- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"17.25 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"28 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 1998-022", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21640", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1925-1987", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1925/1987"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1925
- date_inclusive_end
-
1987
- keydate
-
1925
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Nikos Psacharopoulos 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, New York</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Nikos Psacharopoulos was a Greek-born director best known for his long-term association with the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. His papers include photographs, programs, clippings, production materials, correspondence and scrapbooks."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Nikos Psacharopoulos Papers, *T-Mss 1998-022. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Psacharopoulos, Nikos, d. 1989", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Nikos Psacharopoulos was a Greek-born director best known for his long-term association with the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Born in Athens, Greece on January 18, 1928 Psacharopoulos claimed to have started his own theater troupe at the age of 15 in Nazi-occupied Greece. In 1947 he came to the United States to study at Oberlin College, where he directed several productions by the Oberlin Mummers. Then it was on to the Yale School of Drama, from which he received an MFA in directing in 1954.</p> <p>In 1955 the fledgling Williamstown Summer Theatre invited the 27-year-old Psacharopoulos to be an Associate Director. He accepted, returning the next year as the Artistic and Executive Director - and establishing a benevolent dictatorship that would last for 44 years. He instituted a rigorous schedule of 10-12 shows per season, generally with 2-3 weeks rehearsal time for each show.</p> <p>In the 1950s the Williamstown Summer Theatre performed mainly modern classics, for example, <span class=\"title\">Cat on a Hot Tin Roof</span>and <span class=\"title\">Our Town</span>. Widespread critical acclaim came in the early 1960s with a series of renowned Chekhov cycles. The later 1960s involved ambitious fare for summer theater, with epics like <span class=\"title\">Iphigeneia at Aulis</span> and <span class=\"title\">Peer Gynt</span>. The Williamstown Summer Theatre branched out in the 1970s: creating a touring, more experimental, Second Company (1972); a Cabaret ensemble (1973); and organizing regular Sunday Special Events (1974). Along with its new image came a new name - the Williamstown Summer Theatre officially became the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 1974. The 1980s took the WTF outdoors with Free Theatre productions, and onto television through taped performances on PBS and HBO.</p> <p>Throughout his tenure at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the irrepressible Nikos (as everyone called him) personally directed at least two shows per season. He was also involved in numerous outside projects. He taught acting steadily at Yale and Circle-in-the-Square. In the 1950s his revival of the <span class=\"title\">Play of Daniel</span> was first performed at The Cloisters and subsequently toured North America and Europe. During the 1960s and 1970s, Psacharopoulos directed several operas for the New York City Opera, Broadway shows (most notably, Langston Hughes’s <span class=\"title\">Tambourines to Glory</span>), and <span class=\"title\">Androcles and the Lion</span> for the American Shakespeare Festival.</p> <p>After surgery for cancer, Psacharopoulos and his fiancée Jean Hackett went on vacation to the Virgin Islands. He died there on January 12, 1989, six days before his 61st birthday.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The papers of Nikos Psacharopoulos relate to his professional life from the late 1940s to the late 1980s. It includes photographs, programs, scripts, clippings, and various other production materials. There is very little of a personal nature in the collection. Psacharopoulos’s close association with the Williamstown Theatre Festival is especially well documented, and the heart of the collection is the series of WTF production photographs from the 1970s and 1980s. Noteworthy individuals in the collection include Blythe Danner, Langston Hughes, Christopher Reeve, and Tennessee Williams.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Nikos Psacharopoulos papers are arranged in four series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21640#c318589'>Series I: Williamstown Theatre Festival</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1955 - 1987</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>16 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Psacharopoulos helped found the Williamstown Theatre Festival (then known as the Williamstown Summer Theatre) in 1955 and remained its driving force until his death in 1989. This series documents this relationship.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21640#c318908'>Series II: Various Venues</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1925 - 1986</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>4 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series includes materials from a variety of productions that Psacharopoulos directed. Some of the venues involved are Yale, New York Pro Musica, the New York City Opera, and the American Shakespeare Festival. It includes programs, scripts, photographs, and a music manuscript.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21640#c318964'>Series III: Scrapbooks</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1948 - 1986</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>3 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series includes mainly photocopies of scrapbooks (only the last two are the original scrapbooks). The first scrapbook focuses on Psacharopoulos’s Oberlin College productions. All the others focus on the Williamstown Theatre Festival, with any additional companies noted in the container list. Clippings are about productions that Psacharopoulos was involved with, the actors that he worked with, articles that reference him and the like.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21640#c319018'>Series IV: Oversized Material</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series includes posters for productions, both from Yale and other venues. There are also scenic designs for four different productions (<span class=\"title\">Legend of Lovers</span>, <span class=\"title\">Romeo and Juliet</span>, <span class=\"title\">Washington Square</span>, <span class=\"title\">Play of Herod</span>) and a costume design for <span class=\"title\">Miss Julie</span>. The folder of artwork consists of several unidentified (and undated) paintings and one crayon rubbing.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p> <ul> <li>Series I : Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1955-1987 <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - Photographs, 1974-1987</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Programs, 1955-1980</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - Clippings, 1965-1987</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - Production Materials, 1955-1986</li> <li>Sub-series 5 - Correspondence, 1979-1983</li></ul></li> <li>Series II : Various Venues, 1925-1986 <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - Scripts, 1925-1973</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Clippings, 1958-1976</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - Programs, 1948-1986</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - Photographs</li> <li>Sub-series 5 - Music Manuscripts</li> <li>Sub-series 6 - Miscellaneous, 1966-1987</li></ul></li> <li>Series III : Scrapbooks, 1948-1986</li> <li>Series IV : Oversized Materials</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Nikos Psacharopoulos Papers were donated in 1998 by Jean Hackett.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photocopying prohibited.</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
-
17.25 linear feet (28 boxes)
- date_start
-
1925
- date_end
-
1987