In addition to its central locality, the fields within the zone were on average twice the length of most others in the vicinity. Many of the fields, however, were bordered by trees 40 ft in height and not hedgerows, a fact that did not show up well on aerial reconnaissance photographs.

Glider assault
The first of 52 aircraft took off at 01:19. Bright moonlight enabled the tugs to assemble in thirteen flights of four aircraft-glider combinations in an "echelon of four to the right" formation. Shortly after assembly the glider carrying the command post radio broke loose from its tug and landed. The radio was retrieved and transported that evening in mission Keokuk, but the accident meant that the 101st Airborne Division would be out of radio contact with other invasion forces until after link-up with the 4th Infantry Division coming off Utah Beach.

The weather along its route had moderated from the dense cloud bank and ground fog that had severely disrupted the parachute drops two hours earlier. Because they were in trail and not in close formation vees, the tugs and gliders were able to penetrate the clouds without losing formation. The columns drew ground fire, however, and one C-47 and its glider went down near Pont l'Abbé on the Douve River, west of the landing zone. Seven transports and several gliders also incurred damage.

The commander of the 434th TCG was guided to LZ E by a "Eureka" transponding radar beacon set up there by the pathfinders (the BUPS AN/UPN-1 beacons had been damaged in landing and were inoperable). Although it had been placed in the wrong section of the LZ, the 'Tee' shape formed by green Holophane marker lights was observed by pilots of the arriving C-47s. At 0354, six minutes early, 49 of the 50 remaining pilots released their gliders at the designated point from an altitude of 450 ft MSL. The 50th, wandering out of formation, released its glider south of Carentan.

During the specified 270° left turns after release, most of the Waco glider pilots lost sight of the marker lights. The moon was setting by release time and obscured by scattered clouds so that without reference to the markers the glider pilots no longer recognized the landing zone. Just six landed on the LZ itself and only 15 others in fields within a half mile. A group of ten landed in a field near les Forges. Of the remaining 18, all but one landed in fields to the east within two miles (3 km).

Almost all crash-landed in the smaller fields outside the LZ after overshooting to clear unexpected trees. German ground fire was ineffective in the dark, and even though most gliders struck a tree or ditch, most loads were successfully landed without harm. In one glider Gen. Pratt was killed along with the co-pilot (the aftermath of this incident is fictionalized in the film Saving Private Ryan). Total casualties were 5 dead, 17 injured, and 7 missing.

At dawn the division command post sent out a large patrol to assist the reinforcements in removing their equipment from the crushed gliders (very few were crushed so badly that the equipment could not be removed immediately) and to guide them to Hiesville. Collecting and assembling the equipment was a lengthy process, but at noon the patrol returned with 3 jeeps, 6 AT guns, 115 glider troops, and 35 German prisoners. A USAF history of the airborne landings concluded that Mission Chicago had "succeeded beyond expectation".

title: Mission Chicago


text:
Peter Mansbridge

Peter Mansbridge (born July 6, 1948) is a British-born Canadian retired news anchor. From 1988 to 2017, he was chief correspondent for CBC News and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. He was also host of CBC News Network's Mansbridge One on One. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work, including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison University, where he served as chancellor until the end of 2017. On September 5, 2016, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced that Mansbridge would be stepping down as chief correspondent and anchor on July 1, 2017, after the coverage of Canada's 150th-anniversary celebrations.

Early life
Mansbridge was born on July 6, 1948, in London, England. He and his siblings Paul and Wendy were the children of Stanley Harry Mansbridge, DFC (1918–2005), an RAF Wing Commander who worked as a civil servant in England, Malaya, and Canada; and Brenda Louise Mansbridge (née Harris-Jones, died 2008). His father received a DFC for his service as a navigator aboard an Avro Lancaster bomber during World War II. His grandfather Harry Mansbridge was Canadian and a member of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. After moving to Ottawa, Ontario, Mansbridge attended high school at the Glebe Collegiate Institute, but dropped out or quit before graduating Grade 12 in 1966. He next served in the Royal Canadian Navy in 1966 and 1967 as a Royal Canadian Navy Pilot Trainee (Venture Officer's Plan) but left because this 2 year RCN Officer training plan required everyone joining to be a High School graduate.

Newscasting career
Mansbridge worked as a ticket agent for Transair at Churchill Airport in Churchill, Manitoba. In 1968, Mansbridge was discovered by Gaston Charpentier, a station manager for the local Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio station CHFC, when he heard Mansbridge making a flight announcement. Charpentier hired the 19-year-old Mansbridge as the host of CHFC's late night music program. In 1971, Mansbridge moved to Winnipeg to continue as a reporter for the CBW radio station and in the next year, he joined CBWT-TV as a reporter.

In 1975, Mansbridge became a reporter in Saskatchewan for the CBC's flagship evening news program The National. In 1976, he relocated to Ottawa to become parliamentary correspondent. Following a decade of political coverage, Mansbridge had become a substitute anchor for Knowlton Nash and in 1988, CBS offered him a job as a co-anchor for a morning show. To keep Mansbridge in Canada, Nash retired from his anchoring duties at the CBC. Mansbridge was also the announcer of CBC News' This Week In Parliament (1981–1993), which was hosted by colleague Don Newman; Mansbridge provided the voice-over for the opening, intro, and ending of the program.

On May 1, 1988, Mansbridge debuted as the sole anchor of The National. In 1992 he became co-anchor with Pamela Wallin of CBC Prime Time News, which replaced The National as CBC Television's main network newscast; when the newscast reverted to the name The National in 1995, Mansbridge resumed his role as the program's sole anchor.

During his tenure as anchor, he covered Canadian news stories including federal elections, party leadership conventions, the Meech Lake Accord negotiations, the Charlottetown Accord and its referendum, the 1995 Quebec referendum, floods in Manitoba in 1997, ice storms in Ontario and Quebec in 1998, the six days in September 2000 that marked the death and state funeral of Pierre Trudeau, the 2003 blackout across much of Eastern North America and the death and state funeral of Jack Layton. His coverage of the blackout was notable because the normally clean-shaven Mansbridge had grown a beard during his summer hiatus (as he did every summer), and the news of the blackout broke with no time for him to shave. Thus, Canadian viewers saw a bearded Peter Mansbridge reporting on the events of that day.

He has also anchored coverage of many world events, both in the studio and on the scene. In the studio, he anchored coverage of the Gulf War, the War in Kosovo, the September 11 attacks and the 2014 Parliament Hill shootings. He was on the air live when the 2003 invasion of Iraq began and anchored coverage of it. On the scene, he anchored coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales and Pope John Paul II, numerous royal, papal, and US presidential visits to Canada, numerous Olympic Games, and the inauguration of US President Barack Obama. He reported extensively from Normandy both 50 and then 60 years after D-Day and from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands for the fiftieth anniversary of V-E Day. He also reported from the Netherlands for the sixtieth anniversary of V-E Day.

In 1999, he launched a new program, Mansbridge One on One, in which he interviewed newsmakers. With the retirement of Lloyd Robertson of CTV National News on September 1, 2011, Mansbridge became the longest-serving active anchor among the big three networks in Canada, as Dawna Friesen had taken over as anchor at Global National only in 2010. Lisa LaFlamme taking over for Robertson also meant that Mansbridge is the only male chief anchor among the big three English networks in Canada (Mansbridge, LaFlamme, and Friesen).

Salary speculation
In 2011, Conservative Member of Parliament, Brent Rathgeber, had questions regarding the compensation of Peter Mansbridge and other CBC personalities. The former Canadian Heritage Minister, James Moore, stated that, while Mansbridge could disclose his salary on his own accord, the Canadian Government could not be compelled to do so. In 2014, the CBC provided a document to the Canadian Senate Committee on Transport and Communications indicating that Peter Mansbridge earned $80,000 per year. Later that year, CBC released additional documents to both the Senate and on its own webpage demonstrating that four CBC "on-air" employees earned more than $300,000 per year (the average salary of these four employees was $485,667 per year in 2014); while the CBC did not disclose the name of these employees, it was speculated that Peter Mansbridge was likely in this group of four. While the CBC still releases a Compensation Report online, it does not include prior years; however some screen captures of the 2014 compensation report were made available by media outlets. In 2016, an anonymous source revealed CBC internal documents to CANADALAND's Jesse Brown indicating Peter Mansbridge's salary, including additional remunerations on top of his base pay, was roughly $1.1 million per year for a number of years prior to 2014. Despite there being screen captures of Mansbridge's alleged employee file and salary numbers, Mansbridge has strongly denied the veracity of the $1.1 million per year salary figure.

Speaking fees controversy
In 2014, Mansbridge faced criticism for accepting speaking fees. Mansbridge defended himself saying he gave about 20 speeches each year, about half of them unpaid, and that he often donates part of the money to charity. However, he had recently made a paid speech at the Investment Symposium organized by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), a lobby group that promotes the pro-oil-sands-development side of the debate. Media critics felt accepting payment from an agency actively trying to influence public policy, even if it was only as a speaking fee, could be a conflict of interest. Mansbridge was the second CBC employee discovered to be accepting money from outside agencies for speaking fees. Rex Murphy of CBC's Cross Country Check-up was the first. CBC president Hubert Lacroix defended the practice stating that the CBC was aware of the speaking engagements and payments, having pre-vetted them for any potential conflict of interest. Nevertheless, the CBC reviewed its policies following the controversy. In 2016, anonymous insider sources from the CBC told CANADALAND that the CBC compensated Mansbridge for losing earnings from speaking fees; Mansbridge denies this claim.

Retirement
In 2016, Mansbridge announced his retirement from hosting The National, and step down as Chief Correspondent of CBC News after anchoring CBC's Canada Day coverage on the country's 150th anniversary. He made his final broadcast from The National on June 30, 2017; and made his final live coverage during Canada Day on July 1, 2017, paving the way for his retirement.

From October to December 2017, Mansbridge undertook a 17-stop cross-Canada storytelling tour. However, all 17 of the events were later cancelled.

Since his retirement, he made appearances in CBC including as guest co-host on CBC's coverage of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018, and as a guest contributor for the 2019 federal election.

Personal life
Mansbridge has been married three times. His previous marriage to CBC colleague Wendy Mesley (January 6, 1989 – 1992) became regular tabloid fodder in Frank magazine as their marriage ended. He has been married to Canadian actress Cynthia Dale since November 14, 1998, and they have a son, William, born in 1999. Mansbridge has two daughters from a first marriage to Parm Dhillon, which ended in 1975. He lives in Stratford, Ontario with his family, and also has a summer cottage in the Gatineau Hills.

Among his hobbies, Mansbridge collects small mementos from his travels around the world, including rocks, soil and other “sentimental” items from various prominent historical places. He kept pebbles from a visit to the Battle of Dieppe site in France, dirt from Vimy Ridge, and sand from the beaches at Normandy, as well as pieces of the Berlin Wall and the Great Wall of China. A silver bracelet was bought on his trip to South Africa for Nelson Mandela's funeral, which is engraved only with the numerals “46664” — Mandela's prisoner number on Robben Island.

Mansbridge was and is also an avid and longtime fan of the original Winnipeg Jets and the current Winnipeg Jets, having attended the signing of Bobby Hull in 1972 while working as a reporter for CBWT. Mansbridge's past public support for both Jets franchises – including use of his Twitter account – is often seen as a humorous contrast to his balanced reporting style. To underline this image, Mansbridge is also known to occasionally make jokes at the expense of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Nonetheless, he continues to support his childhood Maple Leafs in a secondary capacity.

Mansbridge had a voice cameo in the 2016 Walt Disney Animation Studios film Zootopia as "Peter Moosebridge," an anthropomorphic moose news anchor. Ahead of his final broadcast in 2017, a space in the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto was renamed as Mansbridge Hall in his honor.

Since the 2019 Canadian federal election, Mansbridge has hosted a daily podcast called The Bridge.

Awards and honorary degrees
Mansbridge has won several honours throughout his career, including 13 Gemini awards. In 2008, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, the second grade of nation's second highest civilian honour. In that capacity, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal was also conferred upon him in 2012.

Peter Mansbridge has received a number of honorary degrees; these include:

 * 1989: Lakehead University, Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL)
 * 1996: Mount Royal University, Bachelor of Applied Communications (Journalism)
 * 1999: Mount Allison University, Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 * 2001: University of Manitoba, Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 * 2005: Ryerson University, Doctor of Journalism
 * 2008: University of Western Ontario, Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 * 2010: University of Windsor, Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 * 2011: York University, Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 * 2014: Carleton University, Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 * 2017: University of Calgary, Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 * 2017: McMaster University, Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 * 2017: University of Toronto, Doctor of Laws (LL.D)

title: Peter Mansbridge


text:
Kyle Broflovski

Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the adult animated sitcom South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the series' four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman. He debuted on television when South Park first aired on August 13, 1997, after having first appeared in The Spirit of Christmas shorts created by Stone and long-time collaborator Trey Parker in 1992 (Jesus vs. Frosty) and 1995 (Jesus vs. Santa).

Kyle is an elementary school student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town life in his fictional hometown of South Park, Colorado. Kyle is distinctive as one of the few Jewish children on the show, and because of this, he often feels like an outsider amongst the core group of characters. His portrayal in this role is often dealt with satirically, and has elicited both praise and criticism from Jewish viewers. He is 10 years old.

Like the other South Park characters, Kyle is animated by computer in a way to emulate the show's original method of cutout animation. He also appears in the 1999 full-length feature film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, as well as South Park-related media and merchandise. While Parker and Stone portray Kyle as having common childlike tendencies, his dialogue is often intended to reflect stances and views on more adult-oriented issues, and has been cited in numerous publications by experts in the fields of politics, religion, popular culture, and philosophy.

Role in South Park
Kyle attends South Park Elementary as part of Mr. Garrison's class. During the show's first 58 episodes, Kyle and the other students were in the third grade following which they have been in the fourth grade. He lives in South Park with his father Gerald, a lawyer, and his overprotective mother Sheila, a housewife who fits the mold of a Jewish mother stereotype. Gerald and Sheila have been referred to have Polish and Russian Jewish background, and they mutually share a strong devotion to their Jewish religion, while expressing deep concern during the multiple times Kyle's faith in Judaism becomes enervated. Kyle has a younger brother named Ike, who Kyle learns was adopted and originally from Canada in the episode "Ike's Wee Wee".

Gerald often attempts to teach Kyle important morals. Although his mother's outspoken, manipulative nature usually overwhelms Kyle, he tends to show that he truly loves her, and takes offense to any insult Cartman may offer about her. Although he engages in the reckless act of punting Ike like a football, Kyle shows concern for his brother's well-being. He was initially reluctant to embrace Ike as his brother upon learning that Ike was adopted, but Ike's genuine affection for his older brother persuaded Kyle to love him in return, and regard him as "true family".

Kyle is modeled after Stone, while Stan is modeled after Parker. Kyle and Stan are best friends, and their relationship, which is supposed to reflect the real-life friendship between Parker and Stone, is a common topic throughout the series. The two do have their disagreements, but always reconcile without any long-term damage to their friendship. The show's official website defines Kyle's role amongst his friends as "the smart one". He often provides a sober thought to plans or ideas made by the other boys, and explains a moral outlook while drawing upon his vast knowledge and intelligence. He tends to offer reasonable or scientific explanations both to situations most others view as supernatural in nature, and in opposition of propaganda dispensed by Cartman.

Several episodes focus on Kyle and his religion, and being the lone Jew has resulted in an enmity with the Antisemitic Cartman that has become significantly more pronounced as the series progresses. Parker and Stone have compared the relationship to the one shared by Archie Bunker and Michael Stivic on the 1970s sitcom All in the Family. Kyle makes cracks at Cartman's weight and is horrified and disgusted with Cartman's immorality, cruelty, bigotry, and greed. Their rivalry often elevates to the point where Kyle becomes so obsessed with beating Cartman at whatever he does, he sometimes neglects Stan and Kenny in the process. He has a tendency to make what he thinks are safe bets with Cartman, often losing these bets when the improbable actions promised by Cartman are accomplished. Though he has claimed Kenny was not his friend, in order to avoid having to spend the night at his poverty-stricken household, Kyle has professed a friendship with Kenny and shown genuine concern for Kenny's health and safety. Kyle normally has the angrier reaction of yelling "You bastards!" following Stan's exclamation of the popular catchphrase "Oh my God, they killed Kenny" after one of Kenny's trademark deaths.

Near the end of the production run of the show's fifth season (2001), Parker and Stone contemplated having an episode in which Kyle was killed off. The reasoning behind the idea was to genuinely surprise fans, and to allow an opportunity to provide a major role for Butters Stotch, a breakout character whose popularity was growing with the viewers and creators of the show. Parker and Stone initially chose Kyle because they deemed him as being too similar to Stan in terms of personality. Instead, the character of Kenny was chosen, and he was seemingly killed off for good in the episode "Kenny Dies". The duo claimed they grew tired of upholding the tradition of having Kenny die in each episode, and regarded the character as a "prop".

In many episodes, Kyle draws upon his sense of social purpose and moral outrage, and reflects on the lessons he has learned during the course of an episode, with a speech that often begins "You know, I learned something today...". Kyle acknowledged this trend in the season five (2001) episode "Cartmanland" when he states that he often gives the speech each week in an attempt to "try and better myself", and again in the season seven (2003) episode "Butt Out" where he repeatedly reminds his friends that they continuously allow potentially riotous events to occur, and are only able to defuse the situation by giving such a speech to the gathered townsfolk.

Kyle's mother reveals in the episode "Cherokee Hair Tampons" that Kyle is diabetic and had to get a kidney transplant. His diabetes could explain why he gets sick more often than his classmates.

Kyle has a democratic political stance, as seen in the episode The Wacky Molestation Adventure, where he brings democracy to the previously communist Cuba.

Creation and design
An unnamed precursor to Kyle first appeared in the first The Spirit of Christmas short, dubbed Jesus vs. Frosty, created by Parker and Stone in 1992 while they were students at the University of Colorado. The character was composed of construction paper cutouts and animated using stop motion. When asked three years later by friend Brian Graden to create another short as a video Christmas card that he could send to friends, Parker and Stone created another similarly-animated The Spirit of Christmas short, dubbed Jesus vs. Santa. In this short, which was the first appearance of Kyle styled as he is in the series, he is given his first name. When developing the character, Parker recalled there being only one Jewish student in his entire hometown of Conifer, Colorado, and described her as being "the token Jewish person". Kyle next appeared on August 13, 1997, when South Park debuted on Comedy Central with the episode "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe".

From the show's second episode, "Weight Gain 4000" (season one, 1997), Kyle, like all other characters on the show, has been animated using computer software, though he is presented to give the impression that the show still utilizes its original technique. In keeping with the show's animation style, Kyle is composed of simple geometrical shapes. He is not offered the same free range of motion associated with hand-drawn characters; his character is generally shown from only one angle, and his movements are animated in an intentionally jerky fashion.

Kyle is usually depicted wearing winter attire that consists of a bright green ushanka, a bright orange jacket, dark green jeans, and lime-green mittens/gloves. The rare instances in which he is shown without his cap, he has a bright red-to-auburn Jewfro. His hat and hairstyle were influenced by those of James Humphrey, a character whom Matt Stone portrayed in the 1993 film Cannibal! The Musical. Matt also had a hat just like Kyle's as a kid. Stone cited that he came up with the voice of Kyle while he and Parker were in film class, where they would speak in high-pitched childish voices that would often get them into trouble. The recorded audio is edited with Pro Tools, and the pitch altered to make the voice sound more like that of a fourth grader.

Personality and traits
Like his friends, Kyle is foul-mouthed as a means for Parker and Stone to display how they claim young boys really talk when they are alone. Parker notes that while Kyle is sometimes cynical and profane, there is an "underlying sweetness" to the character, and Time described Kyle and his friends as "sometimes cruel but with a core of innocence". He is amused by bodily functions and toilet humor, and his favorite television personalities are Terrance and Phillip, a Canadian duo whose comedy routines on their show-within-the-show revolve substantially around fart jokes.

Kyle often displays the highest moral standard of all the boys and is usually depicted as the most intelligent. When describing Kyle, Stone states that both he and the character are "reactionary", and susceptible to irritability and impatience. In some instances, Kyle is the only child in his class to not initially indulge in a fad or fall victim to a ploy. This has resulted in both his eagerness to fit in, and his resentment and frustration.

As a Jew, Kyle often defends and shows pride in his religion and ancestry. He is nevertheless lonely in this regard, particularly around Christmas time, though he takes solace in anticipating the annual appearance of Mr. Hankey, an anthropomorphic piece of feces who emerges from the sewer to spread Christmas cheer.

A recurring plot element is the depiction of Kyle as insecure about Jewish traditions and beliefs. Already regarding God as cruel for allowing him to suffer from a life-threatening hemorrhoid while Cartman enjoys a million-dollar inheritance, Kyle became further appalled after being read the story of Job. He also once feared damnation for not having grown up as a Catholic. During both instances, he renounced his affiliation with Judaism, only to have his faith restored by events occurring at the end of an episode. After watching The Passion of the Christ, a shameful Kyle suddenly felt that Cartman's anti-Semitism was justified, and suggested to angry members of his synagogue that the Jews apologize for the death of Jesus. Kyle's guilt is quickly alleviated when he encounters Mel Gibson, the film's director, and perceives him to be nothing more than a deranged masochist.

Kyle has a first cousin also named Kyle, whom he resents for being the embodiment of Jewish stereotypes and causing Kyle to question whether or not he was a self-hating Jew. Kyle is hopelessly inept at choreographed dancing; in the eyes of Cartman, he perpetuated the stereotype that "Jews have no rhythm". His birthday is May 26, the same day as Stone. Kyle was conceived in New Jersey.

In other media
Kyle had a major role in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, the full-length film based on the series, and appeared on the film's soundtrack singing the same musical numbers performed in the movie. As a tribute to the Dead Parrot sketch, a short that features Kyle as the owner of a shop to where Cartman attempts to return a dead Kenny aired during a 1999 BBC television special commemorating the 30th anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Kyle also featured in the documentary film The Aristocrats, listening to Cartman tell his version of the film's titular joke, and in "The Gauntlet", a short spoofing both Gladiator and Battlefield Earth which aired during the 2000 MTV Movie Awards. Stone performs as Kyle on tracks for Chef Aid: The South Park Album and Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics.

Kyle also appears in six South Park-related video games: In South Park, Kyle is controlled by the player through the first-person shooter mode who attempts to ward off enemies from terrorizing the town of South Park. In South Park: Chef's Luv Shack, a user has the option of playing as Kyle when participating in the game's several "minigames" based on other popular arcade games. In the racing game South Park Rally, a user can race as Kyle against other players, selecting from a variety of vehicles. In South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!, Kyle can be selected as a playable character used to establish a tower defense against the game's antagonists. Kyle role-plays as the Elf King in the 2014 game, The Stick of Truth, as well as in its sequel, The Fractured but Whole, where he roleplays as the Human Kite.

Cultural impact
Kyle's depiction on the show has drawn both praise and criticism from the Jewish community. Detractors of the character cite his own habit of eschewing common Jewish practices and reiterating negative stereotypes for comedic purposes. Supportive Jewish viewers commend the show for using Kyle to accurately portray what it is like for a young Jew to have to endure loneliness and bigotry as an ethnic and religious minority. One of the show's more popular episodes, "The Passion of the Jew" (season eight, 2004), deals largely with Kyle's religious anxiety. The episode was independently released on DVD along with two other religion-themed episodes from the series.

Over the seasons Kyle has addressed topics such as brotherhood, excessive litigation, hate crime legislation, civil liberties, profanity in television, hybrid vehicle ownership, and the economy. In the season 10 (2006) episode "Cartoon Wars Part II", Kyle expresses his opinions on censorship, and iterates Parker and Stone's sentiments on the topic by telling a television executive "Either it's all okay, or none of it is" in regard to whether any subject should remain off-limits to satire. To Parker and Stone's disappointment, the episode received more attention for its criticism of the show Family Guy than it did for Kyle's proclamation.

Kyle's opinions have been the subject of much critical analysis in the media and literary world. The book South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today includes an essay in which Bridgewater State College philosophy professor William J. Devlin references the teachings of Socrates and Friedrich Nietzsche when describing Kyle's role in the show. Essays in the books South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating, ''Blame Canada! South Park and Contemporary Culture, and Taking South Park Seriously'' have also analyzed Kyle's perspectives within the framework of popular philosophical, theological, and political concepts.

title: Kyle Broflovski