- unitid
-
{"value"=>"18263", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 2010-001", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b18582597", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1955-2007", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1955/2007"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Stuart Ostrow papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"62 boxes, 1 volume", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"24.33 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2272 computer files", "unit"=>"computer_files"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"21.29 megabytes", "unit"=>"megabytes"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Billy Rose Theatre Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Stuart Ostrow-theatre producer, director, author and teacher-was a driving force behind many successful Broadway productions from the 1960s through the 1990s. The Stuart Ostrow papers contain material that chiefly documents Ostrow's professional life. His general administrative and production files make up the bulk of this collection, and contain correspondence, scripts, scores, photographs, scrapbooks, artwork, and other materials pertaining to his work in theater."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Ostrow, Stuart, 1932-", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Stuart Ostrow-producer, director, author and teacher-was a driving force behind many successful Broadway productions from the 1960s through the 1990s. Born in 1932 in New York City to Abe and Anna Ostrow, he graduated from New York University with a degree in music education. After serving in the Air Force from 1952-1955, he married singer Ann Elizabeth Gilbert in 1957, with whom he had three children. While in the Air Force, Ostrow produced and directed many camp shows.</p> <p>Ostrow began his work in music and theater as Frank Loesser's apprentice in 1955. By 1961 he had become the vice president and general manager of Frank Music Corporation, working on <span class=\"title\">The Most Happy Fella</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Music Man</span>, <span class=\"title\">Greenwillow</span>, and <span class=\"title\">How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying</span>. By the time he was 28, Ostrow decided that he had enough experience to try producing on his own, and he flew to London to tell Loesser in person that he was leaving the company to produce his first solo venture, <span class=\"title\">We Take the Town</span> starring Robert Preston.</p> <p><span class=\"title\">While We Take the Town</span> never made it to Broadway, Ostrow went on to produce a great variety of successful shows. In 1963, he directed and produced Meredith Willson's <span class=\"title\">Here's Love</span>, based on <span class=\"title\">A Miracle on 34th St.</span> In the 1960s he also produced <span class=\"title\">The Apple Tree</span> (1966) and <span class=\"title\">1776</span> (1969), which received not only the New York and London Drama Critics Awards, but the Tony Award for Best Musical. The success of <span class=\"title\">1776</span> was followed by <span class=\"title\">Scratch</span> in 1971, a show in which Ostrow worked closely with poet Archibald MacLeish. The show was a commercial flop, but was followed by Stephen Schwartz's <span class=\"title\">Pippin</span> in 1972, which ran for five years and had West End and touring productions. In 1978 Ostrow lent his hand to writing and producing a play, <span class=\"title\">Stages</span>, which closed on opening night. The same fate befell his 1981 production of <span class=\"title\">The Mooney Schapiro Songbook</span>. Ostrow's next major production to reach Broadway was <span class=\"title\">M. Butterfly</span> in 1988. Although slow to build an audience, it ultimately ran for nearly two years on Broadway with success leading to a production on the West End and a national tour. <span class=\"title\">M. Butterfly</span> won the 1988 Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Play, as well as earning a nomination for the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Ostrow's next major project, a producing collaboration between Ostrow and Andrew Lloyd Webber, was <span class=\"title\">La Bête</span> in 1991, which struggled due to mixed reviews and casting problems.</p> <p>In 1973, Ostrow established the Stuart Ostrow Foundation's Musical Theatre Lab, a nonprofit professional workshop for original musical theatre. The Lab ran in several incarnations through the years at St. Clements church in New York, the Kennedy Center and, for a time, at Radcliffe.</p> <p>He joined the faculty at the University of Houston as the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Chair in Theater in 1994 and relocated the Lab to Houston. He later became the Distinguished University Professor of Theatre at the University of Houston. In addition to his theatrical achievements, Ostrow is the author of <span class=\"title\">A Producer's Broadway Journey</span>, <span class=\"title\">Thank You Very Much (The Little Guide To Auditioning For The Musical Theatre)</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Present At The Creation, Leaping In The Dark and Going Against The Grain: 1776, Pippin, M. Butterfly, La Bête & Other Broadway Adventures</span>. <span class=\"title\">The Anatomy of a Broadway Musical</span>, which traces the journey of a musical production from conception to realization, was published in 2010.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Stuart Ostrow papers chiefly document his professional life. These papers demonstrate the deep commitment Ostrow had to the theater not just as a business, but as an art form. His drive to support shows and artists in which he believed is evident in his producing practices, giving struggling shows time to build an audience and taking chances on little known playwrights. His passion for intellectual theater as well as the development of new works is evident throughout his correspondence. The general administrative and production files make up the bulk of this collection, and contain correspondence, scripts, scores, photographs, scrapbooks, and other materials pertaining to Ostrow's work in theater. There is also material documenting Ostrow's Musical Theatre Lab, artwork and scenic design renderings, correspondence regarding various committees on which Ostrow served, publication files containing drafts and permissions for three of his books, some family papers, and legal records primarily regarding <span class=\"title\">M. Butterfly</span> and the David Geffen Theatre.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Stuart Ostrow papers are arranged in ten series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1375938'>Series I: General Administration Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1955-2007</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains files kept by Ostrow in his capacity as a producer. In chronological order, these contain primarily correspondence, as well as notes, business files, projects for consideration, memos, proposals, and other materials related to the day-to-day workings of his production office. There is a heavy focus on procuring capitalization and the search for creative teams and potential artists. Of interest are the pitches playwrights and their agents submitted in an effort to enlist Ostrow as a producer on their projects. Ostrow mingled business with his personal relationships and often a letter pertaining to a contract is followed by an introduction of a lyricist to a composer with whom he might collaborate, or a thank you note for an invitation to an opening night. Honors and awards, including correspondence from the White House in recognition of Ostrow's achievements, can be found at the end of this series.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1375990'>Series II: Production Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1956-1999</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The productions series contains files relating to specific productions or in-development projects (properties). They consist of audition notes, budgets, cast lists, contact sheets, contracts, correspondence, costume sketches, financial materials, photographs (both production and candid), playbills, programs, production notes, public relations materials, research materials, scripts, and scores. Of note in this series are rare production shots of Robert Preston in the flop <span class=\"title\">We Take the Town</span> and a series of letters from poet Archibald MacLeish who wrote <span class=\"title\">Scratch</span>. Also unique in this series are scripts marked with the stage manager's cues for the final production, drafts of shows in development, and often detailed audition notes - a record of the many complicated steps in the production process.</p> <p>This series holds sound and video recordings, such as live audio recordings of shows Ostrow produced including an early reading of <span class=\"title\">1776</span>, Anthony Hopkins in the London production of <span class=\"title\">M. Butterfly</span>, an audio recording of <span class=\"title\">American Passion</span> (1983), and <span class=\"title\">La Bête</span> (1991). There are also unreleased demo recordings of <span class=\"title\">1776</span>, <span class=\"title\">Doll</span>, as well as a recording of Stephen Sondheim singing Act I songs from <span class=\"title\">The Girls Upstairs</span>, which later became <span class=\"title\">Follies</span>.</p> <p>Videos consist of tapes of lectures Ostrow gave at various venues, a recording of the 1995 <span class=\"title\">Doll</span> reading, and the press reels for <span class=\"title\">M. Butterfly</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1376120'>Series III: Musical Theatre Lab</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1975-2005</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Founded in 1973, the Musical Theatre Lab is a nonprofit workshop for experimental theatre. Originating in New York, the Lab relocated to the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., then the University of Houston when Ostrow became head of the Musical Theatre Department. This series contains correspondence related to the development and day-to-day business of the Lab and playbills and rare photographs from many of the Lab's productions.</p> <p>This series also includes video recordings, including musical theater collaborations and lab classes from 1995 and 1999.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1376135'>Series IV: Committee Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1970-2002</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains correspondence relating to various committees on which Ostrow served over the years, including the Pulitzer Prize committee, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and others. Includes offers for membership, invitations to sit on boards, and programs and flyers.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1376143'>Series V: Publications</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1998-2005</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The publications series has drafts, correspondence, and permissions relating to three of Ostrow's books: <span class=\"title\">A Producer's Broadway Journey</span> (1999), <span class=\"title\">Thank You Very Much</span> (2002) and <span class=\"title\">Present at the Creation, Leaping in the Dark and Going Against the Grain</span> (2005).</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1376149'>Series VI: Family Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1955-2007</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series VI has letters and cards from Ostrow's three children, fan mail to his wife Ann Ostrow Gilbert from her years as a performer, as well as Christmas, anniversary and birthday greetings from friends and family, and well wishes from Stuart and Ann's wedding in 1957.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1376155'>Series VII: Artifacts</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1958-1993</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1376209'>Series VIII: Artwork</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1962-1991</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series holds set design renderings from many of Ostrow's Broadway productions.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1376219'>Series IX: Chronological Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1984-2002</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Stuart Ostrow's Chronological files are comprised of day-to-day files Ostrow maintained on his computer between 1984 and 2002. They consist mainly of outgoing letters to friends and collaborators and act as a de facto diary. They offer great insight into Ostrow's thoughts, professional activities, and personal life. These letters tell the story of being a hands-on producer: lining up funding, stars, and venues; handling the creators; creating industry buzz; promoting the production in the press; and most of all keeping all those pieces in place. Throughout the period covered in Chronological Files, Ostrow was often developing multiple projects at one time, so files on a particular play or musical may be spread out over several years.</p> <p>The letters are all outgoing, but outgoing emails from 2000 and 2001 often include incoming emails. Ostrow's letters mainly deal with theatrical productions he and his friends were working on, or considering working on, including <span class=\"title\">1040</span>, <span class=\"title\">La Bête</span>, <span class=\"title\">Doll</span>, <span class=\"title\">Face Value</span>, <span class=\"title\">M. Butterfly</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Sweet Smell of Success</span>. Other documents related to productions include proposals, agreements, contracts, budgets, royalty statements, and notes. Ostrow's letters also cover more general theatre industry topics such as theatrical organizations, special events, conferences, and new publications on theatre. Of particular interest are Ostrow's letters regarding the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for which he served on the jury.</p> <p>Ostrow's memoir, <span class=\"title\">A Producer's Broadway Journey</span>, is also documented extensively in his chronological files, with correspondence, proposals, drafts, and excerpts. There are drafts of individual chapters as well as the bibliography, index, and titles page. Ostrow's second book, <span class=\"title\">Thank You Very Much: The Little Guide to Auditioning for the Musical Theatre</span>, is documented less extensively, with drafts of the book and letters to prospective publishers.</p> <p>Ostrow's teaching career at the University of Houston is a major subject in his files from 1995 to 2002. In addition to discussing his classes and the productions at the University of Houston Musical Theatre Lab in his letters, they are documented with syllabi, course notes, assignments, lecture notes, scripts, and programs. The process of establishing and managing the Institute for Advanced Study of Musical Theatre (IASMT) dominates Ostrow's files from 1999 to 2001.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/18263#c1445271'>Series X: Legal Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1988-1993</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>These files were maintained by Ostrow's legal counsel and later transferred to the collection by Ostrow. The majority pertain to <span class=\"title\">M. Butterfly</span> litigation involving Ostrow and the WCI Theatre (The David Geffen Theatre).</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Purchased from Stuart Ostrow, 2007. Additions donated by Ostrow, 2018.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Lea Jordan</span>, <span class=\"date\">2010</span>.</p> <p>Collection foldered and arranged. Artifacts including Tony Awards and opening night gifts were moved to the T-cabinet. An account of these items can be found at the end of the container list. Finding aid was updated with a description of additional artwork in 2012.</p>"}
- revisiondesc
-
{"value"=>" Electronic records were processed and described by Diana\n Bertolini.", "date"=>"2015"}
{"value"=>"Additions processed by Susan M. Kline.", "date"=>"2018-01-31"}
- date_start
-
1955
- keydate
-
1955
- date_end
-
2007
- date_inclusive_start
-
1955
- date_inclusive_end
-
2007
- extent_statement
-
24.33 linear feet (62 boxes, 1 volume); 21.29 megabytes (2272 computer files)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Stuart Ostrow papers, *T-Mss 2010-001. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}