Found 24 collections related to Theatrical producers and directors -- United States

Ewald Schindler (1891-1948) was a German-born actor, director, and producer of theatre and opera. After fleeing to Czechoslovakia and Italy during the rise of the Nazis, he immigrated to the United States in 1941, where he became director of the King-Smith Playhouse in Washington, D.C. and founded The Playhouse Studio, a school of drama, with Norwegian dancer Liljan Espenak. Additions to the Ewald Schindler papers date from 1899 to 1947 and contain letters, photographs, scrapbook pages, and personal ephemera that document Schindler's family and professional life. Scrapbook pages with clippings, photographs, and a program document Schindler's direction of The Green Cockatoo at the King-Smith Playhouse, dated 1942 to 1943. Correspondence is with Kurt Schindler, Liljan Espenak, and Mary Wigman, discussing family and professional issues. Photographs include individual portraits of the Schindler family as well as a cabinet card depicting Czech opera singer Emmy Destinn. Personal ephemera consists of a recitation book and Schindler's social security card. Correspondence and the recitation book are in German. less

Jeffrey Richards Associates is a New York City-based theatrical press agency and production office founded in 1977 by press agent and producer Jeffrey Richards. The records contain press materials for the Broadway and Off-Broadway shows that the agency represented from 1976 to 1994 and, to a lesser degree, the agency's shifted focus from publicity to production in the mid-1990s. less

The Chamberlain and Lyman Brown Papers are 351 linear feet and contain business and personal correspondence, scrapbooks, autographs, legal and financial papers, scripts, photographs, clipping files, and production materials documenting their work as theatrical agents, managers, and producers. The papers provide a history of the entertainment industry from the end of the 19th century through the middle of the 20th century. A number of family and personal papers are also included. less

The Romney Brent papers document his career and contain correspondence, photographs and two scrapbooks. The collection is incomplete in that it contains only correspondence from his later years and photographs and scrapbooks from his early career. Correspondents include: Ilka Chase, Helen Hayes, Lillebil Ibsen, Alfred Lunt, Armina Marshall, Mary Martin, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Emlyn Williams and Peggy Wood. There is a large gap in the materials for the 1940s and 1950s. Some production photographs were separated to the Theatre Collection photo files. The photographs remaining in the collection are special appearances, the State Department sponsored tours and personal photographs. less

The Harold Clurman papers contain notebooks and journals, director's annotated scripts, manuscript drafts and annotated typescripts of Clurman's books, and photograph scrapbooks documenting his career as a director, critic and writer. The materials span from 1935 through 1978 and give an interesting look at Clurman's work and thought process as a director. Notebooks contain his ideas on plot and character development, as well as casting notes and ideas for plays which he directed, while the scripts contain his director's annotations and compliment the notebooks for research and study of Clurman's techniques as a director. Drafts and typescripts of Mr. Clurman's three books: On Directing; All People Are Famous; and Ibsen show these works as they evolved. Finally, the photograph scrapbooks give a pictorial representation of specific plays including AWAKE AND SING and foreign productions of THE ICEMAN COMETH and LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT. less

Theatrical producer, Dwight Deere Wiman produced 56 plays and musicals in 26 years on Broadway making his most distinctive imprint in the musical comedy and revue fields. He was born on August 8, 1895 in Moline, IL, a direct descendant of John Deere, inventor of the steel plow and founder of what became Deere and Co., the farm equipment company and family business in Moline. After World War I service, graduation from Yale, and two years in the family business, Wiman and friends organized an independent film production company, Film Guild, in Astoria (Queens), 1920-1924. When that dissolved due to marketing difficulties, he formed a partnership in 1925 with William A. Brady, Jr. presenting 23 plays in New York of which 5 or 6, including Road to Rome, were profitable. That partnership ended on friendly terms in 1929 as only Wiman was interested in musical theater. From 1930 until his death on January 20, 1951, Wiman produced and occasionally directed his own shows including works by Paul Osborn, John Van Druten, Clifford Odets and others, and had a long association with Rodgers and Hart. During World War II he was director of entertainment for the Red Cross in Britain. Papers consist of draft and mimeo scripts by Marc Connelly, Howard Lindsay, Clifford Odets, Paul Osborn, Robert E. Sherwood, John Van Druten, and others; programs and playbills; press books; and miscellaneous production materials including set designs by Jo Mielziner. Represented are "Babes in Arms" (1937), "Command to Love" (1927), "The Gay Divorce" (1932), "I Married an Angel" (1938), "Letters to Lucerne" (1941), "The Little Show" (1929), "Morning's At Seven" (1939), "On Borrowed Time" (1938), "The Racket" (1927), "The Road to Rome" (1927), and many other titles. Also included are miscellaneous business records and correspondence, as well as several orchestrations by Frederick Loewe and Arthur Schwartz. A single 1922 contract is all that pertains to his film production company. There is no personal material in the collection. less

: Katharine Cornell was an American actress and producer. Guthrie McClintic was an American director and producer. They both worked the New York theater from 1915-1960. This collection includes correspondence, personal files, scripts, production materials, programs, photographs, scrapbooks and oversized items. less

The Kenn Freeman Papers, 1930-1988 document Freeman's life as an actor, singer/dancer, writer/director, and costume and set designer. The collection consists of three series; Personal Papers, Professional Papers, and Family Papers, and include correspondence, programs, flyers, contracts, writings, scripts, sheet music, scrapbooks, and autograph albums. Correspondence between Kenn and Bea Freeman forms an important part of both the Personal Papers and Family Papers series. The letters show the close personal and professional relationship between mother and son. The bulk of the correspondence covers the years, 1937 to 1950, and was written primarily during the years Kenn was in the United States Navy or in England or when either of them was on tour with a production. less

Richard Montgomery Field (1834-1902) was manager of the Boston Museum from 1864 to 1898. The Boston Museum began staging musical performances in 1841, then added dramatic performances in 1843 and continued presenting shows for sixty years. Located at the corner of Tremont and Bromfield Streets, the museum was founded in 1841 and was known as the Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts until 1847. The final season at the museum was 1902-3. Consists of letters written by members of the theatrical profession to R. M. Field, manager of the Boston Museum, between 1864 and 1884. less

Victoria Crandall (d. 1990) was a theatrical producer who packaged numerous touring stage shows for the summer theater trade. In addition to organizing productions that toured the Northeastern United States, she also served as co-producer and musical director for the British Colonial Playhouse in Nassau, Bahamas, in the mid-1950s. In 1959 Crandall founded the Brunswick Summer Playhouse, later known as the Maine State Music Theater, which she headed as executive director and artistic director for the rest of her life. The Victoria Crandall papers consist of business letters and some personal correspondence pertaining to Victoria "Vicki" Crandall's career as a theatrical producer for summer theater productions during the 1950s. Most of the material concerns three large-scale productions Crandall organized for touring companies during this period, BRIGADOON, SONG OF NORWAY and THE GREAT WALTZ. The last production in particular is well documented, due perhaps to an alleged breach of promise by one theatrical venue which resulted in exchanges of heated correspondence and threats of legal action. Most of the other documents relate to routine matters of billing, casting, box office grosses, and the like. less

An actor and producer, A. Lincoln Harris reportedly was the first black playwright to feature black people in dramatic works. He produced several plays among them "The Advanced Negro," " Waena," "High Life in Haiti" and "A Trusted Friend" that featured the Lincoln Harris Players founded by Harris. Advertisements and reviews of plays comprise the contents in the scrapbook. The majority of articles, however, deal with the accomplishments of black people especially in sports. less

Morton DaCosta (born Tecosky), stage and film director and actor, was born 7 March 1914 in Philadelphia. A graduate of Temple University, Mr. DaCosta began his career as an actor and director in regional theatre in 1937. He made his acting debut on Broadway in 1942 in THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH and his New York directing debut in 1949 with a revival of SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER. Among his many productions are PLAIN AND FANCY (1955), NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS (1955), AUNTIE MAME (1956) with which he made his film directing debut in 1958, and THE MUSIC MAN (1957). Mr. DaCosta died in 1989. The Morton DaCosta Papers consist of scripts and promptbooks, production materials, correspondence and personal papers documenting his life and career as a director and actor of stage and film. The papers span the years 1929 to 1978 and include such productions as THE MUSIC MAN, SARATOGA, NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS and AUNTIE MAME, among others. less

Gertrude Hadley Jeannette (1914-2018) was a Black actor, playwright, director, and theatre producer. She began writing plays in 1950 and founded the Harlem-based HADLEY Players company in 1979. The collection dates from 1928 to 2018, and depicts her personal life and professional work through prints and negatives. less

Consists of taped interviews, conducted by Gerald Berkowitz, for his book 'New Broadways: theatre across America: approaching a new millennium.' Interviewees include Andre Bishop, Gigi Bolt, Gregory Boyd, Bill Bushnell, Ben Cameron, Alexander H. Cohen, Robert Falls, Michael Feingold, Bernard Gersten, Jon Jory, Woody King, Eric Krebs, Theodore Mann, Ruth Mayleas, Julia Miles, Gregory Mosher, Laura Pels, Lloyd Richards, David Richtenthal, Tim Sanford, Suzanne Sato, Ben Sprecher, Scott Steele, Howard Stein, John Sullivan, and George C. White. Discussions center around Off-Broadway and regional theater. Theaters such as the Alley Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Lincoln Center Theater, O'Neill Center, Circle Repertory Theatre, Circle in the Square, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Los Angeles Actors Theatre and Playwrights Horizons are discussed. less

Theatrical director, producer, and performer Agnes Morgan (1879-1976) and her life partner Helen Arthur (1879-1939) were integral to the development of the theatre and dance productions at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. The Neighborhood Playhouse was founded as a theater in 1915 by sister philanthropists Alice Lewisohn Crowley (1883-1972) and Irene Lewisohn (1892-1944). Originally intended as a home for the Neighborhood Players, an amateur acting troupe for adults and children, the theater was housed in the Henry Street Settlement House and is considered one of the first to be given the designation "off-Broadway." By 1920 the theater had gone from amateur to professional and gained attention for its avant-garde and experimental work, as well as its popular revue The Grand Street Follies. The theater was under Arthur'smanagement from 1915 to 1927, and during this time Morgan was one of the theater's most significant directors. In 1940, Morgan became associate director of the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., and retired from that position in 1972. She died in San Bernardino, Calif., in 1976. This collection documents the relationships that Morgan and her partner Helen Arthur had with many other dancers, actors, and artists in their New York circle and associated with the Neighborhood Playhouse theatre in New York City. Included in the collection are photographs, artworks, programs, correspondence, and other ephemera. Of particular note is a group of original fine art designs by dancer and artist Angna Enters, sent to Morgan and Arthur as holiday greetings in the 1930s. Also of note are numerous autographed portrait photos of leading actors and dancers of that period and a grouping of original costume designs for a production of Petrouchka at the Neighborhood Playhouse. less