- unitid
-
{"value"=>"23082", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"*T-Vim 2014-180", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1927", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1927"}
{"value"=>"circa 1920s-1930s", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1920/1939", "certainty"=>"approximate"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Frank Cambria and Sophie T. Cambria collection of Vincente Minnelli costume designs"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"3 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1.25 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Billy Rose Theatre Division</span>"}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Cambria, Frank, 1883-1966", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>In 1916, A.J. and Barney Balaban joined their brother-in-law Sam Katz to create the theatrical management firm Balaban & Katz. With increasing success and larger capitalization, Balaban & Katz began more than a decade of developing new and architecturally significant movie theatres in which they developed innovative connections between motion pictures and elaborately-designed vaudeville and stage performances featuring many of the leading entertainers of the day. By 1924, Balaban & Katz was the most successful chain of movie theatres in the United States.</p> <p> Frank Cambria was the art director for Balaban & Katz in Chicago, later transferring to the New York offices of Paramount-Publix after it acquired Balaban & Katz in 1926. This collection was compiled by Cambria and passed down to his daughter, Sophie T. Cambria, who was the aunt of the seller.</p> <p>American film and stage director, Vincente Minnelli began his theatrical career as a costume and set designer in Chicago. Minnelli recalls these early years in Chicago in his 1974 autobiography: \"With singleness of mind, I called on Frank Cambria, the head man [at Balaban & Katz]. He looked at my portfolio, which included photographs as well as water colors. 'What do you have in mind, young man?' 'I think you should start your own costume department...and I should be in charge.'\" After meeting with Cambria and A.J. Balaban, Minnelli was hired as their first in-house designer. Minnelli further explained \"I designed for very elaborate productions, and I was soon accomplished in baubles, bangles, braids and spangles used in my craft. It was the hardest work I'd ever done.\"</p> <p>Seeking even more dominance in film distribution and exhibition, in 1926 Paramount/Publix, a rival chain of movie theatres connected with Paramount Pictures in Hollywood, acquired Balaban & Katz. As a result, A.J. moved to New York City in 1929 to serve as vice-president of Paramount/Publix's presentation unit, which maintained creative control over the elaborate stage shows made famous by Balaban & Katz. Between 1929 and 1931, Minnelli split his time between Chicago and New York, but moved to New York to design for Paramount theatres full time in 1931.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>This collection includes original drawings and renderings for costume designs for various theatrical productions created by Vincente Minnelli for the Balaban & Katz and Paramount-Publix theatre companies, under the art direction of Frank Cambria. All designs are works on paper, in a variety of media. More than half the collection are finished drawings; the remainder are unfinished sketches. Only two productions are clearly identified: <span class=\"title\">Alice in Wonderland</span> (Chicago, 1925) and <span class=\"title\">Oliver Twist</span>. Additionally, there are two portrait photographs taken by Minnelli of Cambria family members and a 1928 letter from Minnelli to Cambria describing his proposed designs for a Paramount-Publix production.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Frank Cambria and Sophie T. Cambria collection of Vincente Minnelli costume designs are arranged in two series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/23082#c1669061'>Series I: Designs</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/23082#c1669111'>Series II: Family Photographs</a></div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Arrangement is by subject matter and therein alphabetical by folder title.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Purchased by the New York Public Library in 2014.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Collection processed by Annemarie van Roessel, Billy Rose Theatre Division, 2022.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1920
- keydate
-
1920
- date_end
-
1939
- date_inclusive_start
-
1920
- date_inclusive_end
-
1939
- extent_statement
-
1.25 linear feet (3 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Frank Cambria and Sophie T. Cambria collection of Vincente Minnelli costume designs, *T-Vim 2014-180. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>" This collection includes original drawings and renderings for costume designs for various theatrical productions created by Vincente Minnelli for the Balaban Katz and Paramount-Publix theatre companies, under the art direction of Frank Cambria. All designs are works on paper, in a variety of media. More than half the collection are finished drawings; the remainder are unfinished sketches. Only two productions are clearly identified: <span class=\"title\">Alice in Wonderland</span> (Chicago, 1925) and <span class=\"title\">Oliver Twist</span>. Additionally, there are two portrait photographs taken by Minnelli of Cambria family members and a 1928 letter from Minnelli to Cambria describing his proposed designs for a Paramount-Publix production.", "generated"=>true}