Scope and arrangement
The collection dates from 1862 to 1998 (bulk 1970-1995) and contains production files, scripts, scores, correspondence, programs, photographs, and posters for Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, stock, and regional productions that Hunt directed or produced between 1975 and 1995. The collection also contains professional files.
Production files are arranged alphabetically by production title and document the planning, performance, and reception of plays and musicals Hunt directed or produced. Files may contain correspondence, contracts, budgets, invoices, stage plots, prop lists, synopses, song lyrics, programs, reviews, and publicity materials. Among the more robust files are those for Ladies and Gentlemen, Jerome Kern; A Loud Bang on June the First; Get Happy: The Music of Harold Arlen; and Variable Lengths. Researchers interested in scripts, scores, and correspondence pertaining to a particular production should consult those respective file groups in addition to the production files.
Production files for the Jerome Kern musical revue are all filed under Ladies and Gentlemen, Jerome Kern. Included are programs, reviews, and other publicity materials for Kern at the Gate (1975); Jerome Kern at the Hartman (1978); Just For Fun: The Music of Jerome Kern (1979); and Ladies and Gentlemen, Jerome Kern at the Ivoryton Playhouse (1983), and the Harold Clurman Theater (1985). Budgets for the 1975 and 1985 productions are included, as well as box office statements for the 1985 production. Some materials in the files, such as song lists, scene outlines, lyrics, movement sequences, stage plots, and contact sheets, are undated and may pertain to more than one production of the show. Outgoing letters to lawyers regarding arbitration against the producer West Dobson during the 1985 production are present. Other correspondence relating to this and earlier productions is located in the correspondence files.
Scripts in the collection consist of annotated typescript and published plays that Hunt directed or produced. The scripts are sometimes accompanied by programs, letters from authors, or contracts. The published scripts are heavily annotated and include such titles as Gigi, A Loss of Roses, Lovers and Other Strangers, No Time for Comedy, Sleuth, The Man, and Come Back, Little Sheba. Among the typescripts are those for Miss Stanwyck is Still in Hiding, Prague Spring, Wash the Spider Out, Roberta, and The Midnight Run of Alvin Blum.
The bulk of the scores are for Get Happy: The Music of Harold Arlen and the Jerome Kern musical revue. Scores for songs by Jerome Kern consist of manuscripts and printed, annotated scores for songs like "How'd You Like to Spoon With Me"; "Who? Sunny!"; "In Love In Vain"; "I Won't Dance"; and "Lovely to Look At." Scores for Get Happy are manuscript, printed and published scores, some of which are accompanied by light cues and lyrics. Other musicals represented through the scores include I Never Saw Another Butterfly and Variable Lengths.
Correspondence documents production planning through letters with authors, producers, publicity representatives, and rights holders of plays and music. The letters discuss royalty and rights agreements, script changes and rewrites, locating and securing venues, advertising agreements, and casting for shows that Hunt directed, such as As Time Goes By; Clan Gathering; Spring at Marino; Perfect Pitch; Blest Quackers; and various productions of the Jerome Kern musical revue. Some correspondence documents audience and critic receptions and ticket sales, such as that concerning Ladies and Gentlemen, Jerome Kern; The Gin Game; Drawn to the Fire; and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.
Professional files contain employment contracts, theater lease agreements, and membership materials for the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers and the Actors' Equity Association. Also included are Hunt's resumes, biographical profiles, and unpublished writings. Materials that relate to the Ivoryton Playhouse consist of newspaper clippings and administrative materials dating from 1983 to 1984.
Programs in the collection are for shows that Hunt directed, most of which were Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway plays and musical revues. Photographs mostly consist of production stills and publicity photographs for Perfect Pitch and Miss Stanwyck is Still in Hiding. Also included are photographs of Hunt directing rehearsals and backstage, childhood photographs of Hunt, and headshots of actors. Clippings consist of one page of The Programme: A Journal of the Drama, Music, Literature, Art, etc. (volume VI, 1862) and two clippings from an 1887 periodical featuring opening night information for Dandy Dick. The collection also contains two opening night awards; posters; and original works of art, including a watercolor painting by Eddy Leight; and two collages by Clyde Wachsberger.
The collection contains audiovisual material primarily consisting of sound recordings of productions. Inquiries regarding audiovisual material may be directed to the Billy Rose Theatre Division (theatre@nypl.org). Audiovisual materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by format.