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Creator
Friedman, Phil, 1921-1988
Call number
*T-Mss-2004-019
Physical description
.67 linear feet (2 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Phil Friedman papers, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.

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

Philburn (Phil) Friedman (1921-1988) was an American stage manager. Friedman managed numerous Broadway and West Coast theater productions, many of them musicals, including Kismet (1953), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), Pippin (1972), Chicago (1975), and Dancin' (1978). He worked with director, writer, and choreographer Bob Fosse for nearly 15 years, and played the part of the stage manager in Fosse's 1979 autobiographical film, All That Jazz. He also worked extensively with directors Cy Feuer and Abe Burrows. The Phil Friedman papers (1805-1979) document Friedman's general interest in theater and to some extent, his work as a stage manager. The collection holds programs, telegrams, photographs, biographical material, and scrapbooks containing images of stage actors from the early 1900s.

Biographical/historical information

Philburn (Phil) Friedman (1921-1988) was an American stage manager. Friedman managed numerous Broadway and West Coast theater productions, many of them musicals, including Kismet (1953), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), Pippin (1972), Chicago (1975), and Dancin' (1978). He worked with director, writer, and choreographer Bob Fosse for nearly 15 years, and played the part of the stage manager in Fosse's 1979 autobiographical film, All That Jazz. He also worked extensively with directors Cy Feuer and Abe Burrows.

in 1986, Phil Friedman was awarded the Del Hughes Award for Lifetime Achievement in Stage Management. He died in Manhattan in 1988. His sister, Annette Trubowitsch, wrote his biography, Back Stages with the Production Manager: The Biography of Philburn Friedman, in 1993.

Scope and arrangement

The Phil Friedman papers contain programs, telegrams, photographs, biographical material, and scrapbooks containing images of stage actors during the early 1900s. The material documents Friedman's general interest in theater and to some extent, his work as a stage manager.

The telegrams date from the 1960s to the 1970s and were sent to Friedman at various theaters; they are mostly good luck-notes or notes of congratulation from friends and colleagues on the opening nights of shows. The photographs and programs may be Friedman's personal belongings from childhood. The photographs depict portraits of actors from the 1910s to the 1920s. Programs from the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. are present and date from the 1920s to the 1930s. Programs from the early 1900s include Brother Officers (1900), If I Were King (1901), and Alice of Old Vincennes (1902).One program for How to Succeed at Business without Really Trying, a production for which Friedman was stage manager, is also present.

The biographical material consists of files from Friedman's education, and include worksheets and notes on acting techniques and speech and diction. Typewritten scripts, narratives, and poems written by Friedman and others are also present.

The scrapbooks contain clippings of images of actors; some of them are colored. The photographs are labeled with the actor's name and role in a given production. There are several scrapbook pages dedicated to Eleanor Robson (Belmont), Kyrle Bellew, and Ethel Barrymore. Two Burr McIntosh Monthly magazines (1904-1905) are also present, in addition to an 1805 publication of The Theatric Tourist.

Arrangement

Material is arranged chronologically.

Administrative information

Custodial history

This collection was part of a larger gift from the Museum of the City of New York to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in 2004.

Source of acquisition

Donated by the Museum of the City of New York, 2004.

Processing information

Original order was maintained when apparent, and loose material placed into folders.

Compiled by Robyn Hjermstad.

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.