Scope and arrangement
The Metropolitan Opera radio scripts, dating from 1933 to 1974, contain scripts used in the Met’s Saturday matinee broadcasts. They feature host Milton Cross summarizing opera plots and biographical information on Met vocalists, as well as interviewing guest singers, conductors, and opera experts.
Most of the scripts are arranged in folders devoted to a single opera, some with multiple scripts from different dates. A general folder holds scripts devoted to profiles of Bidu Sayão, Risë Stevens, and Enrico Caruso. It also has two intermission scripts, one featuring host Geraldine Farrar interviewing Lucrezia Bori, the other a group discussion of bel canto singing with Norman Dello Joio and Robert Merrill.
Milton Cross's files contain scripts, hand-written notes and script drafts; press releases and publicity packets; and correspondence from artist managers, publicity agents, and radio producers. Also present in the Cross files are notes on the history of the Met broadcasts, press releases or correspondence regarding non-Met performances, and typed essays or speeches on broadcast announcing and opera on the radio.
Arrangement
The collection is in three divisions: General, Milton Cross, and scripts arranged by opera title.