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Creator
Rudin, Scott, 1958-
Call number
*T-Vim 2024-010
Physical description
2.97 linear feet (15 boxes, 53 oversize folders)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Scott Rudin and John Barlow collection of theatrical designs, correspondence, and other material, *T-Vim 2024-010. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

The Scott Rudin and John Barlow collection of theatrical designs, correspondence, and other materials is dated from 1920 to 1999. Art, photographs, playbills, programs, and sheet music round out the collection. The materials represent a snapshot of theatrical productions and players in the twentieth century.

Biographical/historical information

Scott Rudin (1958) is an American film, television, and theatre producer who was active from 1978 to 2021. Rudin and his husband, Broadway theatre publicist John Barlow, amassed a collection of historical theatre materials throughout their careers.

Rudin's films include The Addams Family, Clueless, School of Rock, and No Country for Old Men. On Broadway, he produced A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Fences, The Book of Mormon, and Death of a Salesman. He won seventeen Tony Awards for his shows, and is one of twenty-one people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.

John Barlow was a founding member of Barlow-Hartman Public Relations, which was incorporated on June 14, 1999. During their decade in business, the firm represented over 100 productions, including Legally Blonde, the 2009 revival of Guys and Dolls, Little Shop of Horrors, and The Color Purple.

Scope and arrangement

The Scott Rudin and John Barlow collection is dated from 1920 to 1999, and contains set and costume designs, artwork, correspondence, photographs, ephemera, sheet music, and prints related to theater. The collection is unconnected with Rudin and Barlow's work from their own careers. Costume designs, illustrations, and set designs by Boris Aronson, Sheldon Harnick, Al Hirschfeld, Florence Klotz, and Jo Mielziner are all present. Productions represented include Cabaret, Gregory, A Little Night Music, and Love Life. Fiddler on the Roof and The Nutcracker scenic designs by Boris Aronson are particularly well represented.

The correspondence reveals professional and personal insights from playwrights, composers and librettists including Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein, Moss Hart, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee, Clifford Odets, Richard Rodgers, Robert Sherwood, George Bernard Shaw, and Thornton Wilder. Harold Freedman, head of the theater department of the Brand & Brandt literary agency, is a recipient of many of the letters.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by format. Correspondence is further arranged by date.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gifted by Scott Rudin and John Barlow in 2024.

Processing information

Processed by Em Longan in 2025.

Using the collection

Location

Billy Rose Theatre Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor