Loading...
Creator
Shlaes, Geoffrey
Call number
*T-Mss 1993-042
Physical description
2.3 linear feet (6 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Geoffrey C. Shlaes files, *T-Mss 1993-042. 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

Geoffrey C. Shlaes is an American stage director and theater manager who founded the American Directors Institute in 1985. The collection (1983-1992) contains American Directors Institute files, correspondence, and materials relating to Shlaes' other professional endeavors.

Biographical/historical information

Geoffrey C. Shlaes is an American stage director and theater manager. He directed regional and Off-Broadway stage productions throughout the 1980s, such as When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?; Knights Errant; The Bone Garden; The Gingerbread Lady; and The Male Animal. In 1985, he founded the American Directors Institute (ADI), a professional organization that supported the work of stage directors. He was artistic director of ADI until the company dissolved in 1991. Shlaes is managing director of the Spreckels Theatre in San Diego, California.

Scope and arrangement

The Geoffrey C. Shlaes files (1983-1992) contain American Directors Institute (ADI) files, correspondence, and materials relating to Shlaes' other professional endeavors.

ADI files contain financial statements, business materials, company proposals, notes, participant lists, articles on the board of trustees, and files for ADI's donors. Transcripts and audio recordings of ADI's 1986 public debut and directors' symposium, "The Changing of the Guard," are present, as well as notes and outlines for other symposia and conferences, such as the Touchstone Retreat.

Correspondence dates from 1983 to 1988 and consists of Shlaes' incoming and outgoing letters. The letters are largely professional in nature. Correspondence dating from 1983 to 1985 documents Shlaes' planning and development of ADI, his efforts to obtain directing work, and projects he worked on at the Spreckels Theatre in San Diego. Correspondence dating from 1986 to 1988 discusses ADI membership matters, conference and event planning, and the publication of ADI's Directors Directory.

Files for Shlaes' other professional activities document his association with the Circle Repertory Theatre, the International Theatre Institute of the United States, the Theater Trustees of America, the Equity Library Theatre, and the Arts and Business Council. The files contain correspondence, newsletters, announcements, brochures, and programs. Articles and clippings document Shlaes' productions of The Gingerbread Lady, Long Day's Journey into Night, and Incident at Vichy.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Geoffrey Shlaes, 1993.

Processing information

Compiled by Robyn Hjermstad, 2015

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

Inquiries regarding audio material in the collection may be directed to the Billy Rose Theatre Division (theatre@nypl.org). Audio material will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.