Loading...
Creator
Mangano, John
Call number
*T-Mss 1992-021
Physical description
1.67 linear feet (3 boxes)
Preferred Citation

John Mangano papers, *T-Mss 1992-021. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.

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

John Mangano was a stage director, actor, writer, stage manager and theater administrator. The John Mangano papers, dating from around the 1940s to 1988, document Mangano's life and career through scripts, photographs, correspondence, art, writings, and programs.

Biographical/historical information

John Mangano was a stage director, actor, writer, stage manager and theater administrator. He attended Carnegie-Mellon University in the late 1970s, studying in the Department of Drama, where he worked with the dramatist and composer William Turner. In the 1980s, Mangano moved to New York City, where he worked with Theater for a New City as a stage manager and an administrator, and directed plays for other companies. He may also have worked with the Bread and Puppet Theater. John Mangano died of AIDS in the early 1990s.

Scope and arrangement

The John Mangano papers, dating from around the 1940s to 1988, document Mangano's life and career through scripts, photographs, correspondence, art, writings, and programs.

Scripts dating from 1978 to 1988 comprise much of the collection. Some were produced by the Carnegie-Mellon Department of Drama or the Theater for the New City, and Mangano was often the director or stage manager. A portion of the scripts hold annotations and programs; several bear neither titles nor playwright credits. Playwrights include Maria Irene Forne, Charles Peters, Ra Carlsen, Steve Lambert, and Charles Ludlam. One of the uncredited scripts holds 1986 correspondence between Mangano and Ronald Tavel. Also among the scripts is Mangano's personal production log for The Gig, by Kenneth Brown.

Photographs consist of production prints, slides, and negatives. Plays documented are Made By Two (playwright unknown, 1979); The Unlit Corridor: A Horror Story, by William Turner (1978); and an unknown production for which there are six boxes of undated slides labeled "DT." Also present in the photographs are an autographed publicity print of Donovan Leitch and a large undated print of what may be a funeral from the 1940s.

Art is composed of three drawings by Wendy Storch, dated 1976. The writings date from 1968 and were likely produced when Mangano was in middle or high school and include a school literary magazine. The programs are for productions in which Mangano acted or stage managed, and date from 1978 to 1987. There are also Bread and Puppet Theater flyers and programs.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by format.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Roberta Schine, 1992.

Processing information

Compiled by Matthew Snyder, 2014

Original order was maintained. All contents were rehoused.

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 theatrediv@nypl.org.