{"value"=>"1910 - 1949", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1910/1949"}
{"value"=>"undated", "type"=>"inclusive"}
{"value"=>"1948", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1948"}
{"value"=>"1929", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1929"}
{"value"=>"1931-1932", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1931/1932"}
{"value"=>"1936", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1936"}
{"value"=>"1933", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1933"}
{"value"=>"1934", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1934"}
{"value"=>"<p>This series documents the producing and production management activities of the Brown brothers, from 1910 with one of Chamberlain Brown’s earliest productions of his own script, <span class=\"title\">The Chorus Boy</span>, at the Village Hall in Annisquam, Massachusetts, through the late 1940s. Materials consist of correspondence, contracts, scripts, publicity materials, programs, sides, a few production materials, subscriber surveys and brochures, clippings, and financial papers such as box office statements, checkbooks, invoices, and receipts. Performers such as Judith Anderson, Claudette Colbert, Glenda Farrell, Preston Foster, Ruth Gordon, Don Murray, Florence Reed, Cesar Romero, Spencer Tracy, and Peggy Wood appeared under their productions. They also presented Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in 1930. Under the auspices of Chamberlain Brown’s Castle Square Theatre Company, director and producer Harold Prince also appeared in <span class=\"title\">The Third Degree</span>at the DeMe. Studio, New York City (1948). Most of their productions appear to have been financial losses.</p> <p>Perhaps the most long-lived and best-documented of the various incarnations of the stock companies run by the brothers was the Chamberlain Brown Players, also known as the L. Chamberlain Brown Players. From the late 1920s to the late 1930s, the Brown brothers operated the company at several theaters, including the Greenwich Theatre in Connecticut (1929), the Riviera Theatre in New York City (1931-1932), the Westchester Theatre in Mt.Vernon, New York (1931-1932), Bronxville Auditorium (1936), and at both (Nixon’s) Apollo Theatre (1933) and the Earle Theatre in Atlantic City, New Jersey (1934). Correspondence from Lyman to Chamberlain in the Personal and Family Papers indicates that Lyman ran the day-to-day operations in Atlantic City. The Westchester Theatre scrapbooks indicate that Lyman Brown also ran that company. One of Chamberlain Brown’s plays, <span class=\"title\">Idle Tongues</span>, was performed in Cedarhurst, Long Island in 1934 under the Chamberlain Brown Players’ auspices. A number of versions of the script, some unproduced, are contained in the papers. <span class=\"title\">Brilliants</span>, written by Lyman Brown, using the pseudonym Basil Bruce Trevino, was scheduled for production by the Chamberlain Brown Players at the Greenwich Theatre, but it is unclear if it ever opened. Materials on productions proposed but never produced by the Chamberlain Brown Players may be found in the Professional Projects - General series. Additional material on Chamberlain Brown’s early productions is contained in the Scrapbooks series.</p> <p>There are also materials for a number of individual productions including <span class=\"title\">Chamberlain Brown’s Scrap Book</span> which opened at the Ambassador Theatre in 1932. This show caused Actors’ Equity Association to rule its actor members give notice from performing in it, since Equity termed the production as a revue, while Brown maintained it was a vaudeville. Although the ruling was reversed a week later, Chamberlain Brown was forced to close the show, since the musicians demanded payment before performing. (Correspondence relating to Chamberlain Brown’s Scrap Book can be found with Actors’ Equity Association correspondence.) Materials relating to auditions, benefits, contests, and a dance marathon managed by the Brown brothers are also included in this series.</p>"}