- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"33 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"68 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 1999-027", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21699", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1959-1999", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1959/1999"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1959
- date_inclusive_end
-
1999
- keydate
-
1959
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Mac Wellman papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. <span class=\"subarea\">Billy Rose Theatre Division.</span></span> <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\"> New York, N.Y.</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Mac Wellman is an American-born playwright and poet. He is best known for his plays <span class=\"title\">Terminal Hip</span>, <span class=\"title\">Bad Penny</span>, <span class=\"title\">Crowbar</span> and <span class=\"title\">Sincerity Forever</span>, for which he won Obies in 1990 and 1991. The Mac Wellman papers include scripts, productions materials, poetry and prose, legal and financial papers, photographs and published materials."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Mac Wellman Papers, *T-Mss 1999-027. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Wellman, Mac", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Playwright and poet, Mac Wellman was born John McDowell Wellman on March 7, 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Wellman family already included several inventors, and Mac grew into an inventor and innovator of language. His use of language is often compared to that of Gertrude Stein and John Ashbery.</p> <p>After earning a degree in International Relations from the American University and marrying his first wife Nancy Roesch (1967), Wellman focused on poetry at the University of Wisconsin. He earned his Masters degree in English and taught for a few years, but it was a chance meeting while touring Europe that put his career on track. While traveling in the Netherlands, Wellman had the good fortune to meet Annemarie Prins, a Dutch theatrical director/producer. A friendship blossomed and the two began creating radio plays together. The first was based on a long poem of Wellman’s, <span class=\"title\">Nobody</span>, followed by <span class=\"title\">The Memory Theatre of Giordano Bruno</span>. In 1975 the team directed their first stage production, <span class=\"title\">Fama Combinatoria</span>, at Theatre de Brakke Grand in Amsterdam.</p> <p>Wellman continued to experiment in poetry and theater, merging the two to create his own style. 1977 saw his first published collection of poetry, <span class=\"title\">In Praise of Secrecy</span>, while 1979 witnessed his first New York City theatrical production, <span class=\"title\">Starluster</span>. During the late seventies Wellman moved to New York City and married a Dutch journalist, Yolanda Gerritsen. But by the early 1980s he hit a creative wall. Speaking to Kirk Wood Bromley of Theatermania.com, Wellman said: \"I was very frustrated just with writing, so I got a legal pad and I decided to write one page of bad writing every day, and I did for two and a half years...ungrammatical, vague, disordered, everything...I thought I'd explore the downside...and what I found in doing this is that there were all these interesting rhythms...very expressive, very speakable...full of ideas, and I found actually that this mysterious kind of narrative would emerge from it. It was not disordered at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite.\"</p> <p>Soon he officially began writing under his nickname, Mac, and his career as a playwright took off. He gained national exposure and became known as a “downtown” playwright in New York City with productions like Soho Repertory’s <span class=\"title\">Energumen</span> (1985) and BACA Downtown’s <span class=\"title\">Cleveland</span>(1986), <span class=\"title\">Cellophane</span> (1988) and <span class=\"title\">Sincerity Forever</span>(1990). In 1990 Wellman received his first Obie. In a three-way tie (with himself) he won Best American Play for <span class=\"title\">Terminal Hip</span>, <span class=\"title\">Bad Penny</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Crowbar</span>. A Best Playwriting Obie followed in 1991 for <span class=\"title\">Sincerity Forever</span>. Among his honors were NEA grants in 1990 and 1995, and a Guggenheim fellowship in 1990. Throughout the 1990s Wellman’s scripts were produced nationally and internationally, while he regularly added the role of teacher (at New Dramatists, Yale, Brooklyn College, etc…) to his repertoire. In 1997 he was honored with a six-month festival of his work, The Mac Wellman Festival, which featured thirty of his plays staged in four cities. Wellman received his third Obie in 2003, this time for Lifetime Achievement.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The papers of Mac Wellman span his high school career, 1959-1963, to the year of donation, 1999. As a poet, playwright, essayist and teacher, Wellman’s roles often overlapped. Similarly, his poems might become plays, and his friendships with other literary/theatrical talents blur the line between personal and professional. Generally, the collection is more personal in the early years, gradually becoming more professional in later years. There are few photographs, either personal or of productions. The heart of the collection are the rough drafts of poetry and prose, of scripts and notebooks, which allow the reader insight into the creation of Wellman’s works.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Mac Wellman papers are arranged in ten series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327059'>Series I: Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1960 - 1999</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>12 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Mac Wellman’s correspondence is a mix of personal and professional, often within the same document. Photographs and other attachments sent with correspondence remain with the correspondence.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327172'>Series II: Personal Papers, Undated - 1998</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>8 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series includes appointment/address books from the 1970s-1990s and computer information from the 1990s. Sub-series 3-7 contain papers from the early portions of Wellman’s life, including his education and travels abroad in the 1960s and 1970s.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327269'>Series III: Photographs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>Undated - 1999</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series includes photographs of Wellman himself, as well as family and friends. It does not include photographs of theater productions.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327288'>Series IV: Legal & Financial</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1945 - 1999</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>7 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series is closed to the public until 2028. Includes financial and legal papers that are considered personal, such as individual tax forms or vital records, as well as more professional documents like contracts and grant applications.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327367'>Series V: Professional Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1969 - 1998</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>12 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series includes professional papers that aren’t directly related to theatrical productions. Wellman was quite involved with the theatrical community outside of his own work, often teaching/lecturing at various universities. He began his career as a poet and continued to write poetry throughout his career, while also writing magazine articles, essays, and books.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327526'>Series VI: Production Materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1972 - 1999</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>7 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Organized by production title, this series contains a variety of materials including: production schedules, programs, photographs, clippings, fliers, rehearsal notes and music scores. Includes <span class=\"title\">Bad Penny</span>, <span class=\"title\">Crowbar</span>, <span class=\"title\">Terminal Hip</span>, <span class=\"title\">Sincerity Forever</span> and <span class=\"title\">Whirligig</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327639'>Series VII: Scripts & Notebooks</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>10 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Scripts and notebooks are a single series because often Wellman’s notebooks contain ideas for single or multiple scripts. Where possible, they are organized by the script’s final name. Both produced and unproduced scripts are included in this series.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327774'>Series VIII: Published Materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>6 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains published writings by Mac Wellman, as well as published materials by other authors that are inscribed by the author and/or annotated by Wellman.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327836'>Series IX: Computer files</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series includes information about different computer programs, their installation disks, etc... It also includes back-up disks (3 ½”) for <span class=\"title\">Annie Salem</span>, <span class=\"title\">Whirligig</span>, pieces written at Bellagio Study & Conference Center, and unnamed plays and poetry. All information seems to be from the 1990s. Permission of the Curator is needed to access this series.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21699#c327848'>Series X: Oversized Materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains designs, photographs, art, a music score and Wellman’s college diploma. There is also a folder of star maps/registers related to Wellman’s star <span class=\"title\">Whirligig</span>.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection is organized into 10 series and 25 sub-series. They are:</p> <p> <ul> <li>Series I : Correspondence <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - 1960-1969</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - 1970-1979</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - 1980-1989</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - 1990-1999</li></ul></li> <li>Series II : Personal Papers <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - Appointment/Address Books</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Class essays & notes (undated)</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - High School, 1959-1963</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - College, 1963-1967</li> <li>Sub-series 5 - Graduate School, 1967-1969</li> <li>Sub-series 6 - 1970-1979</li> <li>Sub-series 7 - 1980-1999</li></ul></li> <li>Series III : Photographs</li> <li>Series IV : Legal and Financial Papers (closed until 2028) <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - General</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Grants & Fellowships</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - Taxes</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - Vital records</li></ul></li> <li>Series V: Professional Papers <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - Colonies, Conferences, Councils</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Poetry</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - Prose</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - Research</li> <li>Sub-series 5 - Teaching Materials</li> <li>Sub-series 6 - Work submitted by other authors</li></ul></li> <li>Series VI : Production Materials</li> <li>Series VII : Scripts and Notebooks <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - By name</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - By date</li></ul></li> <li>Series VIII : Published Materials <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - Mac Wellman</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Other authors</li></ul></li> <li>Series IX : Computer files (permission of Curator is needed)</li> <li>Series X : Oversized Materials</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Mac Wellman Papers were donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division in 1999 by Mac Wellman.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Audiovisual materials separated from archival collections are cataloged individually and can be found in the Library catalog. Search CATNYP, The New York Public Library catalog.</p> <ul> <li>Wellman’s wallet, from the 1960s</li> <li>Wellman’s eyeglasses, probably from the 1980s</li> <li>Top hat worn by Wellman’s wife and friends in photographs (Box 23, Folder 28.)</li></ul> <ul> <li>Een Uitgave Van de Stiching Teater Terzijde (In Dutch, regarding a theatre group Annemarie Prins belonged to.)</li></ul> <ul> <li> <span class=\"title\">7 Blowjobs</span></li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Albanian Softshoe</span></li> <li> Brass Tacks Theatre, 1983-1984 Season</li> <li> Bay Area Playwrights Festival VI</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Bugocsiga</span> (Hungarian version of <span class=\"title\">Whirligig</span>)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Cleveland</span></li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Dracula</span> (River Arts Repertory)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Dracula</span> (Soho Rep)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Dracula</span> (Defiant Theatre)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">FNU LNU</span></li> <li> <span class=\"title\">The Furballs</span></li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Harm’s Way</span></li> <li> <span class=\"title\">The Hyacinth Macaw</span> (two different posters)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Infrared</span></li> <li> <span class=\"title\">A Murder of Crows</span></li> <li> <span class=\"title\">The Self-Begotten</span></li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Sincerity Forever</span> (Berkshire Theatre Festival)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Sincerity Forever</span> (Theatre X)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Terminal Hip</span> (P.S. 122)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Terminal Hip</span> (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Terminal Hip</span> & <span class=\"title\">Three Americanisms</span> (Soho Rep)</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Transformations</span></li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Whirligig</span></li></ul> <ul> <li> <span class=\"title\">The Theatre Paper</span>. Number 3, January 1975</li> <li> <span class=\"title\">Broadway Boogie</span>. Number 2, Spring-Summer 1974</li></ul> <ul> <li>Cassettes <ul> <li>“1951” Songs - Roth/Wellman</li> <li>A Peace in Progress/Charles & James Wine</li> <li>Alba SFT (Albanian Softshoe)</li> <li>Alba Softshoe (Albanian), 1989 Sept. 16</li> <li>Albanian Soft shoe</li> <li>Albanian Music</li> <li>Albanian Music (1) and (2)</li> <li>Albanian Softshoe, 1985 Aug. 31</li> <li>Albanian Softshoe, Anthem & Ending</li> <li>Albanian Softshoe, Anthem</li> <li>Antonius I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII (2 cassettes)</li> <li>Ballad of Bad Weather - Roth</li> <li>Black Box 11</li> <li>Bodacious Flapdoodle - ND - 1984 Oct. 25 (New Dramatists)</li> <li>Bodacious Flapdoodle - ND - 1984 Oct. 26 (New Dramatists)</li> <li>Bodacious Flapdoodle</li> <li>Brantley: Rev of Macaw (Hyacinth Macaw)</li> <li>Breathing Space 77</li> <li>Bruno, KRO, 1977-80 (The Memory Theater of Giordano Bruno)</li> <li>Calvino, Nain Rouge Panel, 1986 Jan. 22</li> <li>Cellophane - 1987 Apr. 10</li> <li>Cellophane (2 cassettes)</li> <li>Cleveland, BACA, 1986</li> <li>Crows Feet</li> <li>Difficulty, Demo, 1997 Nov. 11 (The Difficulty of Crossing a Field)</li> <li>Dora rehearsal tape - Shiflett /Garrett</li> <li>Dracula RAR I (two tapes)</li> <li>Dracula RAR II</li> <li>Dracula: Home, 1989 Jan.</li> <li>Energumen, Final performance at SOHO Rep</li> <li>Fama Combinatoria, KRO</li> <li>Fama (Stage) 1st Act</li> <li>FNU LNU</li> <li>Grandville II</li> <li>Grandville Panel - 1984 May 22</li> <li>H.D.: Helen in Egypt</li> <li>Harm’s Way, KRO- 1984</li> <li>Harm’s Way, Music by: Bob Jewett</li> <li>Hopi Prophecies, Schreier/Roth</li> <li>Hungarian Rhapsody B</li> <li>Interview with Phil Cohen (2 cassettes - identical copies)</li> <li>Julia Wolf/Vivian Trumble (in a bubble envelope)</li> <li>Lesser Magoo, Demo</li> <li>Lisa’s Room, Melissa Shiflett</li> <li>Love, Mama and Dad</li> <li>Lulu I</li> <li>Lulu II</li> <li>Minn. Opera Inst., 1985</li> <li>Mr. Big Stuff (2 cassettes)</li> <li>Nain Rouge</li> <li>Nain Rouge, 1986 Jan. 22/Distance to The Moon</li> <li>No Smoking Piece</li> <li>Nobody, KRO, 1972</li> <li>2 Oct., 1988 - Peachbottom - Home</li> <li>Opera Workshop, ND, 1984 Oct. 8 (New Dramatists)</li> <li>Peach Bottom, Home, 1988 Oct. 2</li> <li>Phantomnation Panel</li> <li>Phantomnations</li> <li>Picassos</li> <li>Poets Who are Playwrights - Reading at ND (New Dramatists) 1984 Jan. 3 - Lynne Alvarez, Pedro Juan Pietri and John Wellman</li> <li>Reading: Whirligig, N.D. (New Dramatists), 1989 Feb. 15</li> <li>Softshoe Panel, 1987 May 19</li> <li>Starluster, APT, 1979</li> <li>Stillwaters</li> <li>Strange Feet 1993 Jan. 26</li> <li>Strange Feet (2 cassettes)/More Strange Feet</li> <li>Terminal Hip -1988 Mar.</li> <li>Terminal Hip by Mac Wellman (WNYC)</li> <li>The Ballad of the Harp Weaver - Millay/Shiflett</li> <li>The Difficulty Of Crossing A Field (2 cassettes, identical copies.)</li> <li>The Nain Rouge, 1986 14 July WTF (Williamstown Theatre Festival)</li> <li>The Self-Begotten, EST</li> <li>Two Natural Drummers (KRO)</li> <li>Without Colors</li> <li>Without Colors - Calvino, Shiflett and Wellman (Minnesota Opera 1989 Mar.)</li> <li>Without Colors - Calvino, Shiflett and Wellman</li> <li>2 unidentified cassettes</li></ul></li> <li>Audio Tape Reels (7”) <ul> <li>Becket</li> <li>Eugene 07 (?)</li> <li>FAMA - 1975 Mar. 27- theatre “De Brakke Grond” Amsterdam (4 reels)</li> <li>FAMA Combinatoria Band I</li> <li>John Wellman, Memory Canto Seven 1971</li> <li>Memorial Reading of EP’s Canto, 1972 Nov. 2</li> <li>Namens EEN Parlementarier” u.p.r.o tape: 1</li> <li>Nobody- John Wellman - 39`00``</li> <li>Nobody- John Wellman (Vervolg) 16`57``</li> <li>Nobody tape I</li> <li>Poetry Reading at the Corcoran - 1972 Jan.</li> <li>Prometheus</li> <li>Two Natural Drummers in the Mopsical Retinue of Hotzamaflotr the Revolutionist 9`00``</li> <li>2 unidentified reels</li></ul></li></ul> <ul> <li>Bad Penny, 1990 Dec. (Sulphur Springs)</li> <li>Big Dance Pieces, Paul Lazar</li> <li>Mac Wellman, 1995 Nov. 16</li> <li>A Murder of Crows, 1995 Mar. (Cambridge)</li> <li>Whirligig, 1990 Nov. 6</li></ul> <ul> <li>Audio cassettes of poetry were sent to the Media Center at Donnell Library Center. Includes issues of \"audio-magazines\" <span class=\"title\">Black Box</span> and <span class=\"title\">Breathing Space</span>.</li></ul> <ul> <li>Out of scope published materials, both monographs and serials, sent to the General Research Division in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library.</li></ul>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photocopying prohibited. Series IV, \"Legal & Financial Papers\", is closed until 2028. Permission of the Curator is needed for Series IX, \"Computer files\".</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Jennifer L. Winters; Machine-readable finding aid created by Jennifer L. Winters.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
33 linear feet (68 boxes)
- date_start
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1959
- date_end
-
1999