Subseries I.A. Theater

Description data TOP

unitid

{"value"=>"712943", "type"=>"local_mss"}

unitdate

{"value"=>"circa 1938-2001", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1938/2001", "certainty"=>"approximate"}

unittitle

{"value"=>"Subseries I.A. Theater"}

physdesc

{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"108 boxes; 50 linear feet"}

scopecontent

{"value"=>"<p>This series documents Cohen's theater productions, primarily in New York from the 1950s, but also includes some materials for his London and Toronto productions. Production notes, casting notes, correspondence, and memos to authors and directors document Cohen's involvement as a producer.</p> <p> There are few materials for his early productions in the 1940s, but there are a small number of items for <span class=\"title\">Ghost for Sale</span>(1941), for Cohen's first Broadway success, <span class=\"title\">Angel Street</span> (1941), <span class=\"title\">Of V We Sing</span> (1944), <span class=\"title\">The Duke in Darkness</span> (1944), starring Raymond Burr, and <span class=\"title\">Jenny Kissed Me</span>(1948).</p> <p> In the 1950s, he produced a series of financially unsuccessful, albeit notable shows included in the files, such as <span class=\"title\">King Lear</span> (1950), starring Louis Calhern, the musical <span class=\"title\">Make a Wish</span> (1951) starring Nanette Fabray, and <span class=\"title\">The First Gentleman</span> (1957) directed by Tyrone Guthrie and starring Walter Slezak.</p> <p> Cohen fashioned his Nine O' Clock Theatre as intimate productions of concerts and revues, so theatergoers would not have to rush through dinner for an eight o' clock curtain. Under the Nine O' Clock Theatre's aegis, he produced some of his most successful shows: <span class=\"title\">At the Drop of a Hat</span> (1959) with Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, <span class=\"title\">An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May</span>(1960), <span class=\"title\">An Evening with Yves Montand</span>(1961), <span class=\"title\">Beyond the Fringe</span> (1962) with Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, <span class=\"title\">An Evening with Maurice Chevalier</span> (1963), <span class=\"title\">At the Drop of Another Hat</span> with Michael Flanders and Donald Swann (1966), and Marlene Dietrich (1967, 1968). The two Flanders and Swann revues and <span class=\"title\">Beyond the Fringe</span> also toured and these are well documented in the papers.</p> <p> Among Cohen's most notable Broadway presentations are <span class=\"title\">Home</span>by David Storey (1970), starring Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson, Richard Burton in <span class=\"title\">Hamlet</span> (1964) directed by Sir John Gielgud, Chekhov's <span class=\"title\">Ivanov</span> (1966), starring Sir John Gielgud and Viven Leigh, <span class=\"title\">The Homecoming</span> by Harold Pinter (1967), winner of the 1967 Tony Award for Best Play, <span class=\"title\">Little Murders</span> by Jules Feiffer (1967), Peter Brook's production of <span class=\"title\">La Tragedie de Carmen</span> (1983), Ben Kingsley in <span class=\"title\">Edmund Kean</span> by Raymund FitzSimons (1983), Anne Bancroft and Jason Robards in <span class=\"title\">The Devils</span> by Ken Whiting (1965), the musical <span class=\"title\">Baker Street</span> by Raymond Jessel and Marian Grudeff (1965), <span class=\"title\">Dear World</span> (1969), Jerry Herman's musical, starring Angela Lansbury, <span class=\"title\">Ulysses in Nighttown</span> by James Joyce (1974) starring Zero Mostel, <span class=\"title\">A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine</span>(1980), <span class=\"title\">84 Charing Cross Road</span>by Helene Hanff (1982), <span class=\"title\">Accidental Death of an Anarchist</span>by Dario Fo (1984), <span class=\"title\">Accomplice</span>by Rupert Holmes (1990) starring Jason Alexander, and his final production, a revival of <span class=\"title\">Waiting in the Wings</span> by Noel Coward (1999), starring Lauren Bacall and Rosemary Harris. There are only two items in the collection for Cohen's autobiographical one-man show, <span class=\"title\">Star Billing</span> (1999).</p> <p> His work at O'Keefe Centre in Toronto is also documented in the files, primarily his two seasons of <span class=\"title\">Summer Carnival</span> (1961,1962), which included revivals of <span class=\"title\">West Side Story</span>, <span class=\"title\">Guys and Dolls</span>, and <span class=\"title\">The Most Happy Fella</span>, and featured performers such as Tony Bennett, Carol Channing (in <span class=\"title\">Show Girl</span>), Eartha Kitt, Beatrice Lillie, and Bob Newhart.</p> <p> Cohen attempted twice to bring back Olsen and Johnson's <span class=\"title\">Hellzapoppin</span> to Broadway, the first entitled <span class=\"title\">Hellzapoppin '67</span>, starring Soupy Sales at the 1967 Montreal Expo, and the second, which Cohen closed in Boston, starring Jerry Lewis, in 1976. Of particular note are the Olsen and Johnson scripts and sketches, circa 1938. There are also numerous legal documents for both productions of the show.</p>"}

arrangement

{"value"=>"<p>Alphabetical</p>"}

date_start

1938

keydate

1938

date_end

2001

date_inclusive_start

1938

date_inclusive_end

2001

Child components TOP

1. Absence of a Cello (Bucks County Playhouse)
2. Accidental Death of an Anarchist [12/4]
3. Accomplice [2/5]
4. Ages of Man [2/1]
5. Ah, Wilderness, and Long Day's Journey into Night [7/2]
6. All Summer Long [2/1]
7. Anna Christie [4/2]
8. Annette and the Two Guitars [3/1]
9. Applause (Musical)
10. At the Drop of a Hat [11/5]
11. At the Drop of Another Hat [4/2]
12. Baker Street (Musical) [22/4]
13. Be Your Age [4/3]
14. Beatrice Lillie at Nine O'Clock (O'Keefe Centre, Toronto) [3/1]
15. Beethoven's Tenth
16. Beyond the Fringe [20/6]
17. Beyond the Fringe, '65 [2/1]
18. Black Comedy/White Lies [6/2]
19. Le Centre International de Creations Theatrales: L'Os, Ubu, and The Ik (La Mama E.T.C.) [2/3]
20. Champagne Complex (Bucks County Playhouse, Pa.) [4/3]
21. Comedians, 1977, 1986 [2/2]
22. Comedy in Music (O'Keefe Centre, Toronto)
23. Comedy in Music Opus 2 (John Golden Theatre) [3/3]
24. Comedy Tonight
25. Courtin' Time
26. A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine [20/4]
27. Dear World [6/3]
28. The Devils [13/4]
29. The Doctor's Dilemma (Theatre Royal Haymarket, London)
30. The Duke in Darkness
31. Edmund Kean [10/2]
32. 84 Charing Cross Road [8/3]
33. An Evening with Maurice Chevalier [2/2]
34. An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May [16/5]
35. An Evening with Yves Montand [2/2]
36. The First Gentleman [18/4]
37. Ghost for Sale
38. Good Evening [5/3]
39. Halfway Up the Tree [5/3]
40. Hamlet [13/4]
41. The Happy Apple (a.k.a. Big Numbers) [4/2]
42. Harvey (Prince of Wales Theatre, London)
43. Hellzapoppin [13/4]
44. Hellzapoppin 1967 (a.k.a. Hellzapoppin '67) [2/3]
45. The Herbal Bed
46. Home [4/1]
47. The Homecoming [7/3]
48. I Remember Mama (Musical) [10/3]
49. Impulse! (Jazz Revue), (O'Keefe Centre, Toronto) [9/4]
50. Ivanov [10/4]
51. Jenny Kissed Me
52. Karmon Israeli Dancers [2/1]
53. Ken Murray's Hollywood [4/3]
54. King Lear [5/2]
55. Lena Horne in Her Nine O'Clock Revue [7/3]
56. Little Murders [4/2]
57. The Littlest Circus [6/2]
58. Lorenzo [8/4]
59. Love Me Little [25/4]
60. The Magic and the Loss [5/4]
61. Make A Wish
62. Man and Boy [10/3]
63. Marlene Dietrich [3/2]
64. Maurice Chevalier at 77 [3/2]
65. Mixed Doubles
66. My Three Angels
67. Of V We Sing
68. Play Memory [12/3]
69. Plaza Suite
70. Prettybelle [3/3]
71. The Price
72. The Roses Are Real
73. Rugantino [15/4]
74. Sacrilege
75. The School for Scandal [12/5]
76. A Season of Goodwill [3/1]
77. 1776 (Musical)
78. 6 Rms Riv Vu [5/4]
79. Stamford Center for the Arts (Conn.) [3/2]
80. Star Billing (One-man show)
81. Star Time (O'Keefe Centre, Toronto) [2/1]
82. Summer Carnival, (O'Keefe Centre, Toronto) [22/3]
83. Taking Sides
84. A Time for Singing [9/4]
85. Toronto Salutes Rodgers and Hammerstein (O'Keefe Centre, Toronto) [4/2]
86. La Tragedie de Carmen (Opera) [5/4]
87. Treasure Island (O'Keefe Centre, Toronto) [3/2]
88. Ulysses in Nighttown [3/2]
89. The Unknown Soldier and His Wife [2/1]
90. Waiting in the Wings [10/4]
91. We Interrupt This Program
92. Who Killed Santa Claus (Piccadilly Theatre, London)
93. Who's Who in Hell [3/1]
94. Words and Music [3/1]