Scope and arrangement
The Emile Ardolino papers, dating from the 1950s to the 1990s, recount his professional career from actor to commercial motion picture director and producer. The bulk of the collection highlights his work as a director and producer of film and television productions mostly through sound recordings consisting of soundtrack song demos and rough mixes; and video recordings of auditions, scouting locations, edited and unedited production footage, and trailers. Film and television productions are further detailed through correspondence; screenplays; posters; promotional materials; production binders; personal notes; photographs; research materials; production artifacts; and award plaques, certificates, and programs. The papers also represent Ardolino's early work as an actor, editor of short films, and designer of projected media by theater and awards programs, photographs, contracts, and press clippings. There are some artifacts, correspondence, and photographs from Ardolino Productions, as well as personal materials and scripts, screenplays, and notes from unproduced projects.
The Emile Ardolino papers are arranged in four series:
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1950s, 1980s-1993
This series, dating from the 1950s to 1993, is composed of materials related to the later part of Ardolino's career as a feature film director and producer. Most of the materials document Ardolino's efforts during the pre-production, production, and post-production filming process. Daily reels, early cuts of trailers, personal notes, artifacts, script supervisor notes, screenplay drafts, posters, promotional materials, awards invitations and programs, and set design layouts from Dirty Dancing (1987), Chances Are (1989), Three Men and a Little Lady (1990), Sister Act (1992), are well represented in the series.
The material in this series is arranged chronologically by production release date, then alphabetically by type.
Ardolino's career changing documentary, He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983), appears in the series through a script; an interview; Ardolino's personal notes; press clippings; photographs; a video recording; certificates, programs, invitations from award shows; and a contract.
The other feature film productions, Dirty Dancing, Chances Are, Three Men and a Little Lady, Sister Act, and The Nutcracker (1993), reveal Ardolino's approach to research and directing through video recordings; sound recordings; research materials; audience screening reports; pre-production, production, and post-production binders mostly from Ardolino, script supervisors, and film editors; published essays and stories; memorandums and correspondence from studio executives, cast and crew members, fans, family, and friends; press clippings; screenplay drafts; set design floor plans, sketches, and layouts; location notes, footage, and photographs; personal notes about actors and writers; domestic and international posters; and some artifacts. Ardolino retained atmosphere, stand-in, and vehicle breakdowns from Sister Act; scene notes and production reports from Chances Are, and breakdown sheets from Dirty Dancing.
The pre-production, production, and post-production binders hold schedules and itineraries; production budgets; storyboards; personal, concept presentation, reel, music, scene, and character notes; revised scene and screenplay drafts; interviews; press reviews; research materials; continuity logs; call sheets; cast and crew lists; daily production reports; and photographs. The photographs depict Ardolino directing or talking with the cast and crew during production. Ardolino preserved candid photographs of cast and crew members, and Mickey Mouse, celebrating his birthday on the set of Three Men and a Little Lady. Of note are Ardolino's notes from meetings with the cast and creative team of Dirty Dancing; memorandums from Disney executives about the various ghostwriters of the Sister Act screenplay; and character sketches created by the actresses who portrayed the singing nuns in Sister Act.
The video recordings consist of unedited daily reels, auditions, rough edits of promotional trailers and featurettes, and rough cuts with added visual effects and sound from Dirty Dancing, Chances Are, Three Men and a Little Lady, Sister Act, and The Nutcracker. The Nutcracker's video recordings also include rough cuts of the opening titles for Ardolino's production; and various footage from New York City Ballet stage performances. Ardolino maintained rough mixes, vocals, and music sessions with composers for the soundtracks of Sister Act and Dirty Dancing, Three Men and a Little Lady, and Chances Are. He also retained commercial music recordings and sheet music for soundtrack and decade research.
Artifacts in the series feature a promotional miniature of the Moonlight Lounge, a button, and a mug from Sister Act; a leather document pouch and a ring from Chances Are; a magnifying glass and buttons from Dirty Dancing, and toy theater prosceniums from The Nutcracker.
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1957-1990s
This series, dating from 1957 to the 1990s, chronicles Ardolino's work as a director, producer, and editor of television series and movies. Gypsy (1993), Ardolino's final production, makes up a large part of the series, followed by materials created from his work on Great Performances: Dance in America (1976-1980s). The series holds photographs; scripts; notes; press clippings; sound and video recordings; contracts; award show nomination certificates, programs, and tickets; award plaques; and memorandums and correspondence from productions and episodes of Live from Lincoln Center (1976-1980s), Live from the White House (1979), Summerfest (1979), Leonard Bernstein's Mass at Kennedy Center (1981), Alice at the Palace (1981), The Dance and the Railroad (1982), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1982), Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre's "Rumplestiltskin" (1982), Good Morning, Mr. Orwell (1984), The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket (1985), and We Real Cool (1987). The series also includes an 1984 article written by Ardolino about George Balanchine for the Museum of Broadcasting.
Gypsy is the most represented work in this series. There are screenplay drafts, personal notes, production and post-production notes and correspondence, call sheets, music summaries, contract negotiations, production and post-production schedules, storyboards, set designs, title and credit sequence designs, research materials, cast and crew lists, press clippings, and sound and video recordings from the production. The video recordings associated with Gypsy consist of audition footage; daily reels; rough cuts for screenings and continuity; Gypsy Rose Lee interviews; and research footage. The sound recordings constitute commercial soundtracks from various stage productions. Ardolino also kept a hat, a film slate, and a mug from his time working on Gypsy. Of note is correspondence from Luis Miguel Rodriguez-Villa's letter-writing campaign to attend the 1994 Emmy Awards in Ardolino's stead after Ardolino passed away from AIDS.
While Gypsy is the most thoroughly detailed production in the series, Ardolino's work as a director, producer, and editor of television series about the performing arts is also well documented. There are photographs, video recordings, awards ephemera, press clippings, and notes from various episodes of Great Performances: Dance in America, Live from Lincoln Center, and the 1979 episode, "Baryshnikov at the White House" from Live at the White House. Ardolino retained his contracts and video recordings of Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre's "Rumpelstiltskin" episode and Joseph Papp's productions of Alice at the Palace, The Dance and the Railroad, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. A script and a video recording conveys Ardolino's work as the television director of the 1981 production of Leonard Bernstein's Mass at the Kennedy Center. The series also discloses Ardolino's camerawork on the live interactive satellite broadcast, Good Morning, Mr. Orwell through a video recording and press clippings.
The material in this series is arranged chronologically by production date, then alphabetically by type or episode.
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1963-1974
This series, dating from 1963 to 1974, features materials from Ardolino's brief acting career and early work on projected multimedia stage and short film projects. The series includes prints of films and slides, photographs, and contracts from Ardolino and Gardner Compton's multimedia stage and short film projects, and programs from Ardolino's turn as an actor. Present are the film and slides used in The Makropoulos Affair (1970); a video recording of Seafall (1969); Ardolino and Compton's original scenario and contract for Jesus Christ Superstar (1971); photographs, an Obie Award Citation, and programs from Oh! Calcutta! (1969); and candid prints and contact sheets from Astarte (1967).
The material in this series is arranged chronologically by project date, then alphabetically by type.
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1960-1993
This series, dating from 1960 to 1993, covers Ardolino's personal files, materials generated by Ardolino Productions, and solicited and unsolicited projects that were never produced or directed by Ardolino. The materials associated with Ardolino Productions are nameplates, photographs of the office and staff, correspondence to Ardolino from various members of the company, lists of writers and their works, and script submissions. The majority of the series consists of unsolicited annotated screenplays that were forwarded to Ardolino via Ardolino Productions from various agents and writers. Included in the unproduced projects are several Jacques d'Amboise projects; notes, script drafts and treatments, and correspondence regarding possible sequels to Dirty Dancing and Sister Act, and a tango project that features a script treatment by Patrick Swayze.
Ardolino's personal files cover various copies of his résumé, headshots and candid photographs, correspondence from friends and family, identification cards, a trip to China through a Directors Guild of America project, personal research materials from filmmaking seminars, and a birthday film from Gardner Compton titled, Happy Birthday Emile (1960s). The files also include an 1984 article written by Ardolino about George Balanchine for the Museum of Broadcasting.
The material in this series is arranged alphabetically by type or project.