Found 3 collections related to Opera producers and directors -- United States

Opera director, concert singer, teacher, conductor and impresario, Dawson was the founder, president, and general manager of the National Negro Opera Company. Formed in 1941 due to Dawson's concern regarding the lack of opportunity for Afro-Americans in opera because of racial discrimination, for over 20 years the Company presented such productions as Verdi's Aida and La Traviata, and C.C. White's Ouanga. Among the featured opera singers were Minto Cato, Lillian Evanti, Muriel Rahn, Edward Boatner, and Robert McFerrin. Ms. Dawson also founded the Cardwell School of Music and the prize winning Cardwell-Dawson Chorus. At the time of Dawson's death in 1962, her proteges were appearing in the great opera houses of the world. Collection of documents relating to Dawson and the National Negro Opera Company. Collection includes a booklet describing the history and activities of the Company, biographical data on Dawson, and several certificates commending Dawson for her achivements and contributions to various organizations. less

Walt Witcover (1924-2013) was a director and acting teacher who worked primarily in New York City. He founded the Masterworks Laboratory Theatre (MLT) company in 1969 after staging a modern revival of La Traviata (Act I) with the Actors Studio in 1968. The collection, dated from 1926 to 2011, illustrates Witcover's fifty-year theatre career via correspondence, scripts, director's notes, class outlines, published and unpublished writings, and photography. less