title: Bright Eyes (band)

text: In July 2016, it was announced that the band's six last studio albums (excluding the Christmas release) were to be reissued in a box set titled "The Studio Albums 2000–2011". "Fevers and Mirrors, Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, and Cassadaga" were remastered by Bob Ludwig. The box set was released on September 16, 2016. Individual releases were also issued later in the year.


title: Bright Eyes (band)

text: In January 2020, Bright Eyes launched an Instagram page and teased a 2020 return. On March 24 they released "Persona Non Grata", their first new song in 9 years. "NME"s Luke Morgan Britton wrote of the track: "[A] dual sense of societal dystopia and inner turmoil collide and intertwine on the quietly poignant 'Persona Non Grata'... [It] sees the band maintain the sage-like, cryptic feel of their latter-day records. Yet it also returns to the intimacy and immediacy of their early material."


title: Bright Eyes (band)

text: Bright Eyes released the single "Forced Convalescence" on April 21, 2020. The song features Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass along with a gospel choir. On May 27, 2020, the single "One & Done" was released along with a lyric video.


title: Bright Eyes (band)

text: The band announced their tenth album, "Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was", on June 22, 2020. On the same day, they released a new single, "Mariana Trench". The album was released on August 21, 2020.


title: Bright Eyes (band)

text: Bright Eyes released the song "Miracle of Life" featuring Phoebe Bridgers on October 28, 2020. The song was made to benefit Planned Parenthood.


title: Bright Eyes (band)

text: On February 1, 2022 the band announced plans to reissue their first nine studio albums under Dead Oceans. Each reissue will be accompanied by a six-track companion EP featuring re-recorded songs from the album and covers. The first three companion EPs will release on May 27, 2022. The same day "Falling Out of Love at This Volume", "Contrast and Compare" (featuring Waxahatchee), and "Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh (featuring Phoebe Bridgers)" were released as singles from the "A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995–1997", "Letting Off the Happiness", and "Fevers and Mirrors" companion EPs, respectively. A cover of Elliott Smith's "St. Ides Heaven" with vocals from Bridgers was released as the second single from "Letting Off the Happiness: A Companion" on March 22, 2022.


title: Hangover

text: A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than 24 hours. Typical symptoms of a hangover may include headache, drowsiness, concentration problems, dry mouth, dizziness, fatigue, gastrointestinal distress (e.g., vomiting, diarrhea), absence of hunger, light sensitivity, depression, sweating, nausea, hyper-excitability, irritability, and anxiety.


title: Hangover

text: While the causes of a hangover are still poorly understood, several factors are known to be involved including acetaldehyde accumulation, changes in the immune system and glucose metabolism, dehydration, metabolic acidosis, disturbed prostaglandin synthesis, increased cardiac output, vasodilation, sleep deprivation, and malnutrition. Beverage-specific effects of additives or by-products such as congeners in alcoholic beverages also play an important role. The symptoms usually occur after the intoxicating effect of the alcohol begins to wear off, generally the morning after a night of heavy drinking.


title: Hangover

text: Though many possible remedies and folk cures have been suggested, there is no compelling evidence to suggest that any are effective for preventing or treating hangovers. Avoiding alcohol or drinking in moderation are the most effective ways to avoid a hangover.


title: Hangover

text: The socioeconomic consequences of hangovers include workplace absenteeism, impaired job performance, reduced productivity and poor academic achievement. A hangover may also impair performance during potentially dangerous daily activities such as driving a car or operating heavy machinery.


title: Hangover

text: An alcohol hangover is associated with a variety of symptoms that may include drowsiness, headache, concentration problems, dry mouth, dizziness, gastrointestinal complaints, fatigue, sweating, nausea, hyper-excitability, anxiety, and a feeling of general discomfort that may last more than 24 hours. Alcohol hangover symptoms develop when blood alcohol concentration falls considerably and peak when it returns to almost zero. Hangover symptoms validated in controlled studies include general malaise, thirst, headache, feeling dizzy or faint, tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea, stomach ache, and feeling as though one's heart is racing. Some symptoms such as changes in sleep pattern and gastrointestinal distress are attributed to direct effects of the alcohol intoxication, or withdrawal symptoms. Drowsiness and impaired cognitive function are the two dominant features of alcohol hangover.


title: Hangover

text: The processes which lead to hangovers are still poorly understood. Several pathophysiological changes may give rise to the alcohol hangover including increased levels of acetaldehyde, hormonal alterations of the cytokine pathways and decrease of the availability of glucose. Additional associated phenomena are dehydration, metabolic acidosis, disturbed prostaglandin synthesis, increased cardiac output, vasodilation, sleep deprivation and insufficient eating. Some complex organic molecules found in alcoholic beverages known as congeners may play an important role in producing hangover effects because some, such as methanol, are metabolized to the notably toxic substances formaldehyde and formic acid.


title: Hangover

text: After being ingested, the ethanol in alcoholic beverages is first converted to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase and then to acetic acid by oxidation and egestion process. These reactions also convert nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) to its reduced form NADH in a redox reaction. By causing an imbalance of the NAD/NADH redox system, alcoholic beverages make normal bodily functions more difficult. Consequences of the alcohol induced redox changes in the human body include increased triglyceride production, increased amino acid catabolism, inhibition of the citric acid cycle, lactic acidosis, ketoacidosis, hyperuricemia, disturbance in cortisol and androgen metabolism and increased fibrogenesis. The metabolism of glucose and insulin are also influenced. However, recent studies showed no significant correlation between hangover severity and the concentrations of various hormones, electrolytes, free fatty acids, triglycerides, lactate, ketone bodies, cortisol, and glucose in blood and urine samples.


title: Hangover

text: Alcohol also induces the CYP2E1 enzyme, which metabolizes ethanol and other substances into more reactive toxins. In particular, in binge drinking the enzyme is activated and plays a role in creating a harmful condition known as oxidative stress which can lead to cell death.


title: Hangover

text: Acetaldehyde, the first by-product of ethanol, is between 10 and 30 times more toxic than alcohol itself and can remain at an elevated plateau for many hours after initial ethanol consumption. In addition, certain genetic factors can amplify the negative effects of acetaldehyde. For example, some people (predominantly East Asians) have a mutation in their alcohol dehydrogenase gene that makes this enzyme unusually fast at converting ethanol to acetaldehyde. In addition, about half of all East Asians convert acetaldehyde to acetic acid more slowly (via acetaldehyde dehydrogenase), causing a higher buildup of acetaldehyde than normally seen in other groups. The high concentration of acetaldehyde causes the alcohol flush reaction, colloquially known as the "Asian Flush". Since the alcohol flush reaction is highly uncomfortable and the possibility of hangovers is immediate and severe, people with this gene variant are less likely to become alcoholics.


title: Hangover

text: Acetaldehyde may also influence glutathione peroxidase, a key antioxidant enzyme, and increases the susceptibility to oxidative stress.


title: Hangover

text: Likewise, acetic acid (or the acetate ion) can cause additional problems. One study found that injecting sodium acetate into rats caused them to have nociceptive behavior (headaches). In addition, there is a biochemical explanation for this finding. High acetate levels cause adenosine to accumulate in many parts of the brain. But when the rats were given caffeine, which blocks the action of adenosine, they no longer experienced headaches.


title: Hangover

text: In addition to ethanol and water, most alcoholic drinks also contain congeners, either as flavoring or as a by-product of fermentation and the wine aging process. While ethanol is by itself sufficient to produce most hangover effects, congeners may potentially aggravate hangover and other residual effects to some extent. Congeners include substances such as amines, amides, acetones, acetaldehydes, polyphenols, methanol, histamines, fusel oil, esters, furfural, and tannins, many but not all of which are toxic. One study in mice indicates that fusel oil may have a mitigating effect on hangover symptoms, while some whiskey congeners such as butanol protect the stomach against gastric mucosal damage in the rat. Different types of alcoholic beverages contain different amounts of congeners. In general, dark liquors have a higher concentration while clear liquors have a lower concentration. Whereas vodka has virtually no more congeners than pure ethanol, bourbon has a total congener content 37 times higher than that found in vodka.


title: Hangover

text: Several studies have examined whether certain types of alcohol cause worse hangovers. All four studies concluded that darker liquors, which have higher congeners, produced worse hangovers. One even showed that hangovers were worse "and" more frequent with darker liquors. In a 2006 study, an average of 14 standard drinks (330 ml each) of beer was needed to produce a hangover, but only 7 to 8 drinks was required for wine or liquor (note that one standard drink has the same amount of alcohol regardless of type). Another study ranked several drinks by their ability to cause a hangover as follows (from low to high): distilled ethanol diluted with fruit juice, beer, vodka, gin, white wine, whisky, rum, red wine and brandy.


title: Hangover

text: One potent congener is methanol. It is naturally formed in small quantities during fermentation and it can be accidentally concentrated by improper distillation techniques. Metabolism of methanol produces some extremely toxic compounds, such as formaldehyde and formic acid, which may play a role in the severity of hangover. Ethanol slows the conversion of methanol into its toxic metabolites so that most of the methanol can be excreted harmlessly in the breath and urine without forming its toxic metabolites. This may explain the temporary postponement of symptoms reported in the common remedy of drinking more alcohol to relieve hangover symptoms. Since methanol metabolism is effectively inhibited by consumption of alcohol, methanol accumulates during drinking and only begins to be metabolized once ethanol has been cleared. This delayed action makes it an attractive candidate explanation for delayed post-intoxication symptoms and correlations between methanol concentrations and the presence of hangover symptoms that have been found in studies.


title: Hangover

text: The metabolic processes required for alcohol elimination deplete essential vitamins and electrolytes. Furthermore, alcohol is a diuretic, causing excretion of electrolytes through urination. After a night of drinking, the resulting lack of key B and C vitamins, as well as potassium, magnesium, and zinc may cause fatigue, aching and other hangover-like symptoms.


title: Hangover

text: Ethanol has a dehydrating effect by causing increased urine production (diuresis), which could cause thirst, dry mouth, dizziness and may lead to an electrolyte imbalance. Studies suggest that electrolyte changes play only a minor role in the genesis of the alcohol hangover and are caused by dehydration effects. Drinking water may help relieve symptoms as a result of dehydration but it is unlikely that rehydration significantly reduces the presence and severity of alcohol hangover. Alcohol's effect on the stomach lining can account for nausea because alcohol stimulates the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.


title: Hangover

text: Studies show that alcohol hangover is associated with a decrease in blood glucose concentration (less than 70 ml/dl), but the relationship between blood glucose concentration and hangover severity is unclear. Also known as insulin shock, hypoglycemia can lead to coma or even death.


title: Hangover

text: In current research, the significant relationship between immune factors and hangover severity is the most convincing among all factors so far studied. An imbalance of the immune system, in particular of cytokine metabolism has been identified as playing a role in the pathophysiology of the hangover state. Especially the hangover symptoms nausea, headache, and fatigue have been suggested to be mediated by changes in the immune system. The concentration of several cytokines have been found to be significantly increased in the blood after alcohol consumption. These include interleukin 12 (IL-12), interferon gamma (IFNγ) and interleukin 10 (IL-10). Some pharmacological studies such as on tolfenamic acid and "Opuntia ficus-indica" (OFI) have also indicated an involvement of the immune system. These studies suggest that the presence and severity of hangover symptoms can probably be reduced by administration of a cyclooxygenase inhibitor such as aspirin or ibuprofen.


title: Hangover

text: Several factors which do not in themselves cause alcohol hangover are known to influence its severity. These factors include personality, genetics, health status, age, sex, associated activities during drinking such as smoking, the use of other drugs, physical activity such as dancing, as well as sleep quality and duration.


title: Hangover

text: Hangovers are poorly understood from a medical point of view. Health care professionals prefer to study alcohol abuse from a standpoint of treatment and prevention, and there is a view that the hangover provides a useful, natural and intrinsic disincentive to excessive drinking.


title: Hangover

text: Within the limited amount of serious study on the subject, there is debate about whether a hangover may be prevented or at least mitigated. There is also a vast body of folk medicine and simple quackery. A four-page literature review in the "British Medical Journal" concludes: "No compelling evidence exists to suggest that any conventional or complementary intervention is effective for preventing or treating alcohol hangover. The most effective way to avoid the symptoms of alcohol induced hangover is to avoid drinking." Most remedies do not significantly reduce overall hangover severity. Some compounds reduce specific symptoms such as vomiting and headache, but are not effective in reducing other common hangover symptoms such as drowsiness and fatigue.


title: Hangover

text: Recommendations for foods, drinks and activities to relieve hangover symptoms abound. The ancient Romans, on the authority of Pliny the Elder, favored raw owl's eggs or fried canary, while the "prairie oyster" restorative, introduced at the 1878 Paris World Exposition, calls for raw egg yolk mixed with Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper. By 1938, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel provided a hangover remedy in the form of a mixture of Coca-Cola and milk (Coca-Cola itself having been invented, by some accounts, as a hangover remedy). Alcoholic writer Ernest Hemingway relied on tomato juice and beer. Other purported hangover cures include cocktails such as Bloody Mary or Black Velvet (consisting of equal parts champagne and stout). A 1957 survey by an American folklorist found widespread belief in the efficacy of heavy fried foods, tomato juice and sexual activity.


title: Hangover

text: A somewhat dated French idiomatic expression for hangover is "mal aux cheveux", literally "sore hair" (or "[even] my hair hurts"). Some terms for 'hangover' are derived from names for liquor, for example, in Chile a hangover is known as a "caña" from a Spanish slang term for a glass of beer. Similar is the Irish 'brown bottle flu' derived from the type of bottle common to beer.


title: Hangover

text: Alcohol hangover has considerable economic consequences. A British study found that alcohol use accounted for 3.3 billion (USD) in lost wages each year, as a result of work missed because of hangovers. In Canada 1.4 billion (USD) is lost each year because of decreased occupational productivity caused by hangover-like symptoms. In Finland, a country with a population of 5 million persons, over 1 million workdays are lost each year because of hangovers. The average annual opportunity cost due to hangovers are estimated as 2000 (USD) per working adult. The socioeconomic implications of an alcohol hangover include workplace absenteeism, impaired job performance, reduced productivity and poor academic achievement. Potentially dangerous daily activities such as driving a car or operating heavy machinery are also negatively influenced.


title: Hangover

text: As of 2019, South Korea's 'hangover-cure product' market, which comes in various formulations such as beverages, pills, and jelly, is a 250 billion won (US$213 million) industry.


title: Hangover

text: Psychological research of alcohol hangover is growing rapidly. The Alcohol Hangover Research Group had its inaugural meeting in June 2010 as part of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, USA.


title: Hangover

text: In 2012, Éduc'alcool, a Quebec-based non-profit organization that aims to educate the public on the responsible use of alcohol, published a report noting hangovers have long-lasting effects that inhibit the drinker's capabilities a full 24 hours after heavy drinking.


title: John Vernon

text: John Keith Vernon (born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz; February 24, 1932 February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer in "Animal House", the Mayor in "Dirty Harry" and Fletcher in "The Outlaw Josey Wales".


title: John Vernon

text: Born as Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz in Zehner, Saskatchewan, Vernon was one of two sons of Adolf Agopsowicz, a grocer, and his wife Eleonore Krückel (also spelled as Kriekle or Kriekel). Both his parents' families immigrated to the Edenwold district in the late 19th century from the Austrian crownland and duchy of Bukovina. The Agopsowicz family were part of the community of Armenians in Poland. Vernon was of Armenian, German, and Polish descent.


title: John Vernon

text: From 1935 to 1953 he attended St. Joseph's School and Campion College in Regina, Saskatchewan, where his acting career began under the direction of the Rev. Arthur Nelson, S.J. and Mary Ellen Burgess at the Regina Little Theatre. Vernon was educated at the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London before becoming a live stage actor for CBC Television's dramatic programs. In 1974, he completed a season at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England, playing Malvolio.


title: John Vernon

text: Vernon made his screen debut in 1956 as the voice of Big Brother in Michael Anderson's film version of George Orwell's "1984" starring Edmond O'Brien. He returned to Canada afterwards and gained film experience appearing on the TV series "The Adventures of Tugboat Annie" and "The Last of the Mohicans".


title: John Vernon

text: He debuted on Broadway in 1964 as DeSoto opposite Christopher Plummer and David Carradine in "The Royal Hunt of the Sun". During the Golden Age of CBC Drama in the 1960s, he co-starred in Edna O'Brien's "A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers", opposite Colleen Dewhurst, and in "Uncle Vanya", opposite William Hutt and Rita Gam. He appeared in the CBC series "Wojeck" in the late 1960s, playing a crime-fighting medical examiner. However, he decided to go to the United States to further his acting career.


title: John Vernon

text: In 1969, he played Cuban revolutionary Rico Parra in Alfred Hitchcock's Cold War-era spy movie "Topaz". He appeared on "The High Chaparral" as the leader of a group of striking Irish Miners (1969) in "No Irish Need Apply".


title: John Vernon

text: In 1970, he guest-starred in the "Hawaii Five-O" episode "Force Of Waves" as Cal Anderson, and he appeared in the two-part episode "The Banker" of "The Silent Force" in 1971. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he made four appearances over five years on the TV series "" as four different lead villains. In 1974, Vernon turned in a supporting performance in "Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night".


title: John Vernon

text: In 1971, he played the by-the-book mayor of San Francisco, perpetually frustrated by Clint Eastwood, in the first "Dirty Harry" movie. He later parodied this role in the film "One More Train to Rob" and the premiere episode of "Sledge Hammer!".


title: John Vernon

text: In 1974 he co-starred in the film "The Black Windmill" with Michael Caine and Donald Pleasence. Also in 1974, he appeared in "The Questor Tapes".


title: John Vernon

text: In 1977, he played the husband in the Italian film, "A Special Day", with Sophia Loren and Marcelo Mastroianni.


title: John Vernon

text: In 1972, he appeared as a villain in the "Fear Is the Key" and in 1973, he appeared in "Charley Varrick" as mob boss Maynard Boyle.


title: John Vernon

text: In 1975, Vernon portrayed Chicago gangster Ben Larkin in the John Wayne movie "Brannigan", which was set in London, England, starring alongside Wayne and Richard Attenborough.


title: John Vernon

text: Vernon played Dean Vernon Wormer of fictional Faber College in 1978's "Animal House" (a role that he would reprise in the short-lived television sequel "Delta House"). He also played Mr. Prindle in 1980's "Herbie Goes Bananas", Ted Striker's psychiatrist Dr. Stone in 1982's "", and Sherman Krader in 1987's "Ernest Goes to Camp".


title: John Vernon

text: In 1979, Vernon played villainous American bigot Jonathon Pritts in New Mexico who was trying to steal the land from Mexican landowners in the "Louis L'Amour" story of "The Sacketts".


title: John Vernon

text: He also appeared in several cult exploitation and action films in the 1980s, most notably "Chained Heat" and "Savage Streets", both starring Linda Blair, and "Jungle Warriors", opposite Sybil Danning. He underplayed his villain image (playing a character called "Mr. Big") in the 1988 Blaxploitation spoof "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka": a character thinks Vernon should be "above exploitation films" and Vernon replies that many famous actors have done exploitation films, listing Jamie Lee Curtis, Angie Dickinson, and Shelley Winters as examples.


title: John Vernon

text: Vernon played "Ted Jarrett" in the season two "The A-Team" episode "Labor Pains" (1983). Vernon also played "Cameron Zachary" in the season two "Knight Rider" episode "A Good Knight's Work" (1984). Vernon later played "John Bradford Horn" in the season three "Airwolf" episode "Discovery" (1986).


title: John Vernon

text: In 1986, he played the Principal in "Fuzz Bucket". He played Sergeant Curt Mooney in "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" and was a lead in the short-lived 1990s series "Acapulco H.E.A.T."


title: John Vernon

text: Vernon guest-starred as the grouchy principal Dinkler in "Brad to Worse", an episode of "Duckman" on USA Network.


title: John Vernon

text: Vernon did extensive voice work. He voiced the Prosecutor on the 1981 animated film "Heavy Metal". He worked on animated TV series such as "The Marvel Super Heroes" portraying Tony Stark/Iron Man and Sub-Mariner among others, "", "The Incredible Hulk", "Wildfire", "Spider-Man", "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" and "Delgo".


title: John Vernon

text: Vernon died of complications following heart surgery on February 1, 2005, in Westwood, Los Angeles at the age of 72. He was cremated after a private funeral service.


title: Storage Wars

text: Storage Wars (stylized as STORAGE WAR$) is an American reality television competition series that airs on A&E. It initially aired for 12 seasons, from December 1, 2010, to January 30, 2019. A 13th season premiered in April 2021.


title: Storage Wars

text: When rent is not paid on a storage locker for three months in California, the contents can be sold by an auctioneer as a single lot of items in the form of a cash-only auction. The show follows professional buyers who visit storage facilities throughout the state and bid on these lockers. Before each locker is auctioned, the buyers are given five minutes to inspect the contents from the doorway, but may not enter the locker or touch any of the items.


title: Storage Wars

text: After the day's auctions are completed, the winning bidders sort through the lockers, estimating the prices they will set on the contents and/or consulting with experts for an appraisal of unusual items. Running totals on-screen display the cost versus estimated total value, and a final tally at the end of the episode summarizes the buyers' net profit or loss.


title: Storage Wars

text: Thom Beers is the executive producer and narrator of the show. He provides a quick explanation of the show's premise at the beginning, and does a recap of the featured buyers' profits or losses at the end of each episode. He has stated that the series avoids delving into behind-the-scenes stories of the lockers' original owners because "all you see is misery there, and I didn't want to trade on that". In the United States, "Storage Wars" premiered on A&E on December 1, 2010. It can also be seen internationally, as AETN International sold the series to several channels in Singapore, Canada, Croatia, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Spain, France, Denmark, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, India and Turkey.


title: Storage Wars

text: Season one of "Storage Wars" consisted of 19 episodes, 17 of which were filmed at various self-storage facilities throughout Southern California. The show has enjoyed ratings success, and its second-season premiere attracted 5.1 million total viewers, making it the most-watched program in A&E's history to that point.


title: Storage Wars

text: "Storage Wars" was recommissioned for another 26-episode season in January 2012, with the season officially premiering on June 5, 2012. Only 20 of the 26 episodes were aired however, with six of the episodes being held back for broadcast during the second half of the show's 3rd season which began airing on December 4, 2012. In March 2013, four early, special season 4 episodes aired prior to the official launch of Season 4, which premiered on April 16, 2013.


title: Storage Wars

text: "Storage Wars" concluded its 12th season on January 30, 2019, and there initially was no news regarding a season renewal. A 13th season was eventually announced in March 2021, and premiered on April 20. Another season premiered on November 2, 2021.


title: Storage Wars

text: Aside from the original series, two modified versions were also released. In 2015, buyer Barry Weiss starred in "Storage Wars: Barry Strikes Back", in which he and friend Kenny Crossley review and add new commentary for past episodes of the series. In 2019, A&E began airing "best of.." episodes titled as "Storage Wars: Back to the Locker". It focuses on the buyers' best and worst storage unit purchases grouped by theme ("Child's Play", "Art of the Deal", etc.).


title: Storage Wars

text: Dave Hester, also known as "The Mogul" (seasons 1–3; seasons 5–12): At the start of the series, Hester owned Newport Consignment Gallery in Costa Mesa, California and the Rags to Riches thrift store, but closed them in June 2011. He now operates his own auction house, Dave Hester Auctions. Hester has had confrontations with the other main buyers, especially Darrell and Brandon Sheets, and is known to frequently raise bids when somebody else wants to buy a storage unit. Hester's son Dave Jr. occasionally appeared on the show with him. Hester's signature catchword is a loud "YUUUP!" when making a bid. He has this word imprinted on his trucks, T-shirts, and hats. Hester's call originated from him being a bid-catcher in auction facilities, helping auctioneers spot bidders in a crowd. In December 2012, Hester was fired from the show, and sued the show's producers for wrongful termination; part of his lawsuit was tossed out in March 2013. Hester didn't appear in the fourth season, but returned for season five.


title: Storage Wars

text: Darrell Sheets, also known as "The Gambler" (seasons 1–): A storage auction veteran from San Diego. His catchphrase is "This is the WOW factor!" and he makes the occasional malapropism. He makes his living by selling items from his purchased lockers at his weekly swap meet, and through his online store. In an interview, Sheets indicated that some of his biggest finds in lockers included a sizable comic book collection, four drawings by Pablo Picasso, and a letter written by Abraham Lincoln that sold for over US$15,000. In the season-two special "Unlocked: Sell High", Darrell revealed that he once found a plastic-wrapped human corpse in a storage locker. It was determined that the previous owner of the locker had murdered his wife and left her in the unit. In the season 3 finale, Darrell bought a locker for $3,600, which was discovered to have contained many pieces of original artwork by Frank Gutierrez. The artwork wound up being appraised for approximately $300,000, resulting in the biggest profit in the show's history.


title: Storage Wars

text: Brandon Sheets, also known as "The Sidebet" (seasons 1–9): Darrell Sheets' son and partner, who often accompanies him to the auctions. In later seasons, Brandon attended auctions on his own and also bid against his father for the same units. Brandon announced on December 20, 2016, that he would be leaving the show after the ninth season due to budget cuts. As of 2018, Brandon works as a real estate agent in Arizona.


title: Storage Wars

text: Jarrod Schulz (season 1—13) and Brandi Passante (seasons 1–), also known as "The Young Guns": At the start of the series, Schulz and Passante owned and operated the "Now and Then" thrift store in Orange, California. In the fourth season, they opened a second location in Long Beach, California, but in the premiere of season five, it was revealed that the Long Beach store had not made a profit since opening day, putting the pair in financial jeopardy. The Long Beach store was shown to have closed during the opening segment of the episode aired on April 8, 2014. Their Orange store was also permanently closed in early 2016. On April 24, 2014, A&E premiered the special "", which focused on the two balancing running their business and raising their two children. The special led to a spin-off series of the same name, premiering on August 12, 2014. Though identified on screen as husband and wife in some episodes, Schulz and Passante have never actually married. They have two children, Cameron and Payton. In the season 13 premiere, it is revealed that Jarrod and Brandi had broken up, but continued to bid separately.


title: Storage Wars

text: Barry Weiss, also known as "The Collector" (seasons 1–4; season 14): Weiss and his brother owned a successful produce company until he retired. Weiss is a lifelong antiques collector, but he had never bought a storage unit until his friend and "Storage Wars" executive producer and narrator Thom Beers suggested that he join the show. On June 25, 2013, it was reported that Weiss would not return to the show for season five and that he was leaving the series. In February 2014, A&E announced that Weiss would be starring in his own spin-off series, titled "Barry'd Treasure". Barry is godfather to Jesse James. He is also the "official spokesperson" and "brand ambassador" for Sherwood Valley Casino in Willits, California. He returned in season 14 as a regular on the first episode.


title: Storage Wars

text: Ivy Calvin, also known as "The King" (seasons 3–): Calvin joined the show during season three just after Dave Hester's departure, and became one of the main buyers during season five. A former MMA fighter and arena football player, he owns the Grandma's Attic thrift store in Palmdale, California. Calvin's son, Ivy Jr., often joins him on the show. Calvin also often teams up with Mary Padian, whom he refers to as his "BFF".


title: Storage Wars

text: Rene Nezhoda and Casey Nezhoda (née Lloyd), also known as "The Bargain Hunters" (seasons 4–): The husband-and-wife team joined the show during season four, and became main buyers in season five. A native of Germany, Rene owned the Bargain Hunters thrift store in Poway, California near San Diego until its closing in 2021. As of the ninth season, Casey only appears as a semi-regular cast member, with Rene often attending the auctions on himself. They have two children.


title: Storage Wars

text: Mary Padian, also known as "The Junkster" (seasons 5–12): A former regular of the spin-off series "", Mary joined the cast in season five, appearing in three episodes while on a visit to Long Beach in January 2014. In the sixth season, Mary became a main buyer. Mary is the proprietor of Mary's Finds, an antique and furniture restoration business. Several episodes have shown Mary restoring items taken from the units she has purchased, through to the sale to the intended buyer. Mary is close friends with Ivy Calvin, who she often calls to as her "BFF". In season 12, she teams up with Jenny Grumbles, a former "Storage Wars: Texas" buyer, to purchase a unit. In season 13, she was a guest on the first episode.


title: Storage Wars

text: Kenny Crossley (seasons 10–): Having formerly appeared as a recurring guest throughout seasons 2 to 4, Kenny returned in the tenth season to become one of the main buyers. Kenny hails from New Orleans, where he worked for the Sheriff's Department. Leaving law enforcement behind, Kenny moved out to Los Angeles, where he managed storage facilities. Kenny initially formed an early alliance with Barry Weiss, after helping him to open a jammed locker. The pair became close friends, with Kenny even going on to appear with Barry in "Barry'd Treasure" and "Storage Wars: Barry Strikes Back". Outside of storage units, Kenny owns a business making his own pralines, and owns a clothing line with the tag "Kenny Do It", many designs of which he is often seen wearing on the show.


title: Storage Wars

text: Shana Dahan and Edwina Registre, also known as "The Vegas Ladies" (seasons 11–12): High school friends Shana and Edwina joined the show in its eleventh season, becoming two of the three new stars appointed by the network. By trade, both Shana and Edwina are insurance brokers; they often attend auctions in their spare time, having developed a love of vintage collectables at a young age. The pair also run a YouTube channel called "Thrifters Anonymous", where they document items found in either storage units or thrift stores.


title: Storage Wars

text: Justin Bryant, also known as "The Rookie" (seasons 11–12): Justin was one of three new stars appointed by the network for season 11. Justin is the youngest buyer ever to appear on the show at the age of 22. Justin was inspired to make a name for himself in the storage business after watching the show and developing a love for buying storage units. Since starting out, Justin has used the profits from the units he has purchased to help buy his mother a new home and also employed his older brother.


title: Storage Wars

text: Nabila Haniss, also known as "Paris Hilton" (seasons 2—4): Haniss is a lifelong buyer from Culver City, California, who received attention after purchasing a storage unit that contained items belonging to socialite Paris Hilton. She has since also obtained a unit belonging to television and social media personality Tila Tequila. Haniss appeared as a recurring buyer throughout seasons two to four, often going head-to-head with Dave Hester.


title: Storage Wars

text: Mark Balelo, also known as "Rico Suave" (seasons 2—4): Balelo owned a liquidation, wholesale and distribution company, and an auction house, and also formerly owned a gaming store called "The Game Exchange" from 2009 to 2012. He was known for bringing large sums of money to auctions, as much as US$50,000 at a time. He also earned the name "Rico Suave" for his tendency to dress in fancy clothes at storage auctions. He appeared three times during the second season, five times in the third season and three times in the fourth season, filmed shortly before his death by suicide.


title: Storage Wars

text: Jeff Jarred (season 3): Jarred is the owner of the "It's New To You" antique and thrift store, that he runs with his daughter in Burbank, California. He has often fought with Dan Dotson, after accusing him of using sneaky tactics at auctions in order to allow regular bidders to win units. However, he and Dotson decided to make peace in the third season. He appeared six times during the third season.


title: Storage Wars

text: Herb Brown and Mike Karlinger, also known as "The Tank Top Twins" (seasons 3—4): Herb and Mike are brothers-in-law, who developed a taste for buying units after attending an auction one day out of boredom. They appeared three times in the third season, in the episodes "Portrait of the Gambler", "Nobody's Vault but Mine" and "Still Nobody's Vault but Mine", and three times in the fourth season, in the episodes "Old Tricks, New Treats", "Orange You Glad Dan Sold It Again?" and "That's My Jerry!". They also made an uncredited appearance in the episode "Jurassic Bark" where they pranked Dave Hester and earned the nickname "the tank top twins".


title: Storage Wars

text: Mark Harris and Matt Harris, also known as "The Harris Brothers" (seasons 3—4): Mark and Matt are identical twins who first appeared in "May the Vaults Be with You" as an appraiser for Barry when he found a "Return of the Jedi" jacket in a locker. Since then, they have appeared as recurring buyers throughout the third and fourth seasons. They first appeared as buyers in the episode "The Kook, The Chief, His Son, and The Brothers". The self-proclaimed "Kings of Swag", the Harris brothers specialize in Hollywood memorabilia. They have a company called WOW! Creations, which specializes in celebrity gift bags. They appeared five times in the fourth season in the episodes "Oysters on the Half Plate", "The Shrining", "The French Job", "There's No Place Like Homeland", and "Total Wine Domination".


title: Storage Wars

text: Gunter Nezhoda (season 8—) is Rene Nezhoda's father who appears alongside his son in several episodes. He is also of Germanic descent. Like Darrell's sidekick Chad, Gunter provides the occasional comic relief to Rene, but is generally well-meaning as he learns his way through the business. Prior to his appearance on "Storage Wars", Gunter has worked as a Bass player for artists like Pat Travers, Leslie West, Kevin DuBrow, George Lynch, and Michael Schenker, as well as a photographer and has worked in several films as an actor.


title: Storage Wars

text: Chad (season 10—11) appears as Darrell Sheet's sidekick in several episodes. As a contrast to the more serious and leveled Brandon, Chad is a kind of a doofus and provides comic relief, as well as a seeming frustration to Darrell, who is teaching him the business. Chad frequently spouts out secrets and makes silly assumptions and comments. He is willing to try out some of Darrell's more dangerous storage locker finds with a childlike enthusiasm.


title: Storage Wars

text: Dan Dotson and Laura Dotson are a husband and wife auctioneer team, who run their own business, American Auctioneers, and are the primary auctioneers on the show. Dan has been a professional auctioneer since 1974. He is the primary auctioneer of the two, occasionally giving the reins to Laura, and she ends all the auctions by reminding the winning bidders, "Don't forget to pay the lady!" A substitute auctioneer has filled in for Dan and Laura on two occasions: in the season five episode "The Daneurysm" (2014), after Dan suffered an aneurysm; and in the season eight episode "Palm Springs Throwdown" (2015), after Dan and Laura got into a physical fight with buyer Dave Hester.


title: Storage Wars

text: Other auctioneers have also appeared on the show. Earl and Johan Graham are a father-daughter auctioneer team, who appeared in six episodes in season four, as the network tried to shake-up the show by introducing a number of new cast members. They appeared in the episodes "The Monster Hash", "The Shrining", "Barry's Angels", "That's My Jerry!", "Total Wine Domination" and "Fear and Loathing in Placentia". They did not return for season five.


title: Storage Wars

text: Emily Wears-Kroul was appointed as a new semi-regular auctioneer from the tenth season to the twelfth. Wears was only 17 years old when she finished auction school, and is one of the youngest auctioneers currently working in the business. Wears runs her own auction business in Solon, Iowa with her father, who is a lifelong bid caller. Wears also appeared as a contestant during the 15th season of "American Idol". Wears married in 2017, and is close friends with buyer Mary Padian.


title: Storage Wars

text: Critical response was mixed, with Mary McNamara of the "Los Angeles Times" calling "Storage Wars" "a strangely uplifting show — hope being one of the many things one can apparently find in an abandoned storage unit," and Neil Genzlinger of "The New York Times" called the series "an especially entertaining addition to the genre." Brian Lowry of "Variety" said that "'Wars' should have been left in storage, indefinitely." Writing for "Slate", Troy Patterson gave a mixed review, referring to the series as "trash TV" as well as "trivial and magnetic." Ellen Gray of the "Philadelphia Daily News" suggested "if there's an acquisitive bone in your body, you should probably steer clear".


title: Storage Wars

text: The first-season premiere episode drew 2.1 million viewers and the show was A&E's top-rated non-fiction show for 2010, with an average of 2.4 million viewers. The season two premiere consisted of back-to-back new episodes of the show; the second show drew 5.1 million total viewers and was the highest rating for an episode of a series in A&E history. The combined season premiere outperformed competing original episodes of NBC's "Love in the Wild" and ABC's "Primetime Nightline".


title: Storage Wars

text: Some critics have speculated that some of the units have been stocked by producers, but an A&E publicist said: "There is no staging involved. The items uncovered in the storage units are the actual items featured on the show". Executive producer Thom Beers has stated that the vast majority of the storage lockers investigated during production contain nothing of interest and therefore do not appear in the final show. However, Beers admitted that half of the lines are scripted, as well as moving items between storage lockers purchased by the same person.


title: Storage Wars

text: In December 2012, Dave Hester filed a lawsuit against A&E and Original Productions, claiming that the producers staged entire units, planted items in lockers after having them appraised weeks in advance, and funneled cash to weaker teams to buy lockers that they could not have otherwise afforded. The suit claims that Hester and other cast members met with network officials to express concerns that those actions were in violation of federal law intended to prevent viewers from being deceived when watching a show involving intellectual skills.


title: Storage Wars

text: In January 2013, rather than deny the accusations, A&E responded by stating that its composition of the show is covered by the First Amendment, and that Hester's claims do not apply; the network also said that the Communications Act of 1934 is inapplicable to cable television, which did not exist in 1934, and that the TV format of "Storage Wars" involves no "chance", "intellectual knowledge", or "intellectual skill" and so is not a game show. A&E also stated that there are "notable inconsistencies in [Hester's] exaggerated self-portrait", referring to his claims of value on the items that he finds in lockers.


title: Storage Wars

text: In March 2013, A&E won a partial victory in the suit when a federal judge tossed out Hester's claim of unfair business practices, calling the show "expressive free speech", and stating that his claim of wrongful termination was not specific enough. Hester was ordered to pay the legal fees for A&E.


title: Storage Wars

text: On September 3, 2013, Hester had one of his claims approved by Los Angeles Superior Court judge Michael Johnson. The court ruled that Hester "can move forward with the wrongful termination portion of his wide-ranging lawsuit against A&E and the producers of "Storage Wars"."


title: Storage Wars

text: On July 15, 2014, it was announced that Hester and A&E came to a settlement, setting the stage for his return to the show on August 12, 2014.


title: Hard Target

text: Hard Target is a 1993 American action film directed by Hong Kong film director John Woo in his U.S. debut. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, an out-of-work homeless Cajun merchant seaman and former United States Force Recon Marine who saves a young woman named Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler) from a gang of thugs in New Orleans. Chance learns that Binder is searching for her missing father (Chuck Pfarrer), and agrees to aid Binder in her search. They soon learn that Binder's father has died at the hands of hunt organisers Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) and Pik van Cleef (Arnold Vosloo), a pair of a ruthless businessman and his right-hand mercenary, who arrange the hunting of homeless men as a form of recreational sport. The screenplay was written by Pfarrer and is based on the 1932 film adaptation of Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game".


title: Hard Target

text: "Hard Target" was Woo's first U.S. film and was also the first major Hollywood film made by a Chinese director. Universal Pictures was nervous about having Woo direct a feature and sent in director Sam Raimi to look over the film's production and to take Woo's place as director if he were to fail. Woo went through several scripts finding mostly martial arts films with which he was not interested. After deciding on Pfarrer's script for "Hard Target", Woo wanted to have actor Kurt Russell in the lead role, but found Russell too busy with other projects. Woo then went with Universal's initial choice of having Van Damme star. Woo got along with Van Damme during filming and raised the amount of action in the film as he knew that the actor was up for it.


title: Hard Target

text: After 65 days of filming in New Orleans, Woo had trouble with the Motion Picture Association of America to secure the R rating that Universal wanted. Woo made dozens of cuts to the film until the MPAA allowed it an R rating. On its initial release, "Hard Target" received mixed reviews from film critics but was a financial success. The film is considered a cult film among fans and critics especially for the action scenes. It is seen by many as one of Van Damme's best.


title: Hard Target

text: In New Orleans, a homeless United States Force Recon Marine and a Vietnam War veteran named Douglas Binder is the target of a hunt. He is given a belt containing $10,000 and told that he must reach the other side of the town to win the money and his life. Pursuing him is the hunt organizer and wealthy sportsman, Emil Fouchon, his lead right-hand mercenary Pik van Cleef, a businessman named Mr. Lopacki - Fouchon's client who has paid $500,000 for the opportunity to hunt a human, and assassins including Stephan and Peterson. Binder fails to reach his destination and is killed by three crossbow bolts. Van Cleef retrieves the money belt.


title: Hard Target

text: While searching for her father, Binder's estranged daughter Natasha is attacked by a group of muggers are punks who saw that she had a lot of cash earlier and attempt rape her. She is saved by a homeless man with exceptional martial arts skills named Chance Boudreaux, a former Force Recon Marine and a sailor, now currently out-of-work. Boudreaux is initially hesitant to involve himself in her mission, but as his merchant seaman union dues are in arrears, he reluctantly allows Natasha to hire him as her guide and bodyguard during her search.


title: Hard Target

text: Natasha discovers that her father distributed fliers for a seedy recruiter named Randal Poe who has been secretly supplying Fouchon with homeless men with war experience and no family ties. Natasha questions Randal about her father's death, but they are discovered by an eavesdropping Van Cleef. Fouchon and Van Cleef beat Poe and cut his ear as a punishment for sending them a man with a daughter. New Orleans police detective Marie "May" Mitchell is reluctant to investigate Binder's disappearance until his charred body is discovered in the ashes of a derelict building. The death is deemed an accident, but Boudreaux searches the ruins and finds Binder's dog tag, which was pierced by one of the crossbow bolts. Van Cleef's henchmen suddenly ambush Boudreaux and beat him unconscious to scare him and Natasha out of town. When he recovers, he offers Mitchell the dog tag as evidence that Binder was murdered. With the investigation getting closer, Van Cleef and Fouchon decide to relocate their hunting business and begin eliminating "loose ends". The medical examiner who had been hiding the evidence of the hunt is executed along with Poe. Meanwhile, Boudreaux's friend, Elijah Roper, who is also homeless and a former United States Force Recon Marine is the next to participate in Fouchon's hunt and also ends up dead. Mitchell, Natasha and Boudreaux arrive moments later at Randal's car and are ambushed by Van Cleef and several of his men. During the shootout, Mitchell is shot in the chest and dies. Boudreaux kills a handful of the mercenaries and escapes with Natasha. Fouchon and Van Cleef assemble their mercenary team and five hired hunters to continue the chase.


title: Hard Target

text: Boudreaux leads Natasha to his uncle Clarence Douvee's house deep in the bayou and enlists his help to defeat the men. Boudreaux, Natasha, and Douvee lead the hunting party to the "Mardi Gras graveyard" (a warehouse of old damaged Mardi Gras floats and statues) and kill off Fouchon's men one by one. Van Cleef is finally gunned down by Boudreaux in a shootout. In the end, only Fouchon is left, but he holds Boudreaux at bay by taking Natasha hostage and stabbing Douvee in the chest with his arrow. Boudreaux charges him, attacking with a flurry of blows, and then drops a grenade in his pants. Fouchon attempts in vain to dismantle the grenade but gets incinerated in the explosion.


title: Hard Target

text: It turns out that Douvee is still alive as the arrow Fouchon used only hit Douvee's wine flask. Boudreaux, Natasha, and Douvee make their way out of the warehouse.


title: Hard Target

text: After making "Hard Boiled" in Hong Kong, director John Woo decided to take an offer to work in the United States, where he would find himself happier as a filmmaker with a preferable work pace and more reasonable hours. Woo was first offered this job in the United States by Universal Pictures chairman Tom Pollock after he had seen Woo's film "The Killer". Universal was not eager to have Woo direct an entire feature and only agreed after what producer James Jacks called a "difficult period of convincing". Universal was worried about having an Asian director on set who had limited command of English on a large-scale project. They hired American director Sam Raimi to oversee the film's production and to have him on standby if Woo was not able to fulfill his role as a director. Raimi was very excited to work with Woo as he was a fan of his Hong Kong films. Raimi was also confident in Woo's directorial skills, stating that "Woo at 70% is still going to blow away most American action directors working at 100%."


title: Hard Target

text: On his arrival in the United States, Woo went through several scripts before deciding on "Hard Target". Describing the scripts he received, Woo stated that "Some of them were good—some of them were very good—but the rest were simply martial-arts movies and I told producers that I had no interest in doing those kinds of films anymore. I'd done a lot of them already." One of the scripts offered to Woo at this period was for "Face/Off", which he turned down at the time, turned off by the science fiction aspect of the story. The script for "Hard Target" was written by Chuck Pfarrer. Director Andrew Davis was interested in the script, but ultimately turned it down. Woo read Pfarrer's script for "Hard Target" appreciating that it was a "simple but powerful story, with a lot of feeling underneath. For a good action film you need a solid structure. Chuck gave me that". Woo also stated that the story is "less John Woo" but the visual aspect would be "very John Woo". Pfarrer wrote the script originally basing it on the film "The Naked Prey". After the script did not turn out Pfarrer worked on a script influenced by the film "Aliens" that became the basis for his comic "Virus". The final attempt was a script based on the 1932 film "The Most Dangerous Game". Pfarrer had the story take place in New Orleans to give an explanation of Jean-Claude Van Damme's accent.


title: Hard Target

text: Before any director was attached to "Hard Target", Universal Pictures saw the film as a potential vehicle for actor Jean-Claude Van Damme. Van Damme had already been a huge fan of Woo's films and arranged to meet with him in Hong Kong where the two got along despite both Woo and Van Damme's difficulty with their English. Woo originally wanted actor Kurt Russell for the lead role, but found Russell to be booked for two years with other film projects. On working with Van Damme, Woo stated that he was "sure of [my own] abilities and I know how to make an actor look good on screen, make him look like a hero. I thought I could do the same for Van Damme". Despite early misgivings of working with Van Damme, Woo changed many action scenes in the film to make them more spectacular on finding that Van Damme was up for it. While working with Van Damme, Woo stated that Van Damme had "a pretty big ego, but he's still professional and always tries to do a good job." Woo had some control over the film's casting including casting minor characters and finding a cinematographer. Actress Yancy Butler was cast as Natasha Binder in her feature film debut. The role led Butler to other starring roles in action films such as "Drop Zone" and "Fast Money". Actor Lance Henriksen accepted the role of Emil Fouchon stating he was a great fan of Woo, noting that his earlier films "were so creative, so balletic, and had this incredible philosophy in them. The violence was only a container for the philosophy".


title: Hard Target

text: Filming began on October 1, 1992. "Hard Target" had 74 days of production time and was shot on location in New Orleans, including sequences shot in the French Quarter. "Hard Target" was put on a tight schedule by Universal that allowed only 65 days of shooting time. This put a lot of pressure on Woo.


title: Hard Target

text: Woo was also pressured by Universal to tone-down the violence and body count that they had seen in his Hong Kong films. As Woo had not mastered the English language yet, it took time for the cast and crew to get used to working with him. When Woo could not explain what he wanted with a shot to cinematographer Russell Carpenter, he would resort to simple statements such as "this will be the Sam Peckinpah shot" to get his message across to Carpenter. Actor Lance Henriksen recalled that it was a gradual process that led everyone involved to start seeing the film as a John Woo film rather than a Jean-Claude Van Damme film. Producer James Jacks recalled that Woo was not "the most powerful person on the set but as far as I was concerned, he was certainly the most respected".


title: Hard Target

text: The weapon fire on the set was considered dangerous, which led the crew to build a new bulletproof plexiglas shield that could be bolted to the camera. This shield was useful particularly for one sequence in "Hard Target" where Van Damme empties a magazine of ammo into the camera. These camera dollies were nicknamed by the crew as "the Woo-Woo Choo-Choo". Russell Carpenter found difficulty in filming the huge gunfight scenes. Carpenter specifically noted the Mardi Gras parade warehouse by recollecting that "just the lighting for a space like that, with all those strange shapes and shadows was difficult enough, but John then added the further complication of wanting the scene shot from several angles at once—often with more than one of the cameras moving". Producer James Jacks supported this style of filming finding it the most economical way to shoot these types of action scenes.


title: Hard Target

text: The film was edited by Bob Murawski on the set using a then state-of-the-art computerized editing unit that allows the user to edit the film as the movie was being shot. The film was then scored by Graeme Revell who employed Kodo drummers from Japan. Woo was contractually obligated to release a R rating by Universal Pictures. When submitting the film to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), it was judged as too violent and intense for an R rating and received an NC-17 rating. Woo re-edited the film six times for the MPAA as they never indicated what specific scenes they found objectionable. During this editing period, Van Damme commissioned his own edit of the film. Van Damme's version excises whole characters to insert more scenes and close-ups of his character Chance. When asked about this edit, Van Damme replied that "People pay their money to see me, not to see Lance Henriksen". The MPAA accepted the film after Woo had made 20 cuts to the film. Scenes cut include the opening chase sequence and the Mardi Gras warehouse sequence. A non-action scene cut from the film was a romantic scene between Chance and Natasha.


title: Hard Target

text: "Hard Target" was tentatively scheduled to open in July 1993. "Hard Target" was released August 20, 1993 in the United States making it the first film by an Asian director to be released by a Hollywood studio.


title: Hard Target

text: "Hard Target" was the second highest-grossing film release of the week at the American box office on its initial release. "Hard Target" also became the 49th highest-grossing film in the United States in 1993. "Hard Target" made US ticket sales of $32.6 million (worldwide sales were $74.2 million).


title: Hard Target

text: "Hard Target" was released on Laserdisc and VHS in 1994. In the United States, the film was the 14th highest selling laserdisc and the 46th most rented VHS film of 1994. "Hard Target" was released on DVD for Region 1 on July 1, 1998. A Region 2 DVD of the film was released on March 20, 2000. The American DVD has also been released with DVD bundle packs, that include other films starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. These DVDs included "Hard Target", as well as "Timecop", "Street Fighter", "Lionheart", "Sudden Death" and "The Quest".


title: Hard Target

text: A longer 116-minute copy of the film has not been released officially, but has been found as a bootleg. This copy is a poor-quality videocassette dub and has a burned-in time code in the corner indicating that the film was not meant for public viewing. The European, Japanese and Australian DVD releases restore three minutes of the violent footage missing from the Region 1 DVD (that was cut for an R rating), making them the versions closest to Woo's original cut.


title: Hard Target

text: About the long version, Woo said: "I like the original cut, of course! And I also heard the long version became a cult movie — some people have seen it and liked it a lot, which is so interesting. And I wish the studio would have interest in releasing the movie again. I think it's worth it to do it." The film was released in 2013 in the U.K. and 2015 in the U.S. by Universal Studios. Kino Lorber released it in the United States on 4K Ultra HD and restored Blu-ray in 2021 including the Unrated Director's Cut and U.S. Theatrical Cut. Extra features is a new interview with director John Woo.


title: Hard Target

text: The film premiered in cinemas on August 20, 1993, in wide release throughout the U.S.. During its opening weekend, the film opened in second place grossing $10,106,500 in business showing at 1,972 locations. The film "The Fugitive" came in first place during that weekend grossing $18,148,331. "Hard Target" <nowiki>'</nowiki>s revenue dropped by 50% in its second week of release, earning $5,027,485. For that weekend, the film fell to third place, even with an increased screening count of 1,999 theaters. "The Fugitive" remained unchallenged in first place grossing $14,502,865 in box office revenue. During its final week in release, "Hard Target" opened in a distant eleventh place with $1,270,945 in revenue. For that particular weekend, "Striking Distance" starring Bruce Willis made its debut, opening in first place with $8,705,808 in revenue. The film went on to top out domestically at $32,589,677 in total ticket sales through a 5-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $41,600,000 in box office business for a combined worldwide total of $74,189,677. For 1993 as a whole, the film worldwide would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 23.


title: Hard Target

text: "Hard Target" received mixed reviews on its initial release praising the film's action scenes but noting the poor story and Jean-Claude Van Damme's acting abilities. On the film review television show "Siskel & Ebert", Roger Ebert stated that "Hard Target" is "not very smart and it's not very original, but it is well made on a technical level. The stunts are impressive ... as an action picture, it's well made, but it never becomes more than competent action and I just can't recommend it for that". Gene Siskel also gave the film a thumbs down on the show stating that "John Woo is a good filmmaker ... Van Damme is pretty wooden ... You notice the style in the film because there is not much substance". Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" wrote that "Van Damme has still not broken the habit of his own blank-faced posturing, although Mr. Woo films him in the most aggrandizing style imaginable". In "Variety", Emanuel Levy wrote that "Hard Target" was "a briskly vigorous, occasionally brilliant actioner starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. However, hampered by a B-script with flat, standard characters, and subjected to repeated editing of the violent sequences to win an R rating, pic doesn't bear the unique vision on display in Woo's recent ""The Killer"" and ""Hard-Boiled"." Van Damme and the director's reputation should ensure initial commercial kick on the way to solid if not spectacular box office". Desson Thompson of "The Washington Post" wrote that "When Van Damme isn't duking it out with the English language, scriptwriter Chuck Pfarrer is filling Henriksen's mouth with villainous pseudo-profundities. Even in a second-rate action picture like this, and despite Henriksen's commendable efforts, they're painful to listen to ... Woo's creative presence is practically stifled. There are some flashes of his deliriously wild style—a slow-motion moment here, a well-chosen freeze-frame there. He also introduces American audiences to his taste for unique motorcycle stunts and very, very loud car explosions. But these Wooisms are disappointingly minimal". Lance Henriksen received a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Emil Fouchon in the film. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 60% from 40 reviews and an average rating of 5.5/10. The consensus summarizes: ""Hard Target" gets a boost from John Woo's stylish direction, but at heart, it's still another silly, explosion-dependent action thriller in the Jean-Claude Van Damme oeuvre."


title: Hard Target

text: In 1995, Van Damme said ""Hard Target" was a bad script, but we had some great action scenes, and John Woo made me look like a samurai with greasy hair."


title: Hard Target

text: In 1997, Woo looked back on "Hard Target", stating that it was "in some ways, quite a troublesome movie to make, but I'm rather happy with the way the action scenes turned out".


title: Hard Target

text: Scott Adkins finished shooting a sequel to the film in December 2015. The sequel starred Robert Knepper, Rhona Mitra, Ann Truong, Temuera Morrison, Adam Saunders, Jamie Timony, Peter Hardy, Troy Honeysett, Sean Keenan and Sahajak Boonthanakit.


title: Claudia Haro

text: Claudia Martha Haro is an American actress. She was previously married to Joe Pesci (1988–1992) and to Garrett Warren (1998–2000). Her screen roles were all in films with ex-husband Joe Pesci: as the newscaster in "Jimmy Hollywood" (1994), Marty in "With Honors" (1994), Trudy in "Casino" (1995), and Julie in "Gone Fishin'" (1997), with the exception of as the New Line Cinema receptionist in "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" (1994).


title: Claudia Haro

text: On May 20, 2000, Haro's ex-husband Garrett Warren, from whom she had recently filed for divorce, was shot four times in the chest, neck, left hip, and right eye by a gunman who arrived at the front door of his Westlake Village, California, apartment. Warren survived the attack, but lost his right eye. In December 2005, Haro was arrested on charges related to the crime. She ultimately pleaded no contest to two counts of attempted murder and a principal firearm charge for the attempted murder of Warren and in April 2012 was sentenced to 12 years 4 months in prison. She served her sentence at the California Institution for Women in Chino, California. She was released in August 2019.


title: Pigeon pea

text: The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) is a perennial legume from the family Fabaceae native to the Old World. The pigeon pea is widely cultivated in tropical and semitropical regions around the world, being commonly consumed in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.


title: Pigeon pea

text: The scientific name for the genus "Cajanus" and the species "cajan" derive from the Malay word "katjang" meaning legume in reference to the bean of the plant.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In English they are commonly referred to as pigeon pea which originates from the historical utilization of the pulse as pigeon fodder in Barbados. The term Congo pea and Angola pea developed due to the presence of its cultivation in Africa and the association of its utilization with those of African descent. The names no-eye pea and red gram both refer to the characteristics of the seed, with no-eye pea in reference to the lack of a hilum on most varieties, unlike the black-eyed pea, and red gram in reference to the red color of most Indian varieties and gram simply referring to the plant being a legume.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Benin Pigeon pea is locally known as klouékoun in Fon, otinin in Ede and eklui in Adja. In Cape Verde they are called feijão Congo in Cape Verdean creole. In Comoros and Mauritius they are known as embrevade or ambrebdade in Comorian and Morisyen, respectively, in return originating from the Malagasy term for the plant amberivatry. In Ghana they are known as aduwa or adowa in Dagbani. In Kenya and Tanzania they are known as mbaazi in Swahili. In Malawi they are called nandolo in Chichewa. In Nigeria pigeon peas are called fiofio or mgbụmgbụ in Igbo, waken-masar ""Egyptian bean"" or waken-turawa ""foreigner bean"" in Hausa, and otinli in Yoruba. In Sudan they are known as adaseya, adasy and adasia.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In India the plant is known by various different names such as; Assamese: অৰহৰ (arahar),• Bengali: অড়হর (arahar) মিৰি মাহ (mirai-maha) • Gujarati: તુવેર (tuver) • Hindi: अरहर (arhar), तुवर (tuvar) • Kannada: ತೊಗರಿ ಬೆಳೆ (togari bele), ತೊಗರಿ ಕಾಳು (togari kalu) • Konkani: तोरी (tori) • Malayalam: ആഢകി (adhaki), തുവര (tuvara) • Manipuri: মাইৰোংবী (mairongbi) • Marathi: तूर (tur) • Nepali: रहर (rahar) • Oriya: ହର୍ ହର୍ (har-har), କାକ୍ଷୀ (kakshi), ତୁବର (tubara) • Persian: شاخول (shakhul) • Punjabi: ਦਿੰਗੇਰ (dinger) • Tamil: ஆடகி (adhaki), இருப்புலி (iruppuli), காய்ச்சி (kaycci), and துவரை (tuvarai) • Telugu: ఆఢకి (adhaki), కంది (kandi), తొగరి (togari), తువరము (tuvaramu) • Tibetan: tu ba ri and in Urdu: ارهر (arhar), توأر (tuar).


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Latin America, they are known as guandul or gandul in Spanish, and feijão andu or gandu in Portuguese all of which derive from Kikongo "wandu" or from Kimbundu "oanda"; both names referring to the same plant.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In the Anglophone regions of the Caribbean, like Jamaica, they are known as Gungo peas, coming from the more archaic English name for the plant "congo pea," given to the plant because of its popularity and relation to Sub-Saharan Africa.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Francophone regions of the Caribbean they are known as pois d' angole, pwa di bwa in Antillean creole and pwa kongo in Haitian creole.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Suriname they are known as wandoe or gele pesi, the former of which is derived from the same source as its Spanish and Portuguese counterparts, the latter of which literally translates to 'yellow pea' from Dutch and Sranan Tongo.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Hawaii they are known as pi pokoliko ""Puerto Rican pea"" or pi nunu ""Pigeon pea"" in the Hawaiian language.


title: Pigeon pea

text: The closest relatives to the cultivated pigeon pea are Cajanus cajanifolia, Cajanus scarabaeoides and Cajanus kerstingii, native to India and the latter West Africa respectively. Much debate exist over the geographical origin of the species, with some groups claiming origin from the Nile river and Western Africa, and the other Indian origin. The two epicenters of genetic diversity exist in both Africa and India, but India is considered to be its primary center of origin with West Africa being considered a second major center of origin.


title: Pigeon pea

text: By at least 2,800 BCE in peninsular India, where its presumptive closest wild relatives "Cajanus cajanifolia" occurs in tropical deciduous woodlands, its cultivation has been documented. Archaeological finds of pigeon pea cultivation dating to about 14th century BC have also been found at the Neolithic site of Sanganakallu in Kalaburagi and its border area Tuljapur (where the cultivation of African domesticated plants like pearl millet, finger millet, and Lablab have also been uncovered), as well as in Gopalpur and other South Indian states.


title: Pigeon pea

text: From India it may have made its way to North-East Africa via Trans-Oceanic Bronze Age trade that allowed cross-cultural exchange of resources and agricultural products. The earliest evidence of pigeon peas in Africa was found in Ancient Egypt with the presence of seeds in Egyptian tombs dating back to around 2,200 BCE. From eastern Africa, cultivation spread further west and south through the continent, where by means of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, it reached the Americas around the 17th century.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Pigeon peas were reportedly introduced to Hawaii in 1824 by James Macrae with a few specimens reportedly becoming naturalized on the islands, but they wouldn't gain much popularity until later. By the early 20th century Filipinos and Puerto Ricans began to emigrate from the American Philippines and Puerto Rico to Hawaii to work in sugarcane plantations in 1906 and 1901, respectively. Pigeon peas are said to have been popularized on the island by the Puerto Rican community where by the First World War their cultivation began, to expand on the island where they are stilled cultivated and consumed by locals.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Pigeon peas contain high levels of protein and the important amino acids methionine, lysine, and tryptophan.


title: Pigeon pea

text: The following table indicates completeness of nutritional profile of various amino acids within mature seeds of pigeon pea.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Methionine + Cystine combination is the only limiting amino acid combination in pigeon pea. In contrast to the mature seeds, the immature seeds are generally lower in all nutritional values, however they contain a significant amount of vitamin C (39 mg per 100 g serving) and have a slightly higher fat content. Research has shown that the protein content of the immature seeds is of a higher quality.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Pigeon peas can be of a perennial variety, in which the crop can last three to five years (although the seed yield drops considerably after the first two years), or an annual variety more suitable for seed production.


title: Pigeon pea

text: World production of pigeon peas is estimated at 4.49 million tons. About 63% of this production comes from India. The total number of hectares grown to pigeon pea is estimated at 5.4 million. India accounts for 72% of the area grown to pigeon pea or 3.9 million hectares. Africa is the secondary centre of diversity and at present it contributes about 21% of global production with 1.05 million tons. Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda are the major producers in Africa.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Pigeon pea is an important legume crop of rainfed agriculture in the semiarid tropics. The Indian subcontinent, Africa and Central America, in that order, are the world's three main pigeon pea-producing regions. Pigeon peas are cultivated in more than 25 tropical and subtropical countries, either as a sole crop or intermixed with cereals, such as sorghum ("Sorghum bicolor"), pearl millet ("Pennisetum glaucum"), or maize ("Zea mays"), or with other legumes, such as peanuts ("Arachis hypogea"). Being a legume capable of symbiosis with Rhizobia, the bacteria associated with the pigeon pea enrich soils through symbiotic nitrogen fixation.


title: Pigeon pea

text: The crop is cultivated on marginal land by resource-poor farmers, who commonly grow traditional medium- and long-duration (5–11 months) landraces. Short-duration pigeon peas (3–4 months) suitable for multiple cropping have recently been developed. Traditionally, the use of such input as fertilizers, weeding, irrigation, and pesticides is minimal, so present yield levels are low (average = ). Greater attention is now being given to managing the crop because it is in high demand at remunerative prices.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Pigeon peas are very drought-resistant and can be grown in areas with less than 650 mm annual rainfall. With the maize crop failing three out of five years in drought-prone areas of Kenya, a consortium led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) aimed to promote the pigeon pea as a drought-resistant, nutritious alternative crop.


title: Pigeon pea

text: John Spence, a botanist and politician from Trinidad and Tobago, developed several varieties of dwarf pigeon peas which can be harvested by machine, instead of by hand.


title: Pigeon pea

text: The pigeon pea is the first seed legume plant to have its complete genome sequenced. The sequencing was first accomplished by a group of 31 Indian scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. It was then followed by a global research partnership, the International Initiative for Pigeon pea Genomics (IIPG), led by ICRISAT with partners such as BGI–Shenzhen (China), US research laboratories like University of Georgia, University of California-Davis, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and National Centre for Genome Resources, European research institutes like the National University of Ireland Galway. It also received support from the CGIAR Generation Challenge Program, US National Science Foundation and in-kind contribution from the collaborating research institutes. It is the first time that a CGIAR-supported research center such as ICRISAT led the genome sequencing of a food crop. There was a controversy over this as CGIAR did not partner with a national team of scientists and broke away from the Indo American Knowledge Initiative to start their own sequencing in parallel.


title: Pigeon pea

text: The 616 mature microRNAs and 3919 long non-codingRNAs sequences were identified in the genome of pigeon pea.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Various methodologies exist in order to remove the pulse from its shell. In earlier days hand pounding was common. Several traditional methods are used that can be broadly classified under two categories: the wet method and the dry method. The Wet method Involves water soaking, sun drying and dehulling. The Dry method Involves oil/water application, drying in the sun, and dehulling. Depending on the magnitude of operation, large-scale commercial dehulling of large quantities of pigeon pea into its deskinned, split version, known as toor dal in Hindi, is done in mechanically operated mills.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Pigeon peas are both a food crop (dried peas, flour, or green vegetable peas) and a forage/cover crop. In combination with cereals, pigeon peas make a well-balanced meal and hence are favored by nutritionists as an essential ingredient for balanced diets. The dried peas may be sprouted briefly, then cooked, for a flavor different from the green or dried peas. Sprouting also enhances the digestibility of dried pigeon peas via the reduction of indigestible sugars that would otherwise remain in the cooked dried peas.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Cape Verde they make a soup with the dried pigeon peas called feijão Congo, after its own name, made with dried pigeon peas in a similar manner to Brazilian feijoada.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Kenya and throughout the Swahili-speaking region of East Africa, pigeon peas are utilized in dishes such as , that is usually served for breakfast.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In the Enugu state of Nigeria, and igbo dish called Ẹchịcha or "Achịcha" is made with palm oil, cocoyam, and seasoning. It is also similar to other dishes from the state such as "ayarya ji" and "fio-fio".


title: Pigeon pea

text: In India, it is one of the most popular pulses, being an important source of protein in a mostly vegetarian diet. It is the primary accompaniment to rice or roti and has the status of staple food throughout the length and breadth of India. In regions where it grows, fresh young pods are eaten as a vegetable in dishes such as "sambar".


title: Pigeon pea

text: In the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, pigeon peas are the main ingredient of a very popular dish called "KBL" - an acronym for "Kadyos" (pigeon pea), "Baboy" (pork), and "Langka" (jackfruit). It is a savory soup with rich flavors coming from the pigeon peas, smoked pork preferably the legs or tail, and souring agent called batuan. Raw jackfruit meat is chopped and boiled to soft consistency, and serves as an extender. The violet color of the soup comes from the pigment of the variety commonly grown in the region.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In the Caribbean coast of Colombia, like the Atlántico department of Colombia, the sopa de guandú con carne salada (or simply "gandules") is made with pigeon peas, yam, plantain, yuca, and spices. During the week of Semana santa a sweet is made out of pigeon peas called "dulce de guandules" which is made by mashed and sweetened pigeon peas with origins in the maroon community of San Basilio de Palenque.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In the Dominican Republic, A dish made of rice and green pigeon peas called moro de guandules is a traditional holyday food in the Dominican Republic.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Panama, pigeon peas are used in a dish called "Arroz con guandú y coco" or "rice with pigeon peas and coconut" traditionally prepared and consumed during the end of year holidays.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Puerto Rico, "arroz con gandules" is made with rice and pigeon peas and sofrito which is a traditional dish, especially during Christmas season. Pigeon peas can also be made in to a stew called "asopao de gandules", with plantain balls.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Jamaica also uses pigeon peas instead of kidney beans in their rice and peas dish, especially during the Christmas season.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada have their own variant, called "pelau", which includes either beef or chicken, and occasionally pumpkin and pieces of cured pig tail.


title: Pigeon pea

text: Unlike in some other parts of the Greater Caribbean, in The Bahamas pigeon peas are used in dried form, light brown in color to make the heartier, heavier, signature Bahamian staple dish "Peas 'n Rice."


title: Pigeon pea

text: In Hawaii they are used to make a dish called "gandule rice," also called "godule rice," "gundule rice", and "ganduddy rice" originates on the island from the Puerto Rican community with historic ties to the island and is prepared in a similar manner to that of traditional Puerto Rican arroz con gandules.


title: Pigeon pea

text: It is an important ingredient of animal feed used in West Africa, especially in Nigeria, where it is also grown. Leaves, pods, seeds and the residues of seed processing are used to feed all kinds of livestock.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In the Congo Pigeon peas are utilized as one of the main food forest and soil improvement crops after using a slash-and-burn fire technique called "maala."


title: Pigeon pea

text: Pigeon peas are in some areas an important crop for green manure, providing up to 90 kg nitrogen per hectare. The woody stems of pigeon peas can also be used as firewood, fencing, thatch and as a source for rope fiber.


title: Pigeon pea

text: In the Republic of Congo the Kongo, Lari, and Dondo people use the sap of the leaves as an eyedrop for epilepsy.


title: Michael Ball

text: Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of "Les Misérables", and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in "The Phantom of the Opera". In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles Chart with "Love Changes Everything", a song taken from the musical "Aspects of Love", where he played Alex. He played the role in London and on Broadway. His album "Coming Home To You" reached number one in the UK making it his 4th number one album to date. On 24 April 2020, Ball and Captain Tom Moore entered the UK Singles Chart at number one with a cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone", with combined chart sales of 82,000 making it the fastest-selling single of 2020.


title: Michael Ball

text: In 1992, Ball represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing second with the song "One Step Out of Time". In 1995, he reprised the role of Marius in "". His other West End roles include Giorgio in "Passion" (1997) and Caractacus Potts in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (2002). He has twice won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He won in 2008 for his role as Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray", and then in 2013 for the title role in the revival of "".


title: Michael Ball

text: Ball was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 Birthday Honours for his services to musical theatre.


title: Michael Ball

text: Ball was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, to a Welsh mother and an English father. His father Tony, who originally wanted to be an actor, trained as an Austin apprentice at the Longbridge plant and progressed to become head of global sales at British Leyland. He was awarded an MBE for services to industry. Ball's maternal grandfather was a coal miner. Ball has a brother, Kevin, four years his senior and a sister, Katherine, almost a decade his junior. He moved to Dartmoor with his parents when he was three years old. He has never had singing lessons, but as a boy he learned to sing by singing along to music, for example; songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson and Frank Sinatra. When he was 11 years old he went to Plymouth College, an independent boarding school, because his parents thought this would give him a good education. However this made him unhappy, as he did not fit into the academic and sporting environment at the school at that time. He did join his fellow junior boarders on Sunday morning at the Pathfinder bible group in St Andrew's church. One summer he went to Pathfinder camp on the isle of Jersey.


title: Michael Ball

text: Ball was interested in the theatre and his father took him to see shows in the school holidays, including a Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre of "King Lear", which impressed him as a youngster of about 14 years' age. He joined a youth theatre, which led to his studying drama at Guildford School of Acting, where he found an environment that suited him. As a student he went busking on Saturdays in Guildford town with a female student friend to earn a little extra money. He graduated in 1984. After his graduation, Ball's singing career rapidly got off the ground. His maternal grandmother, having a musical ear, was proud of Ball's early singing achievements; she died suddenly, however, of a heart attack about one week before his debut in "The Pirates of Penzance".


title: Michael Ball

text: In 1984, after he had left drama school, Ball's first part was in "Godspell" at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, after which he worked for a few months in rep in Basingstoke, but his first major break was a star part in the production of "The Pirates of Penzance" at Manchester Opera House; at an open audition he was selected from about 600 applicants who formed a queue to do singing, acting, and dancing interviews, which were held in three separate rooms. His next important role came when Cameron Mackintosh cast him as Marius in the original London cast of "Les Misérables", but he caught glandular fever and he took six or seven weeks off sick to recover from the associated tonsillitis and post-viral fatigue. When he returned to work he was still suffering from fatigue, and began to get on-stage panic attacks — overwhelming anxiety, a rapid heartbeat, sweating, and problems with vision. These also started happening at other times, such as when he was going to work. For most of the next nine months he lived alone in his flat feeling depressed; he did not seek therapy and left "Les Misérables".


title: Michael Ball

text: Thames Television invited Ball to sing during the Miss England contest, a live televised event, and he sang well enough despite suffering from anxiety. When he viewed a recording later, he realised that no one would have noticed how nervous he was, and he became less worried about his anxiety problem. At about that time, Cameron Mackintosh asked Ball to play Raoul in the second casting of "The Phantom of the Opera" in London, which was necessary after Michael Crawford (who played the Phantom) and Steve Barton (who played Raoul) left the London show to appear in the Broadway staging in New York City. Mackintosh thought that Ball would not be under too much pressure as Raoul, and that the part was right for him.


title: Michael Ball

text: Ball played Alex in "Aspects of Love", both in London and New York, and Giorgio in the London production of Stephen Sondheim's "Passion". "Alone Together" was his one-man show first performed at the Donmar Warehouse (which was reprised in 2004 for the "Singular Sensations" season at the Haymarket). In 1998 Ball performed at three big concerts: "The Fiftieth Birthday Concert of Andrew Lloyd Webber" at the Royal Albert Hall (released on DVD), "Sondheim Tonight" at the Barbican Centre (released on CD) and "Hey, Mr. Producer: The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh" (released on CD and DVD). In 2002 he took on the role of Caractacus Potts in the Sherman Brothers musical "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", which was largely considered his comeback role.


title: Michael Ball

text: In 2004, he co-starred with Petula Clark in a production of Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" at the Cork Opera House, later broadcast by the BBC. Later the same year he was a guest star at Clark's Concert, also broadcast by the BBC. He sang three tracks from his latest album, "Since You've Been Gone"; "Home" and "One Voice", as well as two duets with Clark. Other performances include singing at the BBC's St David's Day concert, in the role of Marius at the "", the tenth anniversary concert of "Les Misérables" in 1995. A lyric baritone, Ball also sang the role of Valjean at a special concert performance of "Les Misérables" for the Queen and her guests at Windsor Castle in 2004. In 2005, with 10 days' notice, he replaced Michael Crawford as Count Fosco in "The Woman in White" after poor health forced Crawford to give up the role.


title: Michael Ball

text: In November 2005, Ball returned to Broadway as Count Fosco in "The Woman in White", which transferred from London's West End. He was, however, forced to leave the show because of a viral infection supposedly caused by the fat suit required for the role; this reportedly raised Ball's body temperature by several degrees during the show.


title: Michael Ball

text: In September 2005, Ball made his New York City Opera debut as Reginald Bunthorne in Gilbert and Sullivan's "Patience". He spent the first quarter of 2006 on complete vocal rest, following the illness that caused him to leave "The Woman in White" on Broadway. By the middle of July, Ball had taken part in the Royal Court Theatre's celebratory performance of "The Rocky Horror Show". He took a leading role in "Kismet" in June and July 2007 for the ENO, and appeared on Channel 4's "Richard & Judy" on 22 June 2007 to promote this production. He then appeared as the solo artist in a controversial 'Musical Theatre' Prom on 27 August 2007 for the BBC at London's Royal Albert Hall. Ball performed a wide range of musical theatre numbers, including several by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The show was broadcast live on BBC Four, as well as on BBC Radio 3.


title: Michael Ball

text: From October 2007 – July 2009, Ball made his West End return starring as Edna Turnblad in the hit musical "Hairspray" at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London. In March 2008, he was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal. He also won the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Edna Turnblad. He recently starred in a new production of "" at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End, alongside Imelda Staunton as Mrs. Lovett. The show premiered at the Chichester Festival Theatre for six weeks starting 24 September 2011 before transferring to London in March 2012. Michael and Imelda were both awarded Olivier awards, best actor and best actress in a musical for their Sweeney Todd performances. Ball starred as Mack in Mack and Mabel, which toured the UK in 2015.


title: Michael Ball

text: In 2021, Ball reprised his role as Edna Turnblad in the new production on Hairspray at the London Coliseum, which opened on the 21st of June.


title: Michael Ball

text: Ball is a concert artist: he tours frequently around the United Kingdom and has also performed concerts in Australia and the United States. He has also had success in the charts with his recording work. Since reaching Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart with "Love Changes Everything" from "Aspects of Love", Ball had lesser success with follow up singles, but in the main has concentrated on releasing albums, all of which achieved gold status within weeks, and in the case of "The Movies" album in 1998, platinum in seven weeks (released 26 October, confirmed platinum status on 12 December).


title: Michael Ball

text: Ball represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 held in Malmö, Sweden, singing the song "One Step Out of Time", which finished second. The single reached number 20 in the UK, while an eponymous album released in the same year reached number 1. This began a run of top 20 albums released over the next two decades. In July 2006, Ball was a guest artist on Julian Lloyd Webber's album "Unexpected Songs" and in November of that year released a DVD containing all the best songs from his "Live in Concert" DVDs. This is split into five sections: Musicals, Love Songs, Personal Favourites, Party Time, and Unplugged. The DVD also included a brand new "Unplugged" session which Ball recorded especially with four other musicians in the studio. It was released on 20 November 2006. Ball took part in many promotional activities at the end of the 2006 to coincide with the release of his album "One Voice". This involved singing the song "Home" on ITV's GMTV, "This Morning", and the BBC One programme "The Heaven and Earth Show", hosted by Gloria Hunniford.


title: Michael Ball

text: A new compilation album entitled "Michael Ball: The Silver Collection" was released in July 2007, along with the DVD version of his 1995 film "England My England". Towards the end of 2007, Ball recorded his 15th solo album for release on 15 October of that year. The album features songs all written by Burt Bacharach and is entitled "Back to Bacharach". It was released along with a performance DVD of his 2007 tour, "One Voice Live", filmed at London's Hammersmith Apollo. Promotional activities took place throughout October and November 2007 for these releases including appearances on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" and "Loose Women".


title: Michael Ball

text: In February 2013, Ball released his album "Both Sides Now" featuring the song "Fight the Fight" from Tim Rice's new musical From Here to Eternity.


title: Michael Ball

text: In November 2014 Ball released his new album, "If Everyone Was Listening". In March 2019, he released the album "Coming Home To You". The album reached number one in the UK album charts and, although Ball has had many hits, this is his first solo number 1 selling album in 26 years.


title: Michael Ball

text: He has recorded 3 albums with Alfie Boe. Two reached number 1; Ball & Boe: Together in 2016 and Ball & Boe: Together Again in 2017.


title: Michael Ball

text: In April 2020, Ball recorded a duet with 99 year old World War II veteran Captain Tom Moore, in aid of the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 24 April, not only giving Ball his first chart-topping single at the age of 57, but also making Moore the oldest ever person in history to score a number one hit.


title: Michael Ball

text: As an actor, Ball briefly appeared as Malcolm Nuttall in "Coronation Street" in 1985. Ball has also turned his hand to presenting both on TV and radio. Ball had his own TV series, "Michael Ball", in 1993 and 1994 a Christmas Special in 1995 and a three-part series in 1998 filmed by BBC Cymru Wales "Ball in the Hall". These three episodes were combined to make a special which was then broadcast on BBC One. Ball has presented "The National Lottery Draws" and "Children in Need". He guest presented "This Morning" for a short period.


title: Michael Ball

text: Ball co-judged the second series of ITV reality television show "Soapstar Superstar" in 2007. In 2010 Ball took part in the BBC Cymru Wales programme "Coming Home" about his Welsh family history. In 2010, Ball presented 30 episodes of "The Michael Ball Show", his own daytime series for ITV. In 2010 and 2011, Ball guest presented six episodes of "Lorraine" for ITV Breakfast.


title: Michael Ball

text: On 10 April 2013, Ball guest hosted "The One Show" for the first time as a stand-in presenter. He has presented the show on several occasions since. On 18 November 2013, Ball guest presented an episode of teatime chat show "The Paul O'Grady Show" after Paul O'Grady was taken ill. On 24 November 2013, he guest starred as a fictionalized version of himself in the British sitcom "Toast of London". On 29 December 2013, Ball was a contestant on a celebrity Christmas edition of "Catchphrase".


title: Michael Ball

text: On 3 January 2014, BBC Four broadcast a special tribute programme to the lyricist Don Black called "Diamonds are Forever: A tribute to Don Black" which took place at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Ball sang two songs on this show; the first was the song Born Free, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and was a hit for the British male singer Matt Monro in 1966. Black wrote the lyrics for this song and the music was composed by John Barry for the film of the same name, Born Free. The second song Ball sang during the programme was Love Changes Everything, a song that Black co-wrote with lyricist Charles Hart for the musical "Aspects of Love", composed by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. This song was released as a single by Ball in 1989 and stayed in the British pop charts for fourteen weeks. The BBC Concert Orchestra provided the orchestral backing for Ball on both songs for this performance.


title: Michael Ball

text: On 26 December 2014, Ball starred in Victoria Wood's musical "That Day We Sang", reuniting him with his "Sweeney Todd" co-star Imelda Staunton.


title: Michael Ball

text: Ball had his own radio series, "Ball over Broadway" on BBC Radio 2, which is in its fourth season, "The Greenroom", and several specials for BBC Radio 2 on subjects such as Nat King Cole, Cameron Mackintosh, and Cy Coleman.


title: Michael Ball

text: His first regular show on Radio 2 was "Michael Ball's Sunday Brunch" in 2008, replacing Michael Parkinson whose show "Parkinson's Sunday Supplement" had ended the previous year. The show aired on Sunday mornings between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. until September 2011, latterly sharing its time slot with "Weekend Wogan" presented by Terry Wogan.


title: Michael Ball

text: After a short break, in 2013 Ball returned to Radio 2 with a new show, "Sunday Night With Michael Ball", airing on Sunday evenings between 7 pm and 9 pm. Following the death of Sir Terry Wogan, Ball returned to the Sunday morning slot on 10 April 2016, with the show now titled "The Michael Ball Show". Claudia Winkleman took over the vacant Sunday evening slot later that month.