The Thomas Skelton papers represent his professional career as lighting designer from the early 1950s to his death in 1994. The bulk of the collection consists of light plots, cue sheets, ground plans, draftings and other papers related to his...
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The Thomas Skelton papers represent his professional career as lighting designer from the early 1950s to his death in 1994. The bulk of the collection consists of light plots, cue sheets, ground plans, draftings and other papers related to his career in dance, theater, and opera. The collection also includes some teaching papers, correspondence, interviews, newspaper clippings, and programs. Other miscellaneous material includes travel and foreign language literature accumulated by Skelton in the course of his various professional trips. The collection also includes some scenic designs and costume information retained by Skelton from individual productions. Although Skelton did occasional scenic design, most of this additional material is the work of other crafts people. Included among the papers are also lighting designs executed by others. When identified, these are listed in subseries for 'Other Designers' in each category. The production files should be consulted for full credits for a project. The materials were received with an inventory in database format. The collection has been arranged and described with separate series for material relating to theater (including opera and variety) and dance. Organization of production files has been maintained generally the way files were originally kept. Oversized light plots and designs were separated from the production files and transferred to oversized boxes. Original identification numbers of the draftings have been maintained. Where letters formerly were used to identify boxes of rolled draftings, they now identify the drawers in which the material is currently stored. In some cases, draftings listed in the database were not found with the collection.
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