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Creator
Ray, Happy
Call number
*T-Mss 1997-005
Physical description
2.2 linear feet (5 boxes, 1 oversized folder)
Preferred Citation

Happy Ray scripts, *T-Mss 1997-005. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Happy Ray was a burlesque and vaudeville comedian active from the 1920s to the 1950s. The Happy Ray scripts (1920s-1950s) contain over 150 stage plays, musicals, and skits produced by his companies.

Biographical/historical information

Happy Ray was a burlesque and vaudeville comedian active from the 1920s to the 1950s who toured with his own companies. In the 1920s and 1930s he performed with Happy Ray's Revue, based out of Atlanta. Later in his career, he ran the Happy Ray Stock Company, which presented family-friendly variety shows including music, dancing, dramas, and skits.

Scope and arrangement

The Happy Ray scripts (1920s-1950s) contain over 150 stage plays, musicals, and skits produced by his companies. About half the scripts are for full plays (musicals, melodramas, and comedies). The rest are for skits or musical vignettes. The scripts for musicals include lyrics but no scores.

Almost none of the scripts bear author credits and none of the plays are known titles, nor are the credited authors present in library catalogs. Many of the scripts are divided into sub-scripts for individual characters. Multiple sub-scripts for the same play were consolidated and filed together.

All items in the collection were numbered by Connie Tesner. Scripts are filed in that order. Preceding and following the scripts in the container list are the following items: a poster advertising a performance by the Happy Ray Stock Company; a contract for the Happy Ray Revue; a stamp of a photograph of Happy Ray's Rhythm Girls from the Happy Ray Revue; an undated running order for one of Ray's productions; a published booklet entitled Coghlan's Comedy Sketches; and published songs performed in Ray's shows, as well as manuscript parts for an arrangement of one song.

Portions of the collection sustained water damage and are in fragile condition.

Arrangement

The papers are arranged by format. Scripts are arranged by numbers assigned by Connie Tesner.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchased from John and Connie Tesner, 1997

Processing information

Compiled by Matthew Snyder, 2014

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

Conditions Governing Use

The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Theatre Division at theatre@nypl.org.

Access restrictions

Portions of the collection are in fragile condition. One item is located in the *T-Cabinet and is available by appointment only.