Found 129 collections related to Theater -- New York (State) -- New York

Philip Van Doren Stern (1900-1984) was a historian, social critic, editor and author, best known for the short story which became the source for the 1946 film IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Elmer Harris (1878-1966) was a playwright and screenwriter, best known for his play and film JOHNNY BELINDA. The correspondence between Elmer Harris and Philip Van Doren Stern dates from April 1939 to January 1940, and concerns Harris' stage adaptation of Stern's book THE MAN WHO KILLED LINCOLN, concerning the last days of John Wilkes Booth. Also taking part in the correspondence was producer Joseph M. Gaites (1873-1940), who initiated the theatrical project and selected Harris as adaptor, and who occasionally wrote to Stern with updates on the production, and on the Hollywood producers said to be interested in motion picture rights to the play. The Stern-Harris letters discuss Booth and the historical facts concerning Abraham Lincoln's assassination, the portrayal of Booth in Stern's book and in the play, and matters concerning the production such as scenery and possible casting choices. Harris' outline which details the play scene by scene is included with an early letter. The play eventually premiered at the Longacre Theatre on January 17, 1940, but closed three days later after only five performances. No film version was made. less

The Brooks Atkinson papers contain correspondence, awards, personal papers, photographs, ephemera, scrapbooks, datebooks, clippings and subject files and document his life and career as a drama critic for the New York Times. The papers span the years 1904-1980. Significant in the correspondence are letters from notables figures of the theater community including writers, actors, scholars and other journalists. Included in these are Sean O'Casey, Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder, Eugene and Carlota O'Neill, Robert W. Anderson, Maxwell Anderson, Clifford Odets, Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, to name a few. less

Carl Henkle was the author of two plays produced on Broadway, DECISION (1929) and PAGE PYGMALION (1932). Henkle's play DECISION opened at the 49th Street Theatre on May 27, 1929, and ran for 64 performances. PAGE PYGMALION opened at the Bijou Theatre on Aug. 3, 1932, and ran for 13 performances. The Carl Henkle papers consist of a small amount of correspondence and five tablets of pencil sketches of female figures by an unknown artist. The correspondence includes three telegrams wishing Henkle good luck on his first Broadway play, DECISION, including one from an actress in the cast. The other letters involve a dispute concerning the bill for a kimona used in PAGE PYGMALION, Henkle's second Broadway play. The unsigned and unlabelled sketches of women appear to be student work, but might have been preliminary costume sketches for one of Henkle's productions. less

Maria Astrova, also known as Marie or Masha Solomonik, was an actress who studied with Stanislavki, toured Europe, then came to New York in 1940, where she and her husband Alexandre Solomonik were central figures in the Theatre of Russian Drama, a troupe which performed in Russian. During her time with the Moscow Art Theatre in the 1920s, Maria Astrova toured Europe as a member of the Prague Troupe. She left in 1930 to settle in Paris, and married Alexandre Solomonik there the following year. She continued acting with a troupe in Paris until she and her husband moved to Brussels. As the war approached, the couple moved to London, then emigrated to the United States in 1940. During the 1940s Maria Astrova and her husband staged Russian drama in New York, Astrova as an actress and Alexander Solomonik as producer and chief financial backer of the Theatre of Russian Drama. The Maria Astrova papers consist primarily of newspaper clippings from Russian language newspapers of the 1940s and 1950s, mostly Russky Golos as well as the Novoye Russkoye Slovo, in which the productions and activities of the Theatre of Russian Drama are described. In addition to the newspaper clippings, there are two programs from performances of works by Gogol, MARRIAGE (1944) and THE INSPECTOR GENERAL (1949), featuring Maria Astrova. Aside from one 1970 clipping, all other news material dates from between 1941 and 1952. There is one brief letter in Russian, dated 1952, from Vladimir Zelitsky, director of the Theatre of Russian Drama. There is a booklet dated 1946 with text in Russian and a number of pictures of dancers. There is also a watercolor of three costume designs, with two swatches of fabric attached. less

The Michael Strange papers consist primarily of 218 autographed letters, many more then 2 pages in length, from her second husband John Barrymore. These span the years 1917-1925 and coincide with the end of her marriage to Leonard Thomas, as well as Barrymore's and Strange's courtship, marriage and divorce. Michael Strange was John Barrymore's second wife and the correspondence gives insight to the stormy nature of their relationship. Most of the correspondence is love letters which use personal terms of endearment and are almost always affectionate and sometimes sexually explicit. less

Artist Leo Mielziner (1869-1935) and his wife Ella McKenna Friend Mielziner (1873-1968), raised two sons, each of whom became prominent in the arts: Leo J. (1899-1962), a stage and screen actor and director who worked under the name Kenneth MacKenna, and Jo Mielziner (1901-1976), one of the most influential designers of theatrical scenery and lighting of the twentieth century. The Mielziner family papers consist of correspondence, most of it personal but some of a more formal nature, other papers, a few sketches, clippings, ephemera, and family photographs, some of which have been placed in small albums. less

A theatrical organization founded by a group of writers and artists whose common aim was the production of new and experimental plays, the Provincetown Players began performing in 1915 in members' homes in Provincetown, Mass. In 1916 the Players took up residence in Greenwich Village, NY and launched the career of Eugene O'Neill with a production of his Bound East for Cardiff. Called the first minute book; contains constitution, resolutions, meeting minutes, membership lists, correspondence and financial reports, both typed and handwritten. less

The papers of Montgomery Clift consist of a small amount of correspondence, scripts, photographs, notes and scrapbooks. The strength of the collection is in the large number of annotated scripts which range from early drafts to final scripts. The annotations provide insight both to Clift's involvement in the development of the films and plays and the characters he portrayed. Some plays included are : THE SEA GULL (1954), THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT (1940), YOU TOUCHED ME (1945) and YR. OBEDIENT HUSBAND (1938). Films include: THE BIG LIFT (1950), THE DEFECTOR (1966), FREUD (1962), FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953), JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961), THE MISFITS (1961), A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951), RAINTREE COUNTY (1957), THE SEARCH (1948), SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER (1959), WILD RIVER (1960) and THE YOUNG LIONS (1958), among others. Included as well is a manuscript for an unproduced screenplay written by Clift and Kevin McCarthy, Clift's friend and collaborator. less

Nathaniel Buchwald (1890-1956), drama critic, teacher, and authority on Yiddish theater, was also a co-founder of the Artef Players Collective, a Yiddish dramatic group, active in New York from the late 1920's to 1940. Born in the Ukraine, Nathaniel Buchwald came to the U.S. as a young man and studied at the University of Georgia, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and New York University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. He became a journalist, contributing pieces in Yiddish to the Jewish Daily Forward of New York, then co-founded the Morning Freiheit in 1922. Mr. Buchwald became the Morning Freiheit's drama critic, and also wrote a theater column for the monthly Jewish Life. In 1925, he and several like-minded colleagues formed the Artef Players Collective, a drama troupe dedicated to performing "plays of social import," supported by subscribers and by the players themselves. The collective staged its first production in 1927, and prospered during the Depression, but eventually experienced financial and other difficulties resulting in a two-year hiatus, 1937-9. The group resumed work with Louis Miller's CLINTON STREET in autumn 1939, but despite positive notices and popular support they disbanded in February 1940. In 1943 Nathaniel Buchwald published a book on Yiddish theater in America. He died in 1956. The Nathaniel Buchwald papers and lecture notes span 1927-1940 and consist of lecture notes, a five page ballet synopsis, a program and a handbill relating to the life and career of Nathaniel Buchwald, a critic and co-founder of the Artef Players Collective. The bulk of the collection consists of lecture notes, some encased in mylar, which date from 1927 to 1937 and pertain to the study of drama. There is also an unsigned, undated synopsis for a "proposed Purim ballet," suggested by the folk festival Purim, based on narrative material by Sholem Aleichem. Also included is a program and a handbill for a revue written by Nathaniel Buchwald, LEBEDIK UN FREILACH. less

In the course of his career, Richard Seff worked as an actor, agent, and playwright. The correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, and clippings in this collection document his professional career and his friendship with many notable names of show business. less

The Robert Benney drawings are black and white sketches in graphite and ink primarily of actors and actresses in costume for New York City theater productions. The drawings also include sketches of entire scenes and portraits of musicians, radio personalities, comedians, dancers and film stars. There are some photocopies in the collection; most duplicate the Library's holdings of originals. less

Robert Edmond Jones (1887-1954), stage scenic designer, director, author, and motion picture production designer, collaborated on several stage productions with puppet designer and puppeteer Remo Bufano (d. 1948). After collaborating on a production of OEDIPUS REX in the early 1930s, the two men corresponded about a number of other potential projects over the ensuing years, most of which, it would appear, did not come to fruition. In the theater, Mr. Jones was closely identified with the work of Eugene O'Neill, and also designed and/or directed THE GREEN PASTURES (1930) and OTHELLO (1934). Both men found work in motion pictures, Mr. Jones designing such early Technicolor films as BECKY SHARP (1935) and THE DANCING PIRATE (1936), while Mr. Bufano contributed puppetry to the Fred Astaire musical YOLANDA AND THE THIEF (1945). Mr. Bufano had plans to bring puppetry to television in its early days, but died in 1948. The collection consists of four folders of correspondence between Robert Edmond Jones and Remo Bufano, concerning projects both realized and unrealized. Three of Mr. Bufano's early letters are in French. less

The Roman Bohnen papers consist of family, personal and professional correspondence as well as scrapbooks of clippings, reviews, programs, and photographs. The collection documents Bohnen's career including early theatrical experiences, his life as a New York actor and member of the Group Theatre, his motion picture years, and the establishment of the Actors' Laboratory Theatre. The correspondence between him and his brother Arthur is rich in personal information about family relationships. The papers span the years 1919-1976 with the emphasis on 1922-1949. Arthur Bohnen's account of his brother's life is included. less

The Sara Greenspan Theatre Guild Files chiefly contain correspondence relating to activities of the Theatre Guild during some of its most significant years of operation. Sara Greenspan, who began as secretary with the Guild in 1925, served as the business manager of the prestigious production company for twenty years before retiring in 1963. less

The Neighborhood Playhouse was founded in 1915, by two sisters Alice and Irene Lewisohn, as part of the Henry Street Settlement House. This neighborhood theatre closed in 1927. In 1928, Irene Lewisohn in collaboration with Rita Wallach Morgenthau founded the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. Contains partial handwritten script with notes, sheet music, property plot, costume lists, rehearsal schedules, ground plans (in pieces), and a handwritten report on the 1933-1934 year at the Neighborhood Playhouse where BODAS DE SANGRE was considered a play ready for production. Also includes a poster for a memorial program for Federico Garcia Lorca at Washington Irving High School in New York City on Oct. 8, 1937. less

The manuscript and photograph collection of James Stewart Morcom and John William Keck contains a scrapbook, newspaper and magazine clippings, photo albums, photographs, theater programs, souvenir brochures, playbills, theater journals, and a copy of a 32-page oral history transcript. The majority of the collection pertains to Radio City Music Hall. less

Shirley De Me was an actress whose appearances included the role of "Mary" in the silent film BONDWOMEN (1915). Jeanne De Me was an actress whose stage appearances included LOOSE ANKLES (1926) and DIVIDED HONORS (1929). The Shirley De Me ephemera consists of family letters, congratulatory telegrams to Jeanne De Me wishing her success in the show LOOSE ANKLES (1926), and bank books covering her savings account between 1926 and 1933. less

Anderson Lawler was a stage and screen actor, later a producer. Born in Russellville, Alabama, in 1902 (some sources say 1904), Anderson Lawler acted in several stage plays in the 1920s, went to Hollywood in 1929, and acted in a number of films over the next ten years, including BE YOURSELF! (1930) with Fanny Brice, George Cukor's GIRLS ABOUT TOWN (1931), Frank Capra's AMERICAN MADNESS (1932), RIPTIDE (1934) with Norma Shearer, and EVER SINCE EVE (1937) with Marion Davies. Lawler also worked as a talent scout, and after 1939 he gave up acting and served as an associate producer for 20th Century Fox, for whom he produced Joseph L. Mankiewicz' SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT (1946). Returning to New York in the 1950s he produced several plays, including OH MEN, OH WOMEN. Anderson Lawler died of a heart attack on April 6, 1959. The Anderson Lawler correspondence spans 1927-1959, and consists mostly of telegrams, most of them from Lawler to his mother sending best wishes on various holidays and other occasions, and sometimes giving updates on his career. In addition to the notes from Lawler, there are brief messages and invitations from such Hollywood notables as George Cukor, Janet Gaynor, and Tallulah Bankhead. A late 1920s program from the Mayfair Club of Los Angeles displays two pencilled caricatures of actress Lupe Velez. less

Adeline Leitzbach, also known as Adelaine Leitzbach, was a playwright and screenwriter who often worked in collaboration, and was active from the 1910s through the 1940s. Plays written by Adeline Leitzbach include THE WOMAN HE LOVED, FADED ORANGE BLOSSOMS, A WOMAN OF MYSTERY, SUCCESS (1918), which starred Helen Holmes, and was co-authored with Theodore J. Liebler, Jr., and BEYOND THE GATES OF PARADISE, co-authored with Henry Belmar. Adeline Leitzbach wrote the screenplays for a number of silent films, including DIAMONDS AND PEARLS (1917), STOLEN HONOR, THE HEART OF ROMANCE, HER PRICE, and THE LIAR (all 1918), and also provided the original story for several later films, including COUNTERFEIT LOVE (1923), MANHATTAN KNIGHTS (1928), THE PEACOCK FAN (1929), and NOTORIOUS BUT NICE (1933). In the later years of her career Adeline Leitzbach attempted to adapt her writing skills to the requirements of radio drama. The Adeline Leitzbach papers span 1924 to 1949, and consist primarily of letters to Ms. Leitzbach from radio station WOR, New York, N.Y., concerning her script submissions and program ideas. There is one handwritten letter written by Adeline Leitzbach in German, dated 1924, and a press packet from the Chesterfield Motion Picture Corporation touting new releases of 1929, including THE PEACOCK FAN, based on a story by Adeline Leitzbach. less

Bessie Breuer (1893-1975) was a journalist, novelist, short story writer and playwright whose only produced play, SUNDOWN BEACH (1948), was one of the first efforts of the Actors Studio. After an early career in journalism as reporter and editor, Breuer began publishing short stories and, in 1935, her first novel, MEMORY OF LOVE. During World War II she wrote radio scripts for the Office of War Information. After the war a health crisis compelled Breuer to go south to recover, and in Florida she met the recuperating Air Force fliers who became the central figures of her play SUNDOWN BEACH. In later years Breuer continued to write novels. She died in New York City in September 1975 at the age of 81. The Bessie Breuer papers consist of documents concerning the Broadway run of Breuer's play SUNDOWN BEACH, which opened at the Belasco Theatre on Sep. 7, 1948, and closed on the 11th after seven performances. Directed by Elia Kazan, SUNDOWN BEACH marked the first Broadway venture of the newly-formed Actors' Studio. The cast featured several young actors who went on to notable careers, including Julie Harris, Cloris Leachman, Martin Balsam, Nehemiah Persoff, and Phyllis Thaxter. The play concerned the rehabilitation of World War II fliers suffering from combat trauma. Despite some public support, the play received mostly negative reviews and closed in less than a week. Much of the Bessie Breuer collection consists of letters offering emotional support in the wake of the production's failure. Among the correspondents are writers John Dos Passos and Stark Young, as well as Julie Harris. There are also several typed pages of notes from Breuer to director Elia Kazan, apparently written during the play's rehearsal process; Kazan's replies to Breuer are pencilled in the margins. less

The Betty Wharton Papers contain photographs, programs, scrapbooks and correspondence documenting the careers of Ms. Wharton and her husband. Ms. Wharton's papers include photographs, scrapbooks and programs from 1917-1947. The papers of her husband, John F. Wharton, include business correspondence and papers from 1962-1978, and a theatrical scrapbook from 1921-1922. less

Anne Nichols was a playwright best known for the highly successful comedy ABIE'S IRISH ROSE, which opened on Broadway in 1922, ran for five years, and inspired two movies and a radio series. Born in Dales Mill, Georgia, in 1891, Anne Nichols became an actress as a teenager and appeared on stage and in two early silent movies by the age of 20. Her first full-length work as a playwright was HEARTS DESIRE, written with Adelaide Matthews, with whom Nichols also co-authored JUST MARRIED (1922). Writing alone, Nichols provided the libretto for the musical LOVE DREAMS (1921). ABIE'S IRISH ROSE, a comedy about the romance between an Irish girl and a Jewish boy and the inter-family clash that results, received poor reviews from most critics when it opened in 1922, but audiences loved it, and kept the play running for over 2,300 performances until October 1927. A silent film adaptation starring Buddy Rogers was released in 1929, and a sound version, produced by Bing Crosby, in 1946. The premise was also adapted into a radio series, which ran from 1942 to 1944. Anne Nichols wrote several other plays and directed as well, and later managed property for the Actors' Fund. She died in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on September 15, 1966, at the age of 74. The Anne Nichols papers contain correspondence and writings documenting a portion of her career, with the emphasis on ABIE'S IRISH ROSE. Other materials include legal files dealing with the will of William de Lignemare. There are also files and correspondence dealing with property belonging to the Actors' Fund that Anne Nichols managed for them. less

Annie Hart was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts circa 1860. A star of both vaudeville and Tony Pastor's Theater, she spent most of her life in the entertainment field. She first appeared in THE BLACK CROOK at Niblo's Gardens. She toured both in the United States and the British Isles.Among the productions in which she appeared was the 1928 production of Jerome Kern's SHOW BOAT. After she retired from the theater she resided in New Jersey with Mr. and Mrs. Howard Marsh, also of the entertainment world. She died in Fair Haven, New Jersey in 1947. The Annie Hart Papers and Scrapbook contain photographs and clippings of family and friends in the 1920's and 1930's. Many photographs in the scrapbook are of Annie Hart, Helen Morgan, Howard Marsh and his wife, Marian Marsh. Correspondence is from notables of vaudeville and musical theater of the early 20th century. less

J. Edward Bromberg, actor, director, and producer, was part of the Civic Repertory Theatre, the Group Theatre, and the Actors' Laboratory Theatre as well as a leading character actor in motion pictures. His papers contain scripts, correspondence, playbills, press releases, and clippings that document his career. less