Scope and arrangement
The Kevin Bradigan papers (1890s-1993, bulk 1959-1993) document Bradigan's personal life and involvement in the Play-House of the Ridiculous and other experimental and Off-Off-Broadway theater from the late 1960s to the 1980s. The collection also holds some papers of performers Jackie Curtis and Douglas Fisher. Some of the material is accompanied by explanatory notes written after Bradigan's death in 1993.
Biographical papers contain one folder of resumes and chronologies of Bradigan's work with theater and film. The biographical papers also contain Bradigan's educational and medical records, documenting his treatment and institutionalization for mental illness as an adolescent in the 1960s.
Correspondence is with Bradigan's friends, family, and colleagues, and dates from 1967 to 1993. The subject matter is mostly personal, but promotional mailings regarding plays and performances are also present. Early letters include Bradigan's accounts of meeting Judy Garland and watching her perform.
Bradigan's writings consist of his personal journals, notebooks, and daily diaries; his college coursework; various drafts, notes, and poetry; and scripts and notes related to his unproduced screenplay, Low: The President's Evil Sister. A small number of materials from Bradigan's work on theatrical productions, and short letters and messages to Bradigan, are mixed in with his writings.
Some scripts are present in the collection. Among these are plays by Kenneth Bernard, Gary Indiana, and Melba LaRose, Jr. Many are for Play-House of the Ridiculous productions, and some are annotated.
Photographs in the collection are mostly taken by Bradigan and largely date from the late 1960s and 1970s. Bradigan's subjects include the Play-House of the Ridiculous, Madame Ekathrina Sobechanskaya (Larry Ree), Vain Victory: The Vicissitudes of the Damned, and the Cockettes during their 1971 trip to New York. Photographs include candid and backstage images, as well as images of performances. The collection also holds series of photographs that Bradigan took of performance artist Tom Murrin in 1978, and of Judy Garland performing at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia in 1968. One early unidentified photographic portrait dates to around the 1890s.
Videorecordings of Play-House of the Ridiculous performances are also present. Inquiries regarding videorecordings in the collection may be directed to the Billy Rose Theatre Division (theatre@nypl.org). Videorecordings will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.
Promotional materials consist mostly of posters, ranging from professionally printed posters to hand-made, photocopied fliers. Clippings, publications, and programs are also present. Shows by Madame Ekathrina Sobechanskaya's Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Company, Jackie Curtis, and the Play-House of the Ridiculous are well-represented. Play-House materials include posters from tours in the Netherlands and France. Promotional materials also contain a collage of candid photographs from Jackie Curtis's Heaven Grand in Amber Orbit, mounted with a review of the show. Other artists and productions represented in the promotional materials include Holly Woodlawn, Penny Arcade, plays by Gary Indiana, and the Cockettes show at Anderson Theatre.
The collection contains some papers of Jackie Curtis and Douglas Fisher. Fisher, who sometimes performed as Estelle R. Dallas, was a member of the Play-House of the Ridiculous and co-founder of the Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet. Both Curtis and Fisher were friends of Bradigan. Fisher's and Curtis's papers include personal photographs, scripts, correspondence, and ephemera. Photographs and other material from Curtis's and Fisher's memorial services are also present.
Arrangement
The Kevin Bradigan papers are arranged in eight categories: Biographical Papers, Correspondence, Jackie Curtis Papers, Douglas Fisher Papers, Photographs, Promotional Materials, Scripts by Others, and Writings.