Found 148 collections related to Theater -- New York (State) -- New York

Philip Loeb (1894-1955) was an American stage and television actor. He worked at a number of theaters in New York as an actor, stage manager and casting director. He also taught at the Americ.an Academy of Dramatic Arts. In the 1930s he joined the Actors' Equity Association and was a member of its Executive Committee. He was accused of being a communist supporter and was blacklisted after being summoned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1951. Collection consists of correspondence, Loeb's personal papers and printed matter. Correspondence, 1937-1955, includes letters concerning his alleged communist activities. Personal papers contain materials relating to his involvement with Actors' Equity, 1940-1954; House Committee on Un-American Activities, 1951; American Academy of Dramatic Arts, 1953; legal documents, 1913-1948; and financial records, 1932-1955. Also, file of newspaper clippings, 1947-1950. less

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

Michel Mok (1889?-1961) was a theatrical press agent and journalist. Born in the Netherlands, he immigrated to Canada and later to the U.S. where he worked as a reporter for the New York Post. In the mid-1940s he associated himself with Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for whom he handled publicity, public relations and scheduling of major productions. He also translated The Works of Anne Frank for Doubleday. Collection consists of correspondence, business files, typescripts of writings and translations, photographs, and printed matter. Business files include biographical sketches of actors and actresses, programs and press releases. 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

Rowland Stebbins (1882-1948) was a New York theatrical producer who worked under the name Laurence Rivers, Inc. He began his professional life as a stockbroker, started producing plays during the 1920s, and in 1929 became a full-time theatrical producer. Collection consists of correspondence and production records of Laurence Rivers, Inc. Correspondence, 1933-1947, with playwrights, actors, agents, theatrical unions and organizations, theater managers, and others, reflects the day-to-day operation of the firm's office. Also includes circulars, legal agreements and other communications from the League of New York Theaters; and Stebbins's correspondence with Union College, 1935-1947. Production records contain correspondence, memoranda, financial papers, legal documents, photographs, and printed matter. 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

Edward Hugh Sothern (1859-1933) was an American actor and author who appeared on the New York and London stages; Julia Marlowe (1865-1950) was a successful actress in New York. They became co-stars in 1904, were married in 1911, and toured, mainly in Shakespeare plays, until her final retirement in 1924. Sothern devoted much of his later years to public readings, lectures and writing. Collection consists of correspondence, writings, theatre materials, financial and legal papers, and photographs. Correspondence, ca. 1860-1950, is between Sothern and Marlowe and with colleagues, family and friends; other correspondence concerns business and legal matters. Literary papers, ca. 1908-1929, contain notes, copy books, drafts, and typescripts of essays, poems, lectures, articles, and books by Sothern and Marlowe. Theatre-related materials, 1920s-1930s, include papers on Sothern's recitals, notes, prompt books, account books, box office statements, and 1926 Actors' Equity scrapbook. Financial and legal materials, 1908-1940s, pertain to theatrical finances and personal affairs. Also, photographs of Sothern and Marlowe, and their family and friends. less

Stage Women's War Relief was organized in New York City at the beginning of World War I to coordinate the efforts of volunteers among women in the theatre. They provided hospital supplies and clothing for soldiers in Europe, conducted Liberty Loan drives, arranged entertainments and stage performances for troops, and opened a canteen in 1918 for soldiers and sailors in New York City. Collection consists of correspondence and other records of the Stage Women's War Relief as well as some papers of Daisy Humphreys, National Chairman of the Press Dept. Records include correspondence, 1918-1919; music and short plays performed at bond rallies and troop centers; and printed matter. Humphreys's papers contain correspondence, 1927-1938; and programs, 1890s, and magazines, 1914, concerning her acting career and interest in the French stage. 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