Scope and arrangement
The Victor Samrock professional files document the career of American theatrical manager Victor Samrock with Managerial Files and Playwrights' Company Records. Managerial files, arranged alphabetically by show title, contain contracts and agreements with actors, directors, authors, other creative team members, crew members, and theatres; clippings; and business correspondence relating to theatrical productions Samrock managed. The managerial files chronicle every aspect of financial production with budgets, lists of expenses, royalty statements, and investor reports. They occasionally include other production materials, such as programs and photographs from The Birthday Party; a stage manager's script for Cyrano; a stage manager's script and a program for The Homecoming; and photographs, a sound plot, a script, and program from Waters of the Moon. Box office receipts from shows produced by the Playwrights' Company may be found in the Playwrights Company Records. The Playwrights' Company Records document the founding, running, and dissolution of The Playwrights' Company from 1938 to 1963 with a series of twelve volumes and other loose documents. These volumes and documents consist of By-Laws, Articles of Incorporation, Board of Directors meeting minutes, lists of stockholders, stock certificates, box office receipts from Playwrights' Company productions, financial statements, and a general ledger.
This collection contains one folder of notes, letters, and cards received by Samrock from friends and colleagues including Robert Anderson, Barbara Bel Geddes, Hume Cronyn, Howard Dietz, Alfred Drake, Lillian Hellman, Garson Kanin, Lynn Fontanne, Archibald MacLeish, Jessica Tandy, and Eli Wallach. The majority of Samrock's correspondence is incoming, but there are a few outgoing letters and a telegram. There is also a document certifying Samrock's 1929 naval service.
Arrangement
The Victor Samrock professional files are divided into the following groups: Managerial Files, Playwrights' Company Records, and Correspondence and Other Personal Documents