Scope and arrangement
The Dorothy Stickney and Howard Lindsay papers, Additions date from 1909 to 1985 and document their individual and combined theater and writing careers through photographs, scripts, writings, scrapbooks, articles, and programs. The collection is arranged into three series: Dorothy Stickney, Howard Lindsay, and Dorothy Stickney and Howard Lindsay.
The bulk of Dorothy Stickney's career, from her college studies until her final Broadway performance in Pippin (1972-1973), is documented in Series I. Series II highlights Lindsay's essay and play writing and his involvement with The Players Club and The Dramatists Play Service. Series III documents the intersection of their careers, specifically the productions Life with Father and Life with Mother.
The Dorothy Stickney and Howard Lindsay papers, Additions are arranged in three series:
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This series contains biographies, writings, scripts, photographs, programs, articles, and scrapbooks relating to the career of Dorothy Stickney.
Biographies are for articles and press releases. Writings by Stickney are unpublished essays detailing her childhood, early career, and her relationship with Howard Lindsay. Scripts are present for Pippin and A Lovely Light, the latter of which is annotated with lighting and sound cues, a stage plan, and stage requirements, and accompanied by correspondence with the University of Richmond regarding the staging of the show there in 1969. The script for Pippin is a clean production version with two different programs. Photographs span Stickney's entire career and consist of portraits, headshots, and a photograph album containing pictures of her on stage and with friends. Programs are for productions she acted in, such as To Be Continued (1952), The Honeys (1955), and The Mundy Scheme (1969). Articles consist primarily of reviews of Stickney's performances.
There are two scrapbooks in this series. One was compiled by colleague and friend Gene Fuller and holds reviews, quotes, and photographs relating to Life with Father. The other scrapbook contains clippings, photographs, and programs for early productions Stickney acted in at drama school and after graduation, including Southern Belles, Yoto, and The Nervous Wreck. Some loose material from this scrapbook was placed into folders.
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This series holds Howard Lindsay's scripts and writings dating from 1938 to 1967, photographs, and correspondence and administrative documents relating to his involvement with The Players Club, The Dramatists Guild, and The Dramatists Play Service.
Scripts include A Slight Case of Murder (1935) and Who Sups with the Devil (1938), as well as a script for a Player's Club Pipe Night honoring James Thurber. Who Sups with the Devil was originally written by Canadian fiction writer Hulbert Footner under the title Publicity - A Comedy of Crime; the title was changed by Baltimore's The Vagabond Players upon their production of the work. In 1938, Footner optioned the work to Lindsay, though the production was never staged. Annotated drafts of acts and scenes for the play are present in addition to a clean, typewritten version. The Pipe Night script is accompanied by correspondence with the show's producers, Leland Hayward, Haila Stoddard, and Marshall Jamison, regarding their contribution of the show's profits for the Walter Hampden Library. Writings consist of essays and articles. The articles are chiefly for The Saturday Review and date from 1962 to 1967. They include published articles and typewritten drafts that cover theater events and stories about actors, directors, and plays. Pamphlets written by Lindsay when he was president of the Dramatists Play Service include How to Start a Theatre and Some Things You Didn't Know About the Dramatists Play Service until Now. Also present is speech entitled "A Talk on Playwriting" (1942).
Photographs of Lindsay are portraits, production photographs, and casual shots of social events with Russell Crouse and other colleagues. A photograph from 1909 of Lindsay dressed for his role as Doctor Hartley in Polly of the Circus is present. Material concerning Lindsay's presidency of The Dramatists Play Service and his vice presidency of The Dramatists Guild consists of letters of recognition and event announcements. Lindsay's longtime commitment to and presidency of The Players Club is represented through a program acknowledging his resignation, letters of recognition, and a limited amount of correspondence.
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Material concerning Stickney and Lindsay's professional relationship consists of photographs, acting and playwriting notes, and a scrapbook. Photographs chiefly document Life with Father and Life with Mother through production stills, images of the cast and crew, candid backstage photographs, publicity shots, and portraits of Stickney and Lindsay. The photographs document several different productions throughout the shows' runs, including the 1967 revival of Life with Father, co-starring Leon Ames in place of Lindsay. Acting notecards consist of typewritten quotes, acting cues, and small narratives on playwriting and acting.
The scrapbook, titled The Empire Theatre: 1893-1953, contains photographs of Stickney and Lindsay; reviews and programs for Life with Father and Life with Mother; photographs of the theater's interior and exterior; the theater's 60th anniversary program; a fifty year chronology of the theater; and articles regarding the theater's closing in 1953. Some loose material from the scrapbook was placed into a folder.
The collection holds three recordings. Inquiries regarding audiovisual materials in the collection may be directed to the Billy Rose Theatre Division (theatrediv@nypl.org). Audiovisual materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.