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Creator
Barstow, Richard
Call number
*T-Mss 1981-001
Physical description
17 linear feet (28 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation

Richard and Edith Barstow Papers, *T-Mss 1981-001. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

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

The Richard and Edith Barstow Papers document the careers of the sister and brother, both as dancers, then as choreographers and directors, for stage, screen, television, the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, nightclubs, and industrial shows.

Biographical/historical information

Choreographer, director, dancer, and composer Richard Barstow was born in Ashtabula, Ohio on April 1, 1908, the youngest of seven children of British immigrants. He began his varied show business career as a dancer, going on to direct and choreograph for the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, industrial shows, and for stage, film, and television productions.

Born with a clubfoot, Richard Barstow was pronounced fully "cured" by the age of six, after surgery and a determined course of physical therapy (including writing with his toes). During his convalescence, Barstow's older sister and future professional partner, Edith, born in 1907, would show him dance steps she was learning in ballet class at a dance school across the street from the family's home, by then in Seattle. (Thomas Barstow, Richard and Edith’s father, had been killed in a railroad accident while Richard was still an infant.)

Richard Barstow attended school only through the second grade. By the time Barstow was seven, he and Edith were appearing in a vaudeville dance act with their sisters, called "The Five Barstows." The group played the Pantages vaudeville circuit on the west coast. After several years, only Richard and Edith remained in the act. The two continued to dance together in such places as Al Capone's saloons in Chicago, in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in Europe and Australia, until Edith left the act planning to be married. (It is unclear if the marriage ever took place.) Edith and Richard Barstow would continue to work together on numerous projects, such as the circus and industrial shows, throughout their careers.

Richard Barstow settled in Chicago and found work at the Palmer House with Eddie Duchin's revue, learning choreography and directing. Both Barstows also choreographed for the Merriel Abbott dancers. Barstow also served in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he played the drums and wrote songs.

Although Richard Barstow had never even seen a circus, he was hired in 1949 by John Ringling North of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, to direct and choreograph. He continued in this capacity for twenty-nine years and even wrote a number of songs for the circus. Until her death in 1960, Edith also assisted her brother in staging and directing the circus. Richard Barstow also staged the circus production numbers for Cecil B. DeMille's Oscar winning film The Greatest Show on Earth (1952).

Barstow's Broadway credits include the choreography and musical staging for Barefoot Boy with Cheek(1947), a musical comedy by Sidney Lippman and Sylvia Dee, Leonard Sillman's revue, New Faces of 1952, featuring Robert Clary, Alice Ghostley, Eartha Kitt, Carol Lawrence, and Paul Lynde. (He also worked on the 1954 film version.) Edith Barstow assisted with the choreography for New Faces of 1952. Richard Barstow also choreographed Broadway revivals of Noel Coward's Tonight at 8:30(1948) with Gertrude Lawrence, and Jerome Kern's Sally (1948).

Barstow’s other stage work includes choreography for numerous summer theater productions, including a summer (1948) at the Municipal Opera in St. Louis, Missouri, directing several musicals at the Jones Beach Marine Theatre on Long Island, including Song of Norway in 1959, and Annie Get Your Gun starring Lucie Arnaz in 1978.

The Barstows’ work in nightclubs included staging a Latin Quarter nightclub show (1965) and acts for numerous performers such as Janet Blair, George Jessel, and Lisa Kirk. They also staged ice shows as Champagne on Ice (1953) for the British skating star Belita, as well as Icelandia (1949).

For Judy Garland, Richard Barstow staged and choreographed several of her concerts, including two of her New York appearances: the first at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1959, the second Judy Garland at Home at the Palace(1967). He also choreographed and staged the musical numbers for the 1954 version of A Star Is Born, considered one of Garland's most important films. Richard Barstow also staged the dances for The Girl Next Door (1953), a film with June Haver and Dan Dailey.

Richard and Edith Barstow's extensive work for industrial shows includes producing, directing, staging, choreographing, writing, and composing for several editions of General Motors’ Motorama in the early 1950s, and Powerama in Chicago (1955). Richard Barstow, a non-driver, also wrote a song "I Am Not Dreaming," adopted by Cadillac as its theme. The Barstows also choreographed for The Best of Broadway,a television series in 1954, including an episode featuring Ethel Merman in Panama Hattie by Cole Porter. Television personalities for whom Richard Barstow worked include Fred Allen, Milton Berle, Eddie Cantor, Dave Garroway, Brenda Lee, Jane Morgan, Ed Wynn, and others.

Edith Barstow’s television work included working as choreographer and staging director for Garroway-at- Large with Dave Garroway. She also did the choreography for Frankie Laine Time(1956).

With Edith, Barstow also produced and directed M.O.D.(a.k.a. The Rainbow Years), a star-studded event in 1958, marking the twentieth anniversary of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, i.e., the March of Dimes. Performers such as Don Ameche, Eddie Cantor, Lillian Gish, and Rudy Vallee were featured. Richard Barstow also directed and choreographed the Symphony of Fashion in 1950 in St. Louis, Missouri.

A number of unusual accomplishments--including walking four and a half miles on his toes in 1928 (winning $500), and balancing himself with one toe stuck in a bottle--earned Barstow a record number of mentions in Robert Ripley's Believe It or Not newspaper column.

After a series of heart attacks, Richard Barstow died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on May 2, 1981.

Scope and arrangement

The collection contains correspondence, production materials, clippings, programs, scrapbooks, photographs, scripts, contracts, plans, and notebooks documenting the careers of Richard and Edith Barstow, both as dancers, and later as directors and choreographers. There are virtually no personal materials in the papers. Much of the material relates primarily to Richard; however, because of Richard and Edith’s lifelong professional collaboration, the papers also reflect Edith’s work.

Of particular note is the large amount of material on the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus and the General Motors’ industrial shows, Motorama (1953-1955) and Powerama(1955). There are also a number of items relating to the 1954 Judy Garland film A Star Is Born, for which Richard Barstow staged the musical numbers. A number of oversized scrapbooks of clippings and programs contain additional materials documenting the Barstows’ professional activities.

The Richard and Edith Barstow papers are arranged in six series:

  • Series I: Personal Papers, and
    1916 - 1980
    1 box

    This series contains correspondence, programs, publicity materials, and clippings relating to Richard and Edith Barstow. The correspondence concerns professional activities and includes letters to and from the Barstows, both together and individually. There are notes from Fred Allen, Vivian Blaine, Dave Garroway, Arthur Godfrey, Phyllis McGuire, Eileen and Ole Olsen, and Harry Ruby.

    The programs and clippings span the Barstows’ careers: from their earliest days in the family vaudeville act, The Five Barstows, then as a dance team touring the U.S., Europe, and Australia, to directing and choreographing in the 1960s. (Specific productions in which Richard and Edith Barstow appeared are filed in the Productions series.) Of particular note is the two-part profile of Richard Barstow in The New Yorker (April 20 and April 27, 1957).

    Included in this series are a number of papers on Richard Barstow, such as writings, drawings and sketches by and of Richard Barstow, awards, a list of music copyrights, a transcript of a radio interview with Ruth Moss in 1937, and papers from Barstow’s U.S. Army tour of duty at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. At Camp McCoy, Barstow co-authored a newspaper column, as well as a radio program, It’s the McCoy, that helped raise money during World War II.

  • Series II: Circus, and
    1951 - 1977
    4.5 boxes

    This series includes mostly production materials, programs, and clippings for the Red and Blue Units of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, which Richard Barstow staged with Edith’s assistance. Richard Barstow’s production notes often include diagrams and written notes on the various circus routines, such as the Opening, “Spec,” “Menage,” “Web,” and Finale. There are several notebooks with copies of costume designs, including some by Miles White, published sheet music with songs by John Ringling North and Henry Sullivan, and a folder of memorabilia, including a publicity brochure autographed by aerialist Philippe Petit. Additional circus materials may be found in the Photographs, Oversized, and Scrapbooks series.

  • Series III: Productions, and
    undated
    4.5 boxes

    This series consists of scripts, programs, clippings, production, and publicity materials for stage, screen, nightclubs, and industrial shows on which the Barstows worked. Most of the productions in this series are those they staged and choreographed, but several specific productions in which they appeared are also included.

    • Sub-series 1: Nightclubs
    • Sub-series 2: Summer Theater
    • Sub-series 3: Automobile Shows
    • Sub-series 4: General
  • Series IV: Photographs, and
    1907 - 1980
    1.5 boxes

    This series includes early portraits and publicity photographs of Richard and Edith Barstow, including their tours of the U.S. and abroad, and several photographs of The Five Barstows. Circus photos include photos of animals, clowns, performers, and personnel. Of particular interest are two benefit performances: one for the Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation (March 1955), and UNICEF Night at the Greatest Show on Earth (March 23, 1970). A few of the celebrities photographed include Louis Armstrong, Sid Caesar, Marlene Dietrich, Henry Fonda, Gypsy Rose Lee, Danny Kaye, and Ed Sullivan.

    There are also photos of nightclub shows, automobile shows, stage and film productions such as Symphony of Fashion, St. Louis, Missouri (1950), Panama Hattie by Cole Porter for television’s The Best of Broadway(1954), and the film A Star Is Born (1954). Additional photographs can be found in the Oversized and Scrapbooks series.

  • Series V: Oversized, ca. and
    1917 - 1978
    10 boxes

    This series contains photographs, papers, floor plans, and designs. There are early portraits of Richard and Edith Barstow, including several photos from their tours. The circus is especially well-documented with a number of photos, programs from the 1970s, notebooks, plans, and copies of designs. There are floor plans for Song of Norway at Jones Beach Marine Theater (1958), of the Coliseum, New York City, Motorama (1954, 1955), and Powerama (1955). There are also a number of photographs and some papers for the 1954 film A Star Is Born.

  • Series VI: Scrapbooks
    1922 - 1956
    6 boxes

    The scrapbooks contain programs, clippings, some photos, greeting cards, telegrams, productions relating to the Barstows’ careers. Loose scrapbook materials have been filed In the appropriate series by topic. Oversized loose clippings have been filed with the scrapbook

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Richard and Edith Barstow Papers were donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division in 1981 by Richard and Edith Barstow.

Processing information

Processed by Camille Croce Dee; Machine-readable finding aid created by Camille Croce Dee.

The collection was originally processed sometime in the 1980s. The original finding aid indicates the classmarks MWEZ + N.C. 26 392 - 26 408 were assigned. The collection was reprocessed in April 2005 in order to integrate materials stored in different locations.

Related Material

Richard Barstow Papers, 1927-1977 and Undated (Bulk Dates 1940-1977), JPB 04-37, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Richard Barstow Correspondence to Morgan James, 1958-1977, *T-Mss 1981-013, The Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

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

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Access restrictions

Photocopying prohibited.