Problem: Given the question: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: Who found their publisher firmly opposed to one of their projects?  The one-act opera genre had become increasingly popular in Italy following the 1890 competition sponsored by publisher Edoardo Sonzogno for the best such work, which was won by the young Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. With Tosca essentially completed by November 1899, Puccini sought a new project. Among sources he considered, before proceeding with Madama Butterfly, were three works by French dramatist Alphonse Daudet that Puccini thought might be made into a trilogy of one-act operas.After Butterfly premiered in 1904, Puccini again had difficulty finding a new subject. He further considered the idea of composing three one-act operas to be performed together, but found his publisher, Giulio Ricordi, firmly opposed to such a project, convinced that it would be expensive to cast and produce. The composer then planned to work with his longtime librettist, Giuseppe Giacosa, on an opera about Marie Antoinette, a project frustrated by the librettist's illness. Puccini wrote in November 1905, "Will we go back to it? [Maria Antonietta] If I find three one-act works that suit me, I'll put off M.A."  Puccini pursued neither project, as Giacosa's illness led to his death in September 1906.In March 1907, Puccini wrote to Carlo Clausetti, Ricordi's representative in Naples, proposing three one-act operas based on scenes from stories by Russian novelist Maxim Gorky. By May the composer had set aside this proposal to concentrate on the project which became La fanciulla del West, although he did not wholly abandon the idea of a multiple-opera evening. His next idea in this vein, some years later, was for a two-opera bill, one tragic and one comic; he later expanded this to include a third opera with a mystic or religious tone. By November 1916 Puccini had completed the "tragic" element, which became Il tabarro, but he still lacked ideas for the other two works. He considered staging Il tabarro in combination with his own early work Le Villi, or with other two-act operas which might be used to round out the evening's...
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The answer is:
Puccini


Problem: Given the question: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: Who tries to kill themself?  Fellow department store shopgirls and roommates Gerry March, Connie Blair and Franky Daniels take different paths in New York City, but all seek to marry wealthy men. Connie pursues an affair with David Jardine, son of the department store owner.  Meanwhile, Franky meets the slick-talking Marty Sanderson when he comes into the store to buy $500 worth of towels.  However, when Sanderson comes to pick Franky up, he hits on Gerry instead. At the same time, Gerry has been constantly courted by the dashing Tony Jardine, elder son of the store owner.  He is used to getting what he wants, but when he invites her to visit the gardens on his estate alone. Gerry, who believes that virtue will be her only reward, rebuffs Tony and intimates that he is childish. Franky falls in love with Sanderson, who spoils her with diamonds and silk.  Gerry is suspicious, especially when she finds them both drunk and has to lead Franky out.  However, unbeknownst to them, Sanderson is the leader of a criminal gang that steals from department stores like the one the women work at.  The police come to apprehend Franky, believing she is a part of the gang, but she knows nothing of it.   Meanwhile, Connie is very happy with David and intends to marry him.  However, she reads in the newspaper that David intends to marry the high-society Evelyn Woodforth.  She listens to the reception being broadcast on the radio and takes poison in an attempt kill herself.  Gerry finds her and goes to Tony in order to force David to leave his reception to visit Connie.  In a contentious conversation, Tony forces David to leave and visit Connie, and this selfless act attracts Gerry and convinces her that Tony is a good guy after all.  However, despite David's visit, Connie dies.
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The answer is:
Connie


Problem: Given the question: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: What is the full name of the prosecuting counsel's son?  Just-married taxi driver Thomas Leslie 'Tom' Manning is led to an abandoned bomb-site by an eight-year-old girl who says that she has lost her dog. The kind-hearted Manning gives her his handkerchief to dry her tears. She then runs off taunting Manning as an April-fool prank. He stumbles and raises a fist at her – and this is witnessed by Mrs Zunz. The girl is later found murdered on the bomb site, strangled as she sang 'Oranges and Lemons' while feeding the ducks. Manning is picked up by Scotland Yard for questioning and is later arrested and charged with murder, with circumstantial evidence including his handkerchief (found under the body of the girl), a fibre from his coat under the dead girl's fingernail and the testimony of Mrs Zunz. A wartime pilot who suffered a head-wound, even Manning himself started to doubt his mind, and wondered if he had suffered from a "blackout"?Manning's wife, Jill, convinced he is innocent, contacts lawyers, but the defending barrister refuses to see her and her imprisoned husband, because he wants to preserve an "objective view" on the case. She later wins the sympathy of the junior counsel Peter Tanner, who visits Manning in prison, believes in his protestation of innocence and makes the case his own. The trial begins at London's Old Bailey, where Tanner is opposed by his father, prosecuting counsel Geoffrey Tanner. The trial is presided over by Justice Harrington, whose wife is in the hospital undergoing a serious operation. It soon becomes evident that things are going badly for Manning. Jurors are seen expressing their belief in Manning's guilt even before the trial was over. Irene's mother gave hearsay evidence that Manning had given the victim sweets, breaking down in tears and accusing Manning of murder. Following the testimony of prosecution-witness Horace Clifford, all of the evidence seems to point to Manning's guilt.
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The answer is:
Peter Tanner